And there came a day unlike any other, when our world was invaded by monsters coming from strange light portals. That day, the survivors of our people found themselves locked in a strange place, similar to our city but in a limited environment: the Dungeon. Periodically, violent monsters appeared to attack us. But we have adapted, we have learned to use the mysterious “System” that governs the Dungeon, the portals between worlds and the new powers we have received. Alongside the other surviving nobles, I Xicackna fought heroically against the invaders, even accompanying the military force sent to their homeworld in order to end the threat.
However, these cruel monsters called “Humans” were given unfair advantages by this biased System and pushed us back. Surviving through my heroic qualities, I managed to find my way back to the Dungeon. Bringing essential information to my queen, I immediately volunteered for a dangerous new mission. I knew that the princesses' place was not on the field, being too valuable to the future of our people, but at the time, with our reduced elite, we had no choice if we wanted to survive.
I was thus thrown through many dangers to our own homeworld in order to find the secrets of our past, which could well be the key to our victory. This is how I found myself, full of courage and determination, in the middle of a unknow forest with familiar tree species, in search of a hive which happened to be our enemy...
Xicackna nodded thoughtfully. Yes: this version of the facts would be ideal when she would have to pass on her life experience to her descendants...
But still! What was the idea of sending her on such a risky mission? It was true that she was the most logical person for this task, but was it really worth the effort?
She trotted a bit through the woods, moving carefully from one tree to another, then stopped to express her frustration again:
“But why did I take ‘Falsification’ instead of ‘Pathfinder’?! Here I don't need the first, but I need the second! Oh, even if I had the right skill, would I advance faster? This forest makes me uncomfortable for some reason... Well, at least I'll know if I'm heading in the right direction... Pfff... Why can't I just stay home and be quiet?”
She stopped suddenly, her Sixth Sense ringing as loud as her heartbeat. Something was approaching: something dangerous. Immediately becoming invisible, she flattens herself against the trunk of a tree, nevertheless curious to discover her first threat of this mission.
Emerging from the thickets with quiet steps, a monster appeared. Quadriped, it was covered in fur that was both white and tawny, divided into numerous black stripes. If, on all fours, it seemed a little lower than Xicackna who was standing, it would be twice as long as her if it adopted the same posture, perhaps three times even. It was a monstrous hunter who silently roamed the forest in search of a victim.
Holding her breath, little Zcarbb didn't understand why the beast seemed to be looking in her direction. Then, the creature sniffed and opened its mouth to reveal its sharp fangs in an aggressive growl: it smelled its prey!
In terror, Xicackna tried to use her “Falsification” skill to alter her scent. After all, if all of the creatures' senses were transformed by the System, that must mean that they were also part of the "information that other System users can obtain about you", right?
Either way, it was too late. Having located its prey and apparently not surprised by its invisibility, the beast rushed forward.
Xicackna opened her mouth and spat a stream of acid towards the leaping monster. It was probably just an animal, like the ones in the hunting ground, this attack should be enough to discourage it...
But as the acid cut into the fur, the zcarbb did not see the monster flinch. Its claws dug violently into her shell, piercing it with surprising ease. The princess squealed as the pain overtook her.
A window appeared in her eyes indicating a gauge of her life points. 12 went for the scratch and 18 for the bite that followed. She had 91 lefts, but they would disappear quickly at this rate: the monster was more powerful than it seemed.
As this thought crossed her, her gaze became piercing, analyzing the slightest detectable information about the creature. A window opened displaying the results of her Observation according to the System:
Superior Tiger, Level 12 [rank E]
Hit points (HP): 290/294
Vigor: 143/144
Abilities:
Strength: 15
Agility: 12
Stamina: 12
Intelligence: 5
Armor: 4
Skills (6):
Fur Armor (F): (natural power) Increases armor by 3.
Born Hunter (F): (natural power) Bonus to stealth, silent movement and balance.
Tracker (F): Allows you to follow a track.
Leaping attack (F): (natural power) Allows you to chain two quick attacks together after a jump.
Pack Hunting (F): (natural power) Increases the likelihood of being associated with a pack and increases base characteristics by +1 (Strength, Agility, Stamina and Intelligence) if there are at least two allied pack members nearby. [Yes, tigers are normally solitary, but not these ones anymore...]
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Veteran Hunter (C): (supernatural power) Ignores 20 points of armor against a known creature type.
The princess turned pale with terror and would have died if it wasn't such a bad idea. The creature had barely taken any damage from her weak acid blast and was definitely stronger than her... She felt totally stupid for having underestimated the level 13 Chaotiun she had encountered before: that monster, weaker than the other by a single level, was not an opponent she could defeat with her current level. This thought brought up a summary of her “creature sheet”. She didn't even look at it because she knew it by heart and had no time to read, too busy with her imminent death.
Status:
Name: Xicackna
Race: [Zcarbb]
Class: Analyst [rank F] Level 8
Profession: Princess
Hit points (HP): 91/124
Energy Points (EP): 320/320
Vigor: 25/48
Armor: 29/30
Current experience: 1771
Stored experience: 3069
Experience needed for next level: 429
Abilities:
Strength: 3
Agility: 3
Stamina: 6
Intelligence: 20
Armor (natural): 30
Mana: 2
Points available: 2
Attributes (2):
Still growing (Natural penalty) [Vitality (HP) divided by 2, part of the XP gained is stored while waiting for the next molt]
Hive Mind (Natural Power) [Ability to transmit limited information to the hive over a variable distance]
Skills (5):
Chitin Armor (D) [passive natural power, +30 Armor, +100 HP]
Invisibility (A) [Natural power, consumes 1 stamina per minute]
Camouflage (E) [Natural power]
Acid throw (F) [Natural power, level 1]
Sixth sense (C) [Natural power, +50% to detect nearby invisible or camouflaged enemies, +10 Intelligence]
Class Skills (3):
Observation (F) [supernatural power, allow you to obtain information on targets using the System]
Thought Observation (F): (supernatural power) Allows you to detect the immediate thoughts of targets. Cannot evolve into "Memory Reading" but upgrades and is replaced by it if obtained.
Falsification (D): (supernatural power) Allows you to falsify the information that other users of the System can obtain about you.
Intelligence, armor, mana: there you have it, her strengths compared to her opponent were summed up. Armor could slow down her agony, mana was of no use without skills using it and intelligence... It was very stupid to assert that intelligence always prevails over brutal force: here there was no chance of that happening.
As for her weapons, the dart thrower was useless up close and the small sword...
She caused her opponent to lose 6 hit points with a rather well-aimed blow, but in exchange received 9 points of damage from its merciless claws.
It seemed to her that time was slowing down as she mobilized all her intelligence to search for a solution to get out of this situation. But it was wasted effort: even if she fought fiercely, at this rate, she would die long before the monster... Her entire body emitted distress pheromones and she generated a shrill alarm sound which, in theory, would scare away animals. However, she could hope for no help, lost as she was, while the fierce hunter seemed more annoyed than impressed by her stridulations. When you compared the levels and characteristics of the opponents, the outcome was obvious…
“Oh! To Earth, with this dumb numbers!” shouted Xicackna angrily. “Since when have these aberrations of the System had the first place in my reasoning?”
Dismissing the bias generated by comparing Hit Points and characteristics, Xicackna carefully observed her enemy, wondering how she could get rid of it without thinking in terms of skills. The System may had rigged the resistance of creatures by setting a number of “Hit Points”, but the fact remained that if you hit in the right place, it would be more dangerous than others…
The Zcarbb's intellectual acuity coupled wonderfully with her Observation skill and her vision itself was disturbed: vulnerable points appeared, like spots of light, on the fur of the creature whose mouth plunged dangerously towards the princess.
With a shout of rage, Xicackna also attacked, her sword going towards the tiger and striking one of its two eyes.
Surprised, painfully injured, the beast threw itself back with an atrocious scream, abandoning its assault for a time. The short sword was dripping with red blood and other alien fluids which also flowed down the monster's face.
Successful critical hit: damage x3
38 damage points inflicted!
Penalty imposed: One-eyed
Superior Tiger Level 12
Attributes (1):
One-eyed (Natural penalty) [Accuracy reduced by 25%]
The beast roared again several times, causing Xicackna to tremble uncontrollably in fear. With the cunning of a monster as intelligent as a human, it began to circle around her, back and forth, keeping her cornered against the grove of trees. More cautious, the monster calculated its next attack to avoid suffering such cruel injuries. It still had 246 Hit Points, compared to Xicackna's 82...
Thanks to the distance gained, the monster jumped again. Xicackna tried to aim for its last eye, but the cunning beast deflected her blow and managed to bite and claw at her at the same time, tearing off a few more pieces of chitin.
It was Xicackna's turn to scream in pain. The blows had been violent, tearing into her chitin and wounding her deeply. The monster spat out a large chunk of shell as it threw itself back and began to wait again for its next leap.
Through her tears, little Zcarbb was still able to take into account the results of the exchange: she had inflicted 7 points of damage and received two terrible attacks inflicting 17 and 31 damage respectively, reducing her armor by 2 points and leaving her with a measly 34 Hit Points... The next attack would probably be fatal!
Moaning, she collapsed to the ground, several paws resting on her wounds from which her own blood was escaping, coloring the ground with a more or less greenish puddle.
Xicackna the Observer Level 8
Attributes (3):
Hemorrhage [C] (Natural penalty) [Loss of 1 Hit Point every 10 seconds, blocks vigor regeneration]
Okay. She was dead.