Chapter 14: Chapter 14. Flying form

Kiria made her way toward the brothel in a hurried pace, outrunning town guards in another street who were striding in serious demeanors to the same direction. The young men who were appointed to take her into prison were not that strong, instead they were gullible enough to release her cuffs in the cell while she wasn’t locked inside, making her job even easier.

She wasn’t exactly sure the girl who called herself Sareen would keep her word to do what she was asked. But Kiria hurried anyway to know the situation. They wouldn’t be at the agreed place, since she had freed herself much earlier than planned. Lina would serve as a witness, crucial individual from now on if Kiria wanted to prove Duke Sivin’s involvement in this assassination effort.

It looked like the people at the brothel were notified about the possible raid to the mansion. When Kiria arrived at the place, servants were scattering away in rushed steps, some were entering into the building, probably to scavenge the properties, or to inform the guests inside.

Kiria straightly walked toward the strictly secured door of the underground facility. The baldy guard at the entrance let her in somehow reluctantly with some inquires about the situation outside after hearing the password. After Kiria passed and the guard had relocked the steel entrance, the man took a dagger slash at his throat and got pierced in the heart by Kiria’s instant moves. He was no use for her because of his loyalty to his employee, Tsilonee. Maybe to the Duke, as well. The only person mattered to be useful was Lina.

The problem was, the mistress’s chamber was unknown to even Kiria when the young woman came first with her from Chindon. With one thing for sure, she went toward Tsilonee’s room, where the tezenis swords were supposed to be.

Kiria found the room effortlessly. She opened the door to the head prostitute’s chamber, and froze.

The scene was not actually bloody or startlingly messy. What made her frown with confusion were the two presences in the room; two identical bodies of Tsilonee, one dead, the next one alive and naked. The death of one of them was understandable. The traces of scorched mattress, burnt wooden furniture and broken stuff of the room were telling everything about the details of the battle that took place not long ago.

The thing that surprised her was Tsilonee, who was supposed to be already captured, and even more the person who killed her. The shapeshifter sat beside the prostitute’s lifeless body, her eyes staring unfocusedly, her fists clenched white from tension.

Kiria had seen too many times this state of people at wars. The determination and courage to take your enemy’s life, the aftertaste of battle when the feeling of hollowness took hold of the one who killed for the first time. It was blank unpleasantness. The girl must truly be young to kill at such an early age considering her ability. Unfortunately, she would have to do it a lot more in her path of life if she wanted to survive.

Shapeshifters wouldn’t choose their abilities when born as all the other creatures. The harshness of life and cruelty in people for these inborn tricksters, as well as the greed of having strong skilled warriors and servants or slaves would display the injustice of life too early and at full length to this kind of people. And no one could help to mend this nature’s law.

Kiria carefully approached the girl. There was also the possibility this young woman was the real Tsilonee, she couldn’t determine yet. Therefore, she chose to probe a little before helping the poor lass.

“Sareen, can you change back?” the girl flinched slightly at her nearing steps before she spoke. “The town soldiers will raid this whole place soon. We have to get out.”

The young shapeshifter nodded her head slowly, unevenly, rising on her feet. It seemed she wasn’t aware of her nude state as she tried to follow her if she was to lead the way out of the room.

“You need to put on some clothes.”

The girl stared up at her for a few moments before looking sideways as though remembering something. Closing her eyes, the lass took a couple of deep, audible breaths. When her eyes opened, her gaze was emitting wisdom of maturity as if to be calculating her next move. She transformed into the appearance Kiria saw her when the first time they met.

Smart girl.

After gaining her composure, the shapeshifter went to shelves in the chamber, searched for suitable clothes and started packing them on a pile onto a piece of clothing. They were varied in male and female outfits. It appeared Seron slept together with his madam. The girl didn’t even leave the jewelry and money pouches in the locker. She took all what she needed, as if everything was left to her own alone.

Kiria didn’t mind, though. This kind of scavenging didn’t suit her pride as a wandering warrior.

“I’m ready,” the girl finally said, holding a fat cloth pack, which was hanging over her shoulder.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Kiria led the little shapeshifter toward a commonly used cabinet by servants, which she had been suspecting must be the location of a hidden pathway to the outside of the brothel. She wasn’t sure at first, but after seeing one of Tsilonee’s trusted guards watching it, she found her guess was right.

Other than Seron, no one in the mansion could make her get serious. At the beginning, Kiria thought Duke Ling was overestimating the mission before it was given to her; a second stage magic warrior whose mastery level was stuck at bottleneck. This backwater region of the Empire could barely produce a first stage mana user. Except the town lord himself, she never thought there was anyone strong enough who could challenge her.

After making a glaring cleave at the guard’s throat who was securing the hidden passage, Kiria led her shapeshifter companion through a musty tunnel, built with sturdy columns. It eventually brought them to a nearly steep staircase that lifted them up to an old dusty house. Exiting the unused dwelling, they saw the enormous walls of the town, covering the whole small urban area. They were at the borders of the Kartan Town.

“What will you do, now you are free?” Kiria asked the girl in curiosity when they were fully out of the house.

The young shapeshifter looked at her, but didn’t respond immediately. She viewed the solid towering walls and inland houses with her contemplative black eyes. The after-kill emotion had partially dissipated by now from her face and behavior, making her look as if the teen was all fine. However, Kiria knew well how long it would haunt the girl the first experience of taking a life.

It would bear down on the changeling’s heart for sure. But Kiria had faith in this teen that hadn’t broken until now, despite the imprisoned conditions or whatever losses she had witnessed so far. Her fate would undoubtedly be full of hardships. With this kind of ability, whether she would attain a peak power or be an asset to such kind of power one day, an easy life was a dream for her.

Kiria would like to take care of the shapeshifter herself, but she had given her word and she would respect the girl’s decision. However, thinking back to how little knowledge the girl had of the big world, Kiria partly wanted to bring her with herself even if she had to use force.

“I’m not sure. Change and pretend to be someone from this country…? Actually, I want to learn fighting and using magic.” In fact, the reason Kiria hadn’t already proposed the girl to stay with her was this high intelligence the young shapeshifter displayed. Maybe she was not that young.

“How did you become a slave, anyway?” Kiria asked another question.

“I was saved from hunters by her.”

“Hunters?” So she was a run away, after all.

“It’s… complicated,” the shapeshifter smiled uneasily. “and it’s a long story.”

“I see…”

“Well, see you, then,” the girl shifted to walk away.

“See you, little changeling.”

The girl smiled softly and started strolling toward the center part of the town, leisurely taking steps. Then she stopped abruptly and looked back.

“By the way, I haven’t asked your name.”

Kiria had planned not to reveal her real identity from the people she was dealing with. But her mission was almost all over now, anyway. There wasn’t any reason to hide it anymore.

“Kiria,” she said.

The girl paused a little, seemingly copying her name to her mind, and waved her hand before continuing her walk.

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Kiria turned and headed back into the tunnel. Seeing the shapeshifter walk away in stable mind had somehow become her priority that she even delayed her main task. She had to return to the mansion to search for Lina.

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Felix hurried his steps toward the one and only post office building in the town. Chasing after small and nimble birds in the vicinity sounded like a too tiring labor at that moment. He could have even abandoned this town to reach his current goal to search for a larger candidate to fill his next transformation skill slots, but it had own risks. His reasoning for turning into a flying creature right away was, by this way, he would enclose a broader area, and he would be able to find potential creatures to turn into far faster and safer.

First, he had to find a nice spot to hide his bulging pack of clothes. Now he thought about its contents, it was evident it was too much of loot. He needed to sell or throw away the excessive clothes. One or two samples of outfit from both genders would be enough for some time, in fact.

Getting past the receptionist in the post office wasn’t an issue. He paid a price for the most expensive and fastest delivery of this department, claiming he was tasked to send an important letter. He was led up to the top of a thickest cylindrical tower in the facility, where the chirps and croaks of various birds could be heard. The birds were caged one above the other. Almost all of them were familiar sorts of breeds Felix had seen before in his own world.

The skinny young man who guided him wore bored expression as he unlocked a hawk, which was viewing out to its freedom. The creature didn’t appear any different from its other kinds Felix had seen so far; black spots was mingled on its folded wings with coffee brown color, its chest and abdomen were coated in full wooden brown, satisfying Felix’s desire for the transformation choice. Using its form would make it practically advantageous for him to blend with nature if he was to travel amongst trees. He noticed larger sized eagles in other cages, but then considered staying covert was his best option at present.

Felix got close to the flying creature, extending his prearranged piece of paper to the creature’s leg with one arm, holding its figure with the other and caressing it lovingly as he found it the cutest animal. A young maiden petting a bird wouldn’t seem weird to any outside observer. Then, he gasped, running his hand fast but tastefully onto his mouth.

“Oh, I forgot a second part of the letter. My boss said it was really crucial!” He said with an act of panic on his eyes and looked at the post office worker.

The man just stared at his young feminine face, unaffected. Felix rushed past him to retrieve the non-existent piece of delivery. It was a worthy trade to pay two mings to fully grasp his freedom, which Felix estimated it was plenty of money to buy three days’ worth of food for a small family. He wouldn’t send his supposed letter as there was no location he had in mind. He didn’t know any major locations.

Exiting the place, Felix paused to collect his mind a little. Rushing to experiment his newly acquired transformation ability was definitely not a good idea. Faceplanting onto a first construction’s wall was a most likely occurrence. And it was assuming he could manage to take a flight. But he had long been overly full of being in this town.

He made up his mind and started moving.

In order to get rid of the unnecessary luggage weight, Felix had to make a short trip to a remote part of the town’s market. Whether the prices he put onto his goods were appropriate or not, he had no idea. Also, he bought an old looking but sturdy bag, along with a map and a huge basket to carry heavy objects. With this, and after changing into the old woodcutter from the Kartan Manor, he was confident to get pass the security inspection of the town gate.

However, when he arrived at the town gate’s entrance, he witnessed the heavy inspection of the town soldiers. The people who were trying to pass were being checked under strict questioning. One person’s belongings were all scattered down from its sack on the ground by a lazy guard’s actions, probably to check its components quicker.

Felix didn’t put much concern onto the issue though. He distanced from the town walls and headed for a lodge he had eyed before at his outing, in case he fell upon to such a situation. The basket on his back was left somewhere in an empty alley he came across.

It was almost evening; the sun was nearing its falling spot. Still, armed and armored soldier were wandering the streets everywhere. The town’s folk were quiet and timid when they walked pass the soldiers, ushering the old out of the way and urging children to stay in their homes.

Luckily, amongst this turmoil, Felix was able to find a room in the comfortable lodging. It was a hotel with a restaurant on its first floor. Meal times wouldn’t cause inconvenience. The cost to spend a night was sixty kons. The room he was given was very comfortable; a hearth with a pile of firewood to warm the atmosphere, a bed with a thick furry blanket to sleep. This reminded him the spacious, decorated prison he had spent the last three months.

Finally, Felix was alone. He took a huge sigh of relief, enjoying his hard-earned liberty.

A feeble smell of extinguished fire was drifting in the air of the room Felix had spent a night. Although it hadn’t been morning yet, a brightening day was visible through the double paneled window. The temperature of the room hadn’t decreased to the level that could force Felix to dive back into his warm bed.

Felix stood up and stretched his stiff body, which must be the cause from lying still for hours. The burn marks on his body still hadn't faded away, a bitter reminder of his first kill.

Additionally, his bones and muscles didn’t let him reach their full extend somehow. They wanted to be in a slightly crouched stance. And his ears felt like stuffed with cotton. He picked them, but there was nothing wrong.

Looking down to his wrinkled pale hands, Felix finally realized he was still in a body of an old man he had transformed into the previous day. He groaned bitterly at his state. If old age would feel like this one day, he didn’t wish to reach that day so soon. Perhaps, his ability would help him ward off the effects of late age when the time came. Hopefully.

Felix changed back into his original appearance. Being in his own body after experiencing other different appearances for over a day felt exceptionally well, as if he had at last taken back what he had owned. Fresh young body was always the best.

He took a look at the remaining of the firewood beside the hearth. It was enough to heat the room for at least half a day. He ignited it. After waiting the room to come to a balanced temperature to his liking, Felix checked the walls for any peeking holes. The lodging’s construction was mainly built with stone. Therefore, disturbing neighbor residents with his experimental actions was unlikely.

Felix took off all the clothes on his body. Standing stark naked on the center of the room. Then he changed into the first form he had learned. Now there stood a barghest in Felix’s place, in its original alpha size. He felt like fighting, his desire to find his power level in this human town surrounded him. Ignoring the wild instincts, Felix then directly transformed into his feline form. The senses that informed him some presences in the hotel from his previous change dulled a little. He felt like going back to his warm bed.

Sleep would wait. Felix had more important work to do now.

Afterwards, he tested his all other human forms. The model-like body of Tsilonee; smooth skin and enviable shape of body. The young and cutely beautiful Sareen. Her appearance would be useful to him in strolling among the crowd, because she was known to no one, to Felix’s knowledge. He then shifted into Lina’s body, which was around twenty years old to his estimation. She was not as pretty as Tsilonee, but given some maturity, there was no doubt she could have catch up to her in beauty contest.

After warming up from his practice transformations, Felix readied himself to the newest form in his repertoire. Succeeding in changing into a hawk that he only touched a day before once wasn’t guaranteed, but Felix believed he could do it.

Felix imagined the whole structure of the hawk’s body he had seen the previous day; its soft but firm feathers that could cut wind and rein it effortlessly, its sharp talons and piercing beak that were able to shred its prey bit by bit. The bird had eyes that didn’t stop navigating through the space in front of it.

They must have higher blood pressure since their activeness always seemed greater than humans’ did. The ability to detect smaller details that humans ignored should make their nature somehow curious.

And finally, the transformation began.

Felix felt his body start to shrink down. His legs’ position shifted to a closer place on his abdomen and his bones in his arms felt like they were being diminished and narrowing, dividing into multiple thinner parts on their full length. The most complicated part was happening in his head, as usual. His teeth just sank down and disappeared as if they never existed. His lips thickened to become one of the hardest organs in his new developing body. The all square millimeters of his skin began slowly producing needles much thicker than his bodily hair. They soon became feathers that varied in size and softness.

Felix couldn’t feel his fingers anymore. His breathing rhythm had changed drastically at this transformation. If he were to fly a few dozen miles, he was sure he wouldn’t feel tired at all. He unfolded his half spread wings and began flapping them, eager to feel the sensation of his new limbs… and slammed onto the floor face-first

The wings could not hold him upright, and he forgot the disparity between the different bodies of human and a bird. Getting back up was a hassle as he flapped and flapped his wings that didn’t budge further from the angle they were primarily made.

Finally, Felix rose to the height of his new form, staggering backward after he tried to straighten his torso too much. Birds tended to keep an inclined stance, he recalled.

That’s more difficult than I thought.

After eventually coping with the balance issues, Felix directed his attention to his senses. He didn’t complain about his hearing. However, the sight the hawk’s eyes provided him was superb. It was as if his human sight had been SD before, an old standard camera vision, and now it had been upgraded to HD quality. Small details of the objects around him could not escape from his enhanced vision, and his eyes provided variety of colors that offered him to see the world in a new view.

The tongues of flames in the fireplace emitted a strange but amazingly beautiful aura-like glow. It was glimmering further than the fire’s burning range, radiating violet, blue and green colors in a peculiar display of colors he had no hope of seeing with his human eyes.

Felix was more than satisfied from his new transformation. It could provide him variety of advantages in the future; passing long distances far faster than any ordinary mount, convenience of escaping from barricaded areas or surveying unknown territories from a very high altitude.

But it was all assuming he managed to master this flying transformation. Therefore, he started to get familiarizing to his new form.

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