Monstrous Lovers Ch. 03

"Hello, welcome to my shop. I'm Favella." She sketched an elaborate bow before rising to address me again. "Are you looking for anything in particular or just perusing?"

"... What was that?" I asked off-balance, gesturing at everything. My eyes were wide and I arched a brow at her sceptically, the urge to poke her to make sure this was real made my finger itch.

"That was my morphological field. It was supposed to read your psyche and create an illusion based on your expectations. Judging from your response it was at least a partial success. Now, what can I do you for?"

"You did have that Frankenstein phase as a child."

They use the title 'Biomancer' what am I supposed to think?

"I think geneticists, with the little pipet syringes and the multitude of test tubes that sort of thing."

I think mine is better.

"Certainly more interesting," Eve agreed.

"Just looking," I said, answering the woman. "Chance by the way. From what I understand, your products can be rather pricey. We're just here killing some time until Kaysa done showing her replacement around town."

She perked up. "You found a new town guardian? Oh thank you. She's always wanted to get back to her home, she hasn't been their in years. I'm sure her mother is missing her terribly. They do share correspondences but..." The woman had the smooth chatter of a practiced saleswoman, able to fill the silence with all sorts of interesting tidbits and generally being friendly.

"Actually, do you have anything to help someone fly?"

"Sorry, I don't have something like that in stock. Even if I did, a morph of that sort would probably be quite expensive." Her flames dimned at her failure to supply my request. Then she perked up, the tips of her dancing sparkes turning into a vibrant, joyful yellow. "You do seem like the adventurous sort..." she mused. "There are documented cases of the wyverns from the Kaolos mountain occasionally dropping an ability seed that could do what you're looking for. It's not the safest path you could take, but it is an option."

"Where would that be located?"

"It's actually the mountain range above Kaysa's home of Rantech. You could ask her for more details on the specifics."

"Thank you. You've been very helpful." I took her hand, the flames of her body surprisingly solid, wisps of them licking my skin with their warmth."

"Other than that, it seems your knightly friend here seems to own a set of wings. If she'll consent to giving me time and access to her body for some rigorous research, I might be able to fabricate something similar."

"How much time?" Gwen asked cautiously.

"At least several months."

"I'm sorry Chance as much as I might like to help out you and Roslyte. I cannot take that much time away from my duties."

"No worries Gwen. I'll figure something out."

"Even if I can't help, I may have some other products that might interest you."

I do have some time to kill...

"Sure, why not? Give me your spiel. What've you got to show me?"

"Excellent, now my shop specializes elemental morphs, specifically evocation ones."

I nodded like I knew exactly what that meant.

"First up we have the standard movement ability in the fire tree: Flare Step. Created from a combination of hellcats, salamanders, and lava naiads essences, it allows the user to move up to ten meters with an accompanying burst of light that has a small chance to blind enemies. Those with greater dexterity will shorten its cooldown. While those with greater intelligence will have brighter flashes, with increased chances of blinding."

"Cool cool cool, very cool, very cool." I chimed, watching the swirling smoke surround a delicate white-gold and red hued orb. The next glass ball Favella took us to had a blue and black orb with thick dark smoke.

"Up next we have an attack mutation from the lightning tree, for those who like to get up close and personal." She shadow boxed for a few seconds, every air jab throwing out a spinning smoke-ring. The first went around the presented ball, while the second and third captured Gwen and my heads in the hoop. "Called Shock jab. It works by converting the kinetic energy of the punch into an electric current that has a high chance of stunning. It's a great way to soften a target up in order to employ stronger but less accurate attacks. I actually developed it by working closely with Kaysa."

"I think I'm familiar with this one," I remarked dryly.

"The rumor mill told me you might," she said with a barely concealed smirk. "This morph works best by those with a large capacity for strength. Alternately willpower is important as it helps increase the efficiency of the conversion." We moved on to the next item in her shop, another blue orb, but this one had white clouds instead of smoke.

"After that we come to Storm Stomp, an ingenious combination of a minotaurs might and the raw elemental savagery of a thunderbird. It is impressive but has a long cooldown. Initiated by slamming your foot into the ground, it sends cascading two meter orbitals of lightning every half second or so up to twenty meters. An enormous area-of-effect control spell it does modest damage with a high chance to stun. The speed of the spread is increased with greater intelligence. Similarly the total area covered is determined by the strength of the stomp. Finally the cooldown is decreased with willpower."

Okay, this I want.

"How much?"

"Four mind seeds, or the equivalent in body."

I winced at the price but thought it more than fair.

She saw my reaction, and a thoughtful look passed over her face. "But, with the friends and family discount, I'm willing to part with it for a meager two mind seeds."

My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Kaysa's a dear friend and I appreciate what you did for her."

"How do you know it was me that found her replacement?"

"She told me you made an oath. It was cute how excited she was."

Oh yeah. I did do that."

"I'll be sad to see her go but it'll do her good. She deserves to get the chance to go out and see the world."

It hurt but between my single mind seed and six body seeds I'd acquired in my jaunt to and from the Cemetery, I had enough to meet the cost. I handed over the seed and she popped the glass ball into a giant tube thing with a mask hanging off that she retrieved from behind her counter.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Okay, when I crack the glass, you breath in the smoke and orb. My skills with ensure the appropriate changes to your body." She could read my surprise in her widened eyes. "Why do you think we charge so much? Registered biomancers require certification to ensure our flesh molding skills operate correctly a significant percentage of the time."

"A 'significant percentage'? That doesn't sound-"

She cut me off by placing the mask over my mouth. "Relax. I'm a professional. Now breath deep." There was a sharp crack of breaking glass and I swiftly exhaled, emptying my lungs before breathing in deep. The smoke wasn't acrid, it was cool and light, filling up my chest with ease. It felt like a sparkler diffusing across my bronchial tubes and into my veins, filtering down to my feet. They felt heavy so I tapped my toe experimentally. A snap of static electricity followed along with the blooming scent of ozone. A new prompt met my vision at the same time Favella announced, "There we go. Everything looks good. That wasn't so bad, right?"

"No," I said, distracted with reading the prompt.

Thunder Stomp - Electrodes crackle through your core, a stampede of cascading electrons just waiting to be unleashed. Produced by inducing magnetic fields, this ability creates blooming electrical fields that will stun and damage any caught in it.

Primary stats: Strength, Intelligence, Willpower

"Is this what I think this is?" Gwen asked Favella, pointing to the brightest glass ball in the room.

"Ah, yes. I am quite proud of that one. My very first legendary morph. Lungs of the Dragon. Grants immunity to a variety of poisons. Eighty percent flame resistance. Oxygen efficiency boost." The glass ball in question possessed golden red smoke with an orb so brilliant it almost hurt to the eyes. It was also three times the size of any other ball. "Voice amplification capabilities. Not to mention the crowd favorite, fire breathing. It's a thing of beauty and a work of art. The single greatest product I've ever created. It'll hurt to watch it leave but it'll fund the research of new products."

"How much?" Gwen asked, a gleam in her eye.

"If I had to place a price on it, and it does hurt to do so... I couldn't part with it for less than thirty mind seeds."

Gwen pursed her lips but nodded. "A fair price."

Damn.

I clicked my heels and my overly charged feet sparked slightly, little pops of electricity jumping from my body to the ground. Giddiness getting the best of me, I lifted my foot, planning on testing out my new ability.

"Not in the shop! Please?" Favella barked, before finishing more softly.

Frustrated at having my fun spoiled, I let the flame woman lead me to the final ball. Smoothing out her nonexistent skirt, she led me to a silvery green morph. "This is a wind shield, made from exclusive wind sprite essence, seeking to replicate their passive defense. It works by compressing the air into a flat plate to protect the user from a blow." She preened a little and waved her arm at our surroundings. "That's it. My shop in all its glory."

"Very impressive," I admired, still snubbed by her, admittedly reasonable, refusal to let me test out Thunder Stomp.

"Chance..." She started cautiously, looking at me slyly from the corner of her eye.

"Yes?"

"You seem pretty wet behind the ears. Would you happen to be in the market of an intelligence trainer?"

"Maybe..."

"Don't prevaricate. This is a good thing and she's offering for free."

I quickly changed my tune at Eve's chastisement. "Yes. I mean yes."

Confused for a moment, she quickly regained her composure. Pulling out a perfectly black marble, she rested it on one of her two horizontally outstretched palms. Making a show of curling her fingers around both the marble and nothing before hiding them behind her back. "The test is quite simple..." She paused, shuffling her shoulders a bit. A blue tongue of flame poked out from her lips as if in concentration. "There we go." Presenting her the backs of her clenched fists in front of us, she crinkled her eyes in amusement. "All you need to do is tell me which hand the marble is in?"

Ah, so it's this kind of test. An open ended logic puzzle based on observation and deduction.

"Ugh," Eve groaned. "You're such a wannabe Sherlock Holmes. It's enough to make me gag."

If only. Besides, you don't even have a throat with which to gag. Any hints for me?

"I don't think it's simple. There's probably a trick to it."

I agree.

Taking my time, I looked from Favella's hands to her face and back again, letting a confident smile curl my lips.

Her hands aren't quite clenched exactly the same. It seems like her left is slightly more open than her right. But is it real, or only a red herring?

As far as the person went, she seemed unflappable, her victory in this contest already assured judging by her facial expression. I walked all the way around her, and she turned my neck to watch me go. Her backside, while pleasantly hot, pun intended, provided no additional insight. "Ready to make your choice?"

God that smirk is infuriating. But why do I find it so attractive?

"You like women that can challenge you, that aren't afraid to tease and mess with you."

Rhetorical Eve. Rhet-or-i-cal. Look it up.

I needed to make a decision, and I was no closer to a definitive conclusion.

When logic fails, all that's left is intuition, and an unusual problem deserves an unusual answer.

Pointing at her right hand, I looked up to meet her eyes. "Not that one."

Her smile grew wider and she opened up her hand to reveal...

Nothing. Emptiness.

She bounced her eyebrows. Taking a step back, she straightened her left elbow, presenting her still clenched fist. "Where is the black marble?"

I blinked slowly at her, trying to glean some information from her expression and utterly failing.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Not that one either."

Her blue tongue made another appearance, slipping from her mouth to seductively circle her lips. "Where is the marble? Final attempt."

You've gotten me this far intuition, don't fail me now.

I pointed at her right foot, my eyes never leaving hers. Her smile showed off her brilliant teeth. She popped her right elbow and the marble sprung forth from her flame wreathed skin, captured smoothly in that hand and presented between her forefinger and thumb. She 'tsked,' giving me a wink. "So close but not quite. Still an impressive showing."

With an impressive showing on your test, your intelligence has been increased by one and revealed to be a seventh level overall. This level grants you access to Mana, the underpinning force of the universe and the essence of creation.

Current Mana Level: 2

Mana can be used to empower abilities, pushing them in new directions or empowering them temporarily. A flexible mind is as dangerous as any set of fangs.

"How good is a seven?" I asked Favella.

"Moderately high for someone at your level of progression. The scale is out of thirteen, but no one possesses scores that high other than the demigods and demigoddesses. Five is about average for a citizen level class of creature. Anything above ten is considered the upper echelons of the nobility class. Thresholds exist at five and ten that grants access to global abilities once you've been properly tested."

I whistled. "Shit. I need to find more trainers then. Know any around town?"

"No, but I think Kaysa's mother is a strength trainer."

I placed my fore and middle fingers to my temple. "I'm getting a premonition... That we will... Soon be traveling towards... Rantech." I gasped as if that had taken a lot of energy out of me.

Gwen chortled. "Kinda seems that way, doesn't it?" She began ticking off fingers. "Strength trainer, Kaysa joining the party, near the wyverns, and we have nowhere more relevant to be." Shrugging, she slapped my tail with her own. "Now, do you want to go find Kaysa and give her the good news or wait for her to find us?"

"Oh. Here please," Favella interjected. "I would love to be the one to tell her she gets to head home."

I shrugged back to Gwen. "Fine with me. And she did give me a deal on the ability, even if she didn't let me test it," I teased.

"Didn't let you destroy my shop, you mean?"

"Potatoe, potahtoe."

Kaysa did indeed track us down when she was done giving Debbie the tour. And after, a bouncing, happy-tear filled embrace, she released Favella so that we could make our way to a local waystation. I was led to believe it was some sort of method rapid transport.

"Are you sure this is the best way to get to the town under the mountain?" I asked skeptically as I swung my leg over my mount.

"Best... Debatable, definitely a quick way. And almost certainly more fun," Gwen's paws flexed around the metal handles that were worked into the leather saddles. The gleam in her eyes spoke of an adrenaline junkie about to get her fix. The aquatic seal beneath her wiggled it's slick fatty skin to seat the saddle more comfortably on its back.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll be fine." Kaysa finished punching in the coordinates and I could hear echoes of distant rumbles from deeper down the gleaming metal tunnels, the pathways adjusting to the correct twists and turns. "Just hold on tight and the seal will take care of the rest." The clatter up ahead stopped and the metal protuberances that hung off the fins of Gwen's seal ignited in a dull thrum of flame, the backwash of heat splashing across my face and body. The jet engines tightened the stream and the propulsion caught. With a whoop of joy, Gwen 'thwipped' out of sight like a bottle rocket. Eyes wide, I swallowed dryly as Kaysa hurried atop of her seal.

"How do they stop?"

"Stop? Why would they do that? It's on us to dismount at our stop, They'll run to the end of the line where the stables and trainers are located." Before I could question her any further, she too blasted out of sight and around the chrome colored curve of the tunnel.

"Oh boy. I'm in very real danger." But there was no one but Eve to hear me.

My hands tightened on the metal handles, sweat making them slick.

Just a game. It's just a game.

Barking with excitement, my seal slapped it's tail against the floor, it's engines igniting with a roar. The rumbles traveled up into my very uneasy gut.

This can not be happening. I'd like off Mr. Toad's Wild Riiiiiiiiiide.

My heart rate skyrocketed along with my velocity, my spine bending backward during the takeoff. I had the joyful experience of introducing my eyeball to the back of my skull; or so it felt with the tremendous G's I was subjected to by the acceleration. For about a minute I was convinced we were going to die in a horribly explosive crash. But, despite expectations, the frictionless belly of my seal kept us zooming along smoothly, a luxurious ride for all intents and purposes. Our momentum took us up the first turn like a bobsled runner, running us perpendicular to the ground before the track straightened out and we returned to the ground. About the time that I began to believe that I would come out of this ordeal alive, my seal upped the ante on me.

Obviously it found the simple up and down too boring, utterly ignoring the fact that I was riding on a mother-fucking rocket propelled aquatic mammal! No, my lovely mount decided we could do with a little excitement, and began doing tricks. While one a long straight-a-way, it dipped fist one flipper then the other, rocking us up and down the wall. For my part, I remained low in the saddle and held on tight, teeth clenched tight as my stomach clawed at my insides.

Up and down.

Up and down.

I could feel the muscles in the seal's back tighten as it leaned into the curve taking us up and around into a gravity defying spiral. I was too terrified to scream, but that didn't prevent my spirit from gibbering, my mind melting in terror. It sounded something like:

AhhhhhhhhHHHHhhhhhh! Pleasedeargodletmelive!

I had a brief moment of relief when my seal leveled out only to lean the other direction and begin another death spiral.

In all the hair-raising excitement, I missed the a row of LED's that began to light up. It was on the second of three green ones prior to a single giant red one. My eyes were closed and I had a desperate grip on the saddle when the big 'fuck-off' LED flashed bright. The seal barked and a hidden piston in saddle cycled once, up and down in a single smooth cycle. I blinked open my surprise as the saddle dropped from beneath me, leaving me suspended in the air as the seal continued to rocket away it's spiral growing more vigorous now that it didn't have a passenger.

There was a moment of disbelief where I hung in the air still hurtling down the tube. Then gravity exerted itself and I began to fall, entirely convinced that I was about to end up as nothing more than a long red smear along the floor. In my panic I activated all of the abilities at my disposal, hoping for a miracle to stave off my demise. And doing so created my own salvation. It wasn't my claws, that sliced crimson slashes through the air, looking pretty but doing nothing. It was my foot, that touched down on the ground, that truly saved me. A mana empowered static stomp released an electric arc that traveled through copper alloy tubes and induced a magnetic field. Said field interacted with the temporary cores that were created in my body for the creation of my ability. The net result of which was a tumble through the air while my velocity gently slowed to a crawl and I was able to land lightly on my feet.