As soon as the golden light had faded completely, Ryan heard the deep voice again. “You are already strong for a human, but I can make you even stronger…”
Ryan felt his whole body getting warm and relaxed, as if he was being wrapped in a blanket. He was skeptical about his wish actually coming true, but he was excited to see how the golden light would grant his wish. Ryan hoped for some cool muscle growth, so he could beat up anyone who tried to hurt his friends. He worked out regularly and was trying to bulk up, but he had not seen as much progress as he wanted yet.
He felt his whole chest area and upper back expanding and shoulders getting wider with a tingling, stretching sensation. The same feeling also started in his arms, legs, and waist. His shirt and pants were slowly getting tighter, but he knew his clothes weren’t shrinking. He must be getting bigger! Ryan’s wish really was coming true!
As more changes started, Ryan quickly realized that he was changing even more than he wanted. The tingling feeling became more of an itching feeling. When he scratched his left arm with his whole right hand, he noticed that he was rubbing something hairy. He looked at his arm and was shocked to see his muscled arm growing some dense, light brown hair even as he watched. A panicked glance at his other arm confirmed that his arms and hands were becoming dense with soft, light brown hair, which was beginning to look suspiciously like fur.
Then, Ryan realized that his shirt was feeling even tighter than before. He figured that it was already too tight to take off the normal way, so now would be a good opportunity to test his new strength. He grabbed the top of his shirt with both hands, ripped it all the way down like paper, and let the shirt fall to the floor.
Ryan looked down at the light brown fur growing in thick on his bulked up chest and now rounded belly. Ryan became scared when he saw that his once flat abs had already disappeared, and he could feel his softening belly ballooning out even more! He rubbed and pat his warm, fuzzy belly, focusing on the strange feeling of the fat and the fuzz slowly expanding and shifting underneath his hands.
Ryan noticed that his hands were going through some big changes. His already furry fingers were getting shorter and thicker. His palms were darkening and puffing up, and the skin was getting harder. Fingernails were turning dark brown and extending into obvious claws. His hands, now paws, were large and had fur everywhere except on the tough pads. Ryan couldn’t figure out which animal’s paws he had.
Ryan’s feet started to feel a lot of pressure. Taking a guess why, he immediately reached down to take his shoes off. The dome-shaped, furry belly caught his attention for a moment while he struggled to relieve the pressure on his feet. His feet had not changed much… except for being completely covered with a thick layer of fur and the curved, brown claws sticking out from his toes. All of the obvious clues finally clicked; Ryan realized he was becoming a bear.
All of this staring downward brought his attention to his nose. At first he crossed his eyes, but soon he didn’t need to. His nose was slowly moving away from his eyes where he could see it better, and the tip was turning black. He also noticed short fur growing on the rest of his nose. His chin and mouth moving outward with the nose to form a muzzle felt very awkward.
A pressure around his waist distracted him from watching his muzzle form. His pants were too small for a widening waist, a new stubby tail, and a huge, soft, furry belly pushing down. Ryan’s legs and thighs had not thickened much yet, so he only needed to unbutton his pants and let them fall down to his hind paws. Ryan saw that his entire body was covered with a heavy coat of light brown fur. He was also a lot bigger than he used to be in every way. His bellybutton was no longer visible. His legs were thicker now. There was no hope of fitting into his clothes again; he would have to find some bigger clothes in the mansion or not wear any at all.
Ryan's ears felt a little strange, so he reached up with his paws to feel how different they were. Even through the tough padding on his palms he could feel that his ears were furry and round. The fur added a high pitched brushing sound compared to rubbing his human ears.
Ryan couldn't feel any other changes happening, giving his unexpected situation a chance to sink in. He suddenly remembered where he was and wondered how the others were doing, especially his little brother Johnathan. Despite the jarring change he was able to stay impressively calm. Ryan was still standing in the same spot as when the golden light spoke to him, trying to decide if it was a good idea to meet with the others, keep looking around, or come up with an entirely new plan.