Player: Little_Rik
Species: Triceratops
Gender: Male
Growth: Juvenile: 15%
Weight: Small
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Attributes:
Speed: 3
Strength: 4
Agility: 3
Endurance: 4
Defense: 4
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Abilities:
Juvenile Charge: (E)
Basic charge attack, minimal damage but disrupts smaller enemies.
Weak Bite: (F)
Consistent moderate damage to close-range targets.
Weak Headbutt: (F)
Moderate damage vs smaller enemies; can stagger small opponents.
Bioresonant Tissue: (E)
Stores a small amount of kinetic energy for a short period of time that can be released upon an active attack.
Ability Points: 12
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Evolution:
Evolution Energy: 140
Next Growth Stage: Adolescent (20%)
Reach 20% growth to evolve at the Adolescent stage, unlocking new upgrades and abilities.
Horn (Natural) (E):
The juvenile triceratops boasts a singular, partially developed horn on its snout that can be used for penetrating attacks.
Beak (Natural) (Non-mutable):
A sharp beak-like mouth evolved for shearing through vegetation.
Note: This body part requires an evolution to become mutable.
Crest (Natural) (F):
A bony crest that extends around the perimeter of the skull, functioning as an effective shield against predators.
Bioresonant Tissue (Evolved) (E):
Your tissue is capable of storing and directing energy from impacts for a short period of time.
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Biopoints: 41
Team Legacy:
Team Currency:
Meteorite Fragments: 38
When Erik purchased the horn mutation upgrade, taking it from F to E, he could actually see the nose horn grow longer and sharper on the little triceratops avatar. The Bioresoneant tissue upgrade was less visible, though he thought maybe his triceratops was a little thicker overall as a result.
The skill upgrades had no physical impact, and he hadn’t expected they would. Much like skills and mutations had been locked at F tier at Hatchling, it seemed that E tier was top of the line for Juveniles. So he figured if the next two days went well, he’d be able to upgrade all his skills and mutations to E before advancing to Adolescent.
The other thing they needed were more of those boss tokens, but he knew that was a risky proposition. They were not well equipped to kill boss monsters. As far as he knew, all of them had been taken down by teams working together,and not for the first time since they’d returned from the Central Cafe, he found himself wondering if it wasn’t better to make some alliances. It was very counterintuitive for a Battle Royale format, but then those didn’t typically have bosses and hostile NPCs the size of semi-trucks.
There was an undeniable advantage to having alliances in the early game. Skylarks teams proved that beyond a doubt. Erik wasn’t even sure if the advantage of essentially having a 9 person team could be overcome at this point.
“I can smell your brain burning from over here,” Marcus said, from where lounged in the hammock.
“It’s the Skylark teams.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about those bozos,” the Texan scoffed.
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“Of course he is,” Sarah said, from where she lay in her own hammock in the opposite corner, “They’re some of the best Battle Arena players in the world.”
“Please, back in the day we could’ve taken them easy.”
“No,” Erik disagreed, “we were never practiced enough to play on that level.” If it were anyone else saying it, Erik thought Marcus would’ve disagreed until he was blue in the face, but he seemed disinclined to argue with Erik, so instead he said, “yeah well. This isn’t Battle Arena so it’s not like they’re any more prepared than the rest of us.”
This much was true, and it was a point Erik had been overlooking. Thousands of hours on Battle Arena did not make one a better dinosaur by default. Erik wasn’t sure if Skylark understood that game knowledge wasn’t universal. They’d scooped up the big names and put them in a game together, but E.L.E was not their game. They had developed a strategy for getting ahead, but it was a simple, brute force method. Get 9 players together and mob down threats that a 3 player team couldn’t typically handle. Capitalize on some early wins and snowball. The notification they’d be returning to the game world in 10 seconds popped up, and Erik dismissed it with a wave.
“Times up chumps, let's do this,” Marcus called out as he jumped to his feet. Erik rose to his feet as well, trying to clear his head, but he was finding it hard to shake off the sense of being left behind. If they didn’t find some way to close the gap, and soon then they would in no way be ready to face Skylarks teams if they crossed paths, or anyone else in the top 10.
3
2
1
Pop
The smell of the swamp hit Erik like a punch to the face. The sickly-sweet odor of decay, and the cloying, muggy heat. He rose to his feet and plodded forward out of the undergrowth they’d been hiding in. The sun was just starting to crest the horizon, it cast the swamp in shades of orange that moved steadily towards golden as it climbed higher.
“Hey, nice horn.” Marcus said, as he followed Erik out of their hiding spot. Sarah scoffed as she joined them, but Erik really couldn’t disagree. The day prior, his nose horn horn had been short and kinda blunt, and while it was still nowhere near its eventual adult growth, it was considerably longer than it had been. It also seemed thinner, and the point was much more- pointy. It looked dangerous.
They continued to island hop through the swamp, moving roughly in the direction of the map's center, but Erik was less concerned about the death wall than he had been. While he wasn’t certain, he was guessing that the wall's inward movement was dynamic rather than fixed. As the number of teams lessened, and the tournament moved towards its conclusion it would likely speed up. Though he wasn’t willing to bet entirely on his guess being right.
“So do you think we should find other teams to group with to take down sub-bosses?” Sarah asked. He turned his frilled head to look at her. He hadn’t spoken on his concerns the day prior, unable to come to a conclusion himself, but apparently Sarah had guessed the direction his thoughts were moving.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. It certainly seemed like the right way to go. In fact, thanks to the way Skylark was playing the game it was basically necessary, as far as he could tell. “If we want to stay in this thing, I’m not sure we have any other choice.”
“So long as it isn’t those guys from yesterday.” Marcus said from Eriks left, as the three of them sloshed through the water, across a short gap between two islands.
“I bet they’re all Juveniles after yesterday.” Sarah pointed out.
“Yeah,” Erik agreed, “and they evolved with sub-boss tokens which means they’ve actually got a leg up progression wise, even if they’re behind growth wise.”
“So you do want to team up with, what was it? The Rizzleberries?” Marcus asked, incredulous.
“I’m still not sure if I want to try and team up with anyone.”
“We could always try asking Rokells team.” Marcus offered, and Sarah scoffed, which came out as a chitter. “Got a problem with them?” Marcus demanded of her, defensive.
“No, I just think-” but whatever Sarah thought they didn’t get to find out because just then the foliage above them exploded in a blur of green and brown as a massive snake struck with terrifying speed. Its jaws clamped around Sarah’s back, lifting her off the ground as her claws scrabbled against the air.