Syn was alone and back on the road again. He wasn’t that much stronger or richer than when he first arrived, but he was much more comfortable in the world he was in. He was heading south, towards Cela [Dungeon], where he’d meet up with Trist and save Lola.
Syn looked around for a good spot to hide. He’d need to take the pill, just in case a person appeared and completely ruined Wilma’s plan. He found a clump of trees at the base of a hill. He checked around it to make sure he was alone. No monsters or people.
Eric’s hands trembled with the pill in his hands. Of course, it was pink. He had teased Todd for being a girl in the game, and now karma turned it around. Worse, it was Eric’s choice. Granted he was backed into a corner and this was the only option he could think of to be safe. But, it was still a choice.
He breathed in and out after unequipping the Basic Tunic; he didn’t want it to get in the way. He lifted the pill and said “Cheers” to no one in particular. To be a girl. He swallowed the pill.
The capsule felt warm as it moved down into his stomach. The warmth spread throughout his body as it mixed with his Mana. He could feel it flow into his hands, feet, and head. It was not painful or uncomfortable but pleasant and warm. Right up until his nonexistent bones creaked. Like the opposite of getting older by leveling up, his body condensed in on itself. He shrunk about a foot and his entire body became thinner, like his arms losing muscle and his shoulders getting less broad. The tank top and shorts he was wearing felt overly large on his smaller frame, but it shifted a few seconds later to fit his body.
His hips expanded out as his butt and thighs puffed out, making his shorts feel tight before they shifted. His center of gravity suddenly lowered, and it almost made him fall over, but he caught his balance at the last moment. The way his body forced him to stand felt so odd. It didn’t help that his feet were smaller.
Then his upper body burned. Lumps of fat swelled around his chest. It started slowly, but the pressure began to build against his chest; he felt the skin stretch to accommodate the new body parts. Eric stared down memorized at his own growing cleavage. He idly thought he could no longer see his feet without leaning forward.
Eric was only vaguely aware of his hair growing down to his shoulders as he examined his new body. He gingerly touched the breasts. His breasts. Then, he slid his hands down his slim waist, wide hips, and finally to his smooth toned legs.
“This is me now,” Eric said. He nearly fell over as he heard his new voice. It was girlish with a hint of maturity, almost melodic. “Testing, 1 2 3, testing. Yep, that sounds weird.” He sat down on a stump, still getting distracted by the way his body moved. “Jiggle physics.” He laughed, the sound coming out as a cute giggle, which made him laugh even harder, almost hysterical. Eric had never wanted to be a girl, but he had been curious. What boy wasn’t? He wasn’t quite sure if this digital body compared to a real one, especially since he didn’t have the proper plumbing.
After exploring his new body a bit, he equipped the Basic Tunic, feeling a little exposed in just his small clothes. Gratefully, they fit properly, though more snug than he was used to. Very snug. At least he wasn’t wearing a skirt like Trist. The clothes came packed with a bra underneath; gratefully, not as much jiggling.
<[General] You have consumed Gender Swap Pill: Female. Your gender has changed permanently from Male to Female.>
<[General] You have undergone an extreme shift in one of your Characteristics: Gender. Due to your body’s nature no longer being the same, you may change your name to better fit your new body.
Do you wish to change your name? ~Yes | No~>
Eric quickly selected yes and thought about a new name. He had used Syn for as long as he could remember, for both the male and female characters he played, but he needed to get as far away from that name as possible. He also didn’t want it to sound overly feminine; he was still a guy after all despite his new body. Eric picked his new name and checked his stats:
<Jade [Level: 4]
Low Human [Rank 1, Copper], Female
Attribute Points: 0Attributes [Stats]:
- Strength: 3 (+0) [Power: 3 (+0) | Carry Limit: 3 (+0)]
- Endurance: 3 (+0) [Stamina: 3 (+0) | Armor: 9 (+6)]
- Agility: 5 (+1) [(Dexterity: 5 (+0) | Speed: 5 (+0)]
- Mind: 17 (+3) [Mana Regen: 17 (+0) | Perception: 5 (-12) | 20 (+3)]>
A female face stared back at Eric within the menu: Jade’s profile picture. She was cute rather than beautiful, like a girl next door rather than a supermodel. Her hair was copper colored when compared to Syn’s dark red hair. The bright green eyes were the only remnants of Syn, which made her look striking. Eric came up with the name based on the eye color. He looked at the face. His face. Her face. Eric’s mind shifted to fit his new reality. Her reality. Jade brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she examined her stats.
The biggest thing was the Mind Attribute, or more specifically, the Perception stat. It had jumped up to 20 points from 14 within slow time. She’d need to practice again with Mind Dampener.
A huge problem was her Strength, specifically her Carry Limit. Idly, she equipped both her Short Spear and Basic Tunic. A weight settled on her; every movement was slow and painful. She sighed and unequipped her spear. Just one point over her Carry Limit was straining. The next chance she got, she’d need to upgrade her Strength, at least by 1. She’d need to eat meals to supplement her stats in the meanwhile; she had a few meals in stock that could help.
Jade applied the Pygmy Draco Orb next, placing it in the empty slot, once again grateful for Wilma’s generosity. She checked the new summon she gained.
<Slot 4 [Summon]: Pygmy Draco (unnamed) [Level 1 (Low)] – 100 / 100
- [Neutral, Rank 1, Iron]
- Mana: 1 / 4 | Str: 2 | End: 2 | Agi: 5 | Mnd: 2
- Physical Attack [Power]:
- Bite [Neutral, Piercing]: 10 (5)
- Special Attack:
- Shriek [Neutral]: 0
- Mana: 10 | Range: 10 | Cast: 3 | Cooldown: 180
- Effect: Stun>
A disruptor. Jade nodded in approval. With its low Strength, Jade couldn’t use it to deal very much damage, but it would be very useful to create openings or to escape. The summon could also only use Shriek once every three minutes, so she couldn’t spam it.
She summoned her new pet. Blue mist flowed from her body and condensed in front of her on the ground. Judging by the name, Jade was expecting a dragon-like creature. And it was, sort of. It looked like a black bat, except it had scales, a face, and a tail like a lizard. She reached out and scooped it up in her hands. The palm-sized creature stretched and stared at Jade with more intelligence than she expected. It spread its surprisingly large leather wings and flew. Jade watched it glide around the nearby trees, expertly weaving through them. She felt a connection to it, like she’d be able to tell exactly where it was with her eyes closed.
It flew back to Jade; she raised her hand expecting it to land on it, but it dodged it and grabbed her tunic. The Pygmy Draco hung upside down from the underside of her breasts like a bat. Jade giggled uncontrollably at the ridiculousness of the situation. The summon crawled up her chest and peered at Jade questioningly.
Jade smiled sweetly at it and patted its head. “Nothing, nothing. Hmm, you do need a name. How about . . . Duke?” It yawned in response and dropped back down. “Duke it is.” Jade navigated the menu to make it official.
One more test before leaving. She sat back down on the stump and took deep breaths. She toggled Mind Dampener. She braced for the sudden claustrophobia. She wasn’t disappointed. The world slowed to a crawl and felt like she was buried in jelly or mud; the pressure wanted to crush her. She expected the intense tension, so she quickly returned to normal time before she blacked out. She did it again, lasting a little longer. And again. Soon, she practiced walking. Then running. After about an hour, she was attacking with her spear and casting Water Blast. Duke got annoyed with the movement and flew around above her. The slow time still felt unnatural, but she was adapting quickly. She kept her spear unequipped but could switch in an instant if needed.
Jade began her journey with Duke hanging from her chest. She found the boundary for the Hill Wolves and took the pathway south. She let Trist know a bounty was put on her head as well, but she managed to find a good disguise though kept it secret what the actual disguise was. She was on her way south and hoped it wouldn’t take too long to get to the next settlement.
Jade used the hike to get further used to her body. As she realized before, her center of gravity was lower. She had to change the way she walked. When she finally got the hang of it, she realized her hips were swaying slightly. When she tried to walk like a guy, the imbalance returned. Jade sighed and resigned herself to swaying hips.
The first creature she encountered half an hour into her walk was a small deer. Level 5. Instead of antlers, it had a bone plate on top of its head. It was at the top of the hill while Jade was passing through a shallow valley. They saw each other at the same moment. It charged before Jade could react. Mind Dampener switched on. Duke felt the tension and took flight.
Jade watched the deer slowly dash toward her. She’d easily be able to dodge it and cast Water Blast as it passed to hit its side. However, the deer picked up speed at the last moment. Fast. Jade’s slow body jumped out of the way, but the deer still clipped her side as it rushed past her. 50 Mana lost from one attack; she didn’t want to know what a full-on attack would do. Duke let out a screech of pain. Oh, Duke was linked to her outermost Mana Orb Slot. She’d have to move it the next chance she got.
She turned to face the deer again as she heard hoof steps. It used the opposite hill to turn around and gain momentum. Jade jumped out of the way and cast Water Blast while she was in the air. Jade got flung back hard; her aim was off, but the ball of water still managed to graze the deer’s hind leg. The deer stumbled but recovered quickly.
The deer ran up the hill. Jade thought it might be running away, but it only turned and started charging Jade again using the slope of the hill. Jade was starting to regret being in the valley between hills. She was tempted to climb the hill but knew she wouldn’t be able to make it up without the deer attacking her. She saw Duke hovering around above her.
“Aren’t you going to help?” Jade called up. It only kept on circling above her, like it was . . . waiting. She nearly hit her forehead. Of course. The deer was picking up speed as it neared the bottom of the hill. Jade pointed at the deer and called out, “Duke, Shriek!”
Duke dove. Once it was within about five feet of the deer, Duke let out a high-pitched scream. To Jade, it was a slightly annoying sound. To the deer, its eyes rolled back in pain, and its legs lost their function. It still had a lot of momentum. The creature crashed hard. Jade cursed as it rolled towards her. Jade tried to jump out of the way, but it was like dodging a football. A large football with a hard head and sharp hooves. The hooves clipped her, causing her to fall over. Duke cried again.
Jade climbed back to her feet, ready to dodge if the deer was about to attack. She sighed in relief. The deer was climbing to its feet, but it was struggling. One of its legs bent at an unnatural angle. Jade swapped her tunic for the spear. She kept her distance while she thrust her spear into the deer’s side; it was still thrashing about and Jade didn’t want to get hit. Her attacks were doing laughable damage. Her decreased Strength made itself obvious.
“Ah, right, Duke, Bite!” The lizard-bat glided down on the side of the deer’s neck and bit it. It didn’t look like it did much damage, but every little bit counted. However, after a few bites, Duke dissolved into mist. Jade stared in confusion. She’d have to experiment in the future to figure out her summon’s limitations.
Jade alternated casting Water Blast and stabbing it. It was a slow process and not very efficient, but as long as the deer couldn’t properly stand up, the fight was easy.
<[Battle] You have defeated Plated Deer [Level 5]!>
<[General] You have found Plated Deer Loot. Items added to Inventory:
- Iron Chips x5
- Raw Meat [Iron] x1
- Hoof [Feet, Earth, Iron] x1>
The loot wasn’t that impressive for the difficulty, but every little bit counted. She had less than 150 Mana remaining. A bit too close to her liking. Live and learn. She found a place to sit down and recover her Mana. It only took fourteen minutes to get completely healed.
Jade summoned Duke back. She gently rubbed his head as he hung from her right hand; she called the summon him, but she had no idea of the gender or if he even had one. “You did good little guy. Let’s do some tests, shall we? Shriek!” The bat let out a high-pitched wail.
Jade checked her Mana. She’d lost 40 rather than the 10 Mana it listed. She realized immediately what had happened. For every Mana Duke used or lost, Jade lost four. That’s what the <Mana: 1 / 4> meant. Having a summon was useful but very risky. No wonder why she hadn’t seen too many summons so far.
Duke took to his usual perch under her breasts, and Jade continued her hike. She’d need to find a place to rest. The longer she used her slow time, the more tired she got. She was reminded she had even worse Stamina than before.
Jade fought three more Plated Deer, but the fights went a lot smoother than the first one once she figured out the strategy. She used Duke to disrupt the deer’s charge, pound it into the ground with a Water Blast, then finish it off with her spear and Duke’s bites. Jade lost about four Mana each time Duke bit, while the deer barely lost anything. She mainly did it to grind experience for Duke.
Jade climbed a large hill to see if she could find a settlement. Behind her to the north, she could barely make out the forest where she had come from. A mountain range was to the west and a large lake was to her east about three miles away. She saw a settlement along its shore with a marsh surrounding it. A large river blocked her southern path about a mile away running from the mountains to the lake. A desert sprawled on the opposite side of the river. On the next hill over, five Plated Deer were grazing. Four of them were Levels 3 or 4, but the last one was Level 8.
Jade dropped to her belly. She grunted as her breasts cushioned her fall. She’d have to get used to that. Jade glanced at the deer; they hadn’t noticed her. Taking on one at a time was fine. Five? She’d get torn apart.
Jade slowly crawled back down the slope before standing back up. Too close. At least she had a destination. To the lakeside town.
Jade only fought one more Plated Deer, which she took out with ease. She was careful that it was alone. She had seen one more herd of deer, but she had steered very wide of them.
The ground became softer and made a sucking sound with every step as the hills flattened out to a marsh. The mud seeped through her toes; she really needed shoes. The marsh had very tall grass which came up to her waist. Anything could hide in there. She wanted to go around the marsh, but her Stamina wouldn’t last that long.
She walked slowly, paying attention to see if her Mind Dampener skill activated. Little puddles soaked the ground. Jade yelled in surprise as she accidentally stepped into a puddle that went up to her knees. Luckily, Jade could unequip then reequip her tunic to keep her clothes clean and dry. She ate a meal consistently to keep her Carry Limit up, so she wouldn’t have to choose between her spear or tunic.
Within one of the larger puddles, Jade saw a crab. It was dark and blended into the muddy water. Instead of claws, it had two spiked balls. Short spikes layered its body. Level 2. It spotted Jade and charged, raising its arms like maces.
Time slowed, and Duke took to the air. Why were all these monsters so aggressive? Jade cast Water Blast when the crab got close enough. It got knocked back but didn’t do much damage; water damage versus a water creature probably wasn’t smart. She commanded Duke to swoop down and screech. The crab froze up. Jade rushed forward and kicked it, knocking it on its back. She muffled a scream for her stubbed toe. The belly of the crab was soft, and it died quickly as she stabbed it.
<[Battle] You have defeated Spiked Crab [Level 2]!>
<[General] You have found Spiked Crab Loot. Items added to Inventory:
- Iron Chip x2
- Raw Fish [Iron] x1
- Leg [Feet, Water, Iron] x1>
Raw fish? Nice, new recipe ingredient. Jade looked up to get Duke to return, but she saw the lizard-bat get impaled by a large heron with a nasty barbed beak. Jade attempted to crouch down out of view, but it was too late. The heron noticed her and dove.
Jade had her Short Spear out. With her increased Perception she could line up her thrust perfectly. The spear went straight through the bird’s neck. The bird’s spear-like beak went through Jade’s shoulder.
Her grip slipped on her weapon as a jolt of pain reverberated through Jade’s body. Because the beak was barbed, the bird was stuck. Until it wasn’t. The heron broke its beak off. And flew back. A new beak grew in its place in a few seconds, but the new beak wasn’t barbed. The old beak was still lodged in Jade’s shoulder. The bird came in for another strike.
Jade could barely move her arms, but she managed to lift her hand and cast Water Blast. The ball of water clipped its wings. The heron dropped like a rock. She limped over to the fallen bird and stabbed it with her spear.
“That’s . . . for . . . Duke. And . . . my . . . arm!”
<[Battle] You have defeated Barbed Heron [Level 4]!>
<[General] You have found Barbed Heron Loot. Items added to Inventory:
- Iron Chip x4
- Raw Poultry [Iron] x1
- Feather [Body, Wind, Iron] x1>
Jade groaned. The beak was still lodged in her shoulder. She couldn’t pull it out due to the barbs and couldn’t push it all the way through because it had a wide stopper. She was still recovering Mana but at a much-reduced rate. And it hurt.
While she waited for her Mana to recover, she ate her cheeseburger and used her spear to attack the beak. Every time she hit the beak, it caused a jolt of pain to rush through her, and she lost Mana. But, it was working. The beak cracked, then dissolved into blue mist. Her wound quickly closed.
“Stupid bird,” Jade said as she rotated her shoulder. She still had phantom pain. That was only a Level 4, and she had a really hard time with it.
She continued her trek through the marsh after she restored Mana. She fought five more crabs and two more heron before she reached the beach, all of which were low-leveled. She was especially cautious against the heron. Luckily, flying creatures seemed to be weak against anything that would disrupt their flying. As long as Duke could get in Shriek, Jade could beat it easily. However, Shriek was noisy and attracted more monsters to her.
She made it to the rocky beach. A small path ran along the shore and Jade let out a sigh of relief as she stepped onto solid ground. It had only been three miles, but it felt much longer.
The rest of the journey passed in peace. Jade would have enjoyed the beautiful scenery if she wasn’t on constant alert for monster attacks. She saw boats out on the lake and occasionally a large creature would break the surface. Then, she was in front of the gate. It was open, but the familiar blue Mana Shield blocked her way. A guard approached her; he had obviously seen her on the road.
Eric felt awkward and nervous in front of the man, like he’d be exposed in a second. Jade pushed those thoughts down and gave the guard a smile.
“Hello,” she greeted.
“Welcome to Lotus [Town]. Do you wish to enter?”
“Yes, please,” Jade said.
“It’ll be a 1 Copper fee to register per day as a Visitor. If you don’t pay each day, you’ll be kicked out of the [Town] and be banned from entering for a month.” Jade was surprised by the fee but paid it without question. There went the majority of the earnings she made on her travels. The guard accepted the money and motioned to the Mana Crystal embedded in the gate outside the Mana Shield.
Jade hesitated briefly before touching it; the moment of truth. The guard examined her details. “Jade. No Bounties, no Citizenships. You’re clear. Don’t forget the daily fee.” Jade let out a sigh of relief and stepped through the Mana Shield.
<[General] You have entered Lotus [Town] as a Visitor. As a Visitor, you may not use any Orbs unless the settlement is under attack.>
Author’s note: Say good-bye to Syn and hello to Jade (and to Duke). For those who had been reading before, you’ll notice I changed the header image to be more of a stat page. I think I spent way too much time on it, but it was fun. Plus, I think it’s easier for everyone to track the progress. Enjoy!
TheXtra Path 
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