Cassandra

Year 820 | Month 4 | Day 20

Nidhogg glances at the rest of our retinue before apparently deciding to create some sort of barrier out of flames between my family and the rest of our retinue. Then he focuses on me and states, “To begin, your skill ‘The Calling of Wrath’ is not completely random in the beasts it transforms you into when used.”

My eyes widen at that, but I narrow them a second later.

Not too surprising. Especially since I already suspected as much. After all, I’ve never turned into the same thing twice, so it makes sense.

“What the skill is actually doing at the lower levels is simply raising the progress of your Wrath Transformation,” he says, making me frown slightly. “That means it is getting you more and more used to each and every form of monster in existence that uses the Sin of Wrath.”

Now that is surprising. And my brothers and dad seem to agree.

“It won’t turn you into every last creature made up of the Sin of Wrath, but over the course of you using it, you will find that it shall turn you into at least one creature of every varied form of the Sin, making your body more and more used to the Sin,” he continues explaining, making me feel a slight chill down my spine for some reason. “Over time, your body will change bit by bit to be more adapted to the Sin of Wrath itself. You will eventually truly become the Embodiment of Wrath. In one way or another.”

Oh. That’s… not good?

“You will be able to retain a humanoid form of your choosing, of course,” he says after seemingly noticing my worry. “Most intelligent Embodiments do. Although there are some features you won’t be able to choose, such as your eyes, as eyes are the window to the soul in more than just a metaphor.”

I can’t help but glance at his eyes, which are actually about the same color as mine.

”Once your Wrath Transformation is complete, you’ll be able to shapeshift freely into any monster of the Sin of Wrath that you wish, and you’re The Calling of Wrath skill will let you choose which beast transformation you wish to take instead of giving you a random one,” he continues as if he’s already met an Embodiment of Wrath before. “However, if you’re just normally transforming without the skill then you will not gain any significant boosts in power from it aside from the transformation’s altered form and its own strengths.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

So… Wrath Transformation is good then.

Cool.

“How do you know so much about the Embodiment of Wrath species?” I ask, unable to stop myself.

He looks surprised for just a moment before answering, “Because I knew the last Embodiment of Wrath.”

The last Embodiment of Wrath?

“What happened to them?” I ask, getting a sorrowful glance from the dragon in return, which answers my question in and of itself.

“He was killed by the other Embodiments at the time working together,” Nidhogg answers, surprising me more than a little. He doesn’t explain any further and even cuts me off before I can ask anything as he says, “If you wish, you may spend the rest of this Conjunction on the coast killing off any monsters that near it. Or you can stay and listen.”

I blink in surprise at that before glancing at dad, only to find him nodding.

“I know you don’t have any interest in these affairs, so we can just tell you the details afterwards,” dad says, being especially nice when he’s usually a stickler for the rules on things like this. Probably because we only just reunited after months of him worrying about me.

And he is right. I don’t want to be here.

Especially with the royalty from Ardene here.

I turn back to Nidhogg before nodding as I answer, “Alright. Thank you, Great Ancestor.”

Nidhogg nods back and says, “No need for a Sin to address me formally. Just call me Nidhogg.”

My eyes widen in shock, and it’s only now that I truly realize just how differently the Sacred Beasts are treating me than the others. It’s like the humans are lesser species that they feel obligated to protect and the royal families are just the caretakers of the species.

And now that I’m no longer human, that I’m a Sin, they respect me a lot more than before.

Not really sure entirely how to feel about that, but I guess I’m being treated well now, so it’s fine.

Both of my brothers and dad are rather shocked by what he just said though.

“Thank you then, Nidhogg,” I tell the dragon with a smile before heading out at the same time as the other platforms reattach. And as I walk, I hear Nidhogg explaining that I was excused from the Conjunction to train.

Surprisingly, the Ardene King doesn’t complain this time.

I leave the platform, occasionally returning a head nod from some Sacred Beasts I pass, once again proving the respect my being Wrath earns me. Some of them even give me a polite greeting, calling me Wrath instead of Princess.

At this point I’m just used to being called Wrath though, and their respect makes me feel a little good. So I return their greetings whenever they happen as I climb my way down the tree.

When I reach the bottom of the tree, I find a Sacred Beast waiting there for me. This beast in particular is in their beast form and not their humanoid form, showing me the sight of a large black tiger spanning about three meters in length and two in height standing at the very bottom of the stairs. And their eyes are glowing with an eerie yellowish-orange light to them with a black sclera.

The tiger bows its head slightly and says, “Greetings, Wrath. I am here to guide you to the best corner of the island for hunting purposes.”

I nod back with a short, “I appreciate the help,” before the tiger and I begin walking into the woods to the East.

Now it’s time to hunt as the others waste their time with politics and war prep.