[Oliver's Pov]
I truly had a monster of a student in front of me. Somehow, she appeared to grasp everything I taught her within moments, while never actually understanding my explanation of the techniques.
She had somehow already managed to get to the 2nd level of physical enhancement, already practicing trying to find her own personal characteristic of using her mana, somehow unconsciously letting her element surge through and enveloping her hands in blue fire.
'What kind of abomination will she become in the future...'
Watching her bully a poor dummy while at the same time torching its wood, I could only smile when thinking of how the big guilds would react when she graduated. How crazy would they go in order to try and recruit the tall, draconic woman with fists of fire?
'Maybe I have to visit an old friend? I wouldn't want the Denver guild to use their nasty means to try and force her to join just because she is a fire specialist."
****
[James's Pov]
"Good job, me! I did it!"
"Yea! I did it!"
It was a time to celebrate, now finally understanding the second animal that I wanted to use. It didn't take as long to understand when comparing it to the body of a raven. Gaining an understanding of how wings worked was a proper pain. Looking at the white wolf in front of me, I couldn't help but have to try it with sub-me as well.
As the familiar sensation of my body melting and my vision getting blocked by a puff of smoke, I felt my heart race. Of course, I already knew how it felt as my main body had already transformed.
Letting my sights wander the room with my almond-shaped, slanted eyes it was as strange as always to get used to a new perspective. Everything looked bigger when my head only reached the top of my bed and feeling my fur rustle as I moved almost felt tickly.
Walking with my main body to the practice room, I wanted to try and get used to the body as soon as possible, spawning the dummy while sub-me continued to watch how different objects now looked with my new kind of vision.
The room wasn't at all as vibrant as it had been before, as my dichromatic vision was unable to see a lot of colors that my human eyes could. However, everything was a lot more pronounced, sharper even. Albeit not as good as when I was a raven, my eyes had a pretty neat level up when I was in wolf mode.
"I'm coming in!"
Suddenly, my door opened, and an even huger-than-normal Sophie walked in, instantly getting speechless at the sights of a wolf standing in what she knew was James's living quarters.
...
****
[Sophie's Pov]
'What...'
Having entered James's apartment, after noticing that his door wasn't locked, I was stunned by the sight in front of me. Seeing the long, glossy white coat of fur, the huge teeth that could easily rip away the flesh of its enemies, and the intense eyes, my mind only led me to one action.
"James! Why the fuck do you have a goddamn wolf in your apartment!"
It didn't take long for the man in question to come out of his practice room, scratching his head as he looked a bit awkward. "Oh, hey Sophie. Are you referring to Bobby? He is just a pretty big dog. He is from the race..."
"As if!"
Slouching his shoulder, he gave up his pointless excuse as he waved for me to join him at the table. While doing so, the wolf walked to his side and laid down on the floor. Keeping a skeptical eye on the animal that were famous for their beauty and fierceness, I hesitatingly followed his lead.
When I did, the wolf made sure to keep his slanted eyes on me as well, as if to make sure that the intruder wouldn't try to do anything against his owner. James, noticing how on the fence his newly acquired pet was, bent his back and petted Bobby's head to calm him down.
"Seriously? A wolf? Is that what you were doing while you were away? Domesticating a wild animal?"
James turned his head at my words, straightened his back, and let his smaller-than-average hands join together on the table. "Sophie. Yes, I went out and accidentally domesticated Bobby."
'Accidentally... Sure...'
His face lit up like a child, letting his eyes go back to Bobby who looked up at him while letting his tongue hang out like a dog, "But isn't he just so cool?! What kind of man would I be if I didn't try my best to keep a wolf as my pet?! This is the epitome of a man's romance!"
Seeing the intense gaze that James now pointed toward me, I felt immense exhaustion building up in my system, "You are an idiot, you know that right? Who the fuck would just go out and capture a poor wolf?! I mean, what rank is it even? How were you even able to domesticate him?"
I had so many questions, yet I didn't dare to raise my voice too much, in fear that the dog-like animal would rip my throat out to defend his owner. There was no helping it, although a bit milder, my fear of dogs persisted through to my new body as well. Just being around the animal made me nervous.
Bobby was pretty cute, beautiful even, but I couldn't help my mind reacting to it, remembering when I was small and I got attacked by our neighbor's dog.
*Thud*
Suddenly, he let the dangerous animal jump onto his lap, leaving half of the wolf's body hanging out on the side. It ended up with Bobby keeping his hindlegs on the floor as he let his upper body relax on James's legs.
Before I could even ask, James finally started to explain, an explanation that only cemented my view of him being a complete moron.
"You see, Sophie... At first, I truly didn't have any ambitions to get a wolf but I found him abandoned in the forest. So I couldn't help myself. After I gave him a piece of bread, he just kept on following me, no matter where I went. From my research on the internet, he is the same rank as us, most likely [E]-rank."
"Bullshit! There's no way that actually happened! Tell me the truth!"
*Growl!*, *Gulp!*
The wolf didn't enjoy the fact that I impulsively raised my voice, now showing his teeth to show me that he would like me to stop screaming at his owner, making me swallow hard. Luckily, James didn't seem to mind my outburst at all, as he started telling me another explanation. Unfortunately, it was also just a load of crap.
"Fine... I'll tell you the truth... When I came home, Bobby was already in my apartment. And so I decided to keep him. Happy?"
My face scrunched up, angry that he would just tell me another blatant lie while somehow looking so damn genuine. "Fine! Don't tell me then. But how are you going to keep this a secret from the teachers and the executives of the academy? There is no way they are going to let you keep a fucking wolf in your apartment!"
James just smiled mysteriously at me, while lifting his finger in front of his lips, "As long as you keep this a secret, I have my ways. Trust me. Now, how would you like to pet him? He is incredibly social and calm. Go on Bobby, say hello!"
Not allowing me the time to say no, the wolf was somehow already sitting in front of me on the floor when my frozen mind melted. Scanning the stupid face that somehow reminded me a lot of his owner, my heart slowly began to accept that I wasn't the one I used to be.
In this world, I was powerful. At least powerful enough to not have to be scared of a dog. Therefore, it didn't take too long before I could see the wolf in a different light, admiring its majestic coat and elegant face.
Before I knew it, I was on the floor playing with Bobby, teaching him tricks such as 'sit down', 'paw', and many more. The sensation of feeling its silky fur made me want to never let him go. At the same time, I tried my best to repress the inner voice telling me to kidnap him, to save him from his moron of an owner.
****
[James's Pov]
"Haaaaa... She finally left... I thought she was almost about to stay the night just to play with me..."
My pride was smashed into pieces, having been forced to play the role of a dog in order to try my best and please Sophie enough so that she wouldn't dare to think about telling anyone about 'Bobby'.
Still, it wasn't all too bad either. After all, what kind of girl would care if a cute dog 'accidentally' rubbed its head against her bountiful chest a couple of times?
"Hehehe... This was the right decision after all... The possibilities are truly endless!"
At first, I had only been wanting to become a wolf because it was cool and it could help me traverse my surroundings a lot easier if I mastered the movement. However, Sophie had opened my eyes to the potential it had.
On a more serious note, it did make me feel like I had severally underestimated what a wolf could do. If I learned how to use it, wouldn't it also give me another tool to fight with? Though it might not be as efficient as using my scythe, being able to use different ways of fighting would always be a big boon.
Excited about yet another day, I let my body curl up on my bed and closed my slanted eyes.