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Actually, it turns out the battle was pretty much already over at that point. So disoriented by the explosion most ended up falling into chaos. Against that as a potential threat they scattered and tried to find separate hiding spots, ones less suited for survival and sustainability. As such the two teams were pretty quickly taken care of. And then once things were done all was left was the cleanup work, going around picking up all the mines that were placed, leading all of those that surrendered back to their side of the portal, things like that. Both Hammer and Jack seemed to avoid me like the plague for the rest of the mission if they could help it. Tower didn't really seem to care and Glass just wanted me to try and show them how to do it themselves.

I did end up having to fix my arm before we left to go home. Trying to carry a book that big with a broken arm is beyond tiring, far more exhausting than pushing my body to reset some broken bones, which actually hurt quite a bit more than I had expected. I guess unlike mending bruises, mending bones and likely other more major injuries aren't as friendly on the nerves. But I guess that makes sense. Have to get them back to the way they're supposed to be, meaning moving sensitive areas rather suddenly.

There are two things to be thankful for on that battle. We did well enough and fought cautiously enough that no one on our side was seriously wounded. A few probably might need some healing to fix some battle wound or other but I was unavailable for that, not to mention most weren't that significant anyway. There were two that ended up having to release during the battle, though. The more blessed thing is apparently it's common practice to not really have to talk much after a mission. After going through everything that we had many wouldn't have anything to say anyway. And quite a few of us really wore ourselves out from using our abilities so heavily. So once getting back to our complex I was left pretty comfortably alone to go shower, get a small bit of food to eat while waiting for this fur to dry and check on the shop for some more clothes before just going to my room and going to bed.

Sleep of course was challenging at first so I mainly just dozed for an hour or two before I felt I had regained enough of my reserves to go ahead and treat the rest of my wounds enough to let me go to sleep more comfortably. Waking up was something of a relief. I felt mostly normal. A few aches still here and there from wounds not completely healed before going to bed but they'll be okay by themselves. No real threat from them. Especially since I'll probably get a few more aches from more combat training. Curious as to how my body has progressed back to my real form I strip naked and take a look at myself closely.

It's a very strange look. Rationally I know I must probably be around the point of about three quarters back to normal. But looking at it there still seems to be quite a bit to go. Most of the structural changes seem to have mostly finished. My legs, my feet, my ears and nose from what I can feel all seem to be mostly back to normal. It's just the effect of it being off comes off as very strange. It is like my entire body has fallen into the uncanny valley. That area where something is almost human but because it is almost human, the differences stand out. My big toe seems to be coming in closely, but is not quite back up to the other toes. My middle two toes are still much bigger than normal, looking very swollen as if I had an allergic reaction with them. I can walk on the heels again but my knees look somewhat bow legged. That damn tail is also still there but much smaller.

Of course getting rid of the tail itself is going to be quite the challenge. Because unlike just about anything else that is going from one state to another, the tail is going from existence to inexistence. The fact it still is there is something that stands out, even if it is only about the length of my hand. The fur on my body has definitely receded quite a bit. It doesn't even look like fur anymore at this point. It's simply become too thin and small. Now it just looks like I have a body hair problem over every inch of my body, including my face. Well, except for my hands. The fur didn't try re-growing there after I singed it all off. Knowing that I can't just sit in here all day I go about getting dressed again.

I sigh before turning to leave, putting one hand on the book for a moment. Last night I lucked out from the fact that everyone was too tired to bother bringing up anything important about what had happened but now, there is no excuse. I'll have to answer for my experiment and beyond just saying that I figured out that I could put one spell in another I have nothing to really comment on. Though there is that troubling bit of information. No one seemed to know that Projected Flames could carry another spell. Is that because it's actually common knowledge that that can be done and it's just that it's illegal to do so, that I broke some unspoken law. Or did I somehow manage to stumble on something so simple everyone else simply overlooked it.

I am somewhat startled by a knock on my door. I move over and open the door cautiously just the same. Staring at me with a very serious expression is Siren. They must have been doing fairly well. They do look a bit more human since last I saw them, though that is a fairly relative statement. A slight shortening of the beak and feathers. And the wings are a little smaller as well. But beyond that not a lot of difference. Nothing like the stark change my body has gone through in the same amount of time.

"Hurry up and eat. Then get on over to Ingrid's. Consider all other duties on hold. You've been requested," Siren states flatly.

"Um, what?" I ask, somewhat confused.

"Come on," Siren orders, grabbing me by the sleeve and pulling me out of the room. I yank my arm away to free myself and she lets me. But considering the sense of urgency I lock my door and follow behind as I'm practically rushed towards the cafeteria. "You were aware that this is like a reality show to them, right? Consider it very analogous to one of them. Your stunt last night was aired on public television. I imagine only a very few were watching you at the start of the night, but every one watching your battle would have seen that blast. So I hope you like attention, because that spell just gave you a lot of it. One of their talk shows have requested you as a guest. A few of them have, actually. It's not mandatory to attend but it is considered a huge insult to decline without a good reason. An acceptable excuse is to be at a larger venue at the time. They might not like it, but they can't fault you for taking an offer for one with a bigger audience. So you are going to the biggest one that offered and giving them an exclusive. After you've eaten, Ingrid will make you presentable. Then you will head to their studio with an armed escort. You will do your interview and come straight back. Do I make myself clear?" she asks as we arrive at the cafeteria. Currently it is completely empty as everyone else is doing fitness drills. Oddly the imp there only works on making only one plate at the moment.

"Uh, sure," I comment, still somewhat wrapped up by the whole armed escort part.

"You will be courteous, you will be humble and for God's sake be honest. Last thing you need is for these people to find out you've knowingly lied to them. People like the one you'll meet shape public opinion. If the public likes you enough then you'll find yourself more likely just marked as defeated by a volunteer or a hostage by a criminal. Do you understand? The more people like you, the better your chances at survival. Now if you'll will excuse me, I must return to my squad."

And with that she was gone, leaving me in my shaken little world. I take the plate of pancakes and eggs without thought and sit down. This is worse than I thought. Not the breakfast. That's good enough though the maple syrup seems a bit too sweet but I don't know if it is actually the syrup or that my tongue isn't fully human yet. I expected a lecture, maybe some punishment and an interrogation from my own people. I never expected that I'd have to go over to the other side and deal with those I'd be fighting against.

Trying to get my mind off the topic I turn it to something more dire. Thinking of Siren, is that going to be my fate? In ten months will becoming seventy-five percent more human mean very little change? How well can one resist every day? Will I even lose my maleness to a battle of a thousand inches? Will I even survive that long? The fact that I am even here proves that we can and do die. And didn't even Hammer say that it was their squadron leader that died? These are battles to the death after all. Even if they weren't. Even if there was a ninety-nine percent chance of surviving that'd mean about a twenty percent chance of someone dying in one of my battles each month. Meaning that even with odds this great my odds of surviving a fully year are only three in four. Most people here have only been here for a few months at most.

A few months, that's the turnaround for this place. The lucky ones, the good ones can last longer. Based solely on the people here I'd wager my odds to be only about one in five at making it six months, one in ten making it nine. From that I can maybe guess only a one in twenty shot of me making it all the way to the end of the year. And those are certainly not good odds. I sigh and finish my breakfast and get up and head towards Ingrids. As it turns out Ingrid was waiting for me, though I'm not too surprised considering. Since the imp is supposed to make me presentable it only stands to reason for her to be informed of me coming. She seems even more excited than usual.

"Come, come. Ingrid make you look great. Ingrid promise."

Watching a thing with magic make an outfit is very different to how a human would make an outfit. There are no measurements, no tape. Ingrid locks up the shop and tells me to strip. I do so thinking she'd go into the back room and grab something but that is not the case. I am a guy, a simple tux should work right? Nope. A few rolls of fabric float out of the back room and fly towards me. After rejecting a few of them completely Ingrid seems to settle on a reddish orange color and begins what I can only describe as a sort of dance. With one motion a strip of one color would begin cutting itself off the roll and then fly over to me, settling in some part of my body and then would be cut again right on me and stay right there. Then if it connects to another bit of fabric already on my body the two parts would begin sewing themselves together by magic. The few times I managed to get a glimpse of the result of this seems to not even leave a seam. But this is magic we're talking about.

It is over within but a few minutes, clumps of fabric lying on the ground all around me but then with a wave all these extra bits fly back to their rolls and reattach themselves, becoming available should they be needed again on another outfit. It brings the question of whether or not the rest of the clothes we buy are made in this fashion or are just purchased from a store or vendor. At any rate I guess I can argue with the results. There would be no possible way to get a better fit for an outfit than to make it on the person right there. If only the outfit wasn't so ridiculous looking. It is a suit at least, so there is that slight positive in that she didn't try and make me wear a dress anyway. But it's a cream colored undershirt and a red jacket and pants. Both the sleeves and the pants fade towards a dark brown about halfway down.

It is certainly well made. On my left arm there's even the rose from my book embroidered onto the sleeve in a thin orange string. It looks exactly like the rose in my book, meaning either Ingrid was the one that put that in my book or that that sigil is representative of me enough that they don't need the book to recreate it. Makes me then wonder if perhaps every single one of us would have our own sigils in our books. I mean Hammer's and Tower's would be easy enough to imagine what it'd look like, but what of Glass or Jack or the rest. Would Gabriel have a sigil too? The outfit in general seems designed to mimic my released state. It even goes so far as to create what I can only describe as a tail extension, a long strip of orange and red fabric attached to my tiny little bit of tail that flows out and makes it seem as long, even if by no means could be confused with a real tail. Thankfully Ingrid had the tactfulness of not reminding me of the gender of that body by not having any sort of marking on the undershirt pointing to where the lumps would have been. But it is comfy enough and doesn't restrict my motion too much more than you'd expect a good fitting suit to. Even comes with a pair of dark brown gloves and dress shoes, though she didn't make these on me but rather brought them in.

"Is current fashion. Yes it is, yes it is," Ingrid explains, running around me as she checks her handiwork and occasionally adding a small adjustment or finishing touch on it. "Cover up as much as possible and yet make it look like naked from a distance."

That statement peaks my interest a bit. I mean, I can definitely see what she's talking about. From a distance with the way this outfit looks it is possible that I could be confused as having not worn anything at all if not for the fact that my face doesn't match the outfit or the species anymore. I'm close enough to being human that I could probably shave my face and passably be confused with being a human so long as they didn't look too hard. My ears and nose are still too big and my teeth are not the right shape so I couldn't show my teeth anyway. But I could conceivable get by. Though now I wonder what would a dress have looked like to make me appear naked yet cover everything. Definitely much different than human fashion, that's for sure. Since human fashion for dresses seem to be more try and expose as much as possible yet keep it looking decent. Oh well, hopefully it'll be a thing I never find out for myself. Or I guess I would. If it's the fashion for where I'm going then it stands to reason that going over there I'd see at least a few women wearing said fashion.