The demoness and the angel sat in the darkness though if one were watching then they would see only a demon sitting at the inn table. Outwardly Brivaria’s demonic battle form had improved substantially in just a single week. Her feathered wings were anachronistic to the look but the horns, claws, and tail all belonged on a demon rather than an angel. Even her eyes were pools of darkness set with sapphire spheres. It was thanks to those eyes that she could see perfectly in the gloom of the night, not that she needed the help to see a figment of her imagination.

  Akashic stared back from her seat looking eerily similar to Brivaria save that she possessed six arms and her wings were the more iconic bat-style wings that everything from imps to succubi possessed. She was still the peculiar grayscale of their first meeting but the angel could see that the demoness now had more tone and definition. It was all a mental projection but it seemed to be changing, day by day.

  “We need to talk about you appearing in Watch Captain Hudson’s office first,” the angel retorted, unwilling to be derailed quite so easily by the demon’s desire to talk about levels and skill selection.

  “What is there to talk about? I can choose when I appear. We are speaking now because I desire it. The only reason I choose to appear at night is because of your inane traveling companions,” Akashic countered but Brivaria knew better.

  “You couldn’t always do that. What’s changed?” she pressed. There was a long silence made even more poignant by the complete lack of sound in the large inn common room. Finally the demoness answered.

  “I don’t fully know. It is easier to talk to you as you are now. Perhaps it is because you are closer in form and thinking to a demon than you used to be. Perhaps it is merely a side effect of time. Perhaps both,” the demoness considered aloud, not truly answering the angel nor giving the angel’s intuition much to go on.

  “Will it continue to get easier?” Brivaria asked.

  “I hope so,” Akashic answered with a surprising amount of emotion in her otherwise sardonic voice. “It is unsettling to be trapped in a body with no control and no voice. I see what you see, experience what you experience, and if you die then I likely die too. If this is all I am to be for the rest of eternity then I do wish to have a voice.”

  Brivaria’s spaded tail lashed the air next to her as she contemplated. While she was frightened by the situation, she was an angel—a being for whom kindness and empathy were paramount. Kseniya would likely say it was the demoness’ deserved punishment for her transgression. Brivaria didn’t begrudge Akashic’s desire to have a voice even if she rightfully should have. Regardless, it was the situation they found themselves in now.

  “Okay,” the angel replied.

  “Just, okay?” Akashic looked skeptical even through her grayscale features.

  “Yes. Just okay. I am unsettled and worried but my options are to freeze up or push forward. I can’t stop progressing because I’m afraid. So let’s talk about those skills.”

  “Now who’s changing the topic?” Akashic asked wryly. Brivaria gave her a look and the demoness continued, “we are in this together. I give you the advice I do because it is what I believe will make you strong. Now hurry up and take Exotic Form Specialist. You have been procrastinating for two days now.”

  “But it’s so…” Brivaria gesticulated in the air as she spoke but the demoness was unmoved.

  “If you wish to have mana to use on skills after transforming or do so more than once a day then it is necessary. It will combine into something better eventually.” It was difficult to look expectantly at someone when one lacked detailed eyes and suitable facial features but Akashic managed it. Brivaria groaned and finally chose the skill.

  You have gained the skill Exotic Form Specialist.

  Exotic Form Specialist has merged with Lesser Shapeshifting into Exotic Shapeshifting.

  Exotic Shapeshifting has merged with Flesh Sculpting and Affinity (Corruption) into Corrupt Shapeshifting.

  Corrupt Shapeshifting (Passive)

  Sculpt and redefine your form according to your whims and desires. Certain changes may impart both mundane and supernatural abilities. Your corruption affinity provides bonuses to mana cost, transformation time, and transformation-related abilities. All aspects of this skill scale with presence.

  “Oh no,” Brivaria murmured in abject horror.

  “This is fantastic,” Akashic said and the angel could hear the delight in the demon’s voice. “Why do you feel like you’re going to be sick?”

  “It’s corruption…” the angel murmured.

  “Yes, it is. You are a being of energy. Just having a permanent body is a perversion of the natural order of things. Do you think the Infernal Seed is the only reason you gained Affinity (Corruption)? You are a creature of corruption every bit as much as the dream eaters and flesh thieves are. Yours is simply more existential in nature,” Akashic countered and Brivaria stared at her.

  “You think that’s good?” she asked, still in disbelief.

  “No, I think it’s great. If your very existence spreads corruption then every form you assume is tainted with it. That means all of your shapeshifting has now decreased in cost. Demonic shapeshifting, in particular, should now be quite affordable and even more so with Alternative Form. In fact, you’ve acquired another Alternative Form with the recent increase to spirit.” Brivaria could see Akashic’s tail twirling even as the demoness spoke about how great the skill was.

  “Corruption is evil…” the angel would have said more but she was cut off.

  “And by that logic you are a being of evil and have been for over a month. You have joined a cult, a demon cult ironically enough, and stole a priceless, natural treasure from the local people. Those are certainly actions one could imagine a demon disguised as an angel taking but do they bother you? Do you think they bother your companions or your dog?”

  Brivaria had zero reservations about anything she’d done in the last two weeks. Charles Wodan and his fellow cultists were good people, if a little odd. Giselle deserved to live. These weren’t evil acts. She supposed that was the point. She’d already made peace with the class and this was simply an evolution of that. Part of her wanted to shout that this was different and maybe it was, at some conceptual level, but it wasn’t going to impact what she did going forward.

  “Doesn’t being evil bother you the least bit?” the angel asked as she stared across the table at the demon girl.

  “Does being good bother you? They are just pointless and reductive labels as far as I’m concerned, but do you really want to get into a discussion of demonic moral philosophy?” Akashic asked and Brivaria could just barely make out the raised eyebrow.

  “No, not really,” she admitted.

  “Me neither so let’s talk about that last skill. Mimicry of the Flesh is my suggestion,” Akashic replied, smoothly changing the subject.

  “Not Flesh Optimization? Wouldn’t that make more sense, especially if my upgrading shifting skill makes transformations less costly.” The angel had been certain Flesh Optimization would have been the demoness’ recommendation.

  “Both are things you could learn to do with time. What you need to be focused on now are your next class selections. You can take whatever you want come level 40 but at level 50 you want an improved shapeshifting class. To get that, you’ll want to have a lot of transformation experience. Mimicry will help you get there quickly and easily. Once you get to around level 47, you’ll want to start using Mimicry each night to reproduce a new form and that will weight your level 50 class selection toward shapeshifting,” the demoness explained.

  Akashic was very much sold on Brivaria getting an improving shapeshifting class but the angel wasn’t so certain she wanted that. Sky Dancer had been a non-combat class but Current Control and Wind Formation were among her most used skills both in and out of combat. Building on those or her light abilities sounded better than her shapeshifting ones. She also wanted to get holy magic once more. She suspected if she could do that then she’d be able to keep in touch with Balthazar more easily too.

  “Say, mimicry’s description doesn’t specify it can only be used on people,” Brivaria pondered aloud while rereading the skill.

  “Do not change into an animal. Ever,” Akashic warned and the angel tilted her head. The extra weight of her black horns made the motion both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She’d have to get used to those.

  “Why not? Can I not use these skills to gain beast or monster forms?”

  “You can but, again, it will influence your class selections. Unless you want to be a beast shifter then avoid animal or purely monstrous forms. Those forms come with a multitude of problems in other areas as well. If you choose to take Mimicry of the Flesh then you should never choose anything like those as your target form,” Akashic explained.

  “Got it. Well, maybe I’ll get a lamia tail after all,” Brivaria said cheerfully while selecting the skill.

  You have gained the skill Mimicry of the Flesh.

  Mimicry of the Flesh has been upgraded by Affinity (Corruption) into Twisted Reflection.

  Twisted Reflection (Active)

  You may assume the original form or a corrupted form of one creature you can see or have seen. Your corruption affinity gives you access to one skill the target possesses or a corrupted version of that skill, depending on the form. Transformation time and cost scale with presence.

  Brivaria put her head down on the table while Akashic cackled with amusement. She only pulled her head up when she realized her horns were poking at the wood and the angel decided she didn’t want to ruin Candice’s otherwise nice tables. The skill sounded pretty interesting to Brivaria if she tried really hard to ignore the evil-sounding bits.

  “What a fun skill upgrade. This also has the side benefit of giving you twice as many available forms with at least two per person,” the demon girl commented once her laughter subsided.

  “I didn’t realize a skill could give you access to other skills,” Brivaria replied.

  “Yes, there are mirror demons that focus on becoming evil or corrupt versions of others and sometimes replacing them. Every upgrade to their copy skill gives them another skill from the copied creature. It can be powerful but unless you’re specializing in such a tactic then it’s likely not worth your time to learn to fight in a borrowed form. There’s no sense incorporating someone else’s skill into your fighting style. I also don’t recommend using this skill until you see your level 40 class selections. Best not to chance it influencing those.” Brivaria nodded.

  “Normal practice it is,” she said with only a little forced cheer.

  The new shapeshifting skill felt easier and better than the old ones. Despite trading two scalings for one, the angel realized it was an improvement in almost every way. True to Akashic’s words, it made her battle form much easier to transform into and a little easier to transform out of. Brivaria took solace in that last fact as it meant her original form was somehow less corrupt than the others.

  It took several hours of working on the wings to get the demonic ones fully formed. She wouldn’t have been able to do it at all without Akashic’s instruction. The demoness was a very good teacher in the arts of shapeshifting. Probably other things too, Brivaria thought. The demon girl was snide and mocking a lot of the time but her entire demeanor changed when she was explaining something. There was no scorn and no ridicule. She was also extremely patient with the angel, giving Brivaria the room to work uninterrupted and figure things out as necessary. Sometimes the angel could almost forget Akashic was a demon and pretend they were friends. Sometimes.

  The demon wings proved to be somewhat superior to her regular wings. That was more than a little embarrassing to Brivaria. Her angelic pride didn’t want to admit that the form crafted by her people was insufficient. Her people didn’t make mistakes. They were better than that or, if it was a mistake, then it was only because her last Form Change was scuffed in some way.

  It was logical that a species of creatures that specialized in drastic metamorphosis and physical form manipulation would be good at it. It made sense that demons would be skilled at a thing they were known for and more skilled than another species or race not known for that thing. Yet demons were the enemy. Acknowledging them as anything more than sometimes formidable foes left a sour taste in Brivaria’s mouth.

  By the end of the practice session, Brivaria had made a lot of progress. Most of it was thanks to Akashic’s instruction. If not for the need to get the timer on Rest going so she’d be full on resources in a few hours when the sun rose, she’d have continued practicing. Even if she didn’t like seeing the words “corrupt” or “twisted” on her System status, she genuinely enjoyed her nightly practice sessions. The ever-growing mixed feelings she felt about the demon in her head weighed on her as she returned to her room.

  Giselle wasn’t taking the entirety of the bed’s pillow and Trixie was sprawled out on the sheets. Every so often one of the dog’s legs would move or her tail would swish. Not for the first time, Brivaria wondered what the happy golden sunchaser dreamed of. She wondered what it was like to dream, for all that went.

  With her wings in their small form, Brivaria moved to the bed. The angel laid down and rested her head on a pillow next to Giselle and put an arm around Trixie. She couldn’t sleep. That wasn’t a racial feature angels possessed. What she could do was enjoy the softness of the bed and the warmth of her sleeping companions. In a few hours, she would begin another day with her friends.

  Name: Brivaria

  Race: Angel

  Class: Apprentice Shaper of Flesh

  Level: 39

  Stats: Health 79/79, Mana 153/153, Stamina 104/104

  Attributes: Physique 65, Endurance 39, Arcane 52, Spirit 76, Awareness 39, Presence 80

  Active Skills: Current Control, Defensive Bulwark, Healing Touch, Twisted Reflection, Wind Formation

  Passive Skills: Alternative Form, Corrupt Shapeshifting, Infernal Seed, Inventory, Lesser Flight, Lingering Decay, Natural Weapons, Rest, Traits (Angel)

  Magic: Light of Decay

  Affinity: Corruption, Decay