After finishing the burial, I prepared myself a quick meal using some of the Lycoph meat (I already verified with Melchior that it was edible.) I purchased a lighter off the Shop for a couple points, along with some other basic necessities like a canteen, an orb that produced a bright light, and sturdy boots.
I was a bit leery of starting a fire that’d stick out like a sore thumb in the endless darkness of the Canopy, but according to Melchior, only minor lifeforms were in the vicinity so I figured I’d take my chances.
I’d never been particularly picky about what kind of slop I shoveled down my mouth but even for me, the Lycoph meat was particularly difficult to stomach with how tough and chewy it was. Nevertheless, I had the best seasoning, hunger, so I managed to fill myself up quickly. The Shop sold basic provisions like food and water, but they cost precious points that I desperately needed to conserve each and every single one of.
After cleaning up, I stood up and began to consider my next steps. First, I opened the Map function and checked on the Nemesis marker. My Nemesis was still continuing to move deeper into the Canopy, with no deviation from its course early. Very good.
Next, I wanted to look at my own status screen and check on my own stats. I hadn’t really had a chance to until now with all the chaos and pandemonium, and it was good to get a baseline idea of where I stood at the moment.
I selected the Status function and with a ding, all my info was displayed in a window.
ID: Adun
Race: Human
Ability: [Oblivious]
Grade: F
Description: [Substances or entities regarded as foreign will instead be seen as friendly by your body if chosen]
Stats
Strength: 15
Intelligence: 8
Agility: 4
Physique: 17
Mana: 0
Nemesis victories: 0
Damn, was I actually some idiot meathead this entire time? Both my strength and physique stats were double that of my intelligence.
“Melchior, what’s the average stat distribution of a human? I can’t really tell how weak or strong I am.”
“Master Adun, the average human being has an average of 5 in all stats, except for mana. I speculate that the reason for your elevated strength and physique is due to the Lycoph arm you have grafted onto yourself. The system must be calculating your stats as an average of your entire body.”
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Ah, so my right arm was basically inflating my stats. My real strength and physique are probably around 5 or even lower, but the Lycoph arm must be at least in the 40s.
“Ok then, what about the stats of races from other worlds?”
“Tier 5 worlds, which are one tier above your world, generally have races with average stats in the 20s. Tier 4 worlds have stats at least in the 50s. As for Tier 3 worlds and above...I lack sufficient combat records to draw a conclusion. But, please keep in mind that stats are often not an accurate representation of overall combat power. Many worlds have special racial abilities to augment themselves, as well as their own unique technologies. Please exercise caution when dealing with any opponent.”
Man, I’ve got quite the long road ahead of me. Someone from just a Tier 4 world could easily crush a Lycoph without even taking any additional abilities into account. I shuddered at the thought of what someone from a Tier 1 world could do. Come to think of it, didn’t Melchior say that my Nemesis’ world had won the last Realm Wars? Were they from a Tier 1 world as well?
“Melchior, what tier is Celendis’ world?”
“Your Nemesis is considered to be from a Tier 0 world, a special category that was added. The gods did not wish for another one-sided slaughter to occur like the last Realm Wars, so any world designated as Tier 0 was only allowed to send one combatant, along with heavy restrictions placed upon them. These restrictions will only be gradually lifted as other combatants catch up in power level. Despite this, every Tier 0 combatant has been calculated to have at least a 90% chance of victory.”
My bad, I was wrong earlier. My Nemesis wasn’t overpowered. They were just flat out batshit broken gamebreakers. They were nerfed and still had over 90% chance of success by themselves?
Forget having a long road ahead of me, I actually had friggin’ Mount Everest standing in front.
But, no matter. Step by step, even widest of rivers could change course. And, if one day, I could take the parts from one of those people......
Alright, enough with the daydreaming. My next order of action was to secure more points, which were like lifeblood to someone like me with no inherent advantages or way to obtain more abilities through the Nemesis system.
Melchior had mentioned that hunting the native fauna would reward points, along with killing other races. I didn’t fancy my chances yet against another world or another Lycoph, but maybe there was easier prey I could hunt.
“Melchior, is there any creature I could hunt for points with my current strength? Preferably one that I could hunt repeatedly.”
“Master Adun, there are 5 native species that fit your criteria. Of those 5, I suggest the Deinopi Arachnid. They are solitary creatures, but many can often be found in the same area. Their fangs do not have sufficient Attack Power to penetrate your Lycoph arm, so there is a high chance of victory if you are able to take advantage of that. However, the average Deinopi has an Agility stat of 30, so please remain vigilant.”
So as long as I blocked with my right arm, and got a solid hit in with the Nanoblade, victory should be mine. The only issue was how much faster it was than me...if I wasn’t able to react in time things could get ugly quickly.
But, it had to be done.
“Where can I find these Deinopi? And is there any other way I can find stuff in the future without just randomly walking in a direction like we have been?”
Reminiscent of another similar encyclopedic device from a certain animated kid’s cartoon, Melchiordex responded,”Deinopi Arachnids can be found in cave-like areas where they store their prey. I suggest you search in an area with reduced vegetation. As for your second query, the Tracker function, along with all your other functions, can be upgraded with additional capabilities. Please select the + shaped symbol located in the upper right of the function.”
I checked the Tracker, and sure enough there was a + sign that I hadn’t noticed before. Selecting it, a variety of options popped up in front of me.
[Race tracking]- 100,000p
[ID tracking]- 500,000p
[Objective tracking]- 50,000p
.
.
.
[Species tracking]- 5,000p
Wow, some of these prices were no joke. Even the one I wanted, [Species tracking], was far too expensive. Right now, I only had about 150 points left, with another 900 points coming in with the welcome bonus.
Sigh, walking-in-a-random-direction strategy it is then.
I dragged my weary feet and began walking away from the portal spawn point, slowly vanishing into the darkness.