Shifter - Infinite Transformation-Chapter 75: Fight Tier-2

I stopped counting the days we’d been traveling through the Eserian at some point. It honestly didn’t matter how many days, weeks, or maybe even months we were in the forest. Then again, it shouldn’t have been more than a month since we left. If it was more than that, I’d be worried.

The Zetrian Empire couldn’t be allowed too much of a head start in the conquest of the Eserian, after all.

One way or another, Fern and Clove prepared a gift for me. After days of experimenting and hunting, they figured out what I had to do to acquire my first – second, actually – Tier-2 Shift.

Clove riled up a 2nd Tier monster–a Gale Wolf–and brought it to the makeshift camp. He punctured the Gale Wolf in the side, clipping its organs. Fern didn’t wait long and restrained the Gale Wolf momentarily before breaking one of its hind legs.

Then she released the monster – it was not a monstrosity – upon me.

"Don’t worry too much about upsetting the Eserian. The Gale Wolf is very aggressive and likes to destroy entire families of weaker monsters. It may not be considered a pest but in my books it is one." Fern shouted before retreating from the battlefield. Clove was nowhere to be seen either, leaving me alone with the wounded Gale Wolf.

It limped and bled from the side enough to make me wonder how long the monster would survive even if I wouldn’t do anything.

Air gathered around the monster. It gathered and gained a faint semi-translucent green hue as it twisted and distorted into a crescent-shaped blade. The blade made of compressed wind swirled slowly around the Gale Wolf. It severed the roots restraining its movements before changing trajectory.

One moment it cut through roots, and in the next it barreled toward me.

I dove to the side while triggering Shift to transform into an Onyx Panther.

Our days in the Eserian had been fruitful. I’d gained more than enough new Accessible Shifts to stand up to a challenge.

Another wind blade coalesced around the Gale Wolf and shot toward me. I twisted my body and escaped. Then the Gale Wolf moved. It was not nearly as fast as it would have been if it had been unscathed, but it was fast. Winds gathered around the monster, accelerating its movements considerably.

The Gale Wolf was still as fast as the Onyx Panther when it closed the distance in a few heartbeats. It was upon me, coalescing yet another wind blade which it released point-blank. Shift triggered, and I transformed into yet another new-ish form.

An Armorous Ankylosaur. As difficult as it had been to kill that nasty bugger, it was tougher than the Netherworld burning hot. Even if it only had a Tier-1 Core, it easily blocked the wind blade.

Even better, the Gale Wolf’s claws whipped across my back just as the transformation concluded. Its claws scraped across my back, carving through the shell-like protection on my back. It cut deep enough to hurt, sending burning whips of pain down my back, but that also meant the Gale Wolf was close enough to rip it a new one. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

My Ankylo tail, adorned with spikes that were longer than most dagger blades, struck out without hesitation. The tail whip came through, spikes digging deep into the Gale Wolf’s face.

It yelped and clawed again but failed to hit me. For I turned into a Blue Slime. And as soon as the deadly claws swept past me, I transformed into a Bloodfist Gorilla. While it didn’t have the most saturated Core, the Bloodfist Gorilla had a racial trait as well. In the presence of blood, the Bloodfist Gorilla turned berserker.

The more blood there was in my surroundings, the less I could sense my surroundings, and the stronger I grew. With the amount of blood the Gale Wolf lost, my form gained enough strength to use the opportunity to punch the Gale Wolf in the face.

Once. Twice. By the time the third bloodied fist impacted, a crack rang in my ears.

It wasn’t enough to kill the monster, but I made it angry. Angry enough to make it lose its reasoning. Some of it, at least.

I transformed into a Terror Sparrow and burst to the side before the Gale Wolf could catch me. Then, as the Gale Wolf’s presence descended upon me, I transformed once more.

But as I shifted, my body split up. One Terror Sparrow transformed into two Airborne Archaeopteryxes, each flew in a different direction. As for the Gale Wolf, it only paid attention to the Archaeopteryx to its left. It didn’t even glance at the other one, even if that was the monster’s true foe. It just didn’t know yet. Or it didn’t realize – didn’t see.

How did I know that? How did it not realize anything?

The answer to that was fairly simple. It wasn’t something. Instead, the answer was ’someone’. My Bond, to be precise.

The Trickster Demon came into play. Rather than watching the battles around me unfurl for weeks, the young demon decided to join. Mostly out of boredom but also because it was interested in fighting – in growing alongside me.

It wanted more power, so it used its demonic magic to form a mirage of myself when I used Shift. The mirage was lifelike and traveled left, whereas the real me was shrouded in yet another mind trick.

I was invisible to the Gale Wolf and given the time needed to do all I needed to finish it off. In the meantime, the Gale Wolf struck the mirage and tore it apart.

A moment later, three shockwaves of Sonic Boom struck its skull in quick succession. Then I was upon the monster in Loverboy Two’s form, Blade of Astor raised high above my head.

The blade shimmered brightly as it grew rapidly, transforming into a two-meter-long, heavy broadsword, yet it rested smoothly in my hands as I cleaved down.

The Gale Wolf yelped and spun around but it overextended and went too far, the aftereffect of three Sonic Booms thrashing its mind.

Blade of Astor came down, cleanly cutting through fur and flesh. Unlike the steel swords, Loverboy’s Power hit true.

A wind blade materialized in a moment. It was a desperate measure rather than a rational choice, yet even a half-baked wind blade would be enough to kill me. If it hit, which it would have if I hadn’t accessed Captain Anthea’s spatial bracelet to retrieve a carcass. It absorbed the impact at the last instant, all while the Gale Wolf’s head slid from its neck.

Gale Wolf has been defeated. Shift has been updated.

The influx of Essence that followed was heavenly.