Solo A Blade from Flesh

[Matheld]

2nd of Summer, 513 AV The dagger's blade was cold to the touch, sending shivers up Matheld's spine as he moved his fingers slowly down the cold iron surface. The young blonde haired man had long been looking over the blade for the past bell, sitting cross-legged beneath a tree. The shape and form was everything in this particular exercise, one mistake during the transformation process could result in a permanent mutation. He needed the blade to be clear in his mind for the process to be smooth and easy, so he analyzed it's every facet. Analyzing data was something he was good at, it was his job to collect and pick through potentially useful data. Matheld picked up the blade again, turning it this way and that as well as picking up the odd strands of grass to test its sharpness. He needed his transformation to emulate it accurately. He was in the Bronze Woods doing this for extremely obvious reasons, it was extremely unwise to announce one was a wizard in the city. He himself possessed a distrust of other wizard, seeing a number of them as threats to the city. Whenever one was identified he kept tabs on them, especially on known reimancers. It seemed rather hypocritical, in a way it was however Matheld felt no kinship to those who used magic like it was a toy. He of all people knew that magic was far from a toy and that the price required by it was steep indeed. The young man sighed and put the blade down on the grass before him, closing his eyes as he attempted to recall the image of the blade. He was not trying for a full body transform, rather he wanted to create another blade. A dagger it his boot was useful but if he was ever bound he needed a weapon more readily available. One that would be easy to call upon and maintain. The young man breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth as he attempted meditation to keep the shape in his mind. Clearing his mind was not exactly easily done, in ideal conditions it took him about fifteen chimes to properly clear his mind of all distractions. Unfortunately the Bronze Woods were not ideal conditions for him, the sounds of nature were quite the distractions from his breathing. The chirping of the bird, the rustling of the leaves in the wind all made the process of achieving clarity that much more difficult. Matheld continued to focus on his breathing, sharpening his mind against the multitude of distractions around him. Breathe in, Breathe out. It was a rigorous experience, however he knew that in order to get what he wanted he would need to achieve enough clarity of mind to see the blade's every facet. All of the information was there he just needed to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together to form a better whole. He also needed to accept that the blade was a part of his very being, to let go of the conception that it was separate.

[Matheld]

Twenty chimes and he was still only slowly approaching the goal of clarity, needless to say that by this point there was no small amount of frustration on Matheld's part. He was a very patient man however this whole thing seemed so simple, it was just memorization and breathing after all. Considering that memorization was his business and that breathing was what he did to survive there was an understandable amount of anger on his part. Still, that anger was only serving to prevent clarity and Matheld knew it. He pushed further onward, narrowing his focus to the cycle of his breath and attempting to block out everything else. He tossed aside thoughts of protection and anger, the distractions that cluttered his mind and distorted his focus. The blade itself slowly began to take shape in his mind, the thickness of the cold iron and the sharpness. He narrowed his focus further until the blade was all he could see, a fragile and easily broken focus was his for the moment. The focus was broken a moment later but Matheld had what he wanted, the shape and sharpness, the length and the width. It was all he would need for this partial transformation. Of course he couldn't very well transform his hand into cold iron, such an action was completely impossible as morphing only dealt with organic materials. However, bone was a rather sturdy substance as far as things went and its could achieve the shapes needed for a basic blade. The product would not be perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it would be functional, which was the whole point here. Matheld had conducted partial transformations before, shaping his hands into claws of bone or shifting his face to another. However he had never attempted a transformation as drastic as this one, where he created a shape based off of a weapon. It was completely possible and likely wouldn't take much Djed to maintain but it was the initial shift that was the tricky part of the whole thing. Creating claws was far different than sprouting a dagger of bone in place of one's hands. If he made a mistake then it could very well adversely affect his hand, creating a mutation. He had been warned of such horrors from the few books he had read on Morphing, truly they were the stuff of nightmares. Matheld was doing all of this preparation to prevent the possibility of a mistake, but the risk was still there of course. The man's cool blue eyes narrowed on the blade before him as he focused on his right hand, willing the flesh and bone to begin to shift and take on a shape completely different than its natural one. It was time to begin.

[Matheld]

The display of morphing would be considered quite grotesque to one not familiar in the art, as flesh and bone shifted and changed from their natural shapes. It was not painful exactly, however Matheld would compare it to donning unfamiliar clothing, at least when it came to shifting into unfamiliar forms. It felt strange as one's concept of what they were and what they could be were stretched beyond the norm for living beings. Bones ground together and flesh rippled unnaturally as the transformation continued to run its course, Matheld focusing on the specific shape needed here. Then of course there was the initial drain on his Djed as the transformation took place, nothing great as this was only a partial transformation but it was noticeable. The urge to lose himself and to transform even more was there, to surrender everything he was and become nothing once again. He had already suffered that fate once, it was not something he was going to repeat again. He had regain bits of who he was to forge the identity of Matheld, Matthew might be gone but the echoes remained. The long shard of bone began to shape itself in place of where his hand and wrist used to be, attempting to mimic his dagger. The young blonde haired morpher was pleased in how it was shaping and he willed the blade to take on a sharper edge, as sharp as he could make it. This cost more Djed but it perfected the shape and was helping to ingrain the transformation into his memory. It was certainly no model transformation but the more one practiced a shape and its form, the better and more easily the form came to them. Half of morphing was acquiring new forms and studying others to understand how to accurately portray that which he was emulating. The other half was practicing the shifts and their basic components so that it was much easier the next time. After a couple of chimes of rather grotesque shifting the transformation was complete and in place of his hand was now a blade like shard of bone sticking out. Matheld quickly went to work examining the weapon, testing its sharpness and noting that it was not exactly dull but it was also no where near as sharp as the dagger. It was no real surprise, this was the first time he had actually attempted a shift like this. Matheld was analyzing and collecting as much data as he could so he could think of correction and additions at a later date. He would need more practice with the actual refinement process, he had the overall shape down. Now he just needed to hone the details when he was actually shifting. So Matheld started to refine as many details as he could, reaching further into his reserves of Djed as he added on refinements and additions to the bone weapon. The young man knew that there was only so much he could refine bone and still have it as a functional weapon, only so sharp or durable it could be. So he would hone it as far as he thought he could make it, while still making sure he didn't expend too much Djed. Of course he also needed to be aware and keep in mind that the refinements would effect how much Djed he could put into maintaining the shape as a whole. The body's natural response to morphing was that it wanted to return to its original form and shape, as such it required a small amount of Djed influx to maintain and transformation. Spending Djed to refine his weapon would reduce the time he could properly maintain it. However getting the refinement down now would ensure that he wouldn't have to spend as much Djed doing it later.

[Matheld]

As Matheld continued to shift bone and flesh is smaller and less drastic ways he allowed his mind to wander into how this blade was now a part of him. In a way, every time he shifted Matheld accepted the fact that he could be something more, that there was a shape that was a part of him. It would be rather difficult for him to properly explain in simple language what it really felt like when he adopted a new form, it was something much more primal. Simplification wouldn't really do it justice either, one had to actually experience morphing to know what the experience was like. The blonde haired morpher often wondered if he would lose himself again, to lose this fractured piece of identity he had left. In a way, only his burning desire to keep his home safe and his live for Syliras itself kept the pieces together. It kept him from losing everything he was, but perhaps it wouldn't be enough one day. Matheld dispelled these unnerving trains of thought and continued to focus on task at hand, glad that the refinement was nearly to a satisfactory point. The morpher stopped shifting the dagger and tested it again, noting that it was far improved than the initial product despite the drain on his Djed. It was still not as good as the cold iron dagger but bone could only be made so strong or sharp. He stood up and tested the swing of his new weapon, thrusting it forward a couple of times for some practice stabs. He slashed around a bit, trying to get used to the basic dagger. It was rather awkward, especially since he was rather unskilled with a dagger and he had no real stance to speak of. It was just him swinging about with a dagger at the air, no skill or form to it. Matheld had never had reason to learn a weapon as his realm had always been one of the mind, however he liked to be prepared for any possible eventuality. It was just the kind of person he was. After a few more extremely awkward practice swings, occasionally putting in the odd thrust he nodded. It felt odd moving his arm as though he were punching but making no fist, the motion felt unnatural to him and thus it affected his mind set. He had yet to fully accept the blade as a part of his being, however he suspected with practice everything would come more easily to him. Satisfied with this event, Matheld willed his hand to return to its original shape, the flesh and bone shifting grotesquely again. This time it was much more quick as he was simply returning his body to what it had once been, what he was used to. When all was said and done he felt tired and hunger from his use of his Djed. This little practice session had not been extensive but it had been something new. The man flexed his fingers slightly, just to remind himself that he had them before setting off into the forest to return back to the city. It was time for him to return to watching and waiting.

[Accolade]

Matheld

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+ 2 XP
Meditation	+ 2 XP
Morphing	+ 2 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Way to live: Magic is NOT a toy
•	Understanding Syliras Law
•	Testing the hand-to -Dagger morph

Notes :

Good thread. I did enjoy the way that you explained what he was doing and the meditation process that happened before he started. Keep up the good work.

The Sylir has spoken

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.