Now, that was quite the pickle, wasn't it? On the one hand, I did need to check something. "What happens if I decline the level up?" Which really, was an important thing to ask, as everything so far indicated that the ones running this were... kinda dickish. However, the reply was a lot better than I expected, even as I wondered.... frankly, it would make more sense to unlock as many evolutionary paths as I could, rather than expanding my mythos.
[If you do not choose to level up, the experience will be stored until your next resting period. However, while in Early Access, you may only store a maximum of three levels at once. After Early Access, once you have reached the experience required for the next level, you will cease to earn additional EXP rewards until you level up.]
As it stood... there were mechanisms to try and prevent just gorging on easy EXP it seemed, something meant to draw things out? And it made me wonder... why were things so generous in early Access? Were we being set up? Or was it just to have champions when shit hit the fan? Look, the world changed how it operated overnight, I was entitled to my worries. But, at the same time, it made things clear, as I pressed No.
The simple truth of things was that I had two days left. Not a lot of time by any means. At the same time, I could afford to wait just a little bit longer to actually create my first graft, to allow myself the options to fully build things out. And the truth was? While it would cost me most of my graft points... I would be able to get five of the six mutator feats I was angling for. Which in turn, would strengthen my build for future challenges.
In truth, of the six, I could cut out Construct Mutator the easiest. All in all, what I wanted from that list was its rank three tetramorphism Spellward, as well as the Force Barrier and Sheathe mutations for different reasons. One contributed to my defenses and the other added force damage to my attacks. Granted, at only a fraction of my mutator level, so it was a long term investment.
Elemental? While the tetramorphisms were not that appealing, there were a few mutations. Sustained auras of elemental damage, variable elemental fireballs and ground hazards, tremorsense and the ability to infuse elemental attack damage into wielded weapons... all of that could be useful. And If I gained an elemental subtype, I could even get a self-healing ability out the deal!
Plant Mutator can unlock light based attacks, thorns to hurt those closing in melee, fungi, leaves to reduce what I need to eat, nourishing others and eventually making plant minions and a grove. With the right feats, even if the budding creations would only last twenty four hours, it would be possible to grow metal and stone temporarily. Plus, natural perfume to cover up my stank.
Outsider would allow me to see in magical darkness, improve my telepathy and add a number of divine and alignment based effects to my bag of tricks, essentially becoming an angel.. or demon. An annoying thing though? Lots of the effects are based on charisma.
Deathless, the positive energy flipside of Undead, would allow for a range of healing options, potentially synergizing with elemental mutations to be a beacon of life in the dark. That... and it would allow me to set a place to revive later on. Compared to Outsider, where I needed to be on a plane I wasn't native to if I wanted to use its methods of escaping permanent death.
And then there were the Ancient mutations. Frankly, a lot of them dealt in turning into some eldritch horror man was not meant to know, with some taint, corruption and insect themes as well. But also among them, defenses against divination and eventually, at level twenty, the chance to be immune to anything the divine can throw at you. At least directly. Discount Elder Evil's are more than capable of having their asses kicked by a god that can think.
So, as I sank into the covers... I would finish sleeping and head home before performing physical and metaphysical surgery on myself and then leveling up.
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The great secret to success, at least once you abandon the trap that is the big glittery hell circuit, can be found in that old serenity prayer. Courage, the willingness to act, to change that which can be changed and accomplished. Serenity, to know that some things you cannot change. Wisdom, to be aware of your limitations and abilities and in doing so being able to discern which tasks you can actually do, and which you will destroy yourself in the attempt.
Which was not an excuse for laziness. Rather, as I pulled into my driveway and made my way down to the buildings, it was a call to know yourself and to honestly assess if your goals were worth it... as well as knowing when to cut your losses and when to break things down into smaller and more easily manageable tasks. That, and a side of not to get greedy. Sure, I could have hit up more cattle farms as soon as I harvested the first load... but it was the devils luck I didn't get caught as it is.
Dirt and stone crunched underfoot, as I got out of the car, as I made sure to take out my smugly girl, for her to waddle and amble about as she chuffed and wheezed, snorting and sneezing. Of course, there were the chores to do, as I made my way to the garden, to the fields, green house and hoop house. There was weeding to do, a pug to feed and some things to get a hold of... and okay, I probably should let everyone know that the end of the world as we knew it was coming along in two days.
A part of me is going D'oh and wanting to face palm because I should have done that sooner. Ah well, I can show off once I have rested a little, and I can hunt everyone down. Might as well show off to the entire clan, see about giving them their own upgrades and advice later, after the world goes nuts. Thankfully... we were a ways out of Thunder Bay, and so would be spared of the initial... yeah. Modern cities are not designed to last very long in a collapse.
Of course, that was very much tomorrows project. Before I slept once more, I had another one, and one that was.... okay, I had an intellectual idea of what I was getting into when I choose this. I made the choice of my own free will, and this was the path I was willing to take. At the same time, I will freely admit that I had some minor reservations about performing surgery on myself, while I was awake and with nothing to block or blunt the pain. Of course, that was going to be the more... involved part of the procedure.
No, the easy part, as I finish up the sketch and design, is making the graft and preparing it for implantation. All in all, an easy ten minutes, as I took the flesh out of my soul, weaving and extruding it from were I had been storing it. It was a seed, a container that held blueprints taken not really from my own mind, as I tried to form the images, the symbiology as the flesh quivered and rippled, as it reached higher and lower and transposed the forms into its own projected iterations.
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In shape, the thing was simple, a ghostly ash seed, that seemed at times to ripple, to burn inside even as it yearned to grow, to find root in the only soil that it was designed to accept. So, I breathed deeply, made sure Pudge was inside of the house, and stepped into the greenhouse. There was some privacy there to do what needed to be done.
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Luke
Frankly, he was not sure why he was heading in to check on his older brother. Well, other than the fact that their father asked. The thing was? Matt was a grumpy, surly man child who was finally happy... because all that fat asshole ever wanted was to be in the middle of the woods, far from people and with only his computer and dog for company. The annoying thing is, that it was good for him. He lost weight and his hair trigger temper was getting better according to everyone.
Hell, he was even losing the bags from under his eyes because he couldn't sleep. Sure, he was blowing through all of his money according to Jake, so that he could try and be as self-reliant as possible. Which would likely last until the lazy pig ate through his four months of canned food in a few weeks and he lost any and all motivation to even try and improve himself. Again. Sure, he was family, but... well, if a bear broke in and ate Matt, he would not be able to really muster any kind of sorrow. Well, aside from Pudge. He could hardly hate the old girl.
Of course, the presence of a car? Matt may have finally gotten his drivers licence, but he was still just using his pedal trike in the summer and asking for rides in the winter. Even as he walked up to the door, Pudge starting to yarp and scream hello, there was no actual sign of Matt, even as he knocked on the door. "Matt, you here?" Sure, he would do the bare minimum, but it was just as likely Matt was in the woodlot looking to chop down some trees. Or down by the creek looking to sluice up some iron. Matt was good at starting projects, but he was shit at actually following through.
Of course, as he entered into the greenhouse, he thought he heard some shuffling, some movement, somethings attempt to be sneaky. Worse? There was worse than Matt's usual smell of old stale sweat, piss, shit and rotting meat (somehow, he always smelled like rancid lard). No, there was that copper and iron smell of blood in the air, as he felt his blood run cold. Really, despite not liking his brother in the least, while they said Matt was getting better, he knew the truth. Matt was a vicious, petty, cruel and savage creature stuffed in a rotting carcass, he did not want to see him dead. Matt had been... trying in ham-fisted and awkward ways.
So, he turned the corner, opened the second set of doors... and paused. "Matt, why did you..." He was going to say disembowel himself. Because Matt's flesh was torn open, spine visible... and worse? It was peeled back, metal clips pinning flesh open as Matt looked down inside of himself... as something shifted and moved, tendrils? Roots? Slithering and glowing, a bulb growing on his spine, not really a tumor, but... whatever that was? It was not glowing. It was burning, glowing with radiant and eldritch hues that....
He turned, kneeling over as he vomited, as chunks of his breakfast tore their way free of his lips. Even as he wondered... what the hell happened to Matt? He paused, even as a thought came to him. "Matt, whatever did this to you, blink twice if they are still around." Because....
"Ah, Luke, I'm fine, trust me. Despite what this looks like..." And there was that defensive and shifty eyes, the body language and tone... Matt did not want to answer questions, didn't want to deal with anyone. "I have it all under control, as really, implanting the Fivefold Evolutionary Matrix is hardly the..." There is a pause, as he shifts, a burst of flatulence... as he farted fire. "Just tickles a bit, but hey, this is way less painful than what happened to my bones."
There is a moment of silence, a moment of dread, as ghost fires burn and dance, as yin-yang symbols form in those eyes briefly, swirling and rotating as blood vessels weep black and white blood out of Matt's tear ducts. "What happened to your bones." A question? Maybe. As it was, it was clear that there was something giving him hallucinations, as Matt continued to ramble on about his delusions, as his mental health, something Matt had even joked about barely having for years... had finally evaporated entirely.
He was not sure how he ended up in his car, as he made the trip down to the farm. Despite the frequent arguments... how was he going to tell her that Matt killed himself? And that he had chosen a painful and slow way to go? This would hardly be the first time he ever mentioned considering it after all. But he was too afraid to actually go through with it, or at least, thats what he said years ago, before he started getting better. And now, his older brother was dead.
He was just trying to live in a fantasy like Matt, that he was still alive. That he talked and was going to be doing fine.
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Matt
Well, that could have gone better? At least, as the graft made its way through him, as it mutated and unfolded lattice works to his potential, expanding what his flesh and soul could grow into... well, it would be over soon and he was in no actual danger thanks to his Krekeri abilities. Granted, he needed to finish the implantation procedure.
As it was, the seed implanted at his Solar Plexus Chakra (he cheated a little, using the connection his Crown Chakra had with the others) sprouted along his spine, wrapping around it and forming the trunk (plant). The roots, pressing deep and piercing into my blood stream carried with them Ancient strength and power. At several other locations. small engines of positive energy began to form, dynamos of Deathless crusades against the grave and entropy.
High in my body, ideals moved, connected by bridges of belief and thought, at once inside of me and Outsiders to my being, as running through the tree primal forces linked information, energy and matter. And with a gasp, as my flesh knitted back together, as I watched and reveled... I threw my head back and laughed, wild and free, as potential surged forth.
I would change, and in doing so? I would ascend. Through ascension, I would understand and empower others.
Though... I should probably call the folks. Luke was looking a little shaken at the end.