Mash was eager for this next part and eagerly made his way back to the center of the training grounds. The explosion had pushed him away, mostly because of his own body’s reaction. As soon as the wave of heat had hit him, Mash had jumped backward instinctively. Although considering his new stats, he doubted the heat could have seriously damaged him.

He started the transformation even before arriving at the center. There was no reason to wait for that long. Mash considered the gargantuan dragon that he saw, its image was still vivid within his mind. Even after everything, he’d seen, that being stood out for him. The creature’s presence had frozen him in awe, and he could do nothing more than stare at it as if it were a god. Mash hoped to meet a real god one day, but mainly because he wanted to compare them to some of the grand beings he had met. It wasn’t that uncommon with the year ending soon. Usually, a god will appear to start the new year, and that would kick off the festival. Mash had heard about the grand celebrations of the capital, even as a young child.

He didn’t know what to focus on for the transformation but held the dragon’s image in his mind. He wouldn’t make it as large, both because he didn’t have the energy for that, and it was simply too large. If he did manage to make something of that size, then he would destroy the entire city simply by existing here. Destroying the city was not in his plans. So he aimed to make it as large as he could, while still being able to move within the training grounds.

Instantly he noticed the biggest difference of this transformation. It didn’t start at a single point, but rather encompassed him completely, tearing his clothes apart as the wood expanded around him. Mash was surprised when he was able to see through the wood as if the eyes on the imitation had become his own. He realized what the skill did now. It was literally changing him into his creation. Before he knew it, he felt his head collide with the ceiling above. Looking around he realized that he towered over the grounds like a small giant. He doubted that Luke could match his size, although Mash also noticed that the shape wasn’t perfect.

It didn’t match with the behemoth he saw earlier and guessed that it was closer to whatever he had consumed. Too-long arms stretched down from his torso to the floor, and shorter hind legs let him stand as a human would. His scales were a dark shade of blue, but it was clearly still blue. Turning his head to look behind him, he saw a long tail that ended in a sharp point but could only barely see it underneath his wings. Long full wings, stretched out behind, getting partially squished by the ceiling above. The ceiling above was a real problem, as Mash had grown far too large for this space. It wasn’t like he could leave without destroying the house either.

Plus, he didn’t have the energy to make another imitation and decided to bend over so that he could fit a little better. Mash felt the power in his body and guessed that the energy consumption must be incomprehensible. Checking his reserves, he realized that after the initial transformation, he was expending a lot less energy now. In fact, it was far more efficient than his draconic transformation from before. What if he combined the two transformations?

He was curious but didn’t do it immediately, instead opting to test out the capabilities of this form. The first thing he tried was to grow an extra limb, curious to see how it would feel. It felt like his old creations had, not like the full-body experience of the imitation skill. Next, he tried to manipulate the form of the wooden imitation, like trying to grow one hand to be larger than the rest. It did grow a little, but it felt like he was adding something to his arm, instead of growing his arm to be larger.

Finally, he tested whether he could feel pain or not. If he could, he wasn’t sure how much of an upgrade the skill was. He tried something simple, punching his hand into the ground. The force of swing was immense, and he left a crater in the ground as he lifted his hand. He hadn’t even swung with much force, only wanting to test his senses. The power behind the swing showed him, that there were no light swings in this form. There was a muted sensation of pain though, although it did seem reduced. His form had could still feel pain, but it was significantly diminished. Although, that could be because of the stat improvements and his items, and the inhumanity skill evolving.

The other thing to test was his lightning magic, though he didn’t know what to do about that. Assuming that his physical body was the origin, how would he funnel the magic out from the body. He remembered Priscilla’s attack though and figured he could manage the same feat in this form. So, he opened his now draconic mouth getting a feel for the large, spiked teeth that he had gained. He tried funneling his lightning magic through his throat, treating his physical body as the core for the spell. Surprisingly, he could feel it working.

It was a lot faster than he expected, and a blast of lightning shot out from his mouth. It shot forward without breaking apart and branching like his other attacks. It actually maintained its shape as it lanced between his mouth and a training dummy on the opposite wall. The training dummy was decimated by the force, and the bolt rolled onto the wall behind it. When it collided with the wall, an explosion occurred, much like Priscilla’s attack had when they fought. It seemed like he could finally replicate that attack.

However, this was not the limit of his new power. He could take it one step further but would run out of energy quickly. Still, he tested it. Transforming into his dragon form within the imitation. The imitation reacted the scales darkening to the black shade of his transformation, and they grew thicker too. Mash didn’t have much time like this and settled for two attacks. One was simple as he slammed his tail into the ground behind him. The force of his blow caused the ground to tremble, and he was certain that the people in the nearby streets would experience it too. He didn’t have the time to check the damage though and fired another lightning attack into the ground in front of him. he didn’t dare aim this at the walls, thinking he might collapse the house if he did. However, he quickly regretted shooting it at the floor.

The light exploded from his mouth, melting the ground beneath him. Even the strands that lanced out from the impact with the ground burned the ground as they struck. They even managed to damage him through the thickened scales, and it felt like he swam through boiling water. The pain he felt was small compared to the sound the attack gave off. The thunder that followed sounded like the roar of an enormous beast, and it was so loud it felt like it would be heard around the world. The attack had somehow expended all of his energy too, and he was stuck within the imitation.

Mash could still feel his ears ringing from the roar that followed the attack. Maybe, it wasn’t the best idea to try that. He could picture the people in the city panicking at the sudden shaking of the earth, followed by the roar of a great being. What about the people within the house? He could picture himself getting lectured, and he found himself sighing as he remained stuck in the imitation.

Mash was surprised to feel connected to the wood still, though his physical transformation had ended. It seemed like once the imitation was made, it would become his body until he separated from it. He couldn’t move through but was happy to notice that he could breathe and see through the imitation. He was definitely too eager to try the skill, as he didn’t even consider whether he could breathe while within the creation. It would have been foolish to suffocate while within his own magic.

Mash was stuck laying on the ground, his long wooden arms sprawled out in front of him. He hadn’t noticed how long his neck was until he realized that his head just barely reached past his arms. It was strange to have the body of a dragon but lie on the ground like a tired child. His friends walked down and were clearly startled by the dragon in the training grounds. Jill even went so far as to teleport away, much to Mash’s amusement. He decided it was time to give talking a try and tried muttering a greeting to them.

“Hello.”

It worked but his voice was altered as it echoed within the wooden creation before leaving his mouth. It boomed outwards some of the echoes still chasing it as he spoke. It was an entirely inhuman sound that matched much more with the World Carrier. Mash could only grin as his friends seemed even more amazed by the transformation. Jill reappeared quickly; a glare pointed at Mash as she realized what had happened. Mash rolled his eyes and wished he could have seen the gesture himself.

“This is incredible, are those scales real?”

Red sounded very excited and quickly ran over to the side of his hand. He could feel it as she rubbed her hand against the wooden scales. Red started shaking her head, as she continued to grope his scales. The others were equally curious and before long they were all rubbing the scales on his face. She continued as she moved around the body.

“It feels like it’s alive, but also like it’s made of wood.”

“He…”

Mash did not like being referred to as it. Finally, he regained enough energy to try and dismiss the imitation skill. To his surprise, it didn’t remain like his wooden creations but decayed around him until it crumbled into small pieces. The others stared at him for a second, before turning their head abruptly. He didn’t have to look down to remember that he was naked. Quickly donning a spare pair of clothes, he realized he would need to buy a new set of mending clothes. His clothes had torn apart, and while the mending clothes would eventually restore themselves, it would take a few days with the amount of damage done. Plus, he needed to look for the biggest pieces.

Well, he was thoroughly embarrassed, but clearly, the others were as well. All of their faces were marked by red cheeks, though he guessed that his face was similarly flushed. They all seemed eager to move on, and it was Luna who tried to change the subject.

“So, what were you doing. You do realize that starting a city-wide panic is not a good thing.”

Mash could only grunt in response, as he had no excuse or justification. Instead, he simply explained what he was doing, and some of the conversations he had had with Jack. He didn’t tell them everything, as he knew that would only get them in trouble. Mainly he talked about the tournament change, and how he felt like he needed to test some of his abilities. That didn’t appease them though, as his actions were certain to cause a storm of trouble for everyone. And that was discounting the people outside who were preparing for an attack that would never come.

He ended up spending the rest of the night talking with the others, glad that he wasn’t alone. The others hopefully felt the same, as the events from earlier in the day likely still weighed on them. Luna seemed the happiest to talk, and everyone was content to listen to her stories. She prattled on and on about her time in the capital, and about the parties and events, she took part in. Even getting them all to promise to go with her to some party at the end of the year. It was coming up soon, only two weeks left before the end.