The next day arrived and Tess was going to show him around the capital. Chuck was looking forward to it. He didn’t know if yesterday’s interaction counted as a date but this was definitely a date. The following day was his ceremony at the castle but there wasn’t much for him to do to prepare. He had packed his dress clothes just in case, so didn’t have to worry about that. Tess even offered to go with him which helped ease his anxiety. He ate breakfast and waited outside the guild for her. Chuck had to admit he was worried when she said he wouldn’t like her original form but a slime didn’t bother him all that much. It was a lot less terrifying than most things he had seen in this world so far. He wasn’t wearing his hood today since he thought it would be weird but did take his gun to be on the safe side.
Chuck saw Tess and waved. She was still in her fox girl form and was getting some attention from the locals. She didn’t seem to mind though, and waved back. “Good morning, how about we go down by the water today. I know a great restaurant we can eat at that serves the freshest seafood.” Tess said happily. “But first I want to change.” She said, taking his hand and pulling him into the guild building. When they were away from prying eyes, she transformed into a human girl. It just happened to be the girl he had a crush on in his class. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic build, and was about the same height as Chuck. She was wearing a blue sundress with flower patterns that he remembered seeing her in one time in town. Chuck was shocked into silence. “What’s the matter, I know you like this form” she said with a wink. “Oh, um, nothing. You just surprised me is all.” Chuck said, shaking his head and pulling himself together. “It’s just that she was the prettiest girl in our class and I was always too scared to talk to her.” Chuck said frowning. “Well, you don’t have any trouble talking to me right, let’s go.” She said, holding his hand and pulling him back outside. “Right.” Chuck said with a grin. It was still surreal seeing a copy of his classmate walking down the medieval street surrounded by people that looked like monsters.
On the way Chuck asked a few questions about her. He realized he didn’t even know how old she was or how long shape shifters lived. Of course he didn’t know how long any of the people of this world lived. Raz had given him some basic knowledge so he knew that months and years were similar to Earth but slightly shorter. His common sense was still severely lacking though. Tess didn’t seem to mind his odd questions and told him most races usually lived to around 50 years old but they grew up rapidly and left the house after 5 years. Demon kin usually lived closer to 200 years. Chuck was surprised both by how short and how long the different life spans were. He was glad shape shifters were on the longer side. He found out Tess was 41 years old so was young for a shape shifter but a lot older than him. His young age didn’t bother her. She seemed happy when he told her that humans can live to about 100 if they are lucky.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
As they got closer to the water front, Chuck started seeing the sea kin he had heard about. They were basically fish people with scales, webbed hands and feet, and fish like heads. They seemed to be able to keep a layer of water around most of their body. He guessed it was some form of magic. They evidently still didn’t like to stray too far from the water though, as he hadn’t seen them in other parts of the city. They went by a much larger market which sold primarily sea food and Tess pointed out a few things for him to try. The locals still stared at them wherever they went but nobody tried to accost them and even seemed to go out of their way to avoid them. Tess kept holding his hand as they walked along so he didn’t feel too bad about being ostracized.
They had lunch at the restaurant Tess recommended which was a small, cozy affair with a nice view of the sea. Their goblin server took their order and they continued to chat. “I’m curious, can you make your arm turn into a sword and use it as a weapon?” Chuck asked. “I can make it look like a sword I suppose, but it won’t have any of the properties of a sword so I couldn’t actually cut anyone with it. Shape shifters aren’t known for their fighting ability. We can mimic strong forms but aren’t actually that strong.” Tess explained. “Hmm, I see. Can you turn into inanimate objects or animals?” Chuck continued, leaning closer in interest. “As long as it is roughly the same size as us.” She said, leaning closer as well. Chuck realized how close they were getting and quickly sat up, blushing. “Um, can you use magic?” Chuck asked, scratching his cheek. “Our ability is a form of magic and we can use basic magic but other than that we aren’t strong mages.” She said, grinning at him. Their meal arrived and Chuck thought it was indeed excellent.
They spent the afternoon walking around. They saw numerous ships docked at the piers. Most of them had sails but Tess pointed out a couple that did not, and said they were magically powered. Chuck excitedly asked about magic airships but evidently that wasn’t a thing. He was a little disappointed so Tess cheered him up by taking him to one of the light houses. It was much taller than he initially thought and made up of some kind of white stone. Tess said the massive light was powered by magic as well. It was very impressive but they weren’t allowed to go inside. The coast was rocky so there didn’t seem to be a sandy beach, which was unfortunate. On the way back, they walked through a large park with a ton of flowers. Tess said it was one of her favorite places and he could see why. The amount and different varieties of flowers was truly amazing. She left him at the guild after saying she would see him tomorrow and kissing his cheek. Chuck was so flustered that he barely managed a goodbye while holding his cheek and blushing.