Transform, Vritra!

It was a sensation that I’d never felt before. The tattoo on my arm glowed a faint blue, before my body was immediately cleansed with a sudden gust of chilled water, as if being bathed in a river after days of being stranded in a desert (even though my time here was definitely less than a full day).

Instead of flakes of molten fire like Arja, my scales grew harder and even shinier, now almost gleaming like a coral reef under the ocean floor. But that wasn’t everything, as their size had also grown to even larger proportions, slowly but surely merging together into bigger and bigger plates. The blue hue had also turned darker, but instead of a starry night sky, it now bore a shade more similar to an angered ocean storm.

The scales kept on growing and growing, covering my arms, legs, torso, and even up to my neck and head. It was so large, I could even see them directly on my face without a mirror, while the thick scales around my eyes popped even further like a visor. In fact, my vision, which had gone blurry from the heat, had now turned completely into infrared — I was no longer seeing living beings aside from myself as their natural color, instead each of them bore a predominant shade of the rainbow. The Kalas, for example, were all a bright red, as their energy orbs.

The latter were still flying towards me with blistering speed. However, I didn’t even need to block them. Before I could even do anything, a part of the continuously growing scales on my arm separated from me, circling before my body before turning themselves into a pure blue shield, absorbing the energy blasts from the monsters in one fell swoop.

I raised my hand forward instinctively. The shield returned to me, reattaching itself to my arm like another limb. Opening and closing my palm to gauge my new appearance, I couldn’t help but form a smile.

More like wearing armor, it was a stranger feeling. First of all, the sort of metallic, almost mechanical feeling that I had was more akin to wearing a robot suit than a knight armor of old. But the weirder thing was that it didn’t feel like extra clothes at all, but rather the armor was always a part of me, that I had been inseparable from this… thing ever since I was born.

I didn’t need any more instructions. Things felt as natural as breathing to me. Every scratch, every punch, how to raise my shield, all of them.

I raised my hand forward once more. Another portion of my scales, now coming from my underarm, grew longer and narrower. When it was near the length of my arm itself, the scales separated, coiling into a drill-like curved sword with only a hilt and no guard.

At the same time, another barrage of energy orbs were aimed straight my way.

Cracking my neck, I let out a smile underneath my mask.

“Now… let’s try this out.”

Thoughts flashed in my head faster than I could even process them, and along with them, my body accordingly without my brain even commanding them once. I wielded the sword in my hand as if it was second nature, swung left and right to slash away all of the incoming projectiles with no issue.

Another wave of orbs came flying towards me. This time, I raised my other hand, and the shield once again spawned before me. However, I didn’t let it float, but held it directly in my hand instead. I wanted to see how strong this new body of mine would be.

As the energy ball burst on contact with the shield, I finally took the brunt of the pressure it held. It didn’t hurt, of course, but it was enough to push me back for a few steps, carving a steady line on the sandy ground. My shield hand was still shivering from the contact, but only half of it was from the impact. The other half…

Even I couldn't figure out myself the reason behind it. But I was enjoying every second of it.

I finally moved forward. My feet were light, turning each step I made on sand into a run on solid ground. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to call these movements “slipping” rather than running — my body was low, my steps were short, and my running path was in a wave rather than a straight line, almost like a snake’s slither.

This time, I didn’t need to defend myself from the energy orbs. My moves were erratic enough for the Kalas to be confused, making them hit the air. Soon enough, I had already appeared right in front of them.

Seeing this, the beasts turned to their other form of attack. The one right in front of me swiped its giant front claw forward, while the rest of them had divided into two groups to encircle me in a heartbeat.

I retaliated, raising my shield to take the hit. Sparks of metal flew in the air as the creature’s weight pushed onto me. Unlike the energy balls, this time, my whole body sunk into the sands — this thing was much, much heavier than I had anticipated.

However, this time, I also had a sword with me. With my sword hand free, I stabbed the monster from the side while its claw was occupied. The steel screw pierced through its flesh like a drill, tearing off the claw on my shield in one fell swoop. As the Kala shrieked in pain, its once-attached hand dropped to the ground, still squirming for a second before vaporizing on the spot into a whisk of black smoke.

“Right. Now, to finish you.”

I rushed forward, flipping my sword to a slash instead of a thrust. With an upward swing, on the Kala’s giant body appeared a shredding wound — aside from the main slash on the body, from the sides, its flesh were violently torn, such was the nature of this drill-like structure.

But I didn’t stop there. Once again switched my sword handle to a thrust, I pierced the creature’s left torso where its heart should be. This time, the shriek was quick, as the Kala itself turned into the same black smoke in just a second.

I took a deep breath and scanned around. The remaining Kalas all whimpered and took a step back once they caught my eyes, like preys running from a true predator.

I let out a smile. I didn’t think that I would run into this feeling again.

This exhilaration. The rush of adrenaline. The sensation of the strong.

“Hehe… hahaha…”

My scales shook for battle. My fangs craved blood.

“Tonight, we hunt!