// Happy to see others draw from my chapters.
I flashed a toothy grin to the kobold as I leaned back on the cushions of the carriage seats. "You may speak if you'd like, gecko." The carriage began moving, sounds of horse hooves hitting the paved stone echoing outside.
The kobold shuffled awkwardly, finding a pillow to hug as he curled his legs up. "I'd rather not, Master. I know how you get." There was no bitterness in his voice, merely… acceptance, I guessed? I chuckled.
"Are you upset about the possession, puppy?" I stretched my s’s playfully, just happy to get a one on one conversation with one of my favourite servants. The kobold's eyes lit up for a moment.
"I'm not, Master, but… I find it confusing. I understand that you're not… quite the same Master, but you behave just like him." He tried his best to sound polite and respectful.
"As far as everyone is concerned, I'm their Master and they should treat me as such." I traced my gargantuan form with one of my arms. "If you're worried about this being a permanent arrangement, don't be. Thrithritigilifirythritglifryn is still in here, he's just taking a nap." I found my tongue effortlessly rolling off the draconic name. Fuck, I really could get used to this. The dragon’s body was hundreds of years old, full of knowledge and power. To be separated from this form would be like being separated from all of your limbs.
Getting an idea to check my status effects to see how long Possession would last, I was shocked to see that I only had about 12 hours left. I thought Possession lasted 2 days? Going through the traits of the form, I saw that status effects lasted half as long on the dragon. I'd have to figure something out soon. And I’d need to figure out what to borrow permanently from the dragon.
"You must be very strong to capture a demigod's body, Master." The kobold said poignantly, taking me out of my deliberation.
"More like damned lucky." I sighed with a hint of anxiety. Right, this dragon was the child of a god of magic. Hopefully some of that divine juice will trickle down to me with Heritage. Would it affect my spellcasting if that happened?
The kobold shrugged, digging his claws into the pillow. “So, um, since you’re not Master…” I shot him a quick angered look before he corrected himself. “S-Since you were someone else prior to becoming my Master, and since you’re not going to be my Master in the eventual future… um… how’s it feel?” He asked timidly.
“You’re wondering how it feels to have access to knowledge beyond what I could gain in my lifetime, to wealth that rivals those of kings, to power that I’ve never even dreamt I could possess?” I asked rhetorically, making it obvious to the kobold what the answer is. It feels fucking great. “It feels like this is my rightful place. Like this is what I was supposed to be my whole life.”
The kobold nodded. I noted that my mind seamlessly transitioned to be the semblance of the weak man I once was. Whenever I was alone, I could be more like “myself” and less like what I really was - a dragon. This also made me recognize just how much my mind was being affected by being inside the body of the dragon. He was supposed to be a passenger. Could he somehow manipulate me even as he held no control over his body? The thought made me angry.
“Say, since we’re going to settle some debts… how would you like to be something more than my clothing this time?” I grinned. The purpose of the kobold companion was to be transformed into whatever I needed in my travels outside of the palace, my memories told me. A lot of the time it was underwear or similar garments, but the nature of this trip did not require me to be modest or polite.
“L-like armour? Or a weapon?” He asked softly, face filling up with hope as he released his grip on the pillow. Ah, how my heart fluttered at the sight of my slaves being happy with the littlest things. Weapons. Reaching into the dragon’s knowledge, I drew on his knowledge of Unarmed Combat… he knew far more than expected, as knowledge of various martial arts flooded my consciousness, making my mind dizzy. I leaned forward, hands clasping my head, memories of thousands of fights flashing before my eyes. Pieces of my mind felt like they were being torn to make room for the new knowledge.
_____________________________________
Expertise Gained: Unarmed Combat
_____________________________________
An anti-climactic notification alerted me of what I took from the dragon. I could feel a fire stirring in my belly as the other consciousness inside my body notified me that it was NOT happy with what I did. This knowledge wasn’t mine to copy. I tried to calm myself down, digging my claws into the cushions I was sitting on. Fire flaring from my nostrils, I steadied my breath.
“M-Master, are you alright?” The kobold asked with worry. I shook my head, gulping as the fire grew weaker. He jumped over to my side of the carriage cabin, hugging one of my legs. H-heh… what a soft little whelp. I lifted my leg, watching him dangle from it as I shook it a little bit.
“First time possessing someone as powerful as this. Facing… unexpected consequences.” I felt myself recover as the kobold giggled from my leg. I grabbed him with an arm, putting him in my lap. “I’m sure you’ll get through it, Master. I like you more like this, anyway.” He said happily, purring… p-purring?.. as I stroked his head…
“Don’t get used to it, stress toy.” I rumbled with a hint of sadness in my voice. I’d be gone by tomorrow. And I can’t grab any of the adorable men with me.
Stretching my muscles, I felt myself going fully back to normal. The window of the carriage was knocked at, announcing we made our way to our destination. “You’re coming with me.” I waved my hands, whispering a soft prayer as I made the kobold shoot up two times in size, filling out his form with muscles as I transformed him mentally into a seasoned fighter. He blushed as he stood up, checking out his bodybuilder form. “I-I-.”
“Don’t get used to this either. You’re going back to normal once we’re done, I just wanted to give you a taste of “how’s it feel”.” I motioned him to get out of the carriage. He opened the door, eagerly hopping down as he looked around in awe from the perspective of his new body. I stepped out as well, sighing as I looked at the store in front of me. “Dragon’s Dream”, it’s called. Arrogant pricks. I waved for the bear to follow me. With the hunk-ified kobold and burly bear by my side, I felt more than comfortable for any ambush that was surely to follow. You don’t deny me without preparing some sort of defence.
I kicked open the wooden door leading into the store. It fell off the hinges, announcing my arrival. Ducking down to walk through the door frame, I looked down at the scared customers. Motioning them to get the fuck out, most of the people inside the room ran out as I made my way to the counter, taking a quick look through the wares on display. The blacksmiths weren’t down on their luck, no, they had plenty of customers and plenty of wares. This was betrayal. A 6’3” thick bat looked defiantly at me, arms crossed.
“Thrithfi-. Thrifitilif-. Thrinigil-. Fuck you.” He tried to act tough, but he failed at the first step. At least get my fucking name down. Looking down at him, I saw a hint of sweat drip down his forehead. Not waiting for whatever they had prepared, I reached over the counter and grabbed him by the throat, picking him up and throwing him to my henchmen. As the bat stood up, the two of them grabbed him by the arms.
“Where’s the other one, you worthless, good-for-nothing cuntgoblin?” I grabbed him by the ears, twisting them. The bat screamed in pain. “H-h-HE’S OUT IN THE BACK!” With a punch, I knocked him unconscious. Ordering the two men to follow me, I slammed my arm against another wooden door, revealing a smithy. Inside was another bat, apparently gearing up to fight as he finished putting on a breastplate. As I walked up to him, he grabbed a longsword, taking a wide swing at me. The steel bounced off my golden scales.
“Good afternoon to you too.” With a grin, I drove a fist into his chin, making him fall back. He stood up, running up to me to try to drive the tip of the sword into my chest. Applaudable effort. Not waiting to see if my scales would withstand this blow, I side-stepped, knocking him on the back of the head as he flew past me.
The next two minutes were kind of a blur. I just took my time having fun with the bat, knocking him around as he kept trying to land a blow on me in various unsuccessful ways. Eventually I grew tired of the foreplay. I pinned him down as he looked at me with an angry face.
"Here's the deal. You either pay up, with interest, right now, or I turn the two of you into my permanent labourers at the palace and take all of your possessions anyway. What'll it be?"
I was happy to see that the bats shared my sense of stewardship. Five minutes later, with a bag full of gold, I walked out of the store where-. huh, where's the cart? An arrow flying into my shoulder gave me ideas of what happened to it. This one actually got about half an inch into my skin.
As a swarm of armed thugs rushed at me, I recognized that I may have gotten a little bit out of my depth. The dragon could deal with them, but I couldn't. Analysing my surroundings, I came to the conclusion that NOW would be a pretty good opportunity to get the fuck out. In more ways than one. Lifting my arm and giving myself a strong punch in the head, I was immediately kicked out of the body as I flew in the direction of the blow, instinctively rolling on descent to spread the force of the landing across my body. This caused a little bit of a distraction, but the thugs and Thrithritigilifirythritglifryn ultimately decided to fight one another instead of dealing with me as I began running far, far away from the action.
I made few turns as I ran. I felt divine power running through my veins. My senses were extended far beyond my body, my magical senses felt sharper… hah, and my body looked much stronger, too. Continuing to run with the speed inherited from the cheetah, my subconsciousness reached out to the world around me. I could sense the presence of my new relatives all around the world. A few were in this very city, most importantly my now… brother? Uncle? Father? Thrithritigilifirythritglifryn. If I could sense him, he could sense me. And I could sense him starting to go in my direction. Fuck. Did he already kick the shit out of the thugs?
By now we had about two kilometres between the two of us. But he would close the distance, one way or another. He was bigger. Stronger. With more resources. With magic. I stood no chance. Not in a fight, not in a negotiation. If I let him find me, I would probably get collared and turned into a slave forever. Or worse. Reincarnation would be preferable to whatever would happen if I were caught.
But I wasn’t ready to give up. No, the cogs in my brain kept turning as I ran and ran, sensing the dragon getting closer. One and a half kilometres. The people around me paid me no mind, used to seeing adventurers running around. I scanned the crowds and the alleyways, looking for a potential person to possess. Quickly looking through my character menus, I noticed that my Possession got to Level 3. I had an upgrade slot. I picked up Paralysing Possession without a second thought.
One kilometre. Spotting a lone marten in an alley, I quickly switched direction, knocking down someone carrying a basket of fruits as I did so. Pouncing on the marten, I started channelling Possession on her. With the paralysation upgrade, she stared at me helplessly as I began melting into her body.
The soul was nothing more than an anchor, tying the vessel to a certain set of action. But if I were to cut off the anchor, I could reattach the vessel to my own will. With a quick snap, I submerged completely into her body.
Half a kilometre. I could still sense the dragon, but I noticed him stopping in place for a moment as hesitation took root within him. I wasn’t on the radar anymore. He continued following me to the last location he knew I was in. Fuck. Alright, let’s get away from here quickly and try to act natural.
Three hundred metres. I got out of the alleyway, hurriedly walking towards the nearest tavern as I got used to seeing the world through the shorter, petite form. Some people were making eyes at me. Someone catcalled me. Meref, less than a minute in this form and I was already objectified. Great.
Taking a look down at my body, my mind gained a level of recognition as to why I was getting the attention. The leather protecting my form WAS very form-fitting. And I had some assets. Still, I wasn’t the only fucking woman dressed provocatively. It’s not like they make female armour that doesn’t try to show off your curves, my mind told me. I put a hood over my head, shoved my hands into my pockets and hunched over as I blended into a crowd. A mental map of the district surfaced in my head as I calculated an escape route. This body belonged to a rogue, I found, as I felt a primal urge to pick some of these pockets. Pushing the thought down I reminded myself that the first priority was that I needed to get away.
A hundred metres. I didn’t turn my head. The dragon would be in the alleyway right now, and if he exited… Well, he didn’t need to get the chance to see someone look back anxiously. I was near a tavern now. I needed ten seconds.
Fifty metres. The dragon was drawing the attention of the crowd as he roared loudly. Everyone turned to look at him, save a few men that continued walking. I played along with the role of the anxious adventurer, looking at him as he pounced at a boar that was walking away. I saw power glowing from his body. Fuck, he was scanning them for magic. If he got close enough to me, he could probably get a whiff that this body held more than one soul. The fear I felt made my acting more believable as the dragon pounced on another passer-by, a panda. He was facing away from me as he scanned the fearful panda. This gave me an opportunity. I dashed into the tavern, deftly jumping over the batwing door to not make a noise. Thankfully, the bar was full, and there were plenty of people who crowded the windows to see what all the fuss was about, obscuring me as I walked up to the second floor of the tavern, my mind telling me that the tavern had another exit in the back. I walked into the staff room. I passed by a wolf on the inside, who nodded in familiarity as I hastefully made my way to another exit. I would commonly use this tavern as an escape route.
Thirty metres. I could hear the dragon making a ruckus inside the tavern. Ah, that’d be pointless - I was already in the back. As I opened another door, I walked through it and-.
Darkness.
I stepped into the dark, the door shutting close behind me. When I turned around, it was gone. No, everything was gone. I was standing in the abyss, darkness stretching into every direction.
A menu popped up in my face, unprompted. A notification read to me:
“Greetings, my friend! Do not be afraid. I decided to pull you out of that situation before it got to the point where Nabaru would inevitably catch whiff of the situation. I told you, I didn’t want to get the other gods aware of our little misdeeds.”
I responded, embittered, my soft female voice echoing in the darkness.
“I had it taken care of. I don’t want you to pull me out the moment I’m in a hint of trouble.”
Another notification popped up.
“Fuck no, hun. This was more than a hint of trouble. He would get you sooner or later, and then it’d be a weird situation where you’d have to explain to both Thrithritigilifirythritglifryn and Nabaru how you popped up in the middle of Nordif without either of them knowing about who you are, and why you felt the need to possess Mr. Thrifty Griffin. And you’d inevitably have to explain my involvement, which you wouldn’t be able to.”
I sighed. The deus ex machina was welcome, I suppose.
“You like my adventure so far, um… what should I call you?”
A notification popped up.
“I’m known as Esopethir in this world.” The God of Life. That made sense. “I’m sorry that you’ve only been getting from the pan into the fire over and over again over the course of the week. You just happen to constantly fall into trouble somehow. I did enjoy watching you claw your way through everything, though. You've got grit. Possessing one of the children of Nabaru was really fucking funny as well. He’s pissed.”
“I could tell, Eso.” My mind was slowly clearing up from the influences of the dragon. I grew softer, less self-assured… holy shit, I was THAT close to getting fucked, I came to realize. “What’s the plan now?”
Another notification.
“Up to you, Drony. Worst case, I can just reincarnate you as a normal character with Possession all over again. You get the pick of who you want to be upon birth. Hard reset. Alternatively, I can drop you in the city as yourself, in another district. Dealing with the dragon is up to you, but the immediate threat is gone. You get to keep everything, with a little spell from me to help obscure your presence as long as you are about a kilometre away from the dragon.”
This was a non-choice, right? I wasn’t just going to give up the moment I faced a little opposition.
“Let me check through my notifications first.” I laid down on the firm darkness. Scrolling down the notification screen, I took a look at my new achievements:
_____________________________________
Achievement Unlocked: [Borrowed Divinity] (Divinity Ability Point granted.)
Achievement Unlocked: [Wise Beyond One’s Ears - One Expertise] (+3 Knowledge)
_____________________________________
Character Level up! Lv.11 --> Lv.13
Two Attribute Points gained.
Class Ability unlocked.
_____________________________________
Allocate 2 attribute points:
Strength: 17 (Temporarily 11: Possession)
Dexterity: 19 (Temporarily 23: Possession)
Toughness: 19 (Temporarily 13: Possession)
Knowledge: 19
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 11
_____________________________________
Unlocked Divinity Power (1 available):
Physical Perfection: Your body is enhanced in every way. Gain +4 STR, DEX, TOU. Your health pool is multiplied by a factor of two. Your speed is multiplied by a factor of two. Your armour is multiplied by a factor of 1.5.
Refined Soul: Your mind is enhanced in every way. Gain +4 KNO, WIS, CHA. Your mana pool is multiplied by a factor of two. Your magic resistance is multiplied by a factor of 1.5.
Goliath’s Might: Your physical power is an object of envy. Gain +10 STR. You may carry, lift, grapple and throw three times your maximum weight capacity. Your physical damage is multiplied by a factor of two.
Mind over Matter: Your mind is sharpened beyond mortal limits. Gain +10 KNO. Using your mind, you can will your body to ascend from the ground and coarse through the air. On your turn, you may fly a number of metres equal to your Knowledge. Using your mind, you can will objects equal to (Knowledge * 4) kilograms to move through the air in a similar fashion. When attempting to use this ability on a living creature, it may attempt to resist by using Wisdom against your Knowledge.
_____________________________________
Ah. Stat improvements. How exciting. Here I thought I’d get something unique. They WERE very big, though.
_____________________________________
Select Class Ability (1 available):
Heightened Spell: Once per combat, you may use twice the mana required to channel a spell in order to heighten its effect. Double the damage dealt by the offensive spell and double the duration of its effects if it has any.
Diverse Magic: Unlock an extra element to channel.
Silent Spells: Outside of combat, your spell components and their effects do not produce any noise.
Mana Recovery 2: Outside of combat, recover 0.82% of your total mana every minute.
Repelling Magic: Your offensive spells knock enemies 5 metres from you every time they're hit by them.
Elemental Adept: Select an element. Spells using that element ignore damage resistance to the element.
_____________________________________
Frankly, I feel loaded. With all the upgrades, I had a very good shot of building up enough power to take down Thrithritigilifirythritglifryn. If that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t have to. But it felt like a right, proper goal to strive towards. To free those servants, to claim that hoard… to stop his racketeering. To take his place.
A notification popped up.
“You made up your mind? I’ll be happy to watch whatever happens.”
I responded.
“I have a question, actually. If I go to take on the dragon… wouldn’t that still put me at odds with Nabaru? You would not want that, right?”
I stared at the screen for half a minute, waiting for a message.
“It’s a matter of the dragon’s request, first and foremost. If he’d gotten his hands on you, he would call upon his Father. But he will not come to Nabaru without capturing you first. His image matters to him. Do not fail, and he will not summon Nabaru.”
Okay. That makes some sense.
“What happens once I defeat him?”
This time the response came quicker.
“Do not kill him. No matter what. Everyone will know of the death of a child of a god. Imprison him, enslave him, but do not dare kill him. I will not protect you if you do.”
Another half a minute passed. A notification popped up.
“What do you want to do, Dory?”