Vasil stared at me like he wanted to sigh, but couldn’t help but be impressed. “So, you found a way to turn into animals.”
“Well,” I said. “Not animals. You. You may be a frog, but you’re also a person. So technically I should be allowed to transform into you. The System didn’t seem too happy about it, though.”
“Clever. That could be useful.”
“Right?! Check this out!”
I shot out my tongue, aiming above his head. I’d always wondered what that would be like to have a long sticky frog tongue I could grab stuff with. Unfortunately my aim wasn’t great and instead of my tongue impressively flying over Vasil’s head, snapping like a whip, and shooting back, it accidentally hit him right in the eye and stayed there.
Vasil gave me a tired look. “Hecate, why are you licking my eye?”
I had to think of something quick that wouldn’t make me look stupid.
“I, uff, fwere waf a fwy in yow eye.”
“No there wasn’t.”
Mission failed.
“Okay, if’f hawd to aiwm thif thing wight. It waf my firf fime. I juft wanfed fo fee whaf if waf wike. I waf aiming above yow head.”
“Can you please remove your tongue from my eye?”
“Wight. fowwy,” I said as I slowly retracted my tongue.
Perhaps me being a frog wasn’t the best idea. And now everyone probably thought I was an idiot. Maybe they would forget about it if I did something funny.
So I transformed my face into Bogumir’s. “Look guys, I’m Frogumir! Haha!”
Vasil sighed, for real this time. Hubert looked shocked again. Kasia scrunched her nose.
“What’s going on?” Bogumir asked. I’d forgotten he was still hanging from my belt. My entire outfit had shrunk with me and Bogumir was even smaller than before, which made his voice sound funny and high pitched. Interesting that his voice sounded normal when he was a regular shrunken head.
I pouted. “Not funny?”
“It’s a little bit funny,” Kasia said. “But it’s also not very nice of you, Hecate.”
I turned back into Kasia. It would probably be better to not look exactly like her, and now I was able to look like any person, so maybe I should alter my face a little bit.
“Does anyone have a mirror?” I asked.
Everyone looked at me like I asked something stupid, but Ola conjured up a mirror from somewhere and handed it to me. See? Not so stupid. Hubert might have competition for my favorite new person.
First I changed my face back into my own, but with blue eyes, leaving my hair and body like Kasia’s. “What about this?”
Vasil cocked his head. “I think anyone who has seen you before will recognize that it is you, Hecate. Now you may not have left many of your adversaries alive, but plenty of people have seen you by now, and they will talk when prompted by inquisitors. You have a distinctive face. One that people are not likely to forget.”
I nodded at the mirror. “True. I am exceptionally beautiful. It’s both a blessing and a curse.”
Since I obviously couldn’t look like me, and I didn’t have to look like Kasia anymore I was sure there could be some kind of middle ground. What if I looked like both of us at the same time? Would that work? I’d imagine two beautiful faces combined would make another beautiful face.
Thankfully, the skill worked intuitively. I just had to think about what I wanted and I saw my face morph into something that sort of looked like if we had a baby together. A beautiful, grown-up baby that wasn’t a baby but a young woman. Who was beautiful.
I looked down at my body, which I made to look like mine again, but slightly more pale so I could pass as a Silesian. No need to change that. It was already perfect, just like my skin.
Then a second radical thought hit me. What about my hair? Could I just use this on my own hair when I looked like me as well? Was this literally the best skill ever? I added a little extra volume to my hair. Then added a slight, but sophisticated wave. Two small, elegant braids formed on the sides of my head. My blonde hair turned just a tad more golden, including an exquisite shine.
I held the mirror closer, inspecting my eyes. Sure, it was a nice color of blue, but it could be so much more. It could be anything! What if I added some flecks of gold? It would match my new hair. If I was going to have to wear a disguise most of the time, I better make it the best disguise ever. One that suited me and made me feel comfortable. Yeah. If I felt comfortable in my own fake skin, that surely would improve the disguise. It was like playing dress-up, only I was my own doll. And the clothes were my skin and face and eyes and hair.
I angled the mirror, watching the gold flecks in my new eyes twinkle in the candlelight. It was breathtaking. I was breathtaking. I looked like a meticulously sculpted masterpiece of divine royalty and aristocratic grace. Kind of made me wonder if some of the gods and goddesses I’d seen also did a bit of disguising themselves—looking at you, Erotokomos. Though being the god of perfect hair, his hair might actually just be his hair, no disguise needed.
I moved my head from side to side, and proudly watched as the light danced across the flawless waves I’d created. Erotokomos had some stiff competition now. I mean, he already did, because my natural hair was also great, but this… This was magical. Literally, but also figuratively. I had just manifested perfect locks. My greatest achievement in life. I was now the master of my own anatomy and had officially reached a level of cosmetic divinity. Now, I was truly ready to be a goddess.
I slowly turned my head and saw Hubert was sweating. His mouth was open and he was frantically trying to loosen his collar, but couldn’t find it. In fact, everyone’s mouths were open.
“Wow,” Kasia said.
“Why is everyone looking like that?” Bogumir asked.
Ola and Vasil just stared at me. Vitek did as well, but he was sort of shaking his head like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of anything. His hands moved across his accordion as if he was playing some kind of song in his head. He didn’t actually play anything, though, he just stood there, mesmerized.
“Someone say something!” Bogumir said.
“Wow,” Kasia said again.
Vasil cleared his throat. “Ehh… Hecate, or Lady Aurelia, I am not sure if this is the kind of disguise that will let you go unnoticed. This might attract even more attention than your regular self.”
“Aha!” I raised my finger. “You are right! Going unnoticed is suspicious. People who try to hide are suspicious. Which is why I have decided to go the opposite way. I am hiding in plain sight, by being the most beautiful woman there is! They’d never suspect a thing! Besides, I am not one for going unnoticed. It’s simply not for me. I deserve to be seen. But most of all, I deserve to be beautiful!”
He cocked his head. “Huh. There might be wisdom in that. You, being who you are, will attract attention anyway, no matter how you look. Might as well lean into it. People also tend to be much more forgiving when you are physically attractive. And this…”
“You could get away with murder,” Vitek said.
Hubert finally found his collar and loosened it, breathing a sigh of relief.
“I don’t murder,” I said. “I self-defend. Sometimes that self-defense is preemptive, or in Menekrates’ case it’s retroactive, but it’s always self-defense.”
Hubert made a sound like a deflating water sack filled with air. He was still red and sweating.
“Hubert, are you alright?” I asked.
I stepped closer and touched his arm. All color immediately drained from his face, and he fell over flat on his back. Ola crouched down to help him.
“Uhh…” I said, my hand still hovering where his arm had been.
Vitek roared with laughter. “Careful who you touch with those hands, Lady Aurelia. Don’t underestimate your own power.”
I glanced at my hand. “This hand? It’s not like I shot him or anything. I just tried to calm him down.”
Vitek doubled over. “You think you will calm a man down by touching him, looking like that? You’re more likely to give him a heart attack or straight up kill him.”
I stepped over to Vitek and touched his arm. He didn’t fall over and it didn’t look like he was having a heart attack. He stopped laughing and gave me a flat look.
“You trying to kill me?”
“Just testing your theory.”
“I’m alright.” He chuckled. “I’ve been around. I’ve seen my share of beautiful women. Though you may be the fairest of them all. You must remember that most people don’t leave the place they’re born in. Most people will have never seen anyone who looks even remotely as beautiful as you. You will have an effect on them. That may be good or bad, depending on the person.”
“Hmm. If it’s the bad I can always shoot them.”
“Ahem,” Vasil said. “If you are planning on shooting anyone, you must first pick a fitting class with [Forged Credentials].”
“Right. I also still have to update that. I already have the flower I want for one of the slots. I also want to see if I can fit a hand or something in the other.”
Vasil nodded approvingly.
“Let me see!” Bogumir said. “I want to see what you look like!”
I sighed. “Ugh. Fine.”
I pulled him from my belt and held out my arm so he could see me, but as soon as I stretched out my arm, he grew back a body, arms and legs. Instead of looking at me, he grabbed onto my finger and bit me, causing me to drop him to the floor in surprise.
“Ow what the—”
“Do widzenia, you stupid bitch,” he called as he ran away without looking back.