Quick Change Volume 1: Slyborn

by C. T. O'Leary

  He took a seat in the wooden chair she’d indicated, and he began, “Well, I have to say I’m really not a fan of dying.” He paused and looked at Aurora, hoping for a laugh, but she just looked grave at his statement. He quickly continued, not wanting to make the situation awkward, “It really wasn’t so bad. It hurt when he stabbed me, obviously, but after that, I just kind of woke somewhere else, a completely empty world. After some time there, I was teleported to some stone ruins on a hill outside of Bosqovar, sometime in the middle of the night last night. After that I headed straight here.”

  Aurora said, “And the magical sword extension?”

  Seth said, “Yeah, I was actually given a boon by Djinia when I arrived. There were some really great options, and I kinda chose Quick Change Artist by accident. It lets me instantly swap between two outfits.”

  Seth expected the knight to mock him, but she just said, “Incredible, an adventurer with an experience blessing and a divine boon. I never thought I’d meet anyone that had even a single one of those characteristics.”

  When Seth didn’t immediately say anything else, Aurora stood from her bed and pulled one of the wooden crates out from under it. She lifted it and set it on the bed, and Seth couldn’t help but notice how easily she seemed to lift the heavy box.

  Inside was Enrique’s armor. Aurora shuffled some of the pieces of armor to the side and pulled out a small tied cloth sack. It made a jingling noise as she lifted it. Aurora opened the pouch and counted out ten shiny gold coins, dropping them into Seth’s palm, and then continuing before he could protest, “Inside was a note stating simply the other half would come when that adventurer was taken care of.

  The note was stamped with the seal of The Howlingshields. They’re a medium-sized mercenary faction based in Vardon, a large city several days north of here.”

  “So, that’s who hired him to assassinate you?” Seth asked.

  “It could be a forgery, there is no subtlety to it, but either way, I feel like I need to report this to the guild. There’s an Adventurers’ Guild Regional Headquarters in Vardon as well, and I plan to leave today and make my way there. You’re involved in this whether you like it or not, and if you’d accompany me there, I’d have you, but if you want to remain in Bosqovar or just go your own way, I won’t hold it against you. If you do come along, I’d be happy to help you gain more levels, and you can have this warrior equipment, I have no need for it anyway. What do you say?”

  Seth read the quest prompt that appeared at her words.

  Aurora of the Adventurers’ Guild has offered you a quest! Accompany Aurora to the Adventurers’ Guild Regional Headquarters in the city of Vardon, one of the capital cities of Efril. Ensure Aurora arrives safely or deliver the news of the Howlingshields in her stead to receive the following: - Enrique’s armor and sword.

  - 1,000 experience Accept? Decline?

  Seth thought about it for a moment and voiced his single concern, asking, “Do you plan to tell the guild what I am, and if so, what will they do with me?” He had flashbacks to every superhero movie he’d ever seen, where some secret government sponsored agency wanted to strap the good guy down, cut him open, and see what makes him tick, but Aurora quickly dispelled those fears.

  “No, if you don’t want me to say anything about your…unique origin, I won’t. You’re up to a reasonable level for an average citizen now, so it won’t be as difficult for you to blend in.”

  Seth sighed in relief and accepted the quest. They began packing for what Aurora thought would be several days’ journey. Seth started by reviewing Enrique’s gear.

  Mercenary’s Reinforced Chain Helm Helmet

  Requirements: Warrior Only + 4 Strength + 10 Physical Defense

  Mercenary’s Reinforced Chain Breastplate Breastplate Requirements: Warrior Only + 6 Strength + 25 Physical Defense

  Mercenary’s Reinforced Chain Pants Pants

  Requirements: Warrior Only + 2 Strength + 4 Physical Defense

  Mercenary’s Reinforced Leather Boots Footwear

  + 3 Strength + 4 Dexterity

  Fearless

  Enchanted 1-Handed Sword Requirements: Warrior Only 73 damage Enchantment: When equipped, increase warrior’s Charge speed by 70%

  Seth stepped outside while Aurora put on her armor, and donned his own over his maroon outfit. As he put on each piece, he felt the effects take place. By the time he wore the entire set, he felt like he could take on a world champion boxer. Seth’s movements felt more fluid and controlled, and he felt like he could punch a hole right through Aurora’s wall. Thankfully, he resisted that urge.

  He took another look at his statistics window after he donned the armor.

  Seth

  Main Class: Level 9 Warrior (1,899/1,900) Second Class: None 324/324 Health Points 0/100 Fury Points Factions: None Stamina: 18

  Dexterity: 22 (18 + 4) Strength: 42 (27 + 15) Intelligence: 9

  Wisdom: 9

  His strength score was looking extremely high compared to his other statistics, but he wasn’t sure what to compare it to. Either way, the fifteen-point bonus from Enrique’s armor was huge, and he knew that the strength stat was primarily responsible for physical attack power. He was looking forward to his next fight.

  Seth’s party mate walked out after a few more minutes, and they started towards Bosqovar, needing to stock up on food for the long walk ahead of them. After they’d been walking for a few minutes, Aurora fished around in her pack for a moment and pulled out the rune covered egg they’d bartered the kobold chief for the day before.

  She said, “In all the chaos, I almost forgot about this little guy. I don’t want to add another day to our journey and take this back to the enchanter himself, but I was thinking we could leave it with the mayor since he contacted me about the missing item anyway. What do you think? Would you mind taking it to him while I get supplies?” Seth agreed to, and she tossed the egg his way.

  Seth snatched the egg out of the air and closed his fingers around it, only to feel a stinging and open his hand again, juggling the now burning egg between his two palms, trying to minimize the contact. Seth spouted off a couple of profanities as the egg continued to heat up, and just before he gave up and dropped it, it completely disintegrated into glowing white dust that took to the air like a mini-tornado and spun around him. A pop-up appeared.

  Congratulations adventurer, you’ve discovered a mount egg! A powerful enchanter has captured a sliver of a ‘spirit of the wilds’ in this item, granting its owner the ability to call forth a physical manifestation of the wild spirit to ride atop.

  Spirit Type: Highlands Winter Lion Race Restriction: Adventurer Replace currently equipped mount egg?

  No mount egg currently equipped, auto accepting.

  Seth froze as he read the message, and then became aware, in the back of his consciousness, of another available skill he could activate.

  Aurora was just staring at Seth, mouth agape. They stared at each other in stunned silence for a few beats before Aurora asked, “What was that?”

  Seth read the messages aloud from his log, and Aurora’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. Before Seth could say anything else though, she said, “I’ve heard of magical mounts, but only in children’s stories. You should try it.”

  Seth said, “Seriously? Don’t you think that’s a bit risky?”

  Aurora adopted a self-satisfied smile and said, “What, afraid the magical mount may kill you?”

  Seth groaned, took a deep breath, and mentally triggered the summon spell. Nothing happened for a moment, and then a gentle breeze buffeted him from behind. He saw Aurora’s eyes go wide as she looked over his shoulder, so he spun to see what she was looking at. The beast met his eyes, an eerie intelligence shining in them, and a voice that was not his own made itself known in his mind.

 

  Chapter 13

  The lion stood several feet away from Seth, head rising above his even though it stood on all fours. All of its fur
was white, except for a couple of dark patches the size of dinner plates surrounding each of its coal black eyes. A moment passed as the man and lion stared at one another, and Seth felt awestruck but strangely not threatened. Something in the back of his mind, similar to how he just knew what skills were available and off cooldown, told him the beast meant him no harm.

  The lion cocked its head to the side at Seth’s continued silence, and he felt the foreign presence push its way into his head again.

  the voice said.

  Seth shook his head from side to side, trying to clear it, before attempting to push a thought back along the alien channel in his head. Hello. I’m Seth, what’s your name?

  Seth glanced over his shoulder and found Aurora still standing there, tense with her sword drawn, and realized that she couldn’t hear any of the unspoken conversation. He filled her in, and introduced her to Pahan. Seth said, “He was just asking me how long it’s been since his last master lived—”

  A few thundering steps shook the ground, and Seth turned in time to see the humongous lion stop, his face inches from Seth’s own, teeth bared, absurdly deep growl emanating from his jaws. Seth stumbled back, startled, and the lion’s mental voice practically thundered in his mind.

  Seth froze and stared at the lion in shock for a few moments before the beast broke eye contact and turned away. Seth relayed what the lion had said to Aurora again, and she said, “Well, if you can only bond with someone from the adventurer race, it has potentially been hundreds or thousands of years…” She didn’t look happy to be delivering the news. A profound sadness grew in the lions eerily intelligent eyes, and Seth tentatively asked if he’d explain exactly what his predicament was, and how he became trapped in the egg. The lion began speaking into his mind again, and Seth quietly repeated what he said like some kind of psychic translator for Aurora.

  At that, Pahan lurched forward and swiped one of his massive paws at Seth’s midsection. Seth, like the mighty warrior he was, squealed and tried to jump out of the way but wasn’t near quick enough to dodge the enormous feline. Just when Seth thought Pahan’s claws would rake across his midsection, the paw seemed to lose cohesion and passed right through him like smoke. Once it finished passing through, it snapped back into focus, like nothing had ever happened. Seth’s heart was thundering against his ribcage, but the big animal just sat back on his haunches and continued.

  Pahan’s head drooped, and Seth could detect the sadness in his mental voice. He asked, “You don’t seem too excited about the prospect of being dismissed. Would you rather just stay with us, in this realm? And is there anything we can do for you, to make you more substantial, or even set you free? While the prospect of riding into battle on the back of a beast as majestic as you is awesome, I wouldn’t want to force you to stay around if you didn’t want it. What do you want, partner?”

  Pahan’s eyes snapped to Seth’s, and he spoke again. At that the lion sniffed in a huge breath through his nose and then exhaled long and slow, then continued.

  Pahan glanced up then, as if orienting himself, and said, Seth’s mind flicked to the extra experience he was receiving, and he willed the menu for his bond with Pahan open, toggled the experience sharing all the way to ten percent, and smiled. “It might not take as long as you think.”

  Chapter 14

  After leaving Bosqovar, Seth, Aurora, and Pahan traveled northward. Pahan and Seth had stayed outside of the town while Aurora went in, informed the mayor that the magical egg was, sadly, unrecoverable from the kobolds, and purchased supplies for the trek north. Seth had also asked Aurora to get some of his new found money to Thom for helping him out on his first night in Morgenheim.

  He’d grabbed one of the ten gold pieces and handed it to her, and after a little protest on the sheer amount of money it was, she agreed and said she knew someone trustworthy to deliver it to Thom for a fee. Her trip into town had gone without a hitch, and they’d begun their journey north.

  The first few moments riding on Pahan’s back, Seth in front and Aurora behind him, arms around h
is waist, didn’t seem like they’d be as terrifying as Seth first thought. Then Pahan stopped jogging and really got running. As the improbably large lion ran, Seth felt tossed around like cheap cargo, limbs smacking each other and the solid mass of Pahan below him.

  He was about to shout a protest when he heard Aurora laughing out loud, and decided he didn’t want to seem like a whiner. Pahan took long, stretched out steps as he ran, practically floating over the ground, front and back legs only occasionally touching to apply some more momentum. After just a few minutes of adjusting, Seth figured out the right combination of shifting his weight and leaning that allowed him to escape the majority of the insane forces and ride more comfortably.

  They flew over the landscape for what felt like an hour, Seth had been transfixed by the passing grassy hills and clusters of trees, but jerked back to himself when he realized how long Pahan had been traveling at a dead sprint. He mentally asked Pahan, Aren’t you tired? Do you need to rest?

  Pahan replied, Seth sent, So, you can just run all out like this indefinitely?

  Seth groaned at the lion’s insistent belittling.

  Several hours later, they came over the top of a grassy hill and Pahan stopped at the sight that met them. On the horizon was a massive wall of trees with an eerie mist leaking out from deeper in the forest.

  Seth and Aurora hopped off Pahan’s back to stretch their sore muscles, and Seth said, “What’s with the mist down there? It looks just a little ominous.”