[Salvos] 153. Partial Mortality (Patreon)

153. Partial Mortality

***

We didn’t venture into the Plaguelands now that I was done with my evolution. Instead, I focused mostly on testing out my new Skills. As much as I didn’t want to, the first we started with was [Partial Mortality].

My companions wanted to investigate further into how it worked and see how often I could transform into a mortal. I was reluctant at first, but after they gave their reasoning, I conceded and began some tests.

“We don’t know how this works, Salvos. It’s far more restricting than your [Mortal Form].”

“What even good is this dumb Skill? I don’t want to use it ever again!”

Edithe sighed, rubbing at her temples.

“You’re no longer impeded in combat while transformed as a Human. Sure, it comes with its own drawbacks to you, such as needing to sleep or eat—”

“You don’t know that! Maybe I won’t need to eat!”

She gave me a blank stare, and I hesitated.

“Maybe I won’t need to eat…?”

“...anyway, it not only means that you can fight at full strength while a Human, it also means you can blend in better in Human, Kobold, and Cyclops societies too. It’s hardly a negative, Salvos.”

“It is to me.”

I grumbled, turning around.

“But fine— I’ll test it out.”

I didn’t transform into a Human this time. Instead, I wore my Kobold robes with my blue jacket on top of it, and transformed into a Kobold. As I noticed before, the way my body morphed was a lot smoother. It also happened faster, and in mere moments, I was looking up at Edithe as a Kobold.

“Now what?”

I cocked my head. The red-haired woman exchanged a glance with Daniel. She drew her lips into a thin line.

“Now we wait for you to— Salvos?”

She blinked, and I fell face-first on the ground, asleep.

—--

A few days passed as I consistently switched in and out of my various mortal forms. I learned many things during that time— first of all, there still wasn’t a timer to how long I could remain a Human or Kobold or Cyclops. In that sense and only that sense, it functioned in the same way as my previous [Mortal Form] Skill.

However, it differed in the way it dealt with sleeping and eating. Previously, I wouldn’t have to sleep or eat when I transformed. Now, not only did I have to eat and sleep like a mortal, it happened every single time I transformed.

“This is stupid!”

I threw my hands— bulky, Cyclops hands— into the air. Edithe, however, was captivated by this.

“Interesting, so it forces you to sleep and eat the moment you transform, resetting and starting your eating and sleeping schedules each time for each form. That means you can’t just transform to a Human right outside of a city… well, you can. But you’ll just have to sleep seven or eight hours before you can enter.”

I scowled.

“You Humans are so lazy! And I have proof right here. As a Kobold, I only need three hours, and as a Cyclops, only six.”

“Six isn’t that much shorter than seven, you do know that, right?”

Daniel piped up from the side.

“Still less lazy than you!”

I stuck my tongue out at him— and it was fine, since I wasn’t a Kobold right now.

That wasn’t the only thing I learned. There was also a cooldown: it took roughly half a day before the Skill could be used again. That meant that I had to wait twelve hours to pass before I could change back from a mortal once I turned into one. It also meant I had to wait the same amount of time before I could become a mortal once more.

That gave me a lot of time to practice and test out my other Skills.

Salvos (Death of the Destroyer)

Species: [Archdemon of Pride]

Subspecies: [Daeva Cambion] - Lvl. 100

Class: [Adept of the Fae] - Lvl. 10

General Skills:

[Advanced Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 7

[Identification] - Lvl. 5

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

[Racial Skill: Demonic Essence] - Lvl. 1

[Racial Skill: Partial Mortality] - Lvl. 1

[Rest] - Lvl. 4

[Lesser Enhanced Wisdom] - Lvl. 2

[Title Skill: Zealous Call] - Lvl. 3

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 123 (+5)

[Strength]: 100 (+5)

[Endurance]: 108 (+5)

[Wisdom]: 184 (+5) (+6)

[Agility]: 241 (+5)

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 14]

[Barrage of Cinders] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Demon’s Mark] - Lvl. 1

[Haste] - Lvl. 1

[Intimidation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Nebular Construct] - Lvl. 1

[Radiant Slash] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[The Primordial Spark] - Lvl. 1

[Wings of the Netherworld] - Lvl. 1

[Passive - A Hunter’s Sense] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Passive - Blue Flames] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Passive - Weapon Mastery] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Unused Skill Slot] x3

Secondary Skills:

[Available Secondary Skill Points: 3]

[Banish] - Lvl. 1

[Spatial Sight] - Lvl. 1

[Unused Secondary Skill Slot] x1

I had a lot of new Skills. And despite that, I still had a lot of Skill Slots left over.

2 Skills came from my new Class, while 5 came from my evolution. At first, I was surprised I only got 2 Skills from my Class. But Edithe reassured me it was normal. After all, my Class was only at Level 10.

She never heard of [Adept of the Fae] before, which told me as to how special the Class was. In fact, its Skills were certainly above what I expected from a Skill at that level.

“[Spatial Sight]!”

I snapped my single eye shut as the Skill’s effects activated. The world around me vanished for a brief moment, only darkness filling my vision. Then, suddenly, everything became more.

I still couldn’t see. But it was as if I could absorb the information of what made up my surroundings. It was similar to seeing the threads of mana filling the air, weaving the world into existence. However, instead of focusing on the general mana density around me, the Skill allowed me to pick out the mana exuded from the object and the space it filled in this dimension.

“Can you see me?”

I heard Edithe’s voice coming from my left. The red-haired woman was standing six feet away from me, where I had last seen her.

“Yep.”

“What am I doing?”

“You’re just standing there— no, wait, you’re holding onto your staff with your left hand, aiming it at me as if you’re about to cast a spell.”

There was a pause. She shifted slightly, taking a step back.

“How about now?

“Nope. Can’t tell what you’re doing. Can’t even see you anymore.”

“Try bringing your [Spatial Sight] to your left. Like you’re looking my way, but without your eyes.”

I furrowed my brows.

“Alright…”

Right now, my field of vision encompassed everything in a sphere around me. It let me see the grass at my feet, the thicket behind me, and the empty spot where Edithe once stood to my left. I concentrated entirely in that direction, and this bubble… changed.

It was like it was being pulled further and further towards the left. The trees vanished from my vision as my view of the left side expanded. Edithe’s being slowly seeped back into my mind— the rough figure of her person stood in the space I was perceiving.

“Woah, I see you now.”

“How about this?”

A voice called out. Not Edithe, but Daniel. I heard the sound of something being thrown. A round object, about the size of my fist. It came into my [Spatial Sight] just a second later. I couldn’t fully process what it was, just that it came quickly.

It only had three feet to cross before it hit me from behind. I could catch it. Or dodge it. But I decided to test something out. Raising a hand, I pointed at the flying object.

“[Banish].”

A hole opened up in my [Spatial Sight]. It sucked whatever it was into it, shooting out of another hole about five feet to my right. It traveled at the same speed as before, unperturbed by the sudden shifting through space.

I blinked as [Spatial Sight] ended. I glanced over at the object that was thrown— it was an apple, half-eaten by Daniel. He grinned.

“Thought you might want to try it, since you’re probably getting hungry right now.”

I rolled my eyes, not validating him with a response. Although my stomach did rumble a bit.

Instead, I turned to Edithe who was now standing nearly ten feet to my left. Her head was tilted back, as if she were in thought.

“So, you can keep the Skill up for five minutes. You can perceive everything in a five foot radius around you. You can only use it once a day. And you can expand your vision by sacrificing vision on one side.”

“I think it’s only sort of like that. There’s a limit to how much I can shift my [Spatial Sight].”

“It’ll probably be less restrictive the more you level the Skill. The radius too will increase.”

“I still prefer [Banish].”

I glanced over at Daniel who had picked up his apple and was in the middle of biting into it. I pointed a finger at it, using the Skill once more.

“[Banish]. Look, it only takes a minute before I can use it again!”

The Human man blinked as the apple in his hand disappeared. He was almost ashamed when he had to pick it back up again. I raised my head slightly.

“Although, I wish it could teleport larger objects. Like people.”

“Teleportation of any kind isn’t really the kind of Skill most people would get at Level 10, let alone Skills that teleport other people. Those are a lot more complex, and typically require a small ritual to be made or else it won’t work.”

“So, you’re saying I can’t teleport my enemies very high up into the air so that they fall and die?”

Edithe nodded, and I groaned. There went that plan.

I had a lot of other Skills to test out. Most of them I did already test out. The only ones I haven’t had the time to use were [Demon’s Mark] and [Haste].

I couldn’t really use the former. My instincts told me it was something I used on people. And I wasn’t going to test it out on my companions, only to have it curse them with a thousand years of pain or something equally as egregious as that.

But [Haste] on the other hand. I could tell what it did, but I wanted to test it out.

“Are you guys ready?”

I looked over at my companions. They shrugged.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Uh, I guess?”

“Alright.”

With a deep breath, I raised a hand and spoke softly.

“[Haste].”

As expected, the same effects of [Self Haste] overcame me. Each movement I made was far faster than it normally was, speaking included. Sure, I could slow down my speech enough so that others understood me. But it was annoying to do, so unless I really wanted to be heard, I typically just spoke really, really, really fast.

There was no difference. No difference except for the fact that my companions were moving nearly as quick as I was.

“WhatisgoingonthisfeelsveryweirdohfuckI’mgoingtopuke—”

Edithe was running around, almost unable to control where she was going. She just barely went around a tree before circling back at me.

“SalvosthisisgoodandalllbutIwanttoamekitstop!”

I chuckled.

“You can’t. You’ll have to wait for it to end.”

“You’vegottobefucking—”

She was cut off as Daniel slammed into her back. They both tumbled onto the ground, and just lay there, refusing to get up.

“I. Hate. This.”

The Human man spoke deliberately, pausing for an elongated period of time before saying each word. I proffered them both my hand.

“Come on, you’ve got to get used to it. Learn to speak like this, and move with [Haste] active like it was your normal speed.”

They both begrudgingly got back up. I ran ahead of them, gesturing for them to follow me. They couldn’t keep up. Not only was my [Agility] higher than theirs, I was also pretty sure the Skill was slightly less effective for them as it was for me.

Eventually, the Skill ended. And both of them nearly tripped and fell because of the sudden change in speed.

“There, there.”

I patted both of them on the back as they went to take a seat and rest. The sun was setting, and they already had a fire going from earlier. My stomach growled once more when I smelled the scent of the food cooking over the flames.

I tried not to think about it.

“I’ll be able to change back out of a Cyclops, then we’ll finally be able to return to the Plaguelands, right?”

“Yeah. We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

Nodding, Edithe bit into a skewer of roasted meat.

“Honestly, I’m almost not looking forward to it.”

Daniel added to the side, waving his own bit of food.

“We won’t be able to eat good once we’re back in the Plaguelands. And that stench— uh, not a big fan of it at all.”

I just stared at him, not saying anything. A small smile spread across his face as he scooched over my way.

“What’s wrong, Salvos? Want to give it a try? There’s nothing wrong with eating, you know. And now that you actually need to eat, who knows, maybe you’ll like it.”

I felt my mouth watering as Daniel offered me his skewer. What he said made sense. Certainly, I had a need to eat while I was a Cyclops, or Human, or Kobold. Satiating that hunger was not a bad thing.

But I have made fun of my companions for eating in the past, despite them giving that exact same reason all the time. Sure, I was never really serious. I understood that they would literally die if they didn’t find proper sustenance. It just felt like I would lose something if I tried food now, and found that I liked it.

However, that was a good thing, right? I’d be indulging in something that was not only necessary for my survival, but also tasted good— or so they claimed. A tiny, little bite wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? I might as well try it, right?

I took the skewer from Daniel and stared at it— at the slightly overcooked sides of the meat, and at the light smoke rising from being recently taken from the fire. It was coated in a sheen of its own oil. Apparently something that was delicious to Humans.

I raised it as I slowly opened my mouth... and threw it at the Human man’s face.

“Nope! I’m not trying it! I will never ever, ever eat your stupid food!”

I didn't bite into a single piece of food, and later transformed back from a Cyclops as my companions went to sleep. 

Author's Note:

2,500 words.

Salvos is too prideful to try and eat. Too bad for all you foodies who thought she would try it :p

Also, I'm hungry. I'm really craving McDonalds hashbrowns right now.