Dominic sighed.
‘I’m not convinced about the horns,’ he replied doubtfully. ‘If they’re relatively small and don’t stick out much then…maybe. But have you seen the massive things these wildebeest have? I don’t want a rack sticking out the sides of my head like that. Have you considered how it might impact our stealth? What if they catch on things when we’re travelling through the undergrowth? Or someone grabs it and controls our head.’
He felt a reluctant sense of understanding coming from his companion. Dominic wasn’t quite sure why Leo was so set on having horns, but apparently he was.
‘Look, if we find an animal that has the kind of small, relatively discreet horns which you’re imagining here, then I’ll agree to it, as long as there isn’t anything better on which to spend our EP. But I really think that we’re more likely to end up with things that are at best little use, at worst, actively detrimental to us.’
‘They might change to suit our requirements,’ Leo suggested, though Dominic could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
‘Remember the chimera’s bat wings. Those weren’t much use, were they?’ the former-human asked pointedly. Leo subsided with a grumble.
‘We’re getting the three Abilities then,’ he asked after a moment. Dominic took it for the admission of defeat that it was.
‘Unless you have another idea,’ Dominic asked, then added hastily, ‘that isn’t horns.’
Leo was silent for a few more moments, but then huffed a long breath.
‘No. I’m not keen on potentially making myself look like a tiger with those stripes,’ he sighed.
‘Alright then,’ Dominic murmured, selecting the three Abilities. Twenty-four Enhancement Points were consumed, leaving only one. Dominic felt less irritated at the idea of leaving one behind this time, though – he was pretty sure that five of the points he’d had available to work with were the remnants of his post-challenge selection from the lions.
It just made sense – the chimera had been level 12, Tier 2 and he’d had 24 points to work with. The three lions had each been level 5, Tier 1 and he’d had 15 points to work with. Here, he had a level 10, Tier 2 wildebeest which must have been 20 points by itself. That he’d had 25 points implied that any points he didn’t use in previous selections could carry over.
That’s a bit of a cheat, isn’t it? Dominic wondered idly to himself. If I win three Challenges against lower level creatures, and then save their points for using after a Challenge of a more powerful foe, then I could end up getting some great Abilities and enhancements.
But then, maybe that was built into the system – to do that, he’d have to pass over other, potentially more powerful, Abilities and Enhancements. Plus, acquired Abilities did seem to start at level 1 so it wasn’t like he could gain all the power of the defeated foe all at once. Unless he had the Ability already, as he’d had with Pounce after the previous Challenge.
Closing the menu, he went to check out the new Abilities.
Enhanced Stamina (T0) level 1 (42% to level 2) – Maximum Ability use period at level 1: 5 minutes: -5% reduction to rate of passive stamina decrease; -7% reduction to rate of active stamina decrease. Recuperation period: 10 minutes: +3% to rate of passive stamina decrease; +5% to rate of active stamina decrease. Current exchange of HP for extension of use period or reduction of recuperation time: 1HP/s
Not as good as I’d hoped, but then it is only T0. I’m sure I’ll be using it a lot so hopefully the percentages will improve with higher levels in it, Dominic thought to himself. It was very interesting that he was already a good portion towards the next level – the same percentage that he had been towards acquiring the Ability in the first place, actually. That was nice – he hadn’t lost all his hard work in the end.
Still, even if the percentages weren’t all that high for now, any reduction helped, and the cool-off period didn’t seem too bad either. Nothing like Second Wind, anyway. And I can use HP to help with that too.
If he was understanding it correctly, to reduce the cool off period by one second, or to increase the reduction period by one second, he would have to dedicate 1 HP. With his current maximum of 600 HP, that meant he had at most ten minutes of extension, or he could nullify the entire cool off period. Though, actually, maybe a better way of considering it was in comparison to his Regeneration rate.
Checking that out, he started feeling a bit excited.
- Enhanced Regeneration level 3 (2.25 HP / second)
I could actually keep Enhanced Stamina going permanently, and never actually go through the recuperation period, he realised. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to do it in the middle of a battle with a difficult opponent where he really needed his health pool, but in between those moments? And how quickly would it gain progress if he kept it going permanently?
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With that thought, he activated it immediately. Not that he was using stamina right now, lying down as he was, but why not when it essentially cost him nothing? He focussed on the Ability’s active period continuing by using his Health Points as soon as the 5 minutes were up.
The timer which had appeared in the corner of his vision blurred, then changed to 15:00. It started counting down; Dominic resolved to keep an eye on it to see what happened when it reached 0.
He looked at the next new Ability.
Momentous Charge (T2) level 1 (0% to level 2) – When running in a straight line at full speed towards an opponent, appear to gain additional size and weight and its commensurate momentum. Note: this Ability is classed as [Illusion]. Those who can see through the illusion will not be affected by additional momentum. At level 1, gain 1% of size (stacked) with each footfall.
Illusion, eh? Dominic mused. If he was understanding it correctly, it seemed like the power of the Ability was actually based on the enemy. If the enemy could see through the ‘illusion’ of size and weight, then his momentum would be no different from normal. If the enemy couldn’t see through the ‘illusion’, then all that size and weight would come to bear.
Is that what makes it Tier 2? Because it’s more tricksy than a normal, basic Ability? Though if that was the case, Dominic wasn’t sure whether he liked it or not. Yes, having the momentum without, he guessed, needing to lose any speed or manoeuvrability was good, but what if his opponent saw through it and was braced for the collision? Then it could be Dominic who came off worse, expecting a result which didn’t happen.
He’d have to practise with it, but also be prepared for it to fail against any given opponent.
Finally, he looked at the third new Ability.
Challenging Roar (T1) level 1 (0% to level 2) – As the lord of all you survey, challenge your rivals with an ear-splitting roar. Those who feel inferior to you will flee; those who feel they are your equal will attack. Those who feel they are your superior will be enraged by your Challenge and will attack blindly. Determination of inferior, equal, and superior is your level with a level range according to this Ability’s level.
It was interesting that instead of ‘bellow’, it was now ‘roar’. More apt, Dominic thought, and felt Leo agree. The lion seemed to be quietly following along with his thoughts and exploration, but hadn’t actually said anything.
‘A two-edged sword,’ Dominic commented to his companion.
‘Indeed,’ the lion agreed, a little grimly, though with a hint of excitement too. Something about this seemed to appeal to him. Dominic himself was more neutral about it: the crowd control it offered could be very useful, especially now combined with how his pride members were sharing Prey Points. However, the ‘control’ bit appeared to be lacking.
After all, most of his opponents were those who would be classed as his ‘inferiors’. He didn’t generally want to scare off his targets – he wouldn’t get any Prey Points that way.
‘It does mention a level range,’ pointed out Leo. ‘Perhaps that’s what would allow more control here,’ he suggested.
‘Perhaps,’ Dominic agreed slowly. ‘If by ‘level range’ it means that I could essentially make my own level appear as higher or lower than it actually is, that could be quite useful. But not right now, since I can only shift it by a single level.’
‘We’ll have to practise with it,’ Leo concluded with the hint of a sigh. Dominic sent him a sense of agreement, then opened up the rest of his status sheet, scanning for anything significant which had changed.
Most of his other Abilities had gone up by a couple of percent, according to how much he’d used them in the recent hunt. Nothing major, though three of them were in the home stretch towards levelling up: Quick Strike, Second Wind, and Rapid Attack. Very little of that was from this battle, though – for Second Wind, none of it.
However, there was one thing which caught Dominic’s eye and made his being light up in excitement.
Progress to Evolution: 513/508 PP level up
‘We’ve got enough Prey Points to level up again!’ he almost shouted at Leo in anticipation.
‘I’m not deaf; you don’t need to shout,’ grumbled the lion, but Dominic could tell it was just a front: the lion was almost as excited as he was. ‘So you’re going to increase Stamina and Roar?’ he asked.
Dominic hesitated for a moment. He’d now got Enhanced Stamina, so did he need to actually enhance his stamina again? And he’d now got an Ability related to his roar; should he still go down the path of trying to get some sort of soundwave-disrupting effect with his roar? Might it not already do the job? After all, if the sonic wolves were lower level than Dominic himself, he might be able to chase them off with just a roar.
Then again, could he bank on that? Perhaps the sonic wolves would be protected against sound-based weapons because of their natural weapons or perhaps some of them would be a higher level than him – it was surely possible: the hyenas had taught him that more intelligent animals might start rivalling him in the all-too-short future.
‘Yes,’ he decided after a moment. ‘I think those would still be the best ideas.’ There were certainly other options which might work well, but gaining more stamina could only be a good thing, considering how many Abilities he had which used it. And he still wanted to see what would happen if he got Roar high enough.
Triggering his level up, Dominic chose the two options he’d chosen. To his disappointment, there was no indication that level 21 was the next half-step either. Were there no half-steps after reaching Tier 2? Or was it a higher level?
Instead, a different box came up; one he most certainly wasn’t expecting.
[You have chosen to enhance your Roar. You have an Ability and an Ability in the course of being acquired which have adequate synergy with Roar: Challenging Roar; Stunning Roar. Would you like to combine these Abilities with your Aspect? Note: features of these Abilities may be changed or maintained. Note: the final product may be better, worse, or equivalent to the Abilities and Aspect singularly. Note: combining Abilities with an Aspect inextricably connects them. ]
What?