Chapter 3 Shifting

1 Month Later

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"Liam! Wake up. We need to leave."

He groaned and turned to the other side. He was sleepy.

"Liam. Don't tell me you forgot that today is your birthday." Ethan said as he looked inside from the doorway.

Liam jumped as his mind processed the words and ran to the bathroom. "I am up."

How could he forget what today was? Today was the day he was waiting for the whole month. It was also his sixth birthday, but that wasn't as important. He looked at the clock.

He Was Late.

"You should have woken me up sooner" He said as he yanked of his pajamas and almost face planted on the floor.

"It is alright you still have half an hour to get ready. Lucien made breakfast. Come down and eat it." Ethan said as he picked him up and walked out the door, saying.

"Wake your grandfather up. I didn't because I thought he'd be tired after running after you tommorow."

"Okay!"

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"Grandpa. You need to get ready or we will be late." He said sitting on his grandfather's waist. He was still a kid in here okay, he is allowed to act like one too. Demyx told him it is part of the transmigration process, the systems adjust the hosts' brains to act the age they transmigrate. It makes it easy for them to act. After all some people are really bad at acting and stuff.

Speaking of it, he really wasn't sure why Demyx picked him. Because he entered the library? He was so happy that he forgot to ask anything like that. He kinda still felt like he was dreaming. 

His 'grandfather' came back a month ago and they already have shifted to their clan. Their house was still the same because apparently you can press a magic button in the house and it turns into a Freaking Ring. Super Convenient And Amazing.

Even with magic the people here didn't forget about technology. They were way more progressive then the humans he used to live with. Although he hadn't seen much because dragons were one of the creatures that preferred using magic.

Now back to his Grandfather. He was just as handsome as his Uncle because, you know dragon genes. He was nearly 500 years old but looked like he was in his 30s. Dragons had long lifespans. He had the same silver hair as his uncle. The same yellow blue eyes, which were looking at him sitting on him and daydreaming. When will I get rid of this habit.

 "Liam. If you want me to get up, you will need to do so first." He looking amused and even tickled him. Liam flinched and tried his best to look serious. His baby face made it really hard to do that, he had told Demyx multiple times to change it.

"I was going to. Be quick, we can't be late." He answered jumping slightly at the thought of being late causing his grandfather to cough. He knew that he was pretending though, he was a dragon. He can't get hurt by a kid jumping.

"If you don't wanna be late, you should go eat your breakfast." He said chuckling before grabbing Liam and putting him down on the bed and getting up. Liam was once again in awe after seeing his grandfather's muscles. He was like a body builder. A man made of muscles, but they didn't look weird they made him more handsome.

 "I want as many muscles as yours when I grow up." He told his grandfather who just gave a boisterous laugh before saying;

"For that you need to eat."

"I am going to. Get ready quickly. We are not supposed to be late." He said before running downstairs.

He saw Demyx licking himself, sitting on a cushion and picked him up. Demyx just looked at him from the conner of his eyes before closing them. Liam didn't mind that he knew Demyx liked him and was just too shy to admit it.

Demyx who was shy "..." Fuck your ******

As he ran down the stairs, he was suddenly picked up, making him drop Demyx. Who growled at him and his attacker before leaving.

"How many times have I told you, not to run down the stairs. Hmm." Lucien said dangerously. It was not his fault, Lucien told that to the old Liam. He still wasn't that good at remembering stuff from his fake memories.

"That was years ago, I am six years old already." He glared at his Uncle.

"Exactly. Still a baby." That was what he got in answer as Lucien entered the kitchen and dropped him on the chair before placing a plate of pancakes before him. 

The kitchen was big enough so they liked to eat in it. The machines used for cooking here were quite different from the ones he was used to. Same with everything else. He was very surprised when he learned that they had a machine that was able to wash, dry and iron the clothes on it's own. For Liam who hated laundry, it was a heavenly tool. Seeing him surprised his uncle told him that there was one that even hung the clothes in the closets. 

They didn't have it because Ethan said that they could do that much by themselves. Same with the kitchen, most of the machines here were considered backwards in this world. But Lucien said that having a machine do everything for you takes the fun out of cooking. 

Ethan entered the kitchen with his grandfather who was already dressed up,

and sat down on his right. Lucien gave them both their breakfast and sat down as well.

"So are you excited for the day." Ethan said as Liam's cleaned his mouth with a napkin. Liam wasn't really dirty, Ethan just liked doing that. If it wasn't for Lucien stopping him, he might still be the one to bathe him.

"I am. A little nervous too." He answered, this was the day he was waiting for so, he would be surprised if he wasn't nervous. Ethan smiled at him giving a piece of his pancake to Demyx who was sitting on the table. Lucien being a clean freak tried to get rid of Demyx's habit of sitting on the table. Unfortunately Demyx took that as a challenge and refused to sit on the chair no matter what.

"I would be surprised if you weren't." Lucien said as he tried to lure Demyx towards a chair using bacon. Demyx's head flashed, the bacon was in his mouth and Lucien's hand was empty.

"I swear this thing isn't normal." Lucien mumbled as he tried to understand how Demyx had stolen it.

"I am just scared what if I don't shift? What if something goes wrong?" He asked ignoring Lucien's childish banter with Demyx.

"Everything will be fine. And even if something goes wrong we will always love and support you." Ethan said as he picked him up and hugged him. He then released his calming pheromones, to make him feel better. 

Ethan was a male omega, the reason he loved to baby Liam was mostly because of his nurturing instincts. Most omegas loved to care for kids. That's why they all got married and had kids early. For some reason Ethan didn't have children although he loved kids. Liam reckoned it was due to the low fertility rate of dragons.

Liam thought about his missions as his eyes wondered towards Demyx. He had yet to complete any. Demyx said they were all outside his clan and Ethan forbade him from leaving until he was old enough. He was really strict about this. He kinda freaked out when Liam asked him about it at first. So, Liam decided to let go.

He had told his Uncle and Ethan that Demyx was the familiar he had decided on, although they were a little sceptical about him having a dog as a familiar, they allowed him to keep him. Ethan loved taking care of him and Demyx surprisingly didn't complain. He was pretty indifferent to everything and only talked when Liam asked about something.

 He didn't complain even when Liam took him to walk around the clan. Demyx just walked calmly as Liam was in awe. The clan covered a whole mountain top with clouds and fog covering everything. It might have made it difficult to see for some other race but it made Liam feel comfortable and relaxed. Ethan hated it though and stumbled at least once everytime they walked. Then glared at Lucien as he laughed. Demyx walked with ease which made Ethan more mad. Why was he the only one suffering??

Although Liam said that he didn't want a family, after spending time with them he felt satisfied. They were not like his previous family the screaming and things breaking was most of what he remembered during his life with them.

He did miss them a little sometimes but he had gotten used to living without them in the world before so, he wasn't that affected. Other then that he had a suspicion that Demyx has blurred his feelings towards the previous world.

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Liam walked towards the big hall where everyone is supposed to shift. His uncle was carrying him as according to Lucien it was way faster this way. Ethan was talking to Lucien but he couldn't hear them, he was just so nervous.

Demyx wasn't interested in coming, he just gave Liam a camera to record it. Due to this and that ,there was barely anytime left by the time they were out of the house. Although they weren't late, it really upped Liam's nervousness. 

There were a lot of workers stopping to watch the shift. Three kids were supposed to have their first shift this year, which was actually considered a lot. Liam was the only one supposed to shift today, the others had already shifted earlier this year.

The Chief, who was his Grandfather's Brother, was there and was waiting for them in the center with his Grandfather. They called their leaders Chief or Patriach unlike the other Dragon Clans that called their leaders King or Queen.

Liam reached the dais shakingly and everyone stared at him, the voices slowly fading away. For some reason it made him less nervous and he felt a werd arrogant feeling from inside himself. Like saying yes look at me people. It made him feel weird like he wasn't the one who was feeling that.

"Ready to shift?" The Cheif asked him in his gruff voice. He looked a lot like his grandfather. Like his grumpy version, his voice calming Liam down.

Liam nodded and closed his eyes. It was called the first shift but technically this was the second shift. Dragons were born in their real form and then converted into human form after a week. Most people knew what kind of dragon they will be due to that. But nobody knew what Liam looked like when he was born except his mother who wasn't around so, Ethan and everyone were holding their breath. 

They were hoping he would shift, sometimes children weren't able to, meaning that their bloodline was so impure that they weren't able to shift. They were more powerful then humans but weaker then other dragons and were really low on the hierarchy.

 Just as Liam nodded, a blue mist suddenly covered him. And he felt an excruciating pain in his bones, like they were breaking and reforming. Like something was trying to get out from inside him.

The first shift was supposed to hurt a lot. Those who had their elders could ask them for help, otherwise some dragons even died during their first shift. 

The pain lessened becoming slightly bearable. It still hurt a lot though, because others couldn't stop the pain. The pain was due to his body getting used to shifting and strengthening itself. If they removed all the pain, he might be able to shift now but his body would be to weak to be able to handle him shifting again. Not to mention that his dragon would become stronger as he grew older. If he didn't strengthen his body he might explode one day from his body not being able to handle the power of the dragon bloodline.

 Liam's day dreaming helped him overlook the pain a little as all his bones and meridian were broken and strengthened. He could feel his body changing and like something inside him was free. The pain continued for a while as he sweated from the pain. His bones expanded before everything stopped suddenly. He felt like he was floating but more grounded than he had ever felt.

As he opened his eyes, the mist around him disappeared and he looked around in awe. It felt like his eyes which were dirty for years were finally cleaned. He could see so much clearer, his eyes noticing every little movement.

It wasn't just his sight, his sense of smell, his hearing everything had become better. It didn't make him feel strange, he kinda felt like this was how he was supposed to be.

He shook his head and looked down.

"You are gorgeous!" Ethan said as he teared up a little. He patted Liam's head when he moved towards Ethan. Lucien also grinned at him and gestured towards a big mirror which Liam had ignored before in his nervousness. It was probably placed there so that kids could see themselves when shifted.

He gasped as he saw himself in the mirror, the gasp came out sounding weird from his dragon form. Unlike the usual western dragons he saw in movies, his body was serpent-like, like the eastern dragons. His body was just floating in air without him moving his wings, they were there for fighting and protection. It felt like he was swimming but less tediously. Floating felt so easy to him like he has been doing it his entire life. 

 His whole body was covered in silvery white scales with just his stomach in a whitish blue color. He had a long mane on his head, it was the same color as his stomach just a little darker so it couldn't be mistaken for white. He had white horns on his head too although they were kinda small, he knew that they would grow larger as he grew up. Lastly his wings, they were kinda weird he could retract them into his body if he wished, making him look more like a serpent. They were also silvery white. He didn't have any claws.

According to this body's memory, his teacher said that cloud dragons were descendents of the dragon kind and a serpent which was why they looked more like serpents.

Liam looked at his eyes as he suddenly remembered something and realized that they were golden. Originally he chose golden as his eyes color but his eyes were yellow blue when he came here. Demyx told him he'll get the golden color after he shifted.

As he was admiring himself he suddenly turned back into a human. A naked one. He quickly wore the robe handed to him by Ethan as Lucien snickered at him. 

"That's how long you can shift currently since you are still young." His grandfather said helpfully.

"You are an Alpha. Although we already expected that." Lucien told him as he smiled for the first time without any I'll intent behind it. Omegas and Betas were different in size. Liam wasn't surprised since he had picked it himself.

"You have golden eyes, usually dragons having some shad of yellow is already considered amazing. Golden means your bloodline is extremely pure. We'll find out more as you grow up." The Chief said calmly.

Liam immediately looked towards the mirror, his eyes were golden now and even his hair had turned the same colour as his mane in his dragon form. He noticed they have grown longer after shifting. They were a few inches above his butt.

"We can cut them if you want." Ethan said as he saw him looking at his hair and made a bun with his hair. With his hair out of the way, Liam noticed two little bumps on his forehead.

"That's weird why aren't your horns disappearing?" Lucien said as he also noticed them. He poked one causing Liam to jump and yelp. He felt a numbing sensation throughout his body. 

"Don't just randomly start touching. What if you hurt him?" Ethan said as he picked Liam up, looking closely at his forehead trying to find the cause of this. Liam also cooperated fearing the worst.

"It's fine. Don't scare him. Some children whose bloodline is pure, have some traits appear in their human form. It means his body is a little weak. You guys feed him with food from the clan." The Cheif said and Lucien nodded. As he was the one in charge of food. Ethan was a good baker but cooking wasn't his forte.

"You guys go home and eat. It's getting late. I need to leave as well."

"Yes Patriarch!" Ethan and Lucien said and left as Liam noticed that it was already evening. He took longer then he thought he had. 

"Be quick. I'm hungry." Ethan said as he pouted towards Lucien. A rare moment of him acting spoiled. 

"Yes your majesty!" Lucien said as he smiled at him. Ethan was a big foodie, Lucien's cooking was one of the reasons why he fell for him.

Liam looked at his grandfather as he gagged towards the couple, who ignored him. He then took Liam from Ethan. And complained to him about the dog food* he had to eat while living with them. Liam nodded slowly as he yawned.

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Dog food is a Chinese slang meaning referring to PDA by those forced to see it or "eat it".