Kota’s mutations so far had all had a shadow theme to them. This was further enhanced by his last mutation Gloom Cloak. Daniel decided that the best bet would be to get general skills for Kota. The first couple he picked out were easy. They would help enhance Kota’s current combat capabilities. The first one was called ‘Rend,’ and would help his claws inflict more damage when using his ‘Ethereal Shadow Claws’ mutation and his Claws of the Ice Born Bear. At Least he hoped the two skills would have some kind of synergy.
The next skill he wanted for Kota was for the same reason as the last one he wanted to give Kota a new skill that would help with his bite attacks. The skill he picked out was called ‘Feral Bite’ it would increase the damage and penetration for all of his bite attacks.
Those two skills took care of Kota’s main ways to do damage, so Daniel moved onto utility skills for Kota next. Kota also needed a stealth skill and based on the talk he had already had with Ulgatha he thought ‘Prowl’ would be a good choice. However Daniel also wanted another stealth type skill that would synergize with his mutations as well. It took Daniel a couple of minutes of looking through the book before he found a skill that would work well with Kota. It didn't seem like much at first, but after thinking about it for a minute Daniel thought it should work with ‘Shadow Prowl,’ and ‘Gloom Cloak.’ It was called Camouflage and would help someone blend more fully into their surroundings if they were still.
With that skill picked out Daniel moved on to the next and final one. Daniel wanted to have Kota learn at least 5 general skills to start excluding some of the skills like Sprint that Kota was currently working on. As Daniel looked up from his book he saw John, Steve and Kota all running laps around the training room. Daniel hoped Kota would be able to learn some of the same skills that he and the others had already learned. If not he would need to find an alternative for him.
Diving back into the book Daniel began his search for the last skill that would tie all of Kota’s strengths together. The one he eventually found was under the feline section of the book, but Daniel thought it would work well. It was called ‘Heightened Awareness.’ It would help Kota gain a better passive sense of his surroundings and a better sense for Danger. With all of the skills picked out it was now time to get Kota to learn them.
With a mental communication with Kota Daniel asked him to come over. Their link was still new, but Daniel wanted to try and explain what he had learned with his friend. He watched as Kota trotted towards him, and once he was close began to try his best to explain as best as he could how to gain the skills he had picked and his reasoning behind the choices. Daniel Just hoped he would be able to. He could have just spoken to Kota out loud; he seemed to understand what he said, but Daniel wanted to explore this new Connection they had gained with the ‘Party Interface’ skill.
~~~~~
Kota strode towards his father at his mental beaconing. This link to his father, his savior was new and wonderful. After reaching him Kota sat down on his haunches waiting for what he would say next. As he waited Kota thought about his father, and wasn't that a wonderful thing. Thoughts. It was something new and wonderful to Kota. Before his connection to his master when he had come home smelling of blood he had been nothing, but an ordinary animal, but now he had become more.
It had started off small at first, but as time went on he began to understand more and more of what his father wanted, and soon he even began to think on his own. Then with the crystal his father had pressed to his head they now had an even deeper link. One where they could now directly talk to one another. So far they had only briefly exchanged words. Their connection was still new, and Kota was still unsure how to talk to the man who had saved him in a way he might understand. Kota knew that the others like his master spoke with what he knew as words, but Kota did not understand their deeper meanings. This would be something he would need to eventually figure out on his own.
For now however he sat in front of his father and thought about him. He was a gentle man, but also one capable of great violence. He had grown stronger recently just as Kota’s himself had. However even though he had grown his father had grown even more. Kota could not understand how his father had accomplished some of the feats of strength he had achieved, but Kota knew that with every passing day in this strange place his father had brought him to, he grew more behind. Kota had a suspicion that his father, benevolent as he was, was trying to find a way for Kota to gain more strength, and Kota would do whatever his father said if it meant getting stronger so that he could protect their pack.
Moments later images began to enter his mind from his father. They were images of them fighting with a focus on when his father used skills. Kota had seen these skills before, but did not know how he could gain them. It seemed like it was now the time for Kota to learn. It took Kota a while to understand what his father was trying to teach, but after a while of going back and forth telepathically it all began to click together for Kota. His father wanted him to learn five skills. His father also provided reasoning for his choices, but Kota didn't care. He trusted his father to make the best choices for him.
More time passed with them communicating back and forth. Kota had no reference for how long had passed, but it was time for the next step. It was time for Kota to try and gain these skills his father had picked for him.
~~~~~
It had taken far longer than Daniel would have liked to finally get a way to effectively communicate with Kota. It had taken a lot of back and forth, but they had done it. With that step finally done it was time for them to actually begin to train Kota to gain the five skills he had picked.
Daniel started with the skills that he thought would be the easiest for Kota to learn. ‘Prowl’ and ‘Feral Bite.’ These skills would just require Kota to focus on certain aspects of his attacks while in combat. This should be easily accomplished with fighting the shadow clones.
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Daniel led Kota over to the fighting arena, and then tried to telepathically tell Kota what he would need to do. For ‘Rend’ Kota would need to focus his will on his claws and how they dealt damage. Virgo Astont described the mental image needed for the skill in great detail, but it all basically boiled down to the following. Focus on your claws and how they ripped through flesh leaving behind lines of damage.
Daniel tried his best to relay what Kota needed to do, but eventually Kota would need to try on his own. Daniel directed Kota to enter the arena, and he headed over to the controls. Once he made sure that Kota was ready he summoned the first shadow clone for Kota. He just hoped his pup had understood what he needed to do.
~~~~~
Kota sat on his haunches in the middle of the arena focusing on the mental image his father had given to him. It was very simple in all honesty. Before this cycle Kota hadn't known that he needed to focus his intent to gain these powers his master wanted him to learn. He had watched and even participated in his masters training, but he had never realized the deeper mental effort that went into these skills. Now that he knew however the next step would be easy.
The first shadow construct appeared and Kota leapt into motion. He ran towards the construct and when he judged the distance to be right he leapt forward. With a small amount of mental effort he willed his ‘Claws of the Ice Born Bear’ to extend. Then while still holding the mental image of the skill in his mind he raked his claws through the construct making it vanish in a puff of black smoke. Just before landing he dismissed his claws and turned. Already there was a new shadow construct forming, but before he moved to attack this new threat Kota gathered the dispersing cloud of shadow mana from the construct into himself with his new organ his father had chosen for him. The process took only moments and then he was off racing towards his next opponent.
Five more constructions later Kota felt a change and he knew instinctively that he had gained the new skill. With this success he stopped and turned towards his father and barked in triumph. This caused his father to dismiss the next construct that had been forming, and walk onto the arena with Kota. While he approached Kota let the notice of his improvement flow into him, and moments later he understood how he had improved
(T1) Rend ( 1/5 ): Your claws are weapons and designed to deal death and bleed out your prey. Utilize this skill more to increase its proficiency.
Level 1 (Passive): Increase the amount of bleeding caused by your claw attacks by 1%
Level 2 (Passive): Increase the amount of bleeding caused by your claw attacks by an additional 2%. (Current bonus 1%)
~~~~~
Daniel approached Kota a bit surprised. It had only been a few minutes and Kota had apparently already gained the skill. It had taken far less time than he had expected. Daniel approached Kota and knelt down. When Kneeling they were at eye level and Daniel looked into Kota’s eyes while he sent another telepathic message to his companion. “You got the skill already?”
Instead of replying telepathically Kota just let out an affirmative bark.
Daniel nodded in excitement. This time Daniel spoke aloud to Kota, “Okay it appears it's time we pick up the pace of your training then. Okay here is what we need to do next…
~~~~~
The next hour went by in a blur, but time did not matter to Kota. It was still a concept he had trouble grasping at times, but he was learning and constantly improving. The next skill ‘Feral Bite’ also didn't take long for Kota to learn.
(T1) Feral Bite ( 1/5 ): Your bite is a weapon and is designed to rip and tear the flesh of your foes. Utilize this skill more to increase its proficiency.
Level 1 (Passive): Increase the amount of bleeding caused by your bite attacks by 1%
Level 2 (Passive): Increase the amount of bleeding caused by your bite attacks by an additional 2%. (Current bonus 1%)
After Kota had gained the second general skill they left the arena, and moved into a new area that the training room had made for them. Kota was unsure how, but this place was somehow separate from their world, but still connected. This made Kota somewhat nervous at first, but as his master did not seem to mind Kota also dismissed it as well. The thing that really bothered Kota however was how the room just appeared out of nowhere. It was unnatural, but if this place would let him catch up with his master he wouldn't protest.
The room they entered was that of a forest, or at least it was designed to mimic the functions of a forest. Kota could tell it was only a surface level imitation. The room just didn't have the smell or natural sounds of a forest. Its only purpose was to provide them with an area where they could practice to use skills, and mimicking the natural sounds and smells of the forest wasn't necessary for accomplishing that goal.
After Daniel explained to Kota what his goal was he got to work. There were three skills Kota was working on gaining all at the same time. The first was a stealth skill ‘Prowl’ which Kota knew would be easy for him to gain with his mutations his father had chosen for him. Next was ‘Camouflage.’ This skill would complement his natural stealth abilities allowing him to better utilize the shadows to disguise his movements. Kota also thought this skill would be easy enough to gain, but it was the last one that Kota thought he would have the hardest time achieving.
It was called ‘Heightened Awareness’ and it had been a difficult process for his father to communicate exactly what he needed to accomplish to gain the skill. Even now as Kota stood alone in the forest he was unsure how he was supposed to expand his senses.
He decided not to think about that problem any longer. Kota had a goal to accomplish. The task was simple. In this simulated environment there would be roaming bands of shadow constructs. They were supposed to simulate patrols of soldiers. They would roam together in groups of two to five and would be actively looking for Kota. Kota had two goals. The first was to remain unseen for as long as possible. It was simple enough it was the second goal which would provide the actual challenge. He needed to remain unseen while also picking off some of the shadow construct portals.
The hunter in Kota was excited, but he restrained himself. This was a test his father had set up for him to gain new skills. It was something Kota would need to remember going forward. Moments later Kota received a telepathic message to begin, and it was time for Kota to show his father what he could do.