Flexing my fingers, I experimented with keeping my fingers finger-looking and just extended the nails out, but I almost immediately dismissed them. They were thinner, they wouldn't cut anything, and overall they were a downgrade.
Retracting the nails, I instead worked on changing the fingers themselves. I wanted to be able to keep the versatility that came with a hand, but I also wanted to be able to slash things. Turning each finger into a blade would solve the slashing, but would completely get rid of the versatility of having a hand.
After a bit of pondering, I decided to transform only the last digits into blades. I was never going to be able to use the entirety of my hand during the slash anyway, and this way I could keep that freedom of movement. I made the blades curve inward slightly, not enough to make it hard to stab with them, but it would help with slashing. I also decided against having the backs also be sharp. It needlessly weakened their robustness, and I wasn't planning on backhanding someone in an attempt to cut them anytime soon.
Speaking of robustness, I also changed the joints and knuckles of the rest of my hand. I could afford to lose at least a little bit of freedom of movement in combat, and by making the joints lock into place to stop them from flexing backward too much, I would greatly increase the amount of force I could put behind a slash, especially with my growing strength.
For my knuckles, I made them more pronounced and solid but didn't sharpen them to make Wolverine claws. Sometimes blunt force would work better than claws, and I wanted to keep my options open.
I shifted my hands back and forth between my slightly pointed fingers and the newer combat hands, correcting the smaller mistakes I found myself making. Eventually, I got it down well enough that I didn't have to focus on it.
I should modify the mouth I use in combat too. It had some unnecessary features that could be removed, but overall it worked well enough.
Looking back at Harland, I noticed that he had finished packing up and was sitting a few meters away from me on a small foldable stool. He slowly sipped his Matek, and my own mug was resting next to the heating plate to be kept warm.
"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."
"No no, don't even worry bout it. It's rather interesting to watch. Your Marek's done though."
I leaned over, grasping my mug after making sure I was using the right pair of hands. The mug was quite warm, particularly toward the side that had been facing the heating plate.
Peering down into the mug with my senses, I was mildly surprised to see how it looked. It hadn't looked like the coffee I had been inspecting, and it was instead a dull yellowish-white cream color. It smelled of hazelnut.
Damn, I really do just change shape without thinking about it.
I returned my face to how it had been moments before, without a nose, and formed a humanlike mouth with a tongue. Sipping the drink, I found it to be just as strong of a flavor as coffee, though it had a unique richness and creaminess that was quite refreshing, tasting somewhat minty.
I guess I couldn't tell if this was what coffee had tasted like. I had heard that coffee came from a bean of some sort, but all I ever had was synthesized caffeine optimized for worker productivity. Tasted terrible, but highly addictive. I don't think I could get addicted to Matek, but it was certainly not a bad-tasting drink. The stimulants were wasted on me, however, and they had no effect.
I politely finished my mug and declined when he offered me another. He shrugged and poured himself another as he stood and began packing back up the heat plate, stool, and kettle. I considered offering to help, but he seemed quite adept at it and I had no idea what I would do, so I would probably only slow him down. Also, it's not like I slept in the camp. If I had used the camp that he had set up yeah I would have offered to help, but I wasn't charitable enough to just offer assistance for no reason. I'd had enough working for free, thank you very much.
I instead took the time to pat down and admire my new clothes. I hadn't taken the time to truly appreciate just how versatile they were. The coat was comfortable, and by pulling up the cowl and tugging up the shawl to cover most of my face, I was able to hide most of my face and conceal myself. The lack of visibility wasn't a problem for me, so I was happy. I ended up putting the boots on after all as I still wanted to bring them with me, and there wasn't another way for me to carry them. I could ask Harland for a pack of some sort, but I didn't bother for now. I should be able to manage myself just fine with the boots on, and Harland had already done a considerable amount for me.
The gloves were much less practical, but they were easier to carry. The harness that ran under the clothes already had a spot to clip them onto inside the sleeves of my arms, where it wouldn't be too hard to slip them on. Currently, my hands were the only truly visible part of my body that would give me away as inhuman. My face could easily be mistaken for a mask with the shawl pulled up and the cowl covering the back. With the ability to keep the gloves within reach at all times, I should be able to stay combat-ready while also being covert if some other people approached us. I would have to keep the gloves on if I ventured into a city though.
While I was messing with my clothes, Harland had finished packing up the caravan. The horses had been fed, and everything was ready to go. I don't think the horses were the brightest though, as they didn't seem very nervous at all about going through this monster-infested forest, but I guess your horses would need to be bred to be brave or dumb to do this type of work, and they didn't look brave to me.
Without a word between us, I climbed up onto the front of Harland's caravan and got comfortable. Harland followed my lead and clambered into the driver's seat, and we began to set off.
It took me a few seconds to find a spot to relax, and I ended up just lying down on the top facing the sky. Sure, I was gonna keep watch and stay alert, but luckily, I didn't need to be sitting upright to do that.
I expanded my domain, keeping it as wide as possible without losing the skill. I could now keep it up to a range of 45 feet without it deactivating, and I did so. It would probably be responsible for me to keep some eyes manifested so I could see further away, but I was too lazy to do that. I was close enough that I could move to defend Harland from any Khyrian Apes that threw rocks at him if he even needed protection in the first place, and I was rather enjoying relaxing on the roof and not needing to do much.
I remained mostly quiet during the ride. I had plenty of questions for Harland, but I knew they would all come in due time. There wasn't much of a rush, and I wasn't feeling particularly talkative today. There was a lot that I had to think about. I still hadn't fully processed much of what I had seen in the vision. Because of the omniscience I had for a moment, millions of pieces of information passed through my head. Most of them were muddled and uninterpretable to keep me sane, but I was able to piece together vague ideas about things.
Firstly, what I considered the world wasn't a planet, it was something called a "Plane of Existence". Some planes, like the one that contained Earth, could be made up of vast galaxies and nebulas, but many were on a much smaller scale. Most were still in the shape of a planet though, just without outer space, but this one was different. This dimension was flat, and the world just ended. It was also decidedly smaller than most other planes, though it was still massive.
There was also some history of the plane mixed into that jumble of information, something about it being up for grabs or something which was why there were so many invaders, but that was all less certain for me.
What I did know for sure was that this wasn't just another planet in the same dimension, and dimensions could also be crossed. That might even mean that I could return the dimension with Earth in it. Theoretically, it seemed possible, but I wasn't exactly thrilled about doing that. Regardless, that was all a long way away and not something to bother thinking about.
The fact that this plane had no outer space but still had stars and suns was intriguing to me. I didn't have any information as to how it worked, but it definitely didn't follow the laws of physics. There had to be some magic involved, especially how one of the suns seemed to project shadows instead of light and how the eye that I made exploded when I looked at it for too long. Definitely magical.
There was also that stuff about the "World Heart" or whatever. It seemed important, and I think I had a piece of it in me? Not sure, but that's what it looked like to me from the vision. It also seemed like the World Heart was what the invaders were after, so maybe that would make me a target. It also meant that I might be bound to this world, sorry, this plane, in some way.
These were all very big and obscure thoughts for someone who had just been born. I should probably be worrying about simpler things like getting more XP, or learning how to control my flesh better. Or even just gaining some skills.
I think that gaining skills shouldn't be as hard as I thought it would be. I gained the domain skill just by keeping my perception limited for a while, so I could probably start experimenting with doing things like that to see if I could get skills from it. That might-
I reacted in the blink of an eye, twirling myself from a sitting position and lashing my arm out at the space to the left of Harland's head. Milliseconds later, a crude-looking arrow pierced through my forearm, coming to rest inches from Harland's neck before it was stopped and impaled through my arm.
Glancing at Harland to make sure he was okay, I noticed that while he had flinched due to the sudden movement, a magical tool of some kind that I couldn't see had already set up an automated barrier that would have blocked the arrow. Eh, it wouldn't have looked good for me to just let the arrow hit him anyway, so I guess it's fine that I blocked it instead.
Standing up on the caravan as the horses pulled to a stop, I snapped the arrowhead from the tip that had pierced through and pulled the rest out of the other end. My arm rapidly began healing, and as I tossed the broken arrowhead to the side I quickly examined it as it fell.
It was crude, and the arrowhead was made of stone. Handmade. Either by a monster with enough intelligence to make or wield a bow after watching humans, or an intelligent species that doesn't have the means to make metal arrows yet.
Nothing had entered my range besides the arrow. There might only be one enemy, but it also could have been a probing shot.
I expanded my senses, looking to see if I could find the perpetrator.
Fuck. I really like this cloak, and now there's already a hole in it.