Chapter 22: Transformation
Early Morning - Mid Spring : Year 10 : The Nest | Home
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"Mmmm…" Letting out a noise of satisfaction as I tore off a piece of especially juicy bison meat beneath the glow of the sunrise, my tail curled and shifted with ease.
"So, Vasilias, that spell you used on the wyvern." Sliding me an incredibly fatty piece of meat like a bribe, Mother gave me a playful, but genuinely curious look. "You called it magnetism, but could you explain a bit more about it?"
Father's tail instantly curled as his attention shifted to me as well.
"Mm-hm," Quickly trying to swallow what was in my mouth as I accepted Mother's bribe, I nodded with a gulp. "But before I explain," *Slurp* Licking my lips, I tried to keep my drool from slipping out. "How much do you know about the interaction between lightning magic and metals?"
Father immediately shot her a glance before she started, "Largely just that there is some interaction between them—a push or pull when moving lightning mana through something fast."
-I see…-
"It's largely just used for mining, either to pull smaller metal deposits out of the rock, collect filings in scrap, or to find larger, deeper ore deposits. I've just.. never seen the interaction strong enough to do what you did…"
Nodding, my posture straightened like a professor straightening his glasses. "Well, it seems like you know the gist of it though. Magnetism is just what I call that interaction."
Their attention fixated on me in a blink.
"Electricity, or lightning, will form a field around itself when it moves fast enough, and this field can interact with the natural fields many metals have. The closer the fields are, the stronger the force, either attraction or repulsion."
Father, confused, finally chimed in as I paused. "Where did this talk come from?"
But Mother just motioned at me to continue.
"Basically, if you have a metal rod, you can use lightning magic to create a field extremely close to the side of the metal, and drag or push the metal around with it. If you just use the air, you can throw something only as fast as you can move your lightning mana, think like throwing something with your tail."
The air seemed to still as everyone, including Ilios and Krystallo, listened intently.
"However, if you use a medium like another metal, or in my case, my tongue, you can move the field at the speed of electricity itself." *Woom*
Using some earth magic to create a small iron needle for a demonstration, I moved it back and forth in the air without touching it before pinching my claws around it, and watching it explode into a shotgun blast of sparks. *SNAP-PPPPPPATER*
It was a simple display, but a beautifully informative one.
"The stronger the field, the stronger the reaction, and once you get a feel for it, you can actually align the smaller pieces in the metal itself to strengthen it even more."
Immediately moving to try it himself, the crackle of static filled the air, and we all turned to see Father creating a similar iron needle. *Crrrackle*
With every static arc, the needle shifted, darted, and snapped, and with every little movement, his eyes clouded with thought.
Until… "I don't see how you make it move that fast though… Like," Looking up, his expression was blank and emotionless from the suffocation of thought, "How do you make it move faster than your mana?"
I understood, though. "With your lightning mana, do you feel how you can kind of 'pave a path' with it? Like carving an empty channel ahead of the actual charge you're moving the needle with?"
His eyes drifted back to the needle. "I do."
"Then carve two parallel paths through your claws, and just let the charge go after you've got a good grip on the metal."
Pinching his claws near the needle, his eyes thinned with a squint before… *SNAP-PPPPPATTER*
Giving the forest a molten shower, his eyes went wide without a mutter.
And even Mother got hooked and started experimenting with it, weaving iron filings into the cone of ice on the tip of her tail before gently tossing and catching it trying to get a feel for it.
Everyone had simply been trapped in thought and experimentation.
Though, it didn't last forever.
"Vasilias…" Finally breaking the silence, Father paused his play. "Would you be interested in travelling to a humanoid kingdom?"
The air stiffened in an instant.
"Excuse me?" Promptly intervening, Mother's expression fell. "He is absolutely too young for that, honey." Her tone was more firm than a mountain.
But Father wasn't convinced. "Are you sure..?" Slowly creating another tiny needle, he paused. "I feel like.. we'd just stunt his growth by following a normal timeline."
"He cannot go anywhere near humans unless his humanoid form is flawless. That's not happening in two months."
"Are you sure about that..?" Giving me a glance, Father's eyes seemed to look at something deeper than my eyes.
However, while I felt my whole body tense with excitement at the mere thought of being able to explore outside of the nest, in a kingdom no-less.. I had my reservations. "I'm.. not sure…"
Transformation magic was something Mother had discussed in the past, and truthfully, it sounded like a lot. -One slip up and I feel like I could kill myself…-
But, Father wasn't quite as reserved as me. "You just melted a mountainside, and now you want to be cautious?"
My fluster compounded instantly, "We've already agreed that was stupid of me though! I don't want to hurt myself trying something like transformation magic if I'm not ready."
Mother agreed too.
But Father was adamant. "You already 'know' how to do it, though, every dragon does. Plus, I'm certain you have enough mana for it to be usable."
My expression washed with trouble as I pulled my head back. "How would I already know..?"
"Transformation magic is in your blood. It's carved into our bodies. It's just a question of how complete of a transformation you can maintain."
My gaze shifted to Mother with a look of confusion and discomfort.
She didn't hold back forever though. "Transformation magic is split into two levels."
Father was quick to continue, "There are temporary forms, and true forms. True forms are the ones dictated by your blood. Typically only reached around the elder stage, you can think of them like a second mold." He paused as he thought of how to word it. "Think of it like a second body you can naturally twist yourself into.. at the cost of an incredible volume of mana, at least."
I was barely following. "Wait.. so transformation magic physically, like.. remodels your body?"
Mother and Father both nodded instantly. "Your true form is just remodelling your scales to fit into a different shell."
That answer hardly eased my confusion though. -How on earth do dragons as big as us squeeze into tiny bodies like that?- "Does it not hurt? Would you not weigh an incredible amount, still?" The density of our bodies at that scale would be astronomical.
Well beyond what physics would normally allow.
But Mother quickly went to explain it was exactly as I thought. "Oh, it's not comfortable at all. You're super stiff, not having scales makes you feel naked, you weigh the same, so you have to get really good at spreading your weight out with your aura, you constantly feel like you're overheating, everything always hurts, and being that small, even a human sword can take your head off if you aren't paying attention."
My head coiled back with a shudder. "Then.. what about the other form..?"
"That's called a 'temporary form', and is essentially just your true form transformation, but stopped prematurely. Think of it like something that just gets us closer to a humanoid shape and size so we can then use light magic to blend in with other humanoid races."
"That sounds.. complicated…"
"It is, but it isn't." Father shrugged. "It's engraved into your body. Think of it like a rune already carved into your bones. You just have to feed it mana until you reach a limit."
-So it's like the throttle of a machine…- The more I fed it, the better it'd look and the more comfortable it'd be, but the more mana it would consume.
"To oversimplify, your true form is just the point it's fully fueled, kind of. Unless you can actually reach it, you're extremely limited on what you can do comfortably, but that point is never reached until the elder stage."
-Got it…- I nodded with a thick air of hesitance.
"Anyway, let's have you give it a try." Perking up once more, Father's expression lightened.
"Just understand, without light magic, it's not going to be pretty." Mother interjected.
But I was slow. "So.. how do I-"
"Just flood your body with as much mana as you can muster, and when you feel a 'hook', just follow your instincts. It'll feel like you're moving your mana through a maze, but your body will guide it for you. Just keep fueling it until it stops."
"And don't let go too abruptly!" Father yelled, "Think of it like moving weights, take it at a comfortable pace, and don't let it 'release' without letting it out slowly. It'll hurt like a mess of blades tearing through your body if you do it too fast."
My reservation thickened, but… "A..alright…" I wasn't going to simply back out.
*Woom* Promptly grabbing mana from my reserve, I started pulling out as much as I could, as fast as I could, filling my body with an intoxicating chill before suddenly twitching. -Ah.- It was the 'hook' Father mentioned. -I see… Then…-
Trying to just feel for the maze, I felt the mana in my flesh churn, and like it was suddenly caught between the cogs of a machine, it pulled my mana through. *FLASH-WOOOOOM*
In an abrupt, violent flash within a burst of steam, I felt my body shift, morph, tear, and compact in a swift, nauseating movement while a sensation akin to static blanketed my senses.
Before.. with an easing fade, clarity returned, and my senses reorganized themselves with a truly horrific blend of ever-present sensations.
"Urk…" Words truly could not describe how irrefutably awful it was. "BLEGH—" Unable to stop the growing sensation, bloody, fleshy vomit simply erupted from my mouth.
"O-Oh!" It made everyone, Mother, Father, Krystallo, and Ilios jolt with a look of panic.
But.. the flesh wasn't my own.
"H-Honey!" Mother tried to jump in with haste, flooding my tiny, boiling body with a numbing wave of cold as I regurgitated my lunch.
Though, thankfully, I hadn't eaten too much by then. "Hurk…" Eventually getting it all up, instinctively hanging my head, I looked down to see small human hands resting on tan-skinned knees—all steaming with excess water literally boiling itself out of me. -W..What the hell..?-
Looking at myself with my aura, my organs were a mess—fragments of bones, muscle, and even scales strewn about—completely inhuman.
However…
"W..Woah…" Hearing Krystallo mutter a breath of awe, I looked up to see a behemoth of a creature staring into my soul.
I was small… Incredibly so…
But after the panic started settling, only awe and confusion were left in the air.
Unlike the hideous, twisted amalgamation of flesh my form should have looked like, I resembled a child, maybe ten years old. My skin was clear and soft, my hair was messy and dark, my spine was lined with spotted scales trailed with a bushy tail.. and… -Four ears..?-
Not a word was spoken for several breaths.
My form wasn't just concerningly complete.. it was a race it shouldn't have been.
"V..Vasilias..?" Mother was the first to say anything—her eyes darting around like she didn't know what to be more concerned about. "Are you.. using light magic..?"
Still trying to get past the nauseating blend of sensations filling every empty spot within my mind, I shook my head. -How the hell would I be able to use magic in this form?!- I genuinely felt sick.
But that only made her trouble worsen. "Then.. how..?"
To the point Father had to say it. "It's.. his true humanoid form… Or at least something really close to it…"
Somehow, hundreds of years younger than even the earliest awakeners, I had already accessed my true humanoid form.
Yet somehow, that wasn't the most concerning part…
With Ilios's demeanor suddenly shifting, he stepped forward, completely dwarfing me, stopping only to stare into my eyes with a familiar uncanniness.
Something about him was.. different… Familiar, yet only distantly.. like an ancient memory was sturred…
But a moment later, the light in his eyes shifted, Ilios's usual, energetic purity returned, and he coiled his massive body around me.
Though, no one but me noticed any of it.
Mother and Father were far too distracted. "W..Why.. does your true form have.. fenririan.. traits…" Father's eyes moved between my two sets of ears, fenririan and human, and tail with a stuttering concern.
Mother wasn't much different either. "When Ilios got too close to you during your dragon sleep, it forced him to evolve, but.. that shouldn't have.. affected you…"
Though I was still ignorant at the time, my form should have been largely draconic—scaled wings, coarse hair, and a scaly tail.
However, the only draconic traits I seemed to have were black scales tracing my spine, and the nubs of horns still beneath the skin of my scalp.
"What race.. is that..?" Father's voice echoed with a deep stress and anxiety like two halves of his brain were fighting each other.
And truthfully, Mother wasn't any different—her eyes darting between Ilios and I as a web of connections formed behind her eyes. "That artifact…" She muttered beneath her breath before her eyes were caught in Ilios's, and her body tensed with words escaping beneath her breath. "The ancient fenrir..?"
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