Chapter 54: A Sort of Domino Effect
A Sort of Domino Effect
Momentum truly was a curious thing.
It wasn’t a concept Mike actively paid much attention to, if at all. To him, movement had always been an instinct. To lift something heavy, walk, dodge, run, and so on. However, with Crimson Ladder guiding his energy through every muscle, his view on momentum was slowly shifting. It wasn’t simply motion, but something that compounded. Move after move, step after step, every movement added weight to the next, like beating drums that only grew louder with each hit.
His energy flowed faster now, moving through his Pathways like a strong current. Each time it moved into a muscle, his body responded as it was guided into precise motions the style demanded. Punches, kicks, spins, it was as if the energy was shaping his form as he moved, shearing away waste, and pushing him towards efficiency.
At first, it felt a bit clumsy, like an odd dance with too many steps. But as his speed picked up, the dance became sharper and morphed into something else. His limbs whipped out like blades, every strike carrying more weight than the prior.
And still, he only got faster.
The sensation was borderline addictive. Every swing bled into the next, and his body was no longer fighting for control, but simply riding along. He could feel the compounding effect in his bones. It was like every successful step became a spring, and every successful strike, when chained, was akin to an unstoppable storm.
However, the strain was starting to creep up as well. Beneath the rush, his muscles burned, and his tendons strained with each repetition, like a bowstring ready to snap.
It was at this stage that most people would start to slow down, or stop entirely. Their bodies too weak to handle the sheer pressure the style demanded, turning into fear of seriously hurting themselves.
But not Mike.
He didn’t stop, instead, he urged his energy to flow faster, as the more he did it, the more familiar he became with moving his energy through their Pathways, allowing him to execute each movement better.
His usually pale skin started to turn red, and his veins began to bulge all over his body as blood pumped violently. His heart was like a war drum, pounding in his chest like it was about to explode, and at some point, steam started to emanate from his body.
But in return, his movements were truly something else at this point. Now, every punch caused an audible whipping sound as his fists tore through the air, creating visible gusts of wind, and his movements started to become blurs due to the speed.
From an outside perspective, it looked like Mike was about to explode from the strain, like his blood vessels would pop and his muscles would come undone while his tendons snapped like overdrawn bowstrings.
However, there was a lot more going on beneath the surface.
You see, Lupines are very physical creatures, to the point where any form of adequate physical stimulation can–and will–in turn, stimulate their bodies greatly.
One should also remember that Lupines can transform into their wolf forms which are far superior to their humanoid form physically.
This physical strength doesn’t just appear, but is instead something that is dormant in all Lupines until they transform. Which is to say, a Lupine in the humanoid form still has all the strength they could get from transforming, but it can only be accessed in said humanoid form through certain things.
One example of this is when their ferocity increases, as the intense emotional stimulation causes the subconscious hold on their strength to wane as they give into their instincts.
But another way is for adequate physical stimulation, and right now, Mike was being stimulated quite a bit.
In other words, Mike’s body was way more sturdy than it looked.
If one were to view his status, they would observe all his physical stats slowly increasing, like a lid was gradually being pried off to let everything through.
This created an interesting situation. Whenever the momentum of Crimson Ladder elevated to a point where his body should have broken down, the subconscious limits on his physical stats were gently removed, just enough to keep the style going, up until the pressure grew too much, only for the lid to be lifted a bit more.
At this point, the steam from Mike’s body was so much that it made the training room resemble a sauna, moreover, clear physical changes were occurring.
The more the lid was pried off, the bigger Mike slowly became. His clothes began to strain against his physique as the true extent of his muscles was slowly revealed, and tufts of white fur started to appear all over his body.
His fingernails sharpened into claws, and his ears started to turn pointy as his hands were slowly getting covered in fur, creeping up his arms until they stopped at his elbow.
Despite the gradual transformation, though, Mike’s ferocity wasn’t rising. So while he was certainly distracted, he wasn’t losing any control. Instead, all his attention was focused on what he was doing.
’Almost there. Almost there.’ He repeated inwardly as he felt himself approaching some sort of precipice. At this point, every strike he made created an audible ’boom’ as they temporarily created vacuums in the air, and his clothes were slowly becoming undone under the pressure.
Mike wasn’t sure what precipice he was reaching. He felt like it was both from the style and also from himself, but what that meant? He didn’t know. He just wanted to reach it.
His blood flowed through his veins like molten metal, and every breath he took released torrents of steam into his surroundings.
His ears had now shifted to become fully wolf-like, and behind him from his tail bone, a furry appendage had sprouted out, but it in no way impeded his movements. If anything, it simply made his balance better, making his strikes even more devastating as his stability increased.
His eyes glowed blue as they stared forward, unfocused but steady.
He didn’t even notice the faint chimes that were system notifications, his mind solely focused on crossing that line.
And then, it was like something clicked.
Mike suddenly stomped, his energy building and building before reaching a crescendo as his body arched like a taut bowstring, and with a yell that sounded more like a roar as he punched forward, his form immaculate as his fist flew forward.
A powerful blast sounded out as a wave of pure energy erupted from his fist in a straight line like a beam, smashing into the wall and creating a deep crack as the whole room shook.
"Haa... Haa..." Mike panted as he stared forward, his mind slowly coming down from the blissful high it had been in moments ago.
For a few seconds, he just stared, his body frozen like a statue as his eyes glued to the cracked wall as his mind replayed everything that had happened.
Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
A torrent of steam followed this exhale, and his body visibly relaxed as the tension slowly subsided, however, he took a look at his body, and his eyes widened with surprise.
"What the?!" He exclaimed as he took in his appearance.
He’d grown a solid 5 inches taller, and his muscles looked a lot more robust. However, what caught his attention wasn’t that.
He stared at his hands which were now covered in fur and resembled paws more than anything. His fingernails had grown out to be a few inches long, and each one was both razor sharp and durable looking. The fur went up to his elbows, and despite looking soft, Mike could feel that there were quite durable, in more ways than one.
He then reached up and felt at his ears. Gone were the round human ears, as in their place, pointed wolf-like ears that were covered in white fur sat atop his head, their interiors a distinct and soft pink.
Mike swallowed and looked backwards, and there it was. A white tail covered in fluffy fur stretched from behind it. Mike subconsciously reached forward and grabbed it. He immediately felt how closely connected it was to his spine, but oddly enough, it wasn’t as sensitive as he thought it would be.
He subconsciously tried to move it, and to his surprise, the appendage swayed slightly, and Mike felt oddly self-conscious, though he didn’t know why.
Mike stood there, stunned for a few seconds as everything came at once.
"... System?" Mike asked tentatively after taking several deep breaths.
[Check your notifications.] The ethereal construct said flatly, and Mike blinked before frowning slightly. The system sounded almost... annoyed?
Mike decided not to dwell on it, and while he wanted to inspect his condition more, his curiosity was greater, so he checked what notifications he had received, and... holy crap there were a lot of them.