Chương 5: Noticeable changes

Alex waited for the next hour and much to his dismay the itch only dulled but didn't vanish. this was unusual as last time he changed a feature on his body the change only lasted a few moments. a quick check of the system told him why though and he felt like an idiot. there at the bottom of the system menu there was a small tip that said that drastic changes like extra limbs or dramatic alterations would take a period of time to fully develop. this was so that he wasn't in an awkward situation with his movements and wasn't noticed by the sentient races.

There was a timer of two weeks in the saved image of his wings which made him grimace as it meant he would need to suffer through these two weeks of constant itch. alex purposefully didn't leave his nest for a whole two days which made the people of astera concerned he had fallen ill. but when the head scholar entered alex's nest he reported that alex seemed to be undergoing some form of metamorphosis. the scholar also reported that alex seemed to have two protrusions growing. on his back.

On the third day alex's hunger won over him and he left his nest before heading up to the canteen lethargically. the head chef of the canteen was a stupidly tall and muscular lynian that made sure to keep some of the less choice pieces of the hunters catch separate for alex. a good few people saw how tired looking alex was and made sure to pamper him with attention and treats that he accepted cuz free points. when alex eventual got up the stairs to the canteen the head chef greeted alex with a grin and even cooked up the bits of food he had for alex as a gesture to cheer him up.

It worked too as alex was a sucker for good tasting food apparently as he visibly pepped up while eating the seasoned and cooked offal. alex couldn't help but lick his jaw line with his long tongue savoring the lingering taste. alex signaled his thanks to the head chef and heading back to his nest to go back to sleep. a person might have trouble sleeping all day but for a well fed reptile like alex it was super easy.

After a week of following the cycle of eating then sleeping it became clear to the people of astera that alex was growing wings as around half of them were done and visible. this prompted a small celebration in the town since wings on a reptile was a sign of power in this world. almost all of the really powerful monsters had wings of some sort that gave them a distinct advantage over those without in most cases. the fact that alex who was their official mascot was growing wings was a thing worthy of celebration in their opinions , though it helped they were prone to partying on a regular basis anyways.

The next week was spent much the same as the first but alex was noticeably more active as the wings grew closer to being finished. when the system dinged to let him know that the wings were done he heard a faint pop from his back and he could suddenly control the things. it was an odd thing suddenly knowing how to use an extra set of limbs. the last two days of the timer alex hibernated which made the scholars thing he was in the final stint of his metamorphosis.

Alex had the wings folded tightly against his back with the boney tips pointed behind his hips a good foot. walking out of the nest quite a few people stopped to look at him so he fully stretched out his wings to show off. the black leathery wings extended seven and a half feet to either side of his body with the moving joint located slightly above his shoulder blades next to his spine. the thin webbing actually stretched down his entire back only stopping at his hips to give them more air per flap. all in all alex now truly looked like a miniature dragon minus a few horns , but alex had plans for those.