My mind immediately put itself to trying to optimize my build. All of the options were quite persuasive, but some seemed more important than others in the immediate term.
Thing is, Possession doesn't last very long. Unless I possessed someone else, sooner or later I'd have to get out of this hunk's body, at which point he'd likely fuck me up until I wished that I was still a grocery store clerk working 16 hours a shift.
So, first and foremost, I'd have to figure out how not to get killed by this man. Then, I would probably like to become stronger. Heritage and Knowledge seemed like they were both ways to gain long-term power, so I'd have to pick one of those, if not both. If I picked both, however, I'd be throwing myself to the wolves... I chuckled at the pun, my deep lupine voice resonating through the immediate vicinity.
I could use empathy to get through to the wolf. Knowledge would help with that, as I could dig through the man's mind and find relevant memories to reference when I try to persuade him. Knowledge would also grant me the information necessary to survive in this world. It is the case, however, that even if I have the necessary knowledge to survive, I'm probably going to be alone for the foreseeable future. So I needed to be strong. Heritage would provide that. I found myself torn between knowledge and heritage.
I wouldn't be entirely honest if I thought that Heritage was objectively the better option than knowledge. However, heh, it... it made me kinda excited, I guess. I could have this wolf's physical traits? That'd be SO cool.
I flexed a bicep as I picked the empathy and heritage upgrades. Sensation flooded me as I clicked "Confirm". I felt power flowing through my soul as it seemed to connect with the one residing within this vessel, foreign feelings of grief and misery transferring onto my consciousness. I instinctively felt what the wolf felt, heard what the man thought. His thoughts sounded shaky, meek, as he seemed to pray to a god I did not know.
I felt that my actions were anathema to the wolf's spirit. The very act of continuing to live was not something that this soul tolerated, yet it was not taking the chance to fight for control. No, it has given up a long time ago. Nesting myself between the roots of the giant tree, I took a deep breath, reaching out towards the wolf's consciousness with my words.
"What's your name?" I asked, my inner voice having taken on the hard baritone that belonged to the wolf. I did not get a reply, but catching a stray surface thought I heard that his name was Boleyn.
"It's nice to meet you, Boleyn. I'm..." I held for a few moments, struck with a thought that I had no name in this world. I could one choose for myself. Something whimsical would go along with the setting, I think.
"I'm Dronoth. I want to help you." I said softly, compassionately.
"You're a month FUCKING late, ghost. There's nothing that can help me anymore, short of fucking divine intervention." The voice snapped at me. The empathic connection I held to his feelings told me that he was hurt. He was hurt, so I felt like I hurt as well. A longing formed in my heart, tear forming in my eye.
"W-what happened, Boleyn?" My voice shivered for a moment, enough to get Boleyn to think. He didn't want to talk. He didn't have to explain himself to some fucking bodysnatcher.
"Boleyn, I need to help you, alright? I... W-when you feel pain, I feel pain as well... we can hurt together, if it'd help you..." My deep voice quivered as I implored the wolf to talk. He still didn't want to, even as he felt a strong pang of guilt over someone else being hurt because of him.
"It's not your fault, Boleyn..." I said quietly.
Guilt was replaced by a flood of anger as I felt the wolf's soul rage against mine, threatening to take control of the body as he threw one curse at me after another, damning me to eternal suffering, wishing pain upon my kin, everything you could think of. Channeling the same anger, I felt myself strangling his spirit until he gave up after a few minutes of struggling.
"You don't know anything about me, Dronoth. Just shut the fuck up and get on with whatever you wanted to do with my body." The wolf said with a bitter, defeated voice.
It was hard to describe what... anathema felt like. It felt like my mind prevented me from doing an action even as I stood on the very verge of performing it, pain rushing through my body when I tried to do it anyway. The sensation followed me ever since I got the empathy upgrade, yet now... now, it was gone. I stood up without any weight on my soul.
This was a victory, in a sense. Boleyn didn't want to die right now. No, the wolf wanted to kill. I instinctively got into a hunched posture, claws unfurling as I looked around for prey. I felt hungry, bloodthirsty. My nose picked up the scent of a deer nearby as I began prowling towards it.
"You fucking idiot, that's BAIT." A voice punched into my mind. "Guess who it was left for." I didn't have to guess, I knew from his thoughts it was him. Headhunters were after him. He drank the poison to not be caught alive after weeks of close calls.
"Why are they after you, Boleyn?" I growled, stopping my step as I sought cover. I sniffed more inquisitively, my new nose spinning tales about the area around me. My ears caught the sound of a snapping branch a couple hundred meters away. Someone was approaching the area, yet they didn't seem to be walking directly towards me, more-so the tree. I found cover away from the giant tree, behind a large rock that was conveniently placed off to the side.
"Did mercenary work for the wrong man. When I handed in my resignation letter before finishing a job I didn't agree with, the FUCKING SHITSTAIN placed a bounty on my head." His thoughts filled the gaps. He was hired to pick up and deliver an object. The object turned out to be a prince. He helped the prince escape and barely clawed his own way out, but now he was hunted by all criminals who wanted some quick, good coin.
"You did the right thing. Why did the prince not help you with your bounty?" I asked, trying to see who was approaching the tree.
"STOP DIGGING THROUGH MY MIND, YOU RUNT." I fell down to the ground from the pain that rippled through my mind as the wolf screamed angrily at me. I stood up with a grunt, peeking out from the rock to keep an eye out on the tree. I noticed a rabbit figure, about 5'3, in leather armour, with a bow in his hands, cautiously crawl towards the tree as he tried to sniff something out.
"One of the hunters. Rabbits have bad smell, but exceptional hearing. Keep your amateur ass quiet and he'll go away." The voice of the wolf mentored me with a growl in his angry lecturing.
"Shouldn't we, you know... Take care of him?" I asked with tension in my inner voice. The rabbit was near the tree, discovering the flasks.
"You and what army? There's a dagger in my trousers, but you won't get a jump on him. Buck will put three arrows into you before you can even reach him." He said dismissively.
Coming up with a plan, I proposed something that was incredibly dangerous to my well-being. "I could stop possessing you, then distract the bunny until you can get a jump on him, and then we pin him down together until I manage to possess him." I said confidently in my mind, getting a mental nod of approval in return. The wolf had fight in him, and he was willing to cooperate... at least in the short term.
"Get out of my fucking body, prick." I felt his presence crash against mine as he began to push me out of the body. I let it happen as my body quickly ejected itself from the wolf, tumbling to the ground. Standing up, I was greeted with the massive, intent form of the wolf who was preparing to fight.
Looking down at myself, I blushed at the sight. My previously mundane form was much more athletic, a nice toned set of pecs greeting me. White hair grew all across my body as well, making me look much more masculine than I was previously. My clothes were still on me, though now they were being strained by my improved form. I gave the wolf a wordless nod as I stepped out from behind the rock.
I was immediately greeted with the drawn bow of a short rabbit who must've heard me falling to the ground as I exited Boleyn's form. He was about 50 meters away. I needed to get closer.
"Identify yourself!" The anxious voice said, holding his furred hand on the arrow. Stepping closer, I saw him draw the arrow further. "STAND STILL. IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
Intimidated, I raised my hands up, standing in place. "I'm.... I'm... Dronoth. Just a traveler!... D-don't shoot me... I'm not a threat to you!.." I implored innocently. My voice was deeper than I'm used to, an aftereffect of the heritage.
The rabbit looked at me varily. "Have you seen a large lupine? White fur, thick muscles, big mouth on him as well."
I shook my head. Inspecting my body further, seeing that I'm unarmed, he sighed and put the arrow back into the quiver. "He's a fugitive from justice. I followed his trail here. Can't seem to find any tracks, yet, I did find something strange." He said, pointing at the flasks. "Empty bottles. I'm no hound, but I can smell traces of poison in them. If I'm lucky, the scumbag offed himself. If that's the case, though, we need to find the body. Can't believe he could've gone far with Wolfsbane in his stomach."
Stepping closer to the rabbit, I marvelled at how the beastman looked. His lithe form was made bigger by the set of rough, gray fur poking out all over his body from beneath the brown leather armour he was wearing. He was delightfully short, too, though he could probably handle himself in a fight better than I would even with my size advantage.
"Ain't seen anyone like you before. You some kind of ugly elf?" The rabbit inspected me as much as I did him.
"Acute observation." I sighed, slightly offended, although excited by the prospect of meeting an actual elf. "I'm closer to a furless monkey than to one of those sissy lightweights." I said, figuring from the tone of the rabbit that being elf-racist would probably build rapport.
"Ain't that right, not a drop of muscle on them. You look like you did honest work, unlike them." He nodded eagerly, voice taking on a friendlier tint. "I'm Omel, nice to meet an honest face, Dronoth." He put the bow on his back, reaching out to shake my hand. I shook it firmly, quickly looking behind me and barely noticing the eyes of the wolf looking at me. My vision must've gotten better, too.
There was about 50 meters between me and the rock. If I could cover 60m back in highschool within 8 seconds, Boleyn could cover it in six. All I needed to do was buy time. The unsuspecting rabbit wouldn't know what hit him.
Wasting no time, I drove my kneecap into his crotch. The vulnerability of the crotch was universal to all the dearest creatures in creation, I found, as the rabbit coughed and squeezed his knees together, posture bending over as he yelped in pain. This probably bought me ten seconds as adrenaline would kick in soon. I tackled the rabbit to the ground, punching his muzzle in as I positioned myself on top of him, trying to restrain his arms. This probably bought me 15 seconds in total. More than enough for the wolf to come.
A prick of unfamiliar pain in my hip told me I gravely underestimated how quick fantasy fighters could recover. A dagger twisted itself in my body, making me yell in agony as I collapsed to the side of the rabbit as he pressed in his face to mine. Before he could say anything, however, a wolven fist found its way into his head. Another hand twisted the arm holding the dagger, making the rabbit release it involuntarily as he screamed in his own pain.
Five seconds later, I was trying to recover my breath as my heart burned from the pain. My vision dimmed, but I could see the white wolf pinning the rabbit down completely. The dagger still stuck in my side as I reached out to touch the rabbit, channeling the possession spell. The wolf gave the rabbit another punch to make the process easier, figuring that if the fighter was weaker it would be easier to cast the spell.
The world around me was reduced to simple forms as another eye opened and replaced my normal sight. The world around me was merely squares and circles, the soul was nothing more than a sphere that contained the consciousness. I put my hand on the sphere inside of the rabbit to try to pull myself inside of it. I felt a lash strike me as the the sphere tried to fight me, but as I put my other hand on it firmly, I was getting closer, and closer, and closer, until...
Weight. Weight was on my back, holding my aching body as I tapped the wolf's thigh with my fluffy finger, the headache slowing my thoughts. I felt immense relief as the wolf rolled away and stood up. I closed off all communication with the soul of the rabbit.
"You in there, runt? Saw your body meld into this sick fuck. Freaky shit." I heard Boleyn's voice rumble loudly and inquisitively as I felt myself picked up by the scruff on the back of my neck with just one of the wolf's arms. If previously the beastman looked large, now he was MASSIVE. My shorter rabbit body was tiny in comparison. The size difference would've turned me on if not for the pain in my head and right arm. And my crotch. Fuck...
"It's me, Boleyn. We got him." I blushed. My voice was positively effeminate compared to how I was moments ago. I hit the ground with my fluffy rump as the man dropped me. Boleyn sighed and sat down on one of the roots, looking at the glass bottles longingly.
"This was a scout, most likely." Boleyn said stoically as he dusted himself off. "Still, he gave us a lot of trouble. This is what I mean. We don't have the resources to fight."
"Well, let's see if I have any new magic up my sleeves..." I said in a sing-songy voice, pain withdrawing from my bruises as the finish of combat was accomodated by the announcement of my achievements.
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Achievement: [Underhanded Tactics] (+1 Dexterity)
Achievement: [Amateur Charlatan] (+1 Charisma when attempting to deceive someone)
Achievement: [First Blood] (Combat Upgrade Slot granted)
Achievement: [Possessive Takedown] (Possession Upgrade Slot granted)
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Character Level up! Lv.1 --> Lv.4
Two Attribute Points gained!
Minor Character Ability unlocked.
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I quickly shut the upgrade menus before my head exploded. "I-I have a lot of new toys, apparently..." I panted, looking up at Boleyn from the ground.
Boleyn's face turned different. Knowing. "You look like you do, fleshblood. You've sure got a powerful ability for someone who only had one level." He grinned playfully before getting back into character. "You must've been blessed by the very gods, Dronoth. It's a... strange omen that you were sent to take me out of my stupor. Take your time as you consider where to direct your will."
I ignored any implications as I took the man's comment to mean I was free to spend my time menuing.
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Character Level up! Lv.1 --> Lv. 4
Allocate 2 attribute points:
Strength: 13 (Temporarily 7, Possession)
Dexterity: 10 (Temporarily 18, Possession)
Toughness: 12 (Temporarily 13, Possession)
Knowledge: 8
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 11
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Damn, my stats suck. Guess that's what I get, being a commoner. What the fuck does it mean when it says I have low knowledge, though? I'm not stupid.
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Unlocked Minor Character Ability (1 available):
Latent Magic: You unlock a minor connection to the magical world around you. You can detect presence of magic. You can light and extinguish small fires.
Knack For It: The first time you perform a specific activity, your result is a degree higher than what you would get otherwise. (Critical failure turns into failure. Failure turns into success. Success turns into critical success.)
Friendly Face: You find it easier to make friends. First time you meet someone in a noncombat scenario, their disposition towards you is improved slightly.
Quick Eye: You catch details faster than others. You can look around and investigate faster than most.
Pack Camel: You can carry twice your regular carrying capacity without being encumbered.
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Unlocked Combat Ability (1 available);
Feint!: You can lure your opponent to defend where he shouldn't. In melee combat, cancel your attack before knowing whether or not it succeeds. Your next attack automatically succeeds.
Cat-Dance: During an enemy's movement you can choose to move along with them. You may do this to block an enemy's way with your body.
Sneak Attack!: Whenever an enemy is unaware of your presence, the result of your attack against them is a degree higher than what you would get otherwise. (Critical failure turns into failure. Failure turns into success. Success turns into critical success.)
Dodgeroll: Once per combat, you may dodge an opponent's strike. The result of their attack against you is a degree lower than what you would get otherwise (Critical success turns into success. Success turns into failure. Failure turns into critical failure.)
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Unlocked Possession Upgrade (1 Available):
Range Upgrade: You enhance the reach for initiating Possession. Up-close proximity is no longer necessary, as you can now utilize Possession as a ranged touch attack within 25 feet plus an additional 5 feet per two levels you possess.
Affliction Upgrade: The more physical damage the target sustains, the greater the chances of a successful Possession. Injury, illness and poisoned weakens their life forces, making it easier for you to overtake.
Insanity Upgrade: The more mental damage the target endures, the greater the chances of a successful Possession. As they losing control of emotions, even sanity deteriorates, their ability to resist your influence diminishes, allowing you to seize control more easily.
Knowledge Upgrade: Target life and Knowledge become a encyclopedia for you to study. You gain the ability to tap into the target's memories and experiences, acquiring knowledge on specific concepts or topics.
Kinempathy Upgrade: Your connection to the mortal soul deepens even further. When possessing someone, you may manipulate their thoughts and feelings in order to modify their behaviour and personality. Whenever a big change is made, soul may try to fight for control.
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Looking through the menus, I asked Boleyn: "When do I get a class? You know, like, mage, rogue, warrior... stuff like that."
"Fifth level." The muscular wolf replied casually, stretching his legs. "I recommend you to not be one of those cowardly mages, but you do you. If you're planning to become one, you probably want Latent Magic."
"Does everyone get the same set of combat abilities and character abilities?"
"Depends on your attributes. Everyone gets Latent Magic, though." He shrugged, looking at me intently before implying that I should start talking in fantasy innuendo. "Everyone has a spark of magic in them, runt, even me. I just choose not to deal with any of that nonsense. It's for weaklings."