14th May, Henrietta returned to the mansion of the Bone family, intending to further train her Unranked Skill. In the one week she could spend with Heima, she had imparted many techniques for training and battle tactics to Heima, enriching her experiences. Since she didn't know how long she would be away during the Raid, she wanted to prepare Heima to be as battle-ready as possible.
Hancent had finished most of his work in the meantime, returning to the dorm to take care of Heima's mental health. After almost 2 weeks since her Induction Ceremony, Heima had become normal, not exhibiting any strange behaviour. Moreover, Henrietta had trained her to control her Tier 1 Skill, researching in-depth into its uses, features, etc.
In an underground room under the mansion of the Bone family, two people stood 10 metres apart. The room was furnished with flooring made from the bones of Tier 4 monsters, making it sturdy enough to withstand the practice sessions of the two Shifters. Looking grey in colour, filled with a tinge of white, and laden with spots of black, the flooring radiated with a suffocating aura that belonged to the Frenzy Beasts.
"Are you ready?" Henrietta stretched her arms, her loose white garments covering her body. She bent her legs, tip-toed while her back crouched forward, making her shoulders approach her knees.
"Be careful, my attacks will be many times stronger than yours." Hubert stood, his legs stretched wide while his back held straight. Like a pair of bent steel that was released, the legs of Hubert rapidly converged, the resulting force throwing his body high up. The skin on his toes receded, pulling the muscles away with them. The toe bones shot forward like bullets, elongating to metre long spears mid-air.
Henrietta back-stepped, her each step crossing tens of metres, the bone spears shot by Hubert trailing her previous spots. She lifted her arm, making the flesh on it wriggle, revealing the bones beneath, covered by a pale orange hue. The arm bone melted like mercury, morphing into a long spear. Grabbing it with her left hand, Henrietta swatted a couple of bone spears headed her way.
The moment the bone spears touched her long spear, they melted, getting absorbed into her long spear. Slight changes appeared across the spear while her right arm regrew back.
Having reached the ceiling, Hubert rested his legs on the surface, exerting force to chase after Henrietta. Landing on the ground, Hubert flailed his right leg, forming a complete circle on the ground. Immediately, all the bone spears he had shot out converged towards his leg, getting absorbed.
The long spear in her hand wriggled, looking ready to deform as Henrietta threw it towards Hubert. The long spear elongated, morphing into a cage as it neared Hubert. Hubert ducked and performed a roll on the ground, avoiding the attack. Though, the moment it passed by his proximity, the bone cage melted, the liquid splashing over him.
Hubert felt his bones struggling to extricate themselves from his control, creating strains at the various joints. He felt pain in his head, his skull deforming, growing horns that converged at his face, shielding his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
"Aargh!" Letting out a roar, the skin on Hubert's body changed, forming scales that rapidly grew all over his body. The mutation occurring on his skull immediately stopped, dissolving into liquid that retreated to its original position. Hubert's right arm enlarged, forming spikes across the ends; his legs changed, covered with spikes as a pale orange hue flowed beneath.
Hubert vanished, appearing before Henrietta. Without doing anything else, he just retracted the changes to his arms and legs, revealing the bones beneath. Like the spikes on the back of a porcupine, Hubert's bones morphed into spikes, piercing the body of Henrietta. With a punch, he sent her reeling towards the other end of the room, shattering her bones.
Two indentations—eight centimetres wide and ten centimetres deep—formed along her path, creating numerous crunching sounds as Henrietta stopped just before the wall. With a snap, the bones in her legs broke, making her fall flat on the ground. A couple of seconds later, she stood up like nothing had happened, her legs looking perfectly fine.
"I thought that punch would have killed me." Henrietta patted her chest, calming her beating heart. The final punch from Hubert was stronger than she had expected.
"I barely activated my Tier 4 Skill. I have been a Shifter for a year after all, so my body is many times stronger than yours." Hubert paced around the room, absorbing the remainder of the bone spears scattered around. He tidied up the room in a matter of seconds, walking out alongside Henrietta. The moment they emerged out of the room, they noticed the time displayed on a timer.
"So, we had only fought for 8 seconds. I thought we were fighting for a longer time." Henrietta felt surprised.
"Our perception changes according to the Tier. It is not apparent when we are in a relaxed state, but the moment we enter a battle-ready state, the world around us slows down to a crawl. Staying in this state for too long might cause irreparable damage to our brains, but I heard some lunatics maintain this state 24x7." Hubert waved his hands, rushing into a nearby room to change his clothes.
Henrietta walked into another room, throwing her torn, loose garments and fishing out a set of tight-fitting clothes. She took a step forward, feeling her legs shivering, and turning red for a moment. A couple of seconds later, her legs reverted to their usual appearance, looking pristine.
'That punch was stronger than I thought.' Henrietta let out a self-deprecating laugh, shaking her head as she wore her clothes. Taking a lift to reach the 50th floor, Henrietta boarded a metro train, heading towards the street where Lanprita, Laila's mother lived.
Knocking on the door, Henrietta closed her eyes, enhancing her body's senses. A faint shock passed through her body, almost making her lose her calm.
'Jyorta!'
The door opened as Lanprita greeted her with a hug. She craned her head, gazing behind the shoulder of Henrietta who was a head taller than her, noticing her standing alone.
"Mr. Bone is still busy?" She inquired, leading Henrietta to the living room. The moment she entered, she noticed the three children playing an unfamiliar game. Jyorta controlled a sword-wielding goat and engaged in a battle against a wood treant and a lava giant.
"He said he had already completed the template for the armour necessary for the Flying Signature Raid. So, his work at present is only a fraction of a couple of days ago. He's taking care of Heima at the moment, accompanying her in the military academy." Henrietta shot a glance at Jyorta, noticing his eyes flickering.
There weren't any changes on him that were noticeable to the others, but as his mother, she could sense that every time his eyes flickered, there was a small change in his demeanour, as if he was a mature adult. It seemed like he was an adult for a second, but a 10-year-old child the other, constantly switching between the two personas.
A couple of seconds after she had entered, Jyorta finally noticed her appearance, the flickering changes in his eyes vanishing. He dropped his console, rushing towards her and leaping into her hug.
"Mom! You are finally back!" Reaching only till her hips, Jyorta held her like a koala bear, starting to cry. "I missed you! You look so skinny, have you not eaten anything for the past two weeks, mom?"
"I missed you too, Jyorta." Henrietta crouched low, coming to the same height as him, wrapping him in her embrace. Though she sported a calm exterior, her mind was filled with worries.
'The strangeness in Jyorta has further worsened. I have scanned his body many times; he is not even a Child of Wisdom, so the chances of any anomalies should theoretically be non-existent. Then, what can be the reason?' She thought, lifting him up. Jyorta wrapped his legs across her hip, his hand around her shoulders, and his body anchored to her left.
Holding him, Henrietta didn't even flinch at his weight, as if he weighed nothing. She turned to Lanprita, "Hancent will be staying in the academy dorms, only coming to the house to have a change of clothes. I too would have to go beyond the walls daily, training my skills in preparation for the Raid."
'I should bring Jyorta back and have father inspect him in detail. The cause should be figured out as soon as possible, lest something unspeakable happens to him.'
"I understand," Lanprita said, "Let Jyorta continue to stay here. We have extra rooms, so you can come whenever you want. Moreover, he's such a loveable child that I wouldn't mind adopting him."
Henrietta pinched his cheeks, ruffling his hair from time to time, occasionally giving him a light slap at the back on his head, "I heard Mavelin too has been drafted for the Raid?"
"Yeah," Lanprita walked to the kitchen, brewing some coffee for the two. "He has joined the Imperial Corps and has obtained their Unranked Skill. The implantation was a success and he's currently training with it beyond the walls."
Taking the coffee mug filled with piping hot coffee, Henrietta sighed, "If not for being drafted to this Raid, he could have attempted to breakthrough into a Transformer by the end of this year."
"Yes, that is true. But," Lanprita took a sip of her coffee, sighing with a sense of discontent, "Plans can't keep up with changes. This is the only reason why I never try to raise my strength. At least, I will be there for Laila."
"If only he could delay his decision to join the Imperial Corps for a couple of days, he could have joined our Bone Family." Henrietta motioned for Jyorta to continue with his game, to stop the irritated shouts from George and Laila. She then whispered to Lanprita, "Our Bone family finally possesses an Unranked Skill of our own. We just obtained approval a week ago; the official statement is yet to arrive from Central Command."
"I see," Lanprita nodded, her eyes turning vacant. "Plans can never keep up with the changes, after all."
'Joining the Bone family would have been a hundred times better than joining the Imperial Corps.' Lanprita sighed.
Jyorta picked up his console, attacking the others the moment his sword-wielding goat revived. He focused on leading the disposable soldiers of the wood treant around the lava giant, using their conflicting natures to cause friendly fire. The three bickered as they controlled their characters to fight against each other.
The blue soul had severed all connections, with no way of knowing anything that happened outside. It dared not try to sense the souls of Laila and George, in fear of Henrietta noticing it. Even though it didn't know if Henrietta had such capabilities, it didn't try to take chances without sufficient information.
'Damn, why did the mother character appear now? I should be even more careful. Somehow, she looks even sharper and scarier than before.'
