My eyes were locked onto a cloud high in the sky. For some reason, it reminded me of a taco. Before I could wonder as to why, a head popped into view above me, blocking the thing from view. “You alive?” Pendragon asked. From what I could make out, Liam was nearby, scolding Ginger. Something about not to nearly kill her charge.
“Somehow.” The fact that my voice didn’t so much as waver surprised me. His smile was nice. It made me wonder if that was what had drawn Ginger to him. As he helped me up, I asked, “So, what am I killing?”
“Nothing.” He started.
Liam called toward us from where Ginger and him had been standing. His voice cut Pendragon off. “Not yet. First, you have to learn how to hunt.”
“And how do I do that?” I called back.
The two of them made their way toward us as Liam answered. “Well, first you will need to return to your Kitsune form. While some of your abilities are the same in your human form, you might find that they are a bit muted.”
I groaned, wondering what I did to get this kind of treatment from the universe. Could my life not be forced down a path? Could I not just be allowed to pick my form? While I grumbled, I willed my body to transform.
Mana swirled around me. It focused on my ass and head. More than before, I felt the transformation occur. My spine lengthened as my tail pushed its way forth. Luckily it found the hole before it was forced to rip its way through my underwear. My ears melted away, replaced by their long and pointy counterparts.
It was unsurprising when the world around me exploded with noise as my hearing ratcheted up in sensitivity. Everything calmed back down as my ears flattened down a bit. However, the changes in the scents around me caught me off guard.
It wasn’t like I could suddenly smell things I had never been able to before. No, this was like suddenly being able to differentiate between each strand in a wire. To be able to peel the whole thread apart and pick out just the one you want from within. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to explain it but you would have to experience it to understand what I was saying. But if you did experience it then I wouldn’t have to explain it.
Something on my face or in my body language must have given the change away because Liam smiled as he spoke. “Where muscles and skills are capable of doing great things, they will never be able to replace your senses. Not when you train and integrate them with everything you do. While they can be disrupted, they are hard to block. Especially in the middle of a fight.”
“How would one use their nose in a fight?” I scoffed as I imagined sniffing loudly as I tried to fight someone with my sword.
He answered with a question. “What do you smell?”
“Dirt, grass, musk, and a few other odd scents I can't quite place,” I answered him while trying to pull each thread out. It sounded easy to do but it was far from it. “I just know that most of the weird combinations come from the three of you.”
He nodded and waved at the other two. They took off in a random direction as he spoke. “Most people have a distinct smell. It stems from those around them, their detergent, and a few odds and ends. All of which add up to something unique. Something them. While it will change from day to day, it won't vary all that much. If you know that scent, you can follow their trail or keep a nose open for their approach.”
While he had been speaking, the soft breeze blew all but two of the odd scent combinations from the area. It was safe to assume one of them was mine while the other was his. Without warning, one of the scents returned. This time, it came from behind me.
Curious, I spun to find that Ginger had been trying to sneak up on me. She smiled but pointed to my left. Pendragon took the opportunity to tap my shoulder, nearly scaring a decade off my life in the process. They both ran off again as the wind carried Liam’s voice to my ears. “There are two ways to detect a person. To hear them or smell them. And to help you get the hang of using both, we are going to play a bit of a game. All you have to do is to catch us sneaking up on you.”
“And if I win?” I called back. To be honest, though, I was a bit worried as to what I would lose rather than win because, let's face it, I stood no chance against these three.
Pendragon’s laugh echoed off the stone outcroppings high up on the mountain. “Then I will take you flying!”
Liam’s growls were loud while Ginger’s bubbly voice whined. “But I haven’t gotten to fly with you yet! I want…”
“If you lose,” Liam cut her off before I could get any sort of fix on her voice. “Even if Kai returns, you will train with me for the next week without complaint.” He made it sound like I would be put through hell but to be honest, he couldn’t do anything worse than Barti and the girls. The thought of their training made me wonder how those three were doing. Did the group make it out of the town? They had to have. If not then what was my sacrifice worth?
With a sharp shake of my head, I forced the memories and questions from my head as I asked, “Rules?”
“You have to catch each of us three times before we touch you.” Liam’s voice seemed to come from everywhere around me as he spoke. “For us to win, we have to reach you three times, each. Simple.” Since when was something that someone said was simple ever simple? Actually, maybe I could…I shoved my mana out as I activated my Mana Sense for the first time since that fight.
The world around me became more vivid as mana cascaded over it in a wave. I suddenly knew which of the stones were loose and which were a part of the mountain. Roots broke the dirt up and split rocks in their need to expand. To find water and gather nutrients. I almost felt a bit parched as my mana interacted with the plant.
A hammer made of mana bashed into my growing sphere and shattered it. “Nice try but skills are not allowed,” Liam called from my right.
A sudden jangling sound of rocks as they cascaded down the slope caught my attention. I pivoted around to find – nothing but rocks. While I didn’t know what to expect, I almost hoped that one of them would have been there. That one of them would have given me an easy win. Apparently they didn’t think that I needed such a thing.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
My eyes jumped from place to place as I looked around for where one of them might be hidden. I barely heard the sound of someone tapping a foot before Pendragon tapped my shoulder. “That’s one for me.”
I cursed under my breath as I spun to face him. He wasn’t there. It was like the guy could appear and disappear at will. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of someone’s tail. This time I managed to spin fast enough to catch my pursuer. Ginger slid to a halt, a small pout plastered on her face as she turned and jogged away.
Of course, that was when Pendragon took the opportunity to get me a second time. This time he smacked the back of my head as he passed. He moved so fast that I barely caught sight of his shirt before he was out of my sight.
I grumbled in frustration. Just how was I supposed to even do this? Every one of these people moved faster than I could. “Use your senses,” Liam spoke from right behind me. I didn’t bother to spin around. The guy had me and we both knew it. His hand was gentle as he reached up to gently rub one of my ears. “They will do you little good if you keep ignoring them.”
I barely heard the guy as my body melted into his touch. God, if this was how dogs felt when someone rubbed their ears, no wonder they practically shoved their heads into your hand.
Then, without warning, he was gone. While I can deal with Liam’s vanishing act, the sudden lack of someone rubbing my ears pulls a whining noise from me. It is only as I suck a breath in through my nose that I find a scent I recognize. One that wasn’t there a minute ago. One that smells close.
Something about the scent causes me to jump back. As I do so, I see Pendragon’s arm flash through where I had just been standing. Given where it was and how fast it was moving, I was pretty sure the guy would have broken a bone or two.
“Hey!” I started to voice my protest about the excessive force only to find him grinning in my direction as his body started to blur. To me, it is like he is being rubbed out of the picture by someone. Within moments, he is simply gone. “Wait, you guys get to use skills while I am not allowed to? How is that fair?” All my questions are met with silence. Well, what little silence there is in the middle of a mountainous area.
Annoyed, I pulse my mana out as I try to activate my Mana Sense again. The skill is shattered just as quickly this time as it was last time. “What did I tell you about using skills?” Liam asks from my right. A groan escapes me as I turn to look at him. The fucker is sitting on a rock as if he had been there the entire time.
“And how is that fair?” I demanded.
His left brow lifted as he asked. “Who said this was fair? When has a fight ever been fair?” Neither of us spoke as he stood up. “We are here to train you to use what tools your body gives you. That way, when everything else is stripped from you, you will be able to take on the challenge and win.”
“Don’t you mean if?”
He shook his head as he walked away. “I have seen too many people fall when they were stripped of this tool or that. Some of them broke while others doubled down. Insisting they just needed a stronger spell or a more expensive tool. Never once did they think about what they already had. What no one could take from them.”
I pondered his words. He was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Skills could only get me so far. That was especially true when I fought against creatures that were so much more powerful than me. The demon was a good example of this. I would not have been able to survive against the guy at that level without every bit of training I had received.
Yet, during this fight, I complained or tried to break the rules time and time again. I needed to take this training seriously before the three of them did it for me.
Eyes closed, I focused on the two senses Liam had taken the time to point out. While my nose gave me a decent picture of the area. This was great as I could get a general location of someone from that but nothing concrete. It also broke down the moment someone did something like run circles around me.
My ears, however, offered one hell of an alternative. From what I could tell, I would be able to hear most of what was going on nearby. The only issue was the sheer amount of information. I didn’t think I would ever be able to sift through the amount provided without help. Help that I didn’t have.
But maybe it would be like my Mana Sight. While I could see the mana around me, I didn’t really notice it anymore. Not unless something stuck out to me. A sudden void or dense section was likely to catch my attention.
With a bit of effort, I focused on my ears. At first, they refused to lift. It wasn’t like I knew which muscles to move. Imagine trying to move a muscle you only just discovered. Actually, that wasn’t right. I didn’t even know which muscle moved each of my ears.
Thankfully, the three of them left me alone while I tried to figure things out. Finally, I lifted both ears from their lowered position. The world around me was filled with enough noise to nearly overwhelm me. Only my sheer will and stubbornness were enough to keep me from forcing the two torture devices back down.
Through the noise, I heard a soft tapping sound that seemed to come from behind me. I spun around as I opened my eyes. Ginger was a good dozen feet away as she ran toward me. “Ginger, you’re out!” Liam’s voice was deafening.
“But…she only caught me twice.”
“You are forgetting about the time from the start of the game aren't you?” While Liam asked the question, his tone told me that he already knew the answer.
Emboldened by my small victory, I closed my eyes. The next sound came from above me. Confused, I looked up to find Pendragon slowly dropping toward me. Massive leathery wings stretched from his back. They were silent as they gave the wind soft pats to keep him aloft and in position. His smile was, not quite smug or sheepish, but a bit of a mix. I didn’t get all that good of a look before the guy’s wings beat the air as he took off.
Air pushed down on me, making it hard to hear anything over its roar. Which was probably why I missed the person stalking up behind me. I only noticed him as his hand wrapped around my middle.
His mouth sat against the side of my face. If I had human ears his words would have caressed them as he spoke. “And that is three. We win.”
“No you don’t!” I cried out in anger and shock. Anger at his assertation that I lost and shocked at just how close this guy was getting. “You are the only one that reached me three times. You said that each of you have to reach me three times.”
The guy’s head shifted as it shook. “I said we had to reach you three times each meaning we couldn’t each simply reach you one time and win.”
“That’s…”
“Not fair?” I felt his lips twitch as they no doubt quirked into a smile. “What did I say about fighting fair?” Yeah, this alpha was going on my list again. He didn’t seem to learn anything from the tail incident. “We rigged the exercise, not because we wanted you to lose but so that you were forced to use your ears.”
“Why would you think I haven’t been using them this whole time?”
“Because they are always low to your head. It is as if you have been trying to act as if they were not there. Like you still were limited to your human hearing. But you’re not. Nothing about you is human anymore. You need to come to terms with that.”
My voice was weak as I tried to voice my feelings. “But…why…what if I want to be human?”
“You can try all you want, but you are not. You will never be human again. Eventually, there will come a time when you will be forced to confront this issue. I would rather it be now, while you are training, than while you are in the middle of a fight. Where the moment of hesitation will get you or someone else killed.” While his words were soft and full of care, I wanted to argue back. To declare that I could do it. But the words never came. The anger never manifested. If anything, I felt a part of myself felt relieved to be given permission to let that part of myself go.
It was as if his words were the nails needed to seal my human past away so that I could accept my new body and all that it came with. Mostly. While I would still ask the gods to switch my gender back, I wasn’t going to ask them to revert me back into a human. Where else would I get such a fluffy tail after all?