Shifter - Infinite Transformation-Chapter 58: Egg

So good! I felt much better the next time I woke up.

If it had been possible, I would have yawned... if I’d had a mouth. But I was just a little Blue Slime surrounded by crates filled with gemstones, crystal shards, and various other valuable goods.

Rather than spending far too long squeezing my way out of the tent, I transformed into the Lesser Wisp and phased through most objects. Before I knew it, my small ethereal body drifted toward the condensed energy on the other side of the tent. I sensed the energy emanating from around and within three oval-shaped objects and transformed back into my main form.

The corner of my lip curled upward as I locked onto the three eggs. They contained even more energy than the bracelet I’d "loaned" from Captain Anthea, and I could only hope that meant they were unharmed.

Be that as it may, I had one more issue to solve: How in the Netherworld was I supposed to carry the eggs out of Camp Ashborn?

What was I supposed to do now? The eggs weren’t particularly small. I wasn’t even sure I could carry all three at the same time. But I didn’t want to leave them behind. I didn’t want the empire to experiment on them, or worse. Why... I couldn’t quite tell. There was a connection I couldn’t properly describe.

An urge to help them.

A rucksack, maybe? I had a pouch, but it wasn’t big enough. As for Captain Anthea’s bracelet, I still had no idea what it actually did. If I hadn’t been deep in enemy territory, I would have tested it, but the risk was too great.

A duffel bag would have been useful, but where was I supposed to find one? While considering my options, I paid little attention to my surroundings. I didn’t even notice when I leaned against one of the sockets where the largest egg was placed. It lay on a cushion and appeared perfectly secure, except that I could touch it without a problem.

Which I did. Without thinking.

I only realized what I’d done when it was already too late. My flat hand rested against the polished black surface of the egg I had carried out of the Eserian the day before.

"Am I stupid?" I muttered, about to pull my hand away when a ripple of energy surged through it.

Hmm? My palm was still pressed against the egg when a second pulse raced up my arm to my shoulder. That wasn’t all. I wanted to retreat, to yank my hand back and avoid stirring up trouble. But my body thought differently. Instincts rose within me, overwhelming and impossible to suppress.

I tried to squash them.

I failed miserably.

More energy shot up my arm, and then strands of it returned downward. Shift triggered without my permission. For a split second, I thought I was about to transform completely. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

And I did–partially.

The hand touching the egg turned black. At first, only my fingertips darkened, but the discoloration spread rapidly. It surged across my palm and up my lower arm before finally slowing.

Strength flooded through that limb, intensifying as something entered my body. It manifested at the tips of my fingers–a cold liquid seeping inward through my skin. The sensation was horrifying, enough to make my skin crawl, yet it only seemed to reinforce my arm.

The rest of my body remained unchanged as the cold substance coursed through my hand and lower arm. The feeling didn’t last long. After no more than ten seconds, it retracted, leaving me drained and exhausted. Even if I had wanted to, I doubted I could use Shift more than once or twice before needing rest again.

And food.

I desperately needed food.

The Blue Slime form might have healed my grievous wounds, turning them into nothing more than memories, but rapid regeneration came at a steep cost. A kind of hunger gnawed at me, deeper and more consuming than anything I’d felt before. And here I was, stuck in the middle of enemy territory with only a few strips of jerky left.

"Conjure Bread would be nice," I grumble-whispered to myself.

Alas, I couldn’t transform into the old soldier and use his Power. Shift was too depleted.

That left me hungry, responsible for two eggs, and with a faint yawning sound echoing nearby.

A faint... sound?

My head snapped toward the socket where the polished black egg had been.

Had been.

It was gone. Only fragments of its shell remained, scattered across the cushion. In its place stood a small humanoid figure no larger than my fist.

Considering the size of the egg, the creature was far too small. A dozen of them could have fit inside it. Yet there I stood, staring at a dark-green humanoid with disproportionately large hands and claws. Black fur covered its wrists and lower arms, and faint hints of horns jutted from its forehead.

At first, I thought it resembled a Forest Fairy. But that assumption quickly died.

"What the fuck are you?" I blurted out, momentarily forgetting where I was.

Setting aside the fact that one of the eggs had just hatched into a humanoid creature, this might not have been entirely bad.

The only thing that unsettled me was the way the newborn looked at me. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto mine, and its long pointed ears twitched.

A heartbeat later, it leaped.

Before I could react, it landed squarely on my left hand.

A connection I hadn’t known existed bloomed between us. Several System notifications flashed in my vision, and then the creature melted.

It dissolved into liquid that seeped directly into my hand, replicating the same cold, eerie sensation I’d experienced moments earlier.

Lines of verdant green and black surfaced on my palm moments later. They spread outward across my fingers, curled along the back of my hand, and surged upward, marking the skin in intricate patterns.

Then came the pain.