Chapter 2: Chapter 2. Surrounded

Nearly thirty minutes had passed since Felix entered the cave and butchered his first victims. He had been... meditating? Cultivating? He had been concentrating on the cold energy that was generated inside his body and had discovered a few useful things.

First of all, the more he extracted the energy from the source, which was located somewhere around his abdomen, the longer its effect remained and made his body stronger and tougher. The first time he experienced its force, it had quickly dissipated. Now it stayed as long as two minutes. But he believed the power would fade away faster while he was in move, so he strongly hoped it would last until the battle's end while fighting.

Currently, there was no chance for practice to determine the potential of the energy while moving. The cave was too cramped for it. Therefore, he put more effort into withdrawing and directing the energy around his all body parts. The most important matter was how to extend the durability of this mysterious might. He concentrated on bringing the energy out from its source while using it by moving toward his arms and legs as he sat in a tight place. Though it was next to no use.

As Felix was exercising his newfound power, the outside started to get noisy. The monsters were growling at each other and sounds of their feet multiplying.

They were all here.

All around the dome sounds of those beasts could be heard. They might have started digging. One of them came scrambling into the cave, probably to pull out their fallen comrades.

I can do this. I can survive this all. Only focus on fighting. Nothing else matters. There's no past, there's no future, there's just now. And now is the time I have to fight.

Felix readied himself to the upcoming battle. The chance for him to get out of there alive was very, very slim, and the likelihood of death was considerably high. But he had accepted it. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to get out of the cave, let alone fight.

He picked up two sturdiest branches he had found, and clung onto the two monster's corpses while they were being dragged outside. As expected, they had decided to pin him down from all directions.

The plan was to give them a surprise attack. After taking down two or three of them, to challenge their leader to a one-on-one battle. To Felix’s knowledge, if the alpha wanted to fight their opponent alone, others would stand by and watch the skirmish without intervening. Because when the strongest died, another one would be able to try their luck and become the next head of the pack.

At least, Felix hoped so.

He moved with the corpses, doing his best not to make any excessive sound, trying to blend with other noises. He briefly stopped at the entrance to inspect the enemy lines and saw a monster in his right that was standing nearest to him, apart from the one hauling the dead.

Gathering his courage and bolstering his determination, he burst out of the cave and struck at the first creature on the skull with enough force to generate a cracking sound. He then immediately dashed toward the one on the right and swayed his weapon, aiming for its leg in order to break it in one motion.

He swung his stick to its leg from the right upper angle. The monster let out an angry shriek but he didn't care or stop and kicked the beast away, instantly moving on to the next target. Another one had tried to sneak from behind. He swept the stick horizontally and knocked it down, kicked it to the jaw and received a pained howl. A third came from the front of the cave and jumped at him. Felix took a few steps back and immediately crashed at the monster to throw it away. The creature wasn't some lightweight though, and from the impact, Felix staggered backwards.

The monsters didn't attack recklessly now, realizing the other party's strength wasn't to be taken lightly. They circled him while growling and baring their fangs to intimidate him. Felix mirrored them, doing his best to look as vicious as possible, and hissing as if he could use his teeth to tear them apart.

I’m not someone who can be trifled easily. Come. I’ll crush you all.

He was angry they were eyeing him as a prey. But he was also thrilled from the might in his muscles. It was as if all he had to do was play his part accurately and the power would do the rest.

At that moment, Felix noticed the pack leader approaching him. It was the largest one he had seen so far. From its pace and dominant behavior, it was without a doubt the alpha. It was indicating others to follow him with his movements. But Felix wouldn't allow it. He neared the alpha himself, ignoring others as if they were just minions not worthy enough of being his rival.

The alpha caught on the signal with an angry snarl, as did the others, so the rest began surrounding the two, giving them some space.

Everything was going according to the plan, but Felix couldn't let his guard down just because they backed away. They could pounce at him at any moment. He stayed vigilant in any case.

The battle started with the alpha lunging at its human opponent from below, aiming to his knee to cripple him. Felix briskly stepped to his right, but still got a gash of wound to the knee. He had some scratches and wounds from the first monsters he had killed, but that was manageable. However, this injury gave him another kind of searing pain in a new level for him. Still, in adrenaline, Felix could focus on the battle now. He tried to retaliate with a strike to the creature's head, but the alpha backed away and moved sideways to find a new angle to attack.

Felix didn't let it circle him and swung his stick to its head from the side. But the monster's reaction was swift, so it swayed its front paw and knocked off the weapon from his hand. Felix stepped back and tried again with his left hand weapon, but this time the pack leader didn't sway it away, it bit it to remove it from his hand.

Seeing no other choice, Felix hurled himself onto the monster to grab its jaws and break them apart with his remaining energy. Though it was easier said than done.

Felix had a little energy left from the mysteries power. He had extracted some while they were preparing for the battle. It would just give him measly two seconds or so.

They both rolled on the ground while the spectators watched them, readying themselves at any moment to join the fray. The alpha was, by all means, stronger than Felix. It shook him from right to left, trying to rip apart his flesh. Felix was losing his strength and becoming tired, while receiving more and more wounds. The calculation of his energy consumption turned out to be utterly inaccurate.

I have never imagined dying while fighting, honestly. …Well, at least it is a nice last stand.

The pack leader was now cornering him, putting him against the cave's wall. Felix was exhausted, not having any energy or stamina left to try to go back to his shelter.

He had lost. It was the end.

Still, he wanted to struggle to the last of his strength. There wasn't any weapon left to use, just his limbs, which would not be effective against this monster. He tried anyway. Like a man drowning to grasp any twig for help, he flailed his arms and legs, imitating the creature in front of him, while doing his best to extract as much energy from the source from his abdomen as possible.

And then, suddenly, it started.

His nails started to become thicker and sharper, his front teeth hurt like a cruel dentist was trying to pull them out. His skin got hotter, and he felt as though tiny bubbles were forming beneath it.

Confusion was clear on the alpha's face, but Felix didn't care what was happening at all. In his mind, there was just a purpose of tearing apart his foe. He didn't notice when his opponent appeared to be smaller than before, and his own senses were sharper.

He felt the alpha's smell much better now. It was female, and was marked by another one. She was getting stressful, and there was fear in the smell. His vision was clearer now, as if time was put a few hours back to the day's brighter part.

However, Felix paid attention to none of it. He just wanted to fight and tear apart his opponent, no matter what.

So he thrust away the alpha with his 'hands', and lunged at him to repay the claw marks that were given to him a while ago with his 'nails'.

Felix clawed the alpha ceaselessly, used his fangs in an attempt to bite off the creature’s head from the neck. Either he had awakened his animal instincts or he was just retaliating in an animal way.

The other beasts stopped grumbling in anger and supporting their alpha. Instead, they watched the battle with some fear and confusion, never considering of helping their leader. Such was the way of the pack.

Eventually, Felix managed to inflict a heavy blow to his opponent and knocked her down. After that, he immediately lunged at her throat and jerked the alpha from side to side to rip her throat apart. The alpha threw her paws to all directions to get free, but to no avail. The sounds of flesh being ripped were heard from every jolt, and sometimes crunching of bones with them. Finally, the battle came to its end when the alpha stopped struggling.

Felix stood still a little longer, biting the corpse's throat, ensuring it was truly dead. After he let go of it, he took a few deep breaths, and looked with his feral gaze at the other pack members, expecting another clash.

Witnessing their alpha, the strongest monster of their pack, being defeated so one-sidedly had truly shaken them to the core. They didn't dare move an inch as they watched the victor cautiously.

You are reading story A story of the changeling at novel35.com

One of them was apparently unhappy of the result as he was growling and baring his teeth, though ever so slightly that it was clear he didn't protest openly due to his fear. Felix could tell that he was the now-dead alphas’ mate from his scent.

Regardless, to Felix, it was a sign that he wanted a fight, so he decided to give it to him.

He charged towards his new opponent. With the Intent to eviscerate anyone who opposed him in his eyes. Seeing his savage dash toward them, other pack members scattered to every direction, not intending to fight the one who took down their leader. Soon, the protestant gave up too, turned the tail, and fled.

Felix didn't chase them afterward and stayed nearby the dome as if it was now his new territories' base. He took some deep breaths to calm his vigorously pounding heart from the adrenaline rush. But he did not let his guard down yet and kept his alert for the reason that they might come back. After around a minute, he relaxed a little, and started to collect his thoughts.

He stood there in his monster form, unmoving, savoring the feeling of victory he had just earned. Before he came here, he could experience such sensation only through video games, his fight with other people couldn't even come near to this one; there was so much movement, actual blood spilling, freedom of using any lethal move, possibility of dying...

Alright, calm down, man. Now I did this, let's think about what to do now. No, wait... most importantly, what I've become!?

He slowly looked down at his hands, actually, now paws that replaced them. He drew his claws and scratched the ground. Then he directed his attention to the weirdest part of his new body: his tail.

When he tried to move it, it did, which proved his suspicion about turning into a wolf-like creature. He was no longer a human, was all on fours, and had a tail.

How the hell did it happen!? Because I wanted to fight the monster in their own way...? No, not just that, it can't be. I used that energy while I was imitating those creatures, and as a result, I turned into them... This is magic. But how is this possible? …When that light came down, it brought magic with it, or it brought us to where magic exists. Which means... this might be another world.

That light might have been the reason he was teleported here. There must be a way to teleport back. He had to find a means to go back to Earth if this was really another world. Right now, he had no chance of searching for a solution for this problem. So he just focused on the current matter.

Felix paced around to experiment on his new body with curiosity and confusion. It felt weird to him. Weirder than when he walked like this in his childhood on all fours. It felt far more natural. Although, there were difficulties moving his four legs in synch, he got used to it quickly. The more challenging part was to sway his tail accordingly to his body movements, or else it felt awkward. It was like he was moving his left arm with his left leg, and right arm with his right leg while walking when he was human.

Speaking of which, can I turn back into human again? If I managed to use that power to turn into this monster, it must be possible to become human again... But that experiment can wait.

Felix didn't want to take a risk and to be left defenseless again if the pack decided to come back. For that reason, staying in a beast form seemed much safer.

He then checked his senses. As expected, they were sharper now. His vision was clearer in the dark despite there was no moon, his hearing was better than before, and his sense of smell... He had never felt his nose working this good before. It was like a second but much weaker version of seeing. He picked out smells that he couldn't hope to detect in his human form. Other smaller animals were discernable in every inhale he took, and the scent informed him about their cautiousness.

He remembered the alpha's smell, what meanings it had. The smell had a domineering sense, but at that moment, there was also fear, and that helped him fight her more easily with new vigor.

After inspecting his condition, Felix decided to call it a night and entered the tiny cave. He pulled back the two corpses to block the entrance again, piled some branches and roots, so if someone or something tried to enter, it wound make noise, and alert him. Although the smell of blood was strong, it wasn't unbearable. On the other hand, it was helpful to scare away smaller animals. After making sure he was safe, he relaxed and tried to sleep.

The sun hadn't peeked from the horizon yet when Felix woke up and exited his safe shelter. The injuries from the previous night felt sour, though they were healed considerably due to, he guessed, the transformation from one shape to another.

He still couldn't believe what had happened so far, it all seemed like a very scary nightmare. But his current form was telling him it was all real. He had tried to sit up when he woke up but failed to do so; his elbows wouldn’t buckle the way they used to. His paws and weird hard skin felt as if he was in a strange dream.

Felix surveyed the dome's surroundings to ensure there weren't any monsters lurking around before coming to the front of the cave. He wanted to check his shapeshifting ability whether he could really turn back into human.

He recalled yesterday's events; the state he was in that made him change shape, the desire to fight with the alpha in an equal stance, wanting to fight the monster like a monster in his dire situation.

Felix started his experiment with drawing out the energy from its source, while simultaneously imagining his human form. Extracting as much energy as he could, he envisioned all his body parts, along with his height, his body shape, his face.

The temperature of his skin began to rise and familiar tiny bubbles started forming inside it. The sharp senses slowly got dulled. The most uncomfortable feeling was when his bones were being reformed.

It took about five seconds to transform into his original shape. He opened his eyes and observed his human body. Everything was in place. Except his nakedness, everything was fine. His clothes were torn apart in the struggle, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't survive the transformation process.

Well, it was easier than I thought. Let's try to turn back, then. He thought to himself.

It took more time and even more energy than the process of changing into human. After that, Felix wanted to try turning to other animals, but to no avail. The animals he knew were as a picture in his mind, their habits, body shape, how they felt to touch. His house pets couldn’t do the job.

Maybe I should be in contact with the creature I'm going to change into in order to become it?

After the tests, he focused on the next most important problem: his hunger. In the beast form, he guessed his body must require higher nutritious food than in his human body. But he didn't plan to eat raw food. First, he needed to search for a human settlement.

Felix set out in his monster figure, not running fast, wary of attracting unnecessary attention. His stomach was complaining from hunger, but he resisted the urge to go hunting. Even if he wanted to, he was not sure to catch a prey. It was not a fighting that he could just rely on his strength alone, it required experience. He would have to find a place where humans lived, and fill his stomach there if possible. But how? He would think about it when the time came.

He slowly jogged through the trees while occasionally stopping to observe the surroundings. He liked his current enhanced senses, therefore, in order to hear more sounds he would pause in his track and listen carefully to the nature. It felt fascinating for him to be able to sense things so far ahead. To be this close to nature felt exceptionally well for him.

He had ran for quite a while when a smell made him halt and take his steps carefully while bending his frame to be close to the ground. Although, he made an inner promise to have a meal when he reached a civilized residence, he couldn't resist the basic urge of his current beast form. He didn't realize his instincts were even more sharpened due to his hunger and encounter with preys.

Felix stealthily approached a place where he can see clearer his targets. Nothing was in sight yet, but the scent was quite noticeable from a large distance. Making as little sound as possible, he walked on the ground through the forest’s shrubbery, avoiding twigs and dead leaves that could alert the two deer over hundred meters away.

While getting close to the pair, he tried to recall what he knew about hunting: approaching the prey soundlessly, coming from the direction against the wind, ... that was all. He had never gone to an actual hunting before. There were programs about nature and wild animals that he used to watch long ago and now would watch on You Tube sometimes.

When the gap between them was less than twenty meters away, his future-to-be meals suddenly became alert. He froze in place, but it was pointless because the deer started galloping to the opposite direction. Losing this chance wasn't acceptable, not because of his grumbling stomach. It was such an amazing feeling that he felt like a true predator in the wild.

So he ran.

His targets now sped up, aware of his presence. He increased his speed as well, doing his best not to trip while running. It was clear if he was to misstep, the fall would not be something to laugh off due to his high speed.

He hadn't tried running this fast yet, so the feeling was so thrilling that he almost forgot he got a prey to catch. After sprinting little more than thirty seconds, his lungs started breathing heavily. He didn't know the deer were used to running a lot more than predators that spent their time just for fighting, sleeping, mating, and for other activities.

However, when he was about to give up his pursuit, the two deer tumbled and rolled forward spectacularly. Still in his good mood, he hurriedly closed the distance between him and the animals. But when he was a few meters away, an arrow was struck on one of the deer's head, killing it instantly. There was an archer pointing an arrow at him, but he released it toward the second deer. Felix used the opportunity to turn and flee, but found two more hunters blocking his way.

He was surrounded.

These were not those beasts he could trick his way out, but much more intelligent humans. He had been searching for them ever since he came here, but didn't expect to finally meet them at these circumstances.

You can find story with these keywords: A story of the changeling, Read A story of the changeling, A story of the changeling novel, A story of the changeling book, A story of the changeling story, A story of the changeling full, A story of the changeling Latest Chapter