After a short while, I work it out.
[You can use Skill Points to purchase new Skills or upgrade existing ones.]
[Biomass can be spent to improve or modify aspects of your physical, monstrous form.]
[Skills available to purchase:
Stealth: Cost 1 SP. Improves your ability to hide and move unseen.
Mana Manipulation: Cost 1 SP. Allows you to control Mana with your mind.
Defensive posture: Cost 1 SP. Improves the ability to protect yourself.
Leaping Strike: Cost 1 SP. Increases damage and proficiency when making a jump attack.
Demon Fury: Cost 1 SP. Channel the rage of demon-kind to increase damage.]
[Body improvements available to purchase:
Demon Eyes +1: Improves eyesight.
Infernal Claw +1: Hardens and sharpens your claws.
Purgation Maw +1: Improves the strength of your bite.
Tar Hide +1: Toughens and thickens your hide.
Pocket Stomach +1: Improves the capacity of your pocket dimension stomach.]
Interesting…
I wonder if these Skills have a threshold? And these were the Skills available to me right now? Leaping Strike sparks some parallels. Is it available by default or did it appear as a response to my actions? For now, I don’t see the purpose of purchasing Stealth, I’ll rely instead on my own natural instincts and take different options to increase my offensive power. If there’s one thing I’m comfortable with, it’s stealth.
As for the body improvements… This requires careful thought. Only an idiot would rush a decision like this.
Eyes I dismiss. What’s needed in this situation is pure combat power. I’m in a fight for my survival, not an easter egg hunt. After some consideration, I purchase the Leaping Strike Skill, and three upgrades for my infernal claws, which consumes all of my Biomass. After I confirm my choices with the gruff voice in my mind, a strange sensation overcomes me. Knowledge seeps into my brain like liquid being poured straight into my memories. How to leap, when to leap, the best angles to use. Much of it aligns with what I’m already aware of, except it’s now being applied to my new body rather than a human form.
As to the claws, a slight tickling sensation was all I could feel as they changed shape in front of my eyes. They grew a little longer, a little thicker, and perhaps a touch sharper on the edge. These are all advantages that I can use in my next fight. Having spent my resources, it’s time to continue scouting my surroundings. If I’m lucky, I may even run into another morsel that I can use to fuel my growth…
Or better yet, observe others of my kind to see how they interact. I should also make use of the Skills I’ve yet to investigate, namely this Mana sight. If some strange form of magic exists in this odd world, then I must understand it.
Levering myself out of my hiding place, I skulk through the dips and cracks between the rocks, every so often poking my head up to examine my surroundings. Less than a minute into my exploration, I notice another of my kind creeping about the rocks.
More prey? Before I can reposition myself to properly observe this specimen, I notice another has emerged somewhere behind me. Not good. Unwilling to be seen, I hide my presence and skirt several rocks to circle around and put both of the demons on the same side of me. If they’re going to fight, I want them to fight each other rather than me.
Except there’s now a third. It’s burst out of the ground right behind me, clawed hands scrabbling and shoving at the stone as it drags its body upward. I turn swiftly, cursing my bad luck. I can’t move quickly enough to hide before it sees me; the best I can do is face up to it and see what happens!
After another second of freeing itself, the newly born demon larva locks eyes with me and freezes. Then it screams and launches itself at me, claws extended for my face.
Well, that answers that question…
29. Live Evil, Part 4
Name: Odin Malum
Leveclass="underline" 4 (I)
Might: 45
Toughness: 36
Cunning: 31
Wilclass="underline" 32
HP: 58/72
MP: 0/0
Skills:
Demonic Convergence level 1 (I); Penetrating Bite Level 2 (II); Advanced Demon Claw Level 3 (II); Crawl Level 1 (I); Mana Sense Level 2 (I); Leaping Strike Level 3 (I)
Mutations:
Demon Eyes + 1; Infernal Claw +4; Purgation Maw +4; Tar Hide + 1; Pocket Stomach +3
Species: Initial Demon Larva
Skill Points: 1
Biomass: 9
Clinging to the wall, I take a few moments to breathe. Thirty metres up, I was mostly clear of the ruckus below, though at any moment, more of my species could emerge and begin to fight. After the second confrontation, things had taken a downhill turn and conditions in this area had deteriorated at an alarming rate.
Turns out that Initial Demon Larvae are innately hostile to each other. Not only had I been jumped by the creature which emerged from behind me, forcing me to engage in a sudden battle to the death, others had revealed themselves and had immediately set about a noisy melee, clawing, biting, and screaming at each other.
Which would have been manageable, except for the noise having attracted more larvae. In less than a minute’s time, the entire plateau of blasted rock on which I’d emerged was covered in a roiling brawl in which absolutely no quarter was given. That’s not how I operate. I like things to be a bit more planned, a little more orderly.
Without any option, I was forced to get my hands dirty and seize what I could as I fought my way out. I’d sustained wounds in the process, but they healed at an accelerated rate after I further consumed Biomass, which I did whenever I could. It was difficult, though, since the moment a fight was won, every larva nearby would abandon their own conflict to seize the Biomass for themselves. The moment nothing remained, the brawl would break out all over again. What little food I’d managed to gain had been used to fuel my recovery and upgrade my weapons. Offence trumps defence.
After fighting clear of the mess, I climbed the nearby wall, and now I finally have a chance to survey the area. Looking down, I can still see hundreds of other demon larvae locked in mortal combat, every crevice of black stone home to at least one such battle.
They are bestial, mindless creatures, without any sort of cunning or strategy. All they do is fight, seemingly without end and without purpose, though I believe I may discover something in the near future which might shed some light on the matter. Already, some of the creatures below are showing some level of dominance. Strong enough to win a fight and seize parts of the spoils to develop themselves, using the Biomass to enhance their strength and press their advantage.