"Do you understand now?" Faluel said. "Having a bigger body makes so that when I turn into a smaller figure, I can retain most of my abilities. I only need to affect enough life force to shape my new form whereas the rest remains the same.
"Now for my next trick…" Faluel started to change again, assuming what could be considered a Dragon-Hydra hybrid.
Her body was not humanoid but covered in thick emerald scales, about 3.5 meters (11'6") tall. She had seven snake heads, each one on a serpentine neck over four times longer than a human's allowing them to look in every direction.
Both her hands and feet ended with razor-sharp claws and there was a set of membranous wings on her back. Her life force was back to look like a violet star, but it wasn't a perfect sphere anymore.
It was possible to see some bumps and dents that altered the path of the energy streams, making them move awkwardly. Yet that happened only on the surface. Below, the star was still compressed and retained its original form.
"This is my hybrid form. The bumps and dents you see are the alterations I needed to look more like a Dragon and less like a Hydra. Getting legs and arms messed up with my usually stumpy but also incredibly sturdy body, making it weaker.
"Usually, you always attack the heads and necks of a Hydra because the rest is harder than steel. To sustain the seven heads and move freely, our whole body is nothing but a bundle of muscles covered with scales so hard that they make it as solid as a mountain.
"Our long, slender necks, however, offer a much easier target. As for the wings, I wasn't born with them, so getting used to fly took me a lot of practice. I only use the hybrid form when I'm forced to fight in enclosed spaces because it's better than my human body but it's still inferior to a Hydra." Faluel shapeshifted back into her human form.
"Now, if you can take your hands off me, I would really appreciate it. As much as I like you, Phloria, I don't appreciate getting groped on a first date."
Nalrond and Lith had their hands on the Hydra's shoulders, whereas the Ernas sisters were in front of Faluel.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Phloria blushed, realizing that having no knowledge of a Hydra anatomy, the place where she had put her hand on the Emperor Beast had turned out to be Faluel's human breasts.
"I was joking, child." She chuckled. "Back to our lesson. You now have all the elements to understand why shapeshifting is easier for beasts and more dangerous for humans. Nalrond?"
"It's because turning into a smaller body allows you to keep the extra life force in its original state whereas turning into a bigger one means to stretch your life force and making it frailer."
"Correct. It's not because our life force is simpler or easier to manipulate, but just a matter of mass. That's why I suggest you to practice shapeshifting mainly on your Emperor Beast body and not your human form. It will save you a lot of troubles."
"Life force works exactly like metal." Faluel took a steel plate from one of her nearby Forges.
"Getting smaller just means to increase its density, like bending and folding this plate on itself over and over until it becomes no bigger than a toy." She used Spirit Magic to turn it into a rectangular ingot no bigger than a deck of cards.
"Getting bigger, instead, means to spread your mass to the point that even the weakest impact can shatter your body." Another pulse of Spirit Magic unfolded the ingot while pulling it in every direction.
Soon it was a square with a side of over 10 meters (33 feet) but it was also so thin that even Quylla could pierce it with a fist.
"Emperor Beasts choose as their human appearance simply how they want to be perceived by humans. It's not a rational choice but only a matter of how they see themselves in relation to your society.
"Our hybrid form, instead, is simply a means to not be restricted by our massive size. Sometimes a bigger body just means a bigger target. The hybrid form allows us to employ all kinds of weapons while retaining most of our strength, but the more you alter it, the weaker it becomes.
"To give you an example, if I remove the wings, my hybrid form becomes more stable and hence stronger, but sometimes aerial maneuverability is more important than raw power.
"All of you can't assume an Emperor Beast or a magical beast form because you lack mass. It would be a dangerous procedure and a pointless exercise since your clumsy movements would give out your real nature.
"On top of that, learning how to move on all four and how to use a beast's senses would require more effort than it's worth. You'll practice changing from a human to another since discretion is a priceless asset.
"I'll split you into teams based on your nature…"
"Wait, I have a question." Lith said, cutting Faluel short.
"Care sharing it with the class?"
"In the past, Solus and I have merged a few times, becoming no different from Acala and Dawn. The last time it happened, my body grew in size and I was a lot stronger than usual. How do you explain it?" Lith said.
"I need more details." Faluel replied.
Lith told her how it had happened the first time when Scarlett had tried to kill him to study Solus, the second time when they had made up for their first and only big quarrel, and the third time while fighting the Bright Day.
"You told me you can fuse your minds at will. Can you do the same with your bodies?" Faluel said.
"No. We tried multiple times, but we always failed. It's not enough to just agree on it, we must be in perfect synch. After defeating Dawn, our union broke only when Kamila called me since Solus likes her, but not as much as I do." Lith winked at Faluel.
"Lith, I can see you winking!" Solus said from her desk.
"I have a couple of explanations for the phenomenon. Are you sure you won't tell me about what Solus's real nature is?" The Hydra had no idea that Solus was Menadion's legacy and Lith liked to keep things that way.
"I sure am."
"Then you'll have to settle for my guesses. I've noticed that Solus is becoming bigger as she recovers her abilities, hence either somehow she just adds her mass to your own and the resulting union works just like a new limb, or she has a battle form that gets unlocked due to your temporarily combined prowess.
"In both cases, you don't get new mass from nothing, you borrow hers which in turn increases by absorbing the surrounding energy and materials, correct?" Faluel said.
"Correct." Lith nodded.
'After all, the first time we both got just stronger. The second time, the tower got a new floor and you got your energy body. The third time we were on a mana geyser, but you couldn't take your tower form.'
