Looking Fabulous

  Woodsmoke and the sharp ozone-like smell of spent chi lingered in the air, as Garuke sat hunched over in the dim light of the cave, bone needle flashing with practiced speed.

  The perfectly treated dark grey fur shimmered, a testament to the chi infusion imparted by Ken’s patent pending Chi-Tanning process.

  His left hand rose, reaching out, eyes staying glued to his work.

  Ken laid the freshly treated sinew from the leopard into the offered hand.

  Good thing it took so little energy to imbue that my regen is keeping up.

  Nevertheless, his Core cried with an unfamiliar dull ache, drawing an occasional twisting spasm.

  I can't believe I emptied my ball like that…

  Garuke deftly threaded the sinew through a bone needle, continuing the next stitch, barely missing a beat.

  Grabbing the other long thick tendon from the cat’s hind leg, he started Ken's Awesome Treating Process?.

  As the elastic fibers took on a shine, he noted the profound difference of his newly increased Core Capacity and Density.

  I feel ten feet tall right now, and strong as an ox.

  My mind feels sharp… relatively speaking.

  Standing to stretch his permanently aching body, his spine popped loudly in the small cave.

  And the constant pain from my remaining injuries seems manageable.

  Perfect.

  He watched as Garuke was expertly stitching the final seams of the armor.

  The entire process of cutting, shaping, and stitching the tough material only took Garuke a couple of hours upon waking, a testament to his practiced skill.

  The finished pieces lay draped over a warm rock: a suit of thick, supple leather.

  Ken lifted the pieces.

  A sleeveless gi with an attached hood, and a pair of loose martial artist style pants.

  All made from the thick shadow leopard pelt.

  The belts for both were finished with smooth, thin strips of the dark leather.

  Ken quickly pulled the gi on.

  The fit was exact, clearly tailored to his strong frame.

  Heavy, yet surprisingly flexible, it was designed to maximize his range of motion.

  Curiosity caused him to channel a small current through his body, and out into the velvety leather.

  A rumbling vibration echoed off the rock…almost like a deep purr.

  With a flash of heat it twitched and settled onto him, becoming a second skin.

  His hand ran over the silky shimmering fur.

  Thick and slick. This will do.

  Stepping outside, his pitiful supply of chi flowed.

  Blurring down the mountainside, he noted something truly incredible.

  …It's like wind and movement have no effect on it.

  When Ken moved with speed, the gi didn't create any drag.

  My clothes break the laws of physics... well, the old laws of physics.

  Fists cracked air, executing a series of quick punches.

  It flows with me.

  My own momentum isn't impacting the fabric.

  He recognized there must be numerous mechanics at play.

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  Garuke’s expert craftsmanship, aided by whatever aspect he was using.

  The cat had its natural Acceleration Affinity.

  On top of all that, it was absolutely filled to the brim with Momentum Chi…

  But still… It seems too perfect for me.

  The fabric was incredibly strong, and he knew he could now move at higher sustained velocities without fear of his clothing tearing itself apart or slowing him down.

  That doesn't matter yet, but eventually when I grow up and become big and strong.

  His fist slammed against his gi-covered chest, channeling a minimal burst of Momentum.

  The fur ruffled, effortlessly absorbing the energy of the blow.

  Yeah, it would work well against momentum.

  Who would have thought?

  Stepping into the shadowy corner of the crag, the dark grey pelt seemed to drink the available light.

  It blended into the shadows, making his profile nearly impossible to define against the background clutter.

  I could hide in ambush in the shadows…

  “Fuck all that, those days are long behind me.”

  An insane smile split his face.

  Garuke had been watching his antics with a reserved tusky grin, “Kun o tarkgrik truk karn.”

  The Pugilist furrowed his brow, and slowly nodded, “Yes. Tark-Grik. Warrior.”

  Garuke's stoic smile grew a tad larger.

  Ken felt like a new man.

  Not being mostly naked agreed with him.

  Wearing fur does make me feel pretty.

  With a smile, he turned to his personal tailor, “What you need? New armor? New weapons?”

  Garuke frowned and shrugged.

  But he did look down at his worn and battered wooden clubs, cocking his head to the side with a squint.

  Inspiration struck Ken like a knee to the face, “Idea! Wait here!”

  Hustling to the pile of bones from the big cat, he dug through the macabre pile.

  Paydirt.

  Weighing in at around 400 pounds when alive, the beast had been monstrous.

  With equally monstrous femur bones.

  About twenty-two inches long… perfect length.

  And they practically reek with Acceleration.

  They also just reek, but I’ll fix that.

  After going down to the water, using sand and superhuman speeds, he buffed and cleaned the bones.

  And now my hands are nice and exfoliated, win–win!

  Heading back to their enclosure, Garuke looked surprised upon spotting the bones.

  “Garuke, knife please.”

  He handed it over after only a brief pause.

  K… Now what do I do?

  He turned inward.

  When watching the Momentum Core, the twisting streams of power always wanted to make an infinity loop.

  So that's what he aimed to replicate.

  Falling back onto his skills at working with his hands, he carefully etched a smooth, twisting looping channel around each bone.

  The odd innate Acceleration Affinity laying within the bones did odd things to the blade.

  He could feel it suddenly churn, almost jerking the edge along.

  Quick reaction time, and constant vigilance, allowed him to pull the knife away whenever it decided to act up.

  Garuke spent the couple hours this took playing with his own chi and watching him.

  As he saw Ken stirring though, he sat up.

  “Here goes nothing.”

  Ken noticed Garuke seemed to struggle with that saying.

  Shrugging, he got on with it.

  Sighing, he pulled all the chi he had restored while painstakingly carving the primitive weapons.

  I… was… almost back to thirty percent.

  Ken’s head shifted up.

  Garuke stood calmly, open eyes looking back expectantly.

  …Nah… it's too late to kill him…

  Flooding the bones with his momentum, it looped faster and faster, running through the channel he carved.

  They vibrated with increasing intensity.

  Intuition was screaming at him.

  I’m missing something…

  Reverbrations built, starting to run out of control.

  The memory of Garuke’s odd chi wiggling through his body cut through his mind.

  So he threw them at him.

  “Garuke! Resonate!”

  Somehow the translation got through, or he just figured it out, because after he deftly caught them out of the air he immediately closed his eyes.

  Ken was mostly blind to the world, but he could feel the orc’s body rumbling with concussive thumps.

  The vibration quickly ramped up, then dropped to a low reverb.

  Humming, the chaotic flow came to a stop.

  Garuke opened his bloodshot eyes, looking at smoking bones.

  Walking over to the wall, he did a blinding quick drum lick.

  The air in the cave quivered, rattling with weak bouncing waves of sound.

  Shadowed fur rippled as if underwater, Ken’s gi parting the ocean of sound like a bow of a ship.

  The tall, gray orc turned, a huge smile splitting his normally stony face, “?Ut vok truk.”

  Ken nodded with the rhythm of the beat, matching the drummer's smile, “Yeah, it will kill."