26 Chapter 26

Late at night, he finally had the time to learn about his Ability, safe within the privacy of his dorm. The Ashborn Stalker had occupied the bed like a puppy.

Dane stood at the desk, readying himself. There were many peculiar things about Transformation abilities. For example, the birth of strange instincts while transformed. Like an unsatisfiable hunger or bloodlust.

His communicator lay on the table with a timer. He wanted to see how long he could maintain his new transformation. It varied from user to user. Those who gained their abilities at Transcendence could only last as long as their essence allowed them. For the ones who got it as their first ability, there was either a set limit that wouldn't change until moving to a higher rank or a limit that grew with the absorption of fragments. Or rarer still, some could remain transformed for as long as they liked by fulfilling certain conditions.

A prime example of the last one was Farsen, a long-dead retainer of Valor, who could become a weird Chimera. He could stay a Chimera indefinitely by killing and drinking blood. It wasn't known to the public, but his bloodlust had grown so strong that the King of Swords had him put down.

He hoped his Transformation held no odd conditions or troubling instincts. Dane removed all his clothes and prepared himself.

After a few moments, he turned on the timer, retreated to the center of the room, and reached into himself with his mind. He felt it with startling clarity, right where his Heart was. Unbridled power. He concentrated on it.

He looked down to watch his body vanish instantly, leaving only his soul shining blindingly. Fog seeped out of his soul and covered the blinding light of his spirit, and then the Metamorphosis was over.

Instantly, a powerful instinct came over him. 'Wander!' he thought to himself. He wanted to leave the small confines of this room. To move…the world was so large.

He almost gave in. 'Stop'

…at least his instinct wasn't to murder everyone around him. It was still infuriating. Just staying still bored him infinitely. It had not been more than a few seconds since he transformed, yet he felt like he had been more than patient enough.

'Wandering Phantom,' Dane thought to himself. Thinking took time. His thoughts had slowed. Most of his mental faculties were reserved to maintain his transformation, and the rest were fighting to keep him from going to who knows where.

The wall was right in front of his face, and he was going to crash into it face first…wait, the wall?! Dane was an inch from the wall and then beyond it. Dane stopped the transformation and fell face-first on the floor.

He was in another room. He looked around in the darkness. The only light in the room seeped out from under the bathroom door. Woah. Had he just phased through that wall? He didn't remember moving, let alone feeling his legs move.

He heard water running. Lucky. They probably didn't hear him over the shower. He turned to find the room's door, but it was too dark, and he stumbled on the chair. 'Frogs!'

Dane shook his head and decided to try phasing through the wall again. He turned back and reached into himself again. It was faster now. Instantly, fog covered him without letting his soul shine through. He moved forward, and he saw the wall's insides. Then, he was inside his room.

Wait…he didn't remember walking? How was he even moving? He looked down. His mist-like legs were levitating above the ground. Dane was shocked, and his concentration seized. With a soft thud, he was standing on the floor with his flesh.

Dane laughed loudly. That was amazing. 'I just phased through a wall…and I was floating!'

He needed to see more. He was a Phantom again. He had no flesh, he saw. It was just fog. He felt himself, but it was just the intangible weight of his soul. He tried moving…but he couldn't. Why? He had just moved a moment ago.

Oh, right. Dane reached into himself again. With his eyes closed, he felt his soul. He commanded himself to move, and he did. He opened his eyes. He was floating right under the ceiling. He kept ordering himself to move, focused on his soul. It was a bit difficult with the desire to go phasing through the roof and into some poor soul's room, but he controlled himself.

His foggy body moved with terrifying speed, flying. More than once, he trespassed into someone else's room. No one noticed him, fortunately. Soon enough, it was as natural as walking and breathing. The bear sleeping on the bed stirred, looking at the foggy apparition that he was with curiosity.

It sniffed at him and even whipped its claws through his head. It just passed right through him like nothing had happened. Dane commanded the Ashborn Stalker to try biting him or catching him. It just couldn't touch him.

Dane stopped using his ability, landing on the floor with a hop. A smile bloomed on his face. What an incredible Ability he had received. He was utterly intangible, phasing through anything. On top of which, he could fly!

Dane fiddled with the ability for over an hour. Soon, he learned many things. He could not alienate either intangibility or flight. They came hand in hand, or not at all.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not touch anything as a Phantom, nor could he be touched. He tried attacking the bear, only to phase right through his hide. He was also much faster in his Phantom state. He estimated that at his fastest, he was three times faster than he was when sprinting.

Dane wanted to see what would happen if he tried transforming while holding something or being held by something. He tried with the bear first. He held onto it tight. When he metamorphosed, it remained how it was. Then, he let it catch him in a bear hug. It could not keep him from turning intangible.

However, when he held small objects like his communicator. They turned into foggy things like him. Could they levitate as well? He let go of his communicator, and it instantly dropped to the floor, tangible again.

What about when he wore things? Or hold his weapons? Dane did not want to turn naked and weaponless whenever he became a Phantom.

He summoned the Keeper's Half-Plate first. Instantly, a skintight black bodysuit covered him from neck to toe. Two padded gambesons fitted themselves on top of them. They covered his torso, his arms up to his wrists, and reached below his hips. Then, double-layered padded leggings covered him from hip to ankles.

For a moment, Dane felt hot, and then it was back to normal. These things were adjusting to his body's temperature, he realized. After that, black plate armor fit over his padded armor.

Pauldrons came first, covering his shoulders. Then came a cuirass riveted to a plackart for his torso. A plated gorget covered his neck. Vambraces manifested around his forearms, and gauntlets wrapped themselves around his hands. He could feel the padding inside the black gauntlets. Then, cuisses, poleyns, and greaves came for his thighs, knees, and shins, respectively.

Sabatons wrapped around his feet. A bascinet helm wrapped around his head, and a foliate visor covered his face. The armor's metal was black as ink yet glimmered faintly against the light. Pinned under his gorget was a cloak. It shifted colors, changing to blend in with the environment.

Dane was impressed. Whoever these Keepers were, they meant business. Temperature-adjusting padded armor, half-plate, and a blending cloak. Not to mention the telepathic enchantments. They must have been knights of the highest order.

Then he summoned his sword, the Basket Blade. Weaved together from tiny sparks of light, a beautiful sword was in his hand. It was a basket-hilted Scottish Broadsword. It had a small ninety-centimeter blade with a beautiful golden hilt and basket-like guard for his hand. It was an Ascended sword of the first tier.

Dane nodded. Then he transformed. 'Yes!' he thought. The gray fog extended from his body and covered his Memories as well. When he let go of his sword, it simply vanished into nothingness. 'What!?!' Dane thought, fearful. He summoned his list of memories.

Memories: [Dead Medallion], [Mercurial Maw], [Keeper's Half Plate], [Bandit's Whistle], [Basket Blade], [ Gray Gust's Longbow], [Gray Gust's Quiver], [Gargantuan Sack], [Myriad Vial].

'It's still there,' he sighed with relief. With his sigh, the fog of his mouth fumed a little. He summoned it, and his memory weaved itself into his hand again. Covered in gray, his sword was with him again.

Dane looked up, and he found himself in a dark room. Ah, crap. He really couldn't let his concentration slip when transformed. His body just floated wherever. He looked around, and after finding the room's owner, Han Li Caster, fast asleep, he left.

It took a minute, but eventually, he found his room.

This ability was something else, he thought. He had to get used to the desire to wander and learn to use it efficiently. He could see so many uses for utility alone, and it would be incredible in battle regardless of its lack of direct damage-dealing capabilities.

For example, he could use it to create light when it was dark. He focused on his soul. He commanded the fog to recede a bit. His sword was left pure and bright, like his soul. He held it up, and it was like a luminous memory. He smiled a strange, foggy smile.