I stood before the mirror in the bathroom and examined my muscular and hairy body, which was mine and, simultaneously, as if not mine. I didn't take the matrix from Patrick, I took it from his father. After all, the number of metamorph forms may increase over time, but it's limited. So I chose exactly an adult werewolf, because besides greater strength, he possesses another quality — he's an adult.
I can't do many things because of the young age of my real body. I remembered how it all went.
"Dad! Arthur and Apolline and I are training. Can you imagine, they can already throw fire! And Arthur can also fight no worse than me!" — it was clear the boy loved his father and strived to boast. The middle-aged man with short stubble on his face and brutal appearance broke into a smile at the sight of his son.
"Seriously? So young and already so strong. Well, have you chosen a bride from them?" — he teased his son.
"Dad! What are you saying?!" — the boy blushed.
"What? Look what beauties! They'll be taken, and you'll cry," — the man continued joking.
"Hey," — I shouted, — "I'm a boy!"
"Sure, of course, a boy!" — the man said with hidden sarcasm. Meanwhile Apolline covered her face, trying not to burst out laughing. Quite unsuccessfully, judging by her wheezing.
"Don't pay attention, dad, Arthur always says that. But we know boys don't get that beautiful!" — the boy supported his father.
"Don't judge by yourself, Patrick," — I answered, and Apolline couldn't hold it, bursting into laughter and grabbing her stomach. And after her everyone else, so contagious was her laughter.
And now I regret that I started hiding my gender at all, now when I speak even completely seriously, they don't believe me. When we were parting, I cast a matrix removal spell, which I read into my memory using word magic, on Patrick's father, whose name I never bothered to ask. However, that's not so important. Much more interesting is that he managed to sense it! The man chuckled and sniffed wolf-like.
— "Dad, did something happen?" — Patrick worried.
— "No, son, probably seemed like it to me," — I need to be more careful in the future. If werewolves can sense such charms, then animals will be many times more sensitive, especially magical ones. Form collection suddenly became much more complicated. I thought matrix removal charms had no manifestations.
…
Ariel wasn't home, she went to a tutor who prepares her for exams. After all, she didn't go to magic school, and education is very important. Well, or at least proof of this education. At first she didn't want to leave me alone, however over all the past five years I showed myself to be not only smart, but also an unproblematic child and managed to convince her that nothing terrible would happen to me.
No, they could have left me with Jacqueline, but she worked herself and left Apolline with her grandmother.
That's why I decided to transform, removing all clothes beforehand. And not in vain — I could have torn them to shreds due to changed height and proportions. After all, only my body goes to spatial storage.
Not only appearance changed. I became stronger, faster, my smell and hearing became more acute, and teeth in my mouth sharper and longer, especially fangs.
At first I was almost deafened by the huge amount of aromas and sounds. And I also literally felt in my gut how I became more irritable and aggressive.
However, I didn't lose the ability to transform into a harpy, and fire magic strength didn't decrease. Which only confirms that this is 'ME' or some other type of ability not tied to the body. First of all I... transformed back. This is most important for a metamorph. And this didn't work out for me from the first or second try.
Okay, I spent half a day on reverse transformation. I'm afraid what would have happened to me when transforming into a beast, brr. Until I fully master metamorphoses into human forms, I won't even touch animals.
But forms have another plus — they don't transfer damage to the real one. That is, I can hack myself up completely, the main thing is not to die immediately. Which opened up studying another skill giving me free movement — transgression.
Transgression or as it's also called, apparition — is spatial teleportation, or more precisely, its variety. It differs from Sumerian in that the puncture in hyperspace, through which instant movement happens, is much smaller. Which means mana costs are also much smaller, I'd say dozens of times. Because cost size depends mostly on portal dimensions, and growth goes exponentially.
But this movement method has considerable minuses: first, disorientation upon arrival at destination. Solved by experience, but not completely, so barely applicable in battle. And second, movement range, because a narrow channel easily collapses at distances beyond... I don't know which. But I think if within one-two thousand kilometers you can still move, then further is already dangerous. And requires either a portkey or several "jumps."
There's also danger of missing body parts on exit, so-called splinching, but that's a danger of all spatial magic. That's exactly why, until I had a spare body, I didn't dare train this skill as dangerous as it is useful.
…
So, about three hours remained until Ariel's return, I stand in Patrick's father's form in a clearing in the forest behind the settlement and breathe deeply.
In my hand is a magic wand, in a bag by the tree lies rowan decoction — healing potion, in memory is folded a minor healing spell. That's it, I begin drawing the figure with the wand, for an experienced user this is no longer necessary.
I read about transgression from Ariel's books, which she hid very well. Good against a child, but not against reckless me with aura sight. Suddenly, I'm sharply twisted, as if dragged through a tube the diameter of a needle's eye, and I'm already on the other side of the clearing.
Puking bile, yeah. Seems to have worked out well, for the first time!
So, where's my hand? Blocking the pain, went to look for it...
Hand, leg, ear, eye, half a buttock and spleen. Trained well in artistic organ scattering! But eventually, after using up the flask of rowan decoction and a couple minor healings, I still learned to transgress WHOLE.
Now remains to hit where I want, and it'll be completely wonderful! How tired I am of this life, I'll go sleep.
***
Ariel apparated home immediately as she was freed. Her heart was heavy, for some reason thoughts constantly crept into her head that her son would definitely do something stupid in her absence. But she worried in vain, because when she found herself home, her angel was peacefully sleeping in bed. Probably got tired. Kissing him on the forehead, she went with raised spirits to prepare lunch for tomorrow.
***
And so, with my sweat, blood and limbs, I gained relative financial independence and freedom! Viva la revolution! True, in public I had to wear a half-face mask, I didn't want to frame the person whose appearance I used, and changing metamorphic form is much harder than my own body.
First thing I bought sweets in Flower Alley, after all I'm a growing organism. Interesting, can veelas get fat? Never saw a fat veela, must be quite an amusing sight. And second — exactly what I came for.
"Good day, can I help you with something?" — a young bookstore clerk from "magique librairie" called to me, with thin mustache under his nose and slicked light brown hair on his head.
A bookstore in the magical world isn't the same as in the ordinary one. Magic allows not only arranging books in completely amazing order without depriving access to them. A stack in the form of stairs, magical animal or famous character? No problem. As soon as you pull out a tome that caught your fancy — another book immediately takes the freed place.
"Yes, do you have reference books and books on charm construction, artificing, runology, herbology, concentrators, numerology, magic theory, household and battle magic... wait, better I give you a list," — I handed a sheet filled with small handwriting to the stunned seller.
"Some we have, some will need to be ordered, some are forbidden, and about some I haven't even heard. How many do you need?" — he decided to clarify.
"Everything that exists."
"Everything?"
— "Are there problems with that?"
"No, not at all, it's just very expensive," — he hesitated.
"Money's not a problem, this is a deposit," — pulling out a magical checkbook from my pocket, I wrote a number with four zeros. The goblins accepted the withdrawn money, though I feared they'd take them for stolen. But no, apparently only those you personally stole are considered such. They also gave me this amusing checkbook as a large depositor.
"Of course, no problems," — the seller immediately smiled and bustled. Especially when I added:
"Handle it quickly, get a tip of one percent of the entire order," — need I say everything was ready in half an hour? Only books to order I needed to pick up in a month. So with two bottomless bags, with quite large internal space, I headed home.
Finally my thirst for knowledge about magic will be quenched. Especially since I never valued money for itself, only as a tool for achieving goals. Involuntarily my past life father's face surfaced in my mind. We then heard on the radio news about a stingy old woman, in whose house after death they found three million pounds. I was ten then, and father about as old as me before rebirth.
"You see, son, why you shouldn't aimlessly save for tomorrow. The old woman could have spent this money on herself, seen the world, she could have given it to the needy or even just burned it, as a message to the world. But she only saved it — and perished aimlessly just like the money she accumulated," — he said thoughtfully then, lighting the pipe that would become the cause of his death.
For some reason this episode strongly influenced me, and that's exactly why I never set a goal to become the richest person in the world, preferring to do what I love, travel the world and improve my language skills.
***
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