“We need to find you a proper name,” I said, peering closely at him. “Do you have any ideas?”

  He shook his head, eyes wide. “No, but I’ll take any you have.”

  I thought for a moment, then smiled. “How about Rob?”

  His face brightened. “That sounds brilliant. Rob it is.”

  Just as we prepared to set off to rescue Bob, a sudden idea struck me — a way to amplify our power. I concentrated every fiber of my being, willing myself to accelerate. The world around me seemed to slow, the air thickening, time stretching.

  A faint voice whispered urgently, “...Master...we...need...to...leave...now.”

  I reached out, sharing the surge of speed with Rob until he was moving in perfect step beside me.

  “Alright,” I said, determination hardening my voice. “Lead the way.”

  We slipped out of the cluttered store and plunged into the twisting maze of the slums. “This way,” Rob murmured, guiding me deeper into the shadows.

  After a long trek, we arrived at a dilapidated house, its walls crumbling and paint peeling — a mirror of every other forgotten dwelling in these desperate streets.

  “He’s inside, Master,” Rob whispered, his voice taut with urgency.

  “No time for stealth,” I said, heart pounding. “Rob, charge the door. Ram it down.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  With a sudden burst of speed, Rob hurtled forward, his shoulder crashing into the heavy wooden door. The hinges groaned and splintered, and the door was ripped off its frame with a violent crash.

  Inside, five figures stood frozen in shock. And there, tied to a chair, gagged and helpless, was Bob.

  I focused sharply on the five captors, reaching out to sever the connection between their brains and bodies. One by one, they collapsed, alive but utterly paralyzed.

  I hurried to untie Bob. “Master… you… came,” he whispered, relief flooding his voice.

  I slowed myself and Rob back to normal pace. “There’s no need to worry. I always come. Now, why did they capture you?”

  Bob’s eyes darted nervously. “They kept muttering something about the prince… or someone. I was dazed and confused.”

  “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” I muttered. Moving toward one of the unconscious captors, I asked, “Which one is the pyromancer?”

  Bob pointed to the man wearing a yellow armband.

  I tried to peer into his mind, but even with the amulet’s aid, nothing came through. Narrowing my focus, I reached further, sensing the fire magic simmering beneath his skin. Such power always meant rank — this one was dangerous. I copy his appearance.

  I decided he was too risky to awaken. Slowly, I wove flesh into his arteries, blocking them, ensuring he could not rise.

  “Bob, Rob — throw the pyromancer outside.”

  “Yes, Master,” they answered in unison, hauling the unconscious pyromancer out into the cold night.

  As we stepped away, I turned my focus to one of the other downed men. Carefully, I reconnected his brain to his body, willing him awake. His eyelids fluttered open.

  “What happened?” he croaked, confusion clouding his gaze.

  “We were knocked out by someone,” I told him quietly. “The prisoner escaped.”

  “The prince will be furious,” he muttered darkly.

  “Why would the prince be angry?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

  He shot me a sharp look. “Why are you asking? You should know that.”

  “Consider it a test,” I said, twisting the magic to heighten his fear.

  “O-Okay,” he stammered. “What do you want to know?”

  “What is the relationship between us and the prince?”

  He swallowed hard. “We act as the prince’s hands when he doesn’t want to soil them himself.”

  “And what do you usually do?”

  He hesitated, then answered, “If the prince wants a rival store shut down, or someone taken care of, we do it. No questions asked. And all the other… less savory business.”

  “So you only follow the prince’s orders?”

  “Not exactly,” he said, eyes flickering with unease. “We have to make money to do the prince’s work. So we sell drugs, arms, and run rackets to fund ourselves.”

  “Then why capture Bob?”

  “Bob?” The man frowned. “The one who escaped?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, right. He was one of us... before he ruined everything.”

  “What did he do?” I asked, my voice low and steady, though my curiosity burned brightly.

  The man shifted nervously under my gaze. “He was tasked with an important delivery for the prince. Something big, from what I’ve heard. But when he returned, he came back raving that the delivery had been stolen… by a giant spider.”

  “A giant spider?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

  He nodded quickly. “Of course, when the prince heard that, he didn’t believe it. Neither did the boss. They accused him of drinking it instead. I don’t know what the delivery was, but apparently losing it cost the prince his chance at the crown.”

  “And what did they do to him?” I pressed.

  “They ‘interrogated’ him,” the man said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “But he wouldn’t admit to anything, no matter what they did. In the end, they decided he was useless. Nothing left to do but… get rid of the waste.”

  I frowned, my mind racing. “Final question,” I said, leaning closer. “How did you know it was him you were looking for? He doesn’t look like a dwarf anymore.”

  The man’s lips curled into a faint smirk. “That was simple. We used his blood. He left enough for us to track him. His appearance might’ve changed, but blood doesn’t lie.”

  I straightened, satisfied. “Thank you. That was very helpful.”

  Before he could respond, I reached out with my magic, severing the connection between his brain and body once more. I sealed his arteries carefully, ensuring he wouldn’t wake again.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  One by one, I repeated the process with the remaining captors, leaving them all silent.

  Stepping outside into the cool night air, I turned to Rob and Bob. “Throw the pyromancer back inside,” I commanded. Before they could move, I reached out with my magic, focusing on Bob. Carefully, I altered every inch of his blood, ensuring it was no longer the same as what they had used to track him.

  The night sky stretched above me, dark and dotted with stars, but my thoughts were far from serene. What I’d heard inside was troubling. The threads of a greater scheme were beginning to unravel, and I needed a plan.

  And then it came to me. I had it! But first, there was something I needed to do. I needed to go to the ‘temple.’

  When I arrived at the ‘temple,’ its shadowed form loomed in the moonlight. I stepped inside to find the transformed five and the tumor girl waiting for me. As soon as they saw me, their heads turned sharply in unison.

  “Your Holiness, you have arrived,” they said, voices reverent. One by one, they rose, only to immediately drop to their knees. A bit theatrical, I thought, but I let it slide.

  “Call all the believers,” I said firmly. “We are going to begin the transformations of the faithful.”

  Without hesitation, the tumor girl and the five scrambled to their feet and darted out into the night to summon the believers. It was late, and I knew most of them would be asleep, but there was no time to waste. I stepped outside to wait, the night air cool against my skin.

  Time passed — how much, I couldn’t say — before I heard the sound of footsteps, growing louder and louder. The six had returned, and behind them came the believers. Far more than I had expected. They poured into the street, so numerous they began to block it entirely. Luckily, the streets were deserted at this hour.

  “How many?” I asked the six, my voice calm but curious.

  “About five hundred,” one of them answered, almost breathless.

  Five hundred. I looked out at the sea of faces, their numbers stretching farther than I had anticipated. This was more than I could have hoped for. The scale of what was to come began to take shape in my mind, and I stood silently, preparing for what lay ahead.

  “Alright, everyone, get ready to change!” I called out, my voice ringing across the crowd.

  The response was deafening. The believers roared in unison, their excitement palpable, their faith absolute. I stood at the center of the sea of faces, their eyes fixed on me, their anticipation filling the air like a storm waiting to break.

  I closed my eyes and focused, channeling my magic into them. The first change came quickly—an enhancement to their hearing, sharpening their senses far beyond what they had ever known. Then I moved to their skin, dividing the crowd into three groups. A third of them began to turn red, their skin glowing with a fiery hue; another third shifted to vibrant blue, cool and serene; and the final third transformed into a striking green, earthy and vivid.

  Next, I turned my attention to their eyes. I gave each of them a second pair—new eyes that appeared just above their original ones. The original pair turned gold and granted them night vision, while the new pair shimmered with the ability to see in both infrared and ultraviolet. When they switched to infrared vision, the new eyes glowed red, and when they viewed ultraviolet, they turned purple. The effect was mesmerizing.

  I wasn’t done. I gave them the same enhanced digestion organ I had gifted Rob, ensuring their bodies could sustain their transformations. Then I reshaped their limbs, granting them prehensile feet, a prehensile tail, and an additional pair of hands. Their aging slowed by half, their lives now extended far beyond what they had ever expected. I gave them another heart, another liver, and another pair of lungs, ensuring their bodies would endure.

  Their resilience grew as I gifted them fire and cold resistance, rendering them impervious to extreme temperatures. Their hair ignited into living flames, flickering and dancing like firelight atop their heads. Their skeletons thickened, their bones strong as steel, and a pair of horns emerged from their foreheads, curling upward like a crown of power.

  I wasn’t finished yet. I granted them all the gift of fire manipulation, their connection to the element now innate. And finally, I reshaped their bodies once more, making them hermaphroditic. Their builds became lithe and feminine, their features delicate yet strong. To ensure the permanence of their transformation, I altered their blood so that their new traits would be inherited by their descendants.

  As the final touch, I turned the magic inward, transforming myself to match them. My skin, however, was unique—red, blue, and green in equal measure, a balance of all three.

  When the transformation was complete, I opened my eyes and saw the believers gazing at themselves in wonder. They touched their new skin, their flaming hair, their horns, their new eyes. The street was filled with gasps and murmurs of awe, a tide of astonishment and reverence spreading through the crowd.

  I stood among them, their leader and their equal, and the night seemed to tremble with the weight of what we had just become.

  “My precious faithful,” I began, my voice steady and clear, carrying across the restless crowd. “I grant you new life, a new beginning. But first…”

  I raised my hand and pointed to the six standing nearby. “I name these six as my apostles.”

  A roar of approval erupted from the crowd, a wave of cheers and shouts that echoed into the night.

  “I have given you gifts—new ways to wield power, like the manipulation of fire, and the ability to convert every morsel you eat into pure energy.”

  The mood shifted suddenly as I shared my reason. “The reason I am doing this now is because I am returning to my realm.”

  A chorus of voices rose up, desperate and pleading. “No! Don’t leave!”

  I raised a hand, calming them. “I am not leaving forever. I will return in ten thousand years. So this is not goodbye, but simply… a see you later.”

  With that, I turned and left, Rob and Bob close behind.

  We made our way to the emporium, the quiet streets swallowed by the night. Inside, a cheerful voice greeted us. “Welcome to the Dragon’s Hoard. What can I do for you?” It’s the middle of the night, and you’re still open?

  “Yeah, I’m here to withdraw some funds.”

  “Sure, just sign in with your blood so we can recognize your account.” He produced a shimmering orb, hovering in midair.

  I summoned my signature blood magic and let a drop fall gently onto the orb.

  “Ah, yes, Dim,” he said, nodding. “You made an account recently and have a hundred and twenty platinum. How much would you like to withdraw?”

  “All of it,” I replied.

  “Hold on a moment,” he said, disappearing into the back room.

  After a minute or two, he returned, carrying the gleaming platinum coins.

  “Here you go,” the clerk said, handing over the coins. “Do you need anything else?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “Do you sell horses?”

  “Certainly,” he smiled. “They’re out the back of the store. Just step outside and go around the building. You’ll find Jredka there with the horses.”

  “Thank you,” I said, following his directions.

  Before long, I stood in front of Jredka, who was busy tending to a small herd. Without hesitation, I reached into my pouch. “How much for a horse? Actually, never mind—here’s one platinum. I’ll take three.”

  Jredka’s eyes flickered with surprise but he didn’t hesitate. He brought forth three horses, each one somehow in better shape than the rest—muscles rippling beneath gleaming coats, strong and sure-footed, ready for any journey ahead.

  We saddled up and began the long journey toward the city’s exit, the rhythmic clatter of hooves echoing against the cobblestones. It took us over an hour to finally reach the massive gates, looming ahead like silent sentinels.

  Fortunately, the gates were open. I couldn’t help but think how different our fate might have been if the guards knew who was fleeing under the cover of night. If they had even an inkling that the man who had angered the prince was escaping, we wouldn’t have been so lucky.

  Once beyond the city walls, we followed the winding road, the night whispering around us. We rode for another hour before veering off the road and into the dense embrace of the woods. The trees closed in around us, their branches casting long shadows under the pale light of the stars.

  We were searching for a cave—a safe haven to hide before dawn broke completely. The forest seemed endless, and just as the first rays of sunlight began to bleed into the sky, we finally stumbled upon what we were looking for.

  The cave gaped before us, dark and silent, a perfect refuge. We dismounted and stepped inside, the cool air of the cavern wrapping around us like a cloak. I raised my hand, focusing my magic, and conjured a wall of flesh across the entrance. Slowly, I molded it, reshaping it until it looked indistinguishable from solid rock.

  From the outside, the cave entrance now appeared sealed off, a simple stone wall blending into the rugged terrain. From our side, however, I made the wall translucent, allowing us to see out while remaining hidden. It was perfect.

  As dawn broke fully, painting the world outside in soft hues of gold and blue, we settled into the safety of our hidden sanctuary. The journey ahead would be long, but for now, we were safe.

  "Anyone have anything to say before we leave this era behind?” I asked, glancing at Rob and Bob.

  “Nope,” Rob said without hesitation.

  “No,” Bob echoed.

  “Very well, then,” I said, steeling myself. “Prepare yourselves to enter a new world.”

  I concentrated, weaving my magic around us—and the horses—slowing our bodies until a single second stretched to a year. Seasons sped past in rapid succession, winters coming and going like fleeting shadows. I counted silently within myself the passing of each cold season. I had promised to return in ten thousand years, and I meant to keep that promise.

  Before three hours had slipped away, ten thousand years had passed.

  Outside, summer bathed the world in warm light. I let the flesh wall dissolve into nothingness and stepped out. The three of us mounted our horses once more, following the forest path back to the main road, and from there, onward to the city.

  But what awaited us was no bustling metropolis—it was a collection of ancient ruins, crumbled and overgrown. Somewhere near the heart of what once had been the city, we spotted a small village, nestled like a fragile ember amid the remnants of stone and ruin.

  As we entered the village, the moment we crossed the threshold, we were surrounded—pitchforks raised, eyes wary and suspicious. The past was gone, and this new world was nothing like we remembered.