“That was an ill-advised choice to make,” Cerebaton rumbled as our practice weapons clashed in the shadows of the gazebo. It was late, but neither of the daemons with me had issues seeing at night. Neither did I, since I’d already shifted my eye to gain a cat's night-vision.
“I know. I just couldn’t take it anymore,” I countered, skipping backwards to gain space on the big man before lunging in to strike at an opening over his left hip.
Cerebaton wasn’t caught by the amateur feint I made. His weapon spun with a fluid grace and knocked mine away before coming around to tap my ribcage in a counter that ended the sparring match. We took a step back to separate and reset.
“I know your day job was rough. But, given how much you had insisted on staying with it to ‘make ends meet’ before, I am still surprised,” Cerebaton said as we squared up once more.
Cerebaton was armed with the wooden sword that we’d started with, but I was wielding a copy of my mace. After breaking the sword I’d had on a dangerous creature, I’d been using the mace as a stopgap until we decided if we should spend the money on something else. With the changes to my Shape-Shifting now, I was uncertain how often I’d be using the weapon going forward. When you could turn a body part into a dangerous weapon, what was the point of carrying one after all, besides intimidation?
You still don’t know how resistant to damage you can make the limb, I reminded myself. Take it slow and steady.
“It was all thrown into context this weekend, I guess.” I feinted an initial blow towards Cerebaton’s weapon-side shoulder before shifting and rolling my wrist to bring the attack down towards his thigh instead.
“This wasn’t your first long stay with them, was it?” Cerebaton bought the feint and blocked it with his sword. But as soon as the blow was redirected at his leg, he simply shifted his weight and pulled the limb out of danger while bringing in a chop of his own from above.
“No. I’ve stayed over once before. You could say it got started then, but this last weekend was what finished it. I was riding high over our success and the plans for the future. Everything looked like it was working out thus far and I was happy. Then Dutcher decided he couldn’t stand me being content about anything and tried to ruin it. Asserting his idiotic dominance over my leave request in the moment and in the past over anything that challenged him was just another nail in the coffin.” I explained rapidly while turning in place to dodge the chop, using the momentum of the spin to bring my practice mace around into a broad blow at Cerebaton’s side. “A coffin that was already nailed shut, chained closed, and buried really.”
The big daemon in his Drago-lookalike disguise ducked under the blow before coming up with a thrust at my chest that I sidestepped in the nick of time. I was covered in sweat and barely keeping up, but the blonde daemon was only slightly flushed with exertion and still looked as cool as ever.
“’People don’t quit bad jobs. They quit bad managers.’ That’s the saying right?” Cariad piped up from the sidelines and Cerebaton grunted in agreement while I nodded. “The choice is made already, then. The question is: What are your plans now, Liam?”
Cerebaton traded a few more blows with me while I considered Cariad’s question.
I’d spent the rest of Monday going from a mixture of panic attack to elation while coming to terms with the fact I’d never have to deal with Dutcher again. Tuesday morning had been burnt up in a mixture of exercise and looking through various want-ads for job options. I didn’t want to tell these two that though. I wasn’t afraid of being judged, but I still didn’t feel right baring that part of my soul that worried constantly.
What had kept me from completely losing my mind was the gentle affection I kept feeling whenever I touched the bond-tattoo’s for the girls. Well, sometimes it was affection, sometimes it was pure mischief. Kassandra was clearly up to something over on her world.
This sparring match ended with Cerebaton catching me on the inside of my left arm before the tip of his practice sword met my shoulder and then neck lightly.
Stepping back again, I held my weapon over my head to signal a need to take a break and Cerebaton nodded. Together, we walked over to the corner where Cariad was perched on the railing overlooking the dimly lit park.
While Cerebaton was disguised to look human, Cariad made no such concessions. Her strawberry-red hair shone dimly in the little bit of light that made it through the trees from the street as it fell in a waterfall of color that hung to her calves before curling upwards at the tips. The blue-gray skin of the daemon woman shone softly with health where it showed at her face and bodice. Her arms were covered in long, opera-style gloves of a black material that tucked into the white sleeves of her button-down blouse. A figure-hugging pencil-skirt encased her hips and thighs before long, stocking-clad legs emerged to tuck into sensibly heeled business shoes.
While Cerebaton looked like a boxer turned office-man, Cariad was rocking the sexy secretary look, though decidedly more supernatural due to her skin and hair colors.
The only reason she could get away with it though was the fact that no one came to this area at night, so no one would spot her. Even if someone did show up, she’d assured me that they’d know and she’d be able to conceal herself.
“My plan?” I guzzled water from the jug that Cariad handed me before splashing some on my head to lower my temperature. I’d let the Shape-Shifting that I used to restore my hair and eyebrows fade to get better cooling earlier and the lukewarm water felt great on my skin. “I’ve got about a month of paid time off that they have to pay out. I’ve probably got another month of expenses in the bank right now. That gives me two months to figure something out.”
“Not a lot of time, but not as dire as it might have been,” Cerebaton rumbled. He accepted the water jug I offered him and carefully poured the liquid into his mouth without letting the plastic touch his lips.
The big man was wearing a skin-tight shirt with long sleeves that tucked into something like fencers gloves. His pants were a set of loose jogging shorts and some cyclist leggings that left only the skin of his face exposed. All of them in grays and blacks, no sharp colors on the man.
The reason that both of the daemons kept so much of their skin covered was that their touch was literally corrosive to the material of my world. Cerebaton’s hand on the wrist-thick railing that Cariad was sitting on would eat through the wood in about a minute if it was uncovered, dissolving it like acid.
The water hissed and bubbled as it touched his tongue but Cerebaton swallowed it quickly before handing the jug back.
Cariad had explained it to me once that, even though their bodies corroded the material of this universe, they still were able to derive nutrition and sustenance from it. Just not as much as materials from their dimension. Unfortunately, the same was not true for me as it was a one way street in their favor. The natural habitat of the daemons was the barriers that kept the different universes separate and it was not a welcoming place because of the natural laws that governed it.
“I’m hoping that, in that time, I can get the Dimensional Pocket ability to show up. My apartment isn’t expensive after all, I don’t need much to maintain it. If I’m available more often, I can take more contracts for summoning and hopefully get something to unlock that I can use to earn money. Maybe I can work some financial compensation into missions or something once I have Dimensional Pocket.”
The two daemon’s shared a look that was unreadable even without the alien features. Cerebaton’s yellow eyes, the only part he didn’t change for his disguise, met with Cariad’s sea-green ones and it felt like an entire conversation passed between the two of them. After a moment Cariad nodded and Cerebaton shrugged.
“You know that there is no way to know if or when the System will open a power to you, right?” Cerebaton said at last, reluctance in his posture as he leaned on the practice sword like it was a cane.
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“I know. It’s a gamble I feel like I have to take because the odds of me finding another job that has reliable days off for the girls is very small. Heck. Finding another job will be challenging, period. But I’ll figure it out. Worst case I suppose I can get a part-time job or something doing nights like janitorial.” I sighed and shook myself. “I have some time. So I’ll worry about it after I get back from the long trip next week.”
The two daemons shared another look and Cariad flexed her eyebrows up at Cerebaton who sighed gustily and waved one hand dismissively though he was looking decidedly irritated now. Cariad nodded before turning back to me with a sad smile.
“What?” I asked, knowing that more went on in that simple exchange than I’d picked up.
“While it isn’t encouraged, there is an option to trade SP for local currency as well. You remember that, right?” Cariad said gently.
“Yup. I also remember being told it was a bad idea.”
“It is a bad idea,” Cerebaton growled, breaking in. “You are stealing from your future power for something as base as money.”
“Sir!” Cariad’s voice was surprisingly stern and both of us stared at her in surprise. Now that she had both of our attention again, she continued in a calmer tone. “Mr. Cerebaton, it is very insensitive to harp on such a thing while you have a job currently. You’ve made your stance known already. I’m sure that, if Liam were to make use of the service, it would only be an emergency measure. Frankly, I’m glad he quit that job and it is entirely likely he will have better options coming up soon. We should not judge him for his choices without taking everything into account. Ultimately, it is his choice after all.”
Cerebaton looked like he’d taken a bite out of a particularly sour lemon but nodded in agreement to his underling’s statement. The big man sighed again and shook his head slowly.
“You are right, Ms. Davies. I apologize for my tone, Liam. It is unfair to judge from a privileged position.” He turned his piercing, yellow gaze back to me. “Remember that any points that are cashed out aren’t counted towards unlocking powers. I trust you won’t rely on it too much?”
“I’d rather do summoning work than do a day job, but I also don’t want to hamstring my future either. I’ll keep it in mind.”
While I talked to Cerebaton, Cariad was making some notes on the legal pad she kept with her before tearing off a sheet and tossing it into the air behind her, where it vanished into a cloud of black smoke.
“There. The exchange will be activated in your interface shortly, Liam. Remember that it is a one-way trade. You cannot spend currency to acquire SP,” Cariad said when that was finished and she had tucked her pen behind her ear once more.
“I got it, Cari. Don’t worry about it. I appreciate you two taking such an interest in helping me. I’ll keep it as a backup.”
“Anytime, Liam!” Cariad chirped happily, a smile lighting up her features. She suddenly blinked several times as a thought crossed her mind as clearly as if a light-bulb had gone off over her head. “Liam. You mentioned before that you had something you wanted to show us? Did you want to do that now?”
I could appreciate that she wanted to change the subject now that the issue was addressed, but it took a minute to remember what she was talking about. I’d mentioned it to her in our messages previously and it came back after a bit of thought. The events of Monday had distracted me quite a bit and I’d forgotten entirely about the new rank of Shape-Shifting.
I began to chastise myself mentally again. I had three more days ‘free’ before the planned long trip with the girls and then I’d need to start getting seriously into looking for a new job. I would need to use those three ‘free’ days to practice with my new abilities as much as possible.
Pushing my annoyance aside, I focused on what was in front of me again.
“I did, actually. Here. Can you hold this?” I offered the practice mace to Cariad, who took it delicately and with an angled eyebrow. Cerebaton leaned against the rail next to her while I strode back to the center of the gazebo we practiced in. It took a moment to center myself, but a second later both my arms shifted and extended.
Getting the hang of applying the ‘tail’ morph to both limbs had been rough at first. It took a bit to find the best balance between strength, speed, and range that wouldn’t just tip me over due to the shifting balance while the limb swung out in front of me. The bladed ‘spike’ at the end of the tail was only a foot long, but the segmented tail gave me a good four feet of reach now. I wove the limbs back and forth in front of me while both daemons looked on in surprise.
Cerebaton was the first to react, letting out a surprised whistle while he watched the limbs move.
“Finally thinking outside the box then. Good to see!” he said with a widening grin. “How much practice have you got with these?”
“I first came up with it on Sunday during the fight with the wolves. To be honest, it was part of what drove me to quit. I have this power and I’m still loading trucks? I don’t know how I could use it to earn money, at least not at the moment, but I feel like I should be able to find something better than that.” I wove the two segmented limbs together before lashing out with one playfully at Cerebaton. The big man slapped it aside with the flat of his blade before he advanced with his sword at the ready.
“Blunt them. I want to see what you can do. Treat the blades like short swords. How hard are the shells?” he ordered with a cool look, swapping his sword back and forth before moving to parry one of the ‘talons’ and bat the limb away.
The blow was firm enough that it threw the flexible limb out wide and I had to shift my balance to bring it back in for another strike. I’d already blunted the edges and tips, ensuring that they wouldn’t cut the big man if I was lucky enough to get in a blow that would actually hit him.
“Amazing,” Cariad murmured from her perch on the railing. “I saw a notice that you unlocked a new power as well on your file, but I figured it was a secondary effect or something else. You didn’t ask me about it, so I figured it couldn’t be something big.”
“Nope,” I grunted, sending one tail high and one low at Cerebaton. He parried the high strike and leapt over the lower one, letting the blunt tip of the lower tail scrape over the wood of the gazebo. “Shape-Shifting (Moderate), earned it as part of this last weekend.” Cerebaton whistled again in amusement this time.
“Moving quickly. Faster than I had expected.”
“Was told by one of the girls that I’d been ignoring something. That I was pigeon-holing myself into creatures from this world. Must have given me a boost to Mastery, enough to unlock the next rank.”
“Indeed. The skill only states that it has a limitation of different types of creature. This is what, two different ones combined?” Cerebaton’s counter caught the joint of my right tail/arm and the blow hurt, telling me the joints were the obvious weakness and that likely would have cut the limb off if it hadn’t been a practice weapon. Following our normal pattern, I let the limb fall limp to signify the ‘injury’ and he nodded.
“Two, yes. A scorpion and something else. A creature from science fiction that I am familiar with.” The daemon quirked one blond eyebrow at me in question. “I figure if there are that many dimensions out there, it’s likely that anything we’ve thought of as fiction probably exists.”
“A fair summary. Experiment and see what you can make work. Have you tried adding additional limbs?”
“I did try an actual tail for a bit on Sunday. Was weird, but doable.”
“Good to know. Paws, wings, and tails are things that you are not familiar with but should still practice for now. But what about adding say…a second set of arms? Having four arms would allow for further flexibility, tactically, and prepare you for controlling odder limbs.”
I blinked in surprise and was abruptly reminded of a comic I’d seen in passing from Jameson of a character from a tabletop game: A multi-class druid and gunslinger combination that was nicknamed the ‘Glocktopus’. I had to smother a laugh and Cerebaton brought me back to the sparring with a sharp blow to the left tail/arm that also was a disabling blow. He surged forward then and tapped the blade to my gut to end the match.
“I can see from your face that you have not. You should consider them as well. You are not bound to the form you currently inhabit. You can change a great deal with what is available to you. But, you may not be familiar with it. Work on expanding your options. The last thing you need is to have to reach for something in a moment of panic and not know how to use it properly. My own skill is at the moderate rank so I know what you have to work with after all.”
“Moderate lets you do this?” I gestured to Cerebaton’s human guise with one waving tail/arm while we reset for another match and he nodded.
“It says that ‘half forms’ are available. But it never states what half you have to use. My internals make up most of my mass after all and I did not shift them. I simply shifted my externals to look this way and removed some mass to shrink in size.” Cerebaton gestured to his muscled frame. “Think about it, Liam. You have a lot of wiggle room to work with. You complained earlier about not being able to use your Shape-Shifting to earn a living. Think about what you could do by assuming other’s shapes alone, not counting what else you might be able to do.”
My mind immediately went to a familiar, blue-skinned shape-shifter villain from classic comics and her larcenous history. I scowled heavily and pushed the thought away.
“I don’t want to steal.”
“Never said you had to, Liam,” Cerebaton countered before lifting his sword. “There are many things you could do for a living that don’t require you to steal. Or at least not to steal from innocents. Think! Your body is moldable clay and you can do what you wish with half your body’s weight in mass. Let your imagination wander. But not now. We have training to do for these new weapons of yours. For now, increase the armor you have on them and try to think about shifting the armor into the joints, or ways you can guard them without losing flexibility.”