The lightning struck the deck and damaged or destroyed the places it impacted. The ship's flag thing broke and fell toward the sailing on the right side. He knew that there were some special terms used for ship parts and places, but his knowledge went only to the words deck, and poop deck. The lightning wasn’t aimed at any of the knights, but that was because he hadn’t really aimed at anything in particular. That didn’t stop it from being drawn to some of their metal equipment. One of the knights was struck as they were coming up onto the deck. Their whole body lit up from the lightning. The armor melted in some places and Mash felt the rush of a level up. He winced a little.

  He hadn’t meant to kill him, but he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. His brother had told him not to charge into fights, but if he found himself in one to hold nothing back. Those were words of wisdom, and ones he should’ve been following. He would follow them now. His dragon form empowered him and filled him with confidence. Below, there were plenty of enemies who deserved a taste of its power. The man with a legendary weapon was on the deck, and Mash could see him wielding the invisible weapon. Well, he couldn’t see it, but the man had taken a stance like he was wielding it.

  Mash dove down. He descended like a falling meteor and grew wood out of his body to make the impact more significant. These knights didn’t seem to have flight skills. That made sense considering that they were traveling by boat. With that in mind Mash didn’t aim for the deck or the knights, and instead crashed into the side of the ship opposite to them. When he crashed into the ship, he was a mess of wooden limbs and points. Like a flung boulder he tore through the side of the boat. The wooden boat barely resisted the impact and he destroyed almost a third of the ship. The wood began falling into the ocean, and Mash joined it in the water. He separated from the wooden creation. It would sink to the bottom. Some of the planks of wood were floating to the top, but large sections of the ship along with his creation were too heavy for that.

  The fish were in a panic some had died to his lightning, and many were swimming in random directions. Mash grew a wooden spear in his hand and thrust it at some of the fish, The spear changed as the fish’s blood began leaking into the water. The spear changed, wooden mouths grew along with the weapon and started eating the skewered fish. The ship was sinking, though he could tell that someone was slowing its fall. The wood was regrowing. Wood magic was rare, but Mash didn’t hold any exclusive right over it. It didn’t seem like whoever was doing it had the ability to control the wood remotely. Mash wondered how rare that skill was. Even he didn’t have direct control of wood.

  Mash only considered the thought briefly. He was going to bring that ship down, regardless of what the other mage tried. Mash rarely used his thunder wood imitation other than for making clones of Priscilla, but there was something else he could do now. He imagined a sea dragon or the depictions of them he had seen in a children’s books. This was not a true imitation but something he was making by mixing his forms. The fish he had just eaten plus the dragon form should make for good models. Wood started growing around his body. Layers of scales spread on his body. Some of the scales were sharp and angular like the dragon form, but others were softer and circular. The wood continued to billow out from his body, slowly taking the shape he had envisioned. He ended up forming a serpentine creature that was closer to a fish than a dragon. The major difference was that it had an extremely long and spiny tail.

  Mash wasn’t a sea dragon, but he was a sea monster. Plus, he was growing at an incredible rate. Within a few seconds, he was more than big enough to bring the ship down. That was exactly what he wanted to do. Mash turned only finding it a little awkward to move like a fish. Well, he was more like a serpent, but one that could swim. There was one other difference. He had wings instead of fins. They had grown with the rest of his body, and each was easily as big as the ship's deck. The wind affinity helped him carry his enormous form, and he felt his energy drain rapidly.

  He erupted from the water; the serpentine body was already a little longer than the ship itself. He got a good look at the people on the boat as he turned to crash into it. The people on board were trying desperately to stop the boat from sinking. Mash noticed some of the people were casting off their armor. That included the man with the legendary weapon. They had seen him come from the water, and even if they only had a few seconds the most skilled of the group were reacting. The others simply stared, stunned by Mash’s transformation. They had seen him dive into the water as a wooden comet, and now he was a dragon.

  Mash couldn’t help but let out a theatrical roar, as he turned and dove toward the ship. He kept growing larger. Several of the people on the boat were fleeing now. The bigger issue was the ones that weren’t. They would probably all die, and Mash felt their deaths already starting to weigh on his mind. Even with the form of a dragon, even if he wouldn’t turn away now, he would accept the guilt. Something in that thought felt right. Ignoring the guilt didn’t work, and neither did letting it consume. He didn’t need to choose either path, did he? He could accept the consequences of his actions. Their deaths would weigh on him as did all the others, but he didn’t need to make more or less of it. Resolved, he crashed into the ship.

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  There was more resistance this time. The other wood mage was probably trying to stop him. It wasn’t enough as he coiled around the ship and hit it. His spiked tail dug into the boat’s bottom and sides. Mash could feel water surging around his body, and also felt the rush of a level up. Mash dragged the ship downwards, turning the entire thing as he reentered the sea. The waves he made were immense. The ship slowly tilted to its side, then turned completely upside down as he forced it into the water. Mash felt something strike his side, and his vision broke again. This time he was more familiar with the effect, and the breaking of his vision didn’t bother him too much. His domain extended from his body, and that included when he transformed. He could see the man who had struck him and watched as he skids along the deck of the ship as Mash turned the boat.

  Some had been smart enough to jump into the water themselves, but others had remained on the deck. Mash untangled himself from the boat. His spikes tore the boat apart as he released himself. It sunk to the bottom, not that he could actually see that far down. Even as the ship fell apart Mash felt around for his targets. There were many people in the water and some others were still escaping from the ship. Mash swatted at them with his tail and wings. The first target was the man with the hammer.

  The man in question was trying to surface. Mash could see him. After striking Mash’s side, he might have thought that he wasn’t able to do any real damage. It was a nice trick of the skill. He took damage through the transformation and secondary effects like the breaking thing the hammer did still affect him. Luckily, there was no way for the man to know that. Even if the man’s strike had cracked or damaged the wood, Mash was able to act like it hadn’t done anything.

  Mash had to turn his whole body downward to bring his tail up. He swung it and snapped it like a whip at the man. Mash was impressed to see the man had raised his hands in a defensive posture. The tail came down swishing through the water. It bent as it struck him and sent him downward. The water seemed to chase him as he moved quickly through the water. Most people would never fight in the water. Items and skills designed for it were surprisingly rare. All the people around Mash were trying to surface for air. He let some by but struck at the strongest of them. Although some of that was just guessing. He splashed through the water sending people crashing as he swam toward his next target.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Jill P.O.V

  Jill sat on a too comfortable couch. The couch was so big that her feet struggled to touch the ground. She was never tall, and her advancements had actually shrunk her a little. It wasn’t anything crazy, but she had lost almost two inches when she got to the fairy class. She fidgeted on the couch, and her fingernails scraped the regal red cushions. Still uncomfortable, she moved her hands away from the cushions. The couch was probably expensive, and she didn’t want to tear the cloth. So, she reached for the coffee table that was in front of the couch. It was covered in small plates and cups. A dozen different snacks and drinks adorned the fancy table. The table was made of redwood and comically fit in the almost completely red house.

  She grabbed a teacup, one that was still releasing a little bit of heat. Even the teacups were magically enchanted to maintain a perfect temperature in the drinks. She wished they would’ve had something cheaper like juice or even milk. The fancy tea, in the even fancier teacups, was somewhat overwhelming. A shiver ran down her spine, despite the warm cup in her hand. She constantly felt like someone was watching her and would bet money on that being true.

  Jill glanced over her shoulder while taking a sip of the tea. She couldn’t really taste it. There was nothing behind her other than a single red door. Once she left, she would spend an hour or two just staring at the grass or sky. Anything that wasn’t red would work perfectly. Jill heard a knock on the door and hoped desperately that Red had returned. It wasn’t her, and she should’ve known it. Red wouldn’t have bothered knocking. A maid walked in and replaced some of the plates of snacks that Jill had eaten. The servant proceeded to ask Jill if there was anything that she needed. Jill shook her head but decided to ask about Red. She had been gone for almost an hour now.

  “Is Red almost done?”

  Jill couldn’t hide the desperation in her voice. This place was suffocating, to say the least. Mana filled the environment like a toxic gas, and it was overstuffed with the smell of roses. The awe from her initial encounter had died over the last hour. Now she was sick of the commitment to the color red. She wished that she had gone to do something else, imagined fighting in the frost lands to the north. That would be a million times better than this. The maid who had come in hadn’t left yet which was a first. Jill glanced toward the maid who was wearing a red dress, though one that was stylized to match the typical attire of servants. Jill was about to ask what she was doing but paused upon hearing another knock at the door.

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  Chapter 257: Overbearing

  Name: Mash Stellumbra           Class: Chimeric Vagabond

  Level: 108

  Health: 3300 / 3300

  Energy: 4400/ 4400

  Fortitude: 330

  Endurance: 210

  Strength: 275

  Agility: 275

  Intelligence: 230

  Wisdom: 110 → 120

  Charisma: 100 → 110

  Free Stats: 20 → 80 → 0

  Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body

  Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body

  Hunt: You have gone beyond your limits when fighting enemies and devouring their power. Go beyond your limits. Continue current fight even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina. Continues until either you or your enemies are dead.

  Current Bonus: +100% stats

  Inhuman Hibernation (Broken): You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique, your inhuman body morphing it to fit your corrupted nature. Hibernating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, healing only physical wounds.

  Current Rate: +200% recovery

  Thunder-wood Creation: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your mana into wooden creations. Lightning has tempered your wood, and it thrums with the power of thunder.

  Chimeric Transformation: Transform your body taking on aspects of those which you have consumed. Control which aspects to take and combine them to create the perfect form. Greatly increased energy consumption when combining forms.

  Thunder-wood Imitation: Form imitations of creatures you have consumed, imitating some of their bodily functions through your wood.

  Chimeric Reconstruction: Consume what you kill for more than just stats. Steal their flesh to repair your own. Their blood becomes yours. Your enemies are nothing more than your medicine.

  Vagabond’s Path (unique): Having chosen the path of the vagabond, you have freed yourself from your own world. An explorer at heart, you laugh as you leap between worlds. Open portals to worlds you have already been. Once per cycle of the moon create a portal to a random world. Create a world of your own, portal to personal world granted.

  Chimeric Domain (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you. Connect to the mana and life in your space and inherently understand the nature of the mana and life. Your presence suffuses the space, weakens the magic and strength of enemies beneath you. They cower beneath your might.

  Current Range: 53 → 57 feet

  Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core. You have progressed your core further, by forcing it to adapt. Now, you may only further your core by repeating the process.

  Current Bonus: +80% efficiency

  Wooden Body (Passive): You can connect with the wood that you are touching. By expending your energy, you bring your creations to life as another one of your limbs.

  Chimera’s Constitution (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control. No longer a human in any sense, you are no longer bound by that which limits them. You have created your own race, improving your rate of growth.

  Mimic’s Avarice (Passive): Devour your enemy in battle to temporarily raise your stats. The fresher the victim the stronger the bonus. Gain full benefits even when consuming through your magic. Absorbs some properties of those you devour alive. Removes the negative effects of things you consume.

  A Touch of Nothingness (Passive): Belonging to no race or group, you have embraced the nothingness that is a part of everything. You are free, and automatically resist others' attempts to bind you. Constantly emit the aura of nothingness within your domain. Your allies will gain some of the freedom you possess. Enemies weaker than yourself will slowly lose that which makes them whole.

  Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.

  Trial of the True Body: 22 → 25 / 100

  Mash Stellumbra

  Age: 18 (15)

  Ki-Realm: Third Monstrous Realm

  Body-Realm: Golden Chimeric Body

  Path: Path of the Blood Bond

  Vitality: 300

  Strength: 250

  Dexterity: 252

  Mind: 221

  Ki: 4070