He noticed that the Claws ability moved down to the bottom of the Genetic Development Interface, where the skills and abilities he already possessed were. He now had only 740 mana points left. Other than that, nothing else changed after he acquired Claws. Jake looked over his stats one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Name: Jake Turner

Race: Ex-Human Morphus

Evolution Stage 1: “Primordial Form”

Level: 1

HP: 100%

XP: 0/100

SP: 0

MP: 740

Body: 1

Mind: 0

Magick: 0

Claws: Rank I (0%) (Common)

Enhanced Senses: Rank I (16%) (Common)

Enhanced Agility: Rank I (24%) (Common)

Enhanced Intelligence: Rank I (11%) (Common)

After that, Jake opened his eyes, and all the stats disappeared. He stood up from the ground. He was still in the clearing surrounded by trees. Behind him was the Dark Void. Nothing had changed in his surroundings while he’d been preoccupied with his stats. His heightened sense of hearing picked up the sounds of mutants somewhere in the trees, but they were too far away for him to be concerned about.

He glanced at his body. There weren’t any visible changes to it. He wasn’t bulkier or more muscular. Still, having allocated a skill point into Body had to stand for something. Perhaps his body was now more resistant to damage. At least, he hoped so. He then raised his hands and gave them a look-over. Despite him having acquired Claws, they appeared unchanged, showing no difference at all. Aside from being obsidian-black and textured, they pretty much looked like regular human hands. Maybe he could transform them into claws with a thought? He decided to give it a try, and it worked.

His fingers and thumbs on both hands widened and elongated into something resembling long, curved talons. The transformation wasn’t instantaneous; it took his hands a few seconds to assume their final shape. Jake brought them closer to his face for a better look. Each of his fingers was a couple of inches longer now, curving slightly and tapering off to a point. They looked quite menacing. He surely wouldn’t want a creature to rake his body with such claws.

He heard a mutant cry somewhere off to his right. He turned his head in that direction. While his enhanced hearing allowed him to detect the creature, he couldn’t see it yet. The mutant remained hidden from sight within the dense foliage, but based on the sounds it emitted, it wasn’t far away. Jake decided it was time to test his newly acquired claws on some ex-humans. He darted into the trees, moving effortlessly and producing minimal noise.

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It took him just a few seconds to reach the creature. It was a walker. The mutant had its back turned to him and only became aware of his presence when Jake got within a couple of feet of it. The walker wheeled around, growling and lashing out with a clawed hand upon spotting Jake. However, to Jake, the mutant seemed to move in slow motion. He easily evaded the attack by ducking his head. Before the mutant could regain its balance, Jake swiftly aimed the claws on his right hand toward its throat. His talons tore into the flesh with ease, and dark blood poured from the wound. The walker took an unsteady step toward Jake before collapsing to the ground.

Enemy killed. +10 XP

Just like that, the mutant had been dealt with. It had taken Jake less than a second to deliver the mortal blow to the ex-human. The killing excited him. His claws turned out to be even more dangerous than he had thought. Armed with such powerful talons, dispatching ex-humans wouldn’t be much of a problem from now on.

Jake heard another walker moving through the foliage nearby. He turned in that direction and sprinted after his prey. The walker spotted him before he could get within striking distance. It didn’t help the mutant much, though. The ex-human moved toward him, swinging its clawed hands at him. He ducked under its arms, slashing his own claws across the mutant’s stomach. The tips of his talons ripped through the walker’s ragged clothes, digging deep into its flesh. The mutant’s steaming intestines spilled out onto the ground.

Enemy killed. +10 XP

There were a few more walkers nearby. They heard the commotion and rushed at Jake from several directions. He ducked his head as the first one approached to attack. Jake swept his claws diagonally across the mutant’s face, leaving long bleeding scratches in its flesh. A second slash opened its throat almost to the spine, nearly severing its head. Before the dead walker collapsed, Jake had already turned his attention to the next ex-human. He dodged its clawed hands and counterattacked, killing the mutant in less than a second.

One of the other creatures managed to catch his shoulder with a clawed hand, but he barely noticed it. When he glanced at his shoulder, he was surprised to find it barely scratched with no bluish energy seeping out like it’d happened the last time he was wounded. The skill point he had put into Body had indeed made his body more robust and resistant to damage.

The walkers attacked him from several directions, but he killed all of them without much trouble. When the last one was taken care of, a notification popped up in his head.

You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level went up from 1 to 2. You have gained 1 SP.

Jake closed his eyes to summon his stats. He invested the skill point into Body, increasing it to 2. He then resumed his hunt, tracking down and slaying walkers that lurked in the woods that had once been a city park. After taking out twenty-five more walkers, he leveled up to 3. This time, he invested the skill point into Mind.

He then checked his stats once more.

Name: Jake Turner

Race: Ex-Human Morphus

Evolution Stage 1: “Primordial Form”

Level: 3

HP: 100%

XP: 0/500

SP: 0

MP: 580

Body: 2

Mind: 1

Magick: 0

Claws: Rank I (17%) (Common)

Enhanced Senses: Rank I (22%) (Common)

Enhanced Agility: Rank I (42%) (Common)

Enhanced Intelligence: Rank I (19%) (Common)

Claws, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Agility, and Enhanced Intelligence had all improved, with Enhanced Agility showing significant growth. His skills and abilities indeed increased when they were in active use.

He also noticed that to level up to 4, he needed to gain 500 XP. This meant he had to kill fifty walkers to level up. Perhaps it was a better idea to leave the park and track down some leapers in high-rise buildings instead, as each leaper was worth 25 XP. He might also encounter some shamblers, each worth 50 XP. As a survivor, he had always been wary of shamblers, as they were formidable foes. Now he should be able to deal with them without much trouble.

He could take on multiple ex-humans at the same time and deal with all of them within seconds without breaking a sweat. Given how easily he could slay mutants now, Jake was certain he would level up much faster than he did as a regular survivor. Well, at least, there was a silver lining to being a mutant. Jake wanted to smile at the thought, but he had no mouth to do so.