《My System Life》 It Begins Today is the day. I''m finally going to get my Classes. It''s been horrible having to wait till I was 16 to get my System Access. Unfortunately ever since The Fall, that''s been how things work. That was 200 years ago. I guess it used to be anyone could learn anything before that, so even today there is a lot of resentment. But that happened long before I was born, these days there are people from all over the universe who live on earth. Beast Men, Elves, Dwarves, Anthros, cultivation clans, Orcs, Goblins, Trolls. Basically every fantasy race ever seen in a movie or book is alive and well today. On earth. Even Dragons. Anthros have it the worst being the newest race to arrive. They only started showing up 30 years ago. The man did the Beast Men hate them on sight. Apparently sometime in the past, they were one people. Much like high elves and dark elves. Then there was a split and the Beast Men evolved to look less animal-like while the Anthros evolved to be more beast like. Sadly most Anthros are slaves now, they have a few free communities and even a couple towns here in the North American Republic. But even here we have some enslaved. Apparently once an Anthro is enslaved by a system contract its incredibly expensive to free one, so most people don''t bother. As I walked toward town hall I began to wish my parents could be here. They had died 4 years ago leaving me, my two youngest brothers and my little sister alone. They were adventurers. Successful ones too, and they had been smart enough to save up and buy a home for us all. They had even managed to put aside enough for us kids to go to school. After they died their belongings had been given to us. The only thing I''d kept was my father''s ring. I''d let the other 3 picks one item each and we had sold the rest to the guild. Looking at the ring as I walked I couldn''t help but smile in memory. I''d pestered father for weeks about it when he came back with it. He''d never told me where it came from though. It was gold and silver wire spirals wrapped up in a bluish metal and on top was a tiny dragon curled up as if asleep. Little ruby eyes staring towards the tip of the finger. Shaking off the memories I hurried toward the town hall a little faster. Today was going to be a great day. The streets started getting crowded the closer I got to Town Hall. Today was a big day not just for me but also for everyone over 16 who hadn''t gotten a class yet. Every year on January 1st there was a huge festival. We call it System Day. On that day everyone celebrates the new Chosen. Every town has a Selection Hall. You walk through the door on one end and out the other. No one knows what happens inside, except people come out changed. You gain system access and class abilities.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The best thing about it is your class can be anything. There are basic classes like Carpenters and Smithing. And everyone gets a trade class of some kind. Then there are Advanced Classes like Architect and Weapon Smith. Those are uncommon though. Of course, there are legendary classes also like Alchemist or Arcatek, but those are so rare you might as well use a Genie Lamp to wish for one. And good luck with that. Those things cost more than the gross national product of our entire republic in 10 years. The flip side is everyone also gets a combat class of some kind, those range from your basic soldiers to rangers, uncommon classes like Medic are also possible. Then you have ultra legendary classes like Dragon Knight and Warlord. Again you might as well wish on a Genie. Honestly, I''ll be happy with any combination that lets me be an Adventurer. While the money our parents left us was a lot, feeding four kids until they can reach System Day and begin helping out hasn''t been cheap. Never mind if one of us gets an advanced class or something and we end up having to go to college. Finally, I reach the front of the crowd, there are 13 kids standing near the door to the hall. So I walk over and join them. "Hey Jeremy," I say. Jeremy is my best friend. Has been since we were six and I beat the crap out of Kody Jackson for picking on him and taking his mechanical horse. He''s shorter than me at 5'' 5". We joke about him not hitting his growth spurt yet, his dad is massive at 6''6". He''s also nerdy as hell. He looks over at me and shakes his head making his brown bowl cut hair wiggle. He also has green eyes behind a serious set of coke bottle glasses. He''s been waiting for this day because once he gains his system access his physical defects like his nearsightedness will get corrected by the change. Shaking his head Jeremy fist bumps me. "Dude you almost missed it, you know they don''t let latecomers in. You woulda had to wait a whole ''another year." Jeremy says. "Yah I know but I had to deal with that ass hat Jacob. He was picking on Molly again. He even messed up her new dress with mud pies." I said. Molly is my kid sister. Unlike the rest of us red-haired boys somehow she ended up blonde. She also has the clearest blue eyes you have ever seen. Shes basically an angel. Just without wings. Shes only 6 and Jacob is the bully in her class. He''s freaking 10 but he''s been held back a lot because he''s dumber than a box of rocks. I stood there chatting with Jeremy until the Mayor came over and cleared his throat. "Ok kids it''s time, line up and we will open the door one at a time. We have record keepers on the other side. Once you exit give them your classes and class descriptions as well as any specialized skills you might gain. That way we can keep our records up to date and help you kids begin your new life. If one of you gets extra lucky you might even get a rare class and be sent to the College Arcanum in Omaha. Good luck to you." We waited, then one at a time at 15-minute intervals they sent us through the door. I fist bumped Jeremy again before he entered and wished him luck. Then it was my turn. As I walked towards the doors I felt a nervous flutter in my belly. Forcing it down I entered the dark hallway and the doors shut behind me. System starting..... ERROR!! ERROR!! ERROR!! FOREIGN CONTAMINATION DETECTED... BEGINNING REPAIR PROCEDURE..... FOREIGN SOUL DETECTED..... PURGE FAILED... PROCEEDING TO PROTOCOL 2 AND INITIATING SOUL MERGE. MERGE SUCCESSFUL. CLASS SELECTION PROCEEDING. PRE-EXISTING SKILLS ACCESSIBLE... MERGING SKILLS LIST. CHOOSING CLASSES. RELEASING SUBJECT 7382382382I45000201 Im a What?!? The doors ahead of me opened on their own. As I stepped through them I felt a wave of pain, unlike anything I''d ever experienced before. Was I growing? I stumbled forward dropping to all fours, slowly I crawled through the doors. Was that me screaming? Then everything went black. * * * * * * "......it happens sometimes. No one''s sure why. But we haven''t seen anything like this since Greythan Various ascended and became a half-angel." I lay there listening to the voice by my bedside wondering why someone I didn''t know was in my room. I also wondered why my head hurt so much. Opening my eyes I looked around and noticed the white walls, that''s when I realized I wasn''t in my room. I see two older men and a middle-aged woman standing near my bed, seeing the white coat on the woman I realize I''m in the hospital. Clearing my throat I croak out "how bad is it?" All three turn and look at me, then exchange glances. The woman steps forward and says "I''m Doctor Hagen, not bad, mostly your just exhausted from the change and having your soul altered." She picks up a chart on the bedside table and says "according to our diagnosis you went through some fairly brutal alterations. We aren''t sure why. The good news is your going to be fine. The bad news is your no longer human." My eyes go wide and I croak out "what? What the hell do you mean I''m not human?" "Well, sometimes when a person goes through the change and becomes a System User the system alters them beyond just their classes. Normally it''s nothing major. They might gain heightened senses and become a cat-kin while gaining the Hunter or Ranger class. Things like that." She says. Then looks up at me and says. "You''re our first Dragon." Say what now? "Say what now?" I asked. "That cant is right, I don''t feel like a dragon." I looked down at my hands, yup five fingers. I wiggled my toes and they seemed to %be there.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. At that point the taller of the two men stepped forward, that''s when I realized it was the mayor. "Son I was there, right outside the door when you cant out. You fell to your hands and knees and became a Dragon right there in front of the gods and everyone. Almost started a riot. Then you passed out and shifted back to what you are now." He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a hand mirror, then handed it to me. I looked it to it and gasped, I was still me. But also not me. I''d had coppery red hair at the start of the day. Now I had a deep black head of hair, thick black eyebrows, and my eyes were deep gold. And slit like a serpent. I''m not ashamed to admit I started to freak out a little bit. "Wha....what the hell am I gonna do now? Did I even get my classes? What am I gonna tell my family? I just......." Ok, I was freaking out a lot. "Woah Woah hold on son, look, Jason, can I call you Jason? Look as far as this change goes your not the first person this has happened too. We know you got your classes we just don''t know what they are yet. We wanted to get you checked out after you collapsed so there hasn''t been time to record that yet. We aren''t even sure what kind of Dragon you are. We think you''re a black dragon but those are usually evil and when we had you checked out your aura didn''t come back as anything like evil." The Mayor said. I lay there stunned. I''d never imagined anything like this when I decided to get my classes. I hadn''t even known it was possible to have your race changed. Then I began to wonder how long I''d been down, and whereby brothers and sister were and who was taking care of them. "Where is my family? How long was I out? Do they know?" The shorter man stepped forward then and said. "They''re fine. The mayor sent a guard to notify your family. For the moment all anyone knows is that you had a medical issue, we decided to keep this as confidential as possible, despite your very public coming out party. It''s only been a couple of hours since you came through the hall. I''m Galen, local council minister. My job is to gather information on new System Users and recommend them for scholarships. I also keep the records for Cornfield. Now, can you tell us what your Status Screen says?" He asked. I looked at him. He looked at me. I glanced at the mayor and then back at him. "I have no idea how to do that," I said. The mayor says. "Normally new system users get a class and spend a couple of weeks with training tutors learning the ins and outs of the interface. That didn''t happen with you Jason, for obvious reasons. Simply saySystem Status." so I did. User Status Name: Jason Daniels Race: Shadow Dragon* (Hp/Mp increase at 100 per stat point instead of the standard 10) Age Category: Juvenile Stats: Hp: 2600 Mp: 3600 Str: 28 [+9] Dex: 15 [+3] Con 26 [+8] Int: 36 [+12] Wis: 32 [+10] Cha: 28 [+9] Crafting Class: Arcane Engineer [L] Combat Class: Celestial Archmage [L] "I''m a WHAT?!" Offers After I got over the shock I looked at the race details. Shadow Dragon [L] (Extraplanar) Racial Abilities: Shadow Blend Gravity Manipulation Spacial Manipulation Shadow Manipulation Mirror Image 1/Day Stat Bonus +4 Str, Con, Int, Wis, Cha, per age catagory Immunities: Darkness Breath Weapon: Enervating Breath (Creates a cone of dark cloud like energy in a 45 by 90 cone that drains anything caught in it of life feeding that life back to the Dragon) I couldn''t believe how powerful Dragons were, and now I was one. Only a juvenile sure but still. To have not only 3 rare magics but the ability to basically become invisible in shadows? Not to mention a free spell ability and ridiculous stat increases. I hadnt even looked at my classes yet and I was already excited. The Mayor cleared his throat and looked at me expectantly. "So what can you tell us about your race and classes?"The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. So I told him what the racial menu said then took a look at my classes. Arcane Engineer [L] Crafting Class Stats: +1 Str, Dex, Int, Wis per 2 levels. Skills: Arcane Creation 1/100 [L] Analysis 1/100 [R] Runecraft 1/100 [R] Engineering 1/100 [Un] Miniaturization 1/100 [R] Metallurgy 1/100 [C] Mana Manipulation 1/100 [R] Lightning Manipulation 1/100 [R] Wind Manipulation 1/100 [R] Fire Manipulation 1/100 [R] Earth Manipulation 1/100 [R] Arcane Schematic Crafting 1/100 [L] Arcane Engineers excell in Golem Crafting as well as most other forms of Magitech, known for binding the mundane and magical a single Arcane Engineer has been known to advance the tech level of a society by decades. Then I took a look at my combat class. Celestial Archmage [L] Combat Class Stats: +1 Int, Wis, Dex, per level Skills: Soul Manipulation 1/100 [L] Light Manipulation 1/100 [R] Gravity Manipulation 1/100 [R] Spell Creation 1/100 [Un] Celestial Mages have been some of the greatest healers and spell weavers in history. Capable of using light and soul magics they can heal everything from a battlefield wound to Vampiric Corruption. The greatest of them have even been rumored to be able to return the dead to life. My jaw hit the bed after I relayed that last bit, and I wasnt alone. All three of the adults in the room had open mouthed stares. Then the mayor and the administrator gave each other meaningful glances. Minister Galen stepped forward and said. "Jason, I''d like to offer you a scholarship. We''d like to send you to the Academy in Omaha. All your living expenses would be paid for. You would only have to pass all your classes. In return you would work for the Republic for five years after you graduate." "Can I think about it?" I asked. "I''d like to talk to my family first." "Of course. Take your time and think it over and talk to your family." He said. Decisions We went over the stats and skills on my new classes and race for a couple more hours, some where in the middle the doc excused herself to check on other patients. Once we were done with that and they had everything recorded to their satisfaction I checked out and went home. It was nearing 5pm by then and the kids had been home for a couple hours. They practically buried me when I came through the door. Molly was in tears and Sam and Dean weren''t much better. After I got them calmed down I made a quick dinner. While we ate I explained what had happened and why my appearance had changed so much. "Your a dragon? Like a really real dragon?" Molly asked. I nodded my head at her and her eyes got really wide as she started hopping in her seat. I knew what was coming next so I held up my hand and said. "Just wait, I''ll show you guys tomorrow. I havent even seen it yet myself so I''ll need you guys to help me try things out. I dont even know how to fly yet." At the mention of flight Sam who was 10 and dean who was 12 got wide eyes as well and practically started vibrating in their seats. I looked at them and said. "Nope. No flying on me. Not till I know what I''m doing. If I ended up dropping one of you dorks mom and dad would come back from heaven and kick my butt." Molly giggled and pointed at me and said. "You said butt." I grinned at her. Then I looked at all three of them and said.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "The good news in your all staying home tomorrow. We have some family decisions to make. So finish eating and go do your homework. I''ll do the dishes and we can hang out and watch somthing before bed." Once the dishes and homework were done we all kicked back on the Megabag. It was somthing our mom made. Basically they used to have this thing called a bean bag. Our mom kinda expanded on the idea and made one so big all four of us kids could lay on it and have room to move. Seriously the thing takes up almost half the living room floor. We watched a couple episodes of Firefly on the Tri-Dee and then went to bed. The next morning after breakfast I sat the kids down and went over Minister Galen''s offer. "So here''s my idea. I figure with 2 legendary classes and a legendary race they are going to bend over backwards to accommodate me. I''ll tell you now theres no way I''m leaving you three here if I do go. Also if we move to Omaha, we''ll have a ton of opportunities we wouldn''t have access to here in Cornfield. Better shops and restaurants, better Adventurer Outfitters. That''s also where Viligoth Dungeon is. But I know we all have friends here, and our home is here. So what do you guys think?" Molly looked at me with big blue eyes and said. "Can I have a puppy?" I laughed and said. "Sure, I''ll make them throw in an extra special puppy." She started nodding her head vigorously and said "ok!" Sam and dean looked at each other and shrugged. Then they looked at me and dean said."Are we selling the house? Who''s gonna take care of it if we dont?" "Well I figured on keeping it. This is still home. The college is only four to six years depending on what courses I take. By then you guys will have had your System Day. If you choose to do that. One day one of us might decide to come back here and raise our own family." I said. All three of them looked at me like I''d offered then earwax flavored candy. I rolled my eyes at them. "Either way we''re keeping the house. I''ll have the Minister add that to any contract I sign. You guys will be going to school there also and I''ll make sure that''s covered in the contract as well as living expenses and a place off campus for us. I dont imagine they have dorm rooms that let family stay together." I said. Sam and Dean shared a look and then said ok. So I said I''d get with the mayor and the Minister and let them know we were all going. Having that settled it was time for the fun part of the day. It was time to see what a Shadow Dragon looks like. Unleashing the Dragon The kids looked excited. I had them follow me outside. When our parents bought the place they had known they wanted a big family, so they made sure the house they bought had a really large back yard. I was about to test that theory. We had a huge full length mirror from our parents room. We didnt usually go in there but it was the only one we had and we needed it for this. Once the kids had the mirror against the wall and stable I had them stand near it and I went in to the middle of the back yard. Then I tried to change. And nothing happened. I pulled up my status and took a look at that. No clues there. So I looked at my race information again. Other than saying I was a True Dragon, whatever that means it wasnt helpful either. It had been a few minutes and by this point the kids were getting impatient. So I took a lotus position in the grass. We had a couple of large trees in the back yard with a truly massive tree house linked between them. It even had a rope bridge linking the halves. Sitting in the shadows under it I began to think my way through the problem. When I''d left the hall I had apparently changed immediately. Then changed back while unconscious. So i closed my eyes and tried to remember what it felt like. I imagined my body expanding as I''d felt myself growing in the hall. I imagined myself becoming one with the shadows. Then I felt pain. I''m not gonna lie, I may have cried a little. As I opened my eyes a few minutes later I noticed an immediate change. My perspective was higher than before. Much higher. The kids were looking at me with fear and wonder.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I looked down at myself. My neck had stretched to about five feet long, it was a seriously odd sensation. I turned my head and looked back over my, well my back. It took almost no effort. I saw my wings. They looked like typical Dragon wings. They looked sort of transparent, like they were made of smoke. But I could feel the skin and scales between the finger bones of the wing hands. I looked over at the mirror and slowly started to walk over. And immediately face planted as I stepped on my tail. The kids started cackling. "Thats right laugh it up bratsss." My voice. Even I could notice the difference. It was deep and smoky, with a weird hiss on my es''s and it seemed to thrum with a strange power. Moving my tail out of the way I looked at it. It had a series of spines going about two feet up its length with the same translucent skin as my wings stretched between them. It looked like some kind of smokey exotic fin. The whole tail was about 6 feet long. When I''d been told I was a Dragon I''d assumed I would be one of those massive city slaying beasts from the stories. Able to lay waste to entire armies with a single breath. Instead i looked to be about four feet tall, maybe five feet at my forward shoulders. I stretched out my wings to full extension. That was a weird sensation also. It was like instincts kicked in and muscles I didnt realize I had, flexed. Trying again to walk to the mirror I crept closer to the kids. As I looked in the mirror I was shocked by what I saw. I had horns! They were about two feet long and swept back from the top of my skull towards the rear of my head in a sort of delta vee. My eyes were a deep gold color and still had slitted pupils. But now there was a slight purple glow from deep inside them. As if that weren''t enough I had a spinal ridge from the base of my skull running half way down my back that looked just like the fin on my tail. The kids were making excited squeaks as they looked at me. Molly''s eyes were huge. So I inched my snout, snout? Yah I think it''s a snout. I inched it over to her. Then i licked her face. She immediately squealed and started giggling. I looked over at the boys and said."Ssso who wants to wack a Dragon and sssee how ssstrong its scalesss are." Of course they immediately ran to get their wooden practice swords. Parental Guidance We played chase the Dragon for a while, it was fun. Until Sam and Dean decided my claws were fair game. Have you ever had someone take a two by four and drop it on your toes? Individually? Dragons are tough apparently because I mostly didnt feel anything till that point. They mostly stopped that the third time I laid my tail across Dean''s ass. Apparently 12 year old ass cheeks aren''t real good with Dragon tail slaps. Who knew? We stopped after that because Sam couldn''t stop laughing, then the boys got after each other. After that we included Molly. It took a bit of doing but we found an old rope and wrapped it around me just before my wing joints, then tied it off between my last two spinal spikes so it wouldn''t slide. Then we put Molly on my back. I spent most of the rest of the day giving my siblings Dragon rides. Later that evening while I was cooking dinner we got a visitor. From the National Postal Administration. Basically what used to be the U.S. Mail. Except now they ride horses and wear leather armor. After I signed for the package I took it in to the kitchen and finished making dinner. The kids talked about how excited they were for the move and wondered what it was like in the "big city", what the school was like and so on. After dinner molly went to her room to play and the boys took care of the dishes. I took the package up to my room. Closing the door behind me I flopped on my bed and looked at it. It was wrapped in plain brown paper. No name, just our address and my name on it. I ripped the paper off quickly, revealing a plain brown box. I grinned to myself mockingly, I was starting to see a theme here. Inside the box there was a smooth crystal orb. Under that was a sheet of paper, in my father''s hand writing. I gasped and grabbed the sheet with trembling fingers. Lifting it I began to read. Jason, if your reading this, your mother and I most likely didnt make it home from our last dungeon run. The orb in this box has additional instructions. Just poke your finger and use a drop of blood to bind it to you. It''s called a Memory Cache. Think of it like an interactive hologram. It''s got a portion of my and your mother''s souls contained within to anchor the information your going to need. I carefully folded the note and set it aside. Then I looked at the orb. It was about the size of my fist when closed. Grabbing my dagger i pricked my index finger and dropped a drop of blood on the orb. The blood began to run down the side of the orb. Then there was a flash of red light and the blood vanished leaving the orb unstained. I sucked on my finger as I picked up the orb in my other hand. It was still clear except for a small core of redish light deep inside it. Once it was in the palm of my hand it started to glow projecting a small screen made of redish light.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Interface: Storage Messages Purge I tried to poke the messages button but my finger passed right through it. So I tried using my bloody finger. Still nothing. "Messages" I said. Nothing. So I tried thinking at it. Messages. It pulled up a list from 1 to 50. The very first one had my name next to it. So I selected that. An image of my mother as she had been the day she left was before me in a spray of light. I began to cry. I''d been alone for so long. I''d had to be both brother and parent for my siblings. Taking care of feeding them, clothing them, making sure they did well in school. Taking care of the financial issues. It hadnt been easy. And now my mom was back. As I sat there crying, the image knelt beside the bed looking at me with love and compassion. Slowly it reached out and lay its insubstantial hand on my face. It felt warm but it wasnt solid. "My poor sweet boy. Your father and I never meant for this to happen. We planned for it of course but we planned to live a long happy life with you kids." She said. "What happened mom? All the Adventures Guild told us was that you were lost in the Necropolis Dungeon. They didnt go in to detail." I said. "Do you remember the ring your father had? The one you loved so much? Well it all started with that. We had gone to the Necropolis before you see. That''s where the ring came from. While we were there we became trapped. Your father managed to get us out, but he had to make a deal with a Great Wyrm Shadow Dragon named Athear''Rasvim. He had become trapped by a Lich''s spell and bound to the dungeon. Most Shadow Dragons are evil, but apparently this one wasnt. He didnt want his lineage to die out. So he made a deal with your father in return for the promise to one day help him escape."she explained. "They signed a system contract. He gave your father and I five years to grow strong enough to challenge the Lich and destroy the spell. In return he put a portion of his soul in to four rings. One for each of you kids. As well as four potions to accelerate your age. The potions are only for an emergency. The rings must be worn before you enter the doors of the Hall on System Day. We aren''t sure what will happen exactly, but Athear''Rasvim said the rings would grant a portion of his power through the system to whoever wore the rings. So we hid the others and only showed you your father''s." I looked down at my finger. The ring was gone. I hadnt even noticed, what with everything going on with my legendary classes and race change.... "Holy crap." I said. "Hey! Language mister." My mother said. I looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry mom. I just realized why I gained two legendary classes and a race change when I entered the hall. I''m guessing if the other three rings are the same then Sam, Dean and Molly will all gain somthing similar when it''s their turn. I only have two years to get Dean ready." I said. "Right. You need to be extremely careful with the information about the rings. When we made the Necropolis trip known the second time we had a group join ours. We didnt make it back so I dont know exactly what happened but that may have played a part. Check with Sedrick at the Adventures Guild. He might know more. I have to go sweetie, these messages eat up power. The orb recharges once a week. Under our bed is a secret compartment. You''ll find everything there."she said. She quickly explained how to open the secret compartment, then faded out. I sat there till I cried myself to sleep. Training Day The next morning I got the kids ready for school. Then i went to see the Adventurers Guild Master. The guild hall was across town. It had it''s own block near City Hall. As i walked i went back over the things my mother had said the night before. I needed to find out more about this group that had gone with my parents, i also needed to find out what exactly happened to them. Clearly someone knew more than i had been told since their belongings had been returned. The Guild building was huge. Made entirely of imported Dwarf Stone from deep in the Rockies. Then built here and claimed as a system structure. There are two ways of doing that I guess. The first being you buy a plot of land and have the system build the place for you. The second is the guild hall. It was enchanted to withstand the breath weapon of a Wyrm red dragon. Or so they say. To my knowledge that''s never actually been tested. Built by dwarven architects with an agreed upon floor plan. They spared no expense. The doors made of pure Mithril have the Guild Crest on each panel with various champions of the guild over the last hundred years fighting various monsters. I opened the door and went to the receptionist. She was a blond woman with glasses and sharply pointed ears. I''d normally guess elf but these days she could be half tegrin and unless you used an analytical skill on her you couldn''t tell. That''s frowned upon as being impolite. "Hello. I''d like to see master Sedrick. Please tell him Jason Daniels is here regarding his parents death." I said. She looked at me for a second then pushed a button on the desk and spoke in to a small microphone I hadnt noticed. A few minutes later a tall woman in a steel helmet and breastplate came in from one of the hall ways. I recognized her immediately. "Hello sensei." I said. "How many times have I told you to call me Aunt Gwen when we''re not training?" She asked. "I''ve lost track sensei." I said with a smirk. Gwen, or Gwendolyn Moore isn''t really my Aunt. She''s the halberd master here at the Guild. She was one of my father''s trainers. For years. She made him call her Aunt Gwen too. She may look 30 but apparently one of the perks of the system is you get a much longer lifespan. No ones really sure how old she is. I guess the last guy that got it right had to face her in a 1 on 1 challenge. Hes been in a coma for 12 years. Or at least that''s the rumor. "Are you here for training? Your a bit early if that''s the case." She said. "Yes, and no. I came to see Master Sedrick about my parents. Then I was planning to head over." I said. That''s when the receptionist cleared her throat. In a dust dry librarian voice she said. "The Master will see you now." Gwen and I exchange looks, then bust out laughing. The librarian, I mean receptionist, glares at us looking offended. I guess you had to have seen the movie. "I''ll take him up." Gwen says after she stops chuckling. I follow Gwen down yet another hall to a bank of doors marked elevator. We get in one and head for the top floor. "So what''s with the new look?" Gwen asks. Shit. I''d forgotten all about that. Gwen was practically family though so I decided to be honest. "Race change from the System. Apparently I''m a Shadow Dragon now." I said. Her eyebrows shoot through the roof in surprise. Apparently not the answer she was expecting. "I also gained two legendary classes." I said a bit smugly. She narrows her eyes at me and my tone. "Dont get cocky boy, your a thousand years too early to act like that with me." She says. Then we both snicker at that.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "So what classes did you get?" She asks. "Some kind of mage class with light Gravity and soul magics. The Crafting class is called Arcane Engineer. Somthing to do with golems I guess? I''m not sure exactly." I said. She nods slowly. "Powerful stuff. Somthing to keep in mind though. Once people find out about you they are going to be one of three ways. Friendly. Angry. Jealous. The friendly ones should be ok, but they could also be spies looking for your tech secrets. Magitech is a big deal. And any new innovation will be a huge deal. So guard your secrets well. The jealous will try to sabotage you whether its social interactions or in your class progress. The angry ones are the easiest to see coming usually. So be on your guard. And when you go to the Academy dont tell anyone about your race. Other than the Rockies Aeri there aren''t alot of free Dragons roaming around. I can almost guarantee none of those are Planar Dragons." She said. I stood there contemplating what she said as we got to the top floor. The doors opened on to a small hallway leading to another pair of Mithril doors. These were smaller than the last set by a small margin. We passed through the doors and behind it was a massive oak desk. Behind the desk sat a short man. His hair was grey with white streaks and he had piercing blue eyes. His muscles had muscles and he exuded a powerful aura. "Jason, what can I do for you?" He asked. "You can tell me how my parents died and whether or not the addition of a second group had anything to do with it." I said calmly. He got a mild look of irritation on his face and glanced at Gwen, then back at me. "She didnt tell me. I recieved a message from my parents. Apparently it was set to be sent after I passed my System Day and gained my classes. It told me a great many things you never mentioned." I said. "I see." He sighed. Then continued. In answer to your question then. Yes the extra group was responsible for your parents deaths. Along with the entire rest of their group. When they failed to return with your parents group we investigated. Your parents were some of the best we had, and they were known for being extremely cautious. They had been to The Necropolis more than once and returned alive." "I see. What did you find?" I asked. "We found the other team had been hired to sabotage your parents efforts to retrieve 4 relics from the Necropolis''s outer towers. In the process they got trapped in a Void pit. It''s a trap that sucks all the air out of the room. After that the traitors took your parents gear and tried to sell it here of all places. Once we found out what happened under truth spell interrogation we learned who had hired them and brought the full weight of the guild down on them. Your parents were much loved son. They went out of the way to help others in need while in dungeons. We all feel their loss deeply." He said. "Are they dead? The other team I mean." I said. "Yes. So is the one directly responsible for hiring them. And his family was penalized heavily." He said. "Ok." I said. In all honesty it was a relief to know they weren''t out there any more. When I began adventuring I''d have to be extremely careful in who I chose for my team. My brothers and sister were a given obviously. But that still left six open slots on a dungeon team. I drew myself out of my thoughts and looked up. "Thank you for telling me." I said. "Its fine kid. Just live well and do your parents proud like you have been. That''s all the thanks I need." He said. Gwen had been silent through the whole thing but now she put her hand on my shoulder. "Time to get your ass kicked kid. Come on." She said. We took the elevator back down in silence. Once we reached the bottom we took the same hall she''d come from before. After about 20 feet doors started lining the hallway, occasionally you could hear the clash of weapons or explosions from behind them. The Training Hall. One of the perks of owning a private residence with system functions. We had a smaller version at home. But the one here was much more advanced. It had over 300 programmable rooms. You could practice any martial or magical skill. We went down the hall to the end. This was the Training Masters room. It was a combination gym and dojo with a small door in the back that led to Gwen''s private rooms. Not even my dad had been in there though. Gwen was extremely private. "Grab your Mirkwood Saberstaff kid. Let''s see how rusty you''ve gotten." She said. I went over to my locker and opened it. Inside was my training gear. It was sort of a cross between kendo armor and a suit of fencing gear. Made out of hardened synthetic fibers and cloth. Next to that was my weapon of choice. My father and I had designed it based on one we saw in an old movie about a hobbit. The staff was about five feet long, on either end was a two foot long blade curved like a scimitar but much narrower. Where the blades met the wood of the staff were braces one in each cardinal point angled slightly towards the tip of the blades. They were designed for catching enemy weapons so they didnt slide down the staff and slice my fingers. They could also be used to disarm opponents with enough speed and strength. Taking my armor to the changing room I came back out and grabbed my weapon. I began a basic kata as I waited for Sensei. The blades on the staff were designed so they face opposite each other. That way if you spin the staff properly you would get several rapid cuts, instead of having to reverse momentum constantly. As I began to spin the staff I imagined my opponent. Block, parry, thrust, spin, step, block, block, low sweep, it wasnt until a few minutes later I realized I''d been facing an actual opponent. Gwen stood in front of me grinning. "Not bad kid. Not bad at all. Your definitely ready for the Academy martial program. You were kinda zoned out there though. Gonna need to work on that." She said. Then she came at me fast and hard and I no longer had time to think. Making Plans After my sparring session with Sensei I went to see the Mayor. I kept in mind what she had said about keeping things close to the vest, the kids and I had decided on a plan so all I had to do was let the Mayor know and go from there. One of the things aunt Gwen had mentioned was to make sure they gave me a stipend in Galactic Credits. One credit was worth 100 platinum coins so it wasnt cheap. We had figured on a 500 credit a month deal in addition to a place for all of us to live and school placement for the kids in addition to full tuition to the academy. I''d use the credits for additionad additional expenses like Crafting materials, books and whatever. We figured I could get away with the credits because I was now the only Shadow Dragon anyone knew of. I knew that wasnt the case but I didnt dissuade her. Also I had two legendary classes. And I called this place my home. Once school was done I would be moving back. Surprisingly the meeting didnt take long, in a few weeks the town was sending a caravan to the Academy with it''s most promising students. Aunt Gwen agreed to bring the kids after I had everything ready. They even agreed to the credit stipend. I had a feeling I should have asked for more. One of the other big things we agreed on was a ring of illusion, it would revert my features to pre change so I wouldn''t stand out. In return I had to agree to work for the town on one major project a year for 5 years after I graduated. Since that seemed reasonable I agreed. Somthing that came up that I hadn''t considered, and I felt like an idiot for not even thinking of, was my Draconic Abilities. I had no idea how to flipping fly! I needed to figure that out pronto, I''d noticed when I was in Dragon form my senses seemed alot sharper. I could not only see and hear better but I seemed to have a sort of all around sense. My brothers hadnt been able to sneak up on me since the change. I was also supposed to have a breath weapon of some kind and i didnt know how that worked either. So they tasked me with figuring all that out, but also keeping things quiet and not scaring the towns folk or letting anyone see me practice. Easy right? Long story short I figured I would have to do my practice at night. So I made plans to go out the next night and try to figure things out. After the meeting I headed over to Jeremy''s house. I hadn''t seen him since the day we got our classes and with all the shenanigans after I''d completely forgotten to see what classes he got. His house was only a couple blocks down from ours, his dad being an Adventurer they had plenty of cash, especially since his mother was an apothecary and one of the best healers in town. It was a two story brick building with a slate roof and a bright green door. I went to knock on the door just as it got yanked open, I looked in shock at what was on the other side. It was Jeremy, minus the glasses. But he was easily seven feet tall. Still had the bowl cut though. If his dad wasnt already 6''6" he''d have had to duck to get out of his own house., and he had muscles! The hell?!? I stepped back as he came out the door yelling in to the house "I''ll be back soon mom, I gotta go see what the required materials are for my Crafting and what classes the Academy has for ...." that''s when he ran me down. He tripped as he was backing out the door and we both ended up sprawled in his yard. With him sitting on my chest. Have you ever had a seven foot tall muscle sit on your chest? It sucks let me tell you.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Get off me fat ass." I wheezed. Jeremy finally looks down and says "shit dude, sorry about that. Still getting used to the new bod." He rolls off me and stands up, then reaches down and grabs my hand hauling me up like I weigh five pounds. "Jesus your the nerdiest kid I know. How the hell did you get turned in to a giant? Wait your mom''s not testing potions again is she? Cause I''m NOT doing that again." Jeremy grins at me and says "nah, I got a race change! I''m a half Storm Giant. Dude my entire skill set Synergized! They say it happens once in a while but its extremely rare. I got two rare classes! Weather Wizard is primary and Storm Smith is my Crafting class. I got affinities in water, lighting and air! Also the race change gave me a huge six point strength boost and removed my height restrictions due to being human, I''m actually taller than dad now." "Yah I noticed. Can I call you the bowl cut beanpole? Since your not short anymore?" "Dude not cool" he says. Then changes the subject. "So what''s up? I havent seen you since the change. Everyone went batshit when you came out of the doors." I winced, I was hoping that had mostly gone unnoticed. "How bad was it? Did you see what I changed in to?" I asked. "Not exactly, but some people said they saw a giant lizard. Then people started screaming and running away. All us kids got rushed off, I didnt even realize you weren''t with us till they had us at the Adventures Guild. And they wouldn''t let me go back to find you." He said. "Come on let''s go do what you were planning to do and I''ll fill you in. It''s a long story. Also you cant tell anyone. Well you can tell your parents, but no one else." I said. So we headed for the market, and I filled him in on all the things that had happened since the change. We talked about plans for the Academy, it was great. After he got an idea of what materials and books he''d need for his classes, he made a list and we headed back to his place. On the way back I asked. " think I could borrow your dad? I need to practice my new form but I can only do it at night. He''s the only one who can get me out the gates after dark unless I wanna sneak over the walls." "You can ask but I''m not sure how hes gonna feel about it." He said. When we got to his house I followed him inside. His mom met us at the door. She was an the far side of fourty but you couldn''t really tell. She had red hair and green eyes and stood just shy of 5''2". As I came in behind Jeremy I said "hey missus Ferguson." She gave me a big hug and said "hello Jason, I see you finally managed to get the news about Jeremy! Isnt it fantastic?" She exclaimed. "Yah its awesome. We get to go to the Academy together in a few weeks." I said. "Actually I was hoping to talk to you and Mr. Ferguson about somthing. If that''s ok." "Sure, come on in. Hes down in the basement training, but he should be up soon. Till then why dont you fill me in on what''s been going on with you." She said. So I did. The Ferguson''s had been like a second family to me as long as I could remember. So I told her everything. Everything except the orb and ring''s. It took a while and by the time I was done Mr. Ferguson had joined us. After my story wound down I asked them if they would help me train my new form at night. It would give me a chance to learn my abilities and in return i could watch out for Jeremy at the Academy. I would have done that anyway, but a little incentive never hurts right? After a bit of convincing they agreed, then of course Jeremy wanted to go too, so he spent time convincing his parents. We set up a meeting at the south gate for the next evening. That would give me a chance to put the kids to bed and give them a heads up on what we were doing. Then I headed to the school to pick up Molly and the boys. Dragoning for Dummies The next day was pretty uneventful. The kids went to school, I did a bit of cleaning. Hit the market to stock up and ran a couple errands. That night was a whole different story. After I got the kids to bed I let Sam and Dean know what I was doing and made them promise to watch Molly if she needed anything. They agreed. I actually had to bribe the little turds with a Dragon scale, each. I made it to the gate about ten minutes to eight. When Jeremy and his dad strolled up I had to do a double take. I still wasnt used to Jeremy''s new height or muscles. He was actually taller than his dad now wich was insane. They both had huge packs on and Mr. Ferguson had his one handed bastard sword and his tower shield strapped to his back and side respectively. "You ready to go son?" Mr. Ferguson asked as they walked up. "Yes sir, got everything I need." I said. He eyes me up and down seeing I''m in nothing more than my regular day clothes. Shaking his head at me he says. "If you say so son, let''s be about this then. I''m sorta eager to see what you can do, myself." He says. Behind him Jeremy gives me a thumbs up and a huge cheesy grin. Mr. Ferguson talks to the guardian at the gate and he let''s us through. Around the town theres alot of clear area, some of it''s for farmers but it''s mostly to keep a clear area incase of attack. The woods begin about 400 yards past the gate. So we start walking. Along the way Mr. Ferguson asks me questions about my new race. What can it do? How big is it? Can it use magic? None of wich I had answers for. It was gonna be a long few weeks. As we headed down the road in to the tree line I asked Mr. Ferguson where we were headed. "There''s an old lumberjack camp not far from here, hasnt been used in years since we mostly get wood from Snareville these days in exchange for our Craft items. It''s got a wide clearing that will let you practice. It''s only another half mile or so." He said. So we kept walking. As we went I listened to the sounds of the night. I also looked around alot. Then it dawned on me. I could frickin see! It was pitch black out and I could see just fine, even with the light orb Mr. Ferguson had unpacked there was almost no difference. I could see small night critters creeping around in the woods all around us. Then I could hear them. Small scritching noises all around us as rodents came out to eat. The forest was alive with life. I''d known that, intellectually. But I''d never felt it this vibrantly before, and I hadnt even changed forms yet. We finally got to the old lumber camp. It was a mess. Three small shacks that looked like old office buildings and one big warehouse like building that looked like it had housed the finished products. They were laid out left to right with the warehouse the third building in line. "Ok Jason, go ahead and change over. I''d like to see how this works and what I''m working with." Mr. Ferguson said, then he dropped his pack and had Jeremy drop his beside it.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So I moved forward a dozen feet, and began to shift. It hurt less this time. Like my body was getting used to it. After a couple minutes, wich was also less than the last time I''d changed, I''d completely transformed. IT WAS AMAZING! I can''t begin to describe the sensation. I felt everything around me. For a solid hundred feet I could feel the air, the earth, the trees. Every time Jeremy or his dad took a breath or moved I could feel it. Like vibrations on my scaled skin. And my vision. I''d been able to see fine in the dark before the change. But now it was like I''d been blind before. Everything had a sort of aura around it.most of the auras were green, but some were different colors. I shook my head slightly to clear my vision and it changed on me again! Now I could see blobs of blues and oranges and yellows and reds. I didnt realize I was seeing heat till I saw the outline of a deer or elk step from behind a tree a few yard in to the woods. It seemed to notice somthing, I heard it sniff, and it bolted away like its ass was lit on fire. I felt amazing. Up till now I''d only taken Dragon form during the day. This was an entireen different experience. After I stopped concentrating on it my vision went back to normal, well if you can call seeing auras normal. Then Mr. Ferguson spoke behind me. "What''s going on son, somthing happen?" He asked. "Yes and no, I can see everything. There are auras around everything. When I tried to clear my vision of what I was seeing I some how changed it to body heat or somthing." I said. "Ahh interesting. How much do you know about Dragons son?" He asked. "Just what I''ve read in stories. Some breath fire, they all love gold and..." He cracks up. "Let me guess, virgins?" I let out a manly sounding Dragon cough and say "uh... yah that." Do dragons blush? Thank God it was dark. And I have scales. "Some do and some don''t son. Dont worry. Mostly that stuff is made up. By people who''ve never been closer to a Dragon than we are..... right nevermind. You get the point though. Dragon kind is dangerous make no mistake. But they have good and bad just like humans and elves. Mostly they are divided by the Chromatic and Metallic colors. Red, Blue, Black, Green, White. Those are generally the evil dragons. Though even then there have been a couple of exceptions. Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, Bronze, those are the good Dragons. Though again exceptions have occurred. What you need to remember about Dragons most of all is they''re predators." He said. "Ok so I should what, try to hunt?" I asked. "Exactly. I did a little research on shadow Dragons after you asked me about it. Turns out they have an affinity for darkness. They are also completely immune to all forms of darkness magics. You could walk in to a nest of shadow spawn and ignore everything they did. Have you realized you''ve been all but invisible since you shifted? We can see your eyes but other than that your just a big blob of shadows. Shadow Dragons have a natural camouflage when in darkness or shadows. Also according to the books your Breath Weapon is Negative Energy. It''s an aspect of Darkness magic. Darkness magic is where necromancy comes from. It''s not just for Shadow Manipulation, it can also be used for Raise Dead spells and the like. You''ll need to figure out how to use it because unleashing a cloud of negative energy is unbelievably powerful. Even other dragons fear Shadow Dragons. Once you can harness your breath you''ll always have a decent chance of survival. Your flight is also important. But today we''re going to focus on hunting. Once you can use your natural stealth to hunt and kill we can work on your Breath and Flight." Mr. Ferguson said. I turned and looked in to the forest for somthing to hunt, the deer was long gone and I didnt see anything else likely looking. I was not hunting a freaking squirrel. I looked back to Mr. Ferguson and said "I dont see anything out there to hunt." "Then I guess your going for a walk ey lad?" He said. I turned with a sigh and began creeping stealthily in to the woods. Then I turned back and snapped at Jeremy. "Will you stop laughing!" "Dude, I didnt know dragons could tip toe!" He wheezed. Then he and his dad burst out laughing. I hung my head and kept going with a sigh, clearly it was gonna be a long night. Learning to Hunt I began walking normally towards the wood line. As I walked I felt amazing, there was an indescribable power flowing in to me as it got darker. I could sense every worm and bug and squirrel and rat for a hundred yards. My vision sharpened even further, I realized I had four different sets of eye lids, I''d studied lizards in biology during school so I knew what nictitating membranes were, these were a bit different though. And I seemed to have four of them. One gave me vision like an eagle, my normal sight allowed me to have great vision but this thing let me zoom my vision like I had a magnifying glass in my eyes. The next one is what allowed me to see what I was beginning to realize was the radiation of heat from living things. The third one was what gave me the ability to see auras around things. I wasnt sure what that was for yet. The fourth one didnt really seem to do anything. But I did notice they were all heavily saturated with mana, when I''d gained my classes my combat class had allowed me to begin sensing mana around me. In my dragon form it was a much greater sense. I also noticed as I could sense the things around me there was a kind of haze over everything. Not physically, just a sort of mental haze, so after about fifty feet I stopped and tried to direct my mana outward. As I did the darkness and shadows around me began to move! It was a very strange feeling, it didnt seem to take much effort at all to move the darkness around just by willing it so. I knew next to nothing about dragons, the only book I''d been able to find in my house on the subject didn''t include very much detail, and nothing at all about Shadow Dragons. So I wasn''t sure if this was normal, or a result of my classes. Since my race was Shadow Dragon I was betting the former, but I couldn''t rule anything out. I sat there thinking about it for a second then decided to experiment. I began focusing my will, drawing the shadow stuff towards me. My vision at night might as well be daylight in dragon form but even I noticed how dark it suddenly got. As the dark came toward me I forced it in to a ball that got bigger and bigger. It worked pretty well. It didnt seem to strain me at all. I stopped when the shadow ball thing was easily the size I was. Now what could I do with it? I tried to remember what I knew about the darkness element. It wasnt much, I''d never expected to use it so I hadnt studied it other than what we learned in school, wich was basic at best. Normally people who gained magic affinity were taught in apprenticeship or at the Academy. I seemed to remember somthing about illusions. So I began to imagine this black ball of stuff changing slowly in to me, not as a dragon but the old me, slowly I pressed my will upon the darkness, and it responded! The darkness began morphing and swirling till it took on a humanoid shape. Then it''s face morphed in to a twisted version of a humans face. It was creepy as hell to be honest. Especially when the eyes started to glow with a red inner light. That''s when I really freaked out and jumped backwards releasing my will. "What the shit?" I said. I pretty much decided right then and there I wasnt messing with magic till I had some training. Magic is scary! With that decided I figured it was time to figure out this whole being a dragon thing. If I was going to be a dragon I needed to learn how they worked physically. I''d wait to practice flying till I got back to the clearing. I decided to see how my five senses differ from me as a human. I already knew they were more acute, but I didn''t know by how much that was true. Even in my human form I''d noticed a change though. My eyes in human form has slitted pupils just like my dragon form did, so I''d noticed the change in my vision almost immediately. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. According to Sensei I was also faster and stronger, our sparring match had showed her a marked increase. I still wasnt anywhere near her level but she said I was definitely more powerful. I now knew about my vision, so I started with smell. Closing my eyes I tried to ignore the sounds around me and identify anything I''d never noticed before. I smelled the normal woodsy smells, but under that was a kind of cloying scent of decay and death, I began to pick out the individual scents of the creatures around me. I smelled a musky scent that was strong, much stronger than the rest. I figured that must have been the deer I saw. So I tried to see if I could figure out where it had gone. As I followed my nose around I began to pick out individual forest sounds. There were the typical bugs and birds but high in the tree tops I could hear baby birds in the nests. To my left was a rustle in the brush, low to the ground. It sounded really low, it took a bit but I finally figured out it was a snake of some kind. As I moved along the smell got stronger. Then I heard a crashing in the brush and a loud sound like a goose honking only much deeper with a kind of warble at the end. That''s when I looked up and realized I''d wandered right in to a small group of deer, and apparently the one I''d seen before was a baby. They were huge. At least 12 feet tall at the shoulder. The leader had a massive rack of antlers easily another two feet. They spread out from its head like hands with a narrow gap about twelve to fifteen inches at the base and maybe three feet wide at the tips. He was looking right at me, and he didn''t seem happy. I''d been so engrossed in following the scents I''d been stupid and forgotten to keep an eye on my surroundings. So I did what every self respecting dragon in a situation like this would do. "Uhhh...." then I turned and ran. I had no desire to see if my scales could stand up to a stampede. The buck charged after me like his ass was on fire. Wich was ironic because I was sure he was about to set mine on fire as well. I''m not ashamed to admit I may have screamed like a little girl. Wich is harder than it sounds when your a dragon. He was about three feet behind me when I got smart. I whipped my tail out and grabbed a thick tree trunk. As I went by the tree i used the leverage to swing back around in a 180¡ã turn, vanishing behind the tree. The deer monster tried to follow but slipped on the leaves and soil slowing it down. I took that opportunity to widen the gap. Then I leaped up as far as I could and sank my claws in to a tree in front of me and began climbing. The deer hit the tree hard, so hard he almost shook me loose. But I managed to hold on. I also managed to get my tail out of the way. While he was distracted trying to get his antlers unstuck I kept climbing to a branch that was just over my head. Climbing on top of it I looked down and glared at the deer. That''s when i noticed somthing interesting. He was stuck in the tree! He had hit so hard fully half his antler pointp were stuck in the trunk and he couldn''t seem to get them loose. So I crept along the branch till I was directly above his back. Then I jumped off. As I came down I had just enough time to think about how stupid this plan was. Then I landed on his back with all four legs. It was about as graceful as a bucket of slops hitting a walkway. My claws hit first causing him to flinch, wich in turn caused me to slip, ripping claws down his ribs and flanks as I tried to maintain my hold. That caused him to buck rather hard sliding me forward and by odd coincidence put my muzzle next to his. So again I did what any self respecting dragon would. I bit in self defense. Struggling I sank both fore claws in to his shoulders, leaned forward, and ripped a chunk out of his neck with my teeth. The blood tasted sweet and salty and hot all at the same time. Having bled during sparring sessions and matches before I''d expected it to taste coppery and metallic, but it didn''t. It tasted amazing, so I took another bite. After a while the deer stopped struggling as it slowly sank down on its legs to its belly. I stopped what I was doing as I noticed the shift realizing with a start that I''d nearly chewed through its entire throat. I''d bled the thing out without even realizing it because I''d been distracted by the tastes and smells of the fresh blood. Looking around I realized the entire area had gone quiet. I wasn''t even sure how long I''d been gone. Shifting to human form I grabbed the head and worked the antlers free as fast as I could. Then I took a hold throwing the body over my shoulders so I was holding the fore legs like backpack straps. I began to drag the carcass back to the lumber camp.