FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Man... how long have I been trying to build up muscle for, now..." Joe sighed to himself, walking along the forest path, all the way behind everyone else. The twenty-something male had spent the last few months trying everything that he could to bulk up in one way or another, but nothing he did seemed to have any effect. Constant workouts at the gym, supplements, proteins, pretty much every legal option under the sun, but everything yielded no results. "I'm starting to think that it's physically impossible for me to bulk up..."

It didn't help matters that he was usually the subject of ridicule for his inability to gain muscle, hence why he kept to the back of the pack to ensure that he wouldn't be targeted by anyone. On the plus side, being away from everyone else meant that he was guaranteed some degree of peace, at least until he caught up with everyone else. And without anyone poking fun at him, it gave him a chance to actually enjoy the sights and sounds around him.

"I can't keep kicking myself about it... I'm sure there's bound to be one method that actually works, but what?" He pondered, stopping when he reached a fork in the road - the rest of the class took the left part, whilst the right path led down towards what appeared to be a cave. "Hrm... they have to come back down this path later, so I don't think they'll notice if I go off the beaten path..." He thought, following the right path down to the cave. As he got closer, he heard a sudden noise.

"Ack, damn it all!" A voice yelled out in frustration, causing Joe to hide behind a nearby tree. He carefully peeked out from behind it, wanting to see who it was. To his surprise, it wasn't anyone from the class, but rather a humanoid, fox-like creature - a kitsune. In front of that was a pair of gryphons, each wielding a weapon in their talons - a hammer and a sword, respectively. Every time the kitsune attempted to get close, the beasts would block the entrance with their wings and swing their weapons down, knocking the fox off of his feet. "I don't get it, why are you stupid birdbrains blocking my way?!"

The two gryphons simply screeched defiantly at him, the noise ringing in both his and Joe's ears. "Ugh, if you want to play that way, fine, but I swear that I, Fëanor, WILL find a way past you even if it kills me!" The kitsune said in a stern voice before turning away, his tails literally between his legs. "I'll find some super amazing illusion to trick you with, mark my words!"

"Well... that happened..." Joe blinked, unsure of what to make of the kitsune that was storming away like a scolded child. His attention turned back towards the cave, staring at the two massive gryphons guarding the entrance, a thought crossing his mind - would they try to attack him if he were to make his way to the cave? With their weapons and fierce behaviour, it seemed like a no-brainer, and yet a part of him wanted to see if they'd make an attempt to lash out.

"Hoo, I've got to be nuts to be trying this..." He took a deep breath, composing himself as he emerged from behind the tree, walking straight ahead towards the cave, in plain sight of the two gryphons. They seemed to glance towards him, but otherwise did nothing to impede his progress, the human setting foot inside the mouth of the cave. "Huh... that felt a bit too easy..." He admitted, turning back to face them. "Why didn't you two try to... stop... me..." He trailed off when he saw that the two gryphons, weapons and all, had vanished from sight. "Wha..." He blinked, stepping back outside. He turned to face the cave, and once again saw the beasts. He stepped inside once more, turned around, and once more was greeted with nothing.

"This day just gets weirder and weirder..." He thought aloud. Still, he was inside of the cave, so he might as well take a look around - maybe he'd find out just why that kitsune had been trying to make his way past the vanishing guards. He walked along the path, taking note of the torches that adorned the wall, lighting his way through the cave. He'd be able to find his way back out when he was done, thankfully.

After walking for just a little bit longer, he saw the path ahead of him spread out wider, the glow of the torches being replaced by a different kind of glow altogether. He soon stepped out of the narrow pathway and into a large room, filled from top to bottom with glowing green crystals. "Woah, look at this place..." He looked in in quiet awe, looking at all of the radiant stones. "It kinda looks like something out of a video game!"

Joe took a walk around the room, taking in everything - the crystals hummed with an ethereal, almost god-like power, the cavern illuminated by their brilliant hue. "Are these what those two kinda-sorta-not there gryphons were trying to guard?" He asked, wandering around further, some of the crystals larger in some patches compared to others. One particular crystal did end up catching his eye, one that was just a little bit larger than he was, and he felt oddly compelled to check it out.

"Look at the size of this one... I can bet attempting to get it out of here would be a major pain!" He chuckled, looking over the massive gemstone. He could feel the raw power emanating from it, as if it were daring him to touch it. "I mean there's no way in hell that I'd be able to get it out of the cave all by myself, but maybe I'd be able to take one or two of the smaller crystals out afterwards, if they're loose enough to pry from the ground or walls! Aaah, if only I was stronger..."

He carefully placed his hands down on the surface of the crystal, looking straight into it. "And if I can't, I suppose I could maybe take a photo of the place - I know a few friends who'd probably freak out at the sight of this cave!" He chuckled playfully, not noticing that energy was beginning to be drawn into the giant rock from all of the other gems, tendrils flowing between each stone, seeping into the large crystal, in turn transferring its power into him. Even as the energy filled him, the crystals didn't dim at all, still shining brightly as if nothing had happened.

"Still... I guess I can't stay here all day - they'll start to get suspicious if I don't catch up to them soon." He sighed, letting go of the gem. "I better start making my way back towards the main path!" He said, taking one step forwards before suddenly pausing, an odd sensation flowing through him.

"Ghhh... what the?" He trembled, his body pulsing, the power that now resided inside of him spreading through every inch of his body. It was a power too great for a human to wield, but it sought to change that fairly quickly. He rested up against the nearest wall, his hands twitching as he glanced over at them, noticing that fuzzy blue scales were beginning to sprout across them, the middle digits merging together into one, the nails growing into sharp, white claws.

"Claws?" He blinked, looking at his hands in confusion. The scales grew up his arms, the muscles in his arms starting to broaden, the sleeves of his shirt pulling tight against his biceps as they expanded and bulged. "Wait, muscles?" He brought his hand to feel them, unable to believe what was going on. He didn't even notice that the energy from the crystals once again started to flow through him, as if to empower him further.

"I can't believe it... I'm actually gaining muscle!" He smirked - sure, he was also growing scales as well, but that didn't seem as important to him. The scales crept along his front, turning a bright white across his chest, a diamond-shaped patch of yellow between his pectorals, not that he noticed any of this thanks to his shirt, but it was starting to feel increasingly snug, thanks in part to his growing size alongside his developing muscles. "This is actually amazing!" He laughed, the sound of tearing fabric filling his ears as his top started to give way under the strain, abs and pectorals showing up briefly underneath the shirt before it split down the middle, exposing his fuzzy, scaled torso.

"Man, if I knew a place like this existed, I would have tried to seek this out sooner instead of wasting my time with all those other methods! Everyone's gonna flip when they see me-OW!" He groaned, doubling over as his head bumped against the roof of the cave. Wait... the roof of the cave? He looked up, and sure enough, he had grown to reach the ceiling, and it didn't look like he was going to stop growing any time soon.

"Errrr... am I meant to be getting this big?" He asked himself, his muscles pulsing further as he continued to grow, becoming increasingly more defined. He peeled away the remnants of his shirt as he found himself having to kneel down, the cave becoming more and more cramped by the second, the crystals still supplying him with energy. "There's got to be a limit to this, right?" He added, pressure growing in his back thanks to a pair of bumps forming against his shoulder blades.

The roof of the cave was now starting to crumble, his overall size continuing to grow further and further - he was afraid that he'd likely be crushed to death due to how confining everything was getting around him. At the same time, with how thick his muscles were and how big he was getting, the more likely possibility was that he'd end up outgrowing the cave before too long, a thought that made him turn bright red. "Oh no no no no no, I can't let anyone see me like this!" He gulped, some of the crystals now falling from the ceiling as they were dislodged, clattering at his feet.

Joe tried to stretch himself out to give himself more room within the shrinking cavern, and he was almost immediately greeted by the sounds of his shorts and underwear shredding open, revealing impossibly broad thighs covered in furry blue scales. He would have turned a brighter shade of red if it wasn't for the fact that his modesty had been preserved thanks to some aspects of his form having changed before his sudden exposure, a tugging on his spine cluing him in on what was to grow next.

"This... really isn't going to stop, is it?" He gulped, watching as daylight slowly filtered through the ceiling, the roof crumbling around him as his growth continued uninterrupted, the crystals slowly dimming as the remainder of their power transferred into him. His growing spine began to protrude outwards, flesh and muscle forming around it, becoming a thick, lengthy tail, the underside of which was covered in the same white fuzz as on his torso. It whipped against the walls, putting more holes into the foundation.

"OK, you can stop now, I don't need to get THIS big!" He pleaded, what remained of his pants and underwear falling off of his massive thighs and legs. His feet popped and cracked, heels shifting upwards as his stance rapidly became digitigrade, pressure shifting to his tiptoes. Unseen to him, the soles of his feet gained plush pads, his toes fusing together until only three were left, menacing claws sprouting from the tips.

"Ghh... ghhrraarrghhh!!!" He was forced to stretch himself thanks to another rapid bout of growth, the bumps on his back suddenly exploding outwards, a pair of magnificent wings about as tall as he was and twice as wide, emerging from it, causing the rest of the cavern's roof to explode in the process, sending great chunks of rock and crystal all over the place. Needless to say, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Crap... this really is awkward..." He blushed, his neck gaining a few extra inches, thickening up to a proportional enough size to match the rest of his body. His hair mixed in with the blue fur that adorned his scales, jaws protruding forwards as he winced slightly in discomfort. He slowly got back to his feet, teeth shifting into sharp fangs, several more filling his forming muzzle, nostrils flaring as his nose sank into his upper jaw, tongue flicking through his new fangs as it forked at the tip. His ears shrank away into tiny holes in the side of his head, a pair of short horns jutting out from atop his scalp, pointing backwards. His eyes moved towards the sides of his head, the irises and sclera filling with a vibrant ruby red, pupils pulling into slits.

"Hh... hhhahh..." He huffed, noticing the flow of energy finally dying down, the crystals now fully drained of both power and colour. Joe looked around, spotting the mountain that he was originally going to walk up, gasping when he saw just how much smaller it now looked compared to him. "Oh man oh man... what am I going to do?" He said in a flustered tone. "I know I wanted to grow big and strong, but this REALLY isn't what I had in mind..."

"What in the absolute HELL just happened?" A voice spoke to him, causing him to freeze up. For a moment, he thought it might have been that kitsune again, but the voice sounded different... If anything, it sounded friendlier.

"Eep!" Joe gulped, wrapping his wings around himself in a vain attempt to hide himself.

"Oh come on, that's not fooling anyone!" The voice seemed to chuckle. "Would it help if I said that I'm just a friendly soul that's concerned about why the cave that I was left to guard is now lying in several pieces all around the mountain, and why there's now a several-hundred-foot dragon standing where it was!"

"I... I guess that's kinda my fault..." He sighed. "I was with a group walking up the mountain trail, but I decided to take a detour to get away from the people there."

"Now why would you want to get away from them?"

"Well... before all this, I was really trying my hardest to gain muscle, and they were making fun of me for my inability to do so..."

"I see - they don't sound like a friendly bunch. If it were me, I probably would have torched them!" The voice sighed. "Here, it might help if you could actually SEE me!" It added with a laugh, a figure flying into Joe's line of sight. To his surprise, it was another dragon, albeit one who was a lot smaller than he currently was. "Surprised?"

"Not... really..." Joe responded bluntly. "I mean I'm a dragon now as well..."

"Oh yeah.. Damn it, I should have shown up BEFORE you outgrew the cave!" He growled. "Anyway, the name's Glaurung. Again, I was assigned to guard that cave, but SOMEONE had to outgrow it! I guess that's what happens when a human decides to meddle with forces they can't comprehend!"

"Hey, do you think I had any choice in the matter?" Joe sounded just a little bit irritated by Glaurung's attitude. "I go into a cave guarded by two gryphons who aren't there when I set foot inside, and a few minutes later, I end up turning into a giant dragon with god-like strength that I'm not sure I can control!" He told him, his eyes glowing furiously, the ground seeming to tremble beneath him.

"OK, OK, calm down, I went a bit too far there!" The smaller dragon tried to diffuse the situation - it probably wasn't a good idea to piss off a beast who didn't have a complete grasp on their new powers. "As for the gryphons, they're an illusion I had conjured up. They were meant to deter anyone with an impure heart from entering into the cave. In your case, they mustn't have been able to pick up on any impurities in you and let you enter."

Joe seemed to calm down a little, the earth ceasing its shaking underneath his paws. "So I'm going to guess the kitsune who tried to enter didn't have a pure heart?"

"Kitsune? You mean Fëanor?" Glaurung smirked. "So the conniving little illusion creator was fooled by an illusion!" He laughed. "I might have actually outdone myself with that, and my illusion magic doesn't even hold a candle to that brat!"

"You actually know magic?" Joe enquired.

"I know SOME magic. I wouldn't say I'm the type who can bring myself to study that stuff, but I know a few tricks at least!" He boasted. "Oh-ho-ho, I am going to rub his pointy little snout in it the next time our paths cross!"

"Alright, but in the meantime, can we get back to the bigger, dragon-shaped problem?" He pointed to himself. "What the hell am I meant to do about this?"

"You know... most people would be thrilled out of their minds to become such a powerful dragon, or even a dragon in general! I've seen a few humans transform here and there, and I don't think they've ever complained about losing their humanity!"

"OK, but did those dragons ever become as big as me?"

"..." Glaurung couldn't immediately bring himself to answer that.

"WELL?!" Joe growled, causing the earth to shake again.

"NO, NO!" He panicked, trying to calm Joe down again. "They didn't become giant, god-like deities, please calm the hell down before you end up creating a new continent!"

Joe took a deep breath, trying to calm himself once more, the ground ceasing its movements yet again. "So then... what exactly am I meant to do, Glaurung?"

"Literally the only thing I can think of is sticking around and helping you get to grips with your new powers and abilities. You're causing the ground to shake by merely getting annoyed, god only knows what would happen if someone pissed you off - you'd probably spawn a volcano from who knows where!"

"A volcano?" He gulped - he didn't know if Glaurung was telling the truth or messing with him, but he really didn't want to risk causing catastrophic damage should he flip his lid. "I don't think I'd want to do that!"

"Thankfully, you're in luck, seeing as you know me - I know a few guys who'd be more than happy to help you get to grips with your new powers, as well as keep it under control. I mean, I might be able to help here and there as well, but..."

"Let me guess - you're not interested in gaining power for yourself, so what abilities you have aren't that good?"

"HEY!" Glaurung glared at Joe so intensely, he'd be boring a hole in his head were he able to do so. "Who's the dragon that created an illusion so perfect, it fooled a natural-born trickster?"

"The same dragon who's trying to not get on my bad side?" Joe quipped.

"..." Glaurung once again fell silent. "Ok, fine..." He sighed. "It's my fault that this happened to you, so I guess it's only fair that I do my fair share of work in helping you out. Tell me, what's your name?"

"Joe."

"... Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "You've literally transformed into a god-beast, and you still think the name 'Joe' fits?"

"Eheh... When you put it that way, it does sound just a teensy bit silly now, doesn't it?" Joe blushed.

"Yup, so let me find a suitable name for you!" He gestured with his hand, a hardback copy of The Silmarillion appearing in his claws. He started flicking through the pages. "Let's see... what's a good, strong name to give to you... Ah, here we go! From now on, you'll be known as Andracca!"

"Andracca?" The larger dragon cocked his head.

"Why not? It was the name given to the greatest, most powerful dragon in all of Middle-earth, after all!" Glaurung chuckled.

"I suppose it does have a nice ring to it." Andracca nodded. "So what are we going to do first, Glaurung?"

"First things first, I really think we should get out of here before you draw any more attention to yourself. A dragon that's bigger than a goddamn mountain isn't a hard thing to miss, after all!"

"Right... is there any way that I might be able to adjust my size?" He asked.

"Quite possibly, but that might require a bit of training. For now, follow my lead, I'll take you somewhere away from prying eyes!" Glaurung spread his wings, flapping them as he took to the skies. Andracca did the same, creating a powerful gust that nearly dislodged several trees as the two dragons flew into the horizon, towards a secret, otherworldly area known only to Glaurung and the beasts that resided within. He didn't know what to expect, or if he'd make himself known to any humans in the near future, but he was cautiously optimistic about the whole ordeal.

At least his wish to become stronger came true - now all he had to do was control that strength.