Artistic Slashing Ch.11 (Patreon)

Chapter Eleven

An Evolving Situation.

Betty stared at the words, the world still frozen and unmoving.

“What the Hell is a class evolution?” She asked.

Class Evolutions are offered at-

First Class - Level 25.

Second Class - Level 50.

Class evolutions allow the Class to change and gain new abilities or specialties.

Proceed?

“Sure, why not?” Betty stared around, noticing a small pine needle caught in mid-air as the world froze.

Current Class:

Slasher

Rare Quality

Skills -

Slasher Step, Slasher’s Senses, Slasher’s Regeneration.

Do you wish to evolve?

Or discard and choose a new class?

WARNING: Discarded Classes can not be reclaimed now or later.

“Evolve!” Betty snapped. There was no way she was giving up her immortality-granting class.

Evolution Options:

The Avenger:

None shall stand in the way of your rightful Justice!

Noble Quality

Added Skills -

Judgment Stare

The Incarnate:

You are the essence of Evil, of Malice, of Fear.

Uncommon Quality

Added Skills -

Torment, Torture.

The Creature:

You came from the stars to consume the world.

Celestial Quality

Added Skills -

Consume Prey, Shift Form, Spawn.

The Supernatural:

You are of nightmares, of shadows, and of blood.

Celestial Quality

Added Skills -

Spectral Form, Uncanny Knowledge, Bloody Bounty.

You may sacrifice 2 or more options for a chance at a Unique evolution…

A voice prompt is required to continue…

Betty looked at her options. The Avenger was right out. There was no way that she was some avenging angel type. This had been a special case. Call it her ‘Origin Story.’

The Incarnate was similarly ridiculous. She was not the essence of evil type. She liked cute fluffy animals and shit like that. Also… who chose that option besides lunatics and edgy, desperate types?

The Creature class was interesting. The system had obviously noticed the whole eating Bossy incident. The skills, Consume Prey and Shift Form, also sounded ridiculously fun… but the Spawn one was not happening. She would still consider it; I mean, who didn’t want to shapeshift a little?

That left The Supernatural. Betty was more on board for this one. She had already returned from the dead, so Spectral Form sounded great. It would probably let her pass through walls and stuff. But, on the other hand, uncanny knowledge sounded like it would overlap with her Xenoarchaeologist class skills, which was not great… and who knew what Bloody Bounty did?

None of them were quite right…

“Sacrifice The Avenger and The Incarnate,” Betty said finally.

Are you sure?

Sacrificed Classes will not show up again in later Evolutions

Or Class choices.

“I’m sure,” Betty replied.

Resulting Class projected as… Celestial Rarity.

Sacrifice more classes to increase Rarity.

Betty chewed her lip as she hesitated. She didn’t know the whole Rarity thing but assumed the higher, the better. She looked at her two remaining options. They both had skills she wanted, and they both sounded good.

But that Spawn thing… the mental images alone made her feel ill.

“Sacrifice The Creature,” Betty said quickly before she could change her mind.

Resulting Class is projected to be… Unique Rarity.

Sacrifice more?

“No!” Betty snarled. She only had one choice left.

New Evolution Option:

The Shifting Slasher:

There is more to you than meets the eye…

Unique Rarity

Added Skills -

Shift Form, Adapt, Lair.

“Fuck, yes!” Betty said as she read the description, “Gimme.” She mentally drooled at the description alone.

Accept Class Evolution to

The Shifting Slasher?

“Yes!” Betty snarled. Pain exploded in her mind as her body convulsed. Dropping to her knees and throwing up as the pain rolled over her in waves. A series of cracks and pops sounded throughout her body as she screamed silently, in too much pain to even make a sound. Finally, it slowly started to recede after what felt like a lifetime of pain.

As Betty gasped on the ground, she read about her new class.

Class: The Shifting Slasher

Retained Skills -

Slasher Step, Slasher’s Senses, Slasher’s Regeneration.

Skill: Shift Form -

Temporarily assume a new form, lasts for up to 5 hours.

You can only assume the form of a creature you have killed and eaten.

Cooldown - 10 hours or 1 kill.

Skill: Adapt -

Make permanent changes to your form. You may revert those changes only with another use of Adapt.

Cooldown - 3 days, or 3 kills.

Skill: Lair -

Place your lair in an area of suitable size, allowing for access to personal belongings and privacy.

When not placed, your Lair is not available for use.

Cooldown - 1 week, or 20 kills.

Note: Shifting Slasher has changed your Species to Metamorph.

“It did fucking what?” Betty yelled. She was not human anymore… her mind refused to accept the message. “I’m a fucking human!” Betty snarled. “What the fuck is a Metamorph anyway?”

Metamorph -

An organism that has undergone changes to its physical form, especially through the use of magic, ritual, or other supernatural means.

A sub-species of The Fae.

Betty rocked back and forth, breathing as slowly as she could. Big deep breaths that was key. She was a Slasher; they didn’t have panic attacks. To distract herself, Betty felt at her skills. Shift Form was there; with raised eyebrows, she noticed it apparently worked retroactively. In addition to the form of a Bovinian, she also had the form of a chicken available.

And a trout.

Thanks for that, Grandad. He had taught her to fish and to kill her own dinner. Those weekends were not exactly fun at the time, but at least she wasn’t squeamish.

Betty made her way over to the showers, stripping off and taking her first relaxed shower in ages. Once she was done, Betty collapsed into the bed in Bossy’s room. Pulling the blanket over as much of her as possible, she slept.

====================

Betty woke a few hours later; the higher her level, the less she needed sleep. The change had taken it out of her, though. Struggling into another pair of shorts and another of Jock’s tee shirts, Betty paused. She still had an entire night and most of the following day before the bus turned up.

There was time.

Betty activated Shift Form, choosing the Bovinian form. She yelped as her height dropped about two feet. She had been getting bigger with each level up after fifteen. Her feet clumped and shifted, becoming hooves, as a tail grew out of the base of her spine. That wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the feeling of growing an extra breast. It was ridiculously unbalancing.

She fell on her face and scrambled to get up. Even the sudden changes could not fight against her improved stats for long… in minutes, she was striding back and forth, laughing as she chased her tail.

A tail was quite fun.

The best part was not the tail, the hooves that spared her feet, or even the fact she no longer needed to watch her head. The best part was the clothing that fit. The shorts hugged her nicely, without any feeling of tightness. And the tee… it hung off one shoulder, a veritable tent.

Wasting no time, Betty stepped out and got used to walking on hooves in the forest. It was actually easy, the two halves shifting to keep her foot comfortable.

Running was a breeze, the complex ankle giving a nice bouncy feeling.

Two hours later, Betty reluctantly got to work, raiding the Cafeteria’s stores for any remaining water and food that she could eat. To her delight, the grass chips were quite tasty in this form. Once she had gathered all she could, Betty packed it into a large, by Bovinian standards, backpack she found in Jock’s Cabin. Popping it on her back, Betty got a canoe out of the boat shed and hopped in. With her stats, she shot across the lake, laughing as she made it skip across the water like a motorboat.

With a last look around her cliffside hideaway, Betty packed away the Bossy Jerky into the backpack and headed back. She had just gotten onto the dock when she shot back up to her full height; her Shift Form had run out.

“Ow, Fuck!” Betty cursed as she looked down at her bare feet. She had enjoyed the hooves.

Walking comfortably was an underrated pleasure.

There were still five hours on the cooldown. Slipping on the backpack, she walked into the forest, heading for the mine.

“Bloody hell, I miss shoes,” Betty grumbled, eyeing the timer for her Shift Form. She had gotten used to the feel of stones and grit beneath her feet when she was forced to go barefoot after the fire. The hooves had made her remember what she was missing. Finally, after another hour or so, Betty arrived at the mine shaft. It was strange, smelling the Bovinians’ scent in here. It had been the first place she felt any form of safety in this world.

Her hopes for recovering her clothing were dashed immediately. The bastards had been busy; every bit of clothing had been shredded. Betty looked at the remains of her only clothes from Earth.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

It was surprising what effect losing a simple pair of jeans and some hiking clothes could have. It was her last tether to what she had been.

She wasn’t on earth anymore, and maybe never would be again.

And she wasn’t even human.

She was a killer. A mass-murdering killer.

And she wasn’t even human.

Nothing was left of her old life.

And she wasn’t even human.

If any part of her was still the same woman who first arrived in this world, it died as she looked down at the ruin of her clothes. As she turned away from the scene, her feet changed. Her first step on the path ahead of her was taken on hooves.

They were good hooves, larger than the ones the Bovinians had. The design might have been essentially the same, but her Adapt skill seemed to improve the design with a little of her own body's structure. Her powerful legs gave them some extra power as well. Betty spun, kicking out at a tree. Her hoof splinted the trunk, and the tree fell, crashing to the floor as Betty’s delighted laugh echoed through the forest. Betty kicked at the rock wall of the mineshaft, and a crack appeared in the stone. Another kick, with all her might, and the cracks spread. A groan sounded out.

Betty kicked once more, Stepping out of the shaft as the entrance crashed down. Betty grabbed the backpack and walked back toward the camp. It was time to grab a shower and a nap.

She was done with the Summer Camp.

It was time to see what this world had to offer.