ALL NOVEL Chapter 52: The Mess We Have Now
[Congratulations! You have earned enough PP to level up. You can choose 2 aspects of yourself to enhance via Evolution. See options?]
To his delight, it appeared that being able to choose two options last time hadn’t just been a fluke or reward specific to level 11 after all. Not needing to see the full list, he quickly thought about the two aspects he wanted to enhance.
Mane: darken. Strike, power.
When the message came up to question if he was sure, he confirmed his choice.
[You have 1 new ability available to be acquired. New ability: Crushing Bite (T0). Would you like to acquire this ability?]
He wasn’t surprised that it was a T0 ability – all the hyenas had had it, after all. Still, from his experience so far, that didn’t mean it was useless; quite the reverse potentially. Curious, he focussed on the name, wanting to see the description.
[Crushing Bite (T0): Enhance the crushing power of your jaws. Consume stamina to increase the power you apply to a bite. Power increase can range from +5% to +50% at level 1, consuming an appropriate amount of stamina per second, relative to the increase in power chosen. Both power increase and amount of stamina consumed may change as the skill level increases. Acquire ability?]
‘Sounds interesting.’ For once, it wasn’t Dominic who had the first reaction, but Leo.
‘It might require a bit of a different strategy than our recently used one of quick in, quick out,’ Dominic mused.
‘There’s no time indicated here,’ Leo pointed out. ‘Enhance our bite as you close your jaws, rip and crush their flesh and bones, and then leap away. In fact, it seems more like the longer we use the ability, the more stamina it consumes. I don’t see why it couldn’t just be part of our normal strategy.’
‘True,’ Dominic admitted. Agreeing to the acquisition of the ability, he finalised the level up.
The familiar energy poured through him, making him feel like he’d had the combination of a refreshing nap, a jolt of caffeine, and a cool breeze that wiped away an ache he hadn’t even realised was there. The lingering pains that remained from the fight he’d just been in were healed and his fur cleaned.
‘I love levelling up,’ he sighed to Leo. The lion mind seemed to agree just as fervently, apparently having enjoyed his own type of boost. Opening his status sheet, Dominic focussed on seeing the changes. The first bit came up as normal, but he was relieved to see that the rest of it was significantly truncated.
Status of Dominic Martin Cole / Leo
Species: Lion (body) / Human (mind), Two-Souled
Level: Evolved Beast Level 12 Tier 2 (Path of Evolution)
Progress to Evolution: 194/237 PP
Satiation level: 100%
Hydration level: 100%
Health Points: 500/500
Stamina Points: 170/170
Mana Points: 15/15
Quests: A Noble Endeavour; Regain what is Lost
Acquired Abilities:
Quick Strike (T0) level 2 (82% –> 85% to level 3) – 3 SP for +25% speed; 6 SP for +40% speed.
Crushing Bite (0% to level 1) – Use stamina to enhance the crushing power of your jaws. +5% - 50% Crushing damage for 3-60 stamina per second.
Defensive abilities:
- Mane level 2 (4-6 Slicing damage reduction, 2-4 Crushing damage reduction, 2-4 Piercing damage reduction (attacks to the relevant area)) +20% –> +30% charisma (for members of the same species)
Offensive abilities:
- Strike level 1 (+10 to Crushing or Blunt damage, +5 to all other physical damage types)
‘Huh, those worked out pretty well, then,’ Dominic thought at Leo. ‘Arguably I could cause some serious crushing damage.’ He worked it out. If he maxed out his new ability and dropped 60 stamina into a single attack, that would add 50% Crushing damage.
For a full bite, his Crushing damage ranged between 46 and 75 points. From his experience, that seemed to be based on where he bit: if he got a proper bite into the creature but it wasn’t in a vulnerable place, perhaps the meat of the creature’s leg or a bony area, he’d only cause up to 50 points of damage. If, however, he got the throat or hit an artery, he could easily cause upwards of 70 points of damage.
So, worst case scenario, if he hit a less vulnerable spot and got only 50 points of damage, Crushing Bite could add another 25 points of damage, bringing even an attack on a less-vulnerable spot into the range of a more vulnerable area. If he hit a vulnerable area, he could easily cause upwards of 100 points of damage, and that was just from Crushing; he also had his Tearing and Piercing damage types.
Arguably, if he timed it right and targeted the right spot, he could essentially one-shot a creature with his original health pool, causing enough damage that the creature would bleed out.
I wonder whether Strike is automatic or if I have to intentionally use it, Dominic wondered. It didn’t say; he’d have to test it out. Automatically would be great; an extra 10 points of damage to his Bite or Claws would be very welcome. Although would it work on my claws? They don’t normally cause Crushing damage, so perhaps it wouldn’t work. Or perhaps it would – it’s an addition, not a multiplication, after all.
He was going to have to test a bit. Perhaps I should reactivate the notifications which detail the damage I’m causing. They’d been too annoying to have up most of the time – being able to see the health bar of the creature was much more convenient in the middle of a battle – but for the sake of knowing exactly what kind of damage was being caused, it might be a good idea.
‘Perhaps only do it in a fight which you are confident about winning,’ Leo suggested, sensibly.
‘Good idea,’ Dominic admitted. He didn’t want to be distracted by working out damage when he was in a fight for his life again. He didn’t always choose the fights he got into – the last two being a case in point – but it did happen.
The other changes were much as he’d expected – an improvement to his charisma to other lions and a little bit of improvement in Quick Strike. He was a bit surprised that he hadn’t got any further defensive benefits from his mane when he’d had them before. I’m never going to understand this, he moaned mentally. Unfortunately, there was no sympathy from Leo.
‘Try going from a simple life as an apex predator in the savannah to the mess we have now and see how you like it,’ the lion groused. Put that way….
‘Shall we stay here or keep moving?’ he asked, wanting to change the subject. ‘I don’t want a dungeon to claim the…pink elephant before we get there, but if we stay here a bit longer, we could gain some more Prey Points, maybe even another level up. We’re not far from the next.’
‘I would recommend moving,’ Leo replied. ‘We will probably gain enough kills to increase our level as we come across other Beasts.’
Since Dominic agreed with him, they didn’t spend any more time debating the subject. Taking a moment to get his bearings, Dominic headed off in the direction he’d been heading before he was distracted by the zebra herd earlier that night. It seemed odd to think that it was probably only just in the small hours of the morning, assuming time hadn’t changed with the System’s arrival. The hours had been rather packed.
Still, the position of the…wait. How many moons? Dominic paused and twisted his head this way and that, just confirming what he could see. The moon which looked identical to the one which had always orbited Earth had been accompanying him the whole night and was hanging above Dominic’s head, its light illuminating the night.
On the horizon, however, were another two moons, barely a paw’s width of space between them. By his standards, anyway – in fact it was probably miles that separated the two celestial bodies. How didn’t I notice that before?
Neither of them was quite as bright as Earth’s moon, one with a reddish tinge; the other with a greenish one. Could the first be Mars, suddenly brought closer? Dominic wondered. The second, however, was clearly not one of the planets in the same solar system as Earth; he didn’t remember any of them having that particular greenish tinge.
Could there be vegetation on that planet? Or is it a mineral in the soil, like the iron on Mars? It was unlikely he was going to get an answer to that any time soon, if at all. More possible to determine was the next question that came to his mind: had Earth somehow…moved? Outside of its usual orbit, anyway.
Dominic wasn’t any sort of astronomer but he gazed up at the star-filled sky above looking for any of the constellations he was familiar with. However, as much as he searched the sky, it all looked completely unfamiliar. I know that I’m in the Southern hemisphere and they can see different stars from the Southern hemisphere, but surely there should be some recognisable constellations?
But there weren’t. The sky was beautiful, the lack of cloud cover or light pollution revealing the glittering garment of night which enveloped the world. But among all the points of light, there was not one constellation which Dominic could identify. Suddenly he felt very alone and lonely in the middle of the savannah where even the sky was foreign.
A shiver went down his spine from his neck to his tail tuft. He quickly redirected his gaze, the sight of the sky suddenly too overwhelming.
Let’s keep going, he said needlessly to Leo, just to avoid the silence even in his own mind. Pushing himself to all four paws again, he continued walking, his gaze studiously focussed on the terrain around him, not venturing above the sky-line.
*****
‘What do you think?’ Dominic asked Leo as he surveyed the area in front of him. He had just climbed carefully through the rocks on the side of a kopje, mounting to the top. Although it wasn’t the highest hill in the area, it did offer a decent view of the valley and kopje beyond. ‘Do you think it’s what we’re looking for?’
The question was about the trees and vegetation facing them. None of it was something Dominic recognised. The vegetation was some sort of broad-leafed variety that didn’t look as if it had any place in an area that was as hot and dry as the savannah. The trees, however, were more similar to the pine trees which might be found in one of Earth’s snowy biomes. Alien growth for sure.
That wasn’t what had piqued Dominic’s interest; it was the sheer size of them that made him wonder. Being probably-alien flora, it wasn’t like he could really compare these items to those he’d previously seen. He could, however, compare the two sides of the small valley between the rock ridges. The ones on Dominic’s side were small, the vegetation not even reaching his shoulders. The ‘trees’ were about twice his height when on his rear paws, but no higher.
The trees and vegetation on the other side of the valley were at least three times that.
‘Do you think we’ve found a Place of Power?’ asked Dominic eagerly.