Draven's body continued to change.
His arms shortened.
His fingers fused together as dark membranes stretched between them.
His legs twisted and reshaped.
His ears sharpened.
His body became smaller and lighter.
Then—
**WHOOSH!**
The transformation was complete.
A small black bat stood where Draven had been.
For a moment—
Silence.
Aldric stared.
The black cat stared.
Even the slime sitting on Draven's head seemed confused.
Aldric's eyes widened slightly.
"You did it."
The bat looked down at its own body.
Its small wings twitched.
Then—
Draven's voice came through telepathy.
*"It wasn't as hard as I thought."*
Aldric shook his head.
"Of course it wasn't."
He folded his arms.
"You're Royal Blood, after all."
"If you couldn't do something like this after creating your own mana pool..."
He paused.
"There'd have to be something seriously wrong with you."
The black cat suddenly became excited.
*"Ohhh!"*
*"Papa is a bat now!"*
Draven turned toward it.
The cat stared at him with wide eyes.
Draven smiled inwardly.
Then—
He spoke through telepathy.
*Hey.*
*Can you transform too?*
The cat blinked.
*"Me?"*
*Yeah.*
*Try it.*
The cat stared at Draven for a moment.
Then—
It nodded enthusiastically.
*"Okay, Papa!"*
The cat closed its eyes.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
**WHOOSH!**
Dark mana surrounded its body.
Its small form began to change.
Its ears shifted.
Its body shrank.
Black wings spread from its back.
Within seconds—
A small black bat stood beside Draven.
The bat looked down at itself.
Then it looked at Draven.
*"Papa!"*
*"I did it!"*
It hopped excitedly.
*"I'm a bat too!"*
*"Just like Papa!"*
Draven stared at the little bat.
*Yeah.*
*You did it.*
The cat fluttered its wings excitedly.
*"Look, Papa!"*
*"I have wings!"*
*"I'm really a bat!"*
*"Just like you!"*
Draven nodded.
*Yeah.*
*You are.*
Nearby—
Aldric stared at the two bats.
He remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
He slowly rubbed his forehead.
"That creature..."
He sighed.
"Honestly..."
"I don't even know what that spirit egg created."
He looked between Draven and the cat.
"First, it ate a magic crystal."
"Then it started copying magic."
"And now it's shapeshifting, though I guess that's still magic."
Aldric shook his head.
"It's just weird."
Draven glanced toward him.
Then he looked at the cat.
Through telepathy—
*Come on.*
*Let's try flying.*
The cat immediately perked up.
*"Okay, Papa!"*
Draven looked at his own wings.
*This whole shit is damn weird.*
*But flying is about the only thing a bat is supposed to be good at.*
The cat fluttered its wings.
*"Okay, Papa!"*
Both bats spread their wings.
Draven looked toward the open sky.
Then—
He pushed himself off the ground.
**WHOOSH!**
The black cat followed immediately.
**FLAP! FLAP!**
Two bats rose into the air.
For a moment—
Everything seemed fine.
Then—
Draven's body suddenly tilted to the side.
**FLAP!**
He tried to correct himself.
But—
He tilted too far in the opposite direction.
**FLAP! FLAP!**
The black cat was having the same problem.
*"Papa!"*
*"How do I stay up?!"*
Draven flapped his wings harder.
*I don't know!*
His body dropped several meters.
**WHOOSH!**
He quickly spread his wings.
The sudden resistance slowed his fall.
He rose again.
Then—
He started falling.
Again.
**FLAP! FLAP!**
The cat spun awkwardly through the air.
*"Papa!"*
*Just keep flapping!*
*"I'm flapping!"*
*Then flap better!*
The two bats continued struggling through the air.
They rose.
Dropped.
Turned sideways.
Nearly crashed into each other.
Then—
Slowly...
They began to get the hang of it.
Draven adjusted his wings.
A slight movement to the left.
A slight movement to the right.
He discovered that he didn't need to constantly flap.
He could simply glide for a moment before flapping again.
*So that's how it works...*
Draven gradually stabilized himself.
The cat followed his movements.
*"Papa!"*
*"I'm flying!"*
Draven looked toward it.
*Yeah.*
*You're doing it.*
The cat happily circled around him.
*"I'm really flying!"*
Draven looked down at the ground.
A faint thought surfaced in his mind.
*I can turn into a bat...*
*Let's see what else I can turn into.*
He stopped flapping.
His body began to descend.
Then—
**WHOOSH!**
His form changed.
The wings disappeared.
His body expanded.
Fur covered his skin.
His limbs lengthened.
His hands became paws.
A wolf appeared in the air.
Draven immediately realized his mistake.
*Oh.*
*Shit.*
He fell.
**THUD!**
He landed on the ground.
Dust scattered around him.
The black cat quickly flew down and landed nearby.
*"Papa!"*
Draven stood up and shook the dust from his fur.
"I'm fine."
He looked toward the cat.
"Come on."
"Transform as well."
The cat stared at him.
Then—
*"Okay, Papa!"*
**WHOOSH!**
The cat's body transformed.
A moment later—
A small black wolf stood beside Draven.
The cat looked down at itself.
*"Papa..."*
*"I did it again!"*
Draven stared at it.
"Yeah."
He looked at his own wolf form.
"It seems you can do that as well."
The cat wagged its tail.
*"Really?"*
Draven nodded.
"I also want to see what else I can turn into."
He focused his mana.
**WHOOSH!**
His body shrank.
His limbs shortened.
His fur disappeared.
A long tail appeared.
A small rat stood where the wolf had been.
The cat stared.
*"Papa became a rat!"*
Draven looked down at himself.
Then—
He glanced toward the cat.
"Your turn."
The cat nodded.
*"Okay!"*
**WHOOSH!**
Another small rat appeared beside him.
The two rats stared at each other.
Draven's expression was difficult to read.
"This is getting ridiculous."
The cat happily moved around.
*"I'm a rat too!"*
Draven ignored it.
He focused his mana again.
**WHOOSH!**
His body began to dissolve.
His physical form lost its shape.
His entire body became a swirling mass of dark mist.
The cat stared.
Then—
*"Oh!"*
**WHOOSH!**
It transformed as well.
Another cloud of dark mist appeared beside Draven.
The two masses of mist drifted through the air.
Aldric had been watching the entire time.
He stared at them.
Then slowly—
He smiled.
"It seems you're able to shapeshift into the four forms of the tetramorph."
The mist shifted.
Draven's voice came through telepathy.
*"Tetramorph?"*
Aldric nodded.
"Bat."
"Wolf."
"Rat."
"And mist."
He looked at Draven.
"Those four forms."
Aldric folded his arms.
"But let's continue."
"Let's see if there's more..."
"Or if that's all you can do."
The mist suddenly stopped moving.
Then—
Draven's voice came through telepathy.
*Shut up.*
*I wasn't planning on stopping.*
Aldric's smile widened.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
Draven's mist form began shifting again.
He wasn't done experimenting.