All time seemed to slow.

As soon as the changeling took a “bite” of its nemesis, euphoria quickly spread across its being.

The whole of its existence seemed to cry out in joy as it carefully held on to its prey and not accidentally snap off any of its extended parts like its limbs.

Strangely, however, while it could feel the surge of growth in its existence, the amount didn’t feel like it was equivalent to the being it fought.

Confused by this discrepancy, the changeling was broken out if its reverie and saw the reason why.

A part of the creature grew out from its back and severed itself from the main body.

Seeing this, the changeling was infuriated and tried to act, but in perhaps an ironic and unfortunate twist, having gained back its senses had caused its mana pathways to forcibly become rigid once again.

This forced the changeling out of its transformed state and back to its earlier bipedal combat form, causing a delay in its reaction.

It looked towards the direction in which the severed part escaped and gave chase as soon as the transformation was over.

Bolragmal on the other hand, was elated. It didn’t think an opportunity would ever present itself, but as soon as its body made contact with the [Fathomless], the control of its master was severed.

Free from a maddened state and possession, it gathered what little of its primary essence it had left and created a miniature serpentine winged body to escape as fast as it could.

It chose not to fly high so it wouldn’t become an easy target, so it flew low and used the shattered terrain to its advantage.

It needed time to regrow its strength once again, but this time it would do so in complete hiding. Never again would it reveal itself to the world until the time its strength has grown past its former prime. That was how much it feared the changeling.

At its level of existence, it didn’t matter how much power it gained, its powers of [corrosion] would remain the same, hence it would never work against the creature it fought. It needed to grow to a higher stage if it ever wanted its corrosion to have a chance at working against that devourer, but who knows how long that would take considering how much it has already regressed?

This didn’t even take into consideration its nemesis’ growth, so it clearly understood that an opportunity to overcome the creature would never become a reality. Its only hope was to lay low and become a beacon for its master’s coming.

The Niskari Lord was so deep in its thoughts about its pursuer and plans after its escape that it failed to notice a few silhouettes that were ahead of it.

In a blur, a small shadowy figure leapt from its position hidden in the grass and struck the fleeing small winged-serpent form of the Niskari Lord from under its head.

Dazed by the sudden attack, an arrow had struck its wings – locking them in place while it was temporarily stunned from the assault.

Shaking off the stun upon realizing what was happening, Bolragmal quickly tried to dash away, but its momentary lapse in realization was enough time for the small silhouette to grab it by the tail with its mouth and throw it towards one of its companions.

Flailing helplessly in the air, a long blade from the dark caught it by running through its body.

The Niskari Lord screamed from being restrained by the sudden attack, weakened to the point that its [corrosion] wasn’t easily able to break down the blade that stabbed it through while its captor revealed himself in the light of dawn.

“Finally caught ye, ya slitherin filth.”

The man revealed himself to be Gern.

“Remember me, ya bastard? Proly not. Us folk are proly bugs in yer eyes, but guess what?”

The man then held the writhing Niskari by the head and pulled it out of the sword, ripping its body.

“Bugs can ave a bit o bite in em.”

Gern then brought the creature closer despite his hand slowly wasting away, “I’ll never forget Fort Gubrik and all the shit ye’ve done, especially to our friend Hox… but per’aps after dis, I… we… will ave our peace.”

Bolragmal paid no attention and simply tried to escape from the man’s grip, but the man held onto its maw too well despite his flesh gradually breaking down. The Niskari was simply too weak and too tattered.

“Tch, ain’t even listenin despite me pourin ma hate out. Well, guess wot...”

The Niskari Lord suddenly stopped struggling for a moment. It could sense it.

“It don’t really matter no more, cuz yer end’s come ta get ya.”

In an explosion of panic, the little serpent that was Bolragmal suddenly became frantic to the point that it tried to tear parts of itself to escape once again.

“Heehaha look at ye go! Seein ya squirm like this is worth all the shit an waitin!”

Gern then turned towards the massive bipedal beast that slowly approached him from behind.

“Ya wonted this, righ?” he said seemingly asking the creature as he lifted the frenzied serpent.

The bipedal beast – the changeling, simply stood and stared at the man. Seeing its prey in his hands, it couldn’t help but utter a growl trying to hold itself back.

“No worries, it’s yers fer the takin.”

The man then simply tossed the Niskari Lord just before his hand crumbled away towards the changeling.

Bolragmal flailed madly in the air. Its corrosive powers may have weakened, but the arrow pinning its wings had finally broken apart, freeing it. Sensing it could move its wings again, it tried to flee once more.

But it was too late.

The shadow of a great maw had already encased it and began to close down. Fear and resentment erupted from its being as the last thing it saw was the laughing face of the human that guaranteed its demise.

SNAP

This time, the prey has been fully devoured.

Unlike the first mysterious black creature it consumed, this one could no longer offer any fight. Strengthened by the powers of the black entity, as soon as the remaining Niskari was eaten, the changeling’s body quickly broke it apart and absorbed it entirely.

An incredible rush of power began to surge through its being. This was the sensation it was waiting for – the euphoria one would feel as their level of existence is elevated.

Feeling absolute bliss, the main ego was reveling in its joy being completely oblivious to its surroundings while the calculative mind took control over the main body.

Because of this, despite its current euphoric state, the changeling appeared motionless like a statue as it observed the three beings that got closer to stand before it.

One was the bulky male human that offered the caught prey to it, while the other two were what appeared to be a female human and a male human child.

The three of them were completely riddled with terrible wounds that looked as though their flesh was burned or gouged.

The woman was missing a foot and an arm, and with the blood on the string of her weapon, she seemed to have used it with her mouth as evidenced by a terrible wound. The child on the other hand, was missing both his hands and his mouth as well appeared to have rotted away. 

The adult male human had the worst damage so far with having half his face torn leaving him with one eye and one ear. After grabbing the Niskari earlier, he now only possessed one arm, but the most surprising was that he had a large part of his lower abdomen gone as if it were bitten through while his legs were already missing flesh and have become mostly bone.

Anyone who would see him still alive in his state would say it was nothing short of a miracle, but the changeling knew the real answer.

So as not to spill internal fluids of their prey, the Niskari’s mist had acidic properties that burn organic matter in a way to keep them from bleeding out. Unlike a normal burn, they seal the wound while gradually breaking down the material for it to be converted into their essence.

This was some of the first information it gained after analyzing the properties of its recently consumed prey.

Knowing this, it looked over the humans once again and determined that all three of them were already slowly dying from the severity of their wounds.

The man sat down then laid on the ground while letting out a long-exhausted breath.

“Heh, not a peep outta ya, eh? Well, do whatever ya will… our time’s up anyway.”

The child and the woman remained silent and simply sat next to each other beside the man.

The changeling tilted its head in wonder. Should it simply consume them now that they were dying anyway? This would immediately make it fall out of favor against the humans so it felt that this was a waste of prospects considering it was already seemingly trusted by the old human magician.

It’s not like it really needed to be in favor of the humans and their allies, but it calculated that it would miss out on potential access to rare resources, new gene data, and most importantly learning how to control its mana.

If it consumed them, what would it gain in return? Simply more biomass in which the three of them would be but a trickle in an ocean. Not to mention it was already able to bypass its former programming of being unable to consume humans thanks to the black creature having already consumed some.

While it could learn it on its own, this would take an unknown and unnecessary amount of time and effort. Not to mention that the energy’s inherent properties and uses are far too rounded in their effects across all mediums making experimentation on it extremely dangerous.

In other words, it simply had too many unknowns that it felt it needed a more basic understanding of its nature before it could tackle its uses for itself.

But the main factor that made its decision for it was its sheer curiosity. Would understanding this help it come to know its limits and potential? Would there be a limit to how much it could grow?

Would this power let it reach the pinnacle of existence that was the being that had made it come to understand what was fear?

These were the questions it wanted the answers to as it calculated what it would do to the three humans.

Sensing the approach of the human mage and his companions, the changeling finally made its decision before any more interference can be made.

With the tension finally released, its control over mana was lifted and the energy became dormant once again.

Now freed of its restraints, it was able to morph again. It then proceeded to assimilate the three dying humans.

Seeing its actions during their approach, the expeditionary group suddenly slowed and became guarded. No matter how much the beast assisted them by defeating the Niskari, seeing it consume some of their own could never be seen in a good light.

“Jortus, those three are…”

Loen was the first to speak with audible tension in his voice after seeing the creature seemingly consume their fellow companions whole.

Jortus nodded in response as he sensed their presence in the fight earlier, “Yes… Gern’s party. I honestly didn’t think they’d make it this far after having [sarcomas] planted in them, but their spirits were far more resilient than any credit I gave them for. Only…”

After seeing the last of them fully gobbled up by the beast, he could only sigh as he shook his head.

“Their end is far too tragic for what they’ve gone through and for what they’ve accomplished…”

The changeling’s companions arrived separately from the expeditionary party and approached it from the sides as they could no longer sense any intensity from it. Sensing it was finally back to its previous self, the little fae gleefully climbed back up on her favorite spot.

Not minding its companions actions while feeling the presence of the others, the changeling turned and cautiously but steadily approached the humans and the other fae.

“Jortus, remember my warning. This beast may have defeated the Niskari, but knowing it is of similar ilk, I cannot help but feel only apprehension at the thought we may be dealing with a new abomination.” warned Whinereos with a look of concern.

The old mage nodded grimly. At first, he felt relieved that the beats had won, but now he had mixed feelings after witnessing it consume three people. If the creature has gained a taste for humanity, then there isn't much to be said about what needs to be done. The only question is, would their powers here be enough should it decide to confront them then and there?

Perhaps the most disjointed scene they were witnessing was the fact that a little green fae was joyfully prancing on the beast’s head with no sense of fear or tension whatsoever.

Whinereos just couldn’t understand it. Why was Farora favoring this beast so much? Doesn’t she sense the faint miasmic traces it was exuding? Didn’t she witness its malevolent actions earlier?

These were his thoughts just before the beast had finally arrived several feet away from them, once more flanked by its Tyrant companions.

There was tension between the two groups as they stared each other down, but perhaps either not sensing it or just simply ignoring it, the changeling extended its arm in front of it with its palm facing downward.

From its shoulders to its forearms, three large ripples moved along its arm and as they reached its hand, three objects fell with a meaty thud on the ground.

Completely naked and groaning while encased in what seemed like a translucent sac, Gern’s party were all present and to the shock of the others, completely restored.

Contrary to the humans and fae’s surprise, the changeling was actually having a small internal debate in its mind. To its surprise, the small human it thought was a child wasn’t human at all. While they shared similar traits, the codes in their gene data were different.

While the two species can interbreed which was a surprise in itself due to genetic compatibility tests it quickly performed, the fact that the two had varying codes meant that they possessed separate evolutionary traits and branched from different origins.

This was a great find so the changeling was torn as to whether it should absorb the small humanlike creature for more data or release it like the others, but its priorities in necessities won out and thus restored it along with the other two.

Not knowing how close he was to being reduced to biodata, the halfling – Orlsey, groaned as he slowly woke up.

“W…why does… everything… hurt… so much…”

He tried to move, but his body felt like lead all over. The feeling could be described as having had the worst hangover of his life. He also felt a sort of thin film that seemed to be encasing him.

The same can be said for the other two.

Seeing how much its work had improved since its last attempt at restoring flesh, the changeling nodded in satisfaction and signaled the wolf twins with its head.

Understanding its request, the twins grabbed the ends of the sacs with their teeth and pulled them towards the group of humans. They were wary against them, but the twins trusted their parent more than anything and moved without hesitation.

Seeing the two large wolves’ approach with their companions in their mouths had left the expeditionary force with mixed tensions and feelings.

The situation had simply left them confused and unsure on how to act, but one thing’s for certain was that they no longer felt hostile towards the changeling and its group.

The wolves then slowly backed away as Jortus requested assistance in freeing Gern’s party while having them made decent.

While the others were busy discussing and helping Gern and his team, the old mage turned towards the changeling and gave a relieved smile. In the end, he was glad that he wasn’t wrong in believing in the beast.

Perhaps sensing the absence of hostility from the group, save for a wary green humanoid half-beast, the changeling finally reverted back to its base miniature form.

To the human forces, the changeling now looked like a strange looking young gnoll – a small humanoid dog-man, that seemed to favor wearing a bone mask. While to the fae, it looked like a unique wildling, to Whinereos’ dismay.

Somehow, to his horror, the mystery surrounding Farora’s favor towards the creature is slowly becoming clear. But he wasn’t sure how to prevent this terrible misunderstanding from becoming irreversible without offending the beast.

Oblivious to the wildling lord’s inner turmoil, Jortus approached the changeling and kneeled down to meet its gaze.

He could still see in the creature’s eyes the deep curiosity he once detected and now he could somewhat feel a sort of anticipation coming from the little beast.

“Little friend, if you can understand me, please let me know what of the creature you fought? What happened to Bolragmal?”

Tilting its head at the old mage’s question, the changeling could somewhat understand it, but didn’t know how it could communicate it. It then thought of an idea and reached out its hand with the palm facing upwards.

Jortus observed the extended palm and soon saw it open up to reveal a faintly glowing round object that seemed to pulse ever so often and was completely penetrated by tendrils. This was a [Heartseed] – the core of an entity that has manifested into this world from the beyond!

The powers emanating from it were familiar as well. There was no doubt that this was the [Heartseed] from the main body of a manifested Niskari.

Seeing this, Jortus nodded in satisfaction and turned towards the little creature once more with a stern expression.

“Little fellow, you’ve done everyone here and this world a great service. I’m not sure where you came from, but as far as I can tell, you currently mean us no harm. I can also tell that you’re curious about something. I’m not sure what you wish to learn, but seeing your recent actions, I believe there is something you desire from me, correct?”

Retrieving the remains of its prey while nodding towards the old mage’s statement, the changeling then pointed toward Jortus’ staff then towards itself.

Wrinkling his beard while stroking it, Jortus pondered about the creature’s request. He was fairly certain of what it wanted, but he decided to ask a trick question just to be sure.

“Do you… desire my staff?” he asked pointing to the gnarled wood in his hand.

The creature then shook its head in denial, to which he expected.

“Then… you desire to learn magic.” He stated more than asked as he gestured with his hands.

The changeling then nodded, affirming his conclusion.

The old mage closed his eyes then pondered some more. This was an incredible risk. It’s unknown if this creature was indeed hiding its true nature and is actually adversarial towards humanity.

However, he couldn’t show it ill will considering how much the creature had already assisted them currently and in the past. Not to mention that it’s currently the most powerful entity at present. Even Jortus with his nerves of steel shuddered at the thought of what this creature would do should it be denied its request.

Lastly, strangely one way or another, Jortus held quite a favorable view of this little fellow. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he somehow felt that it was his job to help enlighten this creature.

Conceding with a firm determination to help teach the little creature, he consented to its request.

“You got me, little fellow. These old bones will guide you to the best I can. I simply hope I’ll be able to satisfy your conditions.”

The changeling continued to stare expressionlessly at the mage, but Jortus didn’t fail to see the glint in its eye as well as the little twitches of its ears. For better or worse, the creature had its adorable side at least.

Shaking his head at the thought of having the strangest student, he then remembered there was an important condition he still needed to fulfill.

“Little one, in order for me to teach you without disapproval from the others, we may need to form a Familiar Contract. Something as powerful as you can’t be bound by its restrictions, but the presence of the contract should offer some form of relief for the others who know of your existence. I hope you don’t mind this.”

The changeling had little knowledge of this contract, but from the way it's implied, it seems to be of a magical nature. If the old human speaks the truth, then it should offer no problem. It was still a little leery about it, but weighing the pros and cons, it was able to determine that even if the contract could hold it, the incredible versatility and flexible nature of magic should allow it to deconstruct it at some point in its learning.

That and it could not sense any lies within the human’s words. The faint traces of the chemical reactions from apprehension and insecurity would make themselves known to its heightened senses, so it felt that it was secure.

Assenting to the mage’s request, Jortus breathed a sigh of relief since he wasn’t sure the creature liked the idea of being bound even if just on a pretense.

Jortus then pricked his finger with a knife he took from his pocket then moved closer to the changeling.

With bloodied finger in hand, the old mage then began to write runic symbols in a circle on the little creature’s head as he closed his eyes.

Seeing this, the little fae began to panic, but before it could interfere, the changeling made sure to grab it and hold it firmly but gently in place. No matter how much it struggled, it just couldn’t get out of its grasp, so it slowly began to cry out in disappointment.

Ignoring the recent incident, Jortus continued his writing then began to chant unknown words. Light then began to surround them as the old mage stopped and spoke in a voice that seemed to echo across the world.

[By my name as the wanderer, whispers of the world grant me this child’s name as my other. Bestow upon it your blessing.]

As he opened his eyes, light emanated from his sight as the words formed before his presence.

[Thy name is change. Bringer of irregularity and denier of order. Morphistophelen]

At these words, the light soon began to fade from the old mage’s eyes while sweat poured from above his brows. He sighed as he looked down upon the changeling who seemed confused as it couldn’t feel any change.

“Denier of order, huh… Morphistophelen… that is your name.”

Once again, the old mage felt apprehension at the words he had seen, but decided to shrug it off since the deal has already been made.

“Jortus, what kind of crazy are you up to now?”

Loen approached as he finished up relegating instructions to the others.

Again, the old mage shrugged and simply answered, “I’ve made a deal with the little fellow. Just finishing up the formalities.”

Upon hearing this, Loen turned to look at the changeling who in turn stared at him. Silent in his thoughts for a moment, he then turned back towards the old mage as he asked, “So… did it work?”

Scratching his chin, Jortus looked at him with a grin, “Do you really want to know?”

Seeing the old mage’s expression, Loen sighed and raised his hands up in the air with a defeated expression, “No… don’t bother. I’d rather not know. It’s better for my mind that way.”

Nodding in approval, Jortus was about to explain the details of their agreement, but there was a sudden commotion as their forces began to make way for a group that was coming to the front.

Free from the changeling’s grasp, the little fae inspected its head where the old mage seemed to have written something earlier. Content with what it found, it suddenly stood with a look of triumph.

It then began to squeal with excitement as it ran towards the new arrivals.

“Little Farora, how I’ve missed you!”

A tall woman of verdant green caught the little fae and lifted it as a mother would her child.

“You’ve quite the energy for one that has been through the heart of it all. Tell me, tell mother how you’ve been?”

Whinereos had an expression as though he were chewing his nails in horror since he was too late in stopping what he dreaded.

“Mhm hmm mhm… … …”

*plop*

Whinereos and the rest began to panic from seeing Neylune suddenly collapse.

Perhaps for the first time in centuries, everyone present bore witness to the first incident of a Fae Lord… having fainted from hearing their young daughter bring home a partner.

***

serapheid

Not really the end of the beginning, but perhaps this is where our little friend's actual adventure begins. I'll be taking a break from this novel for now (as I'll be heading on over to my other novel which hasn't been updated for almost a year), but I'll probably be back sooner than expected since I'm also excited for the next part in the story.