[Of course. Although the system gives you the ability to purchase the skills, it does not prevent you from naturally learning skills as all monsters do. We would like to inform you however, as a result of choosing your element, not only will elemental moves not attuned to your element be more mana exhausting, the price of skills not aligned to your typing will be more expensive, but skills attuned to your element will be cheaper, being 2/3rd the original cost.]
“And while we’re at it I was wondering whether my evolutions were influenced by the skills I’ve used up to this point. I received 8 different elemental paths based on my moves, so that seems important”
[Of course. Like all monsters, your fighting style and chosen skills will affect future evolutions. Would you like to hear about the other things that would affect future evolutions?]
“That seems to be an obvious yes” Grumbled Richard. He might be grateful to the system, but things like this certainly seem like things he would care about, and wished the system could be more proactive in sharing what seemed very vital knowledge.
[Very well. Besides the skills which will affect your evolution, your environment and bloodline will also affect future development. Currently, as a mana-spawned hatchling who was not spawned near any deceased or existing dragon, you have no additional draconic bloodlines, meaning evolution was unaffected by such a factor. ]
Bloodline. That wasn’t something Richard had ever heard of. Perhaps it was secret knowledge, reserved for the government, and for Richard, this would be groundbreaking. Not only was this vital to Richard, but he loved knowledge, and that hadn’t changed. In times like these, the system was just the perfect well of knowledge. Richard was a bit two headed, both cursing and praising the system in the same minute. “What’s a bloodline?”
[Bloodlines are the ancestral connection a monster may hold to an ancestor. Although many monsters only have a common bloodline, some monsters have an ancestor who may have once been something great. By triggering the bloodline, a monster will inherit the bloodlines physical and spiritual traits, and its potential will also grow, with future evolutions affected by its bloodline, often acting as a return beacon, for monsters to return to their ancestors. One does not need to be born with a bloodline however. By feeding on the essence of a stronger monster, one will not only get stronger, but they may also gain a bloodline, if the monster is compatible with the consumer.
Consent is unrequired. Weaker bloodlines can act as fuel for the stronger ones when being consumed. Creatures that seem different from the general species can be a variant, or a creature with a strong bloodline. Creatures with weaker bloodlines can sense those with stronger bloodlines, and depending on the situation may revere or fear the being in question, or possibly even despise them]
“Seriously…” Exhaled Richard as he watched one of history’s greatest secrets unveiled before him. The Romana Empire had long wondered what determined evolution. What caused one salamander to evolve into a greater salamander, but a hatchling from the very same batch evolving into a moschava or even a drake. Bloodline, environment, skills, training/traits. B.E.S.T. Richard decided that was how he would categorize this information he’d gained this day. The vital traits to evolution. This seemed vital to his future, and made sure to keep an eye out for dragon blood when possible. Now that he'd went over his stats and skills. Richard had time to process. And process he did.
Richard had felt… excited. The danger in that moment had ignited a sense of excitement. The power that flew through his body, seeing everything in slow motion. He wanted to run more, to fight more. The way the rat looked at him. Fear. That bothered him. Richard had a niggle in his mind, a worry.
Why was it scared of him? He was a dragon sure, but not large enough to inspire fear. The rat shouldn’t have been smart enough to recognize what he was. The books never described the rats intelligent enough to recognize and think. Unless… “Bloodlines” When this clicked in his mind, Richard realized a fatal issue about heading out. He was a baby dragon, but a dragon nonetheless. Even though the system said he had no additional bloodlines, he still had the bloodline of a dragon. That sounded like a problem of major proportion because as he had seen, the lowest level monster out there seemed to be a level d monster. Of course, he could be wrong, and there weren’t that many around, but saber tooth rats rarely travel alone. This one was a straggler for sure, but he doubted he’d keep running into stragglers. And if bloodlines can be innately recognized, then he was going to be targeted for that a lot. Richard realized that this no doubt contributed to the death of hatchlings when they spawned naturally. But then what should he do? He can’t hide here forever. The rat proved creatures can and do get in once in a while.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
And even if he stayed in this land until he became what he viewed strong enough, it would mean nothing without experience. Any creature smarter and more experienced could squash him, a history of humans defeating stronger monsters spoke well of this.
‘Perhaps it would’ve been better to choose a drake’ thought Richard before squashing the thought. It would be stupid to choose a wyvern or drake form, abandoning his dragon form. This was a process that would affect his life, dragon will be a better choice.
But what if he could hide his bloodline until he was strong enough to show off his true form? Shapeshift into another creature until he got off this mountain or until he was strong enough to fight or flee any situation?
“System, is there a skill that shapeshifts into another form which could hide my bloodline and current form?”
[Of course, the skill True Shapeshift could do so. It costs 10 skill points]
’10 skill points! Really?’ On one hand, it was a skill that costs 10 points, which sounds like a lot. On the other hand, a true shapeshifting skill sounds really useful, especially if it could hide the essence of a being. “Why is it so cheap?”
[Dragons are a species which can learn shapeshifting easily enough if given enough time. In fact, many, if not all high-level species can do so. Thus, the cost for you has dropped from 100 to 10.]
‘Oh, thank Isis’ Thought Richard. I thought there’d be some sort of huge-
[It also requires a template for the shape you wish to shift into,] Finished the system.
“I’m sorry what? What’s a template?”
[A template is the design of a creature. Dungeons get them via killing a creature and can reapply them to their own bodies, though they are seemingly ingrained with a certain number of templates at the beginning of their existences. You gain templates by understanding creatures. You can also gain some by purchasing them at the shop at the system. The cost of one at your level is 100 points.]
“And there’s the catch” Thought Richard. It seemed too good a skill to be without drawbacks. While 100 points was pretty expensive, to protect his existence, a few points were worth it. “System, please buy me both the template and the skill.”
[Of course. The skill True shapeshifting and template (thunder monitor) have been acquired]
‘All right that’s done’ Thought Richard. He’d try that out later. For now, he was safe and free to experiment. Static. He decided to tap on static to inspect the skill.
[Static is a skill that generates a buzz around you, static in fact. Static will bother any creatures in the nearby area, filling their mind with loud noises and mildly distracting them. Keeping your enemies off track keeps you on-track to victory]
‘Huh’ though Richard. Activating it caused some of his mana to drain, and as he did so, he heard a slight buzzing sound going on. He didn’t feel particularly bothered by it. Slimes on the other hand, made a clear effort to get away from him, with some even approaching him in what seemed to be rage. Richard ignored them of course. He had a rat to eat, and now killing slimes didn’t do anything for him. Sure, he could grind out points, but to kill more slimes than necessary just for points seemed a bit cruel, if not pointless. Still, it was a pleasure to know that it could be used to distract his foes mid-combat.
Richard, having finished all of this, finally sat down and started chewing through the rat. He was both elated, and a little bit grossed out. On one hand, he was glad to have meat. A month had gone by, with him having eaten slimes this whole time. Slimes certainly great, but for a month? It gets tiring. A shame it was rat meat. He wasn’t appalled by the thought of eating a rat, but it wasn’t quite good tasting. After one bite he decided he’d try roasting it instead. He ended up with a charred mess instead. Yeahhh, he was going to need to work with his fire abilities if he if he wants to use them to cook. The best he could do now was burn things. Knowing how to use them and actually using them are 2 different things after all. The core certainly had a different taste. It was harder, though it crumbled all the same. Unlike the slimes nice crumbly sweet cores that the slimes had, it felt more like biting through a ball of salt. Nonetheless, it released a pleasant wave of mana through his body, which made up for the poor taste. ‘Maybe it would’ve been better as seasoning.’
‘So what should I do next?’