The Arena they brought Ambrose and her potential new team to was a packed dirt ring with stands for seating surrounding the large space. If the section had been dug into the ground, Ambrose would have called it a large-scale fighting pit, but it wasn’t. The area around them was actually partially enclosed, a stone overhang casting shadow over the arena and keeping the space cool while a single wall stood to the west, likely blocking the sun from blinding the fighters in the evening, and letting them practice ranged attacks on dummies placed against the wall. Overall, the area was nice, and Ambrose wondered if they’d be allowed to train together here in the future.

  In the center of the large area stood a trio of adventurers, who Ambrose had not met before. One was a tall, powerful looking half orc woman with an axe and a broad smile. Her raging red hair swept off to her right, shaved clean on the sides of her head. Her body was broad and muscular, as to be expected of a warrior of her kind, and her arms, back, thighs, and exposed midriff were covered in scars. She was the very spitting image of a high level warrior style class, and likely some form of berserker or damage warrior, rather than a tank.

  Next to her stood a tall, slender human who held a tome tucked under his arm. He wore a lovely suit, something that Ambrose did not see a lot of, as the tailoring for such complex clothing was exorbitantly expensive. From his trousers to the shirt he wore, to the silken jacket covering that suit and the ascot around his neck-line, the man seemed covered in gold, from a figurative standing. He had a gentle face and wore light, horn-rimmed spectacles, which also screamed money to Ambrose, and had his light brown hair slicked back away from his face. His smile was confident and his gaze was on Ambrose.

  The last person was, to Ambrose’s interest, a dwarf, wearing a green cloak and some dark pieces of heavy armor, including a spiked pauldron on his right shoulder that gleamed against the morning light. Of each of the individuals before her, Ambrose found his class the hardest to guess, and didn’t feel like consulting guidance to cheat.

  The man who had led the three of them out onto the Arena stepped aside before turning back to Ambrose, gesturing to the three. “These are three of our senior adventurers, who have volunteered to take part in your evaluation as an M rank. They are three of the seven diamond level adventurers in the area, and well qualified to judge your strength and abilities. The warrior is Tiadel Braeback, a high level berserker. She’ll be testing your strength, your endurance, and your melee combat. Beside her, in the pauldron is Valintieg Howars, a rune warrior of the deep hollows in Bristol. He will test your agility, and the diversity of your physical abilities. Lastly is Caine Hauberd, scholar and high ranking magus. He'll be reviewing any mystical talents or resilience you may have. I will simply be in the stands for the sake of record keeping and posterity,” the man said.

  Ambrose gave the man a nod, and stepped forward, ready to be tested, only to find that the minor divine was still clinging to her arm. Looking down at the other woman, Ambrose gently patted her hand to get her attention. “Excuse me, little angel. But I need to have my limbs free for the testing,” she said, trying to stay polite.

  “You’ve got this, big girl,” the angel replied, putting on a big smile before licking her lips, leaning up, and kissing Ambrose’s cheek. “Come back to us nice and healthy. I’m looking forward to lots of… adventuring,” the girl growled huskily into Ambrose’s ear before letting the very confused Beastiary go. Ambrose turned to look after her as she skipped her way back over to the other two, who were staring at her in a confusion that matched Ambrose’s.

  The half-orc guffawed at that, smiling wide as she watched the proceedings with clear amusement on her face. “Looks like our newest competition is already amassing fans, boys!” she laughed raucously. Her companions’ reactions ranged from bemused smirks to a simple grunt of acknowledgement.

  Ambrose chose to ignore the confusion for the moment and put her attention on the people who would be testing her, straightening up and stepping forward. “Alright… Who’s testing me first?” she asked, looking between them all.

  The half-orc was still laughing, so Caine spoke up, stepping forward. “That would be me. Your class doesn’t sound very magically inclined aside from its ability to freely shift forms. I figure we’ll get the magical resistance test out of the way, then let you deal with the others,” the man said with a smirk.

  Ambrose nodded. “Do I get a warning, or is this just a live fire exercise?” she asked, wanting to know if she’d have any prep time, or if she needed to come up with something immediately and then shift to whatever form matched her needs as quickly as possible on the fly.

  “Oh I will warn you. While you are an M rank, you’ve only just joined the guild. That uniform belongs to the royal academy, which means that you’re under level thirty. My casting time is probably still far faster than you could erect a proper defense if this was actual combat,” the man reasoned.

  “Thank you for thinking of that,” Ambrose said, smiling and then stretching quickly. “Okay. What’s first?”

  “Ill be casting a simple fireball,” Caine replied. “All you need to do is evade, repel, dispel, or endure the attack.”

  Ambrose thought for a moment, and then nodded. With a minor force of will, she shifted. Her hair turned to light orange and bloody red flames, the strands flying upward, away from her face as her body caught fire. A facemask of onyx appeared where her mouth had been, flecks of fireproof stone becoming her spine, plating her thighs and forearms and becoming the bones of her hands and feet. The ifreet form stood calmly in defiance of whatever flame the mage could muster.

  The man stood slack jawed in response to Ambrose’s answer to his declared attack, his tome nearly falling from his hands before he caught himself staring and shook his head. “An elemental form?” he asked, looking Ambrose over with a discerning gaze. “Not an illusion either, but a true shift of forms. The quality of her flame is pure. She could likely completely ignore any fire spell,” he continued, analyzing Ambrose thoroughly in seconds.

  “What other elemental forms do you have?” he asked, simply. “I will not waste our time. Your defense against fire is undeniable.”

  “The Rainin, Ifreet, and Tsurarae,” Ambrose said, her crackling voice surprising her. She supposed it shouldn’t, seeing as ifreet had no lungs, but she still found it interesting. She had a number of plans for the elemental forms, but she wasn’t quite at her testing point with most of them yet.

  “Okay that puts electricity and ice completely off the table. So your main vulnerabilities among the basic elements would be limited to force and wind, which can be overcome with a reasonably physically strong body, and to water or earth,” he listed off. “Since I have seen you in one physically strong body, and your strength and endurance will both be tested by my companion, do you have an answer for water and earth magic?”

  Ambrose couldn’t smile as an Ifreet, but as soon as her lips were back in her merfolk form, she smiled brightly as she showed off her answer to water magic.

  “Woo!” shouted the Angel from the stands, where she, the drow, the siren, and the desk clerk had moved to observe.

  “That… is certainly an answer,” Caine said, turning his head to look at Tiadel, “Her versatility is shocking to say the least. I’d pass her just for this. She’s more than prepared to deal with most magical maladies with these forms alone. Light magic monsters and dark magic are… severely uncommon in these parts, and the best thing to do with those is to block or dodge, not to resist.”

  “Then she passes, Caine. No need to drag things out too long if we already know the answers,” Tiadel said, smirking and cracking her knuckles. “You want a crack at her first, Valintieg?” she asked, looking down at the man in the pauldron, who shrugged.

  “Sure. Never tested an M before. So we’ll see how she does,” he said in a gruff tone, the dwarf stepping forward. “Alright, girl. Prepare yourself. You’ll want to be agile and mobile,” the man said, obviously telling Ambrose so that she could prepare herself. Yet while she was preparing to shift into the pantrada, the man began making gestures, runes appearing around him and then onto the packed dirt beneath them. Each shone bright with power, glowing different colors while the dwarf pulled out a crossbow. “Don’t worry. I won’t aim for the head and there are healers inside.”

  Ambrose shifted her form immediately. Settling into the relaxed crouch of the pantrada only to immediately duck and flatten herself to the ground to evade the crossbow bolt sent her way. When she moved, the runes on the ground shifted through the sand, several moving toward her while the rune warrior reloaded. Drawing one of her throwing knives, Ambrose flipped away from the runes as she let it fly, the blade sinking into the ground where one of those runes was just to test it. The rune pulsed with light as it was disturbed and then exploded an instant later sending the ruined knife flying into the sky in pieces.

  Ambrose felt a little bad that the knife had obviously been lost, but figured she could purchase another. The remainder of the set was still in her pants and she’d maintain them and have someone help her replace the missing one. She didn’t have too much time to linger on the thought, though as another bolt came sailing toward her. She leapt to move over the missile, only for the bolt to veer upward and try to skewer her in the air.

  Twisting, using her feline reflexes, she turned in the air before her power dragged her to the ground so she could evade any follow up. Yet even as she was descending, she found herself coming down onto one of the runes that had snuck under her. Her eyes went wide as the rune pulsed, and she barely had a second to move before she was blasted back and sent tumbling, bouncing and rolling to a stop with her entire front in pain, several feet from where the rune had hit her.

  There were gasps from the stands and a distressed shout that Ambrose guessed was the angel. Even the half-orc let out a pained, sympathetic, “ooh!”

  “Huh… I guess I might’ve overdone it,” the Dwarf said, looking back to the other two. “I figured an M would be faster… so I tried to do what we do for enemies more mobile than Tia. I don’t think she can handle it, tho,” he chuckled nervously, sounding like he felt like he’d get in trouble for hurting Ambrose.

  That wounded her pride more than the rune had wounded her. Even if her entire front was sore and screaming from the blast, the man had obviously held back on the firepower. If he was at the point where he could toy with her in her pantrada form, she just needed to step things up. She wasn’t a quitter. She wasn’t someone who liked to lose, either, and when it came to her evaluation, she wanted to prove beyond a doubt that she could handle these tests.

  Rolling onto her stomach, she began pushing herself to her feet.

  “Don’t worry about it, girl. You did good,” the man said, sounding like he felt guilty. Ambrose scowled at that. Pity? She didn’t want pity…

  “No. I underestimated the test. I just… need a second and I’d like to try again,” she said, her mind already at work. It was a test of speed and maneuverability. So she needed to be fast and quick to maneuver. She had the forms for this she just needed to put them together.

  “A second?! I may have pulled the power, girl, but you should at least heal first,” Valintieg said, sounding concerned for her.

  She shook her head, pushing herself up to her hands and knees and then to her feet. “No. I’ll be fine. Just a moment,” she said, her mind focusing on her options, on herself, and on her class. Speed and maneuverability… Speed and maneuverability… speed and-

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  Ambrose shifted, her ears changing atop her hair and her entire body tightening and then growing lighter, more aery and slender, before she lost about a foot of height. Her paws became hooves, though her clawed fingers remained. Her tail hung, long silky strands near her calves and her wide hips shifted with a limber, nimble energy that Ambrose felt she could barely contain. Once again she felt herself filled with a huntress's instincts. Like she was already stalking prey.

  The other people in the area stared at her new form, but Ambrose didn’t want to let them stand and gawk. She wanted to prove herself. Taking a step forward on a slender, dainty hoof, she began approaching the man, which had him spring into action. He fired off a bolt, which she slipped narrowly to the side of as it passed, swirling into a dance as she stepped past the rune trying to slip under her. The bolt wove, trying to track her but she swirled out of its path, her slim body slipping between each rune on the ground with alien grace.

  All of them converged on her as another bolt was sent her way, cutting through the air in an attempt to stem her mobility by impaling her leg. Kicking up the leg being tracked Ambrose spun, gaining momentum while she gracefully stepped into the small spaces between each rune, not triggering even one as she continued her advance on Valintieg.

  Suddenly, the scent of something delectable was on the wind, her nostrils flared as her senses caught nervous uncertainty, as though the very beginnings of fear were sprouting in the Dwarf. A tingling warmth filled her limbs as she flowed closer, past more runes and the swishing passes of the still flying homing bolts.

  “What in the hells!?” the dwarf cursed, taking aim again. Then Rose scented it, genuine fear. It was just a hint, but that was all she needed. The world went black for only an instant, and then she was behind Valintieg, her hands reaching out, claws ready to sink into a throat that was unawares, unprepared. Rose’s mouth watered.

  Ambrose was tossed away from Valintieg by a hip check fit to knock down stone walls, her body bouncing once before she caught herself in a cartwheel and returned to her hooves and her senses. Reeling herself in, she looked over at the people testing her, and at the group in the stands who were behind the warriors at this point. Everyone was looking at her with genuine shock on their faces. Even Tiadel, who had just saved her Dwarven friend from Ambrose’s surprise, (to herself) surprise attack, seemed like she had reacted more out of panicked instinct than because she knew what she was hitting.

  “Uh… Is that a pass?” Ambrose asked with an awkward chuckle, switching back to her Hollam form for the sake of sparing herself whatever intense instincts had driven her moments before. The sure confidence of the deviswine and the feeling of steady power returned to her, her instincts no longer driving her. Stretching, she waited for her stunned audience to reply

  “Y-yes… That’s certainly a pass from me. I haven’t seen such a solution before.. But it worked,” Valintieg replied with a stiff nod, dismissing the runes and putting away his crossbow as the packed dirt returned to normal.

  “That means it’s you and me, girl,” Tiadel smirked, stepping forward as she spoke. “Endurance and strength. Then combat. Think you’ve got it in you?” she asked, her tusked grin only growing wider as she reached for her axe.

  “Oh I’ve got plenty,” Ambrose replied, returning to her shifter form if just for a moment to unpack the shield of the Hollam from her bag. Setting it to the side, she shifted forms again before picking it up and standing at the ready for a vicious assault.

  “A defender?” Tia asked, eying Ambrose while her companions backed up to the sidelines, neither of them planning on taking part in what would come.

  “Yes and no,” Ambrose said, waffling her head. She planned to get the show of endurance out of the way first, and then finish off the evaluation with a show of power that would prove beyond a doubt that her rank should not be questioned. While it might be a bit much, and it certainly would be showing off one of her trump cards, Ambrose was aware that the royal family already knew she was capable of what she was about to do, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that she had done it.

  Tia didn’t waste time with more words, instead she lunged, moving with impressive speed, her axe already in motion and swinging for Ambrose’s head when the half-orc got in range. Ambrose was no slouch, though, and especially in the form of the Hollam, she stepped forward, batting the axe with her shield. The two weapons clashed and halted one another, the immense strength of the warrior halted by the sturdy, dense and powerful cow hybrid.

  Yet neither Tia nor Ambrose stopped, the half-orc throwing a knee which Ambrose caught with her off hand throwing the leg wide and lowering her horns, moving for a charge.

  The berserker rolled to the side to evade the deadly points, but couldn’t recover fast enough to catch Ambrose’s back with her axe as the cow lunged past her through the space she’d just occupied.

  Tia laughed and charged Ambrose again, this time chopping down at Ambrose to catch her under a mountain of force. Ambrose raised her shield at an angle, strafing to the side to force the chop to glance down and slam into the dirt before cocking back an arm and slamming her fist into the side of Tia’s face. Tia took a staggering step to the side, but didn’t release her weapon.

  She yanked the axe from the dirt as Ambrose advanced to strike again and then side kicked the cow in the gut while she went for the second punch. The force of the kick pushed Ambrose back and nearly made her tumble onto her butt, but she caught her balance at the last moment her shield moving to intercept yet another sideways swing from the berserker, who was seeking blood, fully involved in the fight after taking that hit to the cheek.

  Ambrose smiled and barreled into the slash, knocking the warrior off her balance with the force of the block. The pair of them exchanged blows and defense. Going after one another with abandon, Ambrose defending and getting in whatever shots she could with her fist while Tiadel pounded away at her defenses, trying to chop the cow to pieces.

  The people in the stands were tense as long minutes passed and yet neither warrior seemed to tire. No one was in the lead, which was in and of itself amazing. For a new adventurer to keep up with a high level berserker, even without the use of her skills and enchantments, was amazing.

  The sun had shifted notably in the sky by the time Tia called for a pause. Both warriors backed away cautiously, Ambrose smiling broadly as they made space. “I’d say that’s a pass on endurance. I’ve been pressing you for the better part of an hour and you’re barely sweating. With a good team, you’ll be a force of nature,” the half orc laughed.

  “Thanks,” Ambrose said, continuing to smile. “What about strength?” she asked, a bit curious if she had missed out on her chance to show off her real power. If she had, she wasn’t completely disappointed. She had actually really enjoyed sparring with Tiadel. The half-orc woman was a creative and powerful fighter with so much experience under her belt that it reminded her of sparring Lyss. Though both of them were different. She always felt like each of them was holding something back, waiting for her to get to that next step and learn the next part of the dance of war. If the opportunity arose in the future, she’d love to train more with both of them and improve more than just her stats.

  “You haven’t shown me your strength yet,” Tia said with a smirk. “Though you are a capable fighter, so I’ll say you pass there too, once I see some real strength from you.”

  Ambrose smiled, not at all embarrassed with being called out. The warrior had read her, and called her out for playing around. Ambrose was more than happy to make up for her lackadaisical behavior though.

  “Okay. I’ll show you true strength,” Ambrose said, smiling, preparing herself inwardly for the surge of power she knew was coming. “Just… Nobody run when you see it.”

  “Nobody run?” Tia said, her brow quirking up before she upended her axe and jammed the spiked horns of the blade into the dirt. “Now I’m more interested,” she said. Her companions both nodded.

  “Alright. You can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Ambrose giggled, her smile widening before she took a deep breath and shifted.

  ___

  Laecia was lounging in her guest room at the academy relaxing after a sleepless night and stressful morning. Sipping a light, dry wine and thinking of the future when the howl split the day. That familiar, nightmarish sound, like thunder lashing the winds toward her as a murderous beast stalked forward to claim her life. Laecia screamed and launched her wine into the air as she dove off of the sofa as if to duck from under the claws of the peasant dead set on murdering her.

  The wine glass shattered against the walls and the maids shrieked and hid, under the impression from their mistress that they were under attack. From outside, yells and calls of terror could be heard. Tears seared Laecia’s cheeks as she crawled under the table, certain death had come for her. They should have killed the commoner in her sleep. Now she’d come to kill them all!

  —

  Rose didn’t howl a second time. One was enough to announce the arrival of the king. Lightning surged off of her arms and down her spine, rolling off her claws and into the dirt. In the stands, the man assigned to record her evaluation had fainted. The three potential followers stared at her in terrified awe.

  Tiadel watched wide eyed as Rose stepped forward, surges of lighting crackling off of her body as she walked toward the warrior. The dirt beneath her feet singed and crackled from the raw electric energy as she approached the other woman, grinning quite possibly as though she had lost her mind. Rose felt beyond powerful, beyond mighty in this form. She was a ruler, meant to conquer, to control, and to be venerated.

  Pride in her own might welled as she stepped into Tia’s space, and chuckled, her voice crackling like static. “This is my power, Tiadel. My strength. I will not be found wanting in any contest of strength or power.”

  The words seemed to bring Tiadel back to herself, and the other woman began to laugh, though Ambrose could tell the warrior was not laughing at or mocking her. It was laughter at her own shock and circumstance.

  “I think you’ve proven your point, missy. Strength’s a pass.” she said with a smile.

  “That easy?” Ambrose asked, returning her form to the Hollam as easily as if she’d never left it.

  “That easy! We were in town last night when you did that roar.” Tia said with a smirk. “Wandered across the building you flattened this morning too.”

  “I can’t believe that was you,” Caine said, stepping back up next to his companion and observing Ambrose. “At a glance you certainly seem unsuspecting. I would never have taken you for the creature that shook the city last night.”

  Ambrose was about to talk about more when a small army of adventurers piled out of the guild, weapons drawn as they searched for the origins of the thundering roar.

  Tia chuckled. “Looks like we have some explaining to do.”

  —

  Haori was a bouncing bundle of excitement as she watched Ambrose and Tiadel begin trying to explain away the mountain quaking roar that Ambrose had just sounded across the city. Her excitement had her pulling at Dortieh's sleeve as she pointed over at the cow girl gold mine. “I was right, Dorty! I was right! Look at that! Look at what she did!” the excitable angel squealed.

  “I have inquiries as to what you were correct about?” the Siren asked, turning her head to look at her friend even as the angel shook her.

  “She's perfect, Dorty! All we need to do is make sure she likes us and we're in!” Haori said, smiling broadly.

  “By ‘make sure she likes us’, you mean se-” Dortieh. Began, only to have a hand firmly clapped over her own mouth.

  “Yeah! That, but maybe we discuss it later in detail?” Haori insisted, leaning into Dortieh with her curvy body to maintain the pressure over the siren’s mouth until she nodded in understanding. A moment later, they were separated and Dortieh looked away, scowling inwardly as she considered their situation. The angel was already back to bouncing and cheering for Ambrose while she and the elf were left to process the situation.

  Thinking about the people who might soon be their team mates, Dortieh felt trepidation. While she didn't appreciate being cut off, she could understand why the angel wanted her quiet on the topic. The night elf was beside them, and even if he was still stunned, he was not necessarily distracted enough to miss their plan. Nor was he friendly enough not to rat them out in the hopes of solidifying his own position with the Beastiary.

  While she didn’t foresee the seduction of the M rank woman going well, she did think it was wise to make friends with her. She would certainly make tons of gold if she was able to find the proper places to hunt monsters and dungeons. Especially if she received proper assistance from them as her team mates, they would all likely benefit. Even if Ambrose was the pervert Haori expected her to be, they would be able to gain money quickly. The problem was, separating from a woman that powerful after the fact.

  At the moment, Haori only saw Ambrose as an opportunity for money and freedom. A way out of potential poverty and into wealth and luxury. She didn’t see the honeytrap for what it truly was. Once she had successfully seduced Ambrose, if she tried to leave, that woman could make her disappear without a thought. No one would question demi-beasts going missing in a dungeon. Even the madame at the brothel would simply find a new girl to work and move on.

  Being in any form of fake relationship or misleading Ambrose would end poorly. Dortieh was certain of it. But how could she convince Haori of that before the angel doomed them both to a not so savory afterlife?

  here!