Niphru took a few moments to get himself back completely under control, still somewhat uncentered from the intense reaction he had just experienced.  Understanding his worry, both Dawn and Morris stood back and gave him time to relax fully.

Once he had calmed down, Niphru shook his head before deciding that he had to hide his newly-changed spirit crystal.  As he considered how best to do so, however, Inari contacted him again.

“Congratulations on taking another step along the path of the kitsune, Niphru.  I assume you have an understanding now of why it is so important to keep your spirit crystal safe, do you not?  There are some other issues to keep in mind.  It is spiritually bound to you, and has rules that it follows; some of these will make things difficult, others may actually help.  First of all, your power is linked with your spirit crystal, and you cannot use most of your power if anyone else possesses it.  On the other hand, this is not entirely a physical limit,” Inari explained, its voice soothing as it came through the link.

After a short pause, they continued, “You may have been too shocked to notice, but because she is bound to you, and has no ill will, your partner does not take ownership of your power if she has your spirit crystal.  There is still the issue of the sensation, as you rather obviously noticed, but it is safe for her to interact with it.  For others, their interaction would take your power away, unless they were to allow you to use it.  While you may immediately think of hiding it, be very careful.  This is a spiritual matter.”

A moment later, Inari declared, “If you hide it somewhere outside your control, such as in the wilderness, is that not the same as abandoning it?  This would be extremely harmful, as well as dangerous.  Hiding it nearby you is acceptable, or somewhere you are connected to, such as your village while you live there, or perhaps your shrine if you gain one in the future.  For now, however, it is best to simply keep it with you to protect it yourself.  It is, after all, far more durable now than before, which will make things easier.”

Inari paused again to allow Niphru to take in its words before it continued, “On the other hand, it can also bind you to places of power.  Somewhere like the village or shrine examples would allow you to temporarily bind yourself to the land if you placed your spirit crystal somewhere within them.  Once bound to a place of power, your power over that place will grow over time, and as more beings consider it to belong to you, or you to it.  It is possible to both sense everything that happens within your place of power, as well as use your magic remotely.  You will additionally find yourself more magically and spiritually potent, while also gaining physical toughness from your land.  Definitely something you should consider in the future, little kitsune.”

Since both he and Dawn trusted Morris, Niphru went ahead and shared what Inari had told him.  After a short bit of discussion, everyone agreed that simply keeping it in the same place as before was the best idea, especially since it was small enough that the pouch would look empty, unlike before.

Niphru was somewhat upset with how much of a weakness the crystal had become, but thinking back, hadn’t it also been a weakness before?  The priest they’d met with back in Arrival had mentioned his soul was already bound to it, after all, even back then.  And the one time he’d been separated from it, he’d practically died as well.

After a little more grumbling, he eventually decided that nothing had really changed, except he couldn’t allow anyone to touch it.  Even if he trusted someone completely, the sensation transmitted through the crystal was too intense, and he didn’t want to feel it again.

Once he placed the gem back into his harness’ front pouch, he felt much better, since it was doubtful anyone or thing could touch it now, especially given the strengthening enchantment on that pouch.

Content with the security his spirit crystal now had, at least for now, Niphru spoke to the others, “I think I’m all done now.”

With a glance back at his tails, he continued, “It will probably take some time to get used to this, though.  Two tails feels weird, and I’m bigger again.”

In response, both Dawn and Morris chuckled before the latter remarked, “I’d say you are pretty big now; mid-thigh is pretty high up for a fox, indeed.”

Dawn, meanwhile, asked over their bond if it was okay before moving to pet his tails.  After a quick brush of her fingers, she stated, “Your fur is very soft too, Niphru, softer than it was before.”

Niphru didn’t know how to feel about this, since he wasn’t really impacted much by whether his fur was soft or not, but he found himself enjoying that Dawn liked it more.  After she hugged him, the three began to leave the building.

Once again, Niphru heard Inari’s voice as it informed him, “Once you are either alone or only with your companion, there is another thing to teach you that you are capable of now.  It is safe, but will be unpleasant at first, and your partner can help.”

Mildly annoyed at the interruption, Niphru spoke over his bond with Dawn, “It seems there is more, but I’m supposed to be alone or just with you.  It is supposed to be safe, but they said you could help.”

In response, Dawn turned to Morris and declared, “I’m going to stay with Niphru for a while until he gets used to everything, if you don’t need me for anything.”

Upon hearing that there was nothing she was needed for, Dawn nodded to Niphru and they began to head back to the home they were staying.  Once they arrived, it turned out they were alone, the original owner of the home having left for some purpose or another, which suited Niphru just fine.

Just in case, they entered the bedroom and closed the door, however.  Then, Niphru contacted Inari again, asking for more information about the newest ability.

This time, Inari seemed excited for some reason, while also remaining indirect about what was going on.  But even if that worried Niphru, he still trusted the being; it had made that oath, after all.

“This is one of the biggest changes a kitsune can go through, and one of the more difficult, at first.  To make this easier, I want you to study your companion with your healing magic in as much detail as you can, and memorize everything possible about what you sense,” Inari remarked as a feeling of anticipation began to flow through the link between them.

Confused, Niphru confirmed that Dawn was okay with the idea, then did as Inari had requested, doing his best to remember everything about Dawn that his magic revealed to him, taking note of flesh and bone, blood and muscle, and more.  Even as he finished, he knew he had forgotten quite a bit, and wanting to do well, he began again.

After a third time through the process, Niphru decided that had to be good enough and asked Inari what was next.  In return, he was told to form the most detailed image he could of what he had just sensed, then try to push it inward with his spirit as deeply as he could, and hold it there.

Mystified by the order, he still tried to follow it, finding that his spirit was difficult to turn inward, even if it was effortless to use in an outward fashion.  After several minutes, he finally succeeded, and the world shifted around him as his body painlessly cracked and stretched, causing him to fall to the floor in a heap.

Obviously shocked by this event, Niphru lost his focus, and whatever had happened immediately reversed itself, and he found himself crumpled on the ground, panting in exertion.  Shock and disbelief flowed through his bond with Dawn, however.  Worried, he looked up and saw her frozen with her jaw open.

His first question to her was ignored, so he waited for her to get over whatever had shocked her first.  As soon as she recovered, however, she immediately asked him if what she saw was real.  Uncertain what she meant, Niphru asked her what she was talking about in a puzzled tone.

“It looked like you were changing!  You fell, but you looked almost like a human for a moment.  And I know it wasn’t one of your illusions; I’ve seen enough to know the feeling of them!” she exclaimed, her eyes still wide from the shock she had received.

Hearing this, it was Niphru’s turn to be shocked.  If that was what had happened, it was no wonder he had felt so weird and collapsed.  After sharing that he was going to try again, he tried repeating the process, this time while already lying on the ground.

There was the feeling of his body cracking and stretching once again, but this time, he maintained his focus.  His body felt completely foreign to him when it settled, his limbs the wrong size, orientation, and shape all at once.  His torso didn’t move right, and his head felt attached at the wrong angle—everything was wrong.  He didn’t even have a tail!

The only things that seemed right were that he was still breathing properly, and he could feel his heart pounding away.  After a moment of the madness, his focus broke and he snapped back to his proper form, finding himself able to focus outside again, hearing Dawn babbling about him actually transforming.

Niphru shook his head, trying to get rid of the lingering sensations of wrongness before informing Dawn, “That was horrible; everything was wrong.  Really, everything!  I don’t see how I’ll ever be able to deal with that…”

Even as he felt the link with Inari stir, he continued, “I guess I should keep trying, though…  Even if I have my force magic, having hands and being able to talk without an illusion seems really useful.”

Before he finished speaking, Inari exclaimed, “Good job.  It will likely take a while to get used to, but that is a very useful skill eventually.  You may find it easier if you let aspects of your true self through as well, such as your ears and tail.  Most of the kitsune in other worlds find that it helps anchor them to their new forms.”

“Maybe that would help…  How would I do that, though?” Niphru inquired through the link, already trying to mentally form the correct image, but he found it incredibly difficult.

Amusement flowed down the link as the god spoke once again, “Do not think too hard about it; your instincts can help a lot.  If you include your own ears, you may wish to remove the human ones, as well.  I have heard many complaints from those who have kept both pairs of ears at the same time.  The tail is part of the spine, so you may need to change that slightly.  Many split the spine midway to attach the tail somewhere it doesn’t interfere, though that makes it sensitive and more fragile, so extending it from the end of the spine is more natural.”

Niphru nodded and sent his thanks for the information to Inari before letting Dawn know he was trying again, with the being’s advice.  His next attempt resulted in vertigo the instant he moved his head and an immediate collapse back to his true form, showing him exactly why having both pairs of ears was a bad idea.

Several more short-lived attempts, with Dawn cheering him on the whole time, eventually resulted in him having his proper fox ears on the body.  He also managed to switch the human eyes for fox eyes.  The tail, interestingly enough, was far easier to combine with the body than the ears, despite its larger size.  Niphru followed the advice of extending the spine for it, and it only took two tries for it to feel normal.  He also added his fangs in the place of the human canine teeth.  These changes somehow did actually make it significantly easier to maintain the transformation.

Once he had all of those changes down, he switched back and forth between forms several times, trying to get used to the feeling of triggering and holding the transformation.  Each time he changed, he would attempt to move, eventually managing to flop a short distance forward, though his attempts to speak were less successful, coming out as nothing but croaking and screeching noises.

It did, however, feel slightly less wrong after all the attempts, especially with some features of his true body for his mind to cling to.  Perhaps it might be possible to get used to it, after all.

Shard

This is the last chapter of my backlog, and I've been having trouble getting more written, so there may be delays in further chapters, I'm not sure.  And since I'm writing a note this time, I might as well also mention again that I have a discord server, if anyone is interested in joining.