Knowledge!

“- As I said, you have provided me with more entertainment than anyone else in decades. Moreover, you demonstrated very interesting skills. You’re resourceful and imaginative, and you took a complex situation in stride. You by now have realized that there is more to reality than you ever expected… magic is in the air. Quite literally.”

You like where this is going.

“- The first thing you should know is that your active gender matters. Male wizards are better at illusions and transformation magic, including transforming oneself into another creature. Females are better at influencing minds, such as manipulation of arousal, and modifying the environment, including history.” The voice chuckles again. “You probably understand by now that gender is, to us, a very fluid idea. I am a male, right now, but I was a female when we met. You picked the wallet I accidentally dropped.”

You don’t remember that, but it at least explains why the voice took an interest in you in the first place. You also realize that the voice now refers to the both of you as “us”.

“- Am I your disciple or something?” you ask, nonplussed.

The voice stays silent a moment, then starts again, very seriously.

“- You can choose to be. I haven’t trained anyone in centuries, and you will find that knowledge comes with some duties one can never shirk… but I believe you to be more than capable of shouldering them. We are a very small elite, and our life is mostly one of entertainment and pleasure. Oh, and of the constant quest to learn.”

You acquiesce. You now realize that you can never go back to your former life, nor your other former life of ten minutes ago. Your reality bended again.

“-The second thing you should know is that, once you transform into a creature other than a human, or if you grow older than a normal human, both of which are very likely, you will lose the ability to reproduce. Nothing can alter this, as it is a fundamental law of magic. In short, if you want babies, keep animal transformation for later, and make babies within this century. Some wizards have let their quest for knowledge distract them from that rule, and it is a sad truth that one of my own pupils learned it the hard way when she realized, back in the Middle Ages, that she’d spent a century studying the relationships between primal forest growth and ocean temperature. An absolutely critical subject for a thermal master like her, really, but still, a hefty cost.”

These people are crazy. “Back in the Middle Ages?!” Just how old can the voice be? You do not dare ask just yet, though. These people are crazy, but you realize… they’re your kind of crazy. Suddenly, a thought crosses your mind.

“-Wait… do you still have sex? Am I still going to be able to…”

The voice seems to find the question very amusing, and once it finally stops laughing, it explains that yes, sex is a possibility. It even hints that wizards sometimes congregate and, well… get dirty and personal.

You don’t hesitate in any way anymore. This life might have some bad sides. It might create some hardships for you in the future… but it is fascinating and obviously very rewarding.

You will follow this Master, or Mistress. You will learn from them, and learn from others, and learn from yourself. You will, in time, improve life for others. And, maybe, in the future, you will find a wife and make her pregnant… or a husband and carry his child… or both. It’s up to you.

(The End - of this path).