Chapter 14 - New Toys

There was something I had wanted for a long while, but I hadn’t had the time, so now I was going to get it. I was going to get myself some god damn Wolverine claws.

Ok … Really I wanted something akin to ‘Sword-Hands’, or the like. Something with a bit of range, that can actually block or parry an attack and that can cut through something, not just scratch it. Anyway I wanted some blades on my arms and dammit I was going to get them.

While I was trying to make my new weapons I noticed several things. First I noticed that the shapeshifting was a lot lighter on my mind. The strain of the activity itself wasn’t lessened, but it felt like I wouldn’t need to think as much about it. Shapeshifting just became a lot more natural for me, but I could also feel something inside myself diminish while I changed back into human-James. After a bit of thinking I realised it was the [Biomass] Perk. It said it ‘fueled my abilities’. Apparently it was making shapeshifting a lot easier at the cost of my biomass reserves. At least that was what I had concluded.

Val disagreed: “The System isn’t that vague. Fuel means fuel, not ‘makes it less strenuous to perform’. [Biomass] most likely fuels you in terms of nutrients. You won’t fear collapsing from malnutrition when going up in mass, like you normally would.”

That made sense, but it didn’t show the whole picture. “Why is Shapeshifting easier then?” I crossed my arms in smug triumph Gotcha!

She facepalmed: “You just evolved your class into one specifically more suited to Shapeshifting. Classes aren’t just about Stats and Perks, Idiot!”

Damn, she got me there. Didn’t think about that.

Back on topic: The second thing I noticed was that I suddenly had lots of ideas for how to fit the blades in my arm, in a way that didn’t necessitate me having to shapeshift every time. In fact not only did I know where to store the blades, I also knew how to make muscles to extend and retract them. Making tunnels and holes in my skin for them was also easy. I even managed to make a bit of Skin cover the holes in my knuckles when they weren’t extended, however getting them to open and close in tune with the blades was almost an hour of work. That was still low, when compared to the time it took me to make my first claws, however the rest of the blades only took half an hour in total. [Armoury of the Apex] and [Body of the Apex] were already pulling their weight.

The blades were about 35cm long from knuckle to tip. I spent another half hour recreating the design in my other arm and started to practise with them against no one in particular. Two flaws were pretty apparent soon after. First I had no injector. That was swiftly solved by flooding the resting space of my blades with blood. When they came out they would be coated in the stuff and any wound I scored would be an entry for my [Infectious Mana Manipulation]. Granted in a protracted fight they would eventually dry up, but I could just resheathe them.

The second problem was one of design. If I sheath the blade in my arm, then my wrist is going to be stiff when they are extended, as I basically had an internal splint in my arm. The solution to this problem took another hour, as I designed a joint of sorts within the blade. It would slot in with the joints connecting my arms to my wrists. It wasn’t perfect, but it allowed me about as much freedom of movement as a sword fighter had.

Next I sparred with Val to test out my new toys. It may have been wishful thinking, but Val seemed somewhat proud of me for making the Blades inside of one morning. Now I needed to get familiar with them. Claws aren’t that far off from punching, but wrist blades are something entirely different. Not to mention how having three footlong blades of bone attached to your knuckles unbalances you. With 61 Strength I could wield them no problem, but the feel of them took some getting used to.

My work would soon pay off though.

[Unarmed Combat]+1=>

40

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Your Skill [Unarmed Combat] can evolve into [Natural Weapons]. Do you Accept?

I pulled up the descriptions for both.

[Unarmed Combat]

The Ability to fight without any weaponry, using only your body.

[Natural Weapons]

The Ability to fight with weapons that are part of your body, including Claws, Fists, Teeth, Spikes, Tails, etc.

Hmmm. That seemed very close to one another. However [Natural Weapons] seemed like a straight upgrade for my purposes. I may lose some proficiency with grappling, but that was never my style anyway. I chose that evolution.

In the following sparring session I could feel the difference. I was way more in tune with my blades and I had an instinctual sense for how to move them correctly.

Val disengaged after a clash and gave me a grin “Finally got a skill for those blades?” I nodded “Great! Now I don’t have to hold back as much. Ready for round two?” She didn’t wait for my answer. However I didn’t bother to give one either. We charged each other simultaneously. That was a really fun day.

Our sparring ended several hours later. Val wasn’t kidding when she said she was holding back before. She was stronger, faster and more perceptive than me, even after my gains. I was on the losing foot for most of it, barely holding on with my blades, claws and some creative usage of my blood-shooting.

The end came when I opened myself up too wide in an attempt to stab her right side with my blades. She punched my arm, making it fly downwards, and then stomped on my blades, severing them. However I planned on that. I told my Blades to shatter and burn just before her foot connected. When she was unbalanced, because she expected resistance from my blades I drove my off hand blades into her upper thigh and wrenched them in the direction of her bone with all my might. Like I hoped, her bones were strong enough to withstand this, which means my Blades snapped off my knuckles. With the blades lodged in her thigh I told them to shatter and burn as well. Next I rolled away from her injured side and stood back up with my claws at the ready. My arms were in agony, but at this point pain was becoming a companion more than anything. Val however slowly stood up and declared: “Yield! I yield! That was nicely done. The shattering especially. It is going to be a bitch getting all those bits out. Also deliberately ripping blades from your body is a ballsy move if I’ve ever seen one. How did you know you could handle the pain?”

My face was swollen beyond recognition and I had blood all over me, but I still like to think I did an admirable job at a shit eating grin: “I didn’t.” That was the exact moment the adrenalin left my body and I fell over howling in pain. I knew pain well, but that didn’t mean a good scream isn’t cathartic as hell.

Two hours later we settled in for a little talk about the future. I had remade my blades and hunted my dinner in the meantime, Val offered some of her own, but that just wasn’t satisfying anymore I wanted something fresh, also fresh meat seemed to give more biomass than plants or preserved meat, Val said something about ‘Vital Energy’ but it sounded like magic mumbo jumbo to me. Being alive is more important than Volume when it comes to biomass, simple as that.

Anyway, at that point Val was still busy removing my charred up splinters from her leg, although I suspected she was giving me a bit of a performance. So while I waited on her I laid my hand on Skadis flank and closed my Eyes. Val looked up from her auto-surgery: “What are you doing?”

“I am trying to figure out how her fur works. Since our bond last strengthened I can sort of feel her internal mana a bit when we are near.”

“And why are you looking at her fur?”

“Because I am sick of borrowing a set of clothes every few days. I want to grow a coat of fur so that I can always make myself decent.” The clothes situation was becoming a real pain.

“Not a bad Idea. Especially because of where we are going next.”

“Don’t I have a say in that?”

“Do you know anything about the world outside this forest?” That was fair. I sheepishly looked away from Val.

“There we go. We are going to the north next. Shifter tribes live there, you could use their expertise with animals at the very least. Probably not the shapeshifting itself though.”

I cooked my head at that. Why wouldn’t they have something to teach me? “Why not?”

“They specialise in one animal per tribe and they seek to make a hybrid form between the animal and a human for combat. You are more in the direction of altering your standard body with animal bits. You would learn more from fighting the tougher beasts up north. The environment here is very much the easy stuff.”

“Do we have to go right now?”

“Nah, there is no time pressure right now.”

I continued to inspect Skadi’s fur, when I had a sudden realisation: “Wait, where are the Villagers we rescued? Are they still in the dungeon?” I was breathing hard, adrenalin flooding my body. Had I forgotten them down there? Would they have made it past the Maze?

Val let out a heavy sigh: “I had hoped to distract you a bit longer. I have to show you something.”

And she did show me. How I wish she didn’t.