Even after the body had disappeared, the slightly maudlin mood didn’t leave Dominic. Seeing the glimmering of the Beast Core left behind, he padded over to it, hoping that it might hold some ability which would help lift the funk he was in.
[Beast Core: Bengal Tiger level 7
Ability option 1: Rending Bite (75% chance))
Ability option 2: Camouflage (25% chance)]
Despite the solemn mood the corpse of the tiger had put him in, Dominic couldn’t help but be interested in the abilities the Core held. Rending Bite…that sounds a bit like Crushing Bite except perhaps it offers Tearing or Piercing damage instead of Crushing. That would be a pretty good addition to my repertoire, he thought.
As for Camouflage, I guess that might be why I couldn’t find the tiger before it leapt at me. Again, that would be a very good addition. Dominic decided to check both of them out: although he didn’t have a choice here, it would be good to know what each entailed, especially since he wouldn’t have another chance before actually fully earning the ability.
[Rending Bite (T0): Enhance the tearing power of your jaws. Consume stamina to temporarily increase the sharpness of your teeth. Sharpness increase can range from +5% to +50% at level 1, consuming an appropriate amount of stamina per second, relative to the increase in sharpness chosen. Both sharpness increase and amount of stamina consumed may change as the skill level increases.]
‘That sounds pretty identical to Crushing Bite except for the type of damage and what it does to our bite,’ Leo remarked.
‘Exactly,’ Dominic agreed, excitement filling him. ‘Imagine if I’m able to use both of them at the same time! Quick Strike to get in there quickly, Rending Bite to dig down deeply and cause a lot of bleeding, then Crushing Bite to dig into their bones.’ Then he thought for a moment. ‘Or the other way around if I’m dealing with something with lots of defence: Crushing Bite to get through the armour, then Rending Bite to destroy the flesh beneath.’
‘We have to get it first from the Core,’ Leo pointed out. He was right and Dominic tried to check his excitement. It was more likely that he would get Rending Bite, but as his experience with the scrin had shown, more likely definitely didn’t mean certain.
‘Let’s have a look at the other ability, then.’
[Camouflage (T0): Blend with your surroundings to reduce the chance of being spotted by an observer. Blending is more effective in areas which match your exterior in colour and pattern. At level 1, +10% to previous effectiveness of blending in all environments. Blending effectiveness may change as the skill level increases and other types of camouflage may become available.]
‘Forget what I said about Rending Bite,’ Dominic told Leo, ‘I’ve changed my mind. This is the ability I want. Think about how much more successful hunting could be, especially once it goes up a few levels!’
‘True,’ Leo agreed. ‘The reference to other types of camouflage might be interesting too,’ he added. ‘However, ultimately, we don’t get a choice,’ he reminded Dominic. The human-turned-lion couldn’t help but feel that Leo was taking a bit more pleasure in the reminder than was due. Perhaps he was getting his own back for Dominic doing the same thing when they’d absorbed the warthog’s core and he hadn’t got his choice of Boundless Fertility.
Still, he was right, and sitting there staring at the Core wasn’t going to help in any way, not now they knew exactly what the abilities entailed.
A moment after the golden dust of the Core had been absorbed into Dominic’s leg, he pulled up his abilities list.
Acquired Abilities:
Quick Strike (T0) level 2 (96% to level 3) – 3 SP for +25% speed; 6 SP for +40% speed.
Second Wind (T1) level 1 (8% to level 2) – activatable when under 50% health or stamina. Gain 50% of your maximum health and/or stamina for the duration of the timer. Timer: 05:00. At the end of the timer, lose 50% of your max health and stamina.
Crushing Bite (10% to level 1) – Use stamina to enhance the crushing power of your jaws. +5% - 50% Crushing damage for 3-60 stamina per second.
Powerful Kick (52% to level 1)
Rage (24% to level 1)
Charge (12% to level 1)
Sharp Nip (50% to level 1)
Stunning Roar (19% to level 1)
Easy Landing (48% to level 1)
Rending Bite (17% to level 1)
Ultimately, he wasn’t sure if he was pleased or disappointed that probability had won out this time. Rending Bite would be a good addition to his skill-set once he’d absorbed enough Cores to get it, but Camouflage would have been awesome too.
Oh well, he tried to console himself, perhaps I’ll get another chance later. A tiger can’t be the only creature with Camouflage.
He was also pleased to see that Quick Strike was within spitting distance of levelling up. Another fight should see that hitting 100%. It will be interesting to see whether the changes will be the same as when it ranked up from level 1 to 2.
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Closing the screen, he took a moment just to check that there was nothing else about to attack, then padded off again. The crawling sensation which had made his hackles rise before was gone; clearly the tiger had been the only reason for it.
The smell of water was getting stronger, the wind whipping it towards him more often. Then, as his gaze drifted across a tree, Leo suddenly exploded into excitement. ‘There! Look!’
‘At what? Where?’ Dominic’s head turned back and forth quickly, trying to spot what had got him so agitated. He wasn’t giving off any sense of fear or anger, so it couldn’t be an enemy, but clearly it was something important.
‘There, on the tree trunk.’ There was only one tree nearby, so Dominic trotted towards it. He inspected the tree, but couldn’t see much. Its trunk was a bit damaged, but the tree didn’t seem worse for it. Its canopy was full and the few birds which had been perched on its branches took flight as he approached.
‘What are you looking at?’ he asked, confused.
‘The claw marks. And can’t you smell that?’ Dominic sniffed. It was true that there was quite a strong musky scent. Now he was paying attention, the memories – Leo’s memories – suddenly hit him.
Blinking, he thought he understood the lion’s excitement. Inspecting the damage to the tree trunk, he realised that they weren’t incidental damage at all; they were all too intentional.
‘They’re markings….’
‘Yes. There’s a pride not far away,’ Leo concluded with elation. ‘The male lion is young, but we are more powerful, I am sure.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘Although you haven’t done a good job of sharpening our claws regularly,’ the lion scolded Dominic, ‘I would estimate that we could slice much deeper into the tree trunk than this lion has done. In fact, you should do that now. And spray our scent to cover this male’s.’
‘But won’t that mean the other male lion will know we’re here?’ Dominic checked, a little alarmed at the thought.
‘Of course. That’s the point,’ Leo told him, his growl sounding a little exasperated. ‘We announce our presence to challenge the resident male or males. We invite a confrontation. If he or they do not feel able to accept our challenge, he or they will depart and leave the pride open to our conquest. If he or they wish to engage in battle, we will clash and the victor will be decided. This is not a battle to be won by tricks but by might.’
Dominic considered it. It sounded a bit stupid in a way, but then again, lots of humans liked to engage in dick-measuring contests of one sort or another – who had the flashiest car, who had the biggest house, who had the highest salary – and considered those to be worth social points. Was that any less stupid?
And clearly this had worked for lions through their evolution so who was he to judge? Lions had been around since long before human civilisations even started, and they were still around even after the apocalypse had come which Dominic wasn’t at all certain would be the case with the civilisations he’d known.
‘Alright, fine. So what do I do – this?’ he asked as he swiped at the tree.
‘Not like that, haven’t you ever marked a tree before?’ the co-resident of his head snapped at him.
‘Um, no,’ Dominic replied. ‘Humans are not in the habit of marking trees with our fingernails to show our territory.’
‘That explains a lot, retorted Leo caustically. You have to put your back into it, slice deeply and at the right angle to both rub your scent in and sharpen your claws.’
‘And what is the…you know what, why don’t you do it?’ Dominic offered, giving up. This was a lion thing; it ought to be done by a lion. And yes, technically Dominic was a lion now, but he didn’t think in a leonine way much of the time. If this meant so much to Leo, let him do it. Dominic would pay attention so that he could repeat it a later time but he didn’t feel like having Leo claw mentally at him when he did it wrong. Besides, Leo was due a bit of time in the driving seat.
‘Very well,’ Leo replied, not even hiding his excitement at the thought.
The transition was faster this time than the previous, both of them knowing better what to do. Soon, Dominic found himself relegated to merely observing events, rather than being able to control them.
He watched with interest as Leo reared up and dug his claws into the tree trunk as high up as he could get them. Then Leo dragging them downwards, Dominic made a note of the angle and depth of the slicing motion for later reference. The claws dug deeply enough that the bark of the tree rubbed at the flesh in between them, but not so deeply that the flesh was damaged.
When Leo inspected his claws afterwards, Dominic could see the difference. They were visibly cleaner and possibly ever-so-slightly sharper. Curious, he wondered if he could call up his status screen while he wasn’t the driver.
When it turned out he could, he scrolled down to the section about his claws.
- Claws level 2 (12-24 Slicing damage, 12-18 Tearing damage, 6-12 Piercing damage)
Well, that’s interesting, he thought. The maximum damage of each damage type had increased by two units. So regularly sharpening his claws was definitely something he ought to make time for.
Leo sniffed at the tree trunk and Dominic could smell a hint of difference there too. Overlying the musk of the other male was now the hint of Dominic. Well, Leo, more to the point.
That was the point that the lion turned, lifted his tail and sprayed.
‘What are you doing?’ Dominic exclaimed.
‘Scent-marking, of course,’ Leo told him matter-of-factly. ‘What did you think I was doing?’
Dominic decided not to answer, not having an answer. He wasn’t quite sure why he was surprised: dogs did it all the time. Maybe he hadn’t associated the canine behaviour with felines, though he guessed cats had to mark territories too.
He supposed that he ought to be grateful that the introduction of the System had clearly changed the way bowel movements worked: this was the first time he’d done either action, and he hadn’t felt any need to void himself. Though clearly he was still capable of it, otherwise Leo wouldn’t have been able to…do what he was doing.
Deciding not to question the System too much, especially when it meant he didn’t have to consider how to urinate or defecate as a lion, he focussed his attention on comparing the slices Leo had made to the ones the other lion had scratched into the tree.
Sure enough, Leo’s marks were both deeper and longer than the other lion’s indicating an advantage both in size and in strength. Perhaps the other lion would just run away before he even appeared. Though that does kind of put the ‘cowardly’ in ‘cowardly lion’, Dominic mused to himself. I thought lions were supposed to be brave?