The Mimic in Monsterland

My claws tore through the tough wooden surface of the mannequin's vaguely reptilian face, leaving quite the nasty mark. Its body hit the floor with a thud. The symbols alight its body flickered and then died out. I snorted in triumph. I looked down on the now sandy brown claws. Mmm. Earth Claws good. A notification popped up before any more intellectually stimulating Ursa influenced thoughts took root.

[Tier 5 Mannequin Defeated]

[Good Job! You’re the Best! Keep it Up!]

I shook my head at the annoyingly positive notification, then walked over to the counter where a pitcher of water sat next to some glasses. Fennel brought it over while I was fighting before leaving again to go to the bathroom. I walked over to it to pour myself another drink. But I ended up knocking the stupid thing over with my clumsy bear paws. A flash of anger rose up that I had to stamp back down before shifting out of Ursa form. Love the form’s power, hate the anger issues.

I went ahead and took Fennel’s advice and decided to just go wild with Ursa’s new elemental powers. I haven’t gotten a good chance to try out Tigris form’s new Predator’s Bloodlust ability but seeing as you can’t quite make a magical wooden golem bleed, I didn’t think it was a great idea. I tried out the earth variant of the claws this time. They gave a boost to the sharpness of the claws and I’m pretty sure they were even tougher than normal ones, but nowhere near as flashy or fantastical as the fire and electric ones.

Its Elemental Discharge was a bit underwhelming though. The dust storm it kicked up was the equivalent of throwing a bucket of sand into the air and whipping it around a little. It didn’t help me fight the mannequin at all and ended up making a huge mess. Maybe if you get it in a monster's eyes. I picked up the unbroken jug and placed it back on the counter top as I pondered the usefulness of the new power.

Fennel and I have been beating up this poor mannequin for the better part of the morning now. We have been taking turns walloping the thing. Its tier four difficulty proved to be way too easy for me. I beat it in base form with some admittedly poor swordsmanship. I basically wailed on it with a practice blade and my brute strength did all the work. Might as well have been using a club.

Fennel’s technique with a blade was much more refined, even to my inexperienced ass. He didn’t just clobber the thing with his wooden practice blade. Each of his strikes was aimed and purposeful; he targeted the vital areas of the mannequin. It reminded me of how Jaren fought the larger mannequin yesterday. It wasn’t as devastating as the large man’s was, but still impressive.

My terrible sword technique was worthless when I upped the tier to five. The training room’s special floor regened our MP pretty quickly so as long as one of us rested while the other fought, the MP cost was never a problem. The training mannequin’s speed and strength increased dramatically with the higher tier. Nothing Ursa couldn’t handle though.

The young dwarf walked back into the room and chuckled when he saw the water on the ground.

“Sorry,” I said, scratching the back of my head.

“If you wanted something different, you only had to ask.”

“If that’s the case, an ice cold cherry limeade would be delightful.”

“Sure, just got to figure out what a cherry limeade is first.”

“Heaven in a cup. That’s what it is. Sugary, sweet heaven.”

He chuckled again. “Whatever you say.”

Walked over to the defeated mannequin and shoved it back into its neutral standing position. “Good strike on its head. Might be enough for today though. Don't want to break it.” He squatted down and proceeded to lift the mannequin over his head. And if that wasn’t dramatic enough, he then walked it over to one of the side walls of the dojo before dropping it back down like it weighed nothing. Damn, little man is strong.

He placed his hand on the back of the mannequin’s head just like when activating it. Its symbols lit up once more, but with a reddish orange almost rust-like color, as opposed to the normal blue.

“This is the self repairing function, It will regrow any wood that was damaged in the training. Takes a few days though.”

Bummer, I’m still feeling a bit antsy. I wanted to run through all of the forms today. Try to get back on my training schedule. Kind of miss it. I scrunched up my face. What have I become?

“Are you alright?” Fennel said, noticing my strange expression.

“Yeah, just bummed out about the training dummy. I wanted to run through all my forms.” I shrugged. “But that’s alright.”

Fennel just tilted his head. “What? Don’t tell me you’re already done.” He grinned. “I’m up for some sparring. I know it's not as effective for monster combat practice, but it's still decent training in my book.” He walked over to the end of the large mat in the middle of the training room, putting the wooden shield back on his arm. He pointed his sword at me, then waved it towards himself. “And I need to pay you back for what happened during the raid.”

I thought back to when I met the dwarf on the battlefield. I had my claws at his throat while yelling in his face. Hey, he attacked first damn it. Whatever. I looked at Fennel and grinned. Challenge accepted. But what should I go with first? I pondered for a moment, but the decision was easy. I worked well on him the first time. Sharp claws grew out of my hands as I stepped into the ring.

Fennel’s face twisted for a moment. But regained its composure soon after. Not that it mattered. This…barbarian put forth a challenge to me. I shan't leave him waiting. He is begging for a lesson after all.

I shot out, not waiting for a countdown. Before he moved an inch, my claws aimed for his exposed head. Surprisingly though, his shield moved just in time to block my strike. My claws scraped the wooden shield. I sent the other claw at his exposed leg. He wasn’t wearing any armor, leaving me an overwhelming amount of options to aim at. Yet just before my claws made contact, they collided with the wooden sword.

He reared back and threw me with his shield, launching me into the air. He spoke while I flew back. “Just straight to it then. Fine by me.” I flipped in the air and gracefully landed on my feet, then looked back at my petite opponent. He was already right in front of me, shield front and center. I hopped to the side, getting away from the shield’s strike only to find his sword aimed at my leg.

I tried to lift it in time, but the blunt blade slammed into my shin. I hit the floor and rolled behind him. I jumped back up and tried to land a strike on his unarmored back. Yet he twisted around in time, presumably predicting the attack, blocking the blow with his shield once again.

This led to the both of us unleashing a flurry of blows. Each swipe of my claws was met by both sword and shield, neither of us making any ground. Until my leg faltered for a second, and he took the opportunity to bash me with his shield. The shield landed squarely in my chest. I coughed out.

The savage is fast, I give him that. But let’s see how he handles this.

He tried to bring the shield back, but I gripped onto the edges of it and then activated Eternal Shade. I watched the dwarf’s eyes glaze over as the darkness enveloped him. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek. Got him. I released the shield and backed away from the dwarf, being careful not to walk out of the bounds of my shadow bubble. I noticed that it was a little larger this time around. Maybe four feet in diameter instead of the three feet it used to be.

The dwarf shook his head, then squatted down, preparing to jump out of the darkness. But he couldn’t. I had already struck at his side. My claws raked through his clothes and landed on his flesh. The dwarf grunted in pain, yet the blow was shallow.

He twisted and looked at me right in the eyes. Then swung out with his sword. It was aimed right at my head. I paused in shock. He shouldn’t be able to see me. I sidestepped the swing. The dwarf took his chance and leaped from the bubble. He reoriented himself once he was out, raising his shield back up.

I growled in frustration. Though another feeling swelled inside me. I looked down at my claws. In my right hand, a small amount of blood pooled. The dwarf’s blood. The feeling grew bigger and then I finally understood what it was. Desire.

I wanted more of his blood on my hands. I looked at him again.

Prey…