Chapter 9 - Testing oneself

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The ringing of explosions could be heard in the distance. Boulders the size of small cars were being picked up, tossed left and right by a humanoid silhouette standing in an open plane, filled with rocks.

This silhouette was naturally Spencer. He was currently clearing out a path, casually throwing boulder after boulder out of the way as if they weren't even there to begin with. Creating a pathway with him in its center.

.

.

.

.

Finishing up, he created a path that stretched 70 meters in length, purely out of the boulders in the area.

"Mhm!" Holding a boulder over his head, Spencer was visibly proud of the results of his work.

Not satisfied with his current knowledge (or lack of) of his capabilities, he had created this path, as a means to test the limits of his speed, wanting to see how fast he could reach the end.

*THUD*

Placing the final boulder behind him, Spencer leaned against it, crouching into a running position.

Taking in a deep breath, Spencer focused his maximum strength into his legs. This caused his lower half to morph into its reptilian form, growing in length and becoming digitigrade.

To maximize his start off, Spencer decided to morph his arms as well, causing them to expand exponentially. Leaning forward, with the aid of his now morphed arms, Spencer went into a deeper, more feral crouching position than before.

"3" Spencer began to count down, tensing his muscles simultaneously building up pressure.

"2" His body was now beginning to flare up. The muscles expanding from the stored energy radiated off immense heat.

"1" On the last count, Spencer released a deep primal growl.

"FWOOSH!"

He vanished without a sound.

*BOOM!*

Soon after his disappearance, an explosion rang out, shattering the rock Spencer was braced on. Debris was sent flying as the shockwave released from his launch was equivalent to hitting the rock with 20 pounds of TNT.

Spencer was not seen at his intended mark. In actuality, he had launched himself up to two miles away from it, only stopping when he imprinted himself on the side of a nearby mountain.

*GROAN*

Spencer released a groan as he pulled himself out, brushing the dirt off of himself, looking behind him to see that he was far beyond his intended target.

"Well… damn…" he said, shocked by the distance he covered in such a short time.

Turning around, Spencer began running, gradually transitioning into a sprint this time choosing to not activate his demi-human form. He didn't want to overshoot the distance again.

On his way back, he came across a creature that he was a little too familiar with. This creature was the tank-like dinosaur he had met earlier in his journey when he was on the other side of the fields, hunting.

This creature had deeply imprinted itself in Spencer's mind; the memories of the pain and humiliation he felt as it slammed its tail into his back, temporarily paralyzing him, filling him with a rage that he fought he had forgotten.

Seeing that the creature did not notice him, and continued to leisurely feed on the grass, Spencer immediately morphed his legs into its more digitigrade form, running up to the creature to engage in a shoulder charge.

*BANG!*

Ramming into the creature's side, the force of the impact carried the two a few feet from the creature's initial position, knocking it back.

The creature was startled by his sudden charge, disoriented from the impact. Spencer then reverted his legs to normal.

He glared at the creature, waiting for it to regain its composure.

The creature recovering its senses looked at Spencer with anger in its eyes. Wasting no time, it spun around, aiming its blunt tail at Spencer's right side.

*CLANG!*

The tail of the creature hit Spencer, bouncing off as if it collided with an incredibly hard surface, leaving only a small brew on his right arm, vastly different from his first experience.

Looking in shock, the creature viewed Spencer's eyes, growing intimidated. It swung its tail at him for a second time, this time with even more force carried behind it.

Sensing that the creature's attack held more power in its swing, Spencer agilely ducked out of the way, effectively dodging the blow. The creature's swing throws it off balance.

Noticing the chance, Spencer morphed his hands into claws and pounced.

*SLASH!*

Aiming to end the fight quickly, Spencer lunged at the neck of the creature, cleanly separating its head from its body.

*THUD*

"Huh? That's it?"

Not expecting this to happen, Spencer was shocked.

He did not expect this, he did not expect to kill the creature he had lost so horribly too, in just one fell swoop.

"I guess I did become stronger…" Spencer began to truly acknowledge his changes.

Walking up to the corpse of the creature to absorb it, it began to liquify as he drew near, floating towards him and fusing with his body.

After a few seconds, the assimilation process finished. Spencer's body began to vibrate. His back morphing into its demi-human state and slowly changing, growing a layer of thickened skin, covered in the bone-like protrusions scattered across its surface.

His tail also began to grow out of his body, ending with a thicker, more blunt accessory with a spiky point at its end.

Analyzing the upgrades his body went through, he undid all the changes, reverting to his human form.

"That should be enough."

Spencer began walking, no particular destination in mind, just wondering to see where his next challenge would be.