1 Daily life of a shapeshifting monster

'It's cold,' I thought to myself as I slept in a foetal position in the emerald-green grass.

Oh, hi, I guess I should introduce myself. I am a being without a name; a being who can shapeshift into any desirable form. I can even shift my mana output to replicate the abilities of another being. Given these powers, humans had put a bounty on my head. But I don't want to kill them, I wish for peace.

Right now, I am lying in an area called the 'Sage Forest' which is given its name due to the emerald-green leaves and grass that's found in the area. The plants here are also used for making herbs.

The Sage Forest borders two empires at war with each other, 'Steel' and 'Bane'. Steel is an empire which specializes in weapons, being able to enchant weapons to inflict high damage. They can even make charms which improve combat prowess. Meanwhile, Bane specializes in making poisons and strength enhancing potions. They aren't as good in combat, but they usually use bows and arrows doused in poison to fight which can be a pain to deal with.

And then there's me, a monster who's hated by both empires. There's a bounty on my head, wanted dead or alive for a high price of gold. Knowing the greed of humans, there are most likely several search parties on my head.

Hah, I can't even remember who I am. I don't have a name, I'm undeserving, and I have an amnesia problem. Sometimes, memories come back to me but I can't seem to recall the location or humans present. I've decided to not question them, there's no point if they don't exist anymore.

Soon enough, my eyelids are attacked by the sunlight which encroaches the land. It looks beautiful, I want to run through the fields with happiness. But I can't feel such emotions anymore. Being shunned out of society has shown me how rotten humans really are, and knowing this fact had ripped my mental state apart. I can barely contain my hatred whenever I see an adventurer.

My legs begin to shake as my thirst rises. I wander the forest until I find a clear-blue pond, the colour was so bright it had a clear reflection. Looking into the pond, I get a look at my current appearance.

I was shifted as a human child, the physical age was no higher than 10. My hair was a whiteish-grey and reached down to the mid-section of my back. My eyes were a dullish-grey colour which looked like a swirling whirlpool. My skin looked deadly-pale, it was as if I was some kind of sick child. I don't even remember taking this form, but I hate the look of it. It's too human.

But I can worry about that later. I kneel down and dip my hands into the water before cupping them together and bringing out a handful of water which I drink. It didn't taste that good, it was very warm and was probably filled to the brim with bacteria. Good thing my body doesn't react to that stuff, it gets flushed out in mere seconds of entering my system. My immune system is 10x stronger than that of an average human's.

My stomach began to rumble a few minutes after I drank, my body was craving breakfast. Standing up and looking around, I soon notice a horned squirrel running down a tree and onto the grass. Its fur was a dark-brown, it had a white underbelly and white streaks throughout its body. Sneaking behind a bush, I point my arm at the creature and shift it into a spike shape before shooting it out towards the animal. Impaling it in the stomach, it immediately falls to the floor and I shift a hand from the tip of the spike and I reel the squirrel in as if it was a fish.

Once the squirrel is in arms length of me, I shift my spike-shaped appendage back into an arm which is covered in blood. I dig in, ripping the organs out of the squirrel and stuffing them into my mouth. Blood oozes from my mouth as I enjoy the warm taste given from the creature.

Before I know it, the squirrel is reduced to nothing more than a skeleton. But at least I'm not hungry anymore. After all, I require energy to shift my body.

Sitting on the grass, I sigh as I hear rustling in the bushes nearby. They think I can't see them, but I can smell and hear them. Humans, from the Steel empire. There's no other creature that'd give off such a smell. The smell of flesh, accompanied by the smell of the weapon's steel and imbued mana.

They're most likely assassins sent by the Steel empire to put an end to me, they were probably offered a high price as well. I don't think they're gonna be much of a problem, but human persistence is gonna be an issue. For years now, they've been on my tail.

Dodging an enchanted dagger thrown straight at me, I shift my arm into a fleshy, sharp, sword before cutting it off and holding it in my other hand as my arm regenerates. Turning my head, I rush towards the bush and slash my sword at it with all my might which causes the humans to flee from their cover.

There are four humans, two fighters and two mages. I was right about them being from the steel empire. They all look pretty roughed up, having scars around their arms and faces. I'm pretty sure one of them is blind. They aren't even wearing armour, probably because it wouldn't help with assassination. But now they've been caught, they have no source of protection.

Rushing towards them again, I slash my sword but it's blocked by the two mages who had summoned some kind of barrier. The two fighters rush towards me, through the barrier, before returning their slashes onto me. I'm hit which causes thick blood to drip from me, but the wounds are easily regenerated.

I shift a tentacle out of my back and stab it into one of the fighters chests which makes him cough up blood. He's dead, there's no way he can recover from that. Turning my attention to the other humans, I get rid of the tentacle and I glare at the other fighter.

His mana is surrounding his body, he appears to have some kind of enhancement-type special move. Giving off a smirk, I replicate his mana output into my own which gives me his special move. The only difference is that mine is a clear-white colour, while his is a deep-blue.

I feel my muscles strengthen without changing shape or size at all, and whenever I move a limb it's much lighter. I can move quicker, and I can hit with more force. Perfect. The remaining fighter attempts to rush me down, but the second he gets close to me I unleash a heavy strike down his entire body. He looks at me with a distraught look before his body splits in two with a slimy sound.

The mages try to run, but I stretch my arm out and stab them both in the gut with my sword. They fall to the ground with a silenced scream. Humans are such weak creatures, I didn't even have to change my form all that much to deal with them.

Reverting my body to how it once was, I chuckle and walk away from the corpses. Humans are no problem for me, I don't see why I don't just destroy everything they've built up to this point.