I was still tinkering with things when I heard the boys approach. I looked up and the three of them were struggling with a pot and I rose up to help.
“Oh it’s Vicky! She looks different.” Sammy said, and then I was nearly pushed back from my approach as Sammy absolutely yelled at the top of his lungs. “Hi Vicky! We got some!”
Had he been forced to yell that loud before?
“She looks different. Less gross, but still gross, you know?”“Shh. Don’t let her hear you say that.” Willas hissed at Erik. And I started hissing out a little laugh. I hurried over and helped with the pot, and we got it all situated on the fire, and then the boys noticed the other Crab I’d killed.
“Huh. She caught one?” Erik muttered and I leaned down and started writing.
“Oh! I don’t have to yell anymore?” Sammy asked, in a thankfully much more normal voice. I nodded at him and threw him a thumbs up.
Then I wrote about what I had discovered. That I could literally pull Rock Crabs out of the earth.
“Really!? That's awesome! We can just pick one and not have to drag them all around!” Erik called out, looking very very pleased, his face shooting into a bright smile. “And that means you aren’t useless!”
I pouted at him, which didn’t really work as I couldn’t exactly puff out my cheeks, so I just punched him lightly in the shoulder.
“What, if you scare off all the prey, you’d be kinda useless.”It annoyed me, but he was right. I nodded along at his comment. That was going to be an issue. Was there a way to… Stop the constant mana draw? Another thing I’d have to try and learn.
Either way the boys were settling around, the pot already starting to fill it with water, and I looked inside.
Just a single Rock Crab. Good enough!
I helped with the fire, stirring it up as the boys all ran around with their own tasks, although again my appearance caused a lot of distraction.
I need to be able to speak, this is stupid… I reached up and took out the Mana Core from my mouth and decided to try and speak.
Pay attention! I tried to tell them, but all that came out was a garbled hissing noise.
“Creepy!”“What was that?”“Everything okay Vicky?”I just gave Sammy a thumbs up and then scratched in the dirt.
“Ah, trying to talk… So that’s all you can sound like?” He asked, and I just nodded, before focusing on getting back to my work with a shrug. I don’t think talking was in the cards for now.
The fire was going, so as the boys tossed in the remains of the crab I killed I went and grabbed my spice tin, and pulled out a few things we could use to spice the meat…
I looked at the little balls of pepper… Could I only take things from monsters? I popped it into my mouth, chewed and swallowed…
I waited for a few moments kinda hoping something would happen, but I didn’t get any of that instinctual urge.
So I couldn’t absorb non-monsters parts, or the pepper wasn’t able to give me something I could use, or… Maybe it just wasn’t enough?
I shrugged. I would figure it out later, I wasn’t about to waste all my pepper on the experiment. The things were a pain to find.
Gathering up what I needed I realized my hands were a bit awkward for grinding pepper…
Should I turn off the spell?
Yeah… Probably.
I walked away from the boys far enough away to make sure they wouldn’t be caught in it, and cancelled the spell.
The sudden shifting from cold to warmth was startling and I jolted a bit, feeling myself almost… Slime away as my body shifted. Smoke dark and almost clingy flowed away from me, before slowly dispersing into the air as it flowed away from me…
“Vicky?”“I’m here.” I called out then instantly jolted again as I forgot to check my clothes! Looking down I breathed an audible sigh of relief.
My clothes were okay! Well… I was a bit slimy. Flicking the trailing drool like slime off my fingers at least my clothes weren’t eaten away. My knife and belt were there as usual, it was like I hadn’t changed myself at all.
“Huh, that’s weird to see.”“It’s weird to feel!” I agreed, laughing at Willis’s remark. “Oh I didn’t realize just how bad my vision still was.” I muttered looking around, realizing sort of obviously it was mid day hot, and sunny.
It had felt like… Wearing heavy sunglasses, in a chilled room while looking out a window. Sure I could tell it was bright and hot, but not really feel it.
“At least I’m still cold.” I said as I walked over. I wasn’t even sweating!
“Really?” Sammy reached over and pushed a half muddy hand against my arm and then gasped. “Whoa! Look! Vicky is super cold!” “Really?” The boys each walked over and put their very hot hands on my shoulders.
“Hey you’re hot, stop.”“No way! It’s like touching ice, that’s nice!” Sammy called out and then pushed his forehead against my shoulder. I thought about smacking him away but he sighed in delight, and I did feel cold.
Wait…
Was I the AC all along?
—--
“You're still hungry?”“Always!” I said back, finishing off the last of the Crab Meat. Licking my lips. This was just lunch! Not even second lunch!
“Well we actually ate all of it.” Erik said looking at the bowl where the crab meat had been stacked high, which was now completely empty… The four of us were getting older, and even two Rock Crabs were just enough for us now.
“Why not go get some more?” Sammy asked, although the way he was laying against the tree we’d all slipped under to get some shade with his hands resting on his belly, told me he probably wasn’t up for more hunting.
“We could… I can yank them right out of the dirt now.” I added, and all the boys nodded at that…
Man Rock Crab season was going to go great for us from now on, if I could just yank them up, we could grab all of them…
Well probably best not to.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead. Somewhere in between cooking and eating the heat had seeped in. Well the boys didn’t help stealing my cold…
Should I transform again?
Ugh the problem was Mana… I’d have to gather mana again or at least…
“I’m dumb.” I whispered. When I untransformed the Mana was the smoke flowing off me. I bet if I was in water the mana would get trapped letting me store it!
But… Yeah there was no way I could keep something like that out here. Or inside the compound. That much Mana would attract monsters, and if it was inside I’d need a big space all to myself just to store it…
Ugh.
“You’re thinking hard about something.” Erik offered as he worked at something caught in between his teeth with a reed stalk.
“When I transformed back, all that smoke was the Mana I’d gathered, but it all disappeared. I was thinking about how to save it, like if I was in water it might get saved, but then I’d need a big tub to store all of it.”“Huh… Why do you need a tub?”“To get in, so the mana doesn’t flow away.” I said standing up and deciding to start cleaning up our camp.
“Why not just use your bucket?”“I can’t fit in a bucket.” I snarked back, throwing some of the mess into the bowl to throw into the water.
“Yeah but some of you can, you only needed a bucket to transform at first right? You don't need all of it.” Erik added as I was walking away and I stopped…
Then I slowly turned towards him. He was looking fat and content laying in the shade with the other boys, but now he was looking a little nervous at me as I was looking at him with narrowed eyes.
“When did you get so smart huh? Why am I always making plans if you’re so smart huh?” I asked him stomping over and he flinched a bit as I dropped the bowl and then leapt at him.“Vicky!?”“So much smarter than me! Punishment attack!”“Hey-hehe-Stop!-Hehehehehe!” I started tickling Erik until he finally wiggled away and started running.
I didn’t chase him for long, just long enough…
But he was right. If I could get a bucket full of my converted mana to just have enough to start the transformation again for the next time, I don’t need to save all the mana I gathered.
Although that would definitely be the next step. If I could just store all the Mana I gathered over time…
Well, I’d be quite the monster.
—--
“So you ate a crab and got… Crab armor?”“Crab Armor.” I confirmed, with a big smile. I was sure my eyes were smiling. It wasn’t a fireball, but Crab Armor, was Crab Armor.
“Yeah! It was freaky.”“Mean!”“I mean, it was cool too, just freaky.” Erik said, from where he was sitting across from me. The adults were interested in my experiments, even if many looked uncomfortable at what I was saying.
“It sounds dangerous.” Papa said, frowning lightly, so I sent him my puppy dog eyes.
“I was okay! It didn’t even damage my clothes when I transformed… Although they were slimy after.”“Slimy?” Mama asked, eyeing me, and I winced.
“I washed up, but yeah, it was kinda gross. It washed right off though!”“And your slime can’t… Hurt anyone if you mix your clothes in with the wash?” Mama asked, and at that I winced.
“I don’t know.”“We’ll find out before she does that.” Papa said loud enough that anyone listening in would be able to hear it.
Oops. Yeah that could be bad if suddenly everyones clothes started making them sick or worse because of my… Slime…
That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.
“On the next rest day I’d like you to show this transformation to everyone.” Old Man Willis said from a few seats down. “It was quite disturbing with what little I saw, and I don’t want anyone mistaking you for some monster at first sight.”“Understood.” Papa said instantly and that was that.
That’s fine. Probably a good idea. That gave me a few days anyways to work out what else I could do.
“Umm… Since I seem to be taking… Bits of monsters, I was hoping to get some Gator pieces to see what happens.” I asked, looking around Papa at Old Man Willis.
“I see… We can spare a little for a test.” He agreed after considering it for a while, and I perked up! I really hadn’t thought he’d say yes!
“Thank you!”“It’s fine, child. We all would like to know what you can do, and you’ve certainly earned your place.” He explained, but the way he said it was more for the people listening.
Old Man Willis was okaying it as the Elder, giving no one leave to complain.
That was nice. Although it was a minority magic did freak out some of my family. Well, technically we weren’t family, but we were family anyways.
It was something to remember. Not everyone was comfortable around magic…
—--
The next morning after the men had gone for the day, I was finally freed from doing some cleaning. It turned out the slime I left behind was thankfully harmless, at least for all the tests we’d done. Mama had volunteered at first, but it had been Old Man Willis that had taken over the role, with a statement that made me deeply uncomfortable.
“I’m old my dear, if I die today, it’ll hardly matter compared to yourself.” He stated firmly, and well…
We’d tested the slime, letting him touch it, and stuff.
Other than it feeling cold it seemed harmless.
So I was released, and off I went.
The boys were already preparing camp when I caught up and I grinned as my morning hadn’t been wasted.
Testing my slime with Old Man Willis had meant I needed to transform so I already had my hand transformed, and back, and a bucket of dark Mana.
Erik the annoying smarty pants had been right. I dumped my hand into clear water, and when I transformed back the mana had flowed into the water turning it into the same dark goop I’d had before.
And it was absorbing mana as well, which meant as long as I did a bit of work before bed I could probably have enough to transform in the morning with little effort.
Mana absorbing goop was the best!
“Vicky! Rock Crabs are still around!” Sammy shouted and I nodded as I carefully put my bucket down and looked over the view from the campsite.
It was a normal day, hot, and muggy, but today?
Today smelled like victory!
My stomach rumbled.
“Today!” I yelled out startling the boys. “Today will be a day going down in infamy! Not just one Crab, or two! We will capture as many as we can fit into our pot! We will eat so much we will never again want to eat Crab, at least until tomorrow!” I told the boys and they all looked at each other as they took in my inspiring commanding speech!
“Yeah whatever.”“We can catch a bunch for you Vicky, are you extra hungry today?”“She’s always hungry, dummy.”“Don’t call me dumb!” Sammy yelled at Willis and soon the two boys were tussling…
“Hey! Not near the fire!” I yelled out jumping over to break up the boys rough housing, getting them separated and thankfully that was good enough as they stopped fighting with a few grumbles at each other.
“Willis, stop fighting with Sammy. Sammy, stop leaping on anyone that calls you a dummy, we know you aint.” Erik said, surprisingly cutting in as a peace maker, before looking at me. “So what’s the plan?”“I’m going to transform, and we’ll force the Rock Crabs to seal themselves away. No more sneaking this time, we’ll run right at them and bang on their shells. Then once all of them are locked down, we take care of them one by one.” I explained and all the boys looked at each other and then slowly their smiles turned sinister.
“I like that idea!”“Yeah, sounds funny!”“Okay! So get the pot, we’ll try to kill the Crabs before we dump them in the pot, and this time!” I said pointedly taking off my belt which had my knife sheathed on it. “I won’t be stupid and transform into an Eldritchmorph without taking off my sharp knife.”“What’s an Eldritchmorph?”“It’s what I decided to call my transformation monster! Cool right?”“Kinda… Lame?” Erik said.
“What!? What part of it is lame!?” I demanded puffing up as I stomped right up to Erik’s face.
“I don’t know, just sounds weird…”“Well it’s not lame! It’s cool! And since I created cool, I get to say what's cool!”
“Sure sure! Easy.”“Hmph!”I stomped back away heading for my bucket. Calling my awesome magical transformation which finally worked and let me do something lame!
I settled down next to the bucket, and grabbed the magic circle block.
Pressing my hand half into the bucket, and then against the block, I forced the mana to activate.
Slowly that creeping sensation rolled up my arm, spreading deadly cold upwards overtaking until finally rolling over my head.
Heh!?
Who turned out the lights?
“Vicky?”I turned around but… My eyes were covered like they had been yesterday! I reached up and felt my face. The feeling of the chitin was there, but… It felt spongey and weak!?
What happened to my cool Crab Armor? No wait, before that, I couldn’t see very well again. What the heck!?
“Why do you look so stupid again?” Willis asked, and I turned to glare at his blob angrily and I really wanted to smack him but instead took a breath and reached down for the dirt to write.
Honestly I just wrote out shut up, and then sat back to think. Had I lost all my upgrades from yesterday? Would I have to keep pieces of crab around to eat every time I transformed? That would be… Okay doable, but still annoying, and no way Mama would let me store that much seafood in my room or something… Ew the smell would be bad..
But no. It wasn’t the same as yesterday. I could hear the boys whispering to each other… That was a change. My fleshy transformation wasn’t quite the same, I felt the springy chitin and not just weird flesh…
Did I not have enough Mana to finish the transformation? I checked the bucket, but… It still had goop inside, not much, most of it was water, but there was mana inside.
I reached inside, and jolted at how quickly I could feel my flesh absorbing the mana. I guess that was a good sign. Okay so… Finish transforming! Henshin! Go go Monster parts!?
Nothing.
I still remembered that instinct to alter myself after eating the crab from yesterday but… I couldn’t feel any urge for it, it was like I was stuck.
Ugh!
Okay… Fine. I’ll just go eat a bunch of crab, which was already the plan, and then I could try and master transforming with Crab bits…
I just couldn’t see very well…
Quickly standing up I looked around… That way? Pretty sure it was that way. I headed off, hearing the boys follow me, and I heard the sound of the large pot dragged along with them. Good.
The muddy inlet the Rock Crabs hung out in, thankfully wasn’t far and I could mostly make out the path. I was going to eat every crab eye I could find if it would let me actually see.
So as the boys gathered up I reached for my knife and… I forgot my belt.
Face palming or palming whatever represented my face, I bent down and started writing.
A few moments later thankfully I heard an answer that was even better than my request for someone to go grab my belt.
“Oh I brought it with me since she left it.” Sammy said, and I reached out for it, which promptly had it in my hand…
Now how do I wrap a belt around my waist when I can’t see what I’m doing? It took a bit of work but I had my belt positioned. Time to go. I pointed and the boys all took off, I raced after the first one and as expected as I reached it running full tilt it was already hiding. So I climbed on board, sitting on its shell sucking out the mana from the spell circle it was using to hide, with my knife ready.
Then just like the last ones, it stirred the spell breaking either because it ran out of Mana or just realized I’d disrupted the spell. It took me a bit of spinning around to see the claws, but with a vicious stab I pushed my knife right into the Crabs face. My Knife split through the chitin without any resistance, and with a twist the Crab died…
Now gimme them eye stalks! I want to see!