Shifter - Infinite Transformation-Chapter 46: Danger Ahead

It wasn’t my first flight across the Eserian. I was still nowhere near its inner area, nor did I plan to visit it anytime soon, but the forest’s monsters did not seem to think so. Their habitats were no longer the same. The order that had been maintained for years was shifting.

Was that my fault? No, definitely not. But it was still odd that so much was changing ever since I crash-landed in the Eserian forest. It made me wonder if my presence was maybe at fault here.

Taria mentioned that Cursed Powers attract chaos and destruction.

Maybe it was my fault...

Even if it wasn’t, the obligation to survey the surroundings was mine.

But nothing odd crossed my path until noon. There was no sign of Hnolls, Troblins, and most other monsters that should have been roaming the area this early.

Something was wrong. The forest was never this silent. Not without reason, at least.

It might be necessary to go further, I reasoned with myself and tilted to the side, diverting from my regular route.

Instead, I headed northeast, the Kerink form’s sense of hearing perking up.

Caution took over when I still couldn’t hear anything after the better part of an hour. I flew lower, wove carefully around the towering trees, and watched every little change in the surroundings like a hawk. But there was still nothing, until I finally burst through the canopy to see smoke wafting in the air.

Plumes of smoke rose from no less than a dozen spots less than one kilometer northeast. They rose high into the sky, blocking the scene unfolding behind, but I did not need to see to know where I’d been heading all this time.

The Zetrian Empire.

While we were still deep enough in the Eserian to be in neutral territory for the better part of a dozen kilometers, the plumes of smoke promised trouble.

Maintaining the Shift, I closed the distance with great care. However, what I saw through the canopy and the man-made clearing nearly made me falter. Shift nearly slipped out of my control, and I had to twist my body out of the way to escape one of the few towering trees the human soldiers had spared.

That was right, the clearing down there was made by none other than humans. Tree stumps, some still rooted to the ground, others ripped out of Eserian soil, spread far across the massive clearing. It was easily twice as large as the Eserian Grove. Then there were the tents. The vast majority of tents were small and could probably only house one soldier, two if they liked touching each other in their sleep, but their numbers were vast.

Hundreds. I swallowed hard as realization sank in.

My plumage stood up on end, or would have if that was possible, as an arrow whistled past me, missing me by a feather’s length. Shouts from below caught my attention, and I turned to see several men carrying bows. Only one shot me, but that was already more than enough for me.

Anxiety settled in my tiny body as I flapped my wings vigorously to increase the distance to the human camp–the camp of soldiers and hunters.

Not everyone was equipped the same way. Even though I hadn’t seen everything yet, not even half of the men and women in the camp were soldiers. Their tents were placed in an orderly manner, their armor and weapons all the same. Then there were the other people. Hunters, possibly adventurers. Regardless, their tents were disorganized, their actions harder to predict.

That much was made clear as a barrage of arrows shot past me. Then, another arrow came. It was nothing like the previous arrows. This arrow felt dangerous. Life-threatening even when it hadn’t hit me yet. I didn’t think twice as I shifted into the strongest Kerink form at my disposal. A moment later, the arrow struck. It struck my wing before I could press it against my chest, and punctured it with ease.

The next thing I knew, the ground pulled me toward it. It was a strong pull, a dangerous one. I tried to escape it, flap my wings and escape, but it was to no avail. Eserian soil welcomed me with wide open arms as I plummeted toward it.

Fear settled in my chest, and the anxiety within my little body exploded outward. Was that how I was going to die? That couldn’t be. There was so much I had left to do.

Shaking my little head, I cursed myself, and forced my mind back under control. It threatened to slip away a moment later, yet I managed to stay long enough to use Shift and turn into a Blue Slime as soon as I burst through the canopy.

I was still a fair distance away from the human camp when my liquid body splashed on Eserian soil. Gravity’s pull was still powerful, but it did not bother me as much as a cute, little slime.

Vibrations in the ground forced me into action, so I hurriedly slithered toward a tree, searching for a creek or hole. When I couldn’t find one, I transformed into a Deathstalk Squirrel. My front paw hurt as soon as the transformation was initiated. There was a small hole in it and blood spurted out of it, but it didn’t restrain my movement as much as I feared.

I climbed the tree I was trying to hide behind, my heart drumming against my rib cage.

The hunters didn’t let me wait for long. They came crashing through the undergrowth, their joyous smiles stirring the anger burning deep within me.

"Did you see that? The Kerink didn’t stand a chance!" A young voice echoed.

"You had to use your Power to hit it." Another snorted, clearly not impressed.

"Why was that stupid monster here in the first place?" A third voice, older but in no way less obnoxious, reached me as I leaned forward to study the men hunting me.

They were humans, all of them, and they were clearly experienced. Their jovial attitude aside, they acted with professional efficiency. Veteran hunters. One of them probably had a Power of Scouting as well.

"What does it matter why that stupid monster was here? It came to us to bring us joy." The second man waved dismissively.

"This is not the first suicidal monster I hunted–all by myself," said the young man, who couldn’t be much older than I was.

"I lost its tracks. It disappeared–..." An older man, the owner of the third voice, grunted as his head snapped upward. "Up there. It vanished."

"Vanished? How is that possible?! I clearly hit it in the wing. It has to be here!" The young man squealed, while the two other men looked at each other with grim faces.

"The Summoner?" The second growled, voice laced with frustration. "How dare he fool us twice?!"

"He deserves a beating. Once might have been fun. Twice? I will beat his butt until he no longer dares to sit!" The old man joined in on the second’s anger.

Together, the two disappeared, while the third stayed behind, his eyes drifting through the canopy. "Did he really fool us again?"

A few seconds later, he followed the others with quick strides.

They gave up way too quickly, but I wasn’t all that sorry about that. I took a deep breath. Then a second, and third. Finally, it was time to shift to the Blue Slime form for a few minutes. That was how long it took the slime form to start using the body’s nutrients to heal wounds. It would require hours to recover fully, but I didn’t even have that long. A few minutes was already all I could afford.

Especially with the army of Hnolls heading this way.