Mako examined his stats in order to apply his free Attribute points. He had 32 In Durability and 35 in Vigor. Utility had a score of 29 and 14 in Control. He decided to bring all his scores up to 30 with a score of 31 in Utility. He committed his scores, and he glowed white for a moment before the messages continued. He was congratulated again for reaching level 18 and informed that it was time to choose his Phenotype.
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Choose from the following 3 options.
Option 1
Warlord of Argyra – Ascendant (+6 AP/Level)
Patriot Flare – Hold your fist up. Light and sound explode out from your fist. Any ally caught in the field of effect will have 50% of their cooldowns applied to any skill on cooldown. Hostiles within the field of effect will have a 20% chance to be stunned for 3 seconds. 10-minute cooldown. A higher combined Control/Power score will make it harder for enemies to resist if they have the ability to resist stun effects. Area of effect depends on Control score (.5 meters per point plus a minimum of 5 meters). May cause aggression in otherwise non-aggressive creatures.
Field Artillery – User summons a mortar like device. User will see the trajectory of the shell. Each time the unit is fired it uses a minimum of 10 Power. Additional points can be added. Every 5 points doubles the strength. Base shell has a blast radius of 10 meters. Control score is used for range at a rate of 1 point/.1km. There is a 5-minute cooldown. User can share trajectory with another person for sighting purposes.
Strategic Savant – User can analyze hostile forces to determine likely weakness and vulnerabilities that might not otherwise be apparent. The longer an enemy force is observed, the more likely usable intelligence will be revealed. The information revealed may also include a prediction of likely actions, best counteractions, potential methods to neutralize enemy weaponry and abilities. Enemy must be in line of sight. The higher the User's Control and Power score, the more effective this skill is.
Option 2
Shield of Argyra – Ascendant (+6 AP/Level)
Bullet Sponge – Any energy from any incoming irragenic or physical attack is absorbed and converted for other purposes for 30 seconds. 50% of the energy is converted to boost Durability. The is will not heal previous damage taken but prevent additional damage and can temporarily overcharge Durability up to double the user score. Temporary Durability lasts for the duration of combat, until is it depleted by additional damage. Or the ability is used again. The other 50% of the energy is used to charge a Force Pulse. The Pulse can be used once per ability activation. It can be directed in a specific direction or in all directions. Effect is a concussive wave. If not triggered, it will automatically be triggered at the end of the 30 second ability. The Control score will allow the User to better direct and focus the effect. The Power score will determine the efficiency of the conversion. The higher the score, the more the energy will be converted to Durability and charge the pulse. Damage may be absorbed via an equipped shield.
Vigilant - The User will experience a preternatural sense of incoming, imminent danger and a general idea of the direction from which said danger will originate. It does require that the User can understand the nature of the danger. The sense will scale with the significance of the danger.
Inexorable – The user can move in a given direction they are able to move. They will accelerate up to 50% beyond their natural speed and they will grow in size up to 50% bigger and a cone of force will develop in front of them that will violently knock anything in their path out of the way. The cone of force will prevent inertial forces from damaging the user. No movement inhibitors will affect User. If an object cannot be moved or destroyed, a contest of the User’s Power versus the Power or Durability of the Target will result. If they reach full speed, they will no longer need solid ground to continue moving forward at the same speed. This Ability consumes Power and Vigor. The User will not be able to turn once they are at full speed. The ability ends when the user stops, or all power and vigor are consumed. Cooldown is 10 minutes. Inexorable can be used with or without an equipped shield.
Option 3
Peacemaker – Ascendant (+5 AP/Level)
Neutral Ground – An area around the user is designated as Neutral Ground. Any hostile effect from inside or outside the designated area will have no effect. Any hostile activity is neutralized according to the combined Power score of all parties within the affected area.
Nullifier – User can use a non-lethal strike that will interrupt normal organic and inorganic synapse function and will usually force an unconscious state and/or a feedback loop using the Target's own Power. The feedback loop will end when Target ceases to have hostile intent. Any further harmful action will negate the effect. This is considered a hostile action.
Price of Peace – User can create an irragenically-enforced contract between two parties with stakes each side agrees upon. Should any party to the contract violate the terms, they will forfeit their stake. This could be a measure of personal power, their life, or anything a party to the contract designates. This contract remains in effect regardless of the condition of the User as it is enforced by the Power of the contract parties. It does not reserve power but will execute upon a breach of the contract when sufficient Power is available.
Please choose one option or refuse all.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
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Mako felt like Goldilocks. With three options there was one that was too hot, one that was too cold, and one that was just right. Yet he could see value and realistic applicability for every single one of these abilities. He wished he could have them all.
The Warlord Phenotype was exactly everything he didn’t want to be. The Strategic Savant skill was attractive, but he suspected that they might be able to reproduce the effect with AI and a sufficient number of simulated engagements. Some real-world data would also be useful, but accurate data of enemy abilities and attributes was more important. And that was the hard part. Arguably, the Field Artillery ability could also be reproduced just less magically. Unless there were additional effects not in the description. In fact, it might be something they should prepare for potential future engagements.
Peacemaker seemed like an attempt to give Mako what he had been grousing about ever since hostilities with the Shins started to develop. While it might have been useful when dealing with the Shing’risgi, Mako didn’t think it would have changed anything. It was a tempting Phenotype. It would be spectacular for Achilles, but Mako needed the ability to proactively neutralize a threat. Maybe better stated, Mako felt like he needed to be a potential threat and deterrent. Peacemaker depended upon other forces to bring the parties to the negotiation table.
That left the Shield of Argyra. The title seemed a little grandiose. Perhaps that was due to the fact that it was Ascendant. He did wonder if it would have some impact on future growth. Or perhaps it was due to the idea that he essentially defended the planet from foreign invaders. Humans, of course, were also foreign invaders, technically speaking. But possession is 9/10s of the law. It didn’t matter. This not only felt right based on the abilities supplied but also in the intent of the Phenotype. He was happy to be a shield.
While he had shared his options with Mahina. She seemed didn’t have any additional input on his selection. She felt both Peacemaker and Shield of Arygra were the best choices as well. Mako selected Shield of Argyra.
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Congratulations!
You have chosen the Phenotype: Shield of Argyra!
Note: AP gains per level from Tier 1 level 19-36 will be increased by 5 to account for Phenotype AP gains not given in level 1-18.
You have acquired sufficient irragen to increase your level multiple times!
You are now Tier 1 Level 25.
You have 77 attribute points to distribute
Note: You have a total of 77 undistributed attribute points
You have earned an Honormark!
-You have earned an Ascendant rank Phenotype. Considering the total number of humans participating in the PHENOsystem across all instances, the statistical probability is that only one individual might achieve an Ascendant rank Phenotype. You are the second. The Ascendant Honormark enables the Power Spike ability to immediately reset all Ability and Honormark cooldowns once per day. When activated, the user will radiate power for one minute, doubling the damage they inflict and halving the damage they receive.
Do you accept these changes? Y/N
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Mako accepted the change. Like with Mahina, which didn’t escape her notice, the sparkling white line that passed over his body took some time. Not as long as her own, but longer than the others. She was starting to suspect the length of time had something to do with the cybernetic content of the person. What that meant, she didn't know.
When it was over Mako shrugged his shoulders and stretched. He glanced at Mahina with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. She returned it with a nod.
“Let me apply my available points.” Mako said. “Well first, let me call for a ride. Greezee?”
“Greezee here.”
“Can you return to us and pick us up so we can help cover you while the charges are set?”
“On the way. We are just holding while the remnants return to Tedexa Goran. Greezee, out.”
Mako had been a bit taken aback at the number of points he had now. His Attributes had been significantly boosted several times over by his cybernetics. By the time he reached tier 2, they would be a much smaller boost. By the end of tier 2, they would be a fraction of the boost. Still, he couldn’t have gotten this far without them. He wondered if someday he would have everything removed. It seemed an impossibility now. Just unthinkable as they had been such an integral part of him for so long. But they were tools. If the tool becomes less useful or not useful, then it’s time to rethink the necessity of the tool. Thoughts for another day.
After examining his attributes, he thought about how he wanted to distribute his points. More precisely, he considered if he should focus on Utility or Durability. But Inexorable also required Vigor. This system seemed to have no dump stat. There were no attributes, at least in his build that seemed less important than others. If anything, Power was the only stat that seemed more important. At least for his build.
He decided to bring all of the modified stats to 42 and Power would be at 45. After everything his stat sheet, he was happy with his progress.
Name: Mako Nagata Variant class: 3 Tier: 1 Level: 25 PHENOtype Shield of Argyra Attributes Stat Score Modified Durability 16 42 Utility 18 42 Vigor 13 42 Control 34 42 Power 43 45 Attribute points to distribute: 0
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While waiting for Greezee to pick them up, Mako, worked with Achilles and Ceridwen. The weapons and armor of the Shins would be gathered for scrap. The metal was sub-par for their purposes, but once refined, it could be used for the structure for the fusion reactor that needed to be fabricated. The dead would be burned.
At first it was suggested that the bodies could be left to the wildlife. Jhakaas reminded them about zombies and the undead. While no one wanted to admit they thought it might happen, there were suddenly a lot of volunteers to create pyres. The weapons and armor and other potentially valuable material would be gathered and sundered.
Mako and Mahina along with several others that survived the battle boarded the shuttle and set off toward the tunnel entrances of Tedexa Goran.