"Can you tell me what I'm doing here? This was supposed to be a girls' night out."
William crossed his arms and tilted his head. It was ten o'clock at night, and classes would be completely over tomorrow.
"You're our assistant."
"Exactly, the muscle."
Yoko and Divina replied.
"We just need you to help us climb the wall. Yoko wants to get a tattoo."
Enid hugged William from the front and lifted her chin to look him in the eyes. Her thick pink wool jumper was particularly warm on the cold night.
William and his friends were near the boundaries of Nevermore, right in front of a wide, high stone wall that surrounded the academy grounds. They couldn't leave the academy during the week without special permission.
"Where and with whom?"
William's tone became more serious.
"Don't worry, it's at a pretty popular studio and the tattoo artist is a woman. We know her through an older student."
Yoko was already prepared and handed William her phone with all the information about the tattoo studio as well as her social media accounts.
"All right, just be careful and give us a call if anything happens."
"Yippee!!!"
"Our big brother gave us permission."
Divina felt like she was talking to her older brother and not someone her age. Yoko and Enid high-fived each other.
"All right, who goes first?"
William hugged his own ribs, stepped back, and his figure disappeared into the darkness. The faint shadow cast by the moonlight rapidly increased in size until it reached seven feet tall. (Two metres)
"Wow, I didn't know you could turn into a bear, Will!"
Enid exclaimed in surprise and hugged William. He was so huge that Enid looked smaller than usual.
"You're so soft!"
"Amazing!"
"Wow, impressive."
Yoko and Divina just stroked William's brown fur in his grizzly bear form, unlike Enid, who rubbed her cheeks against William's belly.
"Will, stop, your nose is wet!"
William stroked Enid's neck with his nose. His senses were more intense in his animal form, and Enid smelled particularly good tonight.
"This is strange."
Divina whispered to Yoko.
"We're running late, and Tony should have picked us up by now."
"Hey, Will, stop..."
Yoko complained and received a snort from William's nose in response. Being a huge 660-pound animal, it was a wide gust of air that shook her fringe.
"Hahaha, gross!!!"
Divina laughed at Yoko.
"It doesn't smell bad, in fact, it doesn't smell at all."
"Girls, you're getting off topic, do what I do."
Enid separated herself from William, Will took advantage of the opportunity and lifted her up, placing his arm under her legs.
With very little effort, William lifted Enid up to the height of the wall and with a small jump she ended up sitting on top.
Yoko and Divina did not receive such treatment. William only offered them his palms as steps to climb up and, of course, to climb down as well.
William's Study - Nevermore
"Callisto, daughter of King Lycaon of Arcadia and follower of Artemis, punished by Hera for attracting the attention of Zeus, her husband, and cursed to be transformed into a bear..."
William was sprawled on his Puff cushion, his hair hanging down to the floor, details about Callisto from Greek mythology rolling through his mind. A quick raid on the Nevermore library was enough to find books on the subject.
"The pregnancy of Callisto, Arcas, son of Zeus, was the reason why Callisto was expelled from Artemis' group of huntresses. Artemis valued virginity and would not allow someone like that in her entourage..." - William -
"To prevent Arcas, who had become a hunter, from killing his mother... Zeus turned them both into a constellation and raised them to the sky, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper."
"So that's why you contain all the information about the Bears. I'd say you were more of a hard drive than a belt."
William turned his attention to the black leather belt in his hands with the rectangular buckle. The silver Mitral had an emblem of two large bears fighting each other, their large fangs threatening to tear each other's throats out.
William couldn't transform into any animal he knew nothing about, and the necessary knowledge went beyond just knowing its superficial appearance; he needed to know everything about it: muscles, bones, veins, joints, and how its body worked from the inside.
"Except for small, common animals like cats and dogs, this is an unbreakable requirement... if it weren't for you."
William tapped the shiny floating screen in front of him with his finger, feeling the sensation of hitting something solid.
"Now let's practise!"
William got up quickly, swiftly removing his white leather jacket and T-shirt, leaving him in just his trousers and trainers.
"If I want to be able to change into my bear form as quickly as possible, I need practice..."
His large tattoos almost completely covered his back. A silver dragon, a large red-skinned demon, and now a large black-furred bear seemed to fight for space on his skin.
The large white armoured centipede had his entire forearm free to wrap around it completely.
"At this rate, I'll end up with a 'Bodysuit' in a few years."
William smiled and put on his headphones. He didn't mind the tattoos; they looked much brighter and more vivid than those done by normies with ordinary ink.
(Twenty One Pilots - Heathens)
(♪ All my friends are heathens, take it slow - Wait for them to ask you who you know ♪)
To the beat of the music, William placed his left hand on his right ribs and his right hand on his left ribs.
(♪ Please don't make any sudden moves - You don't know the half of the abuse ♪)
His body shape changed, fur covered his entire body, his height increased by several feet, thick muscles and sharp claws protruded from his paws, and when the changes were complete, he was a ferocious Black Bear.
(♪ All my friends are heathens, take it slow - Wait for them to ask you who you know ♪)
(Change )
After standing on two legs and walking in a circle, William changed shape again into a dangerous adult Grizzly Bear, much larger than a Black Bear.
(♪ You'll never know the psychopath sitting next to you - You'll never know the murderer sitting next to you ♪)
William's form changed between different species of bear until he reached the largest, a polar bear 13 feet tall (4 metres), which was much larger than a wild bear.
With its white fur and large fangs designed to tear the flesh of seals and run on the snow, its head almost touched the ceiling of the room when it stood on two legs.
Next came the Kodiak bear, the largest bear in the world. William's physical form was 15 feet tall (4.5 metres) and his shape was different from that of a common bear. He had a greater number of fangs replacing several molars, and his stomach was slimmer and more muscular.
The curved blade-shaped claws had a retractable and expansive mechanism measuring up to 8 inches (20 centimetres), not to mention their metallic sheen.
The final form was definitely more combat-oriented than survival-oriented, a specimen distinct from the Kodiak bear confined to the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska.
The original colour of a Kodiak bear's coat was various shades of brown, but William's coat was jet black.
William returned to his human form, his breathing heavy and large beads of sweat covering his muscles.
"Strength must be earned or taken!"
The Stone family motto escaped his lips in a tired tone.
"Now I don't have to be afraid of losing or forgetting my new belt..."
With each change of form, the records and information about each Bear's physique inexplicably passed into his body. Even without the belt, he would be able to change into a Bear if necessary.
"According to my notes, my skins should be weaker and change more slowly, but it will still be quite powerful."
William reached into his backpack and pulled out several long pastries wrapped in small transparent bags. Mrs. Duval from 'The Miracle' bakery had a very good regular customer.
"Carbohydrates, sugars and fats, perfect!!!"
Chocolate, vanilla, butter... each long pastries was different, with layers of sugar, jam fillings or different toppings and flavours.
William rested for twenty minutes with a towel over his body. His tired muscles and tiny wounds, invisible to the naked eye, had healed completely thanks to the Trasgo Queen's medal.
"Now let's continue."
William pressed play on his music and resumed his training.
Botanical Sciences Hall
"All right, guys, I know you're eager for the end of the semester, but I need an essay from you for the beginning of next year."
Marilyn Thornhill, Nevermore's Botanical Sciences professor, adjusted her thick black-rimmed glasses.
"Boo!"
"It's vacation, Thornhill!"
"That's right, It's for resting. ."
"Fine, fine, forget the essay, but I want you to come back next year with more enthusiasm!"
Faced with her students' complaints and boos, Marilyn gave in as best she could, her hands back in the pockets of her dark blue overalls, her thick red boots stained with mud as usual.
As all the students left the classroom with the announcement of the end of class over the loudspeakers, William noticed Yoko's new tattoo.
"Did you get a rose tattoo, Tanaka?"
Bianca asked hesitantly when she saw Yoko's palm covered with a thin transparent plastic bandage.
"It's an Ophelia flower."
Yoko's friends surrounded her seat, including William..
"I didn't know you were interested in flowers."
Xavier raised an eyebrow doubtfully, not believing that something so feminine would suit a boy who mostly painted corpses and collected medieval weapons.
"My mother is passionate about plants."
"Maybe, I should get a tattoo too, it looks really good."
Divina held Yoko's hand to see the tattoo up close.
"Ouch, it still hurts a little."
Yoko frowned in pain.
"I'm surprised you chose such a painful area."
Ajax leaned on William's shoulder and looked at the reddened skin.
"I told her it was one of the most painful areas and she should have chosen somewhere else."
Enid also wrinkled her nose. Her pain threshold was quite low and she wouldn't consider getting a tattoo, at least not for now.
"Bianca, aren't you coming?"
A group of senior students walked past the door and waved to Bianca. She didn't hesitate and followed them, but not before taking Xavier's hand and bringing him with her.
"Ouch, your friend left you for his girlfriend. Don't feel bad."
Divina commented viciously, jokingly, to see Xavier's reaction, who didn't even hesitate to leave.
"Of course not, I would do exactly the same for Enid."
William didn't care. He just bumped fists with Yoko, and in a couple of seconds, the redness disappeared and the tattoo healed completely.
"Big thanks, Will, now I don't have to wait three weeks ~"
Yoko ripped off the fake skin from her tattoo. William saved her several days of having to take care of her wound and see if it would heal properly. Things like not getting it wet were a nuisance.
"Guys, could you vacate your seats? I have to tidy up and close."
Thornhill approached the group smiling and adjusted her glasses again, perhaps it was a tic.
"Right away, Thornhill."
Divina replied without looking at her.
"It's Professor Thornhill."
Thornhill's eyelid twitched slightly. She hadn't felt respected all year.