Kai had been travelling for a few hours, his sleek body gliding effortlessly through the underbrush. As he approached a half-destroyed city, he felt a sense of unease wash over him. This was a place where he thought he could be safe, but considering the town's state, it seemed unlikely. He had to take some countermeasures.
While his body has some disadvantages, being overly conspicuous is not one of them. His small size offers little in terms of combat, but it helps with being stealthy, and with little effort, he can move around without any noise. When he checked himself out in the broken mirror of his car, he was pretty pleased with what he found there.
His scales were black as coal, reflecting the scant light that managed to penetrate the dense forest canopy. Once a dull brown, his eyes had transformed into orbs of shimmering gold, gleaming with an eerie inner light. His pupils were black slits, narrowing to a thin line. But it was the intricate patterns etched into his scales that truly caught his attention. Bright, shimmering yellow lines wove their way across his body, twisting and turning like a river of light. A tiny flicker of pride surged through him as he remembered what he saw in the mirror.
The only thing that hindered him from being a beast in stealth was this bright yellow pattern coating his body. Looking back a few hours, that was probably what caught that bird's attention. He had to hide it somehow when he was sneaking around. And what's better at amplifying stealth than shadow magic? After all, in all games, there were assassins and thieves that used shadows to move around without being noticed.
Slithering toward a shadow cast by a nearby tree, Kai activated Shadow Manipulation. He closed his eyes and visualised himself shrouded in darkness, becoming one with the shadows around him. Then he used Shadow Illusion and willed this image to become true. Slowly, he began to feel his scales darken and become less reflective, the yellow patterns fading away. He opened his eyes and looked at his scales, noticing that they were indeed darker and less noticeable. He could almost feel himself sinking into shadows.
You have learned the skill: [SHADOW VEIL: TIER 8]!
With notification came knowledge. He was now aware that while in the shadows, it was almost impossible to discern him from his surroundings, and when he was in sunlight, a skill only somewhat darkened his body. Why did the system decide to transmit information about this particular skill and not about others? He didn't know, but the system is bitchy like that. He didn't even get an explanation for his starting skills.
With his new skill, he entered the city. Theoretically, he knew that entering during the night his Shadow Veil -damn, what a cool name- would be significantly more useful than during the day, but he couldn't risk bumping into what he heard last night. Ursabane had been able to notice him from far away, and his sight was blocked by vegetation. So it is likely that more powerful monsters will be able to pierce through his stealth.
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Kai slithered through the rubble and ruins of the half-destroyed city, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger. He was getting closer to the city's centre, where he hoped to find other humans. It was pretty worrying that he had yet to encounter any, only monsters and more monsters. He appraised many of them, most were close to his level, but some had been in their 10s. He even managed to kill a few, allowing him to level up and gain four additional biomass. Sadly, he couldn't grab more because they weren't alone most of the time, and he couldn't leave himself vulnerable while eating. Now he is just short of two more and soon will be able to upgrade his only racial ability to Toxic Bite-Paralysis.
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After all these appraisals, he even managed to rank up his skill.
[BASIC APPRAISAL: TIER 8] - 2%
Now he can see a short description of his skills and potential racial upgrades.
[SHADOW SPEAR] - Conjures a spear of shadows.
Yeah, maybe it's still quite shit, but Kai can see its potential in the distant future. What if he could see the stats and skills of his opponents? It would be immensely useful. After all, knowledge is power. He could learn of his opponent's weaknesses and prepare accordingly.
The rumbling of thunder echoed through the empty streets, making Kai's head perk up.
"Thunder? There is no indication of an approaching storm. Why would I hear a thunderclap in the middle of a sunny day?"
As he moved, he noticed movement in the distance. He quickly used Shadow Veil and sunk into the shadows of a nearby building, his black scales blending with the darkness. From his hiding spot, he saw a man with a spear in hand, surrounded by a group of wolf-like monsters.
[Timberwolf lvl: 11]
[Timberwolf lvl: 9]
[Timberwolf lvl: 8]
[Timberwolf lvl: 13]
"Wolfs in the middle of the city? I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but can this guy make it out alive? Some of them have several levels on him, and there is an entire pack surrounding the guy."
[Human lvl: 7]
The man had to activate some skill because his entire body suddenly became covered by electric sparks. "So he is some kind of mix between lightning mage and spear wielder? I hope he can manage to run from them. Otherwise, I will have to help him, and if I could, I would rather avoid a scuffle with these monsters. I feel like I can take out one of them, but I will stand no chance against four."
But the spear wielder didn't seem to consider running. In fact, he backed up to the wall behind him and took a fighting stance waiting for monsters to strike. He hadn't had to wait for long. The lowest levelled wolf jumped at his throat. The mage quickly reacted and swatted the wolf to the side with his spear. With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent bolts of lightning flying towards the falling wolf and followed with a swift spear strike to the neck, finishing it off.
The man threw his spear at the farthest wolf, impaling it in the side, and brought the palms of his hands close to each other, muttering something. Instantly, between his fingers, a swirling vortex of crackling lightning snapped to existence. Seeing their opponent discarding his weapon, the other two wolves leaped towards the mage, who remained composed and waited for them to draw closer to release his spell. A burst of vibrant energy surged from his fingertips, crackling and sizzling as it arced through the air towards his targets.
The spell impacted the closest wolf and jumped toward the other one, stunning them momentarily. The process repeated itself, the magic bouncing back and forth between the two wolves, leaving them unable to move. The mage hadn't wasted any time. Just as the first wolf had been hit, he lunged forward and grabbed his spear, still embedded in the third beast, and then he channelled a stream of pure lightning through his spear, frying it from the inside, quickly leaving it lifeless on the ground.
Kai watched in amazement as the mage turned towards the remaining monsters and made quick work of them. He had never seen anyone fight like this before. It seemed that the spearman had months, if not years, of experience fighting monsters, and it's like, what, two days into the apocalypse? "Maybe he trained with a spear before as a hobby? But the ruthlessness and quick decision-making he displayed would be hard to learn without getting into many fights. Maybe he is from the same place as me but from the darker part?"
He vaguely remembers his friends mentioning other divisions specialising in different approaches. He decided to stalk the young man and confront him later when he will be more relaxed and not high on adrenaline after the fight. Silently, darting from shadow to shadow, Kai followed after the mage.