Getting back to the barracks took longer, and while Councilman Jorgonzilrye, myself and Sergeant Winkin; who turns out to not be a captain after all, we had not spoken until we got at the door to the building. I have been refraining from asking questions due to the earlier snap from the old man. Until he spoke, I would wait, well aware we were out of danger, but still. Sergeant Winkin then spoke opening the door, “The room is in order, any things we need to bring in for you Councilman?”

Looking up at the sun, the old man spoke, “No, we will be on our way. We will travel into the night, but I want to reach our next destination in due haste.”

Nodding his head, the Sergeant barked out an order to get the food. Then he spoke at a whisper. “She going to be one?”

“Only time will tell, but if I have anything to say, then yes.” It was plainly obvious they were talking about me.

“Well, I hope you do well in your training to come. If you need anything from any of us, do not hesitate to ask. We are at your discretion.” He had not spoken to the Councilman, but to me. This amount of attention, especially from someone who received two Namings and yet I haven’t even got my first unnerved me.

“Thank you, uh, Sergeant Winkin. But I am only a no name, I-”

“A no name now, if your training goes well, I rather be on your good side.” He smiled but there was a look of jealousy in his eyes. He, jealous of me? This is getting so overwhelming. My whole life I had never been the object of jealousy. My brother had was that object. He excelled at everything, especially where I faltered. If there was something that I did well and took pride in, he still outclassed me. It was not fair. Still, it was not his fault. I cannot be angry at someone just because they do things well, especially if it was my brother. Thinking about him I started to get sad and started shrinking to go unnoticed. Still, the eyes of the Sergeant were on me.

“Have our wagon ready, I must speak to the girl for a moment.” Without even looking for an acknowledgment, the Councilman turned around, and walked away. “Come along.” I of course hurried behind.

“Did I do something wrong?” I did not want to anger this man. He has shown me only kindness, and respect. Respect to a no name and a child in his eyes, but not many do this.

“Hmm? Oh no, I do not expect you to do anything right unless you are taught. Even if you mess up royally, I will not get angry. Every mistake is a learning lesson, only if you repeat the mistake will I get angry. This is not that however, so what do you think?” He stopped and stared at me, waiting.

Unnerved and flustered I asked “About?”

“How many stars are there?” Confused I looked up. “No!” He took a breath. “About what happened in the forest. Tell me what you think you saw. Tell me what you think you saw. Blasted, tell me everything that comes to mind. For being so good at everything, Tarvan really was a lousy guardian for you.” This angered me. He did his best with what he had, me. I was always a pain, and I knew it.

“You don’t know what you are talking about. He, he-”

“Yes yes, move on. Now answer the question.”

Taking a deep breath, then another. Then I swallowed. “What I saw out there was unnatural.” The old man nodding for me to continue. “What I mean is, it should not be possible, but it is. I am guessing from the looks of it that shape changing.” Then I remembered earlier that Councilman Jorgonzilrye called it Transmutation. “I mean, transmutation.” He smiled reassuringly. “Takes a lot of practice to even do.” He shook his head, then I remembered the children. They were able to do it at a young age. This means it would not require a lot of practice to do, but by their misuse, would take a lot of practice to master. “No, so anyone can use, but hard to master.” He frowned but nodded. I took that as partially correct. “It made me feel terrified and small. Everyone is so much bigger than me, and that creature. That creature was nearly ten times my size.”

“More like twelve, but I understand what you mean.”

“So mass is a factor to changing?” This was a guess, but it made sense. Every Border Guard that I saw out here so far were large, even the women.

“Yes, it is a large factor in how you can change. Not the only one, but a rather important one. Continue.”

“If size is so important, wouldn't I be a terrible candidate for this then? I take it that Waywards have to use this, this power.” I was stuttering as I spoke. Each word felt hollow and a loss of hope.

“This is true, ideally, we look for people who are large. There are a few tricks however to deal with the disadvantage to size. We can go over that another time. What you need to know though, is that however large you are. You will most likely not be larger than the creatures of category 3 or higher. None of us are in that regard. Not only this, but there are also creatures surviving out there who are a lot smaller than even you are. Do you know how they survive?”

I shook my head, “No, well maybe.” He nodded “They hide. They don’t fight but instead avoid it.”

“Yes, that is one way you can look at it. It is not wrong, but it is neither correct. They use their head.” He gestured to his head. “Creatures who use this are truly bothersome. The Twisted we saw out there was madness incarnate. It was not using this. Because he was not, he was easy to take down. Don’t let the trio fool you, they made it look harder than it needed to be. Anatomically, that creature had so many blind spots and holes in its defenses. However, the trio did not take any extra risks and brought it down, nonetheless. Rather no fatalities or injuries over a chance at a quicker kill. Now, what do you think the limitations of this power is?”

What were the limits? I understand using too much can make you go, well insane. Still don’t understand that but we will gloss over that for now. He probably did not want me saying that however, it was brought up. So, there were limits on it. I noticed that there was no shifting going on during the fight. I actually did not see any shifting whatsoever. The Sargent looked completely normal, but he had eyes that were yellow, and the irises were like a predator. He did not change when we got back to the barracks. So, I am guessing it has to be done out beyond the boundary? That is why creatures don’t venture in? They lose the power but keep their state they were in. “Shifting is slow, so use in a fight is not advised. Shifting, I mean Transmutation can only be done outside the boundaries. The boundaries deter the creatures because they feel the loss of power and don’t want to venture further without it.” Then it dawned on me. “Thats why they were hunting that Twisted. It lost its sanity and would go beyond the boundary regardless.”

Grinning Councilman Jorgonzilrye applauded me, “Yes, Twisted would go towards the residents without our prevention. The power does take some time to use, but it is dependent on a few factors. One is the knowledge of what you are trying to shape into. The other is how much magic you are pulling in.”

Magic, I always thought magic as a shapeless form that we can mold into whatever we want. Let it be fire, ice or even lightning. I had not expected the reality to be that instead of elements being shaped, it would be my own flesh. “Would you not be able to mend yourself back to your original state if suffering a wound?” It made sense, if one suffered from an injury, why not reshape your body back to before that occurred? As long as you don’t lose a limb you should have the essential mass to do this.

“You are mostly correct on that count. However, there are creatures that have a debilitating effect when they do strike a person. It is a liquid that oozes from their fangs, talons or whatever they desire that inhibits our use of the power. This will prevent that, but otherwise you are correct. I have to say, you do have some of the qualities that I see in Tarvan.”

I never felt so proud of myself. Whenever someone compares me to my older brother, it is always as a disappointment. Everyone expects me to be just like him and I am not. I straightened my back, feeling proud for myself. Rolled my shoulders back, gaining confidence. Then I blurted out looking for more praise “With this power, one can easily live forever. Extending their life span indefinitely. Make it so our body does not age and fight off all sicknesses.”

“Ahh, and you showed promise.” I deflated. Shrinking back to my original state. I really need to learn to think before I speak.