Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: Purview of a Lord

With all that happened Cynthia took stock of her body and surroundings. She could feel that she had grown much larger. Her claws sharper than ordinary blades, her senses alone capable of sensing any minor changes in the cave and quite a bit into the forest. What really shocked her was her metallic fur that nothing she had encountered so far including the adolescent Sebas would be able to penetrate. Her fur was astounding but her senses were just as impressive because she could now sense the little spider with incredible detail even though she was one growth stage above her. "This must be the benefits of a higher bloodline!" Cynthia squealed with glee. This was unlike her. She had always been a stoic woman but suddenly the excitement of this world got to her. She always found power progression in games and fantasy stories to be entirely captivating and she always wished that she'd become the main character in one. It was finally dawning on her that she had achieved her lifelong wish. The last thing she noticed was that her stripes pulsed with power. She tried manipulating them and to her surprise they moved. She then tried something crazy. What's even crazier is that it worked! She pulled one of her stripes right off of herself and she could manipulate its form as much as she wanted. The only caveat was that its durability got weaker the bigger she made it. Now that she understood her body's situation she took stock of her surroundings. Something she noticed before but only delved deeper into was the energy. She could sense all the energy around her with such detail but oddly enough she could sense it clearly up until a certain point but then the quality of the sense immediately dropped. "So this is my territory?" Cynthia disappointedly said "It's rather small. Much smaller than even a medieval town. Probably about as big as a medieval village". Cynthia's enthusiasm then skyrocketed as she felt something several meters below her. "An ore vein!" she exclaimed "If we can excavate that we may be able to create things like artifacts from cultivation novels!". Unfortunately she was soon disappointed because the ore was rather low in energy. It was equivalent to about one low level sentient beast for every cubic meter. It wouldn't even be close to equivalent to her fur. Cynthia could feel that she held absolute dominion over this space. As if the world had given this space to her. In fact the world did give this land to her as part of her rights as a lord. "What if I…" mumbled Cynthia as she gave a mental command for the ore to come and bow before her. Nobody who wasn't a lord or higher would ever think such a thing was possible. And yet, the ore traveled through the ground like an earthworm replacing the ground above it with where it was previously until it arrived at the surface. "I can't believe that worked!" exclaimed Cynthia, utterly shocked that her random impulse thought that shouldn't have aligned with reality simply worked in such a way that it was effortless. She then got a telepathic message from Sebas. "The souls say that the world in your domain will bend to your will. And also that the ore you just dug up is low grade magical silver from the Atlantis region." said Sebas. "Good to know. Thank you Sebas. Show my gratitude to your ancestors for all the valuable information they've given me." Cynthia replied saddened that she couldn't communicate with her benefactors in any meaningful way. "Atlantis huh? That's a European legend." Cynthia thought "That griffin I ate must also be from the atlantis region.". "Not only that but chupacabras are middle american. I'm caught between the mythologies of China, middle America, and Europe." Cynthia continued thinking "I wonder if there's other regions in this new world with mythologies from my old world. There may even be mythologies from worlds I don't know of.". With that as she had been growing hungry she turned her notice to the shapeshifter. "It's made of clay though… will it really be edible?". She took a bite of part of it and it actually crumbled like a wafer cookie. Oddly enough it tasted like one too. "I'm eating a dead ceramic creature that tastes like a wafer cookie…" Cynthia thought, beyond confused "am I sure I was reincarnated and this isn't all just a fever dream I'm having while freezing to death on mount Everest?". "Whatever it is, I'll enjoy it till it's over!" Cynthia said resolving herself to become stronger. She finished the ceramic dog and turned her focus to the ceramic soldier that had attained some sentience but not a beast pearl. She didn't forget to hold onto the beast pearl of the ceramic dog though. "There's no way this one tastes like a wafer cookie too right?" said Cynthia. She bit into one and she was rather taken aback. Inside the figures were fruits and jams arranged like blood and organs. "God damn that a bit morbid" said Cynthia "There's no way that's in the mythology!". "Hell with it I'm hungry and while this idea is very morbid it looks like a king's breakfast so I'm definitely gonna eat it." decided Cynthia. She was right though. That definitely wasn't in the mythology for these creatures. Cynthia, now full after finishing her morbid breakfast, looked at the pearl of the shapeshifter. "I don't want to feel that pain again, but I may attain a more humanlike form from this" Cynthia thought."well if I shrink away in fear and never consume a beast pearl again I'll never grow stronger and now that I've experienced this growth I'd be bored out of my mind if I were to stop getting stronger.". With that she popped the pearl into her mouth and braced herself. And kept bracing herself but all she felt was a slight warm tingling in her stomach for a couple seconds and then it was gone. "Why didn't that hurt?" Cynthia said bewildered "Every time I've had something to do with a beast pearl happen to me the pain got worse so why?" Then the first panel in a while popped up. Blue panel: "Tip: When you consume a beast pearl with more energy than you, It can fight for control over your body. If the pearl you consume has less energy than you do, it has no chance to fight back and you can easily make its power your own!". Cynthia's jaw dropped. "Are you telling me that pain could've been avoided if I grew stronger first?!" Cynthia screamed in a rage. The system was silent. "The next time you withhold information of such importance as that I will put all my energy into removing you." Cynthia thought in a murderous manner. Cynthia turned her attention towards the new power she felt inside her. She could feel as if there was a switch between the form she is in now and a different form. She was unsure what that form could be but she flipped the switch to find out. Her body grew smaller. Her legs grew thinner and her claws retracted and became nails. Her fangs shrank into almost human-like canines. After she fully transformed she stood up like she had countless times in her previous life. She could feel that she was very short though. She looked at her hands and they were small and stubby. She called Sebas over so that she could look at herself through her connection with him. As she gazed through his eyes she saw what looked to be a 5 or 6 year old girl with ears like a tigers on top of her head and a tigers tail coming out of her backside. Her skin was as pure as white jade. It almost had a metallic mirror-like reflection to it. Kind of like her fur but slightly different. She poked her skin and it was malleable but firm. It was just as protective as her fur but had incredible softness most women wish they could achieve. Her eyes were blood red and clearly not human, yet her body other than the tail, ears, and eyes could be mistaken for a human child. "She looks like a human," said one of the souls in astonishment. "Only high level lords can attain humanlike forms!" said another soul. "I heard that high level bloodlines can do it too," said another. "Will you all be quiet?" boomed the big spider "I suspected it before but now I'm certain.". "She is of the Celestial White Tiger bloodline!" Exclaimed the big spider "It is our clan's honor to serve a divine bloodline!". "Quick little one!" The big spider said to Sebas "Bring your siblings and kneel before her and show your undying respect and loyalty!". Sebas quickly did so. "We congratulate you on your breakthrough my lady!" said the three spiders in unison while kneeling. "Stand Sebas" ordered Cynthia. "Yes my lady!" said Sebas while standing up. "Remember this from now on, Sebas" Cynthia said to her loyal servant "you are my retainer. You are not to kneel to anyone, and you are to bow to only me". After she said that she conjured black armor and a black cloak from her stripes. They have the durability of her fur at base size, and although her stripes lose durability the bigger she makes them compared to their regular size, they actually get more durable if she compresses them and her human form is much smaller compared to her tiger form. Her defence in this form is actually far above her tiger form and while her energy is not as high as other barons, her senses and defense in this form are far beyond a baron's abilities. As Sebas bowed to his master and the two other spiders knelt she molded a throne out of the ore she had just made. As she sat down and crossed her legs she addressed the little spider first. "You are my second subordinate and you show great promise in the art of assassination and espionage." said Cynthia "I will name you Yue after the character for moon in simplified chinese.". "Yes your majesty! I am grateful for this gift!" Said Yue. Cynthia then turned to address the adolescent spider girl. "Sebas once told me that you have what it takes to become a powerful broodmother." Cynthia said "I will name you Hera after the Greek goddess of marriage and childbirth.". "Yes your majesty! I humbly accept this gift." Replied Hera. "Please." said Cynthia "Call me 'my lady'. After all, through the connection with you I can tell that Sebas' feelings for you are far from unrequited". Hera's and Sebas' faces then became red even though they were spiders and shouldn't be capable of such a thing. "You have my blessing! I know that's something both you and Sebas would like." Said Cynthia.