Chapter 13
Alric could feel the energy flow and weave as the concept seemed to carry the blueprint of what Alric wanted. The spiders' fangs. He could almost picture how they worked how venom was produced, stored, and then pumped through two long hard fangs. Alric pondered where to place these new weapons. He didn't want them on his face as they would look weird and be rather inconvenient.
The thought of himself with pincers was rather comical. Alric thought of how he fought, he punched his way through almost every fight. Could he give himself poison knuckledusters?
He tried. He could feel the necessary glands aligned in his arms. The venom would lead down between the knuckles of his fingers and into the two curved fangs that now jutted between his three fingers. They reminded Alric a bit of Wolverines claws…but these weren't made to cut. These fangs were from spiders. They were built for piecing in a pumping venom. Still, that thought gave Alric another idea. With some tinkering the fangs not only retracted back into his forearms but could spring out at some speed. Alric could already imagine the impact of this new weapon. He could land the punch and power his fang forward in one continuous move. This would allow him to literally punch his fangs into the target granting the fangs extra penetration.
The planed modification already had some issues. The fangs while hard were relatively brittle. The tendons and mechanism would be under significant more mechanical stress than when a spider bites down. Alric found a way to fix these problems with liberal use of Warg essence. The beasts had dense and tough bones. They also had strong and elastic tendons. He used nearly the same shape on the fangs as they needed to be mostly round to channel poison, but he reinforced them as the densest Warg bone he could. He also reinforced the rest of his skeleton slightly. He also ended up giving the claws fine serrated edges. They weren't thin but the serrations and new material made them viable if mediocre melee claws. The truly difficult part was converting all the remaining Warg essence into extra elastic and tough ligaments to reinforce the mechanism properly.
He didn't want it to hinder his arm or hands and to be as reliable as possible.
After the costly endeavor the remaining pool of energy swirled with much less. He had felt like the tithe was large before he began but now only a relatively small portion remained. The remaining tithe was still rather exciting, however. This was the reward for eating what he could of the Stone Trolls.
He could sense that the essence was highly compatible with his avatar. It flowed into his entire body, reinforcing his strength, durability, and even size. The only problem was how little of the energy there was. Each change was rather small before he ran out. Still every little bit helped. Alric really wished he was able to eat more of the Trolls before they turned to stone. After one last set of tweaks Alric appreciated his work. The claws would punch out of his forearms between the three knuckles of each hand. They came out a dark grey color after combining the black of the fangs and the white of compressed Warg bone. At full extension they latched into bone housings that provided anchoring and support. The slightly curved spikes jutted out of his fists by a foot. They looked savage. The whole incorporation had widened his forearms to make room.
If Alric wasn't looking for it in his near omniscient state he wouldn't have even noticed.
Overall, his toughness and strength were making steady progress, but the biggest leap was the natural weapons his new claws provided him. Unlike anything else Alric could think of for a weapon these would only add to his style of punching and brawling.
Once more the system ejected him from the space as soon as Alric decided he was satisfied. His body shifted and grew swiftly mirroring the changes he made in his dreams. His body grew by a few inches in minutes, his skin hardening ever so slightly more. And if anyone had been watching they would have seen two new lines opening like bloodless gashes between his massive fingers.
The beds under him gave a slight groan as the small hill of dense green flesh grew heavier.
Alric settled in for some rest.
His anticipated rest was disturbed after only a few short hours of slumber.
"Arise! We depart Alric."
The grim face of Thorin greeted the bleary Troll.
"What? Already?"
"Yes. I'd see us gone before our host can object to our purpose. You are welcome by our side." Thorin thrusted a large and slightly crumpled scroll of parchment at Alric.
"Here. Sign this and you will receive your portion of spoils from the venture."
Alric took the crumbled contract. It looked like a post it note in his hands.
"I'd like to make a special arrangement."
Thorin tensed but nodded for him to continue.
"I want to eat my fill of the dragon."
Thorin paused, eyeing Alric.
"You don't want a larger split of the gold…You want to…eat the Chiefest, and Greatest Calamity."
Alric nodded seriously. The power and improvements Alric could possibly gain from a dragon were massive.
"Ha, ha, ha. Very well Alric. I'll see to it. You help us get back Erebor, and you can eat as much of Smaug the Terrible as you want."
The grim dwarf smiled and chuckled as he retrieved the contract. The request seemed comical in its simplicity compared to the greed Thorin expected.
"Balin will amend the agreement. We move in an hour…be ready."
With surprisingly little commotion the dwarves gathered their belongings and made for the exit.
Alric was sure the elves noticed. Thirteen dwarves, a train of ponies, one hobbit, and a giant green troll were many things…subtle wasn't one of them.
I feel like a teenager sneaking out for a party. You know your parents know you're leaving. As long as no one acknowledges it the charade holds. Thanks for the hospitality, Elrond. We're off to storm the castle!
They were neither stopped nor questioned as they made their way out of Rivendell.
Bilbo hurried after Thorin, confused as to why we were leaving so abruptly.
"Thorin why are we leaving? Where is Gandalf and Radagast?"
Thorin gave no answer to the bewildered gentleman of etiquette.
Thorin gave no answer to the halfling.
"Don't worry he'll catch up to us."
"Yeah, no worry…he's Gandalf after all."
The little burglar didn't seem comforted, but he trotted after the group.
Alric decided to offer his comfort. He knew that Gandalf had caught up with the group just in time to save them from goblins originally. There was no good way to explain that to Bilbo so instead Alric reached a massive hand down and held it flat in front of him.
Bilbo looked up in confirmation before climbing on the small platform of my palm. Alric was careful to lift his smallest friend slowly as he placed him in his position of honor. From Alric's back the Misty Mountains loomed high. The majestic peaks were distantly crowned with what looked like the start of a fierce storm. Alric also looked to the next step in the path, much lay ahead. His steps did not falter as he walked forward.