Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Beast Transformation spells elevated the ranker's body stats as well as heightened their mana storage for the time till their transformation was active. It also provided them with a few beastly features that could be visible or invisible.

Layla had predicted that Rodrick's demon beast was somewhere in the Aranger city because of how his other transcendent-grade spell worked. And she was right. But only partially.

Rodrick had used the Beast Transformation spell to keep Aqua close to him when he had entered the city. This was another benefit of having a Beast Transformation spell that the demon beast tamers had high use of.

The Beast Transformation spell required one to have a spatial runic tattoo first. This would enable them to create an isolated space near their heart through the use of spatial magic. Only demon beast tamers who had a compatible mana signature with their beast could do something like this.

This was the first step of the spell. The spatial space near the ranker's heart needs to be inhabited by their respective demon beast for the spell to work. This was the second step.

The third step of the spell was to establish a connection between the ranker and their demon beast for the transformation to take place. The demon beast could not be summoned when the Beast Transformation was active. The beast would also feel weakened because it shares its body stats with its tamer. And it would require time for the beast to get out of the weakened state even after the spell is ended. These were the disadvantages of the Beast Transformation spell.

But the advantages of such spells far outweigh the disadvantages. The primary advantage was that demon beast tamers could take their beasts inside any city and keep them with them.

The kingdom-sanctioned demon beast tamers only needed to declare that they were the official user of such a spell and that they were carrying their demon beasts with them to enter the city. Of course, they would be prohibited from using the Beast Transformation spell or making their beast come out in the open unless they were defending themselves. This was the security protocol in most cities.

This was why Rodrick didn't use the Demon Beast Transformation even though he had it. That and the fact that using the demon beast spell while Altashia didn't have her own might have put an obvious blemish on his victory. Even worse, his loss would have been far more scorn-worthy if he had lost to Altashia even with the transcendent-grade spell of such a kind working for him.

The Demon Beast Transformation would allow the ranker to borrow more powers from their demon beasts as they ranked up. The transformation would also become more and more beast-like.

The power output of Demon Beast Transformation would keep on growing with the ranker and their demon beast as they progressed in their respective ranking journeys. When a ranker reaches a certain level, they can borrow the attainment of their demon beasts to reinvent their spells. This would give them a completely different effect or output level to their spells.

The Demon Beast Transformation spell was also heavily controlled by the establishments including the kingdom of Edinburgh. Normally, it is only granted to demon beast tamers who have sided with their respective establishments or entered into an extended contract with them.

The spell's effects and output were also dependent on the connection they shared with their demon beast. Rankers with exceptional chemistry with their demon beasts would benefit more from the spell's body stat boost and mana storage expansion. That's because, with an increased connection like this, the mana compatibility between the ranker and the beast would increase, enabling them to gain an enhanced boost.

The ranker could tweak the Demon Beast Transformation when they became proficient enough in it. It meant that they could choose to manifest only a certain part of their demon beast while avoiding the other. They could also tweak the spell in such a way that they drew more boost from their demon beasts at the cost of weakening their demon beast severely.

The spell's potential was tremendous. The only limit came from the rankers and their demon beasts. The more capable and proficient the ranker was in using the spell or the more powerful a demon beast was which was tamed, the more fearsome the spell's output would be.

That's why Altashia was ready to fight with Rodrick Renar in the Arangar stadium. She knew exactly what she was getting when she made a deal with him. Rodrick also understood the importance of such a spell. He had used it as a bargaining chip to gain Altashia's favor as well as her family's by default.

Eren got this spell by chance. He didn't even know what he was getting until it arrived in encrypted array-inscribed storage space. Rodrick had to contact Eren via his ID communication and give him the voice key to make the scroll appear in front of him from the stored array-inscribed artifact.

The array disk made for the runic inscription came with the spell's scroll. It would just need blood samples from the ranker and their demon beast to create a runic imprint that could be used by the ranker as the tattoo. This way, each tattoo would be different from the other because of the different mana signatures involved.

The security provided for the spell spoke volumes about how much the kingdom prioritized control over its usage. In the wrong hands, the unfair advantage provided by the Demon Beast Transformation spell would create a lot of security risks.

The butcher had come prepared for challenging Altashia knowing full well she too would start using the spell as soon as she got her hands on it. Argo was with him at the time of him challenging the warrior class girl. It seemed that she too had the same idea of testing the spell's effects. Especially since it was Eren who also had access to the same spell.

***

"Demon Beast Transformation!"

A unique mana pulse was released in the battle ring when both the participants of the match drew a temporary truce to execute their respective spells. The spell was exclusive to demon beast tamers. And it needed some time to get executed the right way.

Eren's eyes turned beastly as he activated the Demon Beast Transformation spell. He now boasted vertical pupils that allowed for an enhanced vision that was unlike his normal one. He could now see the hair follicle on Altashia's body in a magnified manner if he chose to focus on it. This was the case even when she was standing at a quiet distance away from him.

Next to change were Eren's hands. His fingers changed their forms and made his hand look like Argo's vice-like claw. His body's muscle mass was also strengthened by the mana and beastly connection he shared with his demon beast, making him grow in stature and build. Plus, he now sported lion-like canines that peeked through his lips.

Since Argo had features of both the eagle and the lion, Eren too contained visible features of both. He felt like he wasn't using the spell optimally. But he knew he needed to get more proficient in using the spell for him to truly tap into the spell's potential.

AN: Rodrick Renar promises to give Eren Demon Beast Transformation spell in chapter 486.