ALL NOVEL Ch49 Fluffy Plans
The tower of books teetered and tottered precariously as I placed atop it my latest find: Bep Orton’s “Analysis of Otherkin.” This tome, written in a rather dry and unengaging manner, sought to dismantle the misguided beliefs that Otherkin were inferior. Instead, it argued they could be harnessed more efficiently than regular humans, for profit. Orton lauded the potential benefits for profit through the strategic use of otherkin. Predictably, this volume came from the recent haul I received from the corporate archives, where the sole pursuit was gain, regardless of the ethical cost. The weighty topics within the book were overwhelming, prompting me to stretch and yawn, my body crackling in protest. It was almost as tough as clearing a dungeon floor.
My mind wandered, reflecting on recent events. With every library book read, I was assigned the task of finding more books for the Bibliotheca Eternium. Upon leaving, the world had transformed. Apparently, almost everything was lost, but my papers rescued everyone, earning me their worship. Following this revelation, I journeyed to an exile encampment that turned out to be more of a village. It came under attack, a situation I swiftly resolved.
As I attempted to mend things, I was repeatedly targeted by a princess who accused me of being an imposter. After several attempts on me and those around me, the King offered me his kingdom, recognizing me as real and not a fake. While I assumed ultimate authority, I left him in charge with a trusted advisor. I needed to delegate away as much as possible so that I could read more. Plus, the people really needed to be able to do things on their own. That was probably the next thing I needed to worry about getting everyone to be better and more self-sufficient. Chunks of text from various books I had read started to float around in my mind, images and idea started to coalesce—
The unsteady book stack almost crashed to the ground before I caught it with telekinesis. This snapped me out of it and before I started another project I realized that I really needed to see how things were before I made any more plans to change things or even reintroduce old ideas that were long forgotten.
No one had used the emergency contact system, so things weren’t too bad. I just hoped they weren’t letting things get bad so that I could have a rest. While it was nice, it wouldn’t be worth the headache to clean up. I used a few quick spells to spruce myself up, then headed to the front door.
There was the faint sound of shuffling feet on the outside of the door. It should have just been some people passing nearby. I mean, if there were a lot of them, the noise would carry. They wouldn’t be right outside my door, right? Even if they were waiting to ambush me, I had my defenses up at all times.
The door lightly creaked as I pulled it open. To my utter horror, the hallway was stuffed with people, both standing and kneeling. They all looked up at me like a horde of calamity beasts looking for essence. Their position was that of someone praying. Instantly, they all started calling my name and thanking me, but they didn’t move towards me. It appeared that they still had their wits about them, but I couldn’t bring myself to move out. It was just way too many people, and none of them I recognized. My chest started pounding.
I shut the door before I did anything that would cause me to waste my reading time. I had no prepared speech, not even a common line to give them. “Hello” would have been just too bland. This was the time for one of my advisors to get a mental message, “Liz, may I borrow you right now?”
“Sure, where are you? I will head there right now.”
Instead of making her wade through the mass of people, I simply used the retrieval spell I built into the amulet. A light formed in the shape of a human and she appeared in mid-step, causing her to almost lose her footing. My telekinetic control was almost second nature at this point, and I caught her, leading her back to her feet.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t want you to have to wade through whatever is going on out there.”
“It’s okay. Just give me a few seconds to prepare next time, so I don’t drop anything. All of those people are your followers from Bookdom. There has been a mass influx of visitors trying to meet you and give you their thanks.”
So it seemed that my show of helping everyone had left a good impression. So good that I am not going to be left alone to read. So I guessed it was too good. “I just wanted to get out and stretch my legs a bit. Then I needed to explore Bookdom to see what the bookstores are like as well as my church and the corporation and the nobles and, well, many other things. I need to see what it is like for the otherkin as well.”
Lyz tapped her cheek and tilted her head before smiling. “Do you have any transformation spells?”
“Well yes, I can easily hide my identity but I can never decide who to be and I always give myself away with how I act. Everyone always figured me out in the library when I changed how I look.”
“Why don’t you transform into an Otherkin. Then people would never suspect you.”
I COULD HAVE AN ADORABLE TAIL AND EARS! “I love that idea! Then no one would notice as I read! Also, I would be able to get my other responsibilities done as well.” The unlimited reading time I could have and no one to confront me would be great. I loved the idea of sitting reading in a crowd and reading but nobody noticing me. It was like being social without having to be social. Those were some of the only times I appreciated having a fan club because when I sat at a table it was filled almost immediately. There was a nice rune-enforced cone of silence on the table so even if someone tried to break the sanctity of the reading table they couldn’t.
“May I design the outfit?” she asked, beaming with excitement.
“Of course, I would just use something too ancient out of my wardrobe, anyway. What kind of otherkin should I be? It definitely has to be fluffy,” I said, getting caught up in the moment. I hadn’t been this excited in a while; even my speech patterns were excited.
“What about pointed ears and a fluffy tail? I believe a fox, oh, a snow fox! They have white hair and white fluff. You could even have white eyes.”
“That would be so different from me; no one would notice!” I exclaimed, my voice rising as my plan for more reading time was coming together.
“Let me see what you decide on for your transformation so I can get a better idea as for what clothes for you to wear.”
“Alright!” I said excitedly, hopping into my memobrary. I started corralling through the transformation section. Shortly thereafter, I found “Tragens Transformations for Treachery and Treason.” While the name was dubious, it had the best selection of spy spells. Books written by country-funded military operations were always the best. A country’s spymaster had written the book after a coup against a corrupt leader.
In it, I pulled out a polymorph spell that, once created, could be used as an alternate form that had an on-off switch. The book advised pairing it with a quick-change spell that allowed you to swap clothing at the same time. The pair definitely worked well if you didn’t want to just use illusion magic, which was more easily seen through.
For the next step of the spell, you needed to visualize what you wanted to become, then cast the spell. This was nice because a lot of other spells wanted specific words for each variation you were doing, which was sometimes tedious. There were warnings about adding extra appendages like arms and such. The spell could account for them, but the caster would need time to get used to them. So for me, that would mean that I would have to get used to the tail and ears.
Following the first instruction, I started putting together what I wanted to look like. Well, how cute and fluffy I was going to be. There had been a number of reference images in the books about otherkin. I had also seen and met quite a few.
I really wanted something different from what I was now, so I really needed a hair and eye color change as well. The features I liked most were pointed ears and a fluffy tail. Making them white like a poofy cloud was the obvious best choice.
There had been a reference to a more unique feature that would sometimes occur in otherkin: the person would grow claws and paws for hands, with a furry paw and forearm. Similarly, it would happen to the feet as well. It honestly looked super adorable.
That transformation was definitely way different than what I am now. It was also known for being rather strong and good in combat. I didn’t like combat much against other people, even though people tried to approach me with practice matches in the library. Generally, I would only do combat in my jaunts through the dungeon, which with these new modifications would be so fun to try. Then again, I could also just go find some calamity beasts to mess with when I need to stretch my legs and refocus my eyes.
“Please handle the people outside. I am taking my leave for now,” I said as I ripped open a portal to town.
