Sounds! Actual sounds! None of my previous forms had normal ears. Although the locust had some amount of frequency detection, it just wasn't the same. I could hear the bees buzzing, the birds chirping, and the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through them. I let out a deep howl in elation, and recoiled as the reverberation hurt my ears, unused to the volume. I tried to settle for a tail wag, but found the appendage to already be moving. It's moving on its own though, and I don't have any control over it whatsoever.

I'd have to work on my appendage limitations soon, but today was not the day to do so. I have something I need to enjoy right now. That's right baby, four limbs, the optimal number!

I ran in a random direction, happy to finally have a mostly-working body. Even if it wasn't humanoid, it felt natural to move around in.

My stomach rumbled, and I felt tired. I guess its been a while since I've eaten, and I did just use a lot of mana. Likely a lot more mana changing to this form than I ever had with the previous ones. Animals are a bit more complex than plants, and difference in complexity in power or spell usage tends to show with mana consumption.

I should continue on to Tycoed soon, but I'll get some food in me first. Thankfully, since I have a wolf's body, I should be at the top of the local food chain, with the exception of powereds, monsters, bears, and other wolves. Besides those, every animal I see is mine to hunt.

I sniffed the air, but was unable to determine which scent belonged to what. The intensity of every smell was magnified, and didn't translate perfectly to what I remembered from my half-dryad nose. I'd have to get up close and personal before determining what each scent was.

I picked the closest smell and ran in its direction. I got about 20 feet away from it when I realized it was a wild raspberry bush. Although wolves were carnivores, they were also technically able to eat some fruits, vegetables, and starches. I didn't have an exact list of what was okay to eat and what wasn't, but I'm not sure it actually matters. I had not once produced waste since gaining my powers, even after remaining in the locust form for over a day and eating corn and roaches. This suggests I was not actually eating and digesting, but rather, absorbing the mana and storing the matter in my subspace.

How the heck does my digestive system even work? What would happen if I ingested poison? Would I be immune to it, or would it take effect before being transferred to my subspace?

I have way more questions about my powers than answers. But I'm sure I'm not alone. this tends to happen to a lot of powereds. Specializations are usually unique to each person, so there isn't anyone to ask about the specific mechanics. There's still some level of intuition, like how I instinctively knew to pull things into and out of my subspace, but not much.

I chowed down on the raspberries, and continued on to my next few targets. I chased down and ate squirrels, rabbits, frogs, blueberries, etc. I couldn't catch any birds, as they never came anywhere within reach. I found some toads and poisonous fruits, but I wasn't willing to test that poison theory quite yet.

Eventually, I caught the trail of a herd of deer. They spotted me before I could dig my claws into any of them, so a chase began. The bucks tried to position themselves between me and their smaller or antlerless doe and fawns. I wasn't quite willing to tangle with them, so I did my best to circle around them.

A few minutes in, I managed to slip past the bucks, and the rest scattered. I could go for a doe, but I want to try for easier prey first. I chased one of the fawns down, eventually cornering it into a cave.

Suddenly, a massive claw reached out from the shadows and instantly snapped the fawn's neck. It ran directly into the den of a mother grizzly bear, and I nearly joined it.

Wolves and bears may share the spot of apex predators, but that's only due to the wolve's advantage in numbers, whereas I am alone. Besides that, this is also a mother bear, and I am dangerously close to her cubs.

I turned tail and ran towards the entrance to the cave. Before I could reach the entranceway, a giant figure appeared there. The Barbearian.

There was nowhere else to turn. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place; or in this case, a bear and a larger, angrier bear.

Neither bear approached me at first. For a moment, I thought I was safe to plan an escape. That foolishness lasted until I noticed the Barbearian was exhausting its rage-inducing mist slowly in our direction.

This bastard! He's planning on getting me and the bear riled up, then sitting back until one of us kills the other before feasting on the loser.

I can't take either foe in a fight, but there's only one exit to this place. I don't know how the mist works, but maybe I can run past it or hold my breath to prevent or reduce its effects. I can also try shifting into a less appetizing target, but that will leave me more vulnerable if it doesn't work.

Without further ado, I held my breath and ran towards the Barbearian. I prepared myself to get swatted or bit as I passed, but it never came. Instead, the bear ran away long before I reached it.

I guess that explains why its muscles are mostly in its legs. It's built for guerilla tactics. Make the enemy fight whatever's close, and run away so that doesn't include them.

I would call those tactics cowardly, but I of all people have no right to complain. Cowards tend to survive longer, and its cowardice just saved my life.

I ran through the smoke, and in the opposite direction the Barbearian went. I didn't feel any different from usual. Either holding my breath worked, or my default mental state is angrier than a second's exposure to the mist made me.

Less than a minute after escaping the cave, I heard familiar voices coming towards me. Two kids and an adult. I don’t want to scare them in my wolf form, so I hid behind a tree and listened in.

“We really shouldn’t be out here. Not with all the monsters recently.” A feminine voice said.

“Oh, quiet you. We’ve been out here for hours, and haven’t seen anything.” the boy replied.

“Don’t talk to your sister that way, Aiden.” The man scolded the boy in a harsh tone, then spoke softly to his daughter. “You don’t have to worry, Tina. If there are any monsters around, I’ll protect you. Always have, always will.”

Aiden and Tina MacQuoid, I do remember them. Their older brother was one of my classmates before he gained his powers and ran off to Aurelia to be an adventurer. The MacQuoids went out to hunt for meat every few days, which is probably why they’re out here now. But this could be bad. The Barbearian is nearby, and I doubt any of them know how dangerous it is to a group. One whiff of its scent could tear the family apart.

I peeked around the tree, and confirmed my suspicions. They were heading in its direction. I had to get them to turn around. Slowly, so as not to startle them, I moved out from behind the tree and made my presence known to them.

They stopped and stared. “Run along now, puppy.” The boy spoke sternly.

"We'll just circle around it" The father suggested, then walked perpendicular to me. Soon after, though, they continued in the same general direction. They obviously hadn't gotten the idea, so I circled back around, placing myself in their intended path, and growled.

Tina hid behind her brother Aiden, who raised his arm above him. The air around me grew colder as wind blew inwards around him.

Ah crap.

A flaming sphere slowly manifested above the boy, and shot towards me. I dodged behind a tree, and flames engulfed the ground where I had stood, as well as a dozen yards around it. Had it been an explosive force, rather than pure fire, both I and the tree would've blown up. This might cause more damage to the forest, though. The flames grew higher and wider, and threatened becoming a full-on wildfire.

“Aiden! What have I told you about starting forest fires?” The man shouted, and slapped Aiden in the back of his head.

“But dad, It was going to attack us!”

“It was just growling, boy. Stop it with your hair-trigger crap, and clean up your mess. It already ran away” I heard in the distance as I bolted in the direction I came from.

I still want to keep them away from the Barbearian, but clearly I won't be safe trying to get them to change direction.

What can I do, then? I can’t fight the bear, can I? It doesn't seem like its direct combat power is more than E-rank if I can get it alone, but it's still a monster. Unlike it, I don't know how to enhance my strength with mana. Furthermore, it'd be even more dangerous if I encounter it near anything it could rile up.

Maybe it can be chased away. It’s clearly quite cowardly, and I know I can get close to it for a moment if I hold my breath, so maybe I can herd it away from the MacQuoids.

Or maybe I can catch it eating. It’s rare for a beast-based monster to be much more resistant than the animal it metamorphosed from, so I doubt it can actually take much damage. I didn’t bring any poison into my subspace, and I don’t have time to get any, but physical damage should still be effective enough.

If I can sneak up on it while it’s distracted, I may be able to kill it before it can strike back. Or at least prevent it from running away. I’d even get a new form out of it too, assuming my power extends to monsters.

A smile creeped along my face, and my tail wagged without my controlling it. I sure hope my hubris doesn’t get me killed.