Seeds of Discordia

Liam stared at his six teammates who were still laughing at him.

Some had changed way more than others with new skin tones, bodily features, and even eye patterns.  

Roman was still the same height and had those calculative brown eyes and short blond hair. What changed with him was he now had Fox-like ears and a fluffy blond tail with a white tip.

He kinda looks like a Kitsune. Liam thought as he moved on to Blair.

Her black pixie cut hairstyle and icy blue eyes were the same as ever, but her tanned skin now sports scales running up the outside of her arms. It also covered her cheeks, and ran up her nose to her forehead. Not only that but she had a short scaled tail moving left to right behind her.

Did she become some sort of a Lizard person? Liam thought as he turned to look at Artem, who had a complete make over.

Artem’s slightly husky appearance had slimmed and toned out. His skin was now a greyish green. Protruding from his lower lip were two sharp looking tusks or teeth that came out from his mouth. His nails were short, but sharp.

Liam was confused on what he was.

He kind of reminds me of an orc from that D&D game I used to play. But he has more human features. So maybe a Half Orc? Liam thought as he turned to look at Avery.

Avery’s appearance didn’t change much. He had always thought she was kind of beautiful with her gunmetal grey eyes and long wavy midnight black hair. But now her new look screamed she was as deadly as she was beautiful thanks to her sharper facial features. The one thing that really caught his attention though, were her ears.

Are those Elf ears!? Is she an elf? Liam thought with astonishment.

He turned to the next individual who he thought was Mercer due to the clothes and the bow strapped to his back. He had to make a double take on him because, just like Artem, he too had completely changed.

His skin color had changed to a dark purple. Both of his eyes were emerald-green with hard to see yellow orbs where the irises would be. Protruding from his forehead where his hair line started were two slim dark purple horns that ran and curved over his head; with the tip of the horns pointing up. Behind him was a long thin dark purple tail as well.

Did he become a fucking demon?! Liam’s mind was shocked and wasn’t sure if he was one or something else.

Liam then turned to look at Ariyana.

She was still taller than him and had that gorgeous, smooth milk chocolate skin with long curly light red glossy hair and light blue eyes. Her presence had a more alluring feel to it that made you want to keep your eyes on her. Her laugh was a lot more mesmerizing than before and made you want to keep hearing it as well.

However, that was not all that had changed about her. On her back were what looked like Six light green leaves that swayed lightly almost like they were more than leaves. After inspecting then better, they were in fact more than just leaves, they were leaf-like wings.

Is she a fairy? A nature fairy of sorts maybe? Liam thought as the group started to calm down from their laughing fit.

“All done now?” Liam asked.

“For now, yes,” Ariyana giggled a bit.

“You had the same reaction we all had when we came across each other,” Mercer stated as he smiled at Liam.

Liam stared at him, still trying to figure out what he was.

Mercer caught on to what he was doing and asked with a smile, “Curious to know?”

Liam nodded.

“My race is a Tiefling,” Mercer pronounced as his tail swished proudly behind him.

“A Tiefling?!” Liam exclaimed. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Oh? You know what a Tiefling is?” Mercer asked with a bit of amazement.

“I know a little about them, but my knowledge is based off of a tabletop game. We only had humans in my world,” Liam explained.

“Same here,” the others said before looking at each other.

A smile spread on their faces as Ariyana added, “That’s why I was shocked when I heard I was a Fae. A Nature Fae at that.”

Liam’s eyes widened at what she said. He then asked the others, “What about the rest of you?”

“I’m a Kitsune,” Roman said standing proudly. “I feel good about this, except…I’m unsure about my tail.”

“I can understand that,” Blair agreed as Mercer nodded his head. “The tail is something I need to get used to, same with the horns and wings.

“Horns and wings?” Liam questioned with confusion. “I don’t see any horns or wings on you.”

“That’s because I was the first person to finish and I sat here learning how to hide them,” Blair answered as she closed her eyes.

After a moment had passed small tough looking horns appeared from the side of her head above the ears and pointed forward. At the same time two small scaly wings appeared behind her back.

“Whoa!” Liam exclaimed with amazement. “That’s so badass!”

“You…You think so?” Blair questioned taken aback. “I don’t know why they are so small, but I feel like there’s a reason for it and that they will grow bigger one....”

“Wait a minute?” Liam interrupted as he looked her over once more. “Are you a dragon?”

“A dragon-kin to be precise,” Blair corrected.

“Really?” Liam asked with wide eyes. “That’s so cool!”

Blair blushed.

“How about you big guy?” Liam asked as he turned to Artem.

Artem averted his gaze as he softly said, “Half Orc.”

“I knew it!” Liam shouted, making Artem flinch a little. “I knew you were a Half Orc. That explains why you look so strong and have that color skin.”

Confused by Liam’s attitude, Artem asked, “Don’t I disgust you?”

“Disgust me? Why would you?” Liam asked, this time confused.

“Because of the color of my skin?” Artem asked looking ashamed. “And the way I look.”

Liam tilted his head. “Artem, are you ashamed of what your race is and how it transformed you into a powerful looking person?"

“Powerful?” Artem asked.

“Yes, you look like someone who you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley or piss off,” Liam smiled.

Artem grew a boyish smile as he looked at Liam. He then shook his head as he stated, “I should have figured you wouldn’t be perturbed by my appearance.”

“And you shouldn’t be ashamed by yours. Be proud. Back on my planet there were many people who wanted to play an Orc in video games or even a Half Orc in the tabletop game I mentioned earlier,” Liam encouraged.

“Really?” Artem asked, looking a bit brighter after hearing Liam’s words.

Liam nodded before turning to Avery.

As he looked at her he felt something he hadn’t noticed earlier. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it felt familiar.

As he stared at her, a frown slowly formed on his face.

That frown made Avery glare at him. After a moment passed she asked while feeling irritated, “What? Got a problem with my new appearance?”

“Huh?” Liam asked. “No, why would you think that?”

“You were frowning while looking at her,” Mercer commented with a slight chuckle.

Liam turned to look at him and questioned, “I was?”

“Yeah,” Roman laughed.

Liam looked back at her and said with an apologetic smile, “My bad.” He hesitated for a moment, but decided to say, “When I checked you out, I felt something familiar, but couldn’t tell what it was.”

Ariyana, Roman, and Blair let out a laugh.

Mercer placed a hand on his forehead as he shook his head.

“Damn Liam,” Roman said.

“Taking your shot in front of us?” Ariyana asked with an impish grin.

“Huh?” Liam asked, confused. He looked at Avery who was blushing a bit. Realizing how his words sounded, he stated as he brought his hands up swiftly, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just…man I can’t describe it.”

“Just keep digging. Just keep digging,” Roman sang teasingly.

“Ah, what race are you Avery?” Liam asked, trying to change the subject as he heard Eri laugh in his mind.

You hush up too. Liam thought as he mentally frowned.

Avery gave him a slight pout slight frown look as her cheeks returned to their normal color and replied, “I am a Crimson Elf.”

“Crimson Elf? Crimson like fire?” Liam asked, genuinely interested.

“Maybe, but I don’t think that’s what it is. I don’t know what it entails,” Avery shook her head. She then gave him a playful smile and said, “What about you? You don’t look like much has changed.”

“Oh yeah,” Liam stated as he remembered about having them take a look around. “I felt like something changed but I’m not sure what.”

Liam slowly spun around as the others looked him up and down.

“I don’t see any changes,” Ariyana stated with a slight frown.

“I don’t either,” Roman agreed.

“Same,” Blair and Artem chimed in.

Even Avery shook her head.

“Did your race even change?” Roman asked.

“Yeah. I have two races. One is Cait Sith and the other is still unknown to me,” Liam replied.

“Cait Sith?” Blair and Avery asked.

“That sounds cute what is that?” Ariyana asked as her eyes lit up with interest.

“What do you mean your other race is unknown?” Mercer questioned.

Liam looked at them all as he realized that mentioning that his other race was unknown would bring up his seal. He still wasn’t fully sure what his seal entailed and didn’t want to assume anything.

After thinking it over he was about to open his mouth, but stopped as Eri chimed in, in his head.

“Are you sure you want to say anything to them?” she asked.

What do you mean? Liam asked her.

“I mean think about it. There has to be a reason as to why the seal is blocking information to you. It could be there to save you from people who would want to harm you,” Eri tried to explain.

She did have a point. He wasn’t going to talk about his seal to just anyone because he wasn’t sure himself why it was placed on him beyond the possibility of helping him grow stronger and focus on training his body and sub-stats. Beyond that, he was clueless.

After a moment of silence, Eri asked, “Do you trust them?”

Liam thought about it.

He hasn’t known them for long, but they have earned his trust since they all held a similar secret. This Forbidden Path they were on. Well, the messed up Deity’s Trial Path and the Path of the Forgotten Realm. Whatever that was.

That reminded him he needed to inform them about what he had learned, but wasn’t sure how he’d approach the subject.

He shook his head to focus on what was in front of him.

Yes I do trust them. Liam thought to Eri. I won’t tell them everything right now since there is too much to say, but I will tell them.

Eri let out a sigh in Liam’s mind as she said, “Then go ahead.”

“Everything alright?” Mercer asked as he gave Liam a look of concern.

Liam looked at him and replied, “Yeah, just got a lot to process. The reason why I can’t tell what my other race is, is because it has to do with that thing I told you guys happened on the first floor.”

Everyone’s eyes raised at that.

“Oh, so you have no clue thanks to that bullshit?” Roman asked.

Liam nodded. He then said, “I’ll tell you guys more on what I learned about it another time since there’s too much to go over, but all I know is thanks to it I get the Field of Shadows and Shadow magic.”

“Shadow Magic!?” Everyone shouted, causing Liam to slightly bounce back, like a cat who was suddenly yelled at.

Everyone saw the movement and was surprised.

“What was that about?” Blair asked, curious and concerned.

“Thanks to my Cait Sith race, my hearing has increased so you guys shouting shocked me and caused me to subconsciously move back,” Liam stated as he rubbed his arms.

Everyone looked at him with a shocked expression.

“What?” Liam asked.

“Your hearing has increased thanks to your Cait Sith race?” Mercer asked. “Anything else?”

“We can talk more about that later,” Liam said as he waved a hand to dismiss the topic.

As he waved his hand around he noticed his goggles were still over his eyes.

“That’s right?” Ariyana started. “You didn’t tell me about the Cait Sith Race. What is it?”

“Hold on. I forgot that my goggles were still on,” Liam replied as he pulled them up to his forehead.

He winced a bit as he squinted his eyes, trying to readjust them to the light in the room.

As his eyes tried to refocus on everyone in the room, everyone let out a gasp.

“What?” Liam asked with concern. He started getting a little worried as no one responded. He asked again, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Your eyes,” Avery said softly and slowly.

“What about them?” Liam asked as he looked at them.

He saw her make a weird face.

Concerned even more he turned to Mercer and asked, “Why is she making a weird face? Do I look weird or something?”

“No,” Mercer started. “Your eyes look…”

“So cute!” Ariyana squealed. “They are like cat eyes with the way they slit and go round! Are the Cait Siths cats? Please tell me they are cats!”

Liam looked and felt really concerned about Ariyana’s questions and reaction.

“Yes, they are a special kind of Cat People race from the Arcadian Kingdom that love crafting,” Liam answered.

“Of course, you have a race that loves crafting,” Avery laughed. “That sounds so like you.”

“And explains why you love to craft,” Mercer said.

“You have no idea,” Liam said to him. “I’ll tell you more about it later.”

“You said Arcadian Kingdom right?” Roman asked.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Liam inquired.

“My race is from that kingdom too,” he replied.

“Oh yeah?” Liam said. “That’s cool. Maybe our races are related somehow?”

Liam let out a laugh at the thought.

“A fox and a cat related? That would be one hell of a weird family tree,” Roman jokingly said with a grin.

“Tell me about it,” Liam smiled back.

A loud rumble echoed in the air, making everyone tun to Artem.

Sheepishly, Artem said, “Sorry, I did a lot of running around and more in my trial and it made me hungry.”

Liam felt his stomach rumble as well as he placed a hand on it and agreed, “I can jump on board with the idea of getting food.”

“Let’s go see how the world looks now that we finished this floor,” Mercer stated as they walked towards the portal waiting for them off to the side.

As Eri watched Liam and his group walk through the portal, she muttered to herself, “Not only are you interesting, my soon to be Champion, but your companions are as well. They don’t know the depths of secrets hidden within them.”

She smiled as she remember what she saw in each of them, especially in that elf girl. “Who would have thought that those two races would end up in the same group. Maybe I should give them all a blessing when I get him to become my Champion.”

Her smile grew a bit more wicked as she added, “Oh the chaos I could have them create. Hurry back quickly my soon to be Champion. Your Matron Goddess will be bored until you step back in here.”

---

  If you'd like to get 2 or 5 chapters ahead check out the Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/Trippyland