"Know the enemy and know yourself."

"It takes a monster to destroy a monster."***

I opened a can of orange juice I bought from a nearby vending machine while walking down the streets of Kobe, as usual.

The hustle-bustle of the city made me feel a bit comfortable. It was as if I was able to blend in among so many people, without being noticed.

I was sitting on a bench outside a Cafe. The sun was beginning to set.

I put on my cap and a mask I'd brought with me, turned, and started walking towards the lane behind the cafe. I reached the middle of the lane and put my head on the wall, letting in a deep breath, as I started muttering the spells for transformation.

I was a Shapeshifter.

"The alchemist inside me, come out as you see the devil around you. A-L-C-H-E-M-I-Z-E!"

As I finished saying the spell, my eyes turned red, my head started turning into a skeleton, my skin dissipating into thin air. My hands and feet turned bony as my body got bigger, with a black veil covering my back. The Veil of Invisibility. I could never forget the spell for this, could I?

But, I was surprised by my transformation. I had never defeated this monster before. How could I have gained the powers to transform into such a being?

I didn't have time to think about it.

"A lot of Evil today, huh? The monster today's a big one." I shook my head as I stepped out of the lane.

I was in the middle of the crowd.

The sun had completely set and it was night time. I headed towards the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge. Rainbow lights covered the view.

"The scenario's breathtaking!" I whispered to myself.

"That's weird. I don't see anything. The demon should be around here like they told me."

I waited for something to happen. Nothing did. I stood on the bridge and looked down at the sea.

I saw some unusual pearl-like structures glistening on the waters of the sea. I bent down a little to see what it was, when suddenly, the lights went off. I couldn't see a thing, except for the glimmering pearl water.

"It's here." I said.

My Invisibility cloak vanished. The magic had been drained off by the magic of the monster.

The pearls popped out as parts of tentacles of the sea monster. It's tentacles leaped out toward me and grabbed me by my phalanges.

I clenched my fists and tried to pull out my hands from the tentacles, but I couldn't. They were holding onto to me too tightly.

I snuffed and grabbed the tentacles and tried to push the monster out of the water. It didn't budge.

"How big is it?" I wondered.

It was time to use my daemonic powers.

I held my breath and started repeating the spell, "Oh great Alchemist, unleash the powers of this daemon within me."

"U-N-L-E-A-S-H!"

A flash of light took the monster by surprise. I hadn't seen this monster before. It was a new threat.

The tentacles cut from the middle and a huge bellow of anger followed through by the monster.

The water started gurgling as the monster emerged from the bottom of the sea. It was insanely enormous. With pearls covering its body, and its eyes made up of marbles, the monster had two heads. It had a serpent tail that lashed upon the waters of the sea.

I was amazed at the sight.

I was a grain compared to its size, even though I was a monster now.

"I've to make it quick, otherwise my Shape-shifting magic will drain off too." I let out a roar as I put out my skeleton hands and unleashed my powers.

"It's gonna be over for you, pearly-pearl!" I screamed.

A blue light flashed across one of my hands and seized one of the tentacles as the pearl monster lashed towards me.

With my other hand, I tried summoning a weapon. A golden light appeared with a long, dark bladed sword.

"This is gonna be fine!" My skull-face smirked.

I cut off the tentacles with my sword. Purple, viscous fluid oozed out from the wounded area.

"This sword's poisoned", I slashed around some more as it dawned to me.

I needed to reach the base of the monster. It won't get out the waters because it was a sea monster, as it's powers would be diminished.

I put my hands up in the air as reddish black wings sprouted from my back. I took my flight towards the monster, while slashing its tentacles and giving it some more pain.

"Where's its heart?" I searched.

It's tail lashed out at my face and I ended up flying backwards as I hit the edge of the bridge. My head was spinning. I got up but my skeleton wobbled.

My powers were diminishing. I needed to end this fast.

It was made up of pearls.

"Oysters!"

It dawned to me that an oyster must be its heart. Underneath the waters.

I stumbled backwards as I turned back to my human form.

"Shit!" I gritted my teeth. I still had the sword in my hand.

I dodged its tentacles and tail as they came towards me. It only had three out of seven tentacles left.

I had to come up with something fast.

I lifted the sword in my hand and casted a spell upon the tides.

"O thy tides! Rise up, crystal clear and guide thee to the soul of this child of the sea!"

Water turned into waves, the pearls shimmered on the body of the monster as the tides revealed a part of a huge, crystal white oyster.

I decided to shapeshift into the simplest monster.

"A-L-C-H-E-M-I-Z-E!" I said with the lowest frequency and energy I could.

But the evil around me was stronger than I thought.

The monster was using my energy as well, it was keeping its shape using my energy. I couldn't let it do that.

I turned into a Shorebird Daemon. I had used this one before, and it could destroy Oysters by eating them.

I leapt onto its tail and pinched it with my beak. The monster roared in pain and I took the chance to go toward the oyster and destroy it.

The monster disintegrated as I engulfed the oyster, only the pearls and the marbles remaining behind.

I picked up the marbles with my beak and flew back toward the bridge.

I turned back into my original form with the marbles enclosed in my fists.

The bridge brightened up as the lights fluttered back to life.

"Another souvenir for me to take." I looked at them and then shoved them into the pockets of my jeans as I walked back towards my home.

I reached home and took a bath, changed, had instant noodles as my dinner and plopped to my bed.

I flipped open the book 'True Reincarnations and Shape-shifting Monsters' and turned its blue pages.

"Page 121", I read.

It's lock disappeared.

# The legend of the Impearlial #

So the monster I defeated was Impearlial.

I still didn't know about the monster I transformed into. It had a lot of power, and a potential of becoming monstrous. It was intriguing.

I dozed off to sleep while reading the book.