The Mimic in Monsterland

“What do you mean Fennel’s out of control? He’s the most level-headed out of all my squad captains.”

I recognized the name. He was the cool dogeared young dwarf. Which was honestly strange to see. A teenage dwarf. I feel like most fantasy stuff back on Earth always portrayed dwarves as perpetual forty-year-olds who are actually two hundred years old. What do baby dwarves look like? Are they smaller than human babies? Hmm. Further investigation is required.

Jaren began stomping over to the antlered man, breaking me out of my dwarven curiosity streak, but paused just before and shook his head. I followed behind him and caught the words he mumbled under his breath.

“I knew sending him there was a stupid.”

Where did he send Fennel? Out into the Forest, maybe?

He stopped in front of his squadmate. “What happened?” Jaren asked.

Terl straightened up. He was only slightly under average height, but he looked small standing next to Jaren. He grabbed one of his antlers and rolled his fingers around it.

“I was going to head to Burnhold after grabbing a bite to eat. I stopped by that cart you were talking about. Great food. That tusxic meat sandwich is to die for and not to mention easy on the wallet. It's hard to find such a place these…”

Jaren coughed, cutting off the man’s tangent.

Terl laughed nervously. “And not important right now. Right umm. Yes. I was heading over to the barracks. Tomorrow is the post raid performance review for supports. I wanted to stop by lower leveled squads and make sure they knew the time and place. That little rat tailed one from C2 is always late and blames it on not knowing where to go; which doesn’t make sense considering we hold it in the main building every time. Along with every other…”

Jaren coughed again, with a bit more feeling. “Focus Terl. Fennel. Out of control.”

“Right. Fennel. Yes. I was on my way over to his squad hall. Have a quick chat with Gloria about tomorrow. Nothing was out of the ordinary when I arrived. It looked like the frontliners were having a small sparring tourney in the field before tactics training. Nothing new. As I was chatting with Gloria, who is an absolute gem. I’m so glad we got her to join us. Unfortunate thing. That scarring.”

Jaren cocked his eyebrow.

“Sorry. We heard a squeal of pain come from the field. Gloria and I rushed outside to see Fennel pinned on the ground by two other people. His last opponent was lying on the ground, his nose thoroughly broken. I ran up to him, staunched the bleeding and gave him over to Gloria, instructing her to take him to the infirmary for some Advanced Healing. He should be fine in a day so don’t worry about that. I asked one of the guys keeping him pinned. He just said Fennel was going crazy. I told them I would run and grab you. I left right then and that just about brings us to now.”

Jaren exhaled some air. “So, he’s not morphing or anything?”

“Oh not at all. He seemed perfectly fine from what I could see. His status levels were great. That Boundless ability is incredible. Before I spoke with Gloria, one of his squad members told me he’d fought through four Tier 5 mannequins, solo might I add, before their little contest. Much different than that stamina drain you have over there.”

Terl’s eyes slid over me before he rolled them.

Was. Was that an insult? What did I do?

Jaren rubbed his forehead. “And where was Barnel or Styli? Or whichever lieutenant is in charge today.”

Terl just shrugged. A vein popped out on Jaren’s head.

“Honestly, why do I pay you people? I don’t need to be bothered over some damn roughhousing.”

Jaren heaved another sigh before turning back to me.

“It’s a bit early for this part of your training, but from what I’ve seen today, you should be alright.” Jaren walked up to one of the covered objects in the field. In one quick motion, he pulled the end of the cloth and revealed what was underneath.

It was another wooden replica construct of a monster, one that resembled the bear monster I grabbed Ursa from. Maybe a little smaller actually. However, it was a much more simplified version of it. Kinda reminded me of old school video game graphics to a degree. A bunch of polygons and simple joints. Late PS1 era stuff.

Jaren threw the cover at me while I was observing the construct, definitely not knocking me over. Nope. Nu uh. Not a chance.

I rose from the ground, coughing out the dust that entered my esophagus from the sheet. “Fold that up.” He walked behind the construct and put his hand on the back of the replica’s head.

Symbols began to light up around the construct. They were a dull blue color. The replica vibrated and shook for a moment. They do move. That’s awesome!

“Which form of yours is ready?”

I checked my status bars. All but Ursa were on cooldown. “Ursa is up.”

“Alright then, it's time for some bear on bear action. Get ready.”

I shifted into Ursa form, my clothes filling out but not stretching too much, and stared down at the construct. The symbols covering its body changed from their blue color into a brilliant red. It shot out at me.

It raised its right arm. I felt the familiar twinge from Preflex on my right shoulder. I raised my arms up to block. Its arm came down, colliding with my guard. The blow was heavy, but not enough to break me. I stood my ground and lowered my right hand. Flames circled around my claws this time. I pivoted away from the construct's arm and directed my own blow for this thing’s shoulder.

My fiery claw landed true, right on the construct’s left shoulder. I managed to push it back away from me with the attack. I turned and saw some scorch marks where my claws hit. The symbols on its shoulder turned a different color from the rest. It was orange now.

But I didn’t focus on that. I went on the offensive this time. With my claws aflame, I dropped another swipe down on it. Hitting the wooden body of the doll this time, and pushing it a few feet away.

It jerked mechanically, then turned back to me. It rushed again with its arm raised, in pretty much the same way as earlier. I raised my arms to block. But before its arm never came down and its whole body collided with my torso. The blow hurt, but it didn’t move me. I felt the temptation to rage but held it down.

I dropped my arms under it and strained my arms, telling them to hurl this stupid toy. After some effort, I lifted it from the ground and threw it back down on its back. The colors changed on a few different body parts, but I didn’t care. I clawed at its underbelly with more flame empowered attacks, before finishing the assault with an Elemental Discharge

Just as the description said, a steady stream of fire flowed from my hands, covering the replica in flames. It wasn’t a single burst of fire though. I could keep the flames coming. Which I did. The stream only stopped when I felt faint. I reverted and fell over.

But right before passing out,I felt the surge of energy again. Terl used his stamina recovery skill on me again.

I stood up and looked over the damage I did. I hope I beat it. I didn’t want to fight that thing in base form. Not without my sword. The thought of my missing sword flared some discontent in the back of my head.

The replica was a scorched mess. The symbols were gone and it no longer moved.

Oh god. Did I break it? Crap, that has to cost a ton. And I just got some money too. Not that I even know how much I have. I was still waiting on the economics lesson from somebody. Man, there is still so much to learn.

Jaren walked up to the charred construct. He patted me on the shoulder. “Good stuff. Now you’re going to be doin that for the rest of the day. How long until your next form is up.”

“Gremlin will be up in a few minutes.” I lied. It came up during the fight, but I was hungry and wanted to leverage this to get some food. That sandwich Terl mentioned was sounding pretty good right now.

“And how? I’m pretty sure I broke the thing. I hope it's not too expensive.” I pointed back at the smoking pile of lumber.

Jaren chuckled at my reply. “Nah, it's fine. A fresh batch of mana will have it back to normal. Terl you mind?”

Terl nodded and walked over to it. His face scrunched up when he got close. His bandaged arm shook while he moved it closer. His hand rested on what I believe was the head. The symbols lit back up after a second. This time green. The charring evaporated of the construct, returning it to its light brown wooden color. It got off the ground and walked back to the pedestal it was on before I fought it, looking good as new.

“Okay those things are awesome. Are each of the sheets covering one of those?”

“Yep, and as much as I would like to explain more about them, I should go and see what’s happening with Fennel and his squad. And see which of my lieutenants needs a feckin’ smack in the head.”

He looked back over at Terl. “Kid’s with you until I get back. Keep him fighting fit.”

Terl walked back over, his face looked much more tired than earlier. “Boss, I don’t have much left in me. I can maybe top him off three more times. Actually less if I have to use more MP on the mannequins.”

Jaren grunted. “That’s fine. I shouldn’t be long.”

Jaren turned and walked away. I yelled after him. “Oh, could I grab some weapons from the training room? Gremlin can’t do much without ‘em.”

“Knock yerself out.”

“Sweet.” I said to myself, before returning to the practice field. I made eye contact with Terl, who wore an expression of abject boredom now that Jaren was gone. “So, Mr. Terl. Tell me more about that sandwich.”

Terl gave me a look of complete and utter distaste. What is this guy's problem? I, for the life of me, could not understand where the hate was coming from.

But before I could ask, a huge crashing sound went off in the distance. Terl's demeanor changed on the spot as his head swiveled right in the direction of the crash. He was completely serious now. He grabbed my arm pulling me to the guild hall.

"Move. Now."