ALL NOVEL What Does Better Mean? – Chapter 219
With the plants figured out and the assumption that the critters would work in a similar fashion, all that was left was the monsters themselves. Which more than the other stuff, Doyle was really curious about what leveling up the pattern would even do. That seemed like a decent enough reason to drop in on Ally and find out if she had found anything on the subject.
A quick knock and Doyle’s guess is proven true as Ally invites him in and informs him, ‘If you’re here to ask about patterns, I’ve found a few things.’
Doyle nods, ‘I’ve got the plants figured out and I’m sure the critters will work similarly so I’m going to work on monsters next. Have you figured out something about them since last time?’
Ally smiles, ‘That is one of the things. Since you reminded me about all the different sorts of patterns you have, I tried looking into other ways they are used and such. An example of this is a blacksmith with a high level sword pattern. Simple enough, right? A higher level pattern means a better quality sword.
‘Except it isn’t really all that simple. After all, what does better mean? Trying to have the most durable sword and you would end up with a metal sphere. If you focus too much on sharpness though and the sword is likely to be destroyed after the first swing either from brittleness or being so thin it doesn’t even cut, instead bending out of shape. Plus, all that doesn’t even take the mystical side of things into account.
‘Instead of a high level pattern making some perfect sword, it instead guides them in making the best sword they can for the situation. For instance, a sword user commissions a sword. The blacksmith will have them swing a sword to see how they hold it and if their previous sword is available, take a look at that and judge things by how it has been worn with use. With that, they will be able to make a sword best for that sword user.’
Doyle, ‘Hmm, that makes some sense. Though with that in mind, what does the blacksmithing skill do? If the pattern determines how well you can personalize the sword, do you need the other? Also, how about monster patterns? Sort of what I came here to ask.’
Ally nods, ‘Good question and the answer is simple enough. You can think of the sword pattern like a skill that lets a person create a blueprint while the blacksmithing skill is what allows them to turn it into reality. It doesn’t matter how perfect the sword looks in the blacksmith’s mind if what they end up creating looks like a bent metal stick.
‘Also, the blacksmithing skill allows the use of higher quality materials. Of course, it isn’t like the system is going to physically take a chunk of adamantine out of a smith’s hands if they don’t have enough skill, but that bent metal stick from before is going to look beautiful comparatively.
‘Now, as for your monster patterns? I, hmm, it is tough. You aren’t like an artificer making a battlebot. With that, while the pattern is important to some degree, the bots depend more on the parts they are made of. Sure, the pattern will let an artificer figure out how to stick one more gun on their bot, but that is just adding the gun’s damage onto everything else.
‘About the closest normal profession I could find that used patterns in a similar fashion was the alchemist. Specifically, those who dabble in homunculi and cloning. I had to look into some of the stranger practices to really pin things down. Though you are actually in a good position to see someone using what I’ve found.’
Doyle sighs, ‘It is psionics, isn’t it? I’ve played, well, learned, a few roleplaying games in my time and while magic generally involved literal summoning of beings, psionics would generally also include constructs of the mind brought into existence.’
Ally laughs, ‘Got it in one! And while they can choose to create any sort of thing they want with that power, they can also solidify certain constructs into an actual pattern. Patterns which are the closest to what you have from what I have been able to research. Now, I’m sure there is some creation god out there who, as a mortal had what was basically a unique class path just for them that allowed the same sort of thing you do, but you don’t share paths.
‘The only reason so much is known about things like this is that while all paths are tailored to the one walking them, there will be similarities that crop up. Anyway, I guess I should tell you what their patterns actually do? Admittedly, I kind of have to point back to my example involving swords. After all, what is a better wolf?
‘The good news is that, unlike a sword, we have actual status panels to work with when we involve creatures. Of course, with the good news comes the bad. Because while yes, a wolf has a status panel, no matter how many you create or how many are bred from the ones you have, they’re all going to be the same. Sure, they won’t be literal clones, but the random mutations usually depended upon for natural evolution don’t happen to dungeon monsters.
‘That isn’t even a system thing. By creating them, you have basically taken a snapshot of what a wolf should be and they will naturally converge on that. Maybe you get a wolf cub who starts with an extra point of Strength, but by the time it has grown up it will end up matching every other wolf.
‘The psionic constructs match this limit, though of course they aren’t actually flesh and blood so I might be off on this. Anyway, the way the construct pattern gets leveled up is to pay attention while it is actually fighting and recognizing the small things. Then, as those small things happen and form a pattern, the pattern skill will start to adjust and level up to fix those things.
‘With the psionic stuff, the reason they can’t just wildly change things is because it will be considered a new pattern, though I suspect the same would work for you. Try and switch out a wolf’s front legs for wings and you’d end up with a wyvern wolf pattern or some such. Not that you could currently make such a large change, anyway.’
Doyle sighs, ‘I might actually be able to. Since we both realized I was forgetting something, I’ve been thinking things over while I babied along my wheat. Anyway, I didn’t remember what we had been thinking about, but I did remember some things I got on completing my last class path. So yeah, I’ve got a hundred monster pattern adjustment points. You guess is as good as mine on how much that is worth.’
Ally frowns, ‘I had completely forgotten those things. Well, you’ve got the pattern for wings and wolves, so why not give it a go?’
Doyle rolls his core to the side, ‘I’m not against a wyvern wolf, but I would really like to know what is behind these points. After all, I doubt dungeon cores outside of a system have them, at least in that form.’
Ally bites her thumb as she thinks, ‘That is a good point. Plus, you got them from your class path, which means they should be related to something core, heh, to being a dungeon.’
Doyle nods, ‘And of course the fact that I did manage to forget something that might be important is a little worrying. That and I am still forgetting something.’
Ally pauses and then looks a little guilty, ‘I could probably help with that.’
Doyle leans his core back, ‘Yes and at the same time you shouldn’t have to. It isn’t like anyone else has an assistant to keep track of their paths and abilities for them.’
Ally, ‘That isn’t completely true. Some parents will buy assistants for their children. It just isn’t for normal people. After all, such a position is for life and requires some heavy oaths. Oaths that are so heavy that they toe the line with being mind control. Besides that, most people don’t need it. A fighter will have a few attack skills and a blacksmith might have a lot of patterns but a quick look at their status will tell them what they have. No, this is for stranger professions. So yeah, I doubt there are too many professions stranger than being a dungeon core.’
Doyle sighs, ‘Fair enough. If you’re willing to keep track of all the strange options I have, that would be a great help. Do you need anything from me?’
Ally gestures at all the panels she has up, ‘I’ve basically got what I need here. You could ask the system to give me access to your status. That way, I can start tracking down all the information. To give you a sample and sort things out, I think I will look into all that goes into your kobolds. Anyway, give me some time and I’ll work on it. Oh, and since I’ve gotten into contact with Zela, I’ll ask her about the pattern adjustment points as well.’
Doyle nods, ‘Sounds like a plan. I’m going to go and set up the critters first to confirm things instead of heading straight to the monsters. If anything, I might learn something from them since they are still creatures, even if they aren’t monsters. Oh, and [System, I give permission to Ally to look at my status].’
{Permission granted to Ally Huxley to view Doyle Huxley’s Status}
Doyle laughs to himself over the message. It had been a while since his last name had been used. Almost felt like the system was telling him he had done something wrong like it was a disappointed mom. He hadn’t even been called Mr. Huxley before so the use was a completely foreign feeling to him.
Still, he needed to work on the critters and process any finished plant plots and so turned his attention to the ninth floor and pulled up his patterns.
{Horned Rabbit lv6, Prey Insect lv2, Horned Lizard lv2}
There were three. Sure, the prey insect pattern covered quite a large amount of ground, but Doyle could tell it was meant to be more general. It would likely split into a bunch of sub patterns with the prey insect becoming like how he has “Wolf Patterns” and “Herb Patterns” if he ever specializes on too many.
For the moment, though, it does make things easier. This was mainly through the fact that Doyle decided to ignore the insects since the only two he is currently using are ants and bees. Both of which have a more complicated life cycle involving a queen. At least lizards laid large batches of eggs and rabbits bred like, well, yeah. Of course, the reality of it was that the insects wouldn’t have been any more trouble, Doyle just wasn’t really thinking about it from the perspective of how much control he had over them.
Still, creating a rabbit paradise full of herbs and such to see what their horns would do took up enough time that Ally was ready to show him what she had cooked up for displaying the kobolds. Which was kind of a surprise to Doyle as Ally had said she was just doing the kobolds. There couldn’t have been that much to look through, right?
Though now that he thinks about it, there were a few odd bonuses floating around. For instance, he had that one bonus that only took effect when the monster was being commanded and gave a bonus equal to a fraction of one of the leaders stat. Not the most complicated, but it could easily complicate things. Though Doyle assumed that at least that bonus was going to be left off as it was more of a buff instead of an actual bonus.
‘Even your goats aren’t getting all that much. They’re keeping up only because they gained +5 stat points to their body stats each level, but all of that comes from a single path.