“You do it just like this,” Vur said and pointed at dwarf. A second later, the dwarf yelped as he convulsed and transformed into a turtle.

Lulu’s gaze shifted onto Vur, who was standing on her head. “Can you, uh, teach me in a way that actually makes sense?” she asked and wrinkled her snout.

Vur tilted his head. “But it makes sense?” He pointed at the turtle. “Like this.” The turtle shuddered as it sprouted a pair of feathery wings. “See?”

“Demonstrating it in the same exact way as before doesn’t help,” Lulu said and sighed. “How about explaining the concept behind it? What calculations are you doing for the spell?”

Vur hummed and scratched his head. “My mana goes vrmm, then swoosh! And then it goes bzz.” He pointed at the winged tortoise, causing it to sprout a pair of pointy horns. “Just like that. You try it.”

“There’s no way I can try it just like that,” Lulu said, her eye twitching. She snorted and knocked over a few trees with her tail, causing some nearby elves to shout. “What happens to the other person’s mana? How does your buzzing and swishing create physical changes to the other person’s structure without damaging them?”

Vur frowned. “Why are you asking so many questions when you haven’t tried it yet?” he asked and patted Lulu’s head once. “Just try it. Make your mana go vrmm, then swoosh! And then bzz.”

Lulu sighed. “I don’t want to be a murderer today,” she said and frowned. She pointed at a tree. “Vrmm, then swish, and then bzz?”

The tree exploded.

“No. It’s vrmm, then swoosh! And then bzz,” Vur said, shaking his head.

Lulu’s tail smacked against the ground, causing the army of dwarves marching behind her to fall over. “But that’s what I did?”

“You did swish, not swoosh,” Vur said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lulu rolled her eyes and pointed at another tree. “Vrmm, then swoosh, and then bzz,” she said.

The tree exploded.

“Swoosh! Not swoosh. Swoosh!” Vur said. He sighed. “Some people just don’t get it.”

“It’s not a failure on my part!” Lulu said, gritting her teeth. “You can’t teach! Can trees even be polymorphed?”

Vur snorted and pointed at a tree. “Polymorph.” The tree shuddered and transformed into a dog, which promptly fell over onto its side, a glazed look in its eyes. “How is that so hard to do?”

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Lulu blinked at the husk of a dog. “So trees can be polymorphed,” she said. “Interesting. But a vegetable’s a vegetable. And it’s hard because you’re not telling me what to do! Shouldn’t it be a different swoosh and swish depending on what you want your target to turn into?”

“You just change the bzz into a bzzity or the vrmm into a vrmmrm,” Vur said. “The swoosh never changes.”

“You know what, just do it to me and maybe it’ll make some sense,” Lulu said, furrowing her brow. She tilted her head to the side, letting Vur hop off.

Vur pointed at Lulu. “Polymorph.”

Lulu’s body shuddered as she shrank, her silver scales transforming into porcelain-colored skin. Silver hair sprouted from her head, cascading down to the back of her knees as her body straightened, switching from four legs to two. Her claws retracted while thumbs appeared on her hands. Her face narrowed and her eyes opened, revealing a pair of green eyes. She became slightly shorter than Vur. And was completely naked.

Lulu blinked and looked down, inspecting her smooth hands. Then she poked her chest. She blinked again before taking a step forward. A yelp escaped from her lips as she leaned to one side and fell onto her face. “How do you balance without a tail!?” she asked as she crawled onto her hands and knees. She bit her lower lip as she struggled to stand, but fell over again as a breeze blew past. A whimper escaped from her lips as cuts formed on her elbows and hips. “Turn me back, please. I feel squishier than a royal slime.”

Vur scratched his head. “Unpolymorph!” he said, pointing at Lulu. Nothing happened. Vur shrugged. “Can’t do it.”

“What do you mean you can’t do it?” Lulu asked, raising her head. “Just polymorph me into a dragon.” A winged and horned turtle appeared by her side, nodding its head rapidly.

“I don’t know if it works that way,” Vur said. “Turning people into dragons takes a lot of mana.”

“Just do it, please,” Lulu said and hung her head. “I’m way too fragile like this. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen my own blood?”

Vur sighed and pointed at Lulu. “Polymorph!”

Lulu cheered as her body grew, her porcelain-colored skin turning a deep blue. A golden sheen lined the edges of her scales as her eyes turned from green to gold. Her body became larger than it usually was, and an extra feature had been added. Lulu’s eyes widened as she inspected herself. “Ah! You turned me into a male!? Turn me back into a human! What the heck is wrong with you!?”

Vur sighed as he pointed at Lulu again. “There’s just no pleasing you, is there?” he asked. “Jeez. No wonder why Tafel told me to stay away from other pretty women.”

Lulu exhaled as she turned back into a human. “I’d rather be a squishy human than a male dragon,” she said, shaking her head. She stumbled as she took tentative steps forward. “I think I can get used to this if I put my mind to it.” She bit her lower lip and scrunched up her forehead as she stared at the ground.

“You aren’t going to wear clothes, Miss Lulu?” one of the dwarves asked.

“Clothes?” Lulu asked. “What kind of dragon wears clothes?”

“Right?” Vur asked.

Lulu snorted. “Says the dragon wearing pants.”

“Hey,” Vur said with a frown. “Tafel says I look majestic in these pants.”

Before Lulu could respond, a fireball appeared on Vur’s shoulder. “Vur, Vur,” Sheryl said, nudging his neck. “There’s a really strong source of fire coming this way! Can you help me absorb it when it arrives? It’ll help me evolve, which will help you become a proper dragon.”

“Of course,” Vur said with a nod. “It’s about time the birdy arrived.”