“I request the change so that I may finally put my past behind me. I can never return home again, and not simply because the Great Mother’s System has tied me to this place as Guildmaster. We all know, that particular role will disappear when Brightwood downgrades to a village in a few short years.”

Samuel glanced over at the rag clad Gregor with a complicated look on his face before continuing.

“I was exiled, given the same treatment as my new prospective brother, and with a far worse crime laid at my feet. I was accused of losing myself to my spirit's aggressive nature, and killing my blood kin.”

One of the ladies gasped, I wasn't sure if it was Anya or Leona. Every one of the people kneeling next to Samuel seemed to be trying to subtly move their bodies away from the bear-man.

I heard a crack as the guildmaster's large claws dug into the wood of my floor, an impressive feat considering I had yet to scratch it. I swore I heard the man's teeth crack from how hard he clenched his jaw. It took him several minutes to compose himself. I didn't push him, and most of the others remained still.

Anya was the sole exception, the woman began to fidget, though she didn’t do it long as she froze when Thorn gave her a stern look. The smell of fear coming off of her came very close to triggering my hunting instincts, the poor girl. I wasn't sure what sort of beast served as Guardian for her people, but the way she was acting, it had to be a prey animal and she was in the room with an angry predator.

When Samuel spoke again, his words were filled with suppressed fury, and pain.

“It was a believable lie, considering the kind of person I was then, from a powerful, well placed man. I was a very different person from the one you know, my class, Wyldeheart Brawler, gives me a special connection with my spirit. Seeing as I was born a spirit's chosen, my spirit already had sway over my behavior. My spirit was greedy, territorial, and aggressive, it pushed me towards the worst traits of our Guardian, and at the time I embraced them. But I would never have harmed my meek little brother.”

Samuel took a breath, I almost told him to stop when I saw a tear splash on the floor.

“He was a sensitive soul, kind and loving, for some reason he liked to spend his time in my presence. The only time I saw him stand up to anyone was the day he died, murdered without a thought by the chief’s son in a fit of rage. All because he had found out that a woman who rejected him, the only other spirit's chosen in our generation, was pregnant with my child. My little brother made the mistake of telling the man to calm down.”

The guildmaster gulped, I saw his shoulders shudder.

“I attempted to make him pay in blood, but he ran, and called on his father. They tried to kill me for my supposed crime, it was only our Guardian's intervention that put a stop to it, but the great bear could not stop them from exiling me. I ran all the way to the human lands. My spirit kept me alive the whole time, and saw fit to allow me to heal what should have been permanent. But my bond suffered, I blamed my spirit for the behavior that lent the chief's accusations credence. Over time, I lost many of the enhancements that came from being chosen. These days I can pay a price to take on the form I once held. You saw it once.”

Samuel sighed.

“I think the most frustrating part is that the woman and I were not particularly close, our relationship was purely physical. I have received word that she is with him now, and the man has taken my son as his own. The boy is strong, and a spirit's chosen like his mother and I. I hear that he treats him well, but there was a strongly implied threat in the message about what would happen if I ever attempted to return from my exile. It seemed they somehow got word that my scars had healed, which may have been enough to allow such a thing. I could seek to join another clan, but such a venture would be dangerous.”

The bear-man raised his eyes to meet my own.

“It has been many years since that happened, my boy would be close to having a class of his own now. My level has been stagnant since long before the System assigned me as Guildmaster, and put a complete halt to it. My bond with my spirit has continued to decay as I have learned to reject the impulses that it sends my way. I am long past ready for a new class, and a change in my spirit's temper. I know that you embody none of the traits that I fight every day to suppress. Though I suppose my appetite will remain unchanged.”

He closed his eyes, and Torill cleared her throat to ask what he envied.

Samuel smiled. “I envy your ability to shift and alter your form. If only because it would cut down on how many hours I spend on paperwork. My claws make wonderful weapons, but they do get in the way.”

He lifted a hand, and wiggled his short fingers. I couldn't blame him for wanting to be able to avoid that sort of problem, those claws were huge. But the man surprised me by laughing and shaking his head.

“I exaggerate, I am well aware that claws should not be a problem with a new form based on you. The truth is I envy the diversity of experiences you must have with all your forms. To be able to fly on your own wings! To be as large or small as you like. Who would not envy that?”

I chuffed in agreement, Thorn glanced at me, giving me a look that told me all I needed to know about how well humor fit into the ritual.

After a few minutes of silence Torill spoke.

“The spirit's agree to the binding. They recognize that Angel is young and will not be present in their host's lives, but he grows stronger by the day, and his Legend grows with him. The supplicants will now be claimed or rejected from last to first.”

I almost asked what to do, but found that I knew it already.

I walked up to Samuel, and pressed my head against him, that was not all that I did however. I sent the mana from my pure core into his body, as though I was imbuing him. When it was done, the man collapsed in a heap. I wasn't worried, I knew without a doubt that it was the signal that his spirit had bound itself to me. I felt the connection. He would be greatly changed by the experience, his body would shift to take on beast traits that came from me. His class would change as well, I hoped that the change would make him happy.

I did the same to the others. Thankfully Thorn had more mana crystals for me to eat after every person, because it took a whole lot of mana to imbue a person.

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Poor Anya was shaking like a leaf when I got to her.

“Are you sure you want this?” I asked.

“Y-yes, of course. Peter and I need this. It's just a big change. I hope that I stay a Seamstress, I love my class.”

“Is there anything I can do to make that more likely?”

She smiled.

“You really are kind aren't you? No, that is up to my spirit and the System. Even if I was to get a class that I was entirely unsuited to, and never advance again, I believe it would still be worth it. Your concern makes me feel better about this, I have to admit that it is not something I expect from a predator. I know Peter has at times been at odds with his aggressive spirit.”

I nodded.

“I can't claim to be a bastion of serenity, but you can feel much of who I am through my aura these days. While I certainly take many traits from my cat-like form, I have taken great pains to be much more than a hunter.”

“Perhaps this will not be the burden I thought it would be. I have to admit that I distrusted the impression you gave me. Perhaps it was just my spirit being overly cautious as always,” she said, and bowed her head. “Thank you so very much for this. Peter and I will be forever grateful.”

She was no longer shaking when pressed my forehead against hers.

I looked to Torill next, but saw her retreat into my bedroom.

“Go on, I'd assume she wants to save me the trouble of carrying her to the bed. I'll make sure your new followers are taken care of.”

“I wish you wouldn't call them that.”

“I know, you don't like being put above anyone. You'll have to get used to it at some point, you do know this whole thing ends with you being a god, right?”

“Shush, that's a lot of lives from now. And by that time, I'll be one of many versions of myself. From what Randy said, I can make the other versions deal with playing deity. Pretty sure I'm gonna do that.”

“Of course, I'm sure your other selves, who will be versions of you who have lived different lives, and have different Concepts will be completely different. It's not as if they will all be fruit from the same tree.”

I huffed.

“A baked apple is very different from a fresh one. I'm sure there will be at least one version of me who is delighted by the attention. Not Angela though, I'm pretty sure she'd curse out anyone who brought the idea up.”

Thorn laughed as he hauled Samuel onto his shoulder. He looked like he was perfectly fine carrying the large man like that. It made me wonder how strong he was. It almost seemed like a shame that he wasn't allowed to fight if he was strong enough to do that.

I left him to it and moved into my bedroom to find Torill disrobed, and laying on our bed. It struck me as a shame that I was about to do something that would end with her falling unconscious. I chuffed, and hopped onto the bed to do it anyway.

“I hope Samuel is wrong about the appetite. I don't know if the guild can afford that much meat,” she joked.

“Well, he might be right, but maybe it will go away when you help me get rid of hungry. You can still do that, right? Please tell me you can still do that.”

“As long as it hasn't wormed its way into a true connection with you, it shouldn't be a problem. You just have to keep thinking of it as a curse, an ailment of your body, and you should stay fine. The spirits can take just about anything they want from your body. They often do as their fee. I have to admit, I'm not sure what it will cost though, I'm pretty sure that Concept has grown quite attached to your body by now.”

“I won't say there's no price I won't pay. That would be a lie. But…”

“Don't say it. The spirits seem to like you, but it's best not to tempt them to up their price. Though I've found that they always know where your limits are. They will often push them, but they will never push past them. Are you sure you want to be the one to pay? I'm used to it, and they won't do anything to impede my Contract. I'm helping to stabilize this area of their world after all.”

“Oh wait. What if your class changes? That's likely with what we're doing now, right?”

She shook her head.

“Likely for anyone whose class isn't a part of their Contract. My class will be fine. There isn't any chance of it changing in the slightest.”

“Okay good, then, I'm sure. I'm your Guardian now. Not the other way around, and I intend to do whatever I can to be true to that. Even if I can't actually be here to guard you.”

The tinkling sound of her giggle made my ears perk up.

“I'm not sure how you'll manage that, but I'm sure you'll try. Now come on, don't keep a girl waiting.”

I huffed and lowered my head to hers. The connection that happened between us when I was done was so much stronger than the others that they were incomparable. I knew that I would always be able to feel if she needed me. Though I hadn't worked out what I'd do about it if she did.

I curled around her protectively, and watched her body change before my eyes. It took hours, but I stood vigil the entire time. Thorn came in, saying something about a meeting at the lumberyard. One look from me had him talking about rescheduling for later in the day. A low warning growl that took both of us by surprise had him backing out of my room spouting apologies. I regretted it instantly, and sent him a message saying so.

“It's okay. I pushed on a Concept, I should have known better than to do that. You're protecting her, I can't blame you for reacting a bit, protective is still pretty new for you. I should have also known better than to agree to a meeting, this soon after the ritual. To be honest though, Torill swearing fealty to you wasn't in my original calculations.”

I huffed at that, looking down at the white and black fur that covered my mate's wholly changed body. Her horns were so much smaller than mine, they were kind of cute.

“It took me by surprise as well, I hope she doesn't regret it. She's definitely not going to be keeping a low profile when she looks like this. I'm betting she'll be done in the next hour. So we should be good for meeting the lumber people tonight.”

“I'll schedule it for just before the temple visit then.”

That was the first I'd heard of that, I was pretty sure he hadn't mentioned it before. I had been getting way better at remembering things like that.

“Wait, what temple visit? I am not meeting with that harpy again am I?”