Dominic did not believe in martial virtue at all. The moment he realized he had an advantage, he proceeded to abuse it by sending out his death clones to fight the monsters using any weapon they could grab.
They would clash, die, and repeat, over and over again. Dominic wondered with amusement what those humans stuck in the mini-mart were feeling, seeing two humanoid shapes coming to slaughter the monsters repeatedly before being mauled to death… then coming right back!
He looked over, and with his enhanced eyesight due to his raised Acuity, he could see that they were dumbfounded, as he expected. Not only that, but a group of three, two women and one man, who seemed to be the leaders, were discussing fervently while pointing at the two death clones.
As the death clones continued to rack up kills, Dominic continued to farm points slowly as his soul points bar completed revolutions. This was the main reason why he was still here and helping, because the moment he found that the mini-mart was occupied, he had given up on the resources within.
Not only would it be difficult to claim anything from the humans already there, Dominic did not want to meet or get close to any humans whatsoever. If you asked him which he felt were more dangerous, humans or monsters, he would choose humans 10 times out of ten.
It was not because of any bullshit 'human nature' or treachery, but simply because humans had talents. Monsters were monsters, and the limit of their abilities was mostly dependent on their species and their current stats.
However, with talents, humans became completely unpredictable. Just like how Dominic could have death clones and someone could have fire control, there could be someone out there with blood control, someone who could create force fields, or even someone who could control minds.
Against such people, the best thing was to not get in their range. Just like Dominic, who had a range for his talent, as well as other limitations, they too should have some, no matter how overpowered the ability.
This was also why he did not enter any houses where he sensed human presences on his way here. If Dominic was going to meet and talk to any humans, it would be done through his death clones at best, but they did not have the ability to speak at the moment.
Dominic condensed his death clones for the third time and fell to the ground, completely spent and unable to move an inch. He did not send them into battle but had them carry him on their back towards his home, this time using the bushes and hidden pathways to pass through rather than the main street.
Eventually, he got home in one piece and had already significantly recovered, sitting on his bed tiredly. The question he had asked earlier had been whether or not Vitality was worth investing in, and the answer was out.
The more stamina he had, the more he could re-condense his death clones and form an 'undead' corps. So even if he wanted to 'die' easily in order to condense more of them, he would also need to fortify himself in order to not make them one-time use.
It was quite the conundrum.
Unfortunately, Dominic was still not willing to directly commit suicide, not only due to psychological limitations, but also because he was not entirely sure it would count for his talent. It would be quite difficult to explain in the afterlife to all onlookers who were busting their ass laughing that he had been eliminated from this Death Game not because he lost a fight, but because he killed himself.
Dominic patted his face and focused on the record of kills he had achieved through his death clones. They numbered more than 20 and littered his sight. He could not be bothered to look at them one by one and counted them based on their categories.
There were 11 F- kills, 9 F kills, 5 F+ kills, and 3 E- kills. Any stronger monsters were either at the forefront of the attacking group and could not be reached by Dominic in time or did not exist in the attacking group at all.
That made for a total of 2,800 Soul Points, which meant that Dominic had effectively gained 3 more points to allocate. Even though it seemed like he gained a lot, it was slowly reaching the point of diminishing returns, especially when dealing with low-level monsters like those below the F+ rank.
However, they were the most numerous, as most animals in the urban area were house pets or rodents. If one wanted to see a D rank or above monster, it definitely could not be here. The most likely location within an urban area would be the zoo, but Dominic did not have the guts to go there yet.
Anyway, he was someone who played battle royales day to day with his friends. He was certainly used to repetition and grinding things out slowly, so he was perfectly happy farming his low-level monsters because that also meant he was clearing up territory for himself.
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As for his points, he added one more to Acuity, and sat there rubbing his throbbing temples as his brain went through another round of tempering, this time the pain extending throughout his body as his nerves were also fortified.
However, his upgraded nervous system immediately showed its benefits as his control over his body became more refined. Dominic could now become the world's best surgeon with the steadiest hands, or even outdo all players in the world with his hand-to-eye coordination with a keyboard and mouse.
If he did try to learn any martial skill, whether weapon or unarmed, he would achieve twice the result with half the effort. Despite feeling this, he did not continue to invest in Acuity, rather placing his last two points right into Vitality.
Why did Dominic do this? It was to maintain a balance because unlike in games where one could min-max by focusing on one stat and neglect the rest, real life did not work like that. You could certainly not have 10 Potency and 1 Vitality, because that Potency was supported/fueled by that Vitality.
One also could not have 10 Acuity and 1 Vitality; otherwise, you'd end up like Modok or some weird thing with a high intelligence but deformed body. The key to development, especially for one like Dominic with no particular strengths or weaknesses, was to balance things out.
He also had another reason for doing so, but that was unverified. He did not have the time or luxury to think about it as Dominic fell to the floor once again, spitting out reddish-black blood from his mouth while clutching his chest in pain.
His heart was undergoing what his brain did, rapidly expanding and contracting rapidly as it became fortified, and the worst part was so did his other organs. On most days you couldn't even feel your goddamn kidney, so how did it feel to sense it undergoing such an intense process?
Not very good for sure.
Not to mention that his bone marrow was being replaced by a higher quality and more vibrant version that produced more potent and durable red blood cells that could survive within the newly enhanced vessels of Dominic's body as well as provide nutrients to his upgraded organs, among other things.
The death clones had long been ready with disinfectant and mops, cleaning up the mess from Dominic's body without complaint while he crept to the bathroom to wash up once more.
When he came out, his stomach rumbled with the force of three mustang cars revving their engine, so he rushed down to the pantry and tore open everything he could grab and stuffed it down his throat.
By the time he came out of his frenzy, Dominic realized the mess he made, but what chilled him even more was that sheer amount of what he ate… yet none of it wasted! In fact, he was still a bit hungry but he did not feel anything in his stomach!
It was as if everything that went down was like ice being tossed into boiling water, immediately melting! His digestive capability had soared beyond common sense and allowed him to acquire energy at the necessary pace to fit his current body's standards.
Food like what people normally ate in packaging was filling for those of normal stats, but for someone at Dominic's current level, it was losing its effectiveness. It was hard to think of the kind of digestive capacity he would acquire down the line and what he would need to sate himself.
[Participant Name: Dominic Addison
World: Gaia
Talent: Death Clones (A Grade - 2 Clones)
Potency: 4.8
Vitality 3.6
Acuity: 4.5
Available Points: 0
Soul Points: 250/1000.]
Dominic checked his current status and found that he was very close to his target of 5 points in each field. This was the other reason Dominic believed in balance, because he felt that a significant change would occur once he crossed 5 points in any field, and he wanted to be sure that he would not be lacking in any aspect.
The young man sighed and changed his clothing before heading out once again, this time towards the other side of the estate that led to the police station. Not only had he not taken this direction, so he could clear more houses on the way, but the police station was a good place to check out.
The police would have weapons also, and as long as their K-9's did not maul them all in seconds, there should be a few survivors there. He did not want there to be survivors so he could meet them and chat, but because if people grouped up in one spot, they were likely to attract monsters en masse and form a siege like at the mini-mart.
This kind of situation would be beneficial for Dominic to farm, especially since his death clones had been reborn with high stats, especially in terms of Vitality, and would not go down as easily as they had before.
Dominic was like the grim reaper for the domestic pets turned monsters that stayed in their territories in order to gather their bearing in this apocalypse. He simply entered their sacred places of safety that they had seized from their former masters and then beat them to death without the hope of retaliating in the least.
To make his efficiency higher, he would split into three with his death clones and deal with three different houses at once. By the time it hit afternoon, Dominic was halfway to the police station and had gathered another 2 points for himself.
He did not allocate them just yet, knowing that something significant might happen and that it was best to do it at home. Also, since he might be achieving superhuman status, it was best to continue on as this might be the last chance for any monster to kill him and allow him to increase the number of death clones he had.
By the time it was evening, Dominic was finally on the streets of the police station and he did not feel tired after traveling on foot for a few hours on end, nor was he tired from the fighting.
As for why it took so long to travel a distance like this, it was because he stopped to sense, explore, and battle in each house on the way. If he walked straight from his home, even at a casual walking pace, he would have gotten here after 45 minutes at best.
Dominic naturally found a nice place to observe the police station which was at the corner between two major roads. From his vantage point, he could see that the police station was lit up with light but he could not see any human presence, which made him narrow his eyes.