3644 exp applied to Debt
1635195 remains. 10% Interest accrued
1798715 is your current debt
10000 Exp available, 30 cycles till next payment
Zelda eyes snap open at her debt. I really was waiting till Grant died. How long does his species live for? Can I sell enough blood to actually make more than my interest payment? Pamulur wanders over after getting a notification on Zelda alertness. She begins scanning while Zelda continues to lay in a huff.
“Your scan shows no further changes.”
Zelda's three eyelids peel back to stare at Pamulur. Figures my body ends up in the dumbest configuration ever. “Can only hope for life core now.” Zelda grouses.
“You've improved your Astaros greatly.” A wry grin forms on the bunny doctor, “Any new opinion on Jark?”
Zelda rolls her eyes. “I understand the cad… cad–”
“Cadence?” The doctor supplied to the struggling Dragon.
“Cadence. But my earlier hate stays.” My vocabulary still sucks. What is the word for revulsion and remains? Zelda returns to the previous portion of the conversation, “Not getting bigger?”
“No, three meters in length, tail to snout.” Zelda frowns at the doctor phrasing, “Snout is this part and tail—”
“I know the words. Not used to being about me.” Zelda interrupts a bit loudly.
A noise could be heard from the small tent to the side. A moment later Dagnit emerges looking a bit annoyed. She walks up to Zelda, already dragging a blade across her forearm. Zelda grimaces. No longer the back of her hand but her forearm. This is getting absurd.
“Best hurry birdie, I could bleed out while you flounder.” The cat says with a manic grin.
Zelda's leg extends again to the wound and it slowly closes. This time fully. Not even light out and I'm exhausted. Dagnit examines the work, then flexes the arm. “Good and pure life magic. That's the quality you need to form your core with.” Zelda tries to play back the words Dagnit said. She sorely misses the translating tablet. Dagnit talks too fast. “Need me to repeat it, birdie?” Zelda glowers but nods. The cat does so. At least three more times until the Dragon understood.
Zelda huffs a sigh then considers her debt. “What happen to rest of pay for Dragon parts?”
Dagnit looks as if she had bit into something sour, “Grant claimed the rest for supplying the attempt and losing his ship for our escape.”
“He not care about cost before.”
The cat woman rolls her eyes, “Doesn't mean he ain't going to try to claim what he thinks he is due. You still have interest being applied to your debt don't you.”
Zelda lays her head back down. No longer interested in the conversation. She flicks a vid on. Intent on improving her mastery of Astaros and learning how to make a life core.
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10000 Exp available, 29 cycles till next payment
“So take that pure life mana and condense it down to a single spot. Then hold it till it solidifies.” Dagnit said while lounging on a box.
Zelda smells a rat, “You not done it.”
The cat picks herself up and glares at Zelda, "Neither have you, look I got the education I just been busy. It takes dedication to make a sustaining mana core. Tens of cycles, sometimes hundreds. I don't have time to devote that amount of mana.”
It takes a moment for Zelda to parse the words but when she does, “You got time now.”
“Figure on eating rations till then? I start on a core, then I ain't hunting.” The cat hiss out.
“Food better than week bar.” Zelda retorts.
The cat looks aghast at Zelda, recognizing that the Dragon was serious. Zelda leaves the cat to her indecision while focussing on the instruction given. She focuses on pure life at her center. Next to her heart. She feels a tiny sliver form and keeps her focus on making sure it doesn't disappear.
“Oh and any injury you sustain will immediately drain your core. Forgot about that part.” Dagnit throws out as Zelda's eyes shift to the cat. The proto life core dissipates.
A string of English curses are barked out from Zelda. It only makes Dagnit laugh.
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10000 Exp available, 23 cycles till next payment
Alright this one is stable. I think. Fourth time the charm. Can't believe Dagnit still has her first one. Pamulur approaches with a maglift carrying another furry six legged animal. Zelda trundle over before Dagnit stops her.
“What happened to eating rations, Zelda? You're not tired of it already?” The cat says in a mocking tone.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Zelda stares at the cat when Pamulur smacks Dagnit in the back of the head. “Don't cause an instinct moment. She lost a core last time because you snatched my previous kill.”
Dagnit rubs the back of her head, “More reason to press her. She needs control and keeping her core from breaking is reason enough. Now you sit and watch as I remove a haunch, birdie.” She waggles a knife at Zelda before turning to the meat.
Does she think of me as a dog? Damn it, I do need control. Zelda watches as Dagnit fiddles with the back leg. The smell of blood causes her to begin to pant. Dagnit mocks her as she works, not bothering to look behind herself. “Birdie, control your breathing. Are you Zelda or a Dragon?”
Zelda's mouth snaps shut as she glares at the cat while she works. Damn it. Dagnit finally removes the leg but doesn't move. She turns her head with a bit of a shit eating grin. “Would you like me to skin it first? Fur is not that great for eating but you will have to wait.”
The glare grows from Zelda, but her words are calm. “Please.” The cat grin becomes more natural and she turns back to her work.
-----
10000 Exp available, 18 cycles till next payment
“The core is stable. You should be free to engage in hunts now.” Pamulur pulls back from her scan on Dagnit. Zelda glowers at the two. How did she finish before I did? I wasn't that far behind. The cat poked her hand with a knife. Waited a moment, then healed it with a satisfied grin
“O don't be so petulant, birdie. Now we can get you twice as much meat. You're still a bit scrawny for a Wyvern.”
Zelda raises a brow for that, “Why am I Wyvern now?”
The cat just turns her back as she walks off, “I've been reading your world's literature while I was finishing up my core. Wyvern has two legs and wings while Dragon has four legs and wings. If you had four legs and no wings you would be a Drake.”
“There is Earth literature?" Zelda said, in a bit of wonder.
“Sure, plenty of you previous species escaped the planet with their archaic devices.”
Zelda gives an annoyed look at Dagnit. Not sure which is worse, her previous quip or my world technology being described as archaic. Zelda considers it for a moment. “Why do you think it is archaic?”
“Eh oh, not a bit of mana. Additionally their information was preserved outside the system. All rather obtuse. Not sure why your planet spurred the gods like that.” Dagnit mouths off.
“There wasn't a system until after the Dragons arrived.” Zelda said tersely.
“That doesn't make any sense.” Dagnit replies.
Pamulur interjects, “It's true, the refugees had to undergo a mana baptism.”
Dagnit looks at the bunny doctor. “But it's not the first time the Dragons came to her planet. Every large animal would have soaked up enough to start emitting their own. The planet should have been steeped in magic.”
Zelda thinks on that. “Dragons ate every large animal at the time.” Zelda continues the thought. “I think my species came from rodents that survived that moment.”
“Former species.” Zelda glares at Dagnit but the cat doesn't notice, continuing. “I read about that, it's why you lacked eye cones. Shit vision and no magic. Your planet got seriously screwed over.”
Twice over. Zelda frowns at the thought. She focuses on her life core. It, unlike the space core, actually grew. How much longer?
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10000 Exp available, 9 cycles till next payment
“It's stable.” Pamulur pronounced. Dagnit walks over.
“Ready to test it, birdie?”
Zelda nods. The cat cuts a tear into Zelda's wing. The core does not react. Not until I will it to. A bit of blood seeps out.
“Try using the core now.” Dagnit instructs.
The core heats up and the wing repairs. The core feels a bit drained from it. Pamulur looks up from her scanner.
“The density of mana was reduced but physical size is constant. Density slowly climbing.” The bunny doctor notes.
“Congratulations birdie, it only took you nine more cycles.” Dagnit slaps Zelda on the back.
Zelda huffs a sigh at the cat. No point in comparing, I just need to start working on the next part. But where to start? Zelda looks over her body, trying to figure out exactly what part of her she could practice on. Dagnit looks over her as well.
“Are more of your scales green now?” She asks.
Pamulur looks up. She frowns and walks over. She starts looking at older images and then Zelda. “It appears to have started after she began her life core. It's subtle but they have increased. I will need to send this to Grant.”
Zelda gets annoyed at their clinical observation. Just another data point. Pamulur is going to be inspecting my body even longer everyday now. Zelda takes a moment to grouse about it before getting back to her previous thought. Maybe a toe, or my thumb? Pamulur makes a squeal. The other two look up to her.
“Only twelve more cycles until his ship can leave the dry dock.”
“So fifteen more cycles then.” Dagnit nods. She notices Zelda's confusion. “Got to put the ship through various tests and then go get it registered.”
Zelda remembers a time when her mother took her to the DMV. Is space DMV a longer slower process that adds cycles to our wait? She shakes her head.
“Something wrong? You seem rather preoccupied.” Pamulur asks.
“I'm just trying to decide what to try to morph first. I am thinking a thumb or heel claw.”
“Your face.” Zelda gives a glare at the rude cat. The cat shakes her head, “You assume the worst. Is there nothing more personal to you than your face? So start there. It's what you will want to get the most right. Nothing against thumbs but that wing ain't going to be useful unless you get real good at shifting it. And heel claw is just a change for a changed purpose. Do you really care if you have one so long as you can stand on two feet?”
“No.” Zelda says begrudgingly.
“So face, try to shrink your snout to be a mouth.” That's rather an aggressive change. Dagnit catches Zelda doubting. She rolls her eyes. “Stop over thinking it and just let the magic follow your imagination. You have a life aspect, it should be more intuitive for you.”
Don't over think it. Zelda's perspective shifts, she can see her face. The long snout. Nostrils at the top. Eyes further back. And so many teeth. She takes a breath then starts engaging the life core. She feels something akin to a grip on her snout trying to push in her snout but there is resistance. As if there was no room. She gasps, letting go of the magic.
Dagnit has her querying eyebrow up. Zelda explains. “It felt like I was trying to fit my snout into my mouth. There was just no room.”
“Hmmm this is new territory, did it at least feel like it was starting to change?” Dagnit asks.
Zelda nods. Pamulur interjects, “What if there is a conservation of mass. Like you need to have your excess mouth go elsewhere.”
Zelda frowns. “That would mean I can only be a three meter tall woman.”
Dagnit laughs, “Let's go with that for the moment, we can think of ways to make you not hit your head on bulkheads later. Try to just focus on moving the mass to the back of your head or something.”
Zelda looks askance at Dagnit but does what she was told. The mouth shifts. Zelda winces but she powers through it. Buoyed by the change she saw. She finally has at least the shape of a mouth. It's scaled and has no lips but she smiles. Her preening is interrupted by Dagnit laughter. She loses her concentration and the change reverts painfully back. Pamulur smacks Dagnit in the back of her head.
“Sorry, it's just the back of your head had started to grow this weird lump. As your snout got smaller it just got larger and it was just so bizarre.” Dagnit laughs some more.
Pamulur comes up to Zelda and rubs her back. “It was a good start, how is your life core?”
“Only a quarter left.” Zelda wasn't discouraged though. She got a new notification.
+1 Will
Will is now 23
