-Callen-

  I watched in interest as the circle of barbarians formed around our group, and one in particular took a position in the circle opposite of us. It was clear the man intended to fight Lexia, but Lexia just gave a disdainful look. Instead of stepping up to fight, she turned to look over at Freema and declared.

  “Freema, step up. These men should be a reasonable challenge to help your growth. They certainly aren’t remotely ready to fight me again.” With Lexia’s command, the small elf moved up, and the comical scene of a massive bodybuilder barbarian squaring off against a small elvish child formed. Despite the stark difference in appearance, the large man didn’t seem to relax at all. Honestly, I didn’t have a fair understanding either way. Most of Freema’s training had been isolated from the majority of the town, and while I had felt Callia’s pride for her student, it wasn’t something I had witnessed firsthand.

  With Freema stepping forward, the rest of us moved back and merged with the circle, eager to watch the fight. She drew her knife, and the town inspector let out a loud bellow that must’ve been the signal to fight. The man shifted his weight forward, intending to charge, but Freema was already in motion. With a flash she moved behind the man, and while she couldn’t reach high enough to threaten anything important, she instead swiped the blade low, slicing through both of the man's heels. With practiced ease she jumped back and out of reach as the man flailed trying to hit her. The man somehow managed to stay on his feet, but it was more like balancing on stilts than actual footwork that kept him up.

  He tried to launch himself at the retreating Freema, but it was an act of futility as she easily moved aside and the man tumbled across the ground. I didn’t expect to get a close-up view of the macho man crying, but that's where today has led. Everyone else cheered enthusiastically for the little elf, who seemed to soak in the attention smugly. The man was dragged off by his companions while another stepped up. This man was both older and even more jacked. Looking around the town, I noticed a trend. Older = more muscled, and the oldest person watching from the back looked like a shriveled old man's face pasted onto a body that didn’t look like it belonged to a human anymore.

  Freema managed to persevere against the next two challengers but was caught in the swing of the third man. I jumped in to treat her immediately, and it was a good thing I did since the hit broke all her ribs and collapsed one of her lungs. Stabilizing her wasn’t a problem, but it would take several treatments to clean out the details that might get distorted from my rudimentary treatment. However, because I jumped into the ring, the villagers around the circle seemed to take that as me volunteering to fight next. I handed Freema over to Callia, and Lexia took the opportunity to warn me.

  “These fights are strictly melee, so don’t use magic unless you want to get mobbed.” From her tone I could tell this was her plan from the beginning. An excuse to watch me get beaten by a bunch of woodland crazies after I beat her in most of our spars. A quick glance to Callia confirmed my suspicion that this was her influence. It seemed while the pranks might not be as overt anymore, I still wasn’t completely free.

  Facing the middle-aged man on the opposite side, I could see the cocky look in his eye comparing the scrawny me to his toned and bulging body. It almost felt rude. They took Freema, a little girl, seriously, but facing me, they smirked like I was going to get my ass handed to me. Seamlessly I pulled out a set of armor and a warhammer from my space. I hefted the warhammer and stretched in my armor to adjust to the added weight. I didn’t like using it normally, but if I had to fight a barbarian in melee, I wasn’t going to use my lighter gear. It’s lacking much customization that I would’ve put on a more interesting project, but luckily it wasn’t something I completely neglected.

  Seeing the change in gear, the man’s expression grew serious. A loud bellow rang out, signaling the fight. I braced and activated my Mana Boost while the man gave a battle cry and charged me. For a moment I was shocked with how much slower the man appeared. I suppose I didn’t give the skill the credit it deserved; using it to keep up with Callia’s running or flash movements had always made it seem like a necessary equalization measure. The man rushed me, but I was fast enough to duck down and sweep my hammer into his legs. The force spun the man over onto his side, skidding and rolling across the ground while I easily hopped over the man.

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  I bent down to treat the man's injuries and was surprised to find the man in high spirits. "These people," I thought while shaking my head in disbelief. I looked up to see who would be next, and an older man stepped up but was stopped by the super buff elder I saw earlier. Instead, the muscle giant stepped forward with an excited gleam in his eyes. We both got into position, but the head of my hammer fell to the ground with an awkward clunk. Turns out the previous fight was too much for my standard-issue Port Town warhammer. With no replacement available, I raised my fists into a boxing stance. Already I had a feeling this was going to end poorly.

  The fight started, and even with Mana Boost, the man was fast. Not because he was dexterous but from the power of pure muscle. The ground he stepped from cracked from the force exerted, and the man launched himself like an angry living bullet. I dived to the side trying to roll away, but the man's foot hammered into the ground, splitting the earth and pivoting his charge in pursuit. His hammer-like fist swung down towards me, and I could swear I heard death whispering in my ear. Twisting desperately away, barely escaping as the fist clipped me, sending me rolling across the dirt. The thunderous impact shook the ground, and I trembled as my heart raced.

  I tried to push myself up as the man caught reached my prone form. However, instead of attacking again, he held a hand and pulled me up. A cheer echoed out as others pulled me from the ring and Lexia stepped up to face the elder. I winced as I noticed the ribs that the man's fist had clipped were broken. Splitting my focus, I healed my ribs while Lexia stepped up. The fight itself was a blur. The old man didn’t have the area saturation and mobility limitation that my fighting style had developed. The two of them danced around each other as the old man rapidly pivoted direction trying to catch Lexia, and Lexia’s fingers clipped the arms and sides of the man while she nimbly evaded his retaliation.

  The fight continued until the old man finally stepped back, breaking up the fight. Panting in exertion but smiling enthusiastically, the two stared each other down, but the blood loss made the winner clear. The elder let out a bellowing laugh, and the circle finally cleared out. Various people went back to whatever they were doing before the fight. The still bleeding elder walked over and patted Lexia on the back and turned to the rest of our group.

  “I see Sharp Claw has found worthy companions! We owe her thanks for making this new tradition! All visitors must prove their strength and honor, and we treat them in accordance. You have our full support for the duration of your stay! Now I must go and pummel Grok to claim his house while you enjoy mine.” With that, the elder slammed his leg into the ground, disappearing like the strange hurricane he was. As a group we moved into the large wooden house that stood at the center of the village.

  Changeling

  Crescent sighed in relief as she finished the last report for the day. Ever since the elf girl left, the temperature of the town had gone considerably down. The main issue now was that some people were starting a movement to have her take the role of mayor before Callen. Arguments about how she did a much better job calming the crowds and she knew the people better since she was a healer. It was a whole mess, but for the most part people were settling back down. Looking outside, she saw the sun still hadn’t set, which was a clear indication that most of the urgent work was settled.

  Cleaning up and heading out, she looked over the traits that had recently appeared in her status.

  Changeling had replaced Human physique, and Fey marked appeared when the change occurred. The change had occurred just as she began to spend her time helping Callen manage the town, and the ability to switch out skills had been a huge benefit to helping manage the town. Still, despite how helpful the trait had been, it was also terrifying to realize she wasn’t human. It felt like a nightmare, but she was the monster that mothers warned their children to stay away from. For now she carried on like nothing had changed, but at some point Callen would need to know.