Alex identified the plant.

Ravenous Bell Sprout

Level 42

Well that’s only slightly concerning. First off, that is a pretty high level plant. Second, it’s only a sprout. What the heck would that thing look like fully grown?

Alex envisioned a bell plant the size of an apartment complex, shooting out its sticky tendrils in all directions, slowly devouring the city of Hillcrest.

Alex shuddered at the thought. Fortunately, the bell sprout was currently only as tall as his shoulders and only slightly wider than himself. That did mean that it would likely be able to eat him if he wasn’t careful. That was only one of the many different plant species he could see around him.

How many of these plants can kill me? Should I go somewhere else and then come back here? No, there’s no reward without a little risk. Plus, there’s no way I’d be able to find my way back here. It was luck that brought me here, I need to take advantage of it.

Alex just needed to be more cautious. That monkey thing lived here, but was still caught off guard. There were so many dangers in this oasis that there was no way he could defend himself from everything all at once. He just needed to alert and be prepared to take action at any moment. He decided it would be best to camp outside of the reach of the verdant circle. He didn’t think he would even be able to sleep in the sprawling desert forest anyways.

A quick scan around told him he was largely out leveled. Most beasts and plant ranged from as low as thirty five and as high as forty nine. He looked at his own stat sheet to compare.

Alex Sullivan

Race- Human

Rank- Private

Grade- F

Class- Shift

Level- 34

Strength-207 (249)

Agility- 153 (187)

Intelligence- 52 (71)

Durability- 307 (393)

Endurance- 182 (220)

Health- 3,930/3,930

Stamina- 2,200/2,200

P.E.- 0/3,930

During his stint through the scorpions, he had gained seven levels. Alex had fought a substantial amount of them, so those levels weren’t unearned. He had gained an entire two levels from his fight with, what he could only assume was, one of the strongest scorpions he would see. Alex had grown a lot, yet as he looked around, he felt severely underpowered.

After seeing how quickly the bell plant had struck, Alex decided to focus his free points on agility. It was starting to lag behind his other stats anyway so it was about time he invested in it. Alex had begun saving up his free points to throw into whatever stat he needed the most when he came across a new type of enemy or challenge. So far, it had proven to be a sound strategy. He just hoped that didn’t come back to haunt him in the future. He realized that stats were essential to his growth and survivability. He needed to be cognizant of his free points in case he was in a particularly hairy situation in the future.

So far, Alex hadn’t run into such issues, but didn’t want to tempt fate too much. That was why he allocated all of the points while he was thinking about it.

Feeling more prepared now, Alex stepped further into the, surprisingly humid, oasis. It was strange to go from such an arid environment so suddenly. He immediately began to sweat. Alex went to wipe his forehead, but his suit got in the way. An unconscious thought later and the suit rippled. It was reminiscent to when you dipped a finger into still water. It started from the both the middle of his chest and back, continuing outwards from there. Where the ripples met from his front and backside, the sweat was pressed out of his suit. After that, his suit suddenly became a lot cooler, almost as if he now had personal air conditioning.

Where was this the entire time I’ve been in this scorching heat?

Alex was frustrated, but at the same time, it had been alright. Without the constant heat, he wouldn’t have been able to charge up his thermal energy to help defeat the scorpions. Alex started to worry. He needed to stop this air conditioning. He would be severely disadvantaged without that added strength. A moment later, he returned to his muggy existence.

I guess the suit responds to my thoughts.

He pulled up the suit’s description. It had been a while since he had looked at it.

Symbiotic Biomechanical Armor (Uncommon)

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Armor that fuses with the host at a genetic level. Composed of organic matter. Upon binding, armor attaches to host’s neural pathways enabling cohesive movement between host and armor. Due to its biomechanical nature, science is melded with body, fluidly. Enhances innate abilities of host through the armor. Armor is considered the users own flesh. When damaged, armor can self repair using host’s vitality. Armor can be retracted into storage ring that must remain on host at all times. Removal of ring results in a loss of symbiosis. Loss of symbiosis will result in the destruction of armor. To improve symbiosis further, armor can be given compatible organic material.

Highly upgradable.

+25 Durability

+5% All stats

+25% Absorption of Energy

The description stated that it connected to neural pathways. It made more sense how it had effortlessly reacted to an errant thought. Two really. It had turned on the AC, then off just as quickly. Alex shook his head at the luck that he had found the item. It seemed tailor made for him and greatly empowered him. He wasn’t sure where he would be without it. He also felt like he was only starting unleash it potential. It seemed like everyday he found another cool ability the suit had. It had seen a neat improvement with the absorption of the Eonsteel, and he was excited to see what else he would be able to incorporate in the future.

Searching his surroundings, he looked for an enemy that was close to his level. He wanted to gauge the strength of the enemies here. He was hoping that, even though a lot of them were higher level than him, he could still fight them. After a few seconds, he found a potential target.

Saxar Primate

Level 37

It was one of the monkeys just like the one that had been eaten by the bell sprout earlier. Its name was pretty generic and didn’t give him any indication of what to expect. It was slightly higher level than him, but he felt he should be able to handle the simian.

It stood at roughly three feet tall with a stockier build. Alex believed that, worst case scenario, he should be able to just manhandle the monkey into submission using his size advantage. It had blue fur all over its body except for on its face and butt. The skin it exhibited there was pale white. It was probably the whitest white Alex had seen in his life.

The monkey met eyes with Alex, narrowed them, then…made a goofy face? It pursed its lips, sticking them out at least six inches from the rest of its face, and had slightly crossed eyes. It cocked its head to the side, leaning its body in conjunction, and then proceeded to roll sideways. It made this move a few more times in alternating directions. Alex stood there, mouth agape, unsure of what was going on.

After a few more repetitions, Alex found himself imitating the monkey to an extent. When the monkey tilted its head, Alex did as well, mirroring the monkey. The monkey would roll, then repeat. Alex would cock his head to the other side. A few more and Alex began rolling with the monkey. This continued for a couple minutes. It was a dance between monkey and man.

Alex was in the middle of a roll when suddenly, his shoulders slumped. He felt heavier. It was difficult for him to hold his head up anymore. His shoulders began to bounce and bob around, his head following suit. There was a sharp pain in his neck followed by a sudden pang in his ribs. He collapsed, but the pain continued. Sudden stings erupted all over his body.

Alex assumed the fetal position and began rocking. He may or may not have put his thumb in his mouth as well. A sudden jolt to his favorite appendage sent his eyes wide.

What the heck? Why am I sucking my thumb? Where am I? Why am I achy all over?

He was in fact sucking his thumb, like a baby. Pretty sad.

He spun, trying to make sense of everything. There was extra weight on him. He flipped over, and he was suddenly back to normal. He was still in a ton of pain, but he wasn’t too heavy any more. He heard a rustling to his side and he whipped his head around.

The monkey! He was staring at Alex with a wide, sinister smile. Large canines, nearly five inches long, stuck out. Its face was smeared with red.

Wasn’t it all white before?

Alex rubbed his shoulder, trying to remember, and winced in pain. When he pulled it away, it was wet and dark with blood. Alex felt his shoulder again. He was missing a chunk of flesh and he would bet the rest of his arm that if he lined up that monkeys mouth, it would be a perfect match.

How the heck did it even do that? I remember locking eyes with it and then it did that stupid dance.

He looked at his health and was even more alarmed. He had lost more than half of his nearly four thousand health.

How long was I out?

He at least had a healthy amount of P.E. stored up that should help him out with his now unavoidable fight. He was going to kill this annoying monkey if it was the last thing he did. He started to chase the monkey down, but sensing it had lost its initiative, it turned tail and ran.

This is so dumb. You’ll beat the crap out of me when I can’t fight back? It’s my turn! This isn’t fair.

Alex had no choice but to chase it down. He could only barely see the monkey. If not for its pasty behind, he would have lost it a long time ago. The monkey was extremely fast and Alex was…not. He was so fast compared to regular humans, but he was in entirely different league now. His measly one hundred eighty seven agility was not that much compared to the creatures he was fighting now. He was faster than the scorpions, but not by much, and he was leagues behind the monkey.

He was heaving and the humid air made each breath feel heavier. He felt like he was working twice as hard to just keep up. He was starting to wish that he had put at least some of his free stat points into endurance. He hadn’t thought of it because he hardly ever got winded now.

He finally caught up to the simian. It was backed up to a couple of larger fallen trees that were making a barrier. It looked Alex dead in the eyes, bared its terrible fangs in a sneer, then vanished. First its body, then face, leaving its ghastly teeth floating for a second before finally winking out.