I helped Ian stand up from the table. He wobbled a bit finding his balance, throwing his arms out. His first step was uncertain, but his second was much more confident. He even crouched down, his backward facing knees nearly touching the ground, before leaping up and touching the ceiling. He was grinning broadly the entire time.

"That looks like a success to me." I said, smiling at him.

He bent down and scratched at his new foot. "Yes, my lord." He said. "Thank you. The pain was as bad as you had said, and much worse than I thought it would be. But I can run and jump again, not to mention scratching an itch that I've had off and on for years on my missing foot."

Greta had disappeared at some point, and I wasn't paying attention at the time so I didn't know when she had left. I led Ian out of the secure room of my Pocket Dimension, with him literally hopping forwards and back, and side to side as we walked. Greta was standing outside the doorway with an obviously blind snake lady. Her eyes were a milky white, and she had green scales, no hair, a pointed face, and was flicking her forked tongue at us as we exited. There were three other beast people in an orderly queue behind them.

"Greta." I said. "I told you-"

"I know." She said, interrupting me. "Only physical abilities that can help you. At least until you get back. Essy has heat vision."

I had to smile at their naming sense, Essy the snake woman. Ian was the first name I thought was normal, though I didn't know how I was judging them.

"Poison?" I asked. "I need to leave soon. List their physical abilities and I will judge if I can do anything for them before I leave."

"No poison." Greta said. "Transparent second eyelid. Poison immunity." A possum man, missing a tail. "Can thaw after being frozen, and adhere to walls to climb them." A gecko man. "Night vision, and she may die before you return." An elderly owl woman.

The only one I was tempted by, for his physical characteristics, was the gecko man. But I would be helpless if I were frozen, so it was doubtful I would be given the opportunity to thaw naturally. And I didn't have enough spare memory for another full person scan, or the time to make more memory right now. The owl woman was a problem, though.

"How long can you keep her alive?" I asked.

"A few weeks." Greta admitted reluctantly.

"Then do that." I said. "I am sorry I don't have the time to fix everyone now. You have my word that I will fix everyone that I can that needs it when I return."

The beast people left, cheerfully to my surprise. A promise of future help was apparently enough for them. I would have to live up to that.

I sat down on the floor where I was, outside the doorway to my Pocket Dimension, and thought about what I needed. Some sort of natural weapon, and of course converting my muscles to be the fast-twitch sort. An important question was whether I wanted to retain my human appearance, or evolve my physical form into something else. If I wanted to have the best chance of Chantelle surviving I should take every advantage I can. But it was a question I could postpone until later.

Claws were the most obvious natural weapon I could do at the moment. I couldn't make them retractable, as I knew some creatures could, but I could reinforce my fingernails to be stronger and sharper. Attach them more firmly to my fingers. I pulled up a model of my hands and played with the modifications I wanted to make. Add a cap to the ends that would be cut through on a serious hit, coupled with reinforcing the sharpened nails with my power, and that should give me a decent natural weapon that wouldn't cut me accidentally. They ended up looking like ordinary nails, two centimeters long with the caps.

Combine super sharp fingernails with fast-twitch arm muscles and I was done. I pulled up the model I had of Ian. His muscles were attached to his bones differently to how mine were. They were better designed for impacts. I only had enough memory available to do one limb at a time, so I started with my left arm. My right arm followed, a mirror of my left.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Then I had to design my legs, I didn't want the reversed knees that Ian had, so I merged my muscle layout with his muscle type and attachment system. All done.

I brought up a virtual opponent, that I hadn't used in what felt like forever, and tested the limits of my new muscles. I could now move faster than the fastest opponent I'd come across, the head priest of winter. I don't know if I could kill him, but I was able to kill the copy I had of him, which was very satisfying.

The only real threat that I'd seen so far was the Divine Cold spell or ability. The head priest of winter used it as an ability, but it took fifteen priests casting it as a spell to take my arm. What could I do to counter that?

Moving faster than they could was an answer, but it could affect my sword directly and channel through that to my body. Their spell travelled through contact. Being able to isolate parts of my sword from each other could solve that, fault lines designed into the blade so that I could shatter the blade and still keep a usable sword.

I spent some time designing that, making a long-sword that I could break down its length to make a rapier-type blade, or across its length to make a short-sword, or even a dagger. It worked quite handily in my simulation, but my simulation wasn't reality... Or the reality of the competitive simulation... The competitive simulation might simulate it differently to my simulation of it.

I needed to test it, so I made a blunted practice weapon and went looking for Dael. He was in the entrance hall talking with Greta and Ian, who was still hopping about in place.

"Hello Lord C.C." Dael said, noticing me first. "Thank you for healing Ian. I understand you have offered to fix everyone once you get back."

"I have." I said. "I was actually looking for someone to test some new weapons with. I owe Gaal a rematch, but I was wondering if a bear was the best fighter you have?"

"Our best physical fighter, not counting magic abilities, would be me." Dael said. "What are the weapons you were wishing to test?"

"I made a blade that I can split into different forms." I said. "And I made myself... Claws, would be the closest description, I think."

"And you will match my ability level?" Dael asked. "I don't believe I could match you if you went all out. And it would be quite dangerous with weapons involved."

That was more a factor of being able to anticipate everything perfectly.

"I will be pulling my strikes so they only make contact." I said. "Though I don't expect you to hold back. I will defend myself."

"Very well." Dael said. "We shall set up a sparring ring in the fields. This way."

I followed Dael out the far side of the entrance hall, down the wide hallway, and out into the fields. Ian had dashed off as soon as Dael had agreed, and was hammering stakes into the ground in a ten meter diameter. That done, he took out a ball of twine and started wrapping it around the stakes, forming the sparring ring. Other beast people were arriving as news spread of the coming fight.

I took out my blunted long-sword and entered the ring. Dael accepted a staff with a sword blade on the top of it from a young beast person who rushed up.

"The terms of the fight?" Dael asked me.

"I don't mind." I said. "So long as I get to test my weapons."

Dael nodded. "To first blood, then." He said. "Begin."

I dropped my perception of time and focused my model to be within the bounds of the sparring ring. I had a new sense since the last time I had fought, mapping my environment by sound. I closed my eyes and turned my back on Dael. A murmur started from the crowd around the sparring ring, which was splashing over Dael lighting him up.

The faint whistle of the sword-staff as it swung down at me allowed me to track it perfectly. I decided to give myself a large margin of error with my dodge, my new muscles allowed me to move much quicker, but I didn't want the duel to end too quickly due to a miscalculation on my part.

The blade was ten centimeters away from me when there was a hesitation in Dael's swing. He was having a doubt about my ability to dodge. I stepped to the side, letting the blade of his staff pass just in front of my face.

It got down to the height of my shoulders before his hesitation left and he changed the angle of his swing to cut towards me. I had my sword in my right hand with the point facing the ground behind me. But I wanted Dael to face my sword bare-handed, as the winter priests would.

I dropped my sword, but before it could fall to the ground I lashed out with my right hand towards the center of his blade, leading with the tips of my fingers. I reinforced my entire hand except for the caps on my fingernails, and drove it through the blade that was just now reaching my chest. The caps, the last few millimeters of my nails, peeled away and the blade was cut in half. The half still attached to the staff would be controlled by Dael and was pushing away from me. The free half, if left alone, would fly out of the ring and could hurt someone.

I continued the strike with my right hand and grabbed the half blade in the air. With a flick of my wrist I sent it with just enough force for it to be half buried in the soil.

Dael was pulling the sword staff back to himself, so I struck with my left hand. The caps on my fingernails detached perfectly, and my nails sheared off the end of the staff below the remains of the blade. I grabbed that piece of staff with my left hand and sent it to join the first half of the sword blade in the soil.

Dael was now left with a shortened staff. And I was smiling with my eyes closed.