The document, which appeared small when compared to the giant, was roughly the size of a movie poster. Katarina unrolled it and weighed the corner down with errant stones. It was three feet wide and six feet tall when fully unfurled. I examined it, reading the script that had been written with precise motions. Large splotches of marred ink covered a few spots of the parchment, which made me think he — or someone else of comparable size — had cried while reading it, but the text was still legible.

  Writ of Exile

  Hereto let it be known that the citizen formerly known as Ghork Jandersky of the Jandersky Clan of the Western Peaks is formally stripped of all title and right to citizenship, exiled to the southern peaks for engaging in illegal trade of man-meat and treasonous collusions. Furthermore, the above mentioned party shall be hence known as Exile Ghork. The exiled party is no longer welcome within the territories of Jordenheim, under penalty of death.

  May our decree be known to the citizens by signatures of the Council, who have agreed to this terms by unanimous vote.

  Several names were signed below the document. I looked it over several times, scratching my head.

  “So… giants are smart?” I asked.

  “It certainly looks like it. This is very formal.” Abernathy replied, bent over and inspecting it. “It is a fine ink they used too. Minimal blotching. It almost looks like they used a block press or some other method of mass production, see how uniform the letters here are?”

  “Block press?” Katarina asked, laughing. “What, like medieval monks or something?”

  “I don’t know,” Abernathy continued looking over the document. “I’m not a history buff. It’s just weird how each letter is the same size. And why would a giant be carrying his own Writ of Exile?”

  “Giants are quite smart, as I said before,” Encore said. “They have long ruled the peaks to the north. Their city is as advanced as any humanoid, though they do not allow visitors from other races… for obvious reasons.”

  “Obvious to who?” Katarina asked.

  “Any who are familiar with them.” Encore replied.

  Katarina barked a laugh. “You silly fox, we are not familiar with them. Why don’t they let people visit?”

  “The smell of manflesh drives them mad with hunger. It makes them almost feral. As a society that values sophistication above all else, this deep-rooted reaction is seen as shameful and frowned upon.”

  An idea struck me and I hurried forward, laying a hand on the giant’s outstretched finger, willing myself to absorb the essence. A notification appeared that I had seen once before, when I first touched Cahl.

  Error! Absorb Essence Failed. Insufficient Level.

  “Damn,” I stepped back. “I really need to work on leveling up my transform skill.”

  “Wait. You tried taking its form just now?” Katarina asked, looking from me to the giant. “And the system just told you that you needed more levels? So if you level up your transform skill, you will be able to change into a giant? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “Well it didn’t say how high my level needs to be. Could be hundreds of levels.”

  “Skills don’t have hundreds of levels.” Katarina replied.

  “True, but the number usually resets with a lower cap that takes longer to get to when you reach max.” I looked at her, cocking my head to the side in confusion. “Haven’t you maxed out a skill yet?”

  “No, but I have a few that are getting close. It takes a long time to level the damn things.”

  “I haven’t maxed out a skill yet either, Chanter,” Abernathy chimed in. “You might have because of that bonus from having a random race at the start?”

  “Ah, true,” Katarina looked at me thoughtfully.

  “But the system message said I would get a bonus to experience up to level ten. I’m level 14 now.”

  “Yeah, true, but that same system also glitched and tossed you into random. Can you really trust it?” Abernathy pulled his ute out as he spoke.

  I heard a squelching sound and turned to see Katarina cutting one of the giant’s hands off.

  “What the hell, Kat?” I asked, shocked. “Why are you cutting its hand off?”

  “Just curious about something.” She responded, her voice the epitome of innocence.

  “I guess you’re right Abe. I don’t have any kind of lingering buff or notification that says anything about experience gain. Maybe I do level up skills slightly faster?”

  “You definitely level up unarmed combat quick!” Katarina grunted as she pulled the hand free. “Here luteboy, try absorbing this essence.”

  She flopped the hand down at my feet. Blood pooled from the open wound at the wrist for a moment. I swallowed and bent over, touching the finger again.

  Error! Absorb Essence Failed. Insufficient Level.

  “I got the same message,” I straightened. “It won’t let me.”

  “And it wouldn’t let me put that giant in my inventory. BUT.” She trailed off, looking at me expectantly. It clicked in my head.

  “No way.” I said, kicking the hand and sending it to my inventory. It disappeared right in. I pulled it back out of my inventory. It appeared in front of me, on the ground. I reached out and touched it.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Error! Absorb Essence Failed. Insufficient Level.

  “Holy shit.” I looked to Abe, who was staring with wide eyes and a slack jaw, then to Katarina, who had a small, smug smile and narrowed eyes.

  “Keep it and use it when you level up your skill enough! Oh and here, try this one.” She pulled out the huge kobold we had fought.

  “No way. It doesn’t work on beasts,” I took a step forward, crouching and touching the dead kobold’s ear.

  New form acquired! Kobold (Alpha, Arctic)!

  “Well I’ll be damned.” I looked down as Katarina pulled a regular kobold out of her inventory. She returned the alpha to her inventory as I crouched down and touched the regular kobold.

  New form acquired! Kobold (Arctic)!

  She returned the smaller kobold to her inventory and stared at me with a big smile.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, try them out!” She bounced, giddy with excitement.

  “You get way too excited about this,” I smiled.

  “Shut it, lute boy. Come on!”

  I laughed, concentrating. After a cursory glance — it was more from habit than anything else, I didn’t expect there to be witnesses up here — I returned my boots to my inventory and enacted Transform, focusing on the Alpha form.

  A familiar pain, which had lessened considerably from when I had first started using the skill, washed over my body. Five of my magic points were consumed as I grew taller and more muscular. Coarse white fur sprouted across my body. My clothing ripped and tore, though my Cloak of the Four Winds grew with me.

  “Ugh, damnit.” I looked down at my tattered clothing, holding my hands over my crotch. “Can you look away or something, Kat?”

  My voice was much deeper, with a hint of a growl laced into the words. The world had darkened slightly, but I could smell so much more. It went beyond just being able to smell more. There was a nuance that I hadn’t had before.

  The strongest scent was that of the mountain giant. Nearly overwhelming body odor and blood. I tuned out that scent and smelled something sweet, like flowers but with a faint whiff of some kind of musk I couldn’t identify. The smell made blood rush to my face and accelerated my heart rate. I realized I was smelling Katarina, who stood very close to me despite my request for privacy. She was looking up into me eyes, examining my face.

  “Are… you blushing?” She laughed softly. “It’s amazing. You look like a kobold, but you still look like you. A Chanter kobold. That’s wild!”

  I glanced down at my body, my ruined clothes laying around me and off of me, and at her. “Please? A moment?”

  The sound came out as a growling squeak. She burst out laughing, turned and began walking towards Abernathy. She spoke over her shoulder without turning around. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Get dressed, lute boy.”

  I sighed, enacting transform again and shrinking down into my wood elven form. I hurriedly pulled up my inventory and equipped a new set of traveling clothes, but not before I heard Katarina chirp in with a “nice butt!” I also received a notification.

  Transform has leveled up! 26/50

  “I really need to be practicing my transform skill more. Its more than half way to 50 now,” I turned back around. Katarina turned and made an obvious attempt at pretending like she hadn’t been staring at me.

  “You said you unlocked a new skill when you got your instrument skill to 50, right?” Abernathy asked. He was leaning against his ute.

  “Yeah, I wonder if I get anything for leveling up transform.”

  “It would make sense,” he replied. “Maybe all skills provide abilities as you level them. That would be very useful.”

  “Mhm.” Katarina mumbled.

  “Is it witnessing the act of transforming that puts you in heat?” Encore asked Katarina as he and I walked towards her and Abernathy. Abernathy choked and Katarina’s face turned a deep purple.

  “Excuse me?” She asked, her voice raising an octave.

  “I just noticed that scent again and was wondering.” Encore responded innocently. “I apologize, it seems the topic of human reproductive readiness is taboo. You smell frighteningly of violence now.”

  “Damn right I smell of violence. Heat?! Do I look like a cat to you?”

  “Many creatures enter states of heightened sexual—”

  “Okay, Encore,” I cut in. “Let’s talk about something else. We should keep going, though it’s a shame the pass is broken now. How will people get across?”

  “I um… I should be able to put together something.” Abernathy said, manipulating something with his heads up display that I couldn’t see. “A narrow walking path, bolted to the mountainside, shouldn’t take too long. Maybe a few hours. Katarina, can you help me?”

  “Sure,” she walked over and took a tool from Abernathy. It looked like a hand-held drill of some kind.

  “What can I do?” I asked. “Need help with anything else?”

  “No, we should be able to do it with the two of us. Just… watch us and be ready to use that cloak if one of us falls, okay?” Abernathy’s eyes flitted around the edge of the cliff.

  “Alright. Guess I can practice with Transform while you two do that.”

  I paused, looking over my list of available transformations.

  Changeling

  Human (Basic)

  Dwarf (Mountain)

  Elf (High) (Wood)

  Half-Elf (Wood)

  Beastkin (Ferret); (Quokka); (Goat); (Otter); (Piscivorous Viper)

  Elementalkin (Tera)

  Kobold (Alpha, Arctic) (Arctic)

  My eyes lingered on the Piscivorous Viper. I would need to replenish my venom supply, if I wanted to keep the daggers topped off. It gave me an idea.

  I shifted into the form. My clothing strained slightly, but it wasn’t enough to actually do damage to the fabric.

  “Oh, that’s frightening.” Abernathy said as he passed. “I hate snakes.”

  “That’s creepy as hell, Chanter.” Katarina side eyed me.

  “Do you have something that we could use to collect venom while I'm like this?” I asked. The form gave me a bit of a lisp and extended the ‘s’ sound on my words.

  “Wait wait, hold up.” Katarina stopped, her eyes going wide. “Are you asking Abe to milk you?”

  I sighed. “No, I can milk myself—” I started to say. Katarina barked a series of loud laughs before I realized what I said. I put my face in my hands and groaned. “What I mean is, I can put the venom in a pair of daggers I have. It can be useful.”

  Abernathy smacked himself on the forehead. “Of course. Of course! I should have thought of that sooner! It should be easy to extract the venom, and there are all kinds of applications. I can cook up an anti-venom, to protect us against any other of those Sect we might encounter. I can also weaponize it in several ways. Yes. I have lots of ideas. Okay.”

  He manipulated his HUD for a moment before pulling out a glass jar about the size of my fist with a thin fabric draped over the top and held in place with a bit of fine twine.

  “Here. It will be a good data point. See how much venom you can get.”

  I took the jar and opened my mouth, sliding one of my fangs through the fabric until I felt a gentle pressure on the gums. Pressure I didn’t know I had on the side of my neck lessened slightly and I wavered as a small stream of venom dripped into the glass. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I fell over. The glass jar fell from my hands and broke on the ground, spilling a few drops of venom on the path.

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