The Transformation Technique

His mind was filled with questions as his eyes fell upon the familiar markings on the cave. Its small entrance was densely lit with the same patterns that snaked across his body.

"Go ahead and ask". He looked at his father curiously. "Why does this cave have the markings of our people"?. "When the strongest among us dies, their body is taken to this cave to become one with its stone walls".

His continued, "when their body becomes one with the cave, a mark is left in the stone, each pattern you see was left by one of our greatest ancestors, and they have etched the secrets of our bodies within".

"The secrets of our bodies"? "Yes, how we move, how we breathe, everything. It is all here within these walls". "Why do we embed these things in the walls of this cave"?. "I will show you, follow me" His father said as he entered the cave.

As entrancing as the outside of the cave was, inside held a greater effect on him still. The cave was dark yet the illuminations of red, blue, yellow orange, and green patterns lit their path.

The moment he entered could feel a strange sensation coming from within his markings. Warmth crept along them and they started to vibrate faintly. "While inside this cave, our markings will connect with our ancestors and our bodies will return to their true form".

"Our true form"? He asked. "Watch". His father crouched down low and leaned forward. The markings on his fathers body began to emit a wispy energy and glow brighter.

Suddenly his fathers markings began to pusle and his body began to expand untill he was towering over Rikura at three times the original size. "This is the form of the dire wolf" 'My father's leg alone was twice his height'.

"The marks of the ancestor cave are resonating with my own, resisting the changes in my body. The moment I lose focus..." His fathers marking pulsed with light in synch with the cave's and his body returned to normal.

"The purpose of this cave is to train in the transformation technique. The resistance to change in our bodies challenges us to maintain the technique and prevents us from dying to our mistakes"

"This technique is dangerous, it allows us to alter our bodies at will, but we need knowledge of our bodies to survive the change". Should you make a mistake, it will be uncomfortable, but you will not die".

"I am beginning to understand father, thank you for sharing the secret of this cave with me". "You are welcome, now you have seen me use the technique, the next step is to learn to use it yourself".

"Return home after you can achieve a fully grown body, by then you will no longer need any protection along the forest path. Lastly, stay inside the cave, I cannot guarantee your safety if you step outside".

"I understand". "Good, your mother and I will be waiting for your return". Having shown Rikura his technique his father departed. 'What a powerful technique, once I learn to transform into a dire wolf, I will be able to use my qi to its full potential."

Another, even more exciting idea drifted across his mind. He smiled, or tried to with his wolf mouth. The first step was to start. Someone wiser than himself once said "The best thing you can ever do is start".

He knew his father didn't explain it to him for a good reason, to experience learning this himself rather than following instructions would give him a more powerful comprehension of the technique and in understanding future techniques.

Secondly he suspected that the markings had more of a role to play than his father let on. They called the ability to use their markings to unlesse a moment of explosive physical power a technique, but he words are flexible, and his understanding of a technique was different.

To him, a technique was a person using knowledge to alter and use qi to a certain purpose, such as seeing in the dark or creating a kind of fire. However using the markings was nothing like that, it was closer to using a limb than the techniques he knew

Like the markings, the simplest techniques usually have the most raw power, while the nature of complicated techniques, like seeing in the dark make it difficult to use much qi at a time. Thats why while both can be invaluable in certain situations, but each has its strengths and weaknesses.

This technique however, was like a combination of both. Besides the knowledge of understanding the body, using qi to reshape and grow yourself is unheard of. It requires a kind of raw power that would be difficult to output with technique of that complexity. Before he could practice he needed to understand t

'The key is most likely in the markings, a beasts qi is already more closely connected to their body, and the markings take that one step further by allowing a person to directly use qi like a part of the body'.

'When I store Qi in the markings its like it becomes one with my body, physical. Hence why I was able to walk steadily even as a newborn, my qi had become an energy similar to physical strength'.

'When a cultivator makes progress, their body becomes more durable and powerful over time. A beast will mostly likely experience the same only with much more intensity.'

These markings are a perfect match for a beast, as a human it would be much more difficult to use techniques when their qi is being siphoned into their body. As a human techniques solely revolve around the spiritual aspect of qi and affected the outer world.

'This technique affects the inner and the physical aspects of the world. Changing my body with this in mind...' He had an idea, and he was confident it would work.