Chapter 3927: Just as Important (Part 2)

"That’s my point." Bytra countered. "Isn’t it better to give Zor’s life force more time to recover?"

"Child, you underestimate the regeneration abilities of a fallen troll." Baba Yaga tutted. "Your wife’s vitals peaked over a day ago and have been stable ever since. Waiting longer won’t do her any good.

"We need to test if everything is alright and, if necessary, fix the imperfections we missed while Zoreth is still here. Besides, I’m only asking her to shapeshift. Sure, it will stress her a little, but the good kind of stress.

"Rearranging her life forces is akin to a light stretching exercise. The perfect test to check Zoreth’s balance and how much her condition has improved."

"Fine, I’ll trust you." Zoreth stepped into a clearing large enough to host her Divine Beast form and took a deep breath to relax.

Her life force felt weird and unresponsive, but Baba Yaga had warned her that it might have happened. Zoreth steadily increased the pressure until she felt her body starting to change.

"Remember what I told Lith." The Red Mother said. "Don’t think about what you are supposed to look like. Ride the flow until the end and let it carry you."

’Easy for you to say.’ The Shadow Dragon inwardly grumbled. ’You’re not a patchwork of different beings, I am. I swear to the gods, if I now have two asses or something, I’m going to-’

The silver lining of her internal monologue was that Zoreth’s focus on the possible ridiculous forms she wanted to avoid allowed her body to shapeshift freely. Her new Shadow Dragon form looked almost identical to the original.

She only had one set of membranous wings, two legs, two arms, and one head.

"That’s it?" Zoreth checked every inch of her body with her Dragon Eyes, discovering that not one of her scales had changed in shape or size. "I don’t feel any better than before, quite the contrary.

"My peripheral vision has decreased considerably. What’s wrong with me?"

"This." Baba Yaga conjured a mirror construct in front of Zoreth’s face, revealing the missing piece of the whole.

"What the fuck?" The Shadow Dragon only had two eyes that shone with yellow light and bore a black-slitted pupil. "What happened to my other two eyes? How can I be a hybrid between a rank 1 Odi and a rank 1 human yet lack both the extra eyes and arms?"

"That’s a very good question, but I have no answer." Lith said. "Your eyes are still yellow like mine were back when I was a Wyrmling. Maybe, now you can channel the elements through them."

"It’s worth a try." Zoreth replied.

Lith and Vastor had shared their respective techniques with her countless times in the past, but she had always failed. Zoreth followed their instructions, focusing on the single elements that comprised the world energy and checking if any of them resonated with the elements inside her body.

"I feel something." She said after a while. "There’s too much resistance to call it a flow, but if I try hard enough, I can feel something move."

"Your human side must be as atrophied as mine." Lith said. "What you describe is no different from what I experience when I try to turn my physical wings into energy."

"Do you feel pain at any point in the process?" Baba Yaga asked.

"No." Zoreth replied.

"Then keep pushing until something happens."

The Shadow Dragon crouched, shifted on her feet, and grunted so much that soon everyone started to wonder whether she really felt the power of the elements or an incoming bowel movement.

’It would make sense.’ Solus had a hard time not laughing. ’Zor hasn’t pooped in a millennium. If she pulls out her Dragon Gemstone in front of everyone, she’ll get in trouble with the rest of the Brood.’

’No more than she already is for being an Eldritch.’ Lith replied. ’At least her droppings shouldn’t stink.’

’You guys are terrible.’ Menadion chuckled.

With a powerful roar of frustration, the Shadow Dragon did it.

Her left eye shone with white light while the right turned darker than her scales. If not for a purple edge surrounding Zoreth’s right eye, one might have thought it was missing.

"A bit underwhelming, but at least I’m back on track." She said while staring at her own reflection. "I have only two eyes, but at least they work."

"Actually, you have four." The Red Mother said.

"Four?" Zoreth and everyone else searched her snout for the missing pair, but to no avail.

"Four." Baba Yaga nodded. "You are half troll, child, and that part of your body manifests its elemental affinity through its limbs."

The Shadow Dragon looked at her hands and feet, finding only scales, claws, and talons.

"Your wings, for the Great Mother’s sake." Baba Yaga snorted. "Unfurl your wings."

Zoreth complied and turned toward her left wing, finding what looked like a giant blue eye made of pure energy staring back at her. Then, she turned to the right, and a matching red eye returned her gaze.

"On my wings? That’s disgusting!" The Shadow Dragon touched the energy eyes with utmost care, feeling only the membrane of her wings.

"You really are like me, Big Sis, but with your troll side replacing my Phoenix." Lith said. "You carry the elemental power in your limbs like a troll, but the energy belongs to your human side."

"If not to both of them." The Red Mother pointed out. "Remember what I said when we started. Humans and Odi have a common ancestor. We channel the power of the elements in different ways, but we achieve a similar result.

"A Traughen’s arms are no different from a Fomor’s eyes. They grant elemental affinities and allow us to use Domination. If a Traughen is similar to me, however, their mana organs and bloodline abilities are nothing like a Fomor’s."

"I remember what you said about Lith’s human life force evolving over time and that the same might happen to Valeron’s as he grows up." Zoreth focused on understanding how the eyes on her wings worked, confirming they were comprised of pure energy. "Do you think I can evolve further?"

"I believe it’s possible." Baba Yaga replied while studying the Shadow Dragon’s new form with Sun and Moon. "Your life force is still developing, and if your powers increase again in the future, your body might be forced to evolve to contain them."

"Assuming that I evolve, do you think I’ll develop more eyes, wings, or arms?" Zoreth asked.

"That’s impossible to predict. There are too many variables." The Red Mother shook her head. "Just like I didn’t expect you to develop eyes on your wings, I have no idea what direction you might take next.

"It all depends on how your different life forces adapt to coexist and which one becomes the framework for the others to develop. Now stop yapping and show me your other form."

"What other form?" The Shadow Dragon tilted her head in confusion. "This is it. I’m Zoreth the Shadow Dragon."

"That’s not true, Big Sis." Lith replied. "You are Zoreth the Eldritch-troll hybrid. Your Dragon aspect is just a part of your Eldritch side. Your human aspect and troll side are just as important."

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