Loveheart rode the swarm of Centipedes toward the base looking intently at the cube in hand.
"What knowledge could possibly be contained in this cube?" Loveheart was deep in thought and rushed back toward the base. Suddenly the sound of wings and one of the centipede let out a loud screech. A bird the size of a cat had flocked down and impaled the centipede.
The centipede curled around the bird and strangled it until it fell unconscious. Loveheart went up to it and stuffed it into the games bag. The centipede that was impaled crawled forward slowly before it laid on the ground dying. Loveheart sighs and has the centipede drag the body back.
"Keep some of the animals alive as we hunt" Loveheart ordered and the Centipedes nodded their head and spread out. "Oh game master I pray to the overseer that you've made the correct decisions" Loveheart prayed and grabbed some of the wild plants growing nearby.
The most important thing in any situation is knowledge, even the smallest bit of information can change the tides of how well a community is doing. Loveheart knew this and he hoped his game master Duncan also knew of it. "If I had known then I wouldn't have foolishly sent out my best warriors on the expedition" Loveheart mumbled to himself and looked up to see the sun starting to set.
Loveheart brought his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle. Soon after the centipedes converged into a group again and brought back live game. There was a few deers with plated armor. The remanents of what appeared to be a squirrel beast, a few lizards with green spots and a large pure white beetle.
Loveheart was happy with todays haul despite how dangerous the situation was a few moments ago and then he set off for the den with his loot.
_______________________________________________________________________
After the confrontion between the two forces Duncan could only sweat at what was before him. Duncan had gotten up and was walking home thinking deeply into what had happen in the afternoon. "A higher more advanced player had invaded his world. The intentions are unknown but there is a possibility of annihilation due to the beasts that were brought. "Two Siege beasts and two locator beasts, both specialized to hunt humans " Duncan could only image what the other person would do.
"If only my point yield wasn't so bad I could actually advance myself to defend against him or her. Whoever this person is. " Duncan could only frown and enter his home. "Duncan are you going to eat?" his mom called after she heard the door close. "I'll take something later just stick it in the fridge" Duncan answered her and hurried to his room.
Duncan opened his phone and clicked on a button and said "Give Base Stats"
Aigen Colony: Tier 1 Base
The Walls are currently off but has an inlaid defense mechanism where it produces heat. Though it can ward of most beasts, any beasts with a store of water or heat-resistance/heatproof would be able to penetrate the barrier.
The train has been converted into proper houses for the human residence. Many residence are happy due to the fact that there is an adequate amount of food and water. The energy turbines show signs of stress and it is recommended that you upgrade or fix it. Requirements to do so is listed in the drop-down.
There are a total of 216 unfertilized eggs due to the surplus of insect inhabitants.
A.I. Rosa is capable of an upgrade. She needs the proper equipment to perform her next function: Gene Splicing (Adding genes to animals)
Den Resident Andre is capable of furthering his progress in his research if he gains the proper materials to work with, upgrade his research lab in order to further his research speed and discovery.
Den Resident Sandra is capable of gaining a class. Follow the necessary requirements to gain bonuses from the system.
Results of the last hunt include:
Deers, Birds, An assortment of plants.
Food stock: 4 Months 15 Days
Water stock: 6 months
Points: 347
[+72 from last hunt]
Grand point counter: 419
Interesting facts:
The noise in the chilly room in the main tunnel is becoming more and more frequent many human residence are becoming unnerved.
A.I Conrad is training the insects. There is some success but a leader is needed to put any of it to use.
Den Resident Derek has found traces of some survivors he has opted to follow these trails in hopes of finding society once more.
Duncan looked over what had happened and what was currently in the base and was surprised with a few things.
What were classes? How could they help me. Duncan pressed on the help button next to the notification and a window popped up.
Classes:
Classes are upgrades that grant certain bonuses to stats, skills, and talents that a person may have. A person who has the class Magician is more capable and can exert more effects from spells and magic-based abilities. Likewise a person who has the class Blacksmith is more likely to create a better and more durable weapon or armor than a person without the class.
Duncan was intrigued now that he knew what classes were. He scrolled the screen to view Sandra and next to her was an exclamation point which signified her upgrade. Upon clicking the exclamation point a new screen popped up. "Classes available to Sandra Jericho-
Beast Whisperer: Being able to communicate with the beasts she can mediate between species and help solve their problems gaining their trust. Skills gained: Speech translation. Stat gain: Charm + 5, Intelligence + 3, Charisma + 5
Animal Tamer: Caring for animals is one of her best trait, she understands how to care for them and have her animal companions grow. Skills: Tame, Enhance Growth, Link. Stat gain: None.
Shaman: Caring for animals gave Sandra the recognition of the animal spirits. The spirits can be called by Sandra to aid her in various ways. Skills: Spirit buff, Empowerment, Spirit Shield, Spirit Avatar (Inferior). Stats: Wisdom + 6, Intelligence + 2, Constitution + 4.
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Duncan was shocked by the information before him. "All these choices before me, are to good to be true" Duncan thought about the pros and cons about each class. Since it was his first Class selection he didn't know if classes could overlap but he wouldn't want to take the risk and choose one that he knew he would need.
Beast Whisperer could help form bonds between the non-humans and human species, and any intelligent beast or animal could then talk to the group as long as Sandra was present. However in order to utilize the full potentional of the power the person would have to get close to the beast or animal in question. It was fine with the centipedes or other tamed beasts but wild beasts may kill Sandra at any moment.
Animal Tamer was a good class, it gave a free tame skill which could get many creatures to Duncan's side, it also allowed for their potential to be boosted showing more signs of growth. A link could also be formed so that Sandra could see, hear, smell and touch things from what the beast senses. However taming has a high chance of failure and Sandra would have to concentrate heavily to form a link or complete a tame and to make matters worse she would have to be right next to the creature in order to initiate the taming contract. The creature could reject the contract as well as muster enough strength to lash out and kill Sandra.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The Shaman seems like a good class due to the recognition of the spirit elders. She would gain many benefits from being a shaman like aid and foresight from the spirits to guide her through her troubles. They could also offer protection against dangerous foes. However if at any point in time the spirits are blocked or they decide to abandon her then she would be stuff with a class that might not be able to change, likewise she could also be cursed.
Duncan though hard about which class would be the best in the situation he may or may not face. Duncan decided to hold the decision for later and looked at the day's haul from the hunt. He looked at the few creatures that came. There was the usual armored deer. squirrel carcass would be fed to the insects, the bird was new but what really caught his attention was the beetle.
"Identify" Duncan clicked on the beetle and bird and two screens popped up.
Rank 2 : Ciconiiforme Spear Beak - These birds have evolved from their Rank 1 counterparts: ??? (Have not discovered) and are capable of impaling through the tough armor of the Rank 1: Scaled Deer, they normally live in flocks of 50 and are heavily protective of their young.
Rank 3: Blinder Beetle:These beetles have evolved from their Rank 2 counterparts: ??? (Have not discovered) and they are pure white due to their pigments on their chitin which uses the surrounding lights to create a flash and heavily disorientate any predators that may threaten them. After releasing their flash they stay still due to exhaustion of energy. They love to bathe in light and can store sunlight in their chitin.
Duncan ordered Andre to dissect the beetle, with an additional order to wear shades to lower the risk of being blinded. Duncan also wanted to keep some of the sperm so that he could fertilize some of the dragonfly, mantis, and centipede eggs that he had.
Duncan was ready to move on to A.I. Rosa and Derek but a knock on his door took his attention away and before he could get up to open it the door opened and Laura was standing there.
"Duncan come eat, food is ready" Laura said abruptly and Duncan turned his head away from her and replied stubbornly "Not eating, go away, leave me alone"
"Duncan you need to take care of yourself, This family is bad enough already but please promise me that you'll eat" Laura cried out
Duncan turned to face his sister who seemed to be on the verge of tears and he sighed. "Fine if you bring the food up here I'll eat it with you is that alright with you."
Laura's face immediately lit up and she gave a small smile before turning away. "You got it big brother" and she bounded down the stairs to grab the food.
Duncan quickly checked on A.I. Rosa and used 400 points for an artificial chunky body with a few moving parts and hooked it up to the mainframe where Rosa began to download into. The transfer was going to take about a year or two due to the instability of the energy source and obsolete parts of the system but in real life days it would take approximately two months. Of course the time would be shortened if he upgraded the computer or energy source but he didn't have the points to do so.
Duncan felt someone push up against him and Duncan looked over to see his sister with a plate of food and a spoon. "Say ahh" Laura said and Duncan reluctantly opened his mouth.
The spoon full of corn went in and Duncan closed his mouth to chew and swallow whilst turning his attention back to the game.
"What is this you're playing?" Laura asked when she peered over to look at the phone.
"A game called Micro-Management. Its pretty interesting though most of my inhabitants are mutant insects"
Laura's face wrinkled in disgust at the mention of insects but she continued watching Duncan play the game. Duncan had now flicked his screen over to Derek who was staying close the the wall in an underground subway. In his hands was a spear and his shoulder looked as if something had torn it to shreds. Derek was also limping and leaving a trail of specks and blotches of blood. However there were signs with writing on them pointing in the direction that Derek was going with messages like "Camp here, Safe Haven in this direction. Food/ Water/ Companions. You want them we have them. "
Derek turned the corner and out jumped a humanoid creature with a rotted body, from Derek's status came a condition called Nauseated and Duncan could tell that the smell must have been horrid to disorientate Derek. Derek , despite being muddleheaded, had swung his spear to knock the humanoid to the side and then impaled the head.
Derek quickly checked the body before extracting the heart and continued moving. "Identify" Duncan clicked and a window popped up
Rank 1 Ingredient: Rotted Heart.
This heart came from a Rotted Dweller. It can be used to create a synthetic beast of inferior quality.
Duncan was astounded by what Derek was gathering and checked his skills.
Derek Jones:
Gender:Male
Age:16
Traits: Unrelentless, Physically strong, High Stamina, Caring
Skills: Rank 1 Search+, Spear Mastery Rank 1
Stats:
HP: 150 (+60)
MP: 30
SP: 140 (+200)
Strength: 25 (+20)
Charisma: 10 (+5)
Intelligence: 9
Wisdom: 8
Dexterity: 16 (+20)
Constitution: 17 (+10)
Bonuses:
HP + 60 due to Physically Strong
SP + 150 due to Unrelentless
SP + 150 due to High Stamina
Dexterity + 10 due to High Stamina
Dexterity + 15 due to Physically Strong
Dexterity + 15 due to Unrelentless
Charisma + 5 due to Caring
Strength + 30 due to Physically Strong
Constitution + 10 due to Physically Strong
Dexterity - 20 due to Flash Grinder Poison (10 hours left)
Strength - 10 due to Shoulder wound (14 days to heal naturally)
SP - 100 due to fatigue and injuries (+50 SP if long rest occurs, +50 SP when injuries recover)
Virus Mutations are invading the body and will have the first mutation occur in 4 days (1.3 Real World days)
Search+ : This skill reveals valuable items that are dropped.
The mass of information blinded Duncan but after reading it through carefully it appeared as if Derek was top tier material. Based on the explanations of the Bonuses, the numbers in the parenthesis would change based on current state and traits/classes. However the numbers outside of the parenthesis were innate stats or the natural stats of the person.
Duncan kept on focusing on the game while Laura was feeding him till the plate was empty.
"If you're so focused on the game then what if I played it and joined you, It looks like a Game of War type game. I can join your guild or something like that" Laura offered.
"Yeah go ahead and make an account. However I do not know my player I.D. so you're going to have to find me in the world" Duncan said.
"Alright I'll download it tonight and get back to you in the morning" Laura said cheerfully, and she bounded out of the room plates in one hand and phone in the other.
"Oh well, its only a game whats the worst that could possibly happen" Duncan glanced at Laura's retreating figure before focusing on the game once more.