Kind of short, but I hope this adds to the story. I thought a little action and the explanation of Dwarf society would do well. I might rewrite this later on, who knows?

Enjoy the read! Expect another in three days.

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“Hai! Hai! Hai!”

The sound of stone bashing against metal echoes throughout the town. I am currently the one defending against a stone sword wielded by Borin. It looks as light as a cinder block, but was much heavier than one. I am using my cybernetic arm to block the blows that could tear cats in half, and I feel the vibrations travel up and through my body every single time.

That’s right, I was sparring against a sober Borin.

When Ulia had asked me the question about Progression, Borin suddenly jumped up, knocking over Kareb onto the floor. Kareb continued sleeping through his fall, as Borin stepped over his brother in a fit of anger.

“What in Vernier did yer’ do to meh, Ulia!”

Ulia, responded with a wrench from her pocket. It flew across the room and struck Borin in the forehead, causing his eyes to roll upward. He flopped to the ground on top of his already grounded brother.

Smiling slightly, Ulia turned her attention back to me.

“What question did you want to ask?”

I had begun to sweat slightly at the casual manner she knocked out Borin. It was too scary!

“What will you have me do? Since you made it sound like you wanted to fight me.”

“No, it won’t be me you’re fighting, but rather Borin over there.”

After she shook her head and pointed back at Borin, she woke them up with a carefully placed kick, and that was how I had to fight against Borin to prove I was fit in body. I don’t know why this all translated into a fight, in all honesty, but these dwarven folk seem to uphold strength above all else. Or it could be different, but I can only guess.

If I had to fight the chieftain, namely Ulia, I don’t rightly know if I could even pull off a single scrape against her, as being a chieftain must show a great quantity of strength. These thoughts of mine continue to swirl in my head as I continue to block Borin’s sword, the heavy stone blade increasing in pressure from the force of his blows.

I look at Borin’s face just in time to see him glaring at me, and stumbling slightly. If I had to guess, it was the place Ulia kicked him at before that makes him wheeze like a donkey.

I block his sword with my right arm once again, and slide it along my forearm, where it hits the ground with Borin’s force behind the attack. I clench my left fist, and attempt a punch, which Borin replies by letting go of his sword and swiping it away in a martial arts way.

I go forward with my momentum, just in time to see his elbow appearing before me. Just as he was about to clothesline my face, I use my tail to dig into the ground. At least, I tried to as my tail suddenly whips me around and I hear and feel a couple smacks coming from behind me.

Yeah… it really does have a mind of it’s own, I feel like that is the only explanation.

I turn around in time to see Borin standing there looking at the sandy ceiling of the town, his cheeks puffed up like marshmallows, and as raw as a steak. His eyes twitched slightly as he fell to the ground, and the sand puffs up around him in a plume. A very tiny plume.

With that quick little spar out of the way, I stand straight and reach for the ceiling, stretching out my body. I look over to Ulia to find her clapping her hands melodramatically, and I roll my eyes when she notices my attention on her. She smirks at me and walks over to Borin, and bends over his face.

“Wake UP! You only got pansy slapped! A little receiving never hurt you!”

Proceeding to kick him in the shin, I see a little twinkle in Borin’s eyes as he leaps off the ground and tackles Ulia down. Seeing two short but muscular people really makes you want to turn away, so I did.

Ignoring whatever sounds the two were making, I continue my stretching. Occasionally, I feel the odd breeze from my back, but I attribute it to the weather… Underneath the ground?

I look over my shoulder while I am stretching my legs to see massive craters littering the ground, and a couple walls to house smashed open. Blade marks can clearly be seen along the ground, as well as what appeared to be fist marks all over the place.

I get up off of the ground, and carefully make my way to what could be the center of where all this mayhem started, which coincidentally is where the two dwarves were all over each other. But apparently they wanted to become a little more physical.

“Yer’ need tah shut it woman!”

“My village, my rules!”

“Meh rules, meh ass!”

I hear what sounds like the bickering between the two dwarves, and begin to make my way through the once bustling streets of Dunheim. Eerily quiet, but seeing how two dwarves were going at it, I couldn’t help but think this was a common occurrence whenever Borin and Ulia met.

Seeing as how the streets were deserted, I began to move a little faster. The sound of rocks being pummeled, and huge quantities of sand flying into the air were clear signals as to where I needed to head to. My bare feet slap across the stone street, as my peculiar left foot leaves a deeper impression of claw marks each time I tried to go faster than a slight jog.

Feeling a little heavier, I take a break on the side of the road. Which in my case was a good thing, as just where I was once jogging, a deep 1 meter crater suddenly appears, with Ulia on top of Borin. The dust from their sudden impact doesn’t even have time to float to the ground as Ulia begins to beat upon Borin like a punching bag.

Fist-like impressions can clearly be seen from my vantage point as Ulia strikes Borin in the gut. If his intestines were made of steel, I think he would be okay.

I feel my blood begin to rush faster as the fight before me began to get my adrenaline going. I begin to feel the need to join the fight, and take a step forward. I then begin to use my superpower, the liquid manipulation.

But… nothing happens, the two dwarves continue to ride on each other as I struggle with my power. I should still be able to use it, but for some reason I can’t move them! I spit out a loogie and try to manipulate it into Borin’s face, but it only falls to the ground.

It seems like the Progression doesn’t just affect the body, but the mind too. I remember Ulia telling me that my cognitive functions appeared to be working fine, but apparently my brain decided to mutate as well.

Just what has changed on the inside of me?

I stumble forward, to where the two dwarves have finally stopped fighting and are standing side by side, looking at me and the state I was in. Ulia begins to approach me cautiously, as if there was something wrong with me.

“Tom, are you alright? It couldn’t be because we were fighting that you are this way, right?”

She begins to move closer to me, and looks straight at my eyes. I flinch slightly, and begin to raise my right arm, the energy from the core in the center of me burning slightly from the excess energy being used. Ulia continues to approach, and she reaches to her waist, a hammer suddenly appearing at her side from nowhere.

I move slightly backwards, as I feel the ground shift underneath my feet. The thundering in my blood did not disappear with the end of the battle, but in fact actually rose. I feel my eyelids getting heavier from the amount of blood that could be flowing through them, and I force them to open wider, but to no avail.

“Tom, calm down. Your body is acting strange.”

Ulia slowly slides towards me, only a few yards away from my position. My arm is still stretched out, the heat in my chest rising slightly. Nowhere near as painful as the burn from the Progression, I feel a dull throbbing in my right arm. The sound of gas escaping from the openings in the arm catch my attention.

Problem is, my right arm is cybernetic. Are these phantom pains?

I feel the urge to sleep grow upon my consciousness, and the last thing before I close my eyes is Ulia swinging a hammer straight at my face.

The last thing I hear is Borin’s voice.

“I promised ther’ boy safety!”