You have cast shapeshift.


    The moment I released the psi weaves, I began to change.


    Skin rippled.


    Blood churned.


    Bones softened.


    And little by little, my body dissolved, its solid, distinctive bulk transforming into a misshapen and malleable lump.


    It was frightening to say the least, and I could only imagine what the process looked like from Ghost and Anriq’s perspective. But to me, it felt as if I would pop at the slightest provocation.


    Next, I began to swell.


    Like a bag of air inflating, my skin expanded. Bones stretched. And organs grew. Urgh, this can’t look pretty from the outside.


    “It isn’t,” Ghost replied primly—and somewhat snidely, I thought. But before I could retort, she added more reassuringly, “It’ll be over soon, I think. You’re already larger than me.”


    She was right, I realized. While all my senses had shut down and my awareness of the outside world had vanished, I could still feel myself. I was bigger. Definitely bigger.


    Then the process began to reverse.


    Skin smoothened. Bones solidified. And my blood’s roiling quietened.


    And then—finally—I began to change.


    Fur replaced hair. Claws grew out of fingernails. Arms stretched. Legs shortened. Bones creaked as joints shifted. My torso lengthened. And lastly, my jaw popped.


    Opening it, I felt around the inside of my mouth with my tongue. The sensation was wholly different from what I’d expected.


    I have a snout, sharp teeth, and—


    I broke off. My transformation was complete, I realized.


    “It is,” Ghost affirmed, and a heartbeat later, the Adjudicator’s own confirmation arrived.


    You have taken the form of a level 250 elder wolf.


    2 new traits gained.


    2 skills have been transformed into their primal equivalent.


    3 new abilities gained, and 10 existing abilities disabled.


    Congratulations, Michael, your nether resistance has reached 100% as a result of your active buffs (+20% from Cloak of the Reach and +30% from elder form). You are now immune to all hostile nether spells and effects.


    My vision cleared, and the world came into focus again.


    But my perspective had shifted.


    Anriq and Ghost were both shorter than me now. In fact, I practically loomed over the pair.


    My senses hadn’t changed, though. They were no sharper than before—even if the story they told was a different one. Frozen paws and cold nose. That’s what I felt most keenly.


    Then there was the feedback from the rest of my body. I was more aware of myself than I’d ever been before. The heaving of my belly, the swish of my tail, the flick of my ears—I felt it all, but strangely enough, none of the hundred different sensations impinging on my awareness struck me as weird.


    Time to take that all-important first step.


    Not quite certain of the mechanics involved, I willed myself into motion, fully expecting to stumble.


    But my new body displayed no hesitation, and I slunk forward gracefully, head dipped, tail extended, and paws padding lightly across the snow.


    “Damn,” Anriq whistled, craning his neck back to stare up at me. “That’s one impressive wolf form.”


    I chuckled—or tried to, anyway. Instead, what emerged from my mouth was a nasty-sounding growl.


    Raising his hands, Anriq backed away. “Nice doggy.”


    I snarled again—deliberately this time. “That’s not funny,” I snapped over the farspeaker link.


    He tried but failed to hide his smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Consider it an old werewolf joke. You won’t believe how many times I’ve heard that one myself.”


    “Hmpf.” Turning my head this way and that, I walked about in a slow circle, inspecting myself from as many angles as I could.


    My fur was ice white, much like Snow’s. Is white an elder wolf’s natural color? I wondered. Or had the Adjudicator made me this way to signify my relationship with the arctic wolves? The question was only a bit of idle speculation though, and I quickly dismissed it.


    The rest of me was equally impressive. Muscles rippled with every stride I took. My claws were black and deadly looking. My teeth, I already knew, were sharp and long. And my eyes… what color were they?


    “Black,” Ghost supplied helpfully.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Nodding to her in thanks, I drew to a stop before Anriq again. “Final thoughts?”


    “I wouldn’t fight you, that’s for sure,” he said with a smile.


    I glanced at Ghost, keen to hear what she thought as well.


    “You look like how I always imagined,” she replied. “Just like a true Prime should.”


    I sat on my haunches, basking in their feedback. Still, my feelings of pleasure did not last, and after only a handful of seconds, I began glancing at the waiting portal behind me again. My new body was functional, more than that really, and there was no more reason to delay further.


    “It’s time you got going,” Anriq guessed.


    “Yes,” I replied simply.


    “Which way will you head?”


    I thought about the question for a moment. The ambush attempted by the overlord and nagas had changed things. Where before it had been imperative to keep our presence a secret, secrecy was no longer a factor.


    The void knew we were in sector 18,240.


    That being the case, there was no reason to avoid the stygians, and in fact, every reason to seize the initiative and thin their numbers while we still could.


    I had a choice when it came to my targets, too.


    The nest in the north. Or the stygians encamped in the south, near the Draven Reach’s portal.


    “South,” I said finally. “South is better for now.”


    Anriq grunted approvingly. “Fewer stygians there. I agree.”


    That wasn’t exactly my reasoning, but I didn’t disagree.


    “Well, I won’t urge you to be careful,” Anriq said. “That goes without saying.”


    I rose to my feet.


    “Good hunting,” Anriq said in farewell.


    Ducking my head in acknowledgment, I spun about. “Let’s go, Ghost. We have some stygians to kill.”


    ? ? ?


    You have entered sector 18,240 of the Forever Kingdom.


    I trotted through the portal fully at ease in my shifted form. The secret, I realized, was not to think too much about the mechanics of my motions. If I simply focused on what I needed my body to do, it would take care of the rest.


    Ten yards beyond the gateway, I drew to a stop.


    “What is it?” Ghost asked from where she paced on my left.


    Not answering immediately, I turned about in a slow circle and studied the horizon in all directions. But despite how hard I looked I could spot no sign of the enemy.


    “The stygians haven’t returned,” I murmured finally.


    “You expected them to?”


    I mimicked a shrug—something hard to do in a wolf’s body. “It won’t do for us to underestimate the void again. We have to assume the void tree—or whichever of the nether’s creatures is in charge here—is aware of the overlord’s demise. That being the case, we should expect a reaction. What that’ll be though, I can’t tell.”


    The pyre wolf cocked her head to the side. “Which is why we need to scout the force to the south?”


    I growled softly. “Oh, I have more than scouting in mind, but essentially, yes.” Turning in said direction, I broke out into a steady jog.


    We had a long journey ahead of us.


    ? ? ?


    While Ghost and I raced through the mist, I passed the time completing my player progression.


    Thanks to my new elder form trait, I had a sudden abundance of ability slots, but I knew they wouldn’t last, and I couldn’t afford to be careless about how I spent my new attribute points.


    So, what will it be? I wondered. Mind or Dexterity?


    Piercing strike was the only one of my Dexterity abilities ready for upgrade to tier five. Sadly, whirlwind was still not where it needed to be.


    On the other hand, I had two Mind abilities—mass puppet and astral shurikens—that could be advanced to the elite tier, and it wouldn’t be much longer before the other four—windborne, enhanced reflexes, shadow blink, and quick mend—were also ready for upgrade. And even with the boost provided by elder form, I was far short of the ability slots I needed to advance all six abilities.


    It has to be Mind, I thought. I have to invest further in it.


    Momentarily turning my attention inward, I willed my intention to the Adjudicator.


    Your Mind has increased to rank 170. Other modifiers: +12 from items. Available ability slots: 44.


    Better, I thought in satisfaction after reviewing the Game message. Soon, I could expect to add more elite abilities to my repertoire.


    Sadly, though, ‘soon’ was the best I could aim for. Ideally, I would have liked to advance astral shurikens immediately, but unfortunately, my shifted form made that impossible.


    As a wolf, I had no access to any of my gear—including my consumables.


    It was a definite limitation of my new form, and it was one I would have to carefully manage going forward.


    “Why must you always dwell on the negatives?” Ghost protested. “Especially seeing as there are so many advantages to your new form!”


    I chuckled mentally. “You’re right about that. And speaking of, let’s see how my resistances have changed.”


    Reaching out to the Adjudicator again, I pulled up the applicable Game data.


    Damage Reduction (DR)


    DR reduces damage incurred only.


    Life: 20%. Death: 25%.


    Air: 55%. Earth: 55%. Fire: 55%. Water: 55%.


    Shadow: 40%. Light: 40%. Dark: 40%.


    Nether: 100%.


    Physical: 62% (from armor and items).


    Resistance (RES)


    RES negates damage and rebuffs hostile spells and abilities.


    Physical Resistances (all): 30%.


    Mental Resistances (all): 30%.


    Magical Resistances:


    Life: 40%. Death: 42.5%.


    Air: 57.5%. Earth: 57.5%. Fire: 77.5%. Water: 57.5%.


    Shadow: 50%. Light: 50%. Dark: 50%.


    Nether: 100%. Aether: 30%


    Special: 20% chance to evade area-of-effect spells (derived from Tiamaten armor. This buff stacks with other resistances where applicable).


    Reading my Game data, I felt like grinning. Not only was I now immune to nether magic, but the chances of any other type of spell or ability affecting me had drastically decreased. This included physical abilities like charge and knockdown.


    “Well?” Ghost demanded.


    I laughed. “You were right, it’s much better to consider the positives.’ Still laughing, I increased my pace—more eager than ever to face the stygians.


    Somehow, though, I didn’t think they were going to enjoy facing me as much.