The Truth of True Bodies

He gives me a nod before turning to Justin who also greets him, but far more casually. As I tentatively take a seat, I wonder what he wants. He does not seem surprised to see us here so the only logical conclusion is that he sought us out. Yes, I know he's officially my mentor, and that he has a right to see me whenever, but his presence makes me tense.

"So, what do you want, boss?" Justin asks with a smile.

Zarel moves to the side of the table, where a new chair suddenly appears. Speed casting, but at a level far greater than mine. He takes a seat before he speaks. "I'm here to check up on my Apprentice. So, what have you two been doing so far."

Justin gives him a quick overview of how our lessons usually are and he nods. "So, how good is he with speed casting?"

"Well," says Justin, "at first he was really slow and he usually needed ten to fifteen minutes to craft a spell, but now he uses around two to five minutes so he's definitely improved."

"And what's his progress with the True Body?"

"Well, we've mostly been focused on biology. Learning how living things work, the noers you can use to achieve certain effects on an organism, that kind of stuff. We're done with most of the over-arching topics, so we've been focusing on the details recently."

Zarel turns to me. "Ribosomes, what are they used for?"

"Umm, packaging and transporting proteins."

He doesn't stop there, following up with a series of increasingly difficult questions. I manage to answer most of them currently. Next, he begins questioning me on noer and their effects on living organisms. This time, I don't have it so easy, needing to think a bit before I can answer even the simpler questions.

"If I use Harding's array on a cell, what happens?"

"It forces the creation of more chromosomes in the organism. At a large level, if uncontrolled it can cause Down's syndrome and other similar diseases, but in combination with the Tetra-fita noer, it can seamlessly integrate the new chromosomes into the cell, leading to a chain reaction that effectively turns the cell into an entirely different organism."

Zarel stares silently at me for a moment before turning to Justin. "Alright. He has enough knowledge to start with. I want both of you to begin designing the blueprint for his True Body. Any knowledge he lacks along the way will be taught to him before you proceed. Alright?"

Justin frowns a bit. "Sure boss, but why are you rushing things?"

Zarel glances at me. "I will explain why to you later. For now, just do as I say. I'll make sure to check on you both later, to see how far you two have gone."

Justin nods and Zarel stands up before walking out of the room. As he leaves, the chair he had created vanished.

"Well, you heard the man. Starting from our next class, we'll begin designing your True body. So let me give you a pretty simple -or difficult, assignment. I want you to think of what you want your True Body to be like. Appearance, defining features, abilities, that sort of thing. Next class I, 'll take a look at your requirements, ensure everything is feasible, and then we can start working on something."

For a moment I feel a twinge of excitement, then it dies out as I realize that I have no idea what I want my True Body to be like. I know I want it to be powerful, and unique, but apart from that there are no specifics.

"Can I see your True Body?" I ask Justin. "If it's alright with you. I don't know if it's rude to ask or anything."

Justin looks at me for a few seconds, before smiling a mischievous smile. "Sure." He says before he begins to strip. I watch dumbfounded until he stops while just wearing his underwear a few moments later. "Sorry about this, but I don't want to damage my clothes. My True Body isn't exactly normal."

I nod as my eyes rove over his mostly naked body. I am straight, but even so, I cannot deny the beauty of Justin's body. His apparent fitness alone is enough to make any girl drool, add on his silky smooth and flawless skin and only one word could come to my mind. Damn!

He straightens and takes a deep breath, then he breathes out. As he does so, for a brief moment, countless noers flash on his skin. Then he is enveloped by a bright light and the surroundings suddenly become hotter. When the light fades, I am finally able to see the inhuman thing standing in front of me.

It is a hulking beast over ten feet tall, massive snow-white wings cover the body leaving only the head and feet exposed. The feet seem normal, if you ignore their grey, leathery look, so my eyes naturally drift to the head. Long white hair flows down from the scalp, and if one were to just focus on that, everything might have seemed okay. But the face changed everything. The eyes were pools of blackness, with a tiny blue dot right in the center, and apart from then, the rest of the organs were unrecognizable. Dark slanted slits dominated the rest of his face, with thin grey tendrils pouring out of the ones on the lower half of his face, forming what - if you squint really hard - almost looks like a beard.

I am still caught up by his facial appearance when his wings unfurl, revealing the rest of his body. Thankfully, the rest of his body is relatively normal. For, very muscular arms, a pair of legs, and a very thick tail which is currently wrapped around one of his legs.

He takes a step toward me and I feel a stab of fear. Despite knowing who he is, for some strange reason, his appearance terrifies me. No. It's not his appearance that terrifies me, it's the implications of his appearance.

When I first saw a True Body, Hugo's True Body. I hadn't been scared. In fact, it was the opposite, I loved it, which is why I had no problems choosing the True Body Trump. To me, it seemed cool. But then, I had been in the midst of battle, and Hugo had been saving me.

But now, free from all external emotions, I finally looked upon a True Body and understood something. They are not human. And something about that fact struck fear in me. I imagined my mum, Emily, or even Cassandra seeing me turn into something like what was in front of me right now. How would they react? They would probably think I am a demon, if not worse. I could see the fear in their eyes.

I had done my research. Those from the True Body Trump willingly modify their bodies, turning into something entirely new in the process, something greater than a human, in theory. The process is irreversible, and something about the type of magic used ensures that the final result is permanent. They can't change back to human, they can't reverse the process, and they are stuck like that forever.

Justin's eyes narrow. "Ian," his voice no longer sounds normal. "Have you fully considered the implications of getting a True Body?"

"I… I thought I had."

He is silent for some moments, then he lets out a sigh, stirring up the tendrils on his face. "Well, at least we haven't started the process yet, your Trump can still be changed." He sits down and says, his voice softer. "Ian. The True Body Trump is not for the faint of heart. We are special compared to the other Trumps. Once you are done with the process, you cease to be human. Yes, we have human appearances, but those are just for show. It's us trying to hold on to the little shred of humanity we have left. Why do you think most of our True Bodies are humanoid?

"Ian. I can smell your fear, and I think I know what you think about my body. That it's not normal, or human, and I am doomed to remain forever like this. I don't regret my choice, but that is because I knew what I was walking into when I signed up. Even then, I sometimes miss when I was still fully human. And guess what, my kids are doomed to end up like me, and their kids too, on and on and on."

He goes silent.

"What's it like?" I ask.

"Different. That's all I can say. Most of us have different True Bodies, so the way we experience the world is different. Look Ian, if you follow this path, you will become something else. Alright, here's what we're going to do. You are going to spend as long as necessary making your decision, and until you do, I will only teach you speed casting. Should you decide to continue, then we'll do as Grand Master Zarel said. Until then, we're putting the True Body stuff on hold." He turns back into his human self. "Alright, let's end today's class here. You have a lot to think about."