I enter the clothes store with Tåke in tow. The store, like 70% of clothes stores in general and like 50% of all mall stores (and that’s if you count cafes and such), are for women’s clothes. This is hostile territory for me. I desperately look around to find something cheap and easy to wear that'll cover her up. There! Dresses. Only one thing to buy, and just gotta pull it over her head to put it on her.

I pull her by the hand, but slow down after catching her when she almost stumbles. I stop for a moment, giving someone a gentle push at the arm to make them step aside, and then we reach the dress area.

I look around at the price tags. They all seem reasonable, so I grab a dress with no extra straps or frills or anything, then hurry over to the changing rooms. They’re all full. I hold the dress up against Tåke. Ugh, the color does not work with her silvery gray fur. I almost rush off to get another one when one of the changing rooms open. The woman exiting looks at Tåke with big eyes before we enter the small enclosure.

Out of the public’s eyes, I calm down a bit. My behaviour seem to have startled Tåke, who seems worried. ｢{Apologetic}Sorry. I will calm down now. Stretch you arms up for a moment.｣

Not five minutes later, I have bought the first dress (after getting Tåke’s fur on it), and a smaller, simple, reddish brown dress, which fits her better both size and color wise. Both are a bit too big for her, but better than nothing. ｢Put this on. Then we’re done here.｣ She obediently lets me put it on, and I must admit it suits her well. I shove the other dress into the bag, making a mental note to check for fur I might wanna clean out. Then we exit the changing room where I had her wait.

Man, my heart is still calming down. I kept a bit of attention on the chaos we made, with sweeps of mana, but it seems most people decided to go back to whatever they were doing. Well, there is a couple small groups outside I suspect are waiting for our re-emergence. Right, Tåke is covered up, wearing the dress and the collar. The collar fits her, so I guess it’s fine.

Actually, should I get her some underwear? Oh crap. I have taken on the role of a guardian of what is essentially a mix of a dog (well, wolf) and completely clueless thirteen year old (looking) girl. I am not prepared to raise a kid. In some regards Tåke would be easier to handle than that, but it’s hard enough to stop kids from doing bad things, and until now at least they didn’t have magic… At least I can just drop her off in the forest if it gets too much. She’ll be able to survive, and it’s fine if she’s not quite… civilized.

So now I have to teach her: Language, laws, rules and norms, manners, things like potty training, how to interact with people… Probably more, too. I’m screwed. Yup. Ehhh… Okay. Breathe. In. Out. I should have thought of this earlier. I really need to get better at thinking ahead. Breathe. I can do it. Probably. Fluffy adopted daughter, huh. That’s… not so bad. I… should definitely, uhhh, mention, this to Thomas though. And we need that redefinition of a ‘person’. Maybe with multiple levels…

Tåke is looking at me, worried. “｢{Uneasy}I’m fine. Really.｣” Should I take on the Wolfkin form as well? Heh, two wolfkin walking through the city, one more Human, the other more Wolf. That sounds pleasant. The walking portion might still be a problem for Tåke, though. Either way, I shift to the Wolfkin form, which makes Tåke quite happy. With her smile and wagging of her tail, I don’t need the bond to know that.

“｢Let’s go, then.｣” I say, the words also transmitted mentally so that she hopefully understands them better. Mind magic might be great for teaching specific concepts, ideas, and, well, abilities, but something as encompassing as an entire language… Maybe I should get some books for teaching language and see what they do. First, basic grammar and sentence structure, and a vocabulary to use it… But for a native tongue, the key is to simply use it.

That’s for later, though. We walk out of the store, hand in hand. As I expected, as soon as we exit, a lot of attention is turned our way. Despite that, only one group approaches us. Said group happens to have a camera and microphone. I don’t see any logos on them, and they seem to be pretty young, and their equipment looks decent while not expensive. Probably from a small-ish website or something.

A woman speaks up. “Hi, we’re from a website and Youtube channel called ‘The Magic Mic’”

“And I’m Michael!”

The woman laughs. “Oh my god, you’re not supposed to say that now!” She clears her throat. “-and we’ve been interviewing people about magic and the [System] and the ‘New World’ in general.”

She looks at me questioningly as she makes the air quotes, then continues, apparently getting her answer. “Could we do a short interview with you?”

I nod my head to the side. “New World, huh.” I glance at Tåke. “You’re probably asking the correct person.” I think for a moment. “You mean now or later? I can do either, but we should probably not block the store.” I point over my shoulder with my thumb.

They move a bit to the side so we’re not in the way. Good thing this is a pedestrian zone, or we’d take up the entire sidewalk. They use a moment to turn on their equipment and check that it works, then turn to me.

They do their intro again, this time recording, before the young woman turns to me and starts the interview. “So we were on the way to the streets for some interviews, when we saw you… fly over the crowd?”

“Uh, levitate, actually. [Force Magic: Levitation].” I say, demonstrating the ability.

“Fascinating. Can you make other things levitate as well?”

I nod. “Yes, otherwise it would be very hard to carry anything while doing it.” I subconsciously make a motion towards, and look at Tåke as I say that.

“I see. Let’s go over the elephant in the room, so to speak. We asked around, and it sounded like you were walking a wolf? And then the wolf turned into this young lady?”

“Uhm, yeah. Tåke here is a mist wolf, from the eastern forest. Well, right now she has shapeshifted into a ‘wolfkin’, though. As have I.”

“Shapeshifted, is it? And you’re a human, right?”

“Yeah.” I revert to human form. “I take on other forms a lot, though, and have made some permanent changes.” I point at one of my eyes, then at an ear.

“I can see that. Leaving aside how you do it for right now, is Tåke… human?”

“No, as I said, she’s a mist wolf. Wolfkin right now.”

“Yes, you said that, but… How do you put this… Some people feel that their body doesn’t fit them, and, hum, you were walking he with a leash and the collar?” She motions to the collar Tåke still wears. “There are people who… enjoy that sort of thing. I’m not judging, but it seems that your ability might be very, ehm, useful for that?”

I furrow my brows. Some people enjoy walking their dogs? What does that have to do with not being satisfied with one’s body? “Oh. You mean if she’s biologically human, but thinks she should’ve been a wolf, and this is some exhibitionist BDSM thing?”

She reddens a bit. “Ahh, yes. I tried to put in in a nicer way.”

“Oh yeah, no. I met her on Upheaval day. She was 100% wolf at that time.” Speaking of Tåke, through the bond she tells me another one is coming. A dog, that is. “She’s, hmm, about as smart as one too.”

Should I? Sure, why not. “Have you heard of the wolves’ of the eastern forest? She’s one of them. And speaking of them, I have a Quest to uplift them. Uplift like the sci-fi concept, to make a species more intelligent, to human levels. So I’d like to share the Quest with you, all of you: [Uplift the wolves of the eastern forest]”

The woman blinks and her eyes lose focus. The guy, Michael was it? Lets out a low ‘wow’. I can’t see the cameraman well, but I almost instantly feel that he accepts it. Of the others, Michael rejects it, and a moment later, the woman accepts it. “You can- there is quests…”

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. As she breathes out and open her eyes, ready to speak, I feel Tåke’s discomfort. I turn to the source, the dog which is trying to sniff her butt. She’s mine, stay away! With a low growl and pressuring it with mana, it quickly whimpers and scampers off to its owner, tail between legs. I am a bit taken back by my sudden possessiveness, but noting that Tåke seems content, I shrug it off.

The interviewer seems a bit surprised, but has collected herself. “This quest, how did you get it?”

“As with the other quests I’ve gotten, I gave them to myself, with the quest giver meta ability. It just went up to [Quest Giver - Rank 3], huh.”

“Uh-huh, do you know how you got the ability?”

“Uhh, yeah. It was a reward for a quest I accidentally gave myself. Or made the [System] give me. I’m not sure how the first would work.”

“Okay, and you mentioned other quests, can you tell us about them?”

“Well, the first was to [Make a Magic Gun], and how I got the ability. Then I gave myself a quest to [Explore the Water Dungeon], which is more like a water temple since there’s not really any monsters there, none that are harmful, anyway. I haven't finished that one, though.”

“There’s a dungeon nearby? Can you tell me more about it?”

“Hmm, I don’t really want to share it, but it might be good if others tried to solve the puzzles. Let’s make it a puzzle, then.” How should I put this… “The name comes from where it is, not what. Finding it requires lungs of steel and a path of light. Watch your magic, for the forest devours.”

“That’s an interesting riddle. Do you have anything else to say about it?”

“Well, the rest of the interview might give you some hints to answer the riddle. And if you find it, looks at the patterns. So far I have only explored what I think is a small part of it - there is a GIANT door in the main room. From the main room there are corridors leading to what looks like dorms or something. Kinda like some kung-fu temple. And there’s a magic elevator.”

“Okay, moving on, can you tell me about your shapeshifting ability?”

“Well, I use [Aspect Magic] to take on so-called Aspects, for example [Aspect of the Wolf]” I gesture over my body. “At some point I even got a class, [Shapechanger]. It only has [Aspect Magic], but is super useful. I also taught it to Tåke, and another beast companion.”

“I see. There have been sightings of people in other forms, not unlike the one you have right now. Could those be you?”

“Yeah probably.”

“To start off, yesterday there was a half-spider, half-human person advertising for magical bags?”

“That would be me. The ‘drider’ form. I also sell services like magic tutoring, or enchantments and the like. Or if that’s your thing, partial shapeshifting so you can get cat ears or whatever.”

“Right. And there has also been a mermaid-like creature, a minotaur and a bird-creature?”

“Uhh, I recently made a form based on seals to swim quickly, and I flew to Denmark and back in what I call the birdkin form. No idea ‘bout the minotaur, though.”

My phone goes off. “Ahh, sorry.” I pull it out to deny the call, but it’s Thomas. “…I should probably take it.”

“Lars here.”

“Are you at home right now?” He says with a serious tone.

“No, I’m in the city.”

“Did you know there’s a wyvern near your home?”

“A wyvern? Does it have a sorta collar and bands around the legs?”

He says something away from the phone, before returning. “No, the police are keeping people at a distance.”

“Well, staying away is probably a good idea. Uhm, should I maybe head home and see if it’s her?”

“Yes, that would be good.”

“Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

I finish the call, and look at the interviewers. “Sorry about that, but I gotta go home now.” I look up as I think for a moment. “Actually, lemme give you my contact details, we can continue the interview another time.”