Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 98

Chapter 98 – Discoveries

It was impossible to change from one form to another without dropping back to my true form. Unlike with my [Shapeshifting], where I could move between disguises and my true form at will, the forms given by the [Ritual of the Beast] had to be undone before I could pick a new one. An annoying thing, and one that lowered the usefulness of the ritual’s forms. Still, there were times when becoming a beast could be useful. Especially if those forms grew as I grew in Tier.

“[Form of the Warhorse].”

Tier 2 Achieved. New Form unlocked.

You may now select between Warhorse and Fel-winged Unicorn when using this ability.

Form of the Fel-winged Unicorn:

Wings – Able to fly with black, feathered wings. Must be able to extend wings to fly. Cannot carry more than a light load and maintain flight.

Warhorse Armor Proficiency – Become Proficient with all armor types made for horses or other creatures of your shape. Can move at full speed while wearing heavy armor.

Natural Weapons – Gain a hoof attack (dealing STR2 damage), and a horn attack (dealing STR3 damage).

Blessed Strikes – Natural weapons deal extra Radiant damage equal to (50% STR).

Hellfire Strikes – Natural weapons deal extra Hellfire damage equal to (50% STR).

Healing Touch – Can spend MP to heal touched creature equal to half the MP spent.

Strong Back – The Warhorse’s size and strength increases their carrying capacity to (STR5)10 kg.

Combined Attack – The warhorse can attack creatures in melee while their rider also attacks, without incurring penalties on either party.

This form was no larger than the normal Warhorse form. But comparing this form to the Warhorse was like comparing a drake to a dragon. Pure white hair matched against coal-black wings. Grey hooves and a silver horn that shone with radiance and burned with hellfire. All of it a contradiction in forms, like myself.

“What in the hells?” Libbe said, eyes wide. The scholar was well aware of the paradox of this form. “A horse that gets to Tier 2 can turn into a Winged Horse, sure. If they have some connection to the Celestial, then a Unicorn or even a Winged Unicorn is possible. But what is a Fel-winged Unicorn?”

I released the form, and chuckled. “Well, my ancestry is ‘complicated’, let’s just say. And that’s all I’ll say right now, unless you want to commit to coming back to Windwater instead of asking me to get your father to buy you. Anyways, that may have affected how it turned out. But my attacks in that form deal extra Hellfire and Radiance damage with each strike, and I can spend MP to heal people with a touch.”

“But why did this one change more than the Hellhound?” Jewell asked. “Hellhound to Dire Hellhound is easy to understand. But this?”

Zazriel stroked her chin thoughtfully. “The Warhorse is typically not aspected in any way, energetically speaking. The Hellhound is intensely aligned with demonic or fire energies. So, there was less room for change. But with the Warhorse, the celestial and demonic influences had room to express themselves. If that’s the case, then the Frost Drake transformation will scale up to a Lesser Frost Dragon, instead of taking on additional qualities.”

“Then, I guess I should try it,” I chuckled, before making sure I had a Frostmaw-sized area to work with. “[Form of the Frost Drake].”

Tier 2 Achieved. New Form unlocked.

You may now select between Frost Drake and Lesser Frost Dragon when using this ability.

Form of the Lesser Frost Dragon:

Wings – Able to fly with draconic wings. Must be able to extend wings to fly. Cannot carry more than a light load and maintain flight.

Frost Immunity – Immune to damage from Ice and Cold.

Larger Build – Multiply STR by 4 for determining carrying capacity.

Natural Weapons – Gain two claw attacks (dealing STR1.5 damage), two wing attacks (dealing STR damage), a tail slap attack (dealing STR2 damage), and a bite attack (STR*3 damage). A lesser frost dragon’s natural weapons deal additional Ice damage equal to their CHA.

Scaled Hide – The Lesser Frost Dragon reduces all damage taken by their CON*1.5.

Freezing Breath – The Lesser Frost Dragon can breathe a cone of cold up to 50 meters long and 15 meters wide, dealing Cold damage equal to their CHA*3 to all creatures and objects in the area. This breath has a cooldown of 60 seconds, and costs 1000 SP.

Looking down, I saw the others staring up at me. I could tell that I had grown to the same size as Frostmaw when he wasn’t using [Shrink], as expected. I had a feeling that the scales were harder, and I could use my wings and tail as weapons. This form lost the venom of a Frost Drake, but the improvements to my weapons, including the breath weapon, were worth it.

Of course, I didn’t have the kind of racial skills that Frostmaw had, so his draconic abilities were going to be stronger than mine, even with our different stats. If I spent more time as a dragon, I could probably unlock some of those dragon racial skills as general skills. Same with the dire hellhound and fel-winged unicorn forms. The trick was that I had never found something that needed me to spend much time in those forms before. And I didn’t think that I would unlock the skills without actually fighting in those forms.

My transformation had shocked everyone, even Frostmaw. Well, he was affected differently than the others. If I hadn’t ‘relieved’ him earlier, I was fairly certain he would have tried mating with me in this form, unless I ordered him to stop. That was something to consider, actually, when things had calmed down somewhat.

When I returned to my human form, Simona, the Beast Tamer, was the first to actually speak. “Mistress, may I ask some questions about the ritual?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“First, can you teach the ritual to others? Having even a small group of fighters who can shift forms without needing to be from the Druid or similar classes would offer plenty of new opportunities for reconnaissance. Turning into a wolf in the woods would allow you to move as they do, presenting a different profile and making tracking difficult. And in town, a dog’s shape would allow you to search the streets and alleys without raising suspicion, pretty much anywhere you went.”

Thankfully, I knew the answer to this. “I could create a scroll with a single-use version of the ritual, thanks to [Scribe Scroll]. Using the scroll would probably unlock the [Ritualist] skill as a general skill. Picking it would probably give you the [Ritual of the Beast] as one of the known rituals. So, it is possible I could pass the ritual on in that way. And even if not, I could be the one powering the ritual while someone else participates in it.”

Simona nodded. “I see. Then, second, is it only something women can do? Like, if we’re going with a dog, for example, could a man stick it to a female dog, and gain the transformation, or would he have to take it from a male dog? Or is it explicitly women only?”

I had to take a moment and see what [Arcane Ritualist] said about that. The form of the ritual that I had learned was specifically tailored to women, after all, so I did not immediately know whether changes were possible. The skill, however, suggested that it could work. You would have to make some minor alterations to the ritual to do it, but yes, a man could undergo the ritual, if he was able to perform. The effects of my [Succubus’s Cursed Circlet of Brilliance] meant that I had no problems enjoying myself with Rastran and Frostmaw, but a man would need something similar in order to perform, unless he was naturally a deviant.

“Possible, with a bit of tweaking on the formula. However, it would depend on the man being able to complete his side of the bargain. Which means he’d probably need some assistance in keeping it up long enough.”

Astruth laughed, and said, “Can confirm, I would definitely need some extra motivation to be able to keep going with a beast. Not really my thing.”

That got a few grins from the others, before Simona leaned forward. “Which brings up the third question I had, Mistress. Does the ritual require the participant to be in human form? Like, if you performed the ritual while in the shape of a hellhound, would it still work? And would someone in a beast shape be able to stand in for the beast in the ritual?”

I leaned back slightly as I considered that. “Why are you so interested in this ritual, Simona? I mean, if you were just looking to enjoy some animal companionship, I can assure you I wouldn’t stand in your way. But this is more, yes?”

“Yes, Mistress. When I was a child, living in Crystalshield, I read a story from the Southern Continent. Beastfolk are the majority down there, you know. The story I read was of this order that was somewhere between knights and rangers, warriors who could roam the wild as both man and beast, changing forms and working with their comrades, sometimes fighting tooth and claw, and other times taking turns as both mount and rider to hasten journeys and hide their numbers. It was said that most of them died when the demons took Meskaele.”

She blushed slightly, but continued, “Even as a girl, I knew that I wanted to be in tune with nature like that. More than that, I wanted to be part of a special order, different, able to do things that normal classes couldn’t do. When you told us about the ritual, my mind immediately started going along those lines.”

I nodded gently. “Well, I can’t say as I ever heard that story, but having a group of rangers who could patrol the wilder areas of Windwater while hiding their true nature would be useful. As for your questions, I wouldn’t be able to say. The knowledge from my skill only goes so far when dealing with more niche cases. Though I don’t think there would be any harm in attempting the ritual, with someone in beast form and a willing participant. The ritual would either fail, wasting nothing but time and energy, or it would succeed. Either way would tell us something.”

I considered the mechanics for another moment, and said, “When we get to Crystalshield, we’ll likely spend several days in the city. I’ll see about renting a warded ritual space, and we can see about trying the ritual. Including seeing whether someone in beast form can participate in the ritual, whether as the one being changed or the one doing the changing. But that would definitely need to be in a warded space. Otherwise, it would attract all the wrong kind of attention.”

“Indeed,” nodded Libbe. “The magics maintaining the city’s shield and the other defenses are strong, but they could be disrupted by unwarded ritual magic. The City Watch takes the matter very seriously, I assure you. The penalties for unwarded rituals are far harsher than they are in other lands. And records are kept of those who use warded ritual sites in the city, to ensure that no one attempts anything too dangerous inside the city. Even a visiting noblewoman would be in grave danger if she ran afoul of those laws.”

“Well, we certainly won’t be doing that. Our objective is to hire some of the militia’s trainers to teach in Windwater, after all. Doing something that would cause the city to turn against us would just be foolish.” Further conversation was cut off as Wyliame, the young priest, yawned. “But now, I think it is time for some of us to rest. We still have a day and a half on the road, until we reach Crystalshield, after all.”