Chapter 46

Class Imperative

I had several very good reasons to instantly reject the idea of acquiring new forms like I was hunting pocket monsters.

For one, I could still count the number of days since I reincarnated into this life on my digits. I was level 70, which was just stupid, and I would bet just about anything that I'd have another ten levels crammed down my throat as soon as I headed to bed. Everything was happening too fast, I could barely comprehend what was going on with my body and mind.

Another good reason was the fact that I could barely control my Assume Form ability, the ram and squirrel I had picked up were melded into every form. I knew I could stop that from happening, but it would take practice, and I hadn't had time. I counted myself lucky that the tree I could turn into didn't seem to have any influence, and I couldn't even tell you why it didn't.

The last reason was that I wasn't even sure I could really direct my mind well enough if I tried the same method, immersing myself in the web of life. I also didn't know exactly how I picked up those forms to begin with, though I had a theory that it was just how deeply I looked into them.

I truly felt all of those reasons were exceptionally valid, so I was surprised when I found myself unable to reject the idea.

When Pierce brought it up, I felt a greed awakening inside me. When I tried to push it aside, it grew stronger. I suspected something was influencing me, and focused on sensing exactly where it came from.

My Sense Concept led my attention inward, a part of the heavily interwoven tapestry of Aspects affixed to my body and soul that made up my class was glowing brightly. I couldn't make out its exact nature right away, but I knew it linked to two clumps of Aspects that I could vaguely recognize as the abilities Assume Form and its linked partner Elemental Form.

I had looked inside myself with Sense Concept before, but there was so much attached to me, and it was so complicated in how it worked that I only understood the very smallest portion of it. Someday I wanted to see if I could make the mana link Concepts together like the System did. Upon closer inspection I identified the Concept that was currently glowing so brightly as Desire, but the way it was set up, I could see it was partly melded with other ideas. Just trying to comprehend it gave me a headache.

When I came out of my impromptu trance, Ivo and Pierce were looking at each other.

"I think you hit a class imperative, dammit, poor guy must have been fighting it." Ivo whispered.

"Ah shit, well, I didn't know, think we should drop it?"

"Too late now, we'll just have to make sure he gets something useful, what were you going to recommend?"

"Hunter guild has some tamed beasts, I thought we could pay to see their animals. They let people in to see their collection for a little extra money. Apparently everything is so tame they just let the beasts roam their compound. It used to be a popular place to take dates."

"Oh! I heard the guild leader is a Falconer of some sort, he's got some great birds. I think I saw him out on a hunt once, he had several different kinds flying overhead."

"Bird seems like a pretty useful option, not what I was thinking of though."

I cleared my throat. "Well, let's go then!" I declared, I felt the strong desire to find something new as soon as possible. For some reason that desire made me growl, the thoughts made me feel uneasy. I wasn't even sure why I was upset, new forms were always amazing. It felt so good to shift, more forms to shift to was just more options. My distress faded, becoming a vague memory.

I smiled a little, as I thought of something. "I'll come with you as a squirrel so I can do what I need to do without having the hunters see it!"

"What do you need to do?" Ivo looked at me, a little worried.

"I'll show you! Not sure what'll happen in the arena though, let's head out." I practically skipped out of the arena building, and sat down at the base of a tree. The two men watched me.

I activated my life Core, I wanted the trance with the web of life, I wanted to seek out useful forms.

I sank into the trance, my mind expanded outward. I felt Pierce and Ivo, I knew that both of them were concerned for the strange beastkin they were being forced to work with. Ivo felt sorry for me, Pierce was wary of what working with such an uncontrolled mess would bring. Their forms were uninteresting to me, the idea of taking a human form repulsed me.

I felt a normal squirrel doing its thing in one of the trees nearby. I had a way better squirrel form than that, so I paid it no mind. I watched rats living their life under some bushes on the other side of the compound, they weren't very tempting. There were a lot of little songbirds around, I mentally followed them for a little while, but they were so weak and small, not right.

I saw insects of all sorts of varieties, a particular spider with heavily Death Aspected venom that didn't seem to set off alarm bells in the web of life tempted me strongly. The thing that stopped me there was a very strong revulsion stemming from my first life, I had never liked spiders.

Once I had expanded my view to the entire Adventurers Guild compound, and found nothing worth my time, I pulled myself out of the web of life.

I wasn't sure how much time I had spent looking, but neither Pierce nor Ivo looked terribly impatient.

"That's the only method I know." I announced. "There wasn't anything interesting nearby, how long was I out?"

"So you have to nap? I can see how it would look strange if you decided to fall asleep in their compound." Pierce managed to hold back a chuckle.

"That took ten minutes Angel, how long do you think it will take if you do find something?" Ivo was definitely still worried about me. I had felt it when I brushed past him while I was in the web. He found some things about my class pitiable, I couldn't say I disagreed, though I was sure there were folks who had it worse.

"I don't know, but you'll be able to feel it when I wake up, right? So take me in there in a pack or something, and I'll stay in the mana until I don't need to be anymore. If it takes too long, just hide me somewhere, I'll be fine." I wasn't sure where the certainly came from, but I really felt like nothing could harm me while I rode the web of life.

Pierce laughed at me. "You want us to leave you, a beast, asleep in an animal form, in a guild full of people whose whole job is hunting, and taming beasts. Do you even hear yourself?"

"Ahh, but like you said! I'm a shifter, they can't keep me, and they won't be able to surprise me. Also, I wasn't asleep, I was aware of everything." I smiled brightly, the web of life always felt so good.

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"So why did you have to ask how long you were out?" Pierce didn't get it, of course, he didn't know what it was like to spread your awareness out like that. I tried to explain, he said it made his head hurt.

"It's too late tonight, we'll go after breakfast in the morning. Let's just relax till dinner. Angel, I'm sorry we hit a class imperative like that, I know how they can gnaw at you until you do what your class wants." Ivo put a hand on my shoulder. "I can't do much for any impulses you're feeling."

"Yeah, we couldn't know, some classes are a real bitch to have. I know what it can be like to feel the compulsion to do something you don't really want to." Pierce's voice was filled with bitterness, Ivo quietly took his hand.

"See you at dinner." Ivo said quickly, and pulled an unresisting Pierce away.

"So what now?" I asked my companion, they had a fun idea.

I shifted to my squirrel form, I kept my core pure, and jumped onto my friend.

My companion knew my mind, they knew I had been feeling an impulse to shift, so they offered to play.

I clung to the shaft of my staff as it flew in the air above town. I chittered a laugh as it swooped around buildings at high speeds. We spent the next couple hours flying around, careful not to bother anyone, my Sense Mind came in handy.

The fun ended when we stopped on the roof of the biggest building in town, something about it called to me. When my feet hit the tiles I recognized Belua's power. I chittered at my staff, my vocalization was completely unnecessary, and nonsensical. But my partner knew what I meant, it bobbed itself up and down.

I scurried down the side of the building, climbing felt so natural as a squirrel, being on the ground felt wrong. Thankfully I was able to shift back to a demihuman, I didn't bother attempting to hide. I had manifested my clothing before changing. The clothes took the form of a cute vest and harness in my squirrel shape, which I didn't like at all.

My staff stayed on the roof while I walked into the building that had Belua's Concepts infused into every stone. It was a beautiful place, the entire place was covered in carvings of young children and animals at play. Whoever designed the place, at the very least, had Belua's realm described to them.

Everything about the place was made to evoke the feeling of being in that place. There were no seats, the floor was covered in a thick green carpet, and the few people who were inside praying were sitting comfortably on the ground.

The largest sculpture was a beautiful human woman sitting naked on a large rock, watching over the temple with compassion on her face.

I suppose people saw Belua differently depending on who they were.

I felt the awareness of the goddess settle on me. Which was odd, since I knew she watched me regularly, and I'd never felt her like this before.

I felt her power pushing me to bow my head, to kneel in supplication. That, I knew was wrong, she wasn't like that at all.

The force upon me doubled.

"Beasts submit before the mother, do not fight her will." I heard a man say to me. I lost against the compulsion, and ended up on the ground. I couldn't raise my eyes.

"There you go." I felt a hand touch my head. "All are her children, even the beasts of the forest obey her. You are welcome to stay here as long as you are appropriately meek."

I called out to her in my mind, this was wrong, how did they have it so wrong? I felt comfort from my mark, but it seemed to be unable to do more than that.

I couldn't move under the power that held me, I felt it pressing on my mind, I resisted.

"This is not Belua." I said hoarsely, the words came out strained, and no louder than a whisper.

"The mother's name is not for the likes of you to sully, beast." The man shouted at me angrily.

Level 562 Domineering Keeper of Belua

I groaned, and lost my fight. My muscles relaxed, I wasn't being pushed down any longer, but I knew I was unworthy of standing in this place.

"There you go, now spend some time contemplating the great mother quietly in the corner. I will tell you when you may leave." The man chuckled a little bit and patted me on the back as I did as he said.

Inside I was seething, the power that man had was a reflection of Belua, the whole temple was as well. They carried her Concepts, but that man did not act like he knew her at all.

She had never ordered me to do anything, not really. I had her command as an effect listed in the System, but she was so kind when she asked me to work harder, it hardly counted.

This man wielded her Concepts like a hammer, and seemed to hold no love for people, not for beastkin at the very least.

As I sat in the corner, unable to raise my eyes, my mark glowed lightly. It almost felt like Belua was apologizing. But I didn't understand why she let a man like that be her priest. I knew she said the System took much of her ability to interact with the world from her, but didn't she at least get to pick her priests?

I heard someone walking up to me, they stepped lightly, and smelled of flowers. A gentle hand touched my shoulder, the harsh compulsion I was suffering under faded, replaced by the more familiar feeling of Belua's love and comfort.

"I'm sorry child, the keeper overstepped, you may do as you wish. All children of the mother are equally welcome to find peace in this place, so long as they do not cause a disturbance. Though, calling mother by name is heavily frowned upon." The woman's voice was gentle, and warm, she was more like what I expected from Belua's church.

I lifted my eyes to look at her, and she gasped.

"A marked one!" She exclaimed, and dropped to her knees.

"I am so sorry for how you were greeted, the keeper will be punished. Do you have need of us?" The poor woman sounded like she was about to burst into tears.

I put a hand on her shoulder, and spoke as gently as I was able. "It's okay, you weren't the one who wielded the mother's power like a hammer. I just came here because I wanted to see what it was like inside, it reminds me of her realm. That man does not though. What is a keeper? And why is he allowed to do such a thing?"

"You have seen her realm. Truly I am blessed to meet you. I thank you for saying our temple reminds you of that divine place." She reached up and grabbed my hand in both of hers. "I am confused however, do not all temples to the mother have keepers to maintain order? We cannot trust all to respect the mother's desire for peace, this is known."

My ears flicked back a bit, a peacekeeper, that man seemed wrong for the role. I didn't know how to deal with my lack of knowledge. The priestess seemed nice enough but that keeper made me doubt honesty would be a wise choice.

"I do not understand how a man like that can be trusted to keep order. He's such an ass."

The priestess choked a little at my language, I wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh, or cry. "Well, he is quite high level for the area, so we don't usually get much say. I'm only half his level, even still, I assure you that I have the means to send a message to someone with more authority, don't worry. His branch of the church may carry a more authoritarian view of the mother's wishes, but even they are meant to be compassionate first."

I nodded slightly, and sighed, this place made me want to quiz Belua on her church the next time I saw her. I added that to the list of things to talk to her about.

"I think I'll be going, I didn't intend to do more than have a look inside. I have my own way of communing with Belua." I tapped the mark on my forehead.

"I suppose if anyone is allowed to speak of our goddesses name, it would be a marked one, so I will not take you to task for that." The priestess sighed. "It sets a bad precedent though."

"I'll ask her about that next time I'm in her realm if you want, but I don't think she minds being called by name." I chuckled, realizing how that probably sounded to a priestess. "Anyway, I have to get to dinner, it was lovely meeting you."

I slid my hand out from hers, she seemed a little too stunned to let go on her own, and walked out of the temple.

When I stepped outside, my staff was floating there, they felt very agitated. "Hey, sorry, I didn't think it would be a good idea to bring a weapon into the temple, and what do you know, I was probably right." I grabbed hold of my weapon, knowing they found comfort in being held. "Let's get back to the guild, shall we? Wanna go back the same way we came? I think it's faster."

My companion seemed so eager to fly with me again, it made me laugh.

The keeper had disappointed me, but at least the trip had kept my mind off the burning desire to find new forms.

I snuck around the back of the temple, shifted, and we took off for dinner.