Blood tried both of the sets of boots, walking around the atrium in each of them to test the fit and her ability to walk, run, and jump. Beth marveled a little at how easily Blood had adapted to her human form, not really needing any time to figure out how to move around, the fluid grace of her wolf form carrying over to her human form as if by instinct. Blood settled on the second set of boots after trying both, then moved on to the gauntlets. Here, however, was the first time the woman working the counter seemed to have struck out, as Blood didn't like either of the gauntlets on offer. The saleswoman returned a minute later with two further selections, having also put away the extras that they didn't decide to purchase. The two items the woman brought this time were more like fingerless gloves with vambraces built in, though parts of the back of Blood's fingers were still covered in metal. Blood was much more taken with this still, preferring the lighter armor that kept her hands at least partially free, settling on a pair of gloves that partially covered her forearms with mana steel scales and the backs of her hands and fingers with mana steel wedges, leaving the tips of her fingers free.
"OK, we're armored up now, at least," Beth commented, giving Blood's new fit a quick once-over.
“No helmet?” asked the saleswoman with a raised brow.
“Not now,” Blood interjected before Beth could speak. “I don’t want metal on my head.”
Beth sighed before saying, “Fine, have it your way for now. But we’ll come back to this. You need head protection.”
Blood crossed her arms over her ample chest and gave a slight snort. Beth sighed again before saying, "Let's move on to storage and supplies. What exactly do you have in terms of storage."
"It depends on your budget," the woman began a little hesitantly. "If you have a handful of platinums, we could equip you with some fairly nice spatial items for early adventurers…"
"Yeah, with the armor purchases, we won't have that much. What do you have in terms of a backpack with some spatial expansion?"
"Well," the woman began, thinking, "I do believe we have two models similar to yours. Let me go pull one of each from storage."
She returned just a moment later with two backpacks very similar to Beth's, though they weren't exactly identical. One was made from a black material and was sleeker than Beth's while providing only a little less storage, and the other was made from a brown material and was a little bulky, though it had more total space than what Beth's pack had. Blood, of course, liked the dark black pack that had a little bit of gold trim, and she didn't really feel she needed a huge amount of space, anyway. She just needed to store a little food, a canteen, something to provide light, a pillow and blanket, a firestarter, and maybe something like a tarp if she was separated from Beth that she could use to rig a basic shelter with some rope. The saleswoman ran back and forth a couple times pulling supplies out of the back to fill out just such a list, and then they were ready for the payment.
"So, expert saleslady, what's our damage?" Beth asked.
"Your armor is twelve golds in total. Your companion's armor is twenty golds in total, and the backpack, clothes, and sundry supplies are ten golds. So, twelve golds for you and thirty for your companion, or forty two golds total," the woman explained with a small smile.
"Ouch," Beth replied with a wince. "Where are you at, gold-wise, Blood?"
"Twenty-six golds and almost another gold worth in silver," the wolfish woman replied with a frown.
"Alright, let's do this. I'll throw in eighteen and you throw in twenty-four. That'll leave me with two golds and you with close to three, just as a buffer. I'm sure we'll earn more shortly," Beth said as she tapped her chin.
"Sounds good," Blood eagerly accepted, making a stack of gold appear on the counter. Beth mirrored her, dropping most of her gold on the counter next to Blood's, which the saleswoman scooped up with a quick motion, making it all disappear.
"Well, as usual, poor again," Beth said with a sigh.
"A Wayfarer of your skill and strength will have no issues with earning money," the saleswoman said with a large smile.
"Thanks, for all your help," Beth told her with a smile of her own, though internally she was rolling her eyes a little. Of course the saleswoman would talk so positively about how easy it was to earn money. She then led the way back to their room where they dropped their excess gear. "Alright, your favorite part next; training."
Blood groaned as Beth led the way to the righthand hall branching off the front of the lobby, taking them down to the area at the end with training rooms. They booked a room for two hours to make sure they weren't interrupted before squaring off. Despite the ease she had displayed so far in her human form, Blood still needed to adapt to her new form, especially during combat. She hadn't picked up a weapon yet, more inclined to start out with her claws than anything else.
"You ready?" Beth asked, flexing her neck and stretching her arms. She was starting barehanded, or as barehanded as she could be wearing heavy mana steel plate gauntlets.
"I'm ready," Blood said with a nod, taking a more even stance, her feet shoulder width apart and spaced slightly forward and back.
The two waited for a moment, eyeing each other, until Blood suddenly burst into motion, blurring toward Beth like a steel and red shadow. Beth and Blood had trained together before, but this was the first time Beth had squared off against Blood in her human form and she could tell that Blood was even faster. Beth immediately accelerated to the fastest she could go, using Swift and Beastly Body to their limit to attempt to keep up, just barely able to match Blood. They exchanged several blows before Blood accelerated even further, Beth cursing as the lupine woman outpaced her, landing several hits to Beth’s torso. The punches weren't enough to dent Beth's new chest armor, but they still transferred enough force that Beth certainly felt them.
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In response, she baited Blood into a series of three punches before catching the third punch, stepping into the strike and hooking Blood's outstretched right arm with her left arm before pivoting around on her lead foot and twisting Blood's arm to the side. She then kneed Blood in the gut before spinning further, lifting her off the ground and throwing her across the training room. Blood recovered from the throw while still in mid air, landing on all fours before launching herself back at Beth again, rushing across the room at a terrific speed.
They clashed again and again, Blood's speed superior but Beth's much superior strength and skill allowing her to maintain the advantage. After several more rapid exchanges of strikes, they broke apart for a minute before re-engaging, Beth firing out a rapid series of punches that Blood dodged before sweeping out with a low kick that Blood leapt back from. The wolfish woman then slashed at Beth while still several steps away, puzzling Beth at first before long lines of energy erupted from Blood's claws and flew forward into Beth, who punched out with a massive burst of energy, shattering the energy blades.
"What was that?!" Beth exclaimed, staring at Blood as she held up her hand to stop the spar.
"Uh, I don't know?" Blood replied, ears laid back and eyes wide.
"Check your messages," Beth commanded, stepping up to Blood and crossing her arms as she waited.
"It's called the Blood Queen's Claws, and it's at copper[0]. I guess…I can project claws of energy that are empowered by blood?" Blood replied.
"Empowered by you?" Beth said with a small smirk.
"No, not by me-well, I mean, yes, by me, but…you're joking around. I see," Blood stuttered for a moment before sighing and frowning slightly.
"It's OK, Blood, sorry," Beth said with a chuckle, hugging her companion tightly. Blood immediately returned the hug with gusto, wrapping her arms around Beth and nuzzling against the side of her head rather firmly. Once again, Beth had to break it off after a minute as Blood had no intention of stopping. "OK, also, you're even more of a cuddler in human form. Noted."
"Sorry," Blood replied, ears drooping a little.
"It's OK," Beth said, reaching up and scratching behind Blood's lupine ears. The woman growled happily in a very non-human manner and Beth eventually broke off, realizing they could also be there all day doing that.
"Alright, let's continued," Beth said, receiving only a sigh from Blood in return.
They resumed their bout, Beth pushing herself to keep up with Blood's speed while keeping Blood often on the back foot with her skill. They sparred for a little longer just to help Blood get adjusted, letting her adapt to her new body. Once Beth was reasonably sure Blood could handle it, and Blood had managed to gain Unarmed Apprentice[0], Beth really poured on the heat. She managed to lure Blood in with a fake kick before sending her flying back with an empowered punch, not enough to do heavy damage, but enough to send her into the air for a short time. As soon as the space began to open up, Beth reach out with her mind, pulling and twisting to summon her new strength. Though she couldn't see it, silver flame flickered in her eyes while, at the same time, reality seemed to twist and bend slightly around her. After a single second she felt the crown resting on her head and with it, an enormous surge of new strength.
Blood had just landed and moved to launch herself at Beth, having to stumble to a quick halt and defend herself as Beth shot towards her like a speeding bullet, her leaving the ground causing a sharp *BANG* to echo out in the room. Blood immediately found herself overwhelmed; even burning her now Silver[1] level of Swift wasn't enough to keep up with Beth's speed. On top of that, even Beth's jab felt like the impacts of mighty sledgehammer blows, sending Blood stumbling back and trying desperately to evade. The lupine woman threw out a desperate claw attack with all her strength, goggling as Beth shattered it with a single backhand. Even given the low level of the new skill, Beth and Blood both suspected it was tier two at a minimum and possibly even a tier three skill, so the fact Beth could destroy it with a casual slap was truly shocking.
Beth knocked Blood back across the room one more time before nearly teleporting in front of her and stopping her punch just in front of Blood's open face. The wind from the blow sent Blood's long, beautiful hair fluttering like a blood-dyed curtain caught in a hurricane. Once the wind had stopped and the two had straightened up, Blood blew several strands of hair out of her face with a huff before giving Beth a bit of a glare.
"What the fuck was that?" she growled as the crown disappeared from Beth's head.
"Guess that's what Baelvyr and Jaq were talking about," Beth responded slightly cryptically before explaining further. "Even Tazeen mentioned it a couple times. Remember when they talked about people gaining their Presence at level one hundred? I bet you any money that's what my crown is. I can tell you a couple things about it already, but in the main so far it seems to be almost like a berserking skill."
"How so?" asked Blood, crossing her arms under her ample chest as she leaned her weight on her left foot.
"When I summon the crown, it basically acts as a total force multiplier. I have yet to test some things, such as my defenses, but it increases every aspect of my combat capabilities. I'm faster, more nimble, stronger, and hell, even my senses are sharper," Beth explained. "In return for all that, having my Presence summoned is a huge stamina drain. I think right now, if I have it summoned and am going all out, I could probably maintain it for a little over two minutes, maybe two-and-a-half if I'm really pushing it. After that, however, I'd be totally exhausted, to the point I might even pass out."
"So, you got a super mode and I got to be human?" Blood asked, ears drooping again as she seemed a little downtrodden.
"But you're stronger, right?" Beth shot back.
"What do you mean?" Blood asked, left ear flicking.
"I definitely felt that, even considering your Silver-rank speed skill, you're almost too fast," Beth replied. "You're absolutely at least a little stronger in this form, whether you've noticed it or not."
"I do seem a little faster…maybe…" Blood replied, frowning as she shifted her weight to her right foot. "It's sorta difficult to tell since I'm not super used to fighting in this form."
"I think the last thing we need is a little information," Beth said, leading the way out of the training room.
"On what exactly is happening to us?" Blood asked with a small smirk.
"I mean, the whole system we're part of now has apparently been around for millions of years or more, it would be nice to check some of what people have figured out in that time," Beth answered with a chuckle.
They returned to their shared suite where Beth pulled up the wallscreen in the living room, getting more and more comfortable with navigating the more advanced technologies. She pulled up a search protocol and found a free data packet detailing basic information on Presences before searching up one about the transformation that Blood had undergone. After a minute they found a data packet on that as well, seeing that it was apparently called, originally enough, Humanification.
They started with the second packet first, reading about the general principles. In short, beasts with a sapient nature, however that happened, would obtain the ability to transform into a human the first time they reached level one hundred. In this human form they were generally stronger than in their beast form, at least at first, but they weren't as strong as someone with their Presence. It was all a balance; a beast in their human form was generally a little stronger than a humanoid of the same level not using some kind of crazy bursting skill, but they weren't as strong as when that same other person used their Presence. The flipside of that was, of course, what Beth had found out earlier, that using a Presence was a massive drain on stamina, meaning it was only a temporary ability.
The second part of the information packet was a little less well defined, but was still commonly enough known that there were a few details. A sapient beast could improve on their human form, though the exact details of that were scarce, but it presented something for Blood to look further into. Apparently, as she improved her human form, she would appear more and more human, though there were further complexities to this, as with everything. Blood could choose, even after further mastering her human form, to appear with the more lupine features that she had now, so using visual cues wasn't a guarantee when trying to determine the strength of a sapient beast in human form. Though it wasn't a concern now and wouldn't be for a long time, if Blood ever had children, whether with a humanoid or another sapient beast in human form, her children would be humanoid from the start. Blood was what many would call a beast "blessed by intelligence," meaning that she had been born to beast parents but was herself blessed with sapience.