Chapter 20

A Proper Fantasy Creature

Once I locked the door, maybe because Samuel mentioned it earlier, I decided to change forms.

The quiet complaints in the back of my head about how I behaved after the chair broke faded to silence. I felt comfortable, and confident. I let my eyes close, and stretched, savoring the feeling of power, and rightness that my mana beast form brought with it. I wondered if that was some suggestion that the System had left in my head or the instincts that came with the body. I decided I didn't care, and sauntered over to have a look in the mirror that was apparently sized for a literal giant, well half giant.

I stared at my reflection and found myself rather enamored with my own form. Much had changed, I looked like a proper fantasy creature now. I was still white, but it now seemed incandescent. My glowing stripes had grown more numerous, each one fluctuating between the colors that I now recognized as representing air, water, and life mana. The three mana types that always seemed to respond to me with the most fervor. Perhaps there was something in my nature that drew them to me, and me to them in turn.

Where before my body had resembled a hulking male lion, it was now more graceful. My torso and neck were longer, not to mention my tail that was now about one and a half times the length of the rest of me. I seemed to flow as I moved in front of the mirror. My long fur rippled with the slightest movement, seeming to almost float. My mane was magnificent, it was huge, the long fur looked so soft as it cloaked my head and shoulders.

My horns were still growing, they'd progressed again. They were thicker, longer, and just starting to really curve downward.

My muzzle was longer, it didn't seem as wide as it used to be. I opened my mouth and pulled back my lips to have a look at my teeth. The front teeth were all extremely sharp, and catlike. But I now had more herbivorous teeth in the back of my mouth. I hadn't really noticed that change in my more human shaped form.

The digits on my paws were longer. My dewclaws were more flexible, but in no way could I be considered to have hands.

I was in the middle of appreciating how my long fur moved and flowed as though it was underwater, when there was a knock on the door. I definitely would not define what I had been doing as strutting in front of the mirror.

I stopped mid-motion. I didn't feel like changing back right now, but I couldn't answer the door like this. I huffed in frustration.

While I stood still trying to decide what to do, it occurred to me that it was probably Samuel, but it might be Janus coming to talk to me after my encounter with him and his rude friend. Suddenly a circle of runes lit up on the door at what I judged would be about chest level in my demihuman form.

Samuel's voice came from the circle. "Little brother, may I come in? I have your soil, and I wish to speak with you for a little while. You can respond by touching your mana to this circle and speaking."

I walked over to the door pausing a moment to see if I could speak in this form after all the changes. Unfortunately while I could make sounds that maybe came into the neighborhood of words, it was leagues from being intelligible speech.

I leaned down and gingerly touched my nose to the spot above the door handle, and used that contact to send the mana to unlock the door. When it clicked I moved to sit on the left side of the room. I wasn't exactly going to be able to hide behind the door when it opened, but it would be slightly harder to see me from the hall.

A few moments passed after the door was unlocked before Samuel let himself in.

He closed the door behind himself and smiled a little when he saw me sitting in my Mana Beast form.

I hadn't realized until I had him to compare myself to, but I had grown several feet taller since my level up. Seeing that I thought that Spirit Beast size might not be a product of age, but level. His village's massive bear guardian must have been astoundingly high level if that was true.

Samuel touched the lock on the door, I heard it click. I wondered if the Guildmaster was keyed to all the locks in the guild. It would make sense if he was.

"Ah little brother, I see you have decided to take the opportunity to relax." He walked into the room a bit, and set down my pot, filled with rich black soil.

We both were surprised when my staff floated over from where I had left it, and settled itself into the soil. My companion sent me a sensation of satisfaction and comfort through our bond.

I tried to send the simple words "thank you" to Samuel, but what ended up getting transmitted was more of a feeling of gratitude than actual words. It still managed to get the point across. He smiled gently and nodded.

"It was no great difficulty brother. It gladdens my heart to know that your little wooden friend seems to have taken to it so quickly. However, we must speak on your encounter with Martin." The guildmaster sighed, sadly.

"No one who remains in this guild is a regular sort. Everyone left has some difficulty they have to bear, else the army would have forced them into service." He closed his eyes, sadness radiated from his body language.

"I find myself only able to ask for you to be patient with them. As you struggle to ignore your bestial instincts, so too do they have impulses that they deal with in their own ways. I won't share with you the details of each guild member's personal trial, that would be theirs to reveal in time if they wish." He walked to me and reached up to gently lay a hand on my shoulder.

"They all have good hearts, even if they are hidden behind rough exteriors. There are so few of us that we cannot have fighting within our ranks. I do hope you understand."

I nodded. I sent him a somewhat complicated set of feelings. Embarrassment and a slight amount of physical pain, followed by annoyance. Then I sent a feeling of wanting revenge, but playful and harmless, I tried to get across the concept of pulling a prank on the shirtless man. I would wait, and think of what to do, but eventually I'd get him back.

Samuel laughed, and shook his head ruefully. "Well if that is the case, I think you and Martin will eventually get along splendidly. Though please do try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. You know Janus and he are both convinced that you are quite furious with them."

My tail waved slowly, my ears perked forward, and I lifted my lips in a rough approximation of a predatory smile.

"I see." The bear man patted me on the shoulder. "I will not worry overmuch about it then. Now, you should try to take a nap, the sun will rise in just under two hours, and I doubt the sleep you had after leveling was very restful. Ivo and Pierce will likely come by in the morning to call you to breakfast. It is their habit to make sure everyone attends, as it is Nefen's to wake up long before the sun to cook, and ensure everyone has a share. He is likely getting started right about now."

Samuel went to the door, and unlocked it, then paused before leaving. "I will not be joining you then, I will meet with you after lunchtime, and we will continue your training. I will lock the door behind me, do not worry about it, just try to rest."

After he left, I yawned wide, and stretched a bit. The bed looked quite sturdy, so I hopped onto it. I circled a few times, feeling the soft mattress under my paws. When I was satisfied that I knew how I wanted to lay, I curled up on top of the covers. My tail wagged slowly for a moment before it settled down on top of my face. I had forgotten to find out how to turn off the magical runes that provided orbs of light on the ceiling of the room. I felt that I could easily destroy them if I tried to mess with them using my abilities, but that did not seem like a good solution. So I just covered my face with my foreleg and tail, and slept in the light.

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I had barely gotten a good nap in when a knock on the door woke me. I hopped off the bed, and was in the middle of a long sinuous stretch when the circle on the door lit up.

A smooth mellifluous voice came through the runes. "Hello, Angel, my name is Ivo, I'm sorry to disturb you, I'm told you had a long night. But I just wanted to let you know we generally have breakfast together in the guild hall every morning. Please feel free to join us, we would all love to properly meet you."

The circle went dark. It was strange now that I thought about it, that I heard and smelled nothing from outside my room without those runes being used. It seemed privacy wards Samuel mentioned worked both ways. With my level of perception it was a godsend. For some reason knocks seemed to be the only sound that made it through, I wondered how that worked, I would have to see if I could find out eventually.

I found myself reluctant to return to my bipedal form. I huffed out a sigh, looking over at the mirror. I really had settled into the form.

I still closed my eyes and summoned the desire to change. Mostly focusing on the desire for hands, at that moment they were the only things I could think of that made my other form even slightly appealing. The change did not come as quickly as I would like, I realized it was something I would need to practice, but eventually I succeeded in shifting to my demihuman form, and summoned my clothing.

I took a glance at the mirror, and hurried to grab the brush from my pack. My fur wasn't a tangled mess, but it wasn't nearly as orderly as I'd like. After several minutes putting myself in order, brushing out both my mane and tail. I headed toward the door. Just as I unlocked it, I felt something knock into me from behind rather hard. When I turned to look, my staff was floating in the air. I swear it looked annoyed, or maybe I was just feeling that through the soulbond.

"Ahh sorry, I didn't mean to leave you alone. Do you… want to follow me yourself? Or do you want me to hold you? I think it would be safer for both of us if people didn't know you had your own mind. But I want you to have some freedom to make your own decisions, you know, you can read my mind, I'm not even sure why I'm talking out loud."

The staff moved, its shaft bumped into my hand. I nodded, and grabbed hold of it. Then left for the guildhall.

Before I even reached the door, I caught the scents of food coming from inside. I smelled eggs, and bread. My mouth watered as I caught the smell of bacon, oh how I missed bacon. There was also ham, some fruity scents and the tantalizing aroma of some spices I didn't recognize mingled in to form my concept of the perfect breakfast.

I hurried to the door, making an honest effort not to drool. When I opened the door, my stomach saw fit to announce my arrival with an extremely audible growl. It hadn't been that many hours since I had eaten a whole roast, but somehow I felt like I was starving. I was glad my fur covered my blush. Though I'm sure my ears and tail drooping a bit gave away my feelings quite thoroughly. No one seemed to notice, so I shrugged off my embarrassment quickly.

I looked to the side of the door where there was a table that had an interesting variety of weapons, including ones I recognized as Janus's pair of axes. I hadn't really noticed it last night, but now that I think about it, Janus had stopped quickly to grab them on his way out. I leaned my staff on the table, mentally telling it to wait there for me, because it seemed like weapons weren't welcome in the guildhall. Probably a good idea.

Everyone was gathered around the long table, it was piled high with breakfast, more than enough for everyone. On the left hand side, in the large cushioned chairs were the people I had seen on that side of the room the night before. The green skinned man was closest to the door, he looked at me somewhat expectantly, he seemed impatient for me to get seated.

Next to the green skinned man, the sole woman in the guild smiled brightly and waved to me. I didn't really notice my own actions at the time, but I stood a bit taller, and carried my tail higher after seeing her look at me like that.

The kid with the strange metal collar sat four seats away. He looked up at me with the same apprehension he held last time I saw him. I sighed a bit at that. I'd actually come to be very comfortable with my new body, but seeing people react with fear was unpleasant.

On the other side of the table, closest to the door was the happy drunk from last night. He seemed sober now, but still very happy. He smiled widely as he shouted to me. "You came! I wasn't sure, so we started without you. Please come! Eat with us, and we can properly introduce ourselves. I can assure you that every one of us is eager to greet you. I'm Ivo, and my partner here is Pierce, he doesn't talk much." He elbowed the man next to him. The green eyed man grunted, sounding mildly annoyed, but he did nod at me in greeting.

One chair down from him was Martin, he looked slightly unsure, but waved a bit. Next to him was Janus, who stood up from his seat to wave at me enthusiastically.

Several chairs away the possibly half elven man in dark leather looked at Janus, not me. I think he wasn't a fan of the early morning energy. I couldn't blame him, I really just wanted to eat quietly in the morning too. When Ivo introduced him as Zeke, his eyes found me for a moment, and he gave a curt nod, before returning his attention to his food.

Much further down, hunched over a plate of food, was the man who had been sitting at the bar last night. He already had a partly finished bottle of booze next to him. "That man there is Krassis, don't mind him, his class is rather hard on him." Krassis looked up momentarily when he heard his name called, but otherwise didn't acknowledge us.

As I looked over everyone, I was trying to decide where I should sit.

The green man must have seen my uncertainty, he spoke in a stern voice. "Tradition says the magically gifted sit on this side of the meeting table, while our more physically inclined brethren sit on the other. That being true, it is also true that this is meant to be a gathering hall, not a mess hall. During ordinary times, there would be a large building dedicated to feeding the guild, open at all hours. Circumstances dictate a more intimate dining experience. You may sit where you choose, though please avoid sitting next to Alexander, the poor boy has developed a phobia of being in close proximity to others."

The kid, whose name was apparently Alexander, widened his eyes so much I was afraid they were going to fall out when he was mentioned. I saw him try to sit further back in his seat. Poor fellow looked like he'd give just about anything to be ignored right now.

So I turned my attention to picking a spot to sit. I decided to sit next to the friendly looking woman with the furry ears. I hoped I wouldn't regret the choice, she seemed, perhaps a bit too happy as I reached for the chair next to her.

The chair looked sturdy enough, but out of an abundance of caution after my experience last night, I lightly touched the earth mana present in the stone floor. I sent it a little bit of my personal mana, and conveyed the request for stability and strength aimed at the frame of the chair. I felt it sink into the chair joining itself with the frame to make it stronger.

Once I sat down, the woman beamed a thousand watt toothy smile at me, and spoke in an excited voice that oozed a joy and energy that should be illegal before ten in the morning. "Oh! I'm so happy you decided to sit here! My name's Torill!" She held out her hand towards me.

I shook her hand, being very careful not to apply any strength. Her hand was like a child's in mine. Something about her told me that her appearance was deceptive though, and she was likely far more powerful than me.

"Good morning Torill, it's nice to meet you. I hate to be rude, but I really am very hungry right now." My eyes went to the spread on the table. There was a pile of plates in arms reach, and I longed to stack it with bacon and eggs. "The food looks fantastic."

"Oh! Yeah Nefen's a great cook! He always makes sure we have plenty of good stuff to eat." She gestured to the short man with the green skin and long ears next to her. I wondered if he was this world's version of a goblin. Though he didn't fit the myths at all. I was not about to ask.

"I really like the sausage! Nefen convinced Samuel to get some spices from the homeland. They really make it special. It has been so long since I have been home. I miss it so much, but you know they don't have much use for people like me. What are you doing away from home? Your spirit's sooo big, what's it like having a spirit so strong? I bet it can be hard sometimes, huh?" Torill paused, apparently really curious to hear what it was like, actually all the conversation died down around us.

I scratched the back of my head. I guess the young Mana Beast was kind of a spirit. "It can be hard sometimes, yeah." My ears drooped with embarrassment. "Like when I first saw Samuel, my spirit was so scared of him it just took over…"

"Let the man eat, Torill!" I heard Janus shout from across the table.

"Oh, oh I'm sorry! I'll shut up now." The poor lady seemed chastised.

Torill's alpha morning person intensity had been more than a bit much for me, and somehow she'd gotten me to admit to something really embarrassing. Janus had probably seen it in my body language, it wasn't like I was hard to read. But she had been so damn happy, and now she looked like a kicked puppy. No one should let someone else order them around like that if they could help it. The scene of me submitting so completely to Samuel was fresh in my mind.

"Don't apologize," I said to her quietly. "Maybe you could tell me about proper manners around here." I smiled wryly at her. "Doubt they include yelling at folks across the table."

I gave Janus a big toothy smile as Torill told me all about how we weren't supposed to shout if we could help it. She told me it was perfectly okay to eat and talk, and how everything was self-serve, and yes reaching for things was okay. But if I wanted something near her she'd be happy to get it for me.

I piled my plate so high with eggs, bacon and sausage that I might have been able to hide behind it if I was in my old human body. Turns out the spices in the sausage were indeed very tasty, so I ended up piling more of it on my plate.

I listened to the conversations around me. I didn't contribute much. Torill had recovered her previous verve, but she had transitioned to mostly eating her breakfast as well.

When they asked me where I was from, I evaded by simply saying that I'd rather not talk about it. They dropped it with such haste that I thought there must be a guild rule, spoken or unspoken to respect that kind of thing.

At one point Torill, bless her heart, asked what kind of beast had horns, sharp teeth and stripes. I told her that I had an accident with Life mana.

Nefen felt the need to explain for all to hear, what he had read about happening to Wild Mages who lost themselves to life mana. It was some pretty scary stuff. I tried not to let it get to me.

By that time my plate was clear, and I excused myself, saying that I wanted a quiet walk to clear my head. Everyone was friendly, but I wasn't used to being around so many people. The enforced solitude of the final portion of my previous life had left even my human side rusty when it involved socially interacting with groups of people. It was as if an invisible pressure had been building for the entire meal, and I had reached my limit. I had to get away.