The instincts of a Ghilan which could track down the scents like a red wispy trail lay before me. Which could hear noises and sounds miles away, but was particularly attuned to those that sounded unnatural – those that sounded to be of human origin.
The panther squirmed in vain beneath me, trying and failing to bite me, swipe at me, put up a futile struggle against me. I could hear its heart beating within. Track the flow of its blood, how it moved through veins and arteries. I knew, at a glance, where its major organs were. At a glance, I could tell, the angle I would need to sink my teeth into it to put it out of its misery quickly – or to extend its suffering long enough to enjoy a truly satisfying meal.
“[Beast Taming.]”
The panther’s eyes glossed over. There was a brief struggle wherein the creature attempted to fight the effects but lost. The panther stopped trying to fight. It did not bother attempting to struggle. Rather than a mighty predator, I had before me an overgrown housecat.
Releasing the tamed panther from my grasp, I slumped back to the forest floor, closing my eyes.
The action made me laugh.
I can close my eyes again.
My new evolution brought to me the pleasures of being able to breathe, eat, and close my eyes, but also came with the complications of a specific diet and senses utterly and completely attuned to hunting and finding that specific diet.
“Ah, do I have –”
I sat up immediately, my eyes looking down to my form and my hands going down to confirm if it was there. It was.
“I have a cock.”
Any problems I had with the diet of my new species vanished with the realization that my new girth was massively larger than average.
Chapter 12: A King and His Kingdom
The third time I made my way into Fort Zyvar was entirely different from the first and second. No alarms rang. No forces came charging. My presence was met with silence. Silence and trepidation.
The nightmares of Fort Zyvar fled on sight. Tripping and stumbling over themselves to get away from me. Pushing each other, screaming and running. I’d barely said a word, barely made a sound, and they ran. They ran without looking back.
There was nothing different about me in the slightest, at least, as far as I knew. Sure, I was fully equipped with my Mask of Janus, my magnetite-infused, halite-encrusted Tungsten-Copper Gauntlets, and Tungsten-Copper Brogues, and my Stainless Diamond Armor – but that was not enough for them to be so wary of me.
No, not wariness. My nose – I loved having a nose – could smell it. The air reeked with terror. Terror possessed the same smell as urine-soaked bedsheets and unwashed undergarments. Every one of Erzili’s darlings was on the verge of soiling themselves, and I was not entirely sure why.
I had grown several inches with this evolution. I was somewhere close to about seven-feet-three-inches tall. My Mask of Janus was slightly modified to fit my new face, but the increase in height should not have been enough to cause such a reaction. Unless somehow, they remembered my previous arrival? Remembered the previous timeline in which I had invaded with my tungsten golem army?
I disregarded the thought. It wasn’t possible. There was no way anyone should be able to remember the timeline differences but me. So, if that was not the cause of their newfound terror… then what was?
“Do you mind, darling?”
Erzili arrived. Along with Onna, Wunder, Slim and Arol. The full force of the Commander and Lieutenants of Fort Zyvar approached me all at once. None of them seemed eager. All of them seemed serious. Arol was visibly nervous. Wunder was grim-faced. Slim was unreadable as ever, and Onna, Onna looked as if she were trying to turn me to ice with her glare.
Erzili took a different form again. A woman, once more, with chocolate skin and auburn hair. Enchanting blue eyes, petite features, and a lithe form, and she was, unsurprisingly, not garbed in any clothes.
“Not at all,” I jested. “Pleasure to meet you again, Erzili.”
Erzili’s brow rose. “Erzili does not believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”
So… she doesn’t remember at all, does she?
“Would you kindly explain,” Erzili said, face stern. “How it is that Erzili awoke suddenly no longer the owner of Erzili’s domain, and somehow your minion?”
I blinked. I could blink in surprise again, and I blinked at her words. What? As I was wearing a mask, my surprise and confusion were not properly conveyed. Instead, I muttered a single word underneath my breath. “Minions.”
Minions
You have (1) minion.
Minion(s) Available: Erzili
Would you like to view More Information on the Minion [Erzili]?
[Yes]
[No]
Erzili was still my minion? How? I hadn’t made her my minion in this timeline. Is this… duality working?
Epithet Skill: [Duality] Lv. Max
Details: A skill unique to the bearer of the name [Janus]. This skill enables the user to experience the road not taken. Whenever making a decision, the user may split their perception of reality into two – [Path A] and [Path B], enabling them to know the possibilities a decision taken or not taken may have.
The user experiences both realities and may choose which reality they prefer to follow by committing to it and turning it into the [True Path]. The user retains any knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience points gotten from both realities, but none of the
