Mash grabbed the shrunken seal. Pain spread from his palm as it touched his skin. The dark light it radiated seemed to be mixing with his skin, infecting it like one of Red’s attacks. Mash's teeth hurt as he ground them together. The mass of chains might feel more like a ball of knives, one which could easily pierce his skin. He pushed through the pain and squeezed his hand closed. The slicing pain changed into a burning one, and it grew increasingly more severe. The pain didn’t stop him. He knew that if he stopped, he would need to restart. There was only one thing he could do. The pain spread quickly and before long it felt like his whole body was wrapped in the chains.

The more he squeezed the tighter the chains on him were getting. It felt like he was tearing the chains off, and they pressed into him as he did so. They dug into his flesh and passed through them. Minutes passed as he suffered through the pain. The chains felt like they slowly cut through his body. Eventually, the chains in his hand broke, and then he caused chaos. It had felt like he had literally pulled the chains out of his body. He grunted internally but moved quickly.

Lightning exploded from his body and consumed the room he was in with a blinding light. The ugly man hadn’t been prepared and the lightning struck and blinded him. It didn’t kill him, but Mash’s headbutt did the job. Draconic scales had covered his body, and his forehead had smashed the other’s man’s head like a ripe fruit. Mash didn’t pause or hesitate. He pressed his body against the now dead man and used chimeric reconstruction. The man’s body melted, his flesh dissolved, and flowed into Mash’s body. The other man’s bones and organs had similarly been deconstructed.

Mash wanted to vomit at the sight but held his tongue. The wounds on his body had healed, and both of his arms regrew. It barely took a minute to heal, but the image was scarred into his mind. Both because of what happened with his arm and the man. Mash watched in fascination as the human simply vanished. His whole body was gone and all that remained was his armor and clothing. On the other hand, his arms sprouted from stumps on his shoulder. The partially formed layer of skin that had grown as he healed, tore away and his body rebuilt itself from the inside out. He was able physically to see his bones and nerves reform before the rest of the flesh and muscle hid them away. There was a moment where he could move an oddly skeletal hand, though it was quickly covered in a brand-new layer of flesh and skin.

That was an experience he didn’t want to go through again. Losing a limb wasn’t all that bad. Other than the pain and slight discomfort, his mind had accepted the injury pretty quickly. Maybe Priscilla had a hand in helping him, but he bet his new race also had some involvement. A brief thought of his skills made him think it was Chimera’s Constitution. Mash didn’t really feel guilty either. This was one person that had deserved what he got. The next course of action was to retrieve his clothing. Escape would probably be the biggest priority for most other people in this situation, but he had his skills now. He had transformed into his dragon form, and that meant that he was a lot stronger now.

The fight with the ugly man and the rest had been hard, but that was because he didn’t have his skills. As soon as he got them back, the ugly man had died to a single attack. It hadn’t even been a challenge. He knew that none of these people would be a challenge anymore. Even the leader with his legendary weapon would be able to do anything.

None of that was important though. Everything else felt insignificant as he got his domain back. It was like he had lost his vision and just managed to regain it. It was a liberating feeling and one that revealed his surroundings to him. He was stunned by the location. The shaking and bumps he had noticed were from crashing waves, not occasional stones. They had gotten him on a boat. There was one floor above him and two below. The ship was too wide for him to see the edges, but he could glimpse onto the deck. There was movement all around him. Just where were they planning on taking him? Their home no doubt, but where was that.

He was tempted to go and find another of the knights but decided fleeing was a better plan. His clothes first, and he could tell that several people were aware of the situation. Lightning was loud and his attack had started a commotion. Within his domain, he could see dozens of people running around. Some were high level too; he expected the seals to hit him again and thought that he didn’t have much time.

He decided that a fight would be least beneficial to him at the moment. He could probably win, but there was no reason to take the risk again. Mash recognized something as he thought. He was calm, unusually so. In fact, he had been calm the entire time. Even when he had been fighting the first time, he knew that he had been calm. He hadn’t been worried about dying. Now, he wondered where his certainty had come from.

[Priscilla?]

He checked with her, but he was already moving. He could tell where his robes were and wanted to grab them before leaving. Although, he altered his transformation immediately as well. He grew wings to fly away once he got his robes. He altered his muscles to make him stronger, and he radiated an aura of anti-magic. He was surprised by his own calmness, and how fast he was able to come up with a plan.

[Perhaps it is your new race? Maybe it altered your thought processes. Improved them as it had done with the rest of your body.]

Mash didn’t know if he feared the idea or liked it, but it seemed like Chimera’s Constitution was a weird skill. It probably also meant that his body was still changing. He knew that it was taking a while to change, but he didn’t think such big changes would happen. This wasn’t the same as the class’s influence or the unnatural alteration of his skills. It was more like his way of thinking was what had changed. His beliefs and thoughts were the same, but the way his mind juggled various thoughts was different. One was that he was able to focus on more things at once. He looked down, locating his robes near the base of the boat. Mash could tell that people were about to enter the room. He bet that one of them would try and seal his skills again. He wouldn’t give them that opportunity though.

Mash aimed down through the boat and lifted for the ground a little. He jumped the wood bent a little as he did so. The boat wasn’t that durable. The small motion was just the start though. He turned in the air so that his feet would strike the ceiling. The room was small, but he still managed to a full flip. His bare feet struck the wooden roof of the building, and he kicked off of it with all of his strength. The wood exploded outward, escaping into the room above. He shot through the boat, barely even being slowed by the wood. He didn’t even bother shielding his face and crashed through wooden floors headfirst.

He didn’t slow as he passed by where his clothes were. He simply held out his hand and grabbed them through the chest they were in. His hand easily destroyed the furniture. Splinters of wood flew about, but he ignored them. Then he broke through the bottom of the ship and hit the cold water of the sea. It was his first time here, and he was surprised by how cold the water was. From what others had said, he expected the water to be warmer. The taste of salt filled his mouth, and his eyes stung a little. He had heard that sea water was salty, and he didn’t like it very much.

He turned in the water for a second, trying his best to put his clothes on. There was an argument to be made that he shouldn’t care about nakedness at the moment, but he knew that Jill would be here any second now. He did not want to be naked when the others arrived. It was a relatively small concern, all things considered, but it only took a few seconds to put on his clothes. The water made it a little bit more challenging. Once he was mostly dressed, he shifted until he was aimed toward Priscilla’s imitations. While turning, he stopped and stared around the ocean. It got dark quickly, but there was more life to the sea than he expected.

Small fishes filled the ocean. They were small and white and glowed faintly with a gentle light. They swarmed around, but they gave him a wide berth as they swam. He was momentarily stunned by the sight and just stared in fascination at the creatures. They filled the water thickly reminding him oddly of porridge. A porridge with rice like the ones people have when they get sick. He stared at the countless number of fishes. Oddly, he didn’t even feel the slightest temptation to eat them. The sight was too amazing for that, and he would’ve stayed longer if not for the sudden need for air. He could probably transform to have gills but decided he was just wasting time.

Mash used his wings to fly out of the water. He moved fast enough to catch some fish in his trail. They briefly flopped out of the water, but quickly vanished as they fell back in. He looked back at the boat and considered doing more damage to it briefly. The revenge would probably feel good, and he debated what to do. The urge to just attack wildly was worth it, but he held himself back. He had to make sure to tell his brother, so it wouldn’t really be responsible.

[I have informed him already.]

[Oh, good call.]

Priscilla might be a little too open about sharing his situation. It was probably for the best, so he left it alone. Instead, he followed up with another question. He was just a little bit too annoyed to abandon his revenge.

[How long till he gets to Jill?]

[Two minutes at most.]

Mash had been trapped for while, hadn’t he? Hearing that his brother was coming soon was freeing, but he wondered why it took so long. Had something else happened? He was vaguely worried but guessed that he would find out soon enough. He made a mental note to give Jill a body of Priscilla next. He had avoided giving it to the others since they were usually together, but that was dumb. Jill absolutely needed one, and she could just teleport to anyone else.

He glanced down at the ship and saw several people rising to the deck. Two minutes was more than enough time for his revenge. He slowly moved his hand and aimed it at the ship. Lightning danced between his fingertips, and he let it build and build. He was in his dragon form, and the one thing it gave in excess was power. Mash opened to his palm toward the ship and Lightning lanced out at the ship, raining down on the deck in several thick bolts. The light was blinding, and the sound could only be described as thunderous. His magic roared with anger, but he didn’t really feel much anger himself. The fight had started.