After the experience we’d had upon meeting, I hadn’t expected to be seated casually with our opponent only a few minutes later.

  The giant, who’s name unbelievably turned out to be Sarah, was actually fairly nice when she wasn’t doing her level best to break our bodies.

  “You two have potential,” she said once we had gotten comfortable. “You work well enough as a team, and together you do have a fairly broad skill set. However, you broke a cardinal rule today.”

  Cassie winced, and I guessed she had an idea of what Sarah was talking about. She had recovered somewhat since her display, but not completely.

  Unlike her, I didn’t know what we’d done wrong. “Which was?” I asked. I was still feeling pretty good, honestly. Not only had I just experienced the best meal of my life, but I scored a hit on Sarah.

  The giant woman just smiled, although she showed a few too many teeth. “You didn’t run.”

  Well, isn’t that ominous?

  Sarah continued. “You see, a lot of adventurers come into this business with their heads full of bard’s tales and bravery. This gets them killed. One man charging a huge monster just leaves a slightly less hungry monster. Understand?”

  Cassie nodded, but I felt a little frustrated. “We hurt you though, didn’t we? I mean, you definitely bled.”

  I’d ended up healing both of the wounds I’d inflicted on Sarah, and neither had really been that threatening. Still, it was a start.

  She nodded. “True. More than most of the newbies I do that to manage, I’ll give you that. But check that impulse. Trust me, I’ve been there. Sometimes you just can’t win.”

  I shook my head but said nothing. I got her point, really I did. Maybe I just didn’t like being calmly informed I simply wasn’t good enough, I don’t know.

  Cassie reached out to me. “She literally didn’t take out her weapon, Lia. We weren’t winning that.”

  I huffed. “I guess.”

  Sarah belted out a laugh, but said no more on the subject. Instead, she turned to Cassie. “You, mage. You’ll need to update your credentials once your licensed to cast that thing. You really don’t want Guild bureaucrats on your back, believe me.”

  Cassie’s grin was rueful, but she couldn’t hide the glimmer of pride in her eye. I knew she was talented, but reaching the second circle so early was rare. Not quite prodigal, but very impressive nonetheless. I couldn’t be prouder of her.

  Sarah suddenly stood. “Now, I need to go. I have a job on, and you two kept me here longer than I expected. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, you hear? Be ready.” Her tone dropped at the final two words, like she was giving us a warning. Maybe she was.

  Much like Ren before her, she simply strode through the portal like nothing interesting had gone down in here. I shook my head again. “What is it with these people and anticlimactic exits?”

  Cassie grinned. “Maybe this is just everyday stuff for them?”

  I sighed. “You reckon so? Because I get the feeling that Ren hasn’t done anything that wasn’t bureaucracy in years. Then again, I reckon Sarah sees all kinds of action.”

  “Oh, I know,” Cassie groaned. “I mean did you see her?”

  I turned to her. “Not what I meant, Cass,” I said in my best disappointed voice, watching as she turned red.

  “A-any way. What did you think of the spell?” She asked, clearly trying to distract me. I decided to let her, for now. She wasn’t technically wrong, after all.

  “Not bad,” I allowed. “Were you controlling it manually?” I thought back to the look of sheer focus on her face when she was casting it.

  “Yeah,” she replied simply. “One of the big drawbacks is that it takes so much concentration to keep together.”

  “Shame. Still, it was super cohesive for your first cast.” I still remembered when Cassie was practising a cantrip to generate static and couldn’t get it right. Every cast flip-flopped between virtually no effect and sudden sparks.

  “Hey!” Cassie complained. “That was one spell! You don’t see me bringing up all the times you messed up your shapeshifting early on, do you?”

  “Oh, like when?” I challenged.

  “How about when you frightened Eric with your wackiness? Guy didn’t leave the house for a week!”

  “How do you know that wasn’t intentional? Eric always was a prick, maybe I wanted to spook him?”

  “Yeah, and you wanted to spend the next half an hour freaking out about it too?”

  I held my hands up in mock defeat. “Alright, you win. I may have messed up too. Still, you did it way more.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry! It was me who accidentally killed a rabbit for the sake of science, was it?”

  “That was once!” I protested.

  -------------------------------

  The next several days increasingly began to pass in a haze. Every day was spent with Cassie and I chatting and training something, mainly her on her new spell and me on my shapeshifting. I figured out a few more applications, mostly minor stuff like a couple of improvements to my general human form.

  For one thing, I did some work on my bones. Mainly internally, adding more structural support and a little more density. I was a bit heavier for it, but I would rather be dense than broken.

  As well as that, I added some more muscle to my heart. I wasn’t too worried about it being damaged, since with my healing speed I should be fine. However, I wanted to be sure to have enough energy when necessary, and having more blood flowing at any given time seemed like a good start.

  I also adapted my legs to match my insectoid inspired arms. I felt like it was be nice to have, and in truth it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world to do, since I already had limbs to work off of. The main difficulty was keeping my proportions right, so that I didn’t end up losing my boots or anything when I shifted.

  However, I was stopped from going much further by two things. Firstly, I was more than a little nervous to make more extreme changes than I already had. I was comfortable changing my limbs now, that much was for certain. However, any more extreme than I already was would take me pretty firmly out of the ‘humanoid’ category of body shape. I was already on the edge with my tentacle(s), which were quickly becoming a favourite of mine. They really were fun to move.

  Nevertheless, I felt like I could do more. Could be more. My body itched to change in increasingly extreme ways, both figuratively and literally, which lead into my second problem. The Changing.

  It had gotten too uncomfortable to properly focus at its peak a few days in. The slowly growing static had been at the forefront of my mind for hours, which had been rather unpleasant. Thankfully it seemed like a bit of a bell curve, since it had started reducing from there.

  It was hard to describe what it was doing. It was like it was the sea, eroding a giant mountain. Except the mountain was me, and also my link to physicality in general. And the sea was actually mana, but I was being turned into mana, and this metaphor was getting away from me.

  In any case, I wasn’t really being physically changed much. I didn’t turn into living rock or spontaneously catch aflame the way most mages did during the Changing. I was just… more. Like some unknowable limits had been breached, or at least raised.

  At the same time, I felt a bit like a caterpillar. I could tell that the Changing wasn’t done, yet it was slowing down for some reason. I felt like I was more than I had been, yet the how was fairly unquantifiable.

  Ren had stopped by every now and then to check in on my progress, casting some diagnosis spell and scribbling in his notebooks. Not the most interesting part of the day, but at least he was a treasure trove of knowledge.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  One day when he stopped in he brought with him two things. The first was the news that he believed my Changing to be ‘levelling out’. For a reason he wasn’t quite sure about, my Changing was coming in bursts rather than steadily like most did. However, he believed that it would hit a proper stride by the time I was ready to leave again, developing over time like anyone else.

  He also stopped by with our Guild contracts, which were remarkably boring for what they signified. Part of me was nervous signing, as it was the beginning of a life of adventure and danger. Another part was excited for the same reason. The rest of me was bored to tears as I read all of the various ways the Guild legally wasn’t to blame if I died.

  Sarah dropped by several more times, too. It feels strange to be glad to see someone who insisted on initiating combat whenever we met, but I was. She hadn’t gone easy on us, if anything upping her game each time we met. Cassie and I were definitely getting better at dealing with the ‘big threat’ that she was standing in for though.

  Of course, ever since she discovered the extent of my healing after that first test she took things up a notch. She’d returned four times, and each of those times resulted in me losing at least one limb, which hurt a lot. Weirdly enough I was starting to get used to it, which did worry me slightly. Still, it seemed like it would be helpful, so I couldn’t complain too much.

  She had helped me discover another quirk of my body, too. Namely, my body still recognised itself, even when it was dead and detached. Only, those parts did seem to be noticed as ‘dead’. What that meant was that I could basically absorb my various severed limbs for more vitae, which was handy. It was also nice that we didn’t have arms and tentacles everywhere.

  Finally, the time came when Ren judged I could go outside again. I was absolutely raring to go at this point. No matter how nice or helpful the arena was, I desperately wanted to go out and do something. I’d been training and learning for long enough, and now I wanted to put it all to use.

  I could tell Cassie felt the same, too. Mainly because when Ren declared that my Changing had stalled for now and I could go outside without keeling over from mana starvation, she let out a loud whoop and sprinted out the portal.

  As much as I agreed, I was hesitant to go through that particular rift again. I turned to Ren. “You sure there’s no other way out?”

  He thought for a moment. “Hold on,” he said before walking through the portal himself, which felt like a bit of a slight. Cassie seemed to realise why I wasn’t following her and hopped back through.

  “Hey, where’s Ren?” She asked.

  “He literally just walked past you,” I pointed out.

  “That was him?”

  I just shook my head. Eventually Ren returned, but his expression said all I needed to know.

  “Sorry, Julie. We do have an adventurer here who specialises in spatial magic, but she’s not due to return from her current job for a few months. Unless you want to wait in here for that long…”

  Wonderful. Whelp, there’s nothing for it. Plan B it is.

  I walked slowly towards the portal. Even after spending so long in a high mana environment I could feel this thing on my skin like I was walking towards a blazing fire. By the time I stood directly in front of it I could feel my skin prickling and shifting, trying to take in yet more mana. I did better than the first time thanks to being in the first stage of my Changing, but it still wasn’t enough.

  Hesitantly, I reached a hand through. Slowly, leading with my fingers. As it passed through the portal I felt my skin light up, sensation and feedback burning up in my hand. I stopped at my wrist, trying to analyse each sensation. It was strange, like my brain was trying to tell me that my hand was in too many places at once. More than anything else it was disorienting, and this was just the end of a single limb.

  Bracing myself, I shut off the nerves that ran down my lower arm. Miraculously, the sensation stopped. However, my arm also dropped immediately. Turns out nerves are necessary to control limbs.

  Fortunately, I had what I needed. I stepped back from the portal and turned to the other two. “Okay, which one of you is carrying me?”

  They watched, Ren interested and Cassie bemused. “What did you just do?” Ren asked.

  I shrugged. “Turned my nerves off. So I need someone to move me through the portal, then I can turn them on again.”

  Realisation dawned on Ren. “Ah, because of your autonomous bodily control. Not a solution I would recommend to many, but if it works for you then good job.”

  Cassie jumped in. “You’re kinda heavy, Lia. I don’t think I can carry you.”

  I smirked. “Don’t worry, I have a plan for that. You just watch.”

  Turning my focus inward, I ran through my goal. It was simple, really. All I needed was to be light, so I started stripping parts of my body away that weren’t immediately necessary. Limbs? I was being carried, didn’t need them. Organs? Anything that didn’t immediately keep me alive could go. I could force myself to stay alive with vitae and mana if necessary.

  However, I couldn’t bring myself to go full efficiency. I ended up leaving my brain alone entirely, because I was worried about changing it. I also left a decent chunk of my torso intact, shifting my ribcage into a more all-encompassing ball that held my lungs, heart and half a spine. Somehow I still felt vaguely human, even though I was just bones, blood and nerves wrapped in distinctly inhuman skin.

  Soon enough I was basically a ribcage with a head. I’d burned away almost all of my body fat and muscle, so I was pretty limp. I barely had the physical strength to lift my head up far enough to look at the other two.

  “You may need to carry my clothes too,” I explained. My voice turned out to be far too slurred to be understandable, so I switched to illusions. Channelling my magic, I wrote in the air ‘Take Clothes. Warn Me. Go.’ I even made the letters sparkle a little, because what is magic for if not to make random things sparkle? Plus it was excellent practice. I hadn’t managed sounds with my illusions yet, but letters would do for now.

  “You know that Ren could probably lift you as you were, right?” Cassie posited.

  ‘Let Me Have My Fun.’ I wrote to her.

  I watched as Cassie visibly held back laughter, even as she cast levitation and compressed my clothes into a little ball. Ren then formed a little box of force magic around me, which he proceeded to bring by his side. One edge was still open, so I got to see as they approached the portal.

  “Alright, we’re going through. Do whatever it is you’re doing, Lia,” Cassie announced before stepping through the portal.

  Internally, I began shutting down nerve clusters. Whatever energy or chemicals they carried stopped in its tracks as I cut connections, pinched signals and even just unmade a few. It was a little fun, weirdly enough. Like I was the sole deity of a very small, very fleshy domain.

  One unforeseen consequence was that I could no longer see. Well, technically I could. My eyes were still perceiving, I just wasn’t capable of receiving that information. However I could still feel Ren from his vitae, and the portal from the tingling on my skin.

  I was a little annoyed that the tingling still happened when I technically couldn’t feel my skin. If anything, I could feel it clearer. I was in self-imposed sensory deprivation, after all.

  Unable to see, hear or move, all I had to judge the time by was the rapid increase in intensity when it came to that selfsame tingling. I assumed that when it got further away again it meant I was on the other side, so after waiting a bit for safety I turned the lights back on.

  I was on the floor now, back in the tiny room Bandage Guy had brought us. I’m pretty sure that Ren mentioned his name, but he would forever be Bandage Guy in my heart.

  Speaking of my heart, it was absolutely pounding. Apparently my body still got to experience some of the effects even if I as a consciousness didn’t, which was fun to know. If I had the body mass to move I would have flinched when I was hit with the adrenaline my body was producing.

  I saw that Cassie and Ren were watching me intently, clearly having noticed I was back.

  ‘It Worked. Turn Around.’ I wrote. My letters were colourful and bright, an attempt to convey my relief and joy.

  They both looked confused. “Why?” Ren asked.

  ‘You Have My Clothes.’ This time I made the letters dull and flat, to convey what my face currently couldn’t.

  I watched as realisation struck both of them. Ren just calmly turned around, while Cassie flushed red and spun like her life was on the line.

  Over the course of about twenty seconds I rebuilt my body and redressed. It may not be the most convenient method, but Sensory Deprivation Ball was always there if I needed to go through a portal. I just couldn’t go through alone. Or unexpected. Or even remotely able. Still, better than the torment that had been my first time travelling through.

  Only as I was tugging my boots on did I realise that the portal was just gone. ‘Ren,’ I wrote in front of his face to get his attention, because I was still patching up my vocal cords.

  “Julie?” He asked, turning around. He was very fortunate that I was actually dressed.

  In response, I coughed. “… Wh-s.” ‘Hold On.’

  After a few more moments I spoke again. My voice was a bit deeper than normal, but I could live with that. “Where’s the portal?”

  “Hm? Oh, it’s here.” Ren rifled through a pocket and took out the same stone Bandage Guy had used to conjure the portal. “They’re portable. We have multiple too, so it’s hard to get trapped in the Arena.”

  I guess that’s handy. Then again, it did take a while to open.

  Clearly hearing the conversation, Cassie turned around, tackling me when she saw I wasn’t a ball with a head anymore.“You alright?” I asked.

  “Mhm. Seeing you all… asleep, I guess, was really freaky. You were completely unresponsive for like five minutes.”

  “Wait, really? I swear it didn’t feel like that long.”

  Cassie let go of me and stepped back. “You do get caught up in your thoughts. If they’re literally all you have, I can see you just thinking for a while.”

  “I… guess I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, not entirely sure how to respond to the idea that I had been out for so long.

  “No matter,” Ren said. “I imagine that you two are fairly excited get on with life after your… unforeseen detainment.”

  I couldn’t help the chuckle, which came out much more throatily than I had intended. As Ren spoke I performed a few more adjustments.

  “Quite. Anyway, I do have a quest prepared specifically for you, no wait or signing required. However, there is a condition.” Ren let his words hang, as he seemed to be a fan of doing.

  “Go on,” Cassie folded.

  “As this is your first mission, you will be accompanied by a more senior adventurer. No complaints, we do this for everyone.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. It would probably be helpful, but at the same time when I had imagined going adventuring with Cassie I had imagined it just the two of us. Even if it was just temporary, this was quite distinctly not that.

  “I understand you know each other, in fact. As such, I shall let him reintroduce himself. Now, I do have an unfortunate amount of administration to do, so I must be off. Good luck.”

  Ren shuffled off out the door, leaving Cassie and I alone. “Wonder who it’ll be?” Cassie questioned.

  I was about to respond when a man stepped into the hallway. He was dressed in light armour with a longsword strapped to his back, and completely failed to stifle his grin.

  “Fancy seeing you two here,” Neil said cheerily as he entered the room.

  Extract from '101 Ways Magic Can Kill You', an informational pamphlet created to warn people away from magic after a magical emergency caused huge damage in the capital of Althea.

  "Aside from the previously discussed dangers with magic, there are a lot of more subtle - or at least sudden - ways that the average person can be ruinously harmed by magical effects and phenomena. The most well known in the infamous hex, of course.

  Often times, hexes are limited to a single person or group. The most common of these is typically a bloodline hex, which places a curse upon all blood relations to the recipient of the punishment. This means that you can be literally punished for the sins of your father, mother, grandparents or other even more distant ancestors. Remember, the next time you want to watch a nymph bathe or steal from a forgotten tomb, you may not be the only one punished.

  Of course, the more dangerous form of this phenomena comes packaged as curses. Rather than hexes, which typically range from mildly inconvenient to painful, curses are classified by two things: severity and virality. Not only are curses such as lycanthropy far more severe than almost any hex, but anyone could get it! All it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time to be infected and you're doomed.

  Now, not every form of harmful magic comes from an external source. There are a variety of ways that having magic cast on you can cause unexpected damage simply because of the way that you are. A known example of this is blood magic. Those few expert enough in blood magic to use it to heal rather than harm are renowned for their efficiency. However, a known side-effect of blood magic healing is that it places a lot of stress on the heart. Not enough to be of damage to most, but those born with weak hearts or in the twilights of their lives have been known to be harmed or even killed by this form of healing, which is fairly ironic.

  Another example of this is the often mentioned IMS, which stand for Interplanar Motion Sickness. This interesting trait occurs when the brain is confused by interplanar teleportation, causing a series of increasingly extreme reactions from mild dizziness to nausea. It is known most commonly to afflict those bound tightly to the material plane and is thought to be hereditary, although that has yet to be proven.

  Other types of common magical afflictions include Alchemists' lung, which is the blanket term for the many ways breathing in mysterious mystical gasses can harm you, Devil Eye, which is a form of physical possession known to be carried by some infernal beings and causes its signature yellow weeping eyes, and of course Life Rot. Life Rot is the name for the effects of being exposed to too much life affinity mana, such as can be found in the depths of the Elven Lands. If exposed for too long humans will begin to rapidly develop cancerous growths as the body's natural healing spirals out of control and consumes itself.

  These have been just a few ways that magic can kill or harm you, both directly and indirectly. In the next segment we will discuss defensive strategies against some of these situations such as 'run' or 'don't be there in the first place'."

  Extract End