He never expected the effect of the Star Leaf potion to be so severe. He thought it would just calm his newly formed mana circuits, but instead, it felt worse.
The pleasure almost overwhelmed him. A heavy, aching heat gathered in his chest. Moreover, the seamless inner briefs were already growing damp sticky fluids as his mutating body confused the intense rush of Yin energy for raw sexual arousal.
"Fuck, I need... to get out of here before someone notices something unusual," he groaned, gritting his teeth.
"Leaving so soon?" the Empress laughed in his mind, her voice dripping with dark amusement.
However, Alex didn't even listen to her.
Using every ounce of his willpower, he pushed himself off the cold metal wall.
He couldn't let anyone in the Gene Association notice his shedding, nor could he let them hear the pathetic, breathy whimpers trying to escape his lips.
He pulled the dark grey hood low over his face, hiding his flushed skin and his wet eyes.
He practically ran out of the utility room, keeping his head down as he crossed the main lobby, he forced his legs to move normally despite the intense urge to squeeze his thighs together.
Once outside the massive glass doors, the warm afternoon air hit him.
To his cold-blooded body, it felt like a heavy, comforting blanket. He rushed to the side of the busy street and waved down a passing hover-cab.
The vehicle hummed to a stop. Alex pulled open the door and threw himself into the back seat, sinking into the worn leather.
"Where to, kid?" the driver, an older man with a thick beard, asked while looking through the rearview mirror.
"Iron Creek street... Sector 4," Alex managed to say. His voice was too soft, too airy. He cleared his throat and tried to sound tougher, but it just came out as a weak, feminine rasp. "Please hurry."
"Sure thing. Rough day at the Association huh?" the driver chuckled, pulling out into the traffic.
Alex didn't answer. He couldn't.
The potion was kicking in fully now, accelerating his Ecdysis phase to a terrifying speed.
Underneath his silk robes, his skin was actively cracking. It felt like his entire body was wrapped in a tight, dry shell of glue that was rapidly splitting apart.
Every time the cab hit a bump in the road, the movement caused his silk pants to slide over his legs.
The friction between the smooth fabric and the peeling, hypersensitive skin underneath was pure torture.
"Nnngh..." A tiny, high-pitched sound leaked from Alex's mouth as the cab turned a sharp corner. His hips shifted on the leather seat, and the seamless underwear rubbed perfectly against his ultra-sensitive, shedding groin.
The driver glanced at the mirror, raising an eyebrow. "You okay back there? You sound sick."
"I'm... fine," Alex choked out, squeezing his eyes shut and turning his face toward the window. "Just... stomach cramps."
To stop himself from crying out again, Alex curled his hands into tight fists.
He dug his fingernails deep into the soft, pale skin of his palms.
He pressed harder and harder until the sharp, biting pain grounded him, countering the blinding waves of pleasure crashing through his body.
By the time the cab finally pulled up near the blacksmith shop, Alex was completely drenched in sweet-smelling sweat.
He quickly tapped his mobile against the payment scanner, mumbled a breathless 'keep the change,' and practically threw himself out of the car.
He stumbled up the dirt path to the back door of the house.
He could hear the rhythmic CLANG, CLANG of hammers from the forge next door.
Uncle John and Marcus were busy working. Elena was likely still out on patrol.
The house was empty.
Alex burst through the back door, locked it behind him, and ran straight upstairs.
His legs felt like jelly, his hips swaying wildly because he didn't have the strength to lock his joints and walk straight anymore.
He crashed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and sliding the deadbolt into place.
"Haa... ahh..." He leaned over the sink, his chest heaving violently.
He looked in the mirror. His face was a deep, feverish red. His eyes were completely out of focus, the pupils occasionally slitting with a predatory golden hue.
He reached up with trembling hands and stripped off the dark grey robe.
Next came the tight black inner shirt.
As he pulled the fabric over his head, a literal shower of white, dead skin flakes fell to the floor.
His chest was a mess of cracked, tanned bark and bright white patches.
But what made his breath catch was the shape. The flat, hard muscle of his pectorals had completely softened.
"I might be hallucinating, right? Shit… It must be fake," he felt there was an undeniable, slight swell to his chest now, a small but noticeable curve of soft flesh that hadn't been there in the morning.
His bright pink nipples were puffy and rock hard, pointing straight out.
He quickly shoved his silk pants and the wet briefs down his legs, kicking them aside.
More dead skin peeled off in long, translucent strips, clinging to the inside of his clothes.
He stepped into the shower and turned the water on, making sure it was lukewarm.
He couldn't handle hot water right now; as his nerves were too sensitive right now.
The moment the water hit his body, Alex let out a loud, broken moan.
"Ahhhh!"
He grabbed a sponge and began to frantically scrub away the dead skin.
As he rubbed his arms, chest, and stomach, the old skin sloughed off in massive sheets.
It washed down the drain, taking the last rough, rugged remnants of his past with it.
Underneath, his body was breathtakingly smooth. The new skin was creamy, flawless, and so sensitive that the mere touch of the falling water droplets made him tremble uncontrollably.
He reached between his legs to clear the dead skin there. The moment his fingers wrapped around his own length to peel the dead layers away, his body arched violently against the cold tiles.
"Fuck... ahh... it's too much..." he cried out, his voice echoing in the small bathroom as his knees gave out, forcing him to slide down the wall until he was sitting on the wet floor.
"Hehehe…hahaha… Yes, clean yourself clean," the Empress purred, drinking in his overwhelming sensations. "You're transforming faster than I expected, my beautiful vessel.. It won't be long before you willingly submit your body and soul to me."
[ Feminization Progress: Ecdysis Phase 1/9 - 73% ]
Just then as the last patches of dead skin washed down the drain, the blue transparent system panel popped up automatically in his vision, glowing brightly through the rising steam.
"Fuck you… it's all your fault, damn you freak… Ahraah." Looking at the popup, and hearing the Empress voice again, unable to do anything, Alex could only curse out loudly to release his pentup frustration inside the bathroom.
"Heheh…hehehehh.. hheheh," However, he only heard uncontrollable laughter of the Empress in return for his meaningless cursing.