Mash let the wood form around him, growing into a larger replica of a dragon. It didn’t feel any different immediately, but he did notice that it seemed to meld better with his transformation. The imitation felt closer like it was more his own body now. Despite knowing that it was wood, it didn’t look like it at all. Every inch of it was covered in black scales, making it look like a real dragon. The thrashing worm didn’t let him prepare fully.

The monster tore itself in half, both ends lunging at him with churning teeth. While Mash still wasn’t as big as the worms, he was big enough to intercept them. He held his hands forward, growing more wood from them. Shaped into mouths, he tried biting off pieces of the worms. The wood started warping when it was around the worm. It was strange to feel the imitation’s hands warp slightly. His senses through the imitation were better now, and it felt like something was twisting the bones in his hands.

The pain surprised him. With his improved items and level, he expected to resist most of the pain. It felt like needles were being stuffed into his hands, and he couldn’t help but flinch a little. He pushed through the pain, clamping his hands down on the worm’s head. Even if some of the wood got warped by its strange effect, Mash bet that the monster wouldn’t be able to stop him completely. He was only partially right. He managed to bite down on the worms, but the pain didn’t vanish. As he crushed and devoured them, the sensations only grew worse through the process. The weird warping effect was only able to affect his magic, but in this situation that meant that he could feel what was happening.

The worm died though, and Mash turned towards the last worm. The other had handled the rest and there was only one left. Continuing to grow his imitation he stepped towards the final worm. The monsters seemed to have no sense of fear or intelligence. They just kept trying to bite at whatever was nearest, and that was Red at the moment. Which meant that it kept missing as her body kept bending in and out of the worm’s attacks. Seeing that, Mash realized he probably should have used his treant form. It would have enabled him to do something similar, though he still needed to get used to it. Like Red, he would receive some understanding through his own version of the inhumanity skill, but it would still take some practice.

While Red was distracting the magic, Mash appeared behind the worm. Now that he was larger than the creature, he formed more mouth-like appendages at the end of his arms. He pushed his hands together changing it into one large mouth. He could’ve just used the imitation's mouth, but he was a bit afraid of the pain. If he understood it correctly, it would feel like his skull was being bent. While he could handle pain, that seemed like a bit much for him. While he slammed the mouth down on the worm, he bit into it with the sand. The sound of wood and sand grinding against teeth was awful. The sensations returned as he did so, but he was more used to the feeling now and forced himself through it. As soon as the worm died, he felt a huge amount of relief.

He immediately dismissed the imitation, surprised to notice that he hadn’t actually used hunt in the fight. It must be the improved efficiency in his energy. That didn’t necessarily mean it was a good thing. Same with the changes to the imitation themselves. If he was able to feel the pain so realistically through his imitation, using it as a shield would be a bad idea. He would need to consider which imitations would be the safest. Making the clones of Priscilla was the safest. However, he risked serious pain when using the other ones. With the size he normally took up, he was unable to avoid most attacks. There were probably some advantages to the changes, and he would need to test what other differences there were.

It must have some benefits. Improved control or something along those lines. It was rare for skills to become strictly worse, so he believed that there was something else going on in this situation. Though that was concerning, he was more focused on the levels he had gained. The worms had given him more than he expected, and he bet the others would in the same situation.

Plus, there would be a new transformation, and he might have gained another affinity. Although, that weird warping effect seemed dangerous, even if he was the one using it. The image of Jill’s magic simply destroying a part of the worm stuck in his mind. The normal anti-magic he had gained from the demons seemed much more valuable. However, he wasn’t excited to become a worm either and decided that he would not test the form immediately. However, he did want to check the improvements to his stats. There would be some permanent benefits from the worms.

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Draconic Thunder-wood Imitation

Level: 80 → 83

Health: 1547 / 2090

Energy: 1109 / 3560

Fortitude: 200 → 202 + 7 → 209

Endurance: 131 →136

Strength: 160 → 163 + 8 → 171

Agility: 170 → 171

Intelligence: 220

Wisdom: 102

Charisma: 96

Free Stats: 0 → 15 → 0

Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Monstrous Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Draconic Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Monstrous Humanity, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, Golden Body

His judgment was right, and he received some permanent gains. It was small, but he guessed that had to do with the fact that his stats were so high for his level. The golden body had increased them a lot, and it would probably take stronger monsters to make large improvements to them. He balanced his physical attributes, raising his strength by eight additional points to match his agility. In theory, he didn’t need to balance his stats, but he thought that it would be better to do so as he didn’t know what his transformations would utilize.

The battle was over, that much was obvious, and he looked towards the others. Jill seemed the most exhausted but that was probably due to the heat more than the fight. Luke seemed to be resisting the temperature better now, and Mash wondered if it was his buffs or maybe he had been able to heal away the discomfort. Maybe he was just better at handling it than Jill. Once they had all gathered, Mash began making another sled. He could recover his energy after they began moving again. It might be riskier, but he didn’t want to idle for too long.

The adventurers they had met earlier indicated that people had been exploring the desert for days. He wanted to at least find some intelligent life and was eager to see what the rest of the world would be like. The worms were strong and had given him a good number of levels. Hopefully, they could find more or something stronger. Plus, if there was a structured society somewhere then they would have the means to deal with creatures like the worms. He was excited to learn what kind of abilities they had and hopefully learn them.

He changed the sled slightly, making the seats a bit higher up. It would hopefully give them a better vantage. Also, he added doors to the sides, so that they could look out through them. The sun was still mostly blocked, but he knew the importance of keeping an eye on his surroundings. While he had been able to survive getting eaten, he didn’t think that everyone would be able to manage the same. The weird mucous of the monster had managed to weaken his scales, and he imagined it would do worse to normal skin. Red might be fine though.

As they started moving, Mash began recovering his lost energy. The others were also recovering though they didn’t have skills dedicated to it. They would recover slower than Mash but also didn’t expend as many resources as him in the last fight. The time flew by as they rode, and eventually, night fell upon them.

While the days were hot, the nights were cold. Cold enough that his breath was visible, and he could feel it through his skin. Realizing that the temperature was still dropping and would get dangerous soon. Thinking of a quick solution, Mash grabbed one of his cooking pots and placed chunks of wood inside. His wood did burn, though it took a lot of heat. However, this meant that it produced a lot of heat too. He used his lightning to char the wood and then used a simple heating crystal to get the fire going. As he expected it burned hot, and he made a small opening at the top of the sled to let the smoke out. The heat was welcome, and Luke thanked him through jittering teeth. While he had been able to handle the heat, he didn’t seem as ready for the cold.

They continued to travel until they spotted a fire in the distance. That would be a sign of intelligent life, though it could belong to an adventurer rather than a native.

“How should we handle this? If it’s a native I can manage a little bit of conversation.”

Mash’s question startled Jill awake, and he was surprised to see that she had fallen asleep. It was late so he understood why, but he realized that he wasn’t tired. Did he just need less sleep, or was it the adrenaline of the last fight? He considered what to think, but refocused when Red responded.

“That sounds fine, let’s just be prepared for a fight. I don’t think all adventurers will be as passive as those waiting at the entrance.”

Mash nodded along, and neither Jill nor Luke had any complaints. Jill asked Mash what was happening, and he pointed towards the fire in the distance. He didn’t really mind needing to explain the situation as he would miss a lot of details. Slowly, Jill looked towards the flame, and he saw the mana gather around her eyes. They glowed faintly, and he knew that she was using a skill. When she didn’t say anything, he guessed that it didn’t seem openly dangerous.

Since it didn’t look like they would be getting any more information, they rode towards the fire. As they approached the fire, they saw some tents set up. Furthermore, there was a group of five people sitting around the flame. The five seated people quickly jumped up; weapons poised toward the sled. He only considered for a second why they were so hostile, then remembered that the sled was being led by three enormous snakes. Smoke ominously rose from the inside and trailed behind them like a thick cloud. It wasn’t exactly a friendly sight.

Mash considered what to do, but Red just leaned outside and waved towards the people. The somewhat universal gesture seemed to make the group realize that they weren’t openly hostile. They still had their weapons drawn, and Mash got a good look at the people. Three of them were wielding swords. The closest was a woman with spikey brown hair and wielded a sword that was stupidly long. It was easily as tall as she was. The other two sword bearers were men, and both were wielding much more normal great swords. One of them wore armor, while the other seemed to be wearing animal pelts. Both had helmets, and Mash couldn’t get a good look at their faces.

The final two people were women, and they wielded different weapons. The one on the right was wielding a bow, which she had lowered once she saw Red. She had blond hair that seemed unnaturally straight. Even from a distance he could see her pointed ears too and recognized that she was an elf. The final girl had black hair and had a dagger in each hand. The strange thing about her was that her eyes were closed. She also wore thick robes that hid her body well. She was already blending into the night, and he assumed that the robes were magical. Seeing their preparation and equipment, he still couldn’t be certain if they were adventurers or natives. He was curious to find out though as they seemed capable.