"Leonin," Troy answered.
Mark snickered at it. Troy visibly frowned at the laughter. "I always took you for a furry," he said, trying to stifle it. Troy's frown only grew. "C'mon man. Don't be like that. Leonin's are awesome. Plus 2 to constitution and plus 1 to strength. Plus dark vision, a natural weapon and a daunting roar!" Then his giggles started to resurface. "Plus it means you're obviously a furry."
"Whatever," Troy glared as he returned back to his desk chair. He rocked it back and forth, trying to subdue his anger from the callout. 'Why make a fucking furry creature if it's not supposed to be used? And who doesn't want to be a massive muscular lion creature? That shit's awesome,' he tried massaging his ego a bit. 'Who'd want to be some skimpy elf anyways. I'd much rather be a lion. And that's why you're a furry.' Mark's laughter invaded his mind again. But also because Mark hadn't quite gotten over his own joke either. "By the way I can still hear you," Troy called out to his cubicle neighbor. Even if they were technically 'in battle' one of the participants didn't fully know that yet. And if he could get Mark's book before Mark was able to get off a spell, then that meant that Troy'd be in the clear and no one would be any the wiser.
However, that plan quickly disappeared when Doris came flying over his head and to Mark. In the face she looked exactly like Doris, dower, serious, and uncompromising. However, her short gray hair had grown long and put up into a bun. And the extra weight she normally would have been carrying had trimmed out to almost nothing as she was incredibly skinny wearing a tight dress, showing off her curves. The small pixie adjusted his tiny pink horn-rimmed glasses. "Mr. Vender," she addressed Mark. "Mr. Anderson would like to have a few words with you about your costume. He finds it very 'unprofessional.' For human males, hair must be kept no more than 4 inches long and clothes must fit properly. Please see him at your earliest convenance. I suggest now, as he'll stew over this all day and only make things worse."
"C'mon... Don't make this an issue. Lesser Shift," he said. Instantly his elvish style disappeared, and all his weight packed onto him again. His lean arms bulked up while his thin waist ballooned out in front of him. Mark let out a grunt as he adjusted his belt as it was just a few rings too tight on him. The bright red hair on his head shrank to almost nothing and a curly red beard grew out of his chin. It was the same with his arms as they all grew a bit of a coating as well.
Doris adjusted her glasses. "Magic is strictly prohibited in the office setting Mr. Vender. I'll keep this to myself; however, I must strongly suggest again you meet with Mr. Anderson sooner rather than later." Then she flew away, not waiting for an answer.
Mark started cursing to himself. "Damn stupid piece of shit. Why's he gotta fit the dwarf stereotype so well. Should have just made him a magical piece of Christmas shit or something..."
"Don't get too mad about it," Troy scooted his chair back to try to console Mark. The last thing he needed was someone turning into a massive dragon and destroying the place. "I'm sure if you just talk to Mr. Anderson, he'll listen."
Mark let out a heavy sigh. "You think?" he faked a smile.
"Of course," Troy lied. "He's a bit stubborn, but I'm sure he'll listen if you talk to him."
"Hmmm..." Mark seemed to be thinking about something. "I guess you're right. Maybe I just need to have a few words with him." He stood up, grabbing his book and started off towards Mr. Anderson's office. "Thanks for the pep talk Mr. Leonin."
"Wa-wait! Hold up. Why are you taking that book?" Troy didn't want to seem too desperate, but if that book was in Mr. Anderson's office, he wouldn't have as easy of access to it.
Mark looked down at it, a devious smile curled on his lips. "Just in case I need something to read. I'll be back in a minute." As he walked down the cubicles, Troy saw him look back at him, and mouthing a word.
"Shit!" he hissed, ducking down behind the cheap dividing walls. Already his nails were turning black. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" he continued to hiss as he grabbed his cell phone and the book of the beast. He huddled himself down as much as possible as he ran for the men's bathroom. His nails had already sharpened into claws. He could feel his toes digging at his shoes. The sharp points were making their way through the leather. He could only feel as though his socks didn't stand a chance.
"Damn it!" he groaned as his clothes were rapidly tightening onto him. Muscle was rapidly adding onto his leaner frame. The bones attached were growing larger as well. He felt his feet crack and adjust to a more animal like stance, forcing him to fall into the sinks as he tried to walk. What little remained of his shoes were completely gone as his paws seemed to double in size. Thick leathery pads grew under each of his feet, making the polished marble floor only slightly easier to walk on than using his fur.
Troy grabbed his phone and opened it. His thumbs were already growing bigger, making it hard for him to us it. His claws were even worse. But he still made it to the messages. Dustin's name was at the top. 'Com t battthroooo ext o my dsk.' It looked horrendous, but with the size of his fingers and the fear that a claw would tear right through the screen, Troy couldn't do much else. Three rotating dots appeared on the screen, as Dustin was about to answer. 'NOW,' Troy quickly typed back. There was nothing Dustin could have said that he wanted to hear at the moment. And with his growing paw pads, Troy didn't think there was going to be a chance to text again.
Tawny yellow fur covered his hands and feet completely and was rapidly running up his arms and legs. Everywhere the fur touched seemed to grow even faster. Thick forearms and even thicker biceps filled his arms. Troy tried unbuttoning his shirt, but it was a losing battle. The growth was too rapid. Muscle was building on muscle. He could feel what felt like thousands upon thousands of hours of working out all being done in just mere seconds. His fingers fumbled with the buttons too much. It was just easier to use his claws to tear off his confines. For a second he paused. A massive chest laid there before him. A stupid smile creeping up on his face as the yellow fur covered two heavy pecs. Even more surprising was the abs right underneath them. Even if this wasn't how he wanted it to go, he might as well enjoy the view a bit.
One of his hands ran over his chest and body. He could feel the leathery skin of the paw pads, even through his dense fur. They dropped down his abs and then a bit lower. His pants had already shredded themselves over the growth of his quads and waist. But then a pain right above his ass started to grow. He let out a deep commanding growl as he gripped the sink. His tail bone grew behind him, growing longer and longer down his backside. Golden fur quickly followed and a brown tuft at the end.
The sudden pain made it hard for him to keep his eyes open, so Troy wasn't able to see his mouth and jaw shift into a muzzle. It started to grow away from his face and his teeth inside shifted and changed into much sharper predator teeth. Troy shook his body back and forth feeling the freedom from his clothing. He stood up at his full height, nearly 7' and flexed his massive bicep. His office provided a scale that he stepped on, '489' the numbers read. His dick hardened. Somehow that stayed fully human. Though, his average size only seemed to grow proportionally with him making it look almost like a frontward facing tail.
A brief thought flashed through his mind if that was the reason there were so many half species in DnD. But it was quickly taken away as Dustin charged into the bathroom. After the sudden surprise, it quickly changed to anger. "This is what you wanted to show me?" he approached the massive lion without a shred of fear. "I didn't think you just wanted to brag about changing into a lion but--"
"I didn't do this..." Troy snarled. A deep animalistic growl rumbled through his voice. His eyes narrowed to slits as he towered over Dustin.
"What now?" Dustin backed away for a second, just now realizing just how one of Troy's teeth was bigger than the finger being pointed into his chest.
"I didn't do this! In case you haven't noticed, you can tell this isn't right!" Troy's voiced raised with each word. He started pacing back and forth on the marble floor, claws scratching the tiles as he did so. "I found the book of Myth. Mark has it."
"Okay? And where's Mark?" Dustin said.
On cue, there was a loud scream, followed by what sounded like running. Lots of running. "Getting yelled at by Mr. Anderson..." He went back to the mirror. "Damn it... Shape," he said thinking about his human form. But nothing happened. There was still his handsome lion face, mane and all. "What the hell? Shape," he added a bit more gusto behind it, but still nothing happened. He turned to Dustin. "Half!" Instantly Dustin turned into Rosco. His German Shepard ears went back followed quickly by a happy wagging tail. The book still worked. So why not on him?
That's when he realized it went quiet outside. His stomach dropped. It meant there wasn't anyone up there anymore. Only Dustin, him and a possibly very angry Mark. Slowly, he opened the bathroom door. Looking down the hallway, there almost looked to be a bit of a stampede. Papers had been flung everywhere and several of the filing cabinets had knocked over. At least the lucky ones as the rest were either burned to a crisp or blown to bits. It basically looked like a bomb had gone off. All of it centered around Mr. Anderson's office.
Troy made himself as small as possible as he made his way out into the blast zone. Dustin skulked right behind him. As they rounded a corner, Troy stopped. A massive red scaley tail swished back and forth in front of them. "This isn't good..." Troy muttered. It was even worse when he could hear Mark monologuing.
"I come here everyday on time. I'm ready to work. I do my work. Do I get any thanks? No! Fuck no! I don't get any thanks. Everyone just expects me to do my job no questions asked! AND I DO! But then the one god damned day I finally get magical powers and turn myself into an elf, THAT'S THE DAY I GET FIRED!? Well I've got some news for you Mr. Anderson! I'm about to fire you!"
Any fear that Troy had vanished. "Woah! Woah! Woah! Hold it there big guy," Troy stood out in the middle of the blast area. When he looked up, all that fear returned. A large 10 foot dragon spread its body out. Its wings punctured through the drop ceiling and massive claws were tearing into the cheap carpet squares beneath him. It's long scaley tail swished from behind him, knocking down any of the cubicle walls. He was holding Mr. Anderson incredibly close to his mouth almost like he was awaiting a signal.
Mark looked over at Troy. He was back into his Elvish form. However, something about his body seemed off. The almost blinding white skin lost some of that luster. It almost looked like it was absorbing light, rather than reflecting it. His cheery red hair was doing the same, slowly losing its distinct and glow and instead turning dull. At the ends of his long hair, it almost looked completely white. "T-Troy?" Mark looked over. Then down. "Why are you naked?!"
Troy was a bit shocked at the lack of modesty he currently had. Even though his dick was swaying around, right along with his tail, he didn't seem mind it at all. "The transformation... My clothes didn't grow with it."
Mark shook his head. "What? Clothes always grow. Sometimes they changed a little, but no one ever got naked." He shook his head again as though to get rid of any doubts. There was too much going on for him to figure out what was different right now. "Just run away Troy. Once I'm finished with Mr. Anderson, we can play DnD."
"I-I can't let you do that," Troy stepped forward. Maybe it was that he was currently a 7 foot lion man, but the option to run hadn't even crossed his mind. "Just let Mr. Anderson down. We can talk about this."
More of Mark's red hair started to turn white. The color of his skin dulled even more. Any kind of light that was bouncing off seemed to now bend around him giving his skin a darker more sickly look. "TALK?! You want to talk? What's there to talk about!? How I'm getting fired! HUH? ALL CAUSE I MISSED A FEW DEAD--" he took a breath. A menacing glare was plastered on his face. "I said run away Troy. I don't want to hurt you."
Again, Troy stepped forward. "But--"
"RUN AWAY TROY!" Mark shouted. His eyes had turned a milky white. The pupils completely disappeared causing his eyes to look like nothing more than a white void. The white became more prominent in his hair, while his skin turned incomprehensibly dark. Looking at him was hard as any sort of light seemed to absorb right into him causing a dark aura to appear around his body.
"But--"
Mark snapped his fingers. The dragon's attention turned from Mr. Anderson to Troy. "If you're not going to listen, I'll make you listen. RUN AWAY TROY!" He snapped again the red dragon opened its mouth wide. A spark went off inside, followed quickly by a gust of wind.
"SH-SH-SHAPE!" Troy stammered out. Anything tiny. Anything miniscule. Being a big, hairy lion was cool and all, but he needed to be small as a mouse. Instantly he dropped down to the ground and everything looked absolutely massive. The heat of the fire blast singed his fur, but having full cover from the rubble around him made it the only real lifesaving move. Or maybe it was just that Mark aimed a bit higher than he normally would have. Regardless, a little bit of singed fur was far better than taking 16D6 fire damage to the face.
"Troy?" Mark seemed a bit skeptical about what he'd just done. His voice shook as he spoke. "Troy?" he called out again. This time a tiny little mouse poked his head over the rubble. Mark jumped back. It's not what he was expecting. "Troy?" the realization was finally starting to get to him. "TROY!"
'Shape!' Troy thought of a mouse again, but this time targeting the dragon. Had he not been so scared for his life, he would done that in the first place. He watched as the large beast shrank. The massive claws on his hands receded into almost nothing. His bright red scales turned into soft brown fur. Smaller and smaller it got until it was barely even a few inches tall. Mr. Anderson had been lowered to the floor as the dragon shrank to nothing more than the size of a field mouse. Dustin came running in and swooped his boss up. Then sprinted away.
Mark looked around. Confusion hit him, followed quickly by understanding. This was a battle. And he was losing. "Troy! C'mon man. We can still talk about this."
Troy was not about to move. Not only because turning that dragon into a mouse took a ton of energy out of him, but the sinister sound of Mark's voice sent a shiver down his spine. He rested on the book for a second. As long as Mark couldn't see him, he couldn't be turned into something. Though, that could only last so long. Surprise was the only thing Troy really had. So, he used it.
'Okay!' he took a breath and went back to the book. It was so much bigger now. No way to move it. But a plan was starting to hatch. 'MASS SUMMON!' he screamed inside his head. It was a spell he never thought to use, but right now felt like a good time to use it. In a puff of smoke, hundreds upon thousands of mice appeared in the area. Each one had to have been minding their own business, and now they were in the remnants of an office building.
Mark let out a scream and backed into a wall. Mice were everywhere. They were jumping on top of each other and scurrying all over the place. There wasn't even a place to stand. Some of them were starting to crawl up his pants. He tried to beat them with the book, but with each step, he felt like he stepped on more. Tripping him. Fear had taken over. Words became stuck in his throat. He couldn't think. But when he felt a bite, he let out a yelp. "Gre--"
"EEEEEEUUNNNGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!"
A moose came barreling down the office towards Mark. Being one of the last of the megafauna, its antlers pierced the ceiling like it was nothing and still charging full speed ahead directly at him. All Mark could do was throw his hands up. Fear for his life took over as the massive creature was heading directly towards him. This thing was massive, scary and could crush him with the power of a single hoof.
Troy used his antlers to knock the book out of Mark's hand. It flew, hit a wall, dropped and opened up. Troy sprinted over to it. He looked down. The words glowed as he read them. 'With all of the legends and stories you could ever dream of, I grant you the power of Myth. Now that the power of imagination is in your grasp use your imagination to your hearts content. Revert.'
The world around Troy disappeared. He looked around the massive white void around him only to see Mark lying there on the ground. He rushed over. "MARK! Are you alright?" he asked.
Mark let out a defeated sigh. "Physically? Yeah... Mentally..." he paused looking at the book in Troy's hand. "We'll see about it."
"Don't be like that..." Troy was starting to feel bad. He knew Mark didn't have a whole lot in his life, and DnD was a pretty big part of it. But there was no way he could let Mark kill Mr. Anderson. "You were going to hurt people."
He looked down. "Yeah... I guess. I was just so mad. It wasn't fair. Mr. Anderson was treating me like I was nothing..." Mark paused thinking about it a bit more. "All I wanted to be was an elf with my friends being their DnD characters too..."
Troy nodded. He looked down at the Book of Myth. Now all the spells were there. He said,