From an early age, Akira possessed a power as extraordinary as it was inexplicable. Though he had no magical abilities, he could transform into any animal or insect with effortless ease, in a way that defied all explanation. One moment he could become a blue-feathered voraku; the next, a hagetsuki, perfectly motionless among the rocks on its eight legs.
Even more remarkable was what happened to everything he carried. His clothes, weapons, and every other possession vanished the instant his body changed shape, only to reappear when he returned to his human form. No one could explain how such a thing was possible.
The phenomenon was too extraordinary to ignore. The court Mages devoted years to studying this unique case, testing every theory and every spell at their disposal. They examined Akira in every way imaginable, convinced that sooner or later they would uncover the source of his power. Yet every attempt ended in failure.
Not even Mage Zaio, already regarded as the most powerful Mage alive, could find an answer. He subjected Akira to countless examinations and sought to understand the phenomenon through magic itself, but in the end he was forced to admit that the transformations lay completely beyond the bounds of all known knowledge.
As the years passed, the Mages abandoned their search. Convinced the mystery would never be solved, they turned their attention elsewhere and allowed Akira to live his life without further interference. When he came of age, he joined the army of Narashin, carrying with him a gift no one had ever been able to understand.
The truth, however, reached far deeper into the past, beyond the memory of mankind and far beyond the knowledge preserved by the Mages. The origins of that power stretched back to the Second Era, when Myoo was still a wild, untamed land and creatures long since vanished roamed its mountains and forests. Among them lived an ancient race shrouded in myth: the Shapeshifters.
The story behind Akira’s power is told in the short story Akira: The Legacy of the Shapeshifters.