Although there was realistically nothing holding Alan back from using his Class Scroll, in the end, he decided he would still wait for Su'ong to finish Evolving. He might even wait a few minutes for her to wake up before pestering her for answers about how to best use his new Race. Alan couldn't shake the feeling that he should at least get her honest opinion on the [Warden of Blight] Class. Besides, it really wouldn't feel right leaving her out of such a big decision.
And now, he had another decision to make. He needed to decide which Race he was going to use the Class Scroll on. And that was assuming his [Beast-Folk (Variant)] Race could even use a Class in the first place.
Though he was way out of his comfort zone, Alan had a strong suspicion that the [Warden of Blight] Class would be a near-perfect match for his Beast form. There was always an off chance that it would be applied to both Races at the same time, but that felt like a stretch of the imagination.
Before Alan bothered to stop reclining on his tail, his gaze flicked to the right, attracted to the sound of cracking stone. As if it had always been there, an obsidian archway was now standing in the middle of the empty pond. Knowing the time to leave was near, Alan decided it was time to put on some pants. Although he had far less going on downstairs than he would've liked, it still felt prudent to gear up before heading off to wherever Reggie was sending him.
Though the Wraith was really starting to grow on Alan, and he would like to say he trusted him, here was too much on the line to keep proceeding with blind faith. The whole Tutorial situation was growing increasingly complex. Even though it was technically still the first day, there were already too many unknown players in the game. And with all of the weirdness going on around the Sandstone Palace, much of it centered around himself, Alan was beginning to grow paranoid. He was becoming wary of nearly everything at this point.
Dammit Su'ong, I wish you were awake… My instincts tell me that Reggie is sincere. But am I making a mistake? There's so much I don't know…
Besides, if he was being honest with himself, the fact that he was planning to gear up before heading into a supposed 'Safe Room' was proof enough that he was still holding on to doubts.
The only problem with his plan; his Storage Ring refused to work. He tried forcing a bit of energy into it, thinking that perhaps it needed to register his new Race. Unfortunately for him, aside from feeling the well of Celestial Energy in his Core spreading sluggishly through his newly made tributaries and deltas, nothing much happened. His body grew warm, yes, and he thought he might've felt a bit lighter, but it seemed no matter how much energy he flooded into the ring, it wasn't going to work. Perhaps his Storage Ring was incompatible with his Strange, new energy source. Or maybe he was going about this in the entirely wrong way. Regardless, he knew less than nothing about Celestial Energy or how it functioned.
At least for the time being, he was going to have to get used to walking around in the nude. There wasn't much else he could do.
A ball of crackling energy suddenly materializing in the center of the arch made him flinch. Alan nearly lost his perch, and struggled to remain upright while watching as it began to fluctuate, compressing and expanding at random. The constant motion created a visible dome of shimmering static electricity that rapidly spread out around him. Alan grunted and held his head between his hands. Teeth clenched, it was a challenge just to keep them from rattling out of his mouth as a swirling yellow portal fully expanded and filled up the archway.
Just as Reggie had instructed, Alan silenced his urge to grab Su'ong's cocoon, and sprint through the portal in a desperate bid to escape the Dungeon. Instead, he resolved himself to a ten minute wait, and wrapped his arms around the still-growing, leathery container surrounding his Soul-bound partner.
By this point, it was a struggle just to get his arms halfway around it. It was only by flipping it over, and holding it upside down that he managed to finally lift her up off the floor.
“Sorry to flip you on your head like this, but how in all the Nine Hells did you get so big?“ Alan complained to his awkward-to-carry partner, while he struggled to cross the last hundred yards to the exit portal. It was a struggle to maintain his grip, but he doubled down his efforts, and took the first step. Taking one cautiously placed footstep after another, he slowly made it across the slowly-refilling puddle.
Standing before what Reggie had described to be a portal, Alan set Su'ong down, and took a moment to study it closer while catching his breath. There wasn't anything new to see, aside from the obsidian archway. As far as he could tell, it was indistinguishable from the barrier of energy he'd walked through at the Dungeons entrance.
Even the color was the same, a deep, mustard yellow with intermittent flashes of green. Each change in color was preceded by an annoying hum, and a loud pop. It soon became boring, and he wasn't even sure how long he was going to be made to wait. With nothing better to do, and hoping to glean a bit of info on what, of anything had changed, Alan pulled up his Statistics tab.
Name: Alan Robbins
Race: (F) [Beast-Folk (Variant)] Lvl 1
Exp to next Level: 0/100
Racial Traits: [Metabolic Shift]
Affinities: Fire, Earth, Water
Class:
Cultivation Core: [Low] (Copper-Stage) *Unattuned*
Bloodline:
Titles: Novice Mage, Dungeon Explorer, Above Your Weight Class, Singularly Skilled, Surpassing Expectations, Peerless Mage, Prodigious Mage, Luck Of The Daemons, Unprecedented Entity, Twisted Trials 1, Aspiring Martial Artist, Entry Level Adventurer, Techniquely Savvy, Ancestral Archives, The Boss's Boss,
Patroness: Gaea {Primordial Mother's Blessing (Complete)}
***STATISTICS***
Strength: 107 +5%
Constitution: 96 +5%
Vitality: 106 +15%
Endurance: 106 +15%
Perception: 96 +5%
Agility: 101 +5%
Dexterity: 96 +5%
Intelligence: 96 +5% (+5%StEf)
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Wisdom: 96 +5% (+5%StEf)
Resistance: 96 +10% (+5%StEf)
Willpower: 96 +10% (+5%StEf)
Luck: 180 +5% (+10%StEf)
Unallocated Status Points: 0
*** SKILLS***
(B)[Examine] Lvl 8
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 10 Prepared for Evolution Y/N
(C)[Falling with Character] Lvl 4
(B)[Walking] Lvl 5
(U)[Steady Hand of the Cartographer] Lvl 3
(B)[Dagger Utilization] Lvl 3
(C)[Throw Weapon] Lvl 3
(C)[How to Take a Punch] Lvl 3
(C)[Trap Detection] Lvl 2
(C)[Enhanced Cognition] Lvl 6
(U)[Tenacious Concentration] Lvl 7
(C)[Enhanced Pain Resistance] Lvl 2
(C)[Heat resistance] Lvl 1
(C)[Shock Resistance] Lvl 2
(U)[Mana Management] Lvl 1
(R)[Advanced Spell Alteration] Lvl 2
(C)[Dual-casting] Lvl 10 Prepared for Evolution Y/N
(C)[Blind Resistance] Lvl 1
(C)[Bleed Resistance] Lvl 1
(B)[Stealth] Lvl 2
(B)[Staff Utilization] Lvl 2
(B)[Unarmed Combat Utilization]Lvl 3
(C)[Stamina Conversion] Lvl 5
(C)[Mp Conversion] Lvl 3
(C)[Hp Conversion] Lvl 7
(C)[Bravery] Lvl 2
(U)[Fire Manipulation] Lvl 1
(C)[Meditation] Lvl 1
(U)[Earth Manipulation] Lvl 1
(U)[Water Manipulation] Lvl 1
*** SPELLS ***
(U)[Healing Fog] Lvl 7
(B)[Water Jet] lvl 5
(B)[Lightning Strike] Lvl 6
(B)[Fireball] Lvl 1
(B)[Banish Darkness] Lvl 2
(C)[Gale Blade] Lvl 1
(B)[Stone Skin] Lvl 3
(U)[Vortex Shield] Lvl 1
(U)[Shocking Water Cannon] Lvl 3
(R)[Plasma Flare] Lvl 1
(C)[Blessing of the Wind] Lvl 5
(R)[Gaea's Tempest] Lvl 1
***TECHNIQUES***
(C){Mirage Step} Lvl 1
(C){Meteoric Rush} Lvl 1
***BLOODLINE SKILLS***
***RACIAL SKILLS***
[Left eye of Echidna] Lvl 1- (Agony), (Wasting)
It was less than optimal, to say the least. As Gaea had warned, Alan's Cultivation Core had indeed awakened during Evolution. But that was only the beginning of the problems. According to his latest block of notifications, when his Core awakened, it had also consumed both his Stamina and Mana Pools. And at the same time, his Heath pool was absorbed by his Soul. Whatever that meant.
Though he didn't have all of the details, what he did know was that he no longer had any kind of Heath gauge. As far as he could tell, from now on, he was going to have to judge his health just like he had done before gaining System access. If it felt like he was about to die, well, he most likely was.
Back to square one, Alan thought with a sharp-toothed frown.
So now, because of the sudden changes, instead of Stamina and Mana, he had to learn how to use something called Celestial Energy. And similar to his Health situation, there was no visible representation of how much Celestial Energy he actually had to use. Though if he had to guess, it was a quite a bit. Somewhere below his stomach, in what he assumed the location of his Cultivation Core, here was a deep well of Energy. It hid just below the surface, ready to erupt into a geyser of raw power at a moments notice.
Now all that was left was to figure out how to use it. But as it usually did, that only led to Alan discovering another issue. It would seem he couldn't use any of his Spells in his [Beast-Folk (Variant)] Race. They were still listed on his Statistics tab, so at least he knew he still possessed them. But similar to all of his Mana-based Skills, and the seemingly impossible-to-get-rid-of [Daemonfire of the Impure Realm] Skill, all of his Spells we're greyed out, and completely inaccessible.
It took a bit of searching, but in a passage near the end of the description of his [Human (Variant)] Race, Alan spotted what he believed to be the culprit.
Known to be an emotionally unstable, greedy, and warlike race, with the unique ability to use Spell and Technique Scrolls before receiving a Class.
So with any Luck, at least of the good variety, it should technically be possible to access his Spells once he got a Class for his [Beast-Folk (Variant)] Race. At least he hoped so.
It came as a relief to see that even without being in his Human form, he still possessed all of his Titles and affinities, as well as his base Stats. But when he bothered to look at his Stats, he was given another kick below the belt.
“That sonofabitch System allocated all forty-six of my Status Points to Luck?! GODSDAMMIT!!“ Alan's eyes narrowed in anger. He knew there was nothing to be done about it now, but he last thing he wanted to spend his Points on was was another heaping dose of the System's unreliable Luck.
This day was not going how he'd envisioned. Not only did he now look like a child's nightmare, but his Energy gauges were gone, and with them with his Spells. Worst of all, due to the System's meddling, his Luck was now up over thirty percent. Which he was certain would only lead to more chaos.
In the midst of rediscovering his abilities, Alan got so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice the portal turning green. Although he faintly remembered an increase to the pitch of the annoying humming sound, by the time he looked, it had already changed color and quieted down. Because Reggie didn't bother to mention a time limit, he didn't want to risk missing his chance at taking a break in the Safe Room.
With a hasty last glance around the cavern, Alan bent over and picked up the leathery egg that contained his Soul-bound partner. But it was nearly impossible to see where he was going when stuck behind the awkward load. If they were to come under attack on the other side of that portal, he knew it would be struggle to keep Su'ong's cocoon safe. Nevermind simultaneously trying to fight back. No, it was too risky. He quickly realized that this wasn't going to work.
“Sorry about this,” he apologized while setting down the heavy burden. Alan took a deep breath, and grimaced as he rolled Suong through the puddle leading into the portal, and raced in with her.
After a brief delay, filled with an unpleasant tingling sensation, he stepped out of the portal, and sank up to his ankles in the soft ground of the Safe Room. Before he could determine what he was standing in, Alan had to shield his eyes against a rush of light and color. Was this some kind of attack? He didn't feel any pain, but still, he vaulted over Su'ong's cocoon and placed himself between her, and any potential enemies.
Although he couldn't see much, the ground was clearly covered in a thick mat of dark-green moss. On the other hand, the rest of his senses seemed to be on overdrive, and he had yet to be attacked. The first thing he heard was the sound of churning water somewhere off to his right. His stomach immediately started to growl.
The feared attack never came. It took everything he had to restrain himself from disregarding his lack of sight, and charging in the direction of the water. Without access to his Storage Ring, he was looking forward to finding a viable source of protein. Fish was far from his favorite, but it was a lot better than eating nothing. Or moss, he corrected. Yes, he could definitely chew on some moss, but it was likely to taste like ass.
He wasn't sure if it was his new Race, or the fact he hadn't had a chance to eat an actual meal in days, but he was craving meat like never before. Just the thought set his mouth to salivating.
Among the lapping of small waves, Alan's heart skipped a beat when he heard a chorus of high-pitched, musical chirps. While he could recall hearing a similar sound on several of Uncle Alex's old DVDs, it was so much better in person. There was truly no comparison. The sound of the birds singing out amidst the rush of moving water was undeniably enjoyable. But it was nothing in comparison to the veritable treasure trove of wondrous smells he was picking up on the gentle breeze that tickled his scales.
His new nose was hard to get used to. Amidst all the varying scents it could've chosen to latch onto, it chose the slightly gamey, ammoniated smell of an enclosed population of unchecked wildlife. Not all that long ago, it would've been offensive, and difficult to bear for any stretch of time. He felt it likely his Human side would've filtered that particular smell out, and chosen something a bit more appealing.
However, the scent of a stable food source was now invoking strange, never-before-felt animalistic instincts. This was the scent of prey, and he longed to hunt. When mixed with the sweet, yet at the same time sharp, scents of the reigons abundant plant life, it became a welcome assault on his nostrils.
His salivating grew to the point of being disgusting. Long, ropey tendrils of ooze ran from the corners of his mouth, running in rivulets down the smooth scales of his chest. “Aww what the fuck man! Get a grip,” Alan growled at himself, before firmly clamping his mouth closed. Thus far all attempts to remove his equipment, or even a bit of Trail Mix from his inventory had ended up in failure. At this point, he knew it was only a matter of time before he started shoveling clumps of grass and moss into his face.
Anything to silence the gnawing hunger.