While he waited to see if any of the lionesses would claim their sisters’ bodies – and those of her cubs – Dominic decided to collect the Cores hanging around the place. Finding them wasn’t too hard: he just had to go to the spots where a lot of blood had soaked the earth and search around for a glinting gem-like marble.
Since the hyenas had all been level 5, the Cores all contained Crushing Bite and only that.
‘Do you think we should absorb them and upgrade Crushing Bite or save them for selling later?’
‘Absorb them now,’ came Leo’s immediate and definite answer. ‘You don’t even know whether these will be valuable to anyone, nor if we will encounter and be able to communicate with anyone who wants them. We have not found any other use for them.’
Dominic admitted that he had a point. And actually, that reminded him of something. Absorbing the Cores quickly, he then pulled out one which had been sitting in his Inventory for a while.
[Beast Core: Meerkat level 5
Ability: Group Attack]
Now that he realised he could actually get information about an ability by focussing on it, he tried doing that with this Core. Whether he was just better at directing the System or Information was something which actually increased in level like anything else, though without showing any evidence in his status sheet, this time he was able to see more than just the name of Group Attack.
[Group Attack (T0): Increases your offensive prowess when attacking in a group. +1% to offensive damage dealt per other being you attack with who is considered to be in the same group. Percentage may increase or other bonuses may be added as Ability increases in level.]
‘I have just one thing to say here,’ Dominic told Leo as he read through the description. ‘If all those Meerkats had this ability and were still barely able to damage me, then their starting stats must have been terminally weak.’ Dominic felt the sense of shrug from his companion.
‘Meerkats at the best of times cannot face a lion. And consider how they were levels 0 and 1 at a time when we were level 9. That they were able to damage us at all is probably an achievement.’
‘True,’ Dominic admitted. Still, now that he was in a pride, this Ability would be a lot more useful than it would have been before. He was glad to see that there didn’t seem to be any negative modifier to not fighting in a pride. That had been something he’d been wary about. Although he didn’t intend at this point to go solo again, there was no guaranteeing what would or wouldn’t happen in the future.
Quickly absorbing the Core, he was a little grumpy to see that he hadn’t gained the Ability all in one go. I did with the Warthog Guardian’s Core, he grumbled to himself. Even though he’d gambled a little on that one, if he’d played it safe and gone from Charge, he would have been guaranteed to gain it immediately. What is the use of this for anyone else if it doesn’t actually give an Ability straight out?
‘Probably as much use as any other Core,’ Leo remarked. ‘Meaning that either it can be used elsewhere or the dungeon chose this reward specifically for us, like it did the gorget and tail armour. Which you haven’t worn recently.’
‘I haven’t, have I?” Dominic thought guiltily. How was he going to use the thing in battle if he never trained his tail to cope with it? ‘Wait,’ he said, realising something. ‘How come it’s ‘you’ haven’t used it? You could have worn it too!’
‘And look ridiculous while mating with females?’ Leo huffed in amusement. ‘Hardly. You can do it when they’re worn out and uninterested in more fun.’
Dominic scoffed wordlessly at his companion’s double-standards.
‘You realise that it’s the same body, right?’
‘Yes, but can you imagine me wearing it while mating?’
‘I don’t want to,’ Dominic told him pointedly. ‘That’s precisely what I’m trying to avoid!’
‘Prude,’ the lion sniffed.
‘Just wait until I’ve got my human body back and have seduced a woman,’ Dominic warned him. ‘Then we’ll see who’s the prude.’ Leo gave him the distinct impression of flopping on his side and closing his eyes. Clearly being back with other lions was increasing his non-verbal communication, even mentally.
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Turning his attention back to his task, Dominic pulled Cores out of his Inventory and kept absorbing them a few at a time, keeping an eye on his Acquired Abilities list so that he would know when he reached 100%.
As it turned out, it was a good thing that he had so many of the Cores: the level 0 ones only offered him about 1% every two or three Cores he absorbed, and the level 1s only offered him a single percent each.
Still, at least that told him that even when his status screen didn’t actually show any change, it could still happen: when he consumed the level 0 Cores, there was no indication of a fraction of a percentage being added, but if it actually hadn’t been, then he’d never make any progress. Unless some level 0 Cores were worth a lot more than others, of course, but to consistently lay his hands on the higher value ones every two or three lower value ones was unlikely at best.
He was actually down to the last twenty Cores before he hit 100%. He decided to munch them afterwards: although they wouldn’t make much difference, they might give him a few percent towards the next level in that Ability. Besides, there was no point hanging onto them. Leo was right about the Cores from the hyenas doing more good in getting him to the next level in Crushing Bite than just cluttering up his storage space.
Not that he had much to fill the space with, but who was going to be interested in level 0 Cores from creatures which were basically the equivalent of rats? Even assuming that level 0 or level 1 Cores were useful to artisans, they’d be able to give any old adventurer a fetch quest to clear the sewers of rats and they’d be up to their necks in the things. Assuming that humans had been given some sort of place in the new System, which surely they had.
So Dominic almost cleared out his inventory of meerkat Cores, and gave the area a second go-over to make sure that he hadn’t missed any hyena ones. Then, seeing that half the pride had already started moving off towards a spot to sleep, Dominic decided that he might as well absorb the corpses of the pride members.
He still felt a little uneasy about the prospect. Even if Leo was right and leaving them to be Consumed by others, maybe even by the hyenas who killed them, was probably a worse one, they were still…people.
I hadn’t realised I’d made that jump, Dominic thought to himself, almost dismayed. Didn’t that just show how much he’d changed? That he was thinking of lions as ‘people’? And people don’t eat people, he concluded, finally putting his finger on what was bothering him.
‘You’re not eating them. And even if you were, I don’t see the problem – a mother will sometimes eat her cubs if they are killed. It’s practical, for one thing.’
‘That’s…’ Dominic didn’t know how to finish his sentence. He wanted to say ‘sick’, but knew that it would be hypocritical to do so: humans had had rather odd customs over the years, and cannibalism wasn’t completely unheard of, especially when it was the only practical way to survive. But this wasn’t such a desperate situation.
‘Look, if you can’t do it, let’s switch places,’ Leo told Dominic, his voice impatient. ‘Leaving them gives strength to our enemies; Consuming them gives strength to us. Strength which we can use to protect the rest of the pride.’
‘No, I’ll do it,’ Dominic told him. I need to get over it, he thought more privately to himself. If I can eat raw meat straight, I can absorb a corpse. Still, as he approached the body of the mother, he couldn’t help but lean down to touch his nose to hers. I’m sorry, he said to her quietly in his mind. I should have protected you. I should have driven off those hyenas rather than seeing them as a way to gain Prey Points. I should have realised that you guys were in difficulty over here rather than being too involved in my own fight. He sighed, the air rushing out of his mouth and ruffling her fur. I’ll get better, Dominic promised.
Then, triggering Consume, the lioness’ body disintegrated into golden smoke and was absorbed into him. He could barely even look at the cubs’ bodies, the half-grown lions with their gangly legs and too-big paws. Now, they were small piles on the savannah earth, their fur blood-stained, flies already feeding and laying eggs in the bloody cuts.
When he Consumed them, he was savagely glad to see the fly eggs drop to the earth below. Good, he thought with his teeth bared. Parasites!
After that, he did the same to the sub-adult lioness who had also died. Like her pride-sister – probably aunt or something – Dominic apologised to her before actually triggering Consume. In a short time, all that was left of the grisly scene was blood-soaked earth, gleaming Cores, and a cloud of confused flies. Do flies level under this System too? Dominic wondered, both disgusted and intrigued at the thought. He’d hate to come across a level 20 fly. Or what about a level 50 mosquito? He shuddered.
Information, he directed at the Cores.
[Beast Core: African Lion level 4
Ability: Pounce]
[Beast Core: African Lion level 3
Ability: Pounce]
[Beast Core: African Lion (cub) level 0
Ability: Pounce]
He only investigated one of each type, figuring that the six cubs would most likely be the same level. As expected, none of them had yet gained anything from this new world. Not surprising since they probably hadn’t been involved in any hunts, but useful to know that just eating corpses didn’t give Prey Points, even to cubs.
That the adult female was only a single level above the sub-adult was a little surprising, but as Dominic thought about it, he had to admit that it made sense. The System hadn’t arrived that long ago, so the sub-adult was probably already hunting with the pride when it came. The difference in level was probably to do with the fact that the apportioning of Prey Points seemed to be based at least partially on contribution. Being a younger and lighter lioness, the juvenile probably hadn’t contributed as much as the other.
This time being able to check out the ability he’d already started to earn, Dominic focussed on ‘Pounce’.
[Pounce (T0): Increases your offensive prowess when ambushing your prey. +50% damage to a hit which is delivered without the target being aware of you until the attack is too close to avoid. +25% damage to an attack which is made directly to a vulnerable area. Percentage may increase as Ability increases in level.]
Pretty useful, Dominic thought to himself. Right, let’s see if we have enough Cores to get it in this round.