I spent the rest of that day resting in the clearing in front of my home, but come morning it was time I sought out answers and information about my changes. Dad was off with the pursuit team to hunt down as many of the birds as possible while they were still in the vicinity of the town. Mom was busy organizing the orphans for treatment from the healers and would like to spend a late night providing care to those she was in charge of. Grandpa was called in as militia support for the guards until Dad got back to fill in the vacancies left by the attack.

  I was unsure how I should go about approaching Nightshade. I still didn’t know if this would be something she would accept. Especially one of the effects of our familiar bond trait.

  If my level was limited to Nightshade 231, did she have the same in reverse? Did she temporarily lose the ability to level, or was her total level lowered, or was this concern unfounded? With anyone in my family who could’ve helped off in disaster recovery work, I could only turn to my Earthkin Masters.

  I carefully mold the last piece of metal, completing my latest inscription. Masters Yoren and Gam had been working all night since the attack to restore the damages. My plan to seek guidance on what a familiar bond meant and what the change in my physique implied was put on hold. Even if discussing the traits was something important, nothing gets between an Earthkin and using everything available for their crafts. As soon as I entered, my masters dragged me into forging new runic inscriptions into metal braces that were used to protect the port from fish. One of the birds had crashed into the vulnerable decking, and the runes weren’t designed to protect from above. Master didn’t seem to care at all about my body's condition as he showed me the runes and explained their effects.

  For any public projects we worked on, the standard runic language was mandatory, so to prevent my language from being overridden, I was sidelined into helping Master Gam’s work shaping the metal and prepping the magic sap before Master Yoren imbued it. I pull the freshly quenched dock plating over into the room with Master Yoren and get a brief chance to talk as he begins the enchantment.

  “Master, do you know anything about familiars?”

  My comment must have broken his focus, as the metal plate in his hand shatters from a failed rune imbuing. His focus snapped from the metal plate over to me. He seemed to think about my question for a bit before formulating his answer.

  “Aye, I do know aboot familiars. It's one o' tha big achievements woodland druids spend their lives seeking. Tha greatest o' their order be said ta have familiars but tis rare an' o' those who try, nearly all die.” Then Master realizes the metal plate in his hand shattered, setting back our work yet again.

  “I dinna know where ye heard aboot familiars, but for a craftsman, they be a waste o' time. Now stop distracting me when I'm working!”

  Again I head back into the forge, and Master Gam sits down between his work, taking a breather, while I take up another plate to prep it for Master Yoren. Master Gam seemed intent on having me get as much practice with detailed work as I can. While I worked on this piece, I took my chance to ask Master Gam while he rested between pieces.

  “Master Gam, Do you know anything about physique traits changing?” Master Gam just scoffs back.

  “Change in physique? Idiot boy, be ye jealous o' monsters? dinna go aboot a waste o' time like that. Nae saying it's impossible; lots o' healers have tried, but all that came o' that was some o' tha worse monsters in tha world. Stick with iron an runes; they won't betray ye.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I focused back onto my metal, shaping out the grooves needed for Master Yoren’s next runes. He had insisted I learn the standard runic alphabet even if I never imbued them because if someday I decided my language was inferior, I wouldn’t have to start from scratch. Master Gam’s comments didn’t exactly inspire confidence on the consequences of whatever had happened to me, but it was apparent I’ll need to ask the source of my current issue if I want any chance of a deeper understanding than this.

  The rest of the day was long hours of forging and runic writing, and eventually we left to deliver the runic plates to the dock workers so they could reinforce the docks. On the way I notice looks of pity towards my body. Even under my clothes the tumorous growths covering my body were apparent, and while working the growths weren't too noticeable, but walking was stiff, and my bloated legs rubbed together, chafing my legs.

  If I hadn’t been so busy, I would’ve visited Madam Laina to have her treat my condition. Conveniently as the thought came, I saw her out treating dock workers. Her apprentices were with her, and the older students were even treating some lesser injuries under her supervision. Seeing my attention towards shifting to the healers, Master lets me off for the day to get myself treated.

  It doesn’t take long for me to make it through the line. Upon seeing my condition, I catch a glimpse of a sadistic smirk across her face.

  “Gather here, students! Come look at the result of reckless and unguided practice!” She immediately makes a loud statement, drawing more attention, and continues on.

  “This fool didn’t heed my warnings and teachings while listening in on my teaching, and now he is paying the price. Remember, you must always obey my instructions at all times, or you will end up a disfigured freak.”

  I try to ignore her comments, as she really makes a spectacle about my condition. However, after some gloating, she does lean in and begins treating my body. It’s a weird feeling forcefully relaxing myself while her mana interacts with mine. However, despite her earlier goading, I manage to keep myself calm enough to let her healing take hold. I can see a tinge of displeasure as her healing takes hold, but she focuses on her work despite her earlier comments. Quickly the worst of the bloating shrinks; however, the lumps and discoloration are left behind. Before I can even ask, she answers with the same gloating tone as before.

  “I’m not allowed to alter the body, only restore your health. Even if you have to spend the rest of your life as a hideous mistake, that is all your fault. If you want to fix this, you’ll have to earn a title and fortune in the capital. Or try fixing it yourself, but remember that's illegal. If anyone sees you as anything other than a failed healer reject, that’s your head.”

  I clench my fists at the vitriol she sends my way but can only hold myself back. The important thing was that I wasn’t bloated or cancerous anymore. I could live with scar tissue, and eventually I would grow strong enough that nobody would stop me from fixing myself. For now, though, I left the humiliating scene that woman had assembled to mock me. I ran away from the crowd as she began to mock me for wanting what I didn’t deserve. I ran all the way out of town and made my way straight to Nightshade's tower. It was time to learn enchanting and face whatever consequence making Nightshade my familiar will have going forward.

  Stranger

  Madam Laina was a rich heir to a successful trading company. She had all she could want growing up, but despite that everyone had always made fun of her appearance. At first it didn’t bother her, but when she learned you can alter your appearance with healing magic for the first time in her life, she wanted to study.

  Twenty years. It took twenty years and incredible effort, but the mocking of others would finally be behind her. She changed herself into the image of beauty she had always sought, but she hadn’t told anyone before. When she returned home, the guards blocked her entry, and she was thrown onto the streets like some homeless peasant.

  No peasant was willing to hire some unknown and entitled healer, and she couldn't adjust to the reality; meanwhile, her finances quickly emptied out. She was stuck among the commoners for nearly two years before her father finally tracked her down. In that time her condition had faded into a scrawny mess, but with her status restored, she went back to the life of indulgence she had always lived. Whenever she got too fat, she would heal it away. Whenever she got bored of her appearance, she would change it.

  Then one morning she woke and looked into a mirror to admire herself, but for the first time it hit her that the face looking back at her wasn’t hers. It was an existential crisis that led her into changing her face and body time and time again, trying to restore what she had lost. However, in her youth she avoided her reflection and now couldn’t recall who she once was. In desperation she changed into the first beauty. It wasn’t her, but at least she still had some connection to who she once was.

  Then came the Healer purge; her father spent everything to have her spared, and in the end she was banished to a small military port town. They had cursed her that should she ever change someone's appearance again, they would know. She was trapped forevermore in the face of a stranger teaching ignorant children and slowly losing even her beauty as her indulgent lifestyle regained her weight, which she couldn’t remove without medical necessity or risk triggering her curse.

  That boy who had insisted on listening to her lectures had somehow reminded her of herself. Seeking healing for selfish reasons, ignorant of the risks. When she saw him bloated with a failed full-body healing, she immediately assumed he had tried to change his appearance. It had awakened a vindictiveness she never realized she had. He would now suffer having a stranger's face and body just as she did every day, all because he sought the poison of change. Now in this backwater town she wasn’t alone; even if he hated her, she had someone else to suffer with her.