Shapeless Hero

16 - Skill Issues II

Another slice with the blond blade and its second arm disintegrates. This should make it difficult for my training partner to punch me again. I decide to take a risk and try something as unreasonable as my hair attacks. I jump several yards into the air and follow it up with a dash in an angle downwards. The dash happens so fast, I was practically teleported. I land right behind the sand golem, facing its back. 

It worked! In-game, that maneuver is meant to get your character behind your enemy. The move contains a change of direction while you're airborne, which should be impossible to mimic by normal means. Either the laws of nature are different here or good old magic is doing its thing again.

The golem hasn't turned around yet, so I dare glance at Karl. He's lost in thought and stopped powering the golem.

"Is everything alright?", I ask, this time in the voice of the female fighter. Once again, it's a perfect imitation. Even my posture changed to fit her original attitude. And just like the elven noble from before, it feels all natural to me. 

There's quite the variety of fighting game characters I could have chosen, but I have two reasons to go with this one.

First reason is the clothing. Besides the beige ushanka, I now sport a trench coat in the same color, going down to my knees. The lowest of the coat buckles on the left side is unfastened, allowing for a bit more leg movement. The leggings and boots are black, except for the soles. Those are bright orange, just like my long scarf. This is one of the few characters, whose outfit seems practical enough for outside activities, especially on cooler days.

Second reason: I was wondering, if I had any affinity towards a specific body type and presentation. So far, I feel no difference between the male noble and the female fighter. That could mean, I'm comfortable in any skin. If my soul was meant for an ever-changing body, no wonder I hated to my old one! I still have to test more monstrous shapes, though...

August guffaws. "Holy shit, that weird chick's hair is deadly! Hair bending ! Can ya do more moves with that?" He rubs his wings together in anticipation. Those crows show occasionally rather humanoid gestures, I notice. Regardless, I nod to him. I didn't expect such a strong reaction to my abilities in a world of magic, though.

The commander eyes me. "A sudden acquisition of working hair-blades... never heard of a shifter gaining actual abilities by just changing shape." She looks at Karl questioningly.

The famous scholar bird hums in ponder. "Me neither. All reports from back then describe Morphing to be a skill merely used for audio-visual imitation. So how does the weaponized blonde hair fit into all of this? Are the reports faulty or...?"

"Hey Fylka, mind if I tell'em about your skill?" August shouts over to me.

I shrug. "Go ahead."

August turns to Karl and the commander. "My dear brainiacs, that's rank S in Morphing for ya. Rank S!"

Karl gasps. "Of course! No records mention shifters above rank B! Fylka might be the first example of the skill progression beyond what we have known so far!" His eyes sparkle in light of this seemingly new discovery. "We need more tests! We need another fight!" Right—as per agreement with Karl, I'm basically a test subject. I don't mind in that instance though. All in the name of my new freedom.

The commander massages her nose bridge and sighs. "So they ascended not only to rank A... are the bloody gods bored?"

"That's some food for thought, ain't it?",  August adds. "Talking about food—I need more snacks. Give me a sec, guys. Don't start without me!" He hurriedly flaps away, few moments later vanishing behind the topside of the cliffs.

During that whole spiel, I start heading towards Karl and the commander. I leave the golem to itself, not taking my eyes off it, until I'm a good distance away. Thank the gods, the character designers decided to make my heels no higher than two inches! Now that the fight stopped, I finally feel some exhaustion, albeit it's negligible. Maybe shapeshifters can get adrenaline rushes too? How do my inner organs work, if I have any in the first place? I shudder from the mental image.

I arrive as Karl creates my new training partner after letting the prior one crumble to a pile of sand. It's the same golem-design. Although, looking closer, the movements seem much more natural.

Karl eyes me. "Curious? This one is meant for training adventurers, who reached rank C in their primary skills. And this time I won't enhance it with my own spells."

"Ah, so that's what bothered me about the last golem!", I reply.

He puffs out his chest in pride. "Indeed! The last one was for rank E adventurers—beginners. I just didn't want the fight to end so quickly after you've gotten the knack of it, so I allowed myself to apply more and more enhancements to the golem."

Hands on hips, I scowl. "Several hours is far beyond not ending it 'so quickly', don't you think?"

He chuckles. "My sincerest apologies, but I didn't feel like interrupting your learning streak! If anything, you improved your hand-to-hand combat immensely in those few hours! And also..."
He looks out to the sea with a rather wistful smile, taking a moment before wording his next sentence. "August seemed to enjoy himself."

My eyebrows rise at the sight of his unusual demeanor. "I'm glad, I could help with that?" is all I manage to say. The commander looks at us with curiosity.

Before I had to decide, whether I should ask about his implications or distract him with something else, Karl takes the reins of the conversation. "Anyway! Ready for round two?" Slightly taken aback by his quick mood recovery, I just nod and walk alongside the new sand golem towards the middle of the battle area.

My new opponent and I are finally in position when August settles on a tree branch with a creaking noise, dozen yards away. "Alright, I've got everything. Let's begin!" That leather pouch of his is new. His snacks, I imagine?

With a hand signal of the commander, the second fight starts. Both the golem and I shoot off towards each other. He sprints like an olympic athlete, I sprint like... a ninja? Oh right, the character has that kind of running animation.

I start with light attacks. One of them looks like I'm stabbing with the tip of my overly long ponytail. I'm glad that works although it shouldn't be a surprise, considering the move's simplicity. While a good amount of my attacks land, the golem blocks or deflects some of them. That's more maneuvers, than the first golem would try.

Karl wasn't lying about my improvement. The prior fight has improved my mental fortitude. I'm not paralyzed by anxiety, the resulting hesitation missing.

Before the golem can counter-attack, I follow up with the heavier attacks which the character had in-game. There's a move that's meant to break through an opponents blocking for example—and it works!

After trying some more of the fancier moves in my repertoire, I notice a slight dizziness emerge. Figures. I'm not throwing basic punches or doing simple dodge rolls anymore. I can see my own mana light up, whenever I apply the characters moveset. I should try to end the fight, before the dizziness gets too heavy. Here's to hope, Karl doesn't get any weird ideas again.

I pepper the golem with attacks like one might see in a gameplay showcase. A couple of attacks in, I feel an odd sensation, as if some gauge has filled up in my mind. "Is that...?" There's one thing I haven't tried yet. The golem looks beaten up enough, so that should finish the fight nicely.

My hair reshapes itself into wings as tall as my own body. I take off. During the mid-air pirouettes of that move, the golem receives several hits in succession from said wings, catapulting it into the air with me. The mental gauge gets consumed by the character-specific finisher. 

"Shit!" I misjudged my damage output. Yes, the golem is in the air and barely in one piece, but, it is still alive. We both start to fall. A giant wave of dizziness hits me. I can barely feel my body. I already expected to have a limit, but I didn't know it works like that.

Perceptually, time slows down to a crawl for me. I can see the golems arm light up with mana. Combat magic. Its fist accelerates towards my face, but before the powered up punch could make contact with my head, my mind blanks and I'm welcomed by darkness.