When we got to the hall, Nefen and Torill got to work cooking breakfast. I tried to help, but I was banished from the kitchen, and told to take a walk when more sausages ended up in my mouth than on the pan.

My body language betrayed my feelings as always, with my head held low, and my tail hanging limp in shame. Torill stopped me on my way out to give me a hug and tell me she knew I couldn't help it. It was amazing how little it took for her to cheer me up.

I followed their directions since staying in the hall with all the wonderful scents of food cooking would have been torture. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for the next hour, but the itch to shift was undeniable when I didn't have anything else to focus on.

So that's what I did, but I didn't leave it at that. I spent the whole hour shifting forms at random. Trying to speed up my transitions, and control how much I allowed my instincts to pollute my forms.

I had been getting better naturally with time, but with just an hour of practice, I saw a marked improvement. I chastised myself for having never really taken the time to take such a simple step in my learning. I promised myself that I would do things like that more often.

When I walked into the meeting hall, I was close to the pure demihuman form the System started me. My head felt strange without my horns, my instincts didn't like it, but it was good practice.

I made a few changes, like my hands, I grinned at them as I flexed my fingers. They were slender and almost human, I barely had claws. My instincts hated them, but they would make using silverware a whole lot easier.

I had experimented with making myself shorter, and slimming down my broad frame, but it felt too wrong. The form I settled on was a constant irritation to my instincts as well, but I thought it was slightly less intimidating than what I normally shifted to.

Torill, who was setting the table when I walked in, almost dropped a plate.

I laughed, and spun around so she could get a look at me. "Like it? I was practicing my control!"

"Good work! But your fur is so short! I think I liked it better longer, it's so soft. I love touching it."

The assume form ability practically activated on its own, and my fur returned to its previous length. I shook myself out, and realized I missed the ability to finely control my fur like the feathers of my sky terror form. When I went to add that back in I realized that I wasn't entirely sure how to make it happen without letting my instincts help.

Torill giggled at my instant reaction, and came over to get a closer look at me. She took my hand, and ran her fingers across it. "With hands like these, I could teach you to paint." Her smile was bright when she said those words, and for once, genuine. My instincts suddenly had no problem with how I'd shifted my hands.

"I'd like that, if we have time." It would be nice to learn something that had absolutely nothing to do with my survival. Angela hadn't ever really painted, so it would be something I could learn purely for myself.

"It's been a very long time since I've held a brush. It feels like a lifetime or three. I'm not even sure how good I am anymore." Her smile faltered, her eyes grew distant and sad.

I hugged her. "I'm sure you're still great, and I really would love to learn. I'll warn you though, I may be the most clueless person you could pick to teach."

She relaxed into my hug. "You'll have to ask Belua for some supplies in her realm. I doubt we'll find time while we're awake."

"Done!" I said, sending a prayer for just that, and receiving a feeling of amusement and confirmation.

My stomach interrupted our moment by growling, and Torill pushed me away.

"I need to get the table set so we can eat before you get grumpy."

"Not gonna argue with that. Can I help? I promise I won't eat any silverware."

Torill's giggle brought a grin to my face. "I guess I can trust you if you promise."

"Great!" I had all nine places set in a blink. Torill watched me race around with a goofy smile.

"Sit down, Nefen should be done cooking by now. We'll bring everything out. I don't think we want to torture you by making you try to carry food without eating it given your condition."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The smell alone was making me have to try very hard not to drool. I was very glad I didn't have my venom glands. I sat in my chair and waited as patiently as I could. I couldn't wait to be rid of the damn Concept that was making my stomach feel like it was going to eat itself if I didn't put something in it.

When Torill came out with the serving cart, she quietly replaced my plate with an entire serving platter of eggs and sausage covered in cheese. She didn't say a word as I dug in like I hadn't eaten in a month.

The platter was empty by the time the table was set, and other people started to file in. I was very thankful that the guild supplied us with copious amounts of food. I hoped that was normal. I knew from reading the guild rulebook that supplying the resident members with food was standard, but the book didn't state how much they were meant to supply. The rule just said, "adequate nutrition."

I ate enough food for ten people, ten big people. Breakfast was over far too fast for my liking. The moment Torill put her silverware on her plate, I felt the location of my hunting target.

It felt so distant that I didn't get more than a vague direction. I heard Torill curse.

"She didn't say it was that far, that's going to be a hell of a run. I swear we're going to spend half the week just getting there… unless…"

She looked me up and down.

"Can't we fly? I can get the air mana to help us." I said, I knew I'd seen her fly, I wasn't sure how she managed it though.

"The spirit that helps me do that can't interact with the world for that long. It has a half hour at most before it needs to rest. But I have an idea. I know a spell for mounts that can make them run very quickly for a whole day without getting tired. It pulls from the caster's mana, but it's really efficient."

"That sounds great, I can probably do that by channeling air mana, but it would be hard to stay on task for that long. Air mana is pretty… flighty"

With a laugh, and a smile she replied, "If you channeled it for too long you'd be in the wind for sure."

I ruffled her hair. "Mine was bad, yours was worse."

She coughed. "The spell I have in mind might be nearly as bad. It's not meant for use on people, it definitely relies on the caster having the ability to direct the target. I feel kind of bad even offering the idea, but it would save us a lot of time."

I shrugged. "I've probably had worse. If it'll get us there faster we can do it."

For some reason she looked very troubled by that, and gave me a tight hug.

We said our goodbyes and headed out. After we exited town and got some distance she told me to shift to the most normal ram form I could manage. The spell used temporary Concepts, and it actually had the specific requirement of being cast on a creature that fit the general mental image people had of a mount.

It took a lot of focus, and several tries to make my "clothing" manifest as a saddle and bridle with a bit in my mouth, and reins for her to hold. I ran my tongue under the metal, I didn't like it, but she said that it was important to match the image people had as closely as possible.

She lamented that I didn't have an equine form, as the spell would take more mana on a less frequently used species of steed. I snorted, I hadn't seen any horses that so much as caught my eye. The ones I'd seen around town were all short stocky shaggy specimens that were obviously meant for pulling carts and plows.

She hopped on my back, and I watched closely as she moved her mana into a complex script that I could only catch hints of meaning from. The mana that filled it was mostly air with some water and earth mixed in.

It carried a boatload of Concepts that were composed of various ideas associated with speed and focus, but also endurance, and annoyingly, obedience.

When the spell engulfed me, I felt it use the nascent concept of my role as a mount to latch onto me. The density of her mana crushed the meager instinctive resistance I couldn't help but present.

I began to dance in place, waiting for the go ahead to run. It was all I could think about. The moment her heels touched my sides, I was off. Running felt great, amazing. I always enjoyed it, but with the spell thrumming through my body, running was my purpose. The spell made me fast too, I could feel how it had the added benefit of shielding me and Torill from the wind and dust as I tore along the roads.

As hours passed, the feeling did not disappear. The few times we had to slow down because of other people on the road were the only times I regretted agreeing to the spell at all. Moving slowly was almost painful. I danced in slow motion as we passed the strangers on the road in an attempt to find an outlet for the energy flowing through me.

When the sun started to set, and Torill cut off the spell, I practically collapsed. My legs felt like they were vibrating, and I was hungry and exhausted. But I could feel our target, it was close, no more than a few miles away.

Torill hopped off my back, and told me to shift to my squirrel form. She said she'd carry me, and set up camp. "It's only fair, you carried me that whole way."

She didn't have to tell me twice, after I shifted she picked me up and put me on her shoulder. Only my hunger, and the constant need to adjust my balance kept me from falling asleep while she made camp just off the road.

She handed me bits of jerky to chew on while she worked. I was very glad she'd agreed with Nefen that bringing along more supplies was the smart thing to do. There was exactly zero chance of me hunting us up some dinner.

I watched with interest as Torill cast a spell to light a campfire, trying to memorize the relatively simple language that called for a small flame that would not create sparks. I had an easier time than usual doing it, but I still had a battle to remind my instincts that campfires meant safety not danger.

Torill set up a large pot over the fire, but I don't know why she bothered setting it up like that because she used yet another spell to actually cook the food. I supposed that it probably used the idea that the food was cooking already to make the spell more efficient.

Spells were like that a lot, it was easier to apply Concepts to things when they had something to latch onto. It was like when Hungry latched on to me, the resonance it had with me created a kind of attraction. The script spells used invoked Concepts in the mana, and directed them. They could do practically anything, but they took almost no power to do things that seemed like they fit.

As she set a steaming bowl on the ground for me, and started to stir her own, she spoke up.

"I know where we're going now, and you've got a helluva job ahead. I've heard the stories about this place. If the damn thing doesn't have a Legend of its own and a few extra Concepts on top of the stuff in its core, I'll be surprised. We're headed to the Stone Forest. And I know why she gave me the go ahead to leave Brightwood with you."

As I pounced on the bowl, and started lapping up the thick stew, I pointed an ear in her direction.

What she told me about the stone forest was petrifying… literally.