Cracking the nut on By Rage Recast didn't take that long after.
Well, in terms of time spent to accomplishment anyway. It took me around half a day, twelve continuous hours without food or break to finally figure out the real trick to it, which was mostly a matter of learning what not to do then learning how to do something.
I'd gone way off course in my first attempts. By Rage Recast wasn't an active charm. Not really, it activated when my anima flared up to a certain level, not out of any sort of conscious activation. Learning how to use it was less like learning how to flex the muscle of a new limb and more like learning how to breath out of lungs when I'd barely gotten by on gills up till now. Breaking down barriers that made my anima 'only' express itself as a big light show rather then a more...physical shift.
It was only after that I allowed myself to 'enjoy' my last cup noodle meal in the woods for this training session. Though I didn't immediately head back into town after first making use or it.
No, instead I did something moderately intelligent and spent time feeling out each individual physical change brought on by my latest trick and figuring out how to make use of them. Some things like claws or my flesh hardening to volcanic rock required practically no effort to compensate for, other things like my lower body fusing into an elongated serpentine structure, or my back spouting an entirely new set of limbs on the other hand did throw me off a bit.
Also hard on the wardrobe. It was a good thing I brought spares.
But in the end 'a bit' wasn't really that much more. The mutations came with the instincts of how to slither like a snake, strike like an eagle, or soar like a...
Well honestly given I was still mostly humanoid there wasn't any native wild life I really behaved similar to when flying, but I wasgoodat flying. Not great, I mean practice made perfect and I'd gotten in less then an hour despite how awesome being able to fly was just due to time constraints, but I could fly like most people could walk with similar levels of focus and effort needed.
And it was all very amazing and magical and I really would have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd just figured out the stupid trick to it the right way the first time but as it was I would have to be satisfied with what I had managed in the week or so I'd been out there.
I'd run out of time.
When I got back to camp I'd started up my normal dinner routine but with a small addition. I felt somewhat guilty taking so long to check in with Lisa so I decided to check my emails while the water was heating.
The situation had escalated.
Lisa had put together just what the Merchants had stolen partly through use of her powers, partly through good old investigation. Trainwreck had been Coil's base when it had come under fire. When the boss stopped checking in and a empire hit team followed by a giant burning dragon man had stomped in his place things went to hell in a very dramatic fashion. He's panicked or maybe had been pressed into a bad scenario and ended up grabbing a hostage to try and get out of there.
Considering his options were a bus sized man made of whirling razor blades, someone who had the accumulated skills of a couple dozen combat veterans and a mostly vulnerable woman who could give other people superpowers he had in fact defaulted to option C.
He should have gone with the second guy. In his powered armor he had a chance of it, and capturing the power granter; incidentally the Empire's only healing cape who went by the name Othala, had brought all kinds of heat down on him.
Honestly he should have just let her go or turned her in once he got loose. Instead he had apparently continued to freak out and had sought out refuge with the Merchants, who had happily taken him in as they had plenty of ways of getting a healing cape to become nice and compliant.
That had been a big mistake. I mean I shouldn't expect a gang run by someone who was typically high on a level less like a kite and more like some sort of upper atmosphere weather balloon but still...
The Empire had naturally been pissed which with the slap in their face over the half dozen arrests, they'd suffered over the night, including the one I'd facilitated of one of their capes had lead them to lash out hard.
So now once more there was war in the streets, though on a far larger more dangerous scale.
Damn it I really should have read more into the initial skirmishes that Tattletale had warned me about. I'd made a major mistake in assuming things would keep to that level for at least a few days longer!
I'd spent just enough time to put out the fire and half stuff everything into the duffle bag, food forgotten before putting my new wings to use getting back to town as fast as the wind would carry me.
Now I was I don't know how high up in the air trying not to freak out as my acrophobia warred with both my pragmatism and just how awesome this was.
Actually I think the fact I was normally terrified of heights kind of highlighted the experience. I mean yeah I was very ware that if one of my wings broke I was screwed.
...Well unless I could dodge the ground when I got close to hitting it. I mean mechanically it might work, but that was how it worked in the game and environmental damage was different from directed attacks so I had no idea if I could actually do that or not.
It'd be really nice if someone could tell me if it would one way or another.
~...Eh? Oh, I've got no clue~
Well wasn't that wonderful.
Either way not something I was going to be experimenting with just yet.
No if anything I was more concerned with finding a good spot to hide my stuff while I tried to find the right party to crash which was a lot harder then TV made it look... I really should have shot for supernatural senses with the whole mutant superpowers thing. I'd have to make it a future project. But for now was stuck looking for trouble the hard way.
Knowing my luck trouble probably would find me first.
...
Really murphy? I give you prime bait like that and you don't take it?
~...are you talking to me again?~
No I wasn't. I sighed and looked for a good rooftop to land down on and set up the Laptop.
It looked like I was stuck utilizing plan B.