Freed paced in the ready room excitedly, silently wishing he didn't have to perform in front of so many people again. He'd felt like this just before his fight with Akemos. It was only when he began talking to him just before they began that Freed had relaxed. Even though he'd physically changed so much, he was still the same awkward guy he was before. He took a moment to examine himself in the mirror provided for the fighters to check if everything was in order before entering the arena. Despite it being a few months since the incident he'd created, Freed still found it difficult at times to recognize his reflection. Brushing his bangs aside to look at the small horn nubs that the disguise spell had been unable to remove, Freed unconsciously swung his spade tipped tail underneath his robes. He adjusted the belt holding his mages robe closed and mentally recited some of the spells he was fairly sure he was going to need today. However as he was reciting the phrases for Fireball, his mind drifted to his conversation with Gabriel Barrister after class a few weeks ago.
"Hey master, can I ask you something," Freed said after the last of his friends were gone for the day.
Gabriel was busily cleaning up the books they'd been studying from for the day and levitating them to their proper shelf space. In the months since they'd begun learning under him, Barrister's tower had begun to look more and more organized with the piles of books being shelved properly and the refuse had been cleaned up.
"Yes, and for the umpteenth time it's just Gabe," he said as he lifted a very large tome up and set it on a desk.
"You know a lot about transformation spells. Like this disguise spell is more like a more powerful polymorph spell than a disguise spell."
"Not a question and it's just a name of the spell."
"Sorry but what I mean is that well, is there a way to undo what's happened to my friends?"
Gabriel stopped and slowly turned to face Freed, his face looked tired, where it looked lively a moment ago.
"Kid...." he paused as he looked carefully for what to say next. He walked over to Freed and placed his hand on Freed's shoulder. "You have a good heart, but listen well to what I have to say next: drop it."
Freed tilted his head slightly at this.
"I know exactly how you feel. Believe me, I've been there too. Preserverence is a good quality, but in some instances you will make things worse." Gabriel removed his hand and walked away. Leaning on a desk he continued. "I tried once to help a friend once. And it ended poorly for us both," he sighed.
"What happened?"
"She ended up dead, a close friend rightly blamed me, and I....well let's leave it at that."
"How long was it before you perfected the disguise spell?" Gabriel looked up suddenly. "It wasn't that hard to figure out," Freed shrugged, "you taught us a spell that wasn't in any books I've ever read, and I was able to see the mana you use to maintain the spell using true sight. I was surprised not even true sight could penetrate the spell."
"As you get a better grasp on the spell, it is able to cover up more features and you can eventually look like your old self.....it took me 4 years of continuous use before I could be seen in public. That was how bad I screwed up. And that's why you should stop now, or you might cause more harm."
"But....I can't just stop."
"Get a few more years of experience and knowledge. Then you can ask them at that point if they wish you to try again. Now go, I think they're waiting for you down the hall."
The announcement bell shook him from his memory and Freed headed to his next challenge.
Freed's opponent was a tall bulky man clad head to foot in plate armour. The insignia on the chest piece was from the paladins school. He had a large tower shield on one arm and was casually swinging a warhammer in the other hand.
"Nice ink," he grunted.
Freed nodded solemnly, a little intimidated by the guy's size. "Thanks," he managed to say.
The announcer named him as Cadet Dolph Remly. "Hey they got my name right! Usually they say ReNly," he smiled. "Hey cheer up. I'll try not to cause any permanent damage, but I really hate to hold back so give me your all. I wanna good challenge," Dolph readied himself.
Freed prepared to cast his first spell and then the bell rang, starting the fight.
The trainee paladin roared as he ran forward, shield held in front of him like a battering ram. Freed cast Mage Armour and then rolled out of the way of the charging paladin and clapped his hands together. Pulling them away, Freed created a longsword made of magical energy, followed by a shield spell. He glanced down at his binding ribbons and saw them burn away some before they began to regenerate.
'Gotta be careful not to cast too many spells at once. Don't wanna overtax them.'
Freed was just about to dodge the paladin's swing of his hammer when he felt something wrapping around his legs. Glancing down Freed saw chains of light rising up from the ground and holding him firmly in place. Left with no other option, Freed brought his force sword up to intercept the attack. Feeling the impact all the way down his arm Freed dropped to one knee, still being held in place by the celestial chains. The next attack was stopped firmly by the floating shield Freed had conjured earlier. Using his free hand he cast his next spell and opened his mouth, letting out a stream of fire at the warrior. As the man backed off from the fires the chains broke off of him and Freed opened the distance between them.
"Heh, nice trick. But that won't get you far here," Dolph said and tapped his chest with his hand encircling him in golden light and removing the burns on him.
"Lay on hands is a fantastic tool, but even it has limits," Freed remarked and sent a bolt of lightning at him. He had completely forgotten about the crowds of onlookers now and was enjoying a new challenge.
Up in the private box for staff and nobility, Theodore Milton was examining the fight. On his left wasPaladin Fritz, second to the head of the Paladin school. And on his right, surprisingly enthralled in the spectacle, was Gabriel Barrister. Milton noted how Gabriel was leaning forward intently, like he had bet everything on this fight.
'It seems like I was right to send those youngsters to him. I haven't seen him this excited in years,' he noted. Fritz was his usual self, stoic and immovable on the outside, but full of life on the inside. Looking to break the silence he spoke up.
"So how good is this Dolph fellow," he asked.
"He is above average for my students. Still too immature for paladinship."
"He seems to be having fun."
Fritz raised an eyebrow, his eyes giving away a hint of amusement where his face would not. "Who? My initiate, the half elf," he leaned forward to look at Gabriel, who was on the edge of his seat, "or him?"
"Yes," chuckled the gnome.
Fritz shrugged, "it will be over soon enough, Dolph is about to use his ring."
"What ring," Gabriel asked suddenly.
"Its a dispel magic ring that stops any but the most powerful magic from functioning for a few minutes. No magic will leave this Freed defenseless."
Theodore looked over at Gabriel suddenly concerned.
"No the binding ribbons will not be dispelled," he answered before Theodore could speak. "But every other spell will stop including his disguise spell."
"His what," Fritz asked cautiously.
"Poor kid. I know he doesn't want this, but it was bound to happen at some point," Gabriel sighed.
"You're good and I've had fun, but let's end this game," Dolph said excitedly. He raised his weapon hand and the ring began to glow until it sent out a wave of energy.
Freed readied himself for a follow up attack when suddenly his sword and shield dissipated and he realized what the wave was and felt himself begin to change.
Panicked, Freed desperately tried to recast the spell, but it kept fizzling out.
"No no nonono," Freed began to yell out a string of curses as he felt his body beginning to expand and shift. He tried to create a cloud of darkness but not even that would work. Dolph began to walk forward to end the fight, not realizing what Freed was going through. He stopped what he saw Freed's body begin to get taller and less scrawny.
"Uh, you ok?"
"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" Freed felt his shoes getting tighter along with his pants. His shirt felt constricting on his expanding chest. He felt the horn nubs on his forehead push out and curve backwards, a second set on the sides of his head curved our and forward, points facing forward. His slightly pointed ears felt like someone was pulling on them as they became finned like a merfolk. He quickly removed his robe, as he felt his second pair of arms push out of his sides, tearing his tunic apart and exposing his more muscular body. His lengthening midsection began to form a second set of legs as his tail thickened and lengthened. Soon enough he dropped onto his new legs and his pants and shoes were destroyed by his lower half. Red, yellow, and green scales covered his lower snake like dragon half and his 4 hands grew into claws. The final change was his eyes becoming slitted with the sclera changing to black.
Recovering from the shock, Freed wrapped his arms around himself and coiled his long body around himself like a snake would to try to prepare for the horrified screams he was expecting. In the crowd he heard the people muttering to them each other and caught some words. Monster, freak, demon.
"Woah. That what you look like?"
"I never wanted anyone to see this," Freed sulked.
"This is awesome! What are you complaining about?"
"What," Freed looked up at the paladin.
"And here I was expecting something horrible like your face melting off."
"I'm a freak. Aren't you scared or wanna purge me or something?"
"Do I look like an inquisitor to you? Yeah you're freaky looking, but I've seen worse. I'm not here to pass judgment, I'm here to win a tournament, so dry up and give me a fight."
Freed, still hating he was exposed to everyone, uncoiled and nodded. 'No sense in crying now. What's done is done.'
He felt the power rising inside him and willed it to come forward. Opening his mouth, Freed shot out a blast of ice that impacted on Dolph's shield. He staggered backwards, a smile forming on his lips, and he sent a bolt of light from his hammer at Freed. The shot impacted and besides a little redness did nothing. Freed ran forward on his 4 clawed feet and then as he neared, turned suddenly and struck Dolph with his tail sending him flying back.
Shaking himself to his senses, Dolph began laughing. "That's what I'm talking about!"
"See what I mean," Fritz remarked.
Dolph ran forward, hammer held high. He swung it several times, making plenty of hits even with Freed blocking some and dodging others. He then jumped over Freed's tail and used it as a platform to propel himself upwards over his opponent. Freed looked up at the paladin who channeled his energy and cried out.
"Holy Smite," he yelled as he brought down the hammer. There was a bright flash of light that blinded everyone for a moment.
As it faded Theodore remarked: "that had a lot of power behind it." He then smiled, "but I guess it wasn't enough."
Freed was blocking the empowered hammer with a quartet of force swords.
"And there is the drawback to the spell," spoke up Gabriel Barrister calmly. "It may help you blend in with crowds but the more it has to conceal, the more it decreases the abilities of the caster. Free of it, the boy is able to channel more of his abilities than before as Mr. Remly is about to see."
Freed tensed up and then shoved Dolph back and followed up with a very rapid assault. His arms were a blur of motion as he battered down on the paladin's defenses, until finally his tower shield could take no more and shattered. Dolph meanwhile was getting in a hit at any opportunity he could and was burning through spells to increase the effectiveness of his attacks. Freed decided to pull back and try another strategy. Once Freed let up on the attack, he saw the damage he'd inflicted. Dolph still had the shield straps dangling from his arm, but his armour was dented and broken in several places and his face was bleeding from a dozen other small wounds while Freed was battered and bruised all over his upper body, and he was fairly sure one of his front leg bones was cracked. Dolph lifted his hammer up and began pouring in all his reserves into this next attack. Freed did the same, increasing his own force swords power and forming a single greatsword. They ran to each other and their weapons clashed, creating a painful show of lights and sound. When it cleared, the 2 combatants were standing weapons interlocked. Then Dolph fell backwards exhausted and spent. The crowds began to cheer fanatically at the battle they'd just witnessed.
"Freed, Freed, Freed, Freed," they cheered.
Confused, Freed looked all around him at the spectators.
"See? Told you you weren't so bad off," Dolph grunted as the clerics began to trot him off.
Up above the arena an imp cackled to himself. "Mistress is going to love this. Good thing I got a recording of it." He hefted up a small blue transparent orb that had the fight replaying inside it. He flew off to the shop after going invisible.