Wu Hai had finally gotten to a form that was small, it resembled the Jiao. He had a long body but arms and legs. The New form had an affinity with water and storm elements. They were incredible, he could even spit out a dragons breath of water vapor.
The mentality of the Dragonkin was mostly simple, emotions were simple enough as well. With no effort at all, he was able to breathe underwater in the access tunnel to the caverns below. Jumping clear of the water and exclaiming, Wu Hai had his arms raised. "Man, this feels GREAT!"
Flying around in the transformation room, he shouted again and again. Wu Hai was so excited, he couldn't wait to try another form and rushed to the gygax.
'Fire, Stars, Elemental, Combat, Small' With a form that was close to his original size, he was at a familiar prospective. Wu Hai's burning hands sparkled with starlight. A surreal understanding of the concept of fire was gradually building inside of him, he had frequently manifested fire throughout his training and the control over his original powers were growing in great stride.
Wu Hai had a fiery complex to begin with and his clothes were incapable of remaining, the robe was long since gone. A dozen transformations had burned away all of his robes. The moment he realized his nakedness, he concentrated and a set of clothes made of fire took shape on his body. It wasn't perfect but he wasn't naked either.
Wu Hai could feel the power coursing through his veins. Elementals were extremely hardy, feeling like he had hit the jackpot of fire powers, he was happy with himself and the transformation.
Fire was one of the Primary Elements and Starlight, the Origin of all Fire. Bundled with close combat oriented magics, he was very confident that he would win in a direct fight.
Wu Hai was cheering at himself, screaming and he was on fire.
The sight was somewhat tense and when he approached Doofus, the mounts stepped back and Doofus cowered. The heat was too much. His feathers were already showing signs of curling and cracking.
Wu Hai didn't want to do that, he picked up his dice and walked to the edge of the room, then he tried with significant difficulty to reduce his temperature. When he brought the heat to a minimum, a faint, purple glow, ethereal in nature, lit up his surroundings like the moon in the sky. The Cave changed colors. He considered keeping the powers and paced in the transformation room just to be safe.
After pacing a few times, he held the dice in his hands and walked back to Doofus who was still hesitant. Even the Tolos didn't seem to feel the heat like before.
He placed the five dice into Doofus mouth and watched him spit them out. Khan Ni wanted to lurch forward but she was far too late.
When the roll came to a stop, something new happened.
Doofus grew by another foot, his webbed feet slowly turned to Scales. His feathers lit with the crack of electricity and turned incredibly black. Shadows bloomed from his eyes, a dark mist trailed as he moved his head during the transformation.
'Lightning, Darkness, Dragonkin, Downpour, Medium' Wu Hai saw the changes that came over Doofus, the beast, which was no longer a normal beast, had gained part of the bloodline of the Dragons.
Doofus no longer looked like a Doofus. The Duck hybrid could summon the powers of lightning from the sky, breath lightning and more. Wu Hai thought that he might be like himself, able to disappear into the darkness in a whim with his control over the shadows.
Doofus was not the right name for him any longer, he was after all, an intelligent creature. Content with his own roll, the big black Duck spoke. "DARKWING" He took a breath and continued to astonish the group, "MY NAME IS DARKWING!" Roaring in a ferocious quack, licks of lightning shrouded his body.
"Darkwing it is then," Wu Hai took swallowed hard. "You can speak now? That's great..Please don't get lazy, I'm glad you're not fat anymore." He was very pleased and a little confused at Darkwing's new ability to speak. He expected the changes to take time and learning but things had progressed so rapidly.
Darkwing paced the cave until he finally passed out, his energy had been completely consumed.
Mu and Yu were lost in thought, they wanted to try it out on their Tolos.
Wu Hai couldn't predict what they would do with the cubes in their mouths, they ate almost anything that was put in front of them and he didn't want to risk it.
Detouring the conversation, he considered letting the Brothers themselves try it. Now that they had magic, the choice would be theirs. He already knew that transformations were not something that Khan Ni would agree to, Elves were a very proud people with a very particular bloodline.
After some exciting deliberation between the two of them, the Brothers were happy to give it a shot. They stopped rolling when both of them had the same form. They took Qilinkin bodies, the Wings on their backs were Red and almost three times the length of their bodies.
Mu had stopped on 'Earth, Metal, Combat' and Yu had not settled until he had metal 'Water, Metal, Explosion.' They had both managed to stop on medium, making them about as tall as they were beforehand if not, just a bit taller. Laughing hysterically at their new tails and feathers, the beaks of the two men were constantly moving. They chided each other over small differences from their previous human forms.
Both of them liked the power of lightning that they had before, however, their new bodies were on far more powerful. The passive ability to fly would only consume their calories and the Twins were always rushing about, displaying physical prowess. Eventually, they would learn to fly at all times.
Not much change happened to their attitude, although they did ask for more ale, constantly over the next few weeks. The two drunken, red bearded Qilinkin walked into a corner by the stash of alcohol and sat down. Unable to take to the sky till they decided to leave the cave, they just enjoyed themselves and experimented with their powers.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Retaining his Fire Elemental Form was fun for Wu Hai and the cave was never cozier during the Winter months.
Much time that would normally pass in boredom, was spent reading. Wu Hai pulled out all the books he had. Their protective auras would keep them safe from dirt and moderate damage.
Skimming through some of the contents in her own room, Khan Ni saw through the differences of many Alchemy recipes she had never considered. She kept advancing her study while the Twins spent a lot of time imagining the treasure they would find, wrestling and learning to control the new bodies.
Having given his team a fighting chance, Wu Hai felt like he had grown after meeting his new Companions. He kept reading a few more passages in a book and then a golden light consumed Wu Hai.
As quickly as the light came, it was over.
'What was that?' Wu Hai was alone in his room and he remembered a phrase that he heard in his dreams as a child. 'Did I just? Level up?' He stopped browsing the book's contents and patted himself all over.
'All I did was read, is that what experience points are?' He couldn't believe it, Wu Hai wanted to wake everyone up but his power felt like it had grown an entire fold in that instant and he wasn't sure if he should even tell them. No one had seen it happen but him, he was alone in his meditation room.
Shoving his nose into the book to see if he could repeat it, Wu Hai tried all night.