I was a mess! I was covered in blood and gore, and it was all I could do not to think about what I had just done. I was so glad for my battle focus skill, which allowed me to move forward without the weight of my actions dragging me down. I tried to justify it in my head. I wasn’t in control. How was I meant to know I would trigger the Hunger? But it all rang hollow, it was my avarice which led me to use all my EP instead of leaving 10%. I was so confident that nothing was going to be a challenge that I was going to steamroll through the emberfangs. If I had just been a bit more careful, I could have scouted out the place, and I would have known Xero’s capabilities. I was a fool to underestimate him because he was a weeb. When you really thought about it with this gamified system and all the crazy shit going on, a weeb was probably one of the best people to take advantage of this new life.
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I made my way back to the river where the fish had feasted on my remains. The whole time, my battle focus stayed activated, keeping my self-pity and dark thoughts at bay. I had fucked up, there was no denying that, but I couldn’t mope around. I promised Kiko I would rescue their people, and I would do just that. First, though, I needed to get the blood off me, and then I needed to power up.
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I reached the muddy bank of the river and noted that while most of the larger fish and critters had receded to the depths, my Divine title let me see those that remained clear as day. Their names are becoming clear to me.
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Goldy minion- Rank F
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At first, I thought that the system had given up on its naming convention, but then I took another look at the huge, man-sized fish. It was black on the top, so I hadn’t noticed before, but its sides were bright metallic orange like a… a goldfish! That’s when a sneaking suspicion came to my mind. The system was shit at naming or whatever governed it, but it wasn’t this shit. This was human levels of stupid. I looked out at the water, my eyes narrowing as that disturbing thought crossed my mind.
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I got a whiff of myself and forced my mind to go quiet. Using my Void Rend, I made short work of the remaining fish. Then, while the little ones came to feed on the corpses, I gave myself a good rinse. Several cracked and damaged scales fell away, their replacements already hardening underneath. After a few minutes, I’d gotten the worst of it off and was feeling a bit more like my old self. I launched myself into the canopy, scaring a troop of reptilian monkey-looking creatures as I took the tree for myself. They hissed at me a little, but when I bared my own impressive fangs, they turned tail and ran.
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For almost an hour, I just sat in that tree holding my Battle Focus against the onslaught of negative thoughts and emotions. I took deep breaths as the tide slammed into my defences again and again, each time growing weaker and taking a part of me as it receded. Once I felt some measure of calm return, I let out a big exhale and got to my feet on the large branch. I had lost an important fight and let down Kiko. I needed to make this right, and that meant doing this the right way!
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I had to think about the fight critically and see why I lost. The first thing that came to mind was that, despite my being on the cusp of perfect evolution, his stats were much higher than mine. That meant either one of two things. His items were giving him a boost, or he had evolved. There could have been other factors, but those two were the only ones I could think of. I doubted it was his equipment doing the heavy lifting, especially after seeing what they did with my divine title. Seeing how we progenitors got additional EP as our species grew, I guessed that he getting to evolution was possible, especially if he wasn’t going for the everything-perfect strategy I was. It probably made even more sense for him, as most of his abilities were boosted by his gear, even if his stats weren’t.
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That led to another thing to think about, equipment. I had one magic sword I couldn’t bring out the true power of, and some self-repairing clothing, not exactly the power boost of his whole set. I needed to see if I could awaken my sword; hell, I didn’t even know if it would accept Primal Force in place of mana. I summoned the door to my storage place, ready to enter, when I found myself hesitating. My sword was in there, and I just had to go in and grab it, but the idea of facing Kiko stopped me. I had promised that I couldn’t show myself in front of them. No, the next time I want Kiko to see me, I want it to be when I have succeeded. I did need to get my sword out of there, though. I focused on Wazeet's Golden Box, and I could see everything within it in my mind's eye. Kiko was frozen midway through getting up from the floor. At first, I thought she was frozen solid, but when I looked closer, it did appear she was moving, but it was barely perceptible. If it wasn’t for my enhanced stats and divine title, I doubt I would have been able to tell. I located my stained glass sword. Was on the floor by a pile of those big orange fruits I’d discovered that tasted like elderflower and chocolate. I opened the door right beneath the sword, making it just small enough for the blade to fall through, but seeing one of the fruits, I widened it so one of them fell through as well. I needed something to wash the taste of my unfortunate victims out of my mouth.
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I grabbed my sword with my tail and caught the fruit in my left hand. I clambered up to a more comfortable spot among the branches and sat down, munching the delicious fruit. It was time to see what all those system messages I had ignored when I was feral were about. A part of me dreaded what I was about to see.
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New Racial skill unlocked! - Devouring Maw
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Devouring Maw: You can swallow creatures and objects up to half of your size. Swallowed creatures' cores are automatically consumed,d and swallowed creatures increase your natural regeneration abilities and speed up Primal Force recovery. As you process a swallowed creature, you may gain insight into one of the creature's martial skills or spells. If an item is swallowed, you may gain insight into its creation or into creating new spells or martial skills. The chance of successfully gaining insight is equal to 0.2% x (wisdom + Intelligence).
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Wow, that was a useful skill! At least that was my thought until I remembered the goblins I had swallowed their muffled screams from my throat as my stomach acid slowly dissolved them. Maybe I’d stick to the items part of this. I was in no rush to swallow anymore folks. I willed the message away and focused on the next one.
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Solar Rejuvenation 1 has improved from Solar Rejuvenation 1 to Solar Rejuvenation 5
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Primal Font 1 has improved from Primal Font 1 to Primal Font 2
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Primal Font - level 2
Primal Force 30/30
Primal Force Regeneration: three Primal Force per Second (3PF/S)
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Solar Rejuvenation made sense; it had, with the aid of Devouring Maw, put me back together from only half a corpse. There was a skill I should have invested in earlier that might have stopped me from going berserk if I had healed before things became desperate. Primal Font, however, was a nice surprise. That fight had pushed me and my magic abilities, so it made sense that it would improve. I was disappointed that it just boosted my PF. I was hoping it would give me a new spell or give my old ones a power boost—more reason to get my head around that Free Channelling tome. Still, I had more messages to read, and so I pressed on.
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Monstrous Hunger 1 has improved to Monstrous Hunger 3
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Now that one made me sit up straight. I focused on the words with my Divine title, willing it to show me what the increase did.
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Monstrous Hunger 3 improvements:- As you improve this racial ability, you can gain greater control over the hunger. However, once hunger takes over, it will require more cores to satiate.
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I wasn’t sure what to think about it. On one hand, better control was definitely something I needed, but an extended period in that crazed state was not going to do me or the local ecosystem any good. I came to the consensus that better control was ultimately a good thing. If I could proactively use the Monstrous Hunger, it would be a game-changer for my combat prowess.
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Advanced affinity discovered!
You have gained the Advanced Earth Affinity - Lava!
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You have gained a weak fire affinity!
Well damn! That was a pleasant surprise! I had not realised that there were different tiers of affinities! It was easy enough to work out how I got the Lava affinity, and it must have been why I was able to handle heat so well. The Fire affinity, now that was interesting. When I checked my system, it soon became clear that the Fire affinity was a result of the Lava affinity. It turned out that advanced affinities were affinities that mixed one or more of the base affinities, and unlocking an advanced affinity also unlocked the corresponding base affinities, albeit at a weakened level.
My eyes widened as a realisation came to me. The lava skill core! I had been hesitant to use it due to the 'you might die' part of its description, but now with the lava affinity, surely that would have some effect, at the very least. It shouldn’t be fatal to me anymore. At least I was pretty certain it worked that way. Before I could change my mind or think too deeply about it, I opened a small doorway into my storage space, and the orb fell out and into my palm. I stared at its amber reflective surface and started to feel the doubts creeping in. Before they could settle, I grabbed the orb and swallowed it.
The effect of swallowing the orb was immediate. It erupted in my throat, melting into a liquid and leaving me with a sensation akin to eating the world's hottest pepper. My body instantly wanted to reject it, and I had to fight to get it down. When it finally settled in my stomach, the sensation changed. At first, it was a small warmth, but it grew and grew and grew until it felt like I had swallowed a bonfire!
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Devouring Maw activated! - Do you wish to consume Lava Skill Core [Y/N]?
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I’d forgotten about my newest racial ability. I hit yes, mentally giving it the go-ahead. Instantly, I was flooded with knowledge. I understood the fundamental process by which magic and lava interact. I understood that the strange energy form I took to be magic altered the lava's properties, making it behave like honey, becoming sticky and viscous. It also made lava retain its heat longer, so hours or even days could pass before it started to melt. I understood how it was formed deep beneath the earth by processes so alien to anything that had existed on earth before. For all intents and purposes, this Lava was a completely different substance from that which had existed on Earth before; the only similarities were the minerals and metals it contained.
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Devouring Maw -Successful!
New Racial ability created! Lava Production!
I opened my eyes and gasped as the knowledge of my new ability was burned into my mind.
Lava Production 1 - You gain the ability to produce lava from specialised glands in your finger tips and in the tip of your tail.
At first, the ability excited me, but I soon realised I had no way actually to control the lava. I could produce loads of the stuff, and it wouldn’t harm me. But I had no real way to use it other than throw globes of the stuff around. There had to be a better way to make use of this; I just hadn’t worked it out yet.
With that, my system messages were over at least the important ones. I ignored the ones about my kills and core consumption. I didn’t need the reminder of every creature I had slaughtered. No, now I needed to focus on getting strong enough to get back up that stupid mountain and drag that monkey king arsehole from his throne, and I had just the thing in mind. I think it was finally time to evolve!
