Fresh Skin, Never Worn

After flying for what felt like ten minutes, the man found the stall he was searching for. It was hanging off the ceiling from his perspective, but it could’ve easily been the ground from another viewpoint. That was the problem with manaforms: everything made less sense the more you thought about it. So, the man stopped thinking and headed towards his destination.

He rose towards the stall. His crow form naturally flipped around to match the local gravity once he got close enough, though he still felt that he was ‘ascending’ rather than ‘descending’. As soon as his feet touched the…ground? It was probably more appropriate to call it the plane that the stall was located upon, but he thought of it as the ‘ground’. Regardless, as soon as the man’s feet touched the ‘ground’, his body instantly morphed back into a person.

“Hello again, Cloth,” the man directed toward the manaform manning the stall. Cloth looked like a person. Well, technically, he was a menagerie of different people all sewn together, each fitting perfectly with the others. It was as if someone had found a bunch of pieces from different puzzles and assembled them to make one complete picture. A surreal sight for anyone first witnessing it, but the man was already used to them.

“Ah! Welcome back, my good sir. Are you here to buy some more clothes?” Cloth spoke in multiple overlapping voices, each coming from one of the parts that made up his face. An amorphous blob popped out of Cloth’s ear, directing its attention at the man.

“Yes, a high quality one, if you wouldn’t mind,” the man said, making no attempt to correct Cloth’s misunderstanding.

“Of course, of course! Give me a moment.” With a snap of their fingers, a coat rack rolled from behind the stall and stopped right in front of the man. The man idly thumbed through each piece, seeing whether they were a fit for him. First, he brushed his fingers against the surface, determining how smooth it was. Then he observed its features: the color, the size, and any visible blemishes. Finally, he checked for his own personal tastes – mainly whether they were female without any overly large assets. After all, manaforms might refer to these as clothes, but to the man, they were clearly empty husks of human skin.

Because of how unstable the outside world was at the moment, Cloth could get their hands on the bodies of the deceased, reusing their skins as clothing for other manaforms. Anything left over, such as internal parts, were sold at a different stall, as they would only get in a manaform’s way. Skins with missing parts were stitched together, similar to the one Cloth wore. The man found them convenient since they were useful for his own line of work.

As the man continued to shop, Cloth struck up a conversation to pass the time. “How are the other three clothes treating you?”

“I haven’t put them to use yet myself, but I occasionally notice them missing from my closet, so I assume I’m using them at some point in the future.” The man said, putting back a skin he held for a while longer than the others.

“But doesn’t that mean you’re using them now?”

Ah right, manaforms don’t understand time either. Best just to roll with it. “Fair enough. Still, this should be the last thing I need to buy from here.” While the skins were convenient, there were still a few issues. Each could only hold at most a third of the mana he had, making them rather inferior to his current body. Additionally, the skins were rather fragile without a person inhabiting them, meaning they fell apart rather easily. On the other hand, a high quality skin had the potential of holding all of the man’s mana. They were also plenty durable, capable of withstanding a disintegration beam without injury. It made one wonder how these people died in the first place.

“Well, you wouldn’t survive the next trip here anyway,” Cloth spoke. Their words weren’t empty, but the man already knew that.

“That’s why I’m buying these clothes. The world wouldn’t survive without me anyway,” he shrugged.

“Your mana is all we need. The world would be better off without you,” Cloth harshly retorted. The man chose not to respond, which elicited a sigh. He was well aware his time ended long ago; however, that didn’t mean he was allowed to die. As long as this world existed, he too would continue to live, no matter what.

The man picked up another skin. Immediately, he felt something different from this one – it could hold not only as much mana as he could, but it still had space to spare. The skin was slightly tanned, making it appear alive and healthy even in its current state. The face was well proportioned, with a few freckles around the bridge of its nose. Its wavy, aquamarine hair stood out, making her seem like a water goddess. The breasts were slightly below the average size: small enough not to be a hindrance, but large enough to round out its figure beautifully. All in all, the skin was exactly what the man was looking for.

“I’ll take this one,” the man said to Cloth. He had on his perpetual smile, but his eyes were shining even brighter.

Cloth looks over at the skin, understanding why the man had chosen it. “I see. And what are you willing to exchange for such a piece? This is worth more than those other three combined.” The man pretended to think for a moment, but he already knew what he was going to answer with.

“You can have my clothes then.” Cloth’s eyes widened in disbelief, since he knew who the man was. But at the same time, it was the exact thing he would do to accomplish his goals. In fact, Cloth knew this woman had shopped in his store, so all they could do was laugh.

“Ha ha ha! Are you sure?”

“Once this body dies, it’s all yours,” the man affirmed without hesitation.

“Ha ha! You have a deal.” Cloth stuck out its hand, and the man grabbed it in turn. A small warmth spread throughout his palm, indicating that the contract was sealed. The man stuffed the skin into one of his coat pockets before grabbing and crunching another marble. This time, his body transformed into an eagle.

As the man flew off towards his next destination, Cloth shouted behind him, “I look forward to seeing what you’ll do next, ma’am!”