My Mana Bonfire grows on me the longer I get to enjoy it. Of course, the main room coming down the stairs is still my personal quarters but the room for drying Creeper Thorn is just next door. It gives me light and warmth while being hot enough in close proximity to dry out my looted plants!
It also occurred to me... that I could have probably used my Inventory function all this time. For carrying bones or bodies or even these cut-down stalks, that function could have let me carry them without physically doing so. After all this time, I've not had much reason until recently where it might help... and I often only open my menu right now whenever I specifically need to.
Anyway, Inventory gripes aside...
The Creeper Thorn is definitely dried. I brought five of them that were sizeable at around two feet long.
Only two survived the process while the other three burnt away.
Crafting might be a skill but in this case, it looks like experience will help out. For starters, the burned up pieces were two that were too close together and the third had more of its body close to the bonfire.
The two lone pieces that survived the process of drying out were at an almost perfect sixty-degree angle. Both of them had turned brown and released their spikes no differently than the traps I summoned. Length-aside, they can make fantastic traps or help seal up the gaps in my defenses.
Or they would have.
... Sorry, I know there's been a lot of pausing and jerk-around. It's just that I really want to stress how shocking it is to find out my luck is starting to look good despite my randomized future.
Both stalks had dried out, sure, but both of the shorter strands of Creeper Thorn had stiffened out. Compared to the semi-flexible traps, these were entirely flexible with a somewhat impressive shape-memory.
Shape-memory, for those out there who don't know, is basically... like jumping on a mattress. It might dip down when you land on it, but something with great shape memory will fill that gap back in. Since both had been wrapped around bones, unwrapping them merely meant that they coiled right back around.
More impressive was that their thorns had changed shape, though. Rather than the puncture-style thorns that I could summon or those found on all the Creeper Thorn, these thorns had become bladed; these types of thorns are better for bloodletting and lose most of their piercing power in exchange. Compared to barbed wire or DCT (Dried Creeper Thorn), it was more like a length of a chainsaw's chain.
No, I'm not making a chainsaw. Instead, I have a better idea. Originally I had been considering making Ivy into a Giant Ranbi or a Beta Ranbi, but her submission holds and experience would probably work best with the Ranbli Kid form. With this, that all but assured that a more human-like form would be better.
Now, I had a resource to make a brutal tool for Ivy.
For starters, though... I might as well clean the place up.
...
With that, the last of the burnt Creeper Thorn is tossed outside the defensive line just as the sun begins its final climb. Tomorrow night is definitely going to have to be when I tackle the Landmark.
But first, let's enjoy my first landmark that isn't part of a quest: Bomber waking up in his new form.
To my surprise, he doesn't really take much of a glance at his new shape; Bomber gets up onto his feet and stands as if it was always second nature to him, running his forearms back over his head to brush and ruffle his ears. Although only standing, his ears make him appear just as tall as my current shrub form and makes Ivy look much smaller. Neither of my summons spends more than a moment looking between each other before they hop to their local patterns.
Bomber is still eating grass but his upkeep hasn't gone up, meaning that his strategy is still the same. I am having them eat less grass currently since the goal is to avoid any wanton expansion, though.
More surprising is that Bomber all-but-confirms a hopeful wish true.
Instead of eating and walking along the grass, Bomber wraps his simplistic grip around the grass and tries to pull off clumps. While nowhere near as versatile as a thumb, his forepaws are wider-stretched and have a basic opposable digit on the inner side of the four ex-toes.
Ranbli Kid aren't just walkers but are fundamentally grabbers. That means them using tools should be possible.
That means my plan for Ivy is all but assured to work, so long as their intelligence and desire to follow my commands remain true. Although we don't communicate verbally due to my lack of mouth, both of my summoned companions had done a great job respecting and doing as I mentally ordered them.
The first thing to do: get her the experience she needs.
Bomber, you're off-duty today!
The male of the pair looks at me for a few moments while he munches grass, finally walking over and plopping down inside the defensive ring.
Ivy! Come!
A few seconds later she bounds up and stares patiently at me.
And a minute or so after that, the first wave of the ranbi I discovered last night makes its way in from the southern end. Improving my traps is a long-term goal but today isn't just about discovering what my summons can do. Preparing for the future means readying myself mentally to do more than indiscriminately fire off thorns. I need to mentally accept killing them directly. I need to see it.
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I raise one of my bushy branch-arms, summoning my magic up while Ivy rambles forward.
Thornshot!
A single tick of mana drops off my MP bar in the corner of my vision mere seconds before the spike formed, shuttling forward with spin to keep it balanced.
Just as it said, it flies well beyond the range of my normal attacks. The thorn passes over the DCT and across the no-man's land, crashing into the ranbi's shoulder and knocking it off-balance. Compared to the flurry of thorns and their destructive power, this single thorn sticks inside the ranbi and fails to penetrate that well.
The range might improve but firing my spells off at close range will preserve the majority of their power. At least, that makes sense for my initial Thorn-series spells; all of them are based on a spell intended for use at five feet, so firing them at a longer range must have also meant their power falling off. There was no way to know that since my targets were all dead corpses and softened up... and the closest thing to the single thorn was my directed burst which still released a high volume of thorns.
But that single thorn is enough. The wounded ranbi waddles his way toward the defensive line but his lack of speed makes it easy for Ivy to bound in and start her usual struggle-snuggle-snuffing.
[Notification] - Ivy Summon's role experience has reached a significant threshold...
Granting ability Constrictor.
Oh? Let's see her Manager...
Constrictor Acquired due to role. Battle Style-type Battles aren't won purely by knockout through striking; some of the best warriors only need to make a single hold to win.
Increased CON and STR values by +2% when physically constricting a target.
Increases by +1% up to 5% per ability or skill applicable to or assisting in constricting the target.
Compared to Bomber's Kicker ability, Ivy's new ability is strong. Especially if the wording means that if she constricts multiple targets then her value climbs even higher. If she put two ranbi in a headlock at the same time, she could gain up to 10% extra CON and STR.
Now if only she could develop an actual skill, we could get her leveling much faster.
The thorn-wounded ranbi's bones crack as Ivy presses her weight into it, though, and the familiar Favor-reward for killing flicks across my screen.
We have more work to do. Time to prepare for the next wave, Ivy.
She looks my way and leaves the dead ranbi to the field, trotting back into the defensive line. For now, she would finish off any ranbi that I shot up and get a priority on any windows for feeding we had. That way she should have plenty of opportunities to still develop in battle whilst eating to gain nutrition and experience.
...
Congratulations! Your summon Ivy has leveled up! + 10 Maximum HP
+ 2 Maximum SP
+ 1 DEX
+ 1 INT
+ 2 CON
+ 2 RES
[Notification] Your summon Ivy is now able to evolve.
It took a few hours but she finally did it. I've had a lot of time to get used to firing single Thornshots and Ivy got to eat a lot. Bomber seems pretty bummed out but now that Ivy has her foot down, I've let him to out and enjoy his fill.
Like before, Ivy has all three options despite her different stat growth potential.
Admittedly, I am worried that it might be better to invest her into another category... but maybe part of me just wants more human-like surroundings. Even if they're still rabbits, seeing Bomber walking around already convinced me that Ranbli Kid are way better than seeing similar critters to what I've been fighting this whole time.
Once I tap the evolve choice, however, Ivy surprises me; compared to Bomber merely getting his longer legs and standing up, she takes on extra furry sections on her forearms' wrists and her ankles. The tufts of red on the yellow fur aren't that thick but they definitely look softer than the rest of her fur. Not to mention that her ears bend a few inches up from their base, angling down her back almost similar to hair.
Congratulations!
Ivy has evolved from Ranbi to Ranbli Kid. + Role evolved into [Class]; unlock [Class] & [Class Change] options.
+ 5 Maximum HP
+ 5 Maximum SP
+ 4 STR
+ 2 DEX
+ 2 CON
+ 2 LUCK
Earlier, I mentioned hoping she might look nice but Bomber had made me lose hope in that. Ivy and Bomber both had their own distinctive looks despite being in the same evolution and having once been identical. Between the two of them, I'm also pretty sure that Ivy's paws are more developed while Bomber's legs seem stronger.
So... even though evolutions might be inspired, it looks like their roles and experiences still help shape them.
Is that why my own evolution didn't remove my mage class and why my role remains unchanged? Though, saying that, maybe the other difference is that their prior class was Beast. Compared to a Mage, it might qualify as a sort of non-class which is why their evolution turns their role into a class.
If so, that's very fucking cool. In the future, I should try to start low and train something up so that I can perfectly pick out its class.
Anyway, more importantly? Both of them can singlehandedly fight the ranbi now.
Bomber's skill has enough strength when he kicks that he can stun the ranbi and finish them off without another use. Ivy simply can pick them up and choke them out; she's tall enough that just holding them lets her strangle the ranbi. Comparing their two races, the ability to stand seems to have drastically turned the odds in their favor and completely eliminated any of the ranbi threat.
Right around now, there'd be something to shake me up.
But... well... with how peaceful things are...
... I'm going to go out during the daylight. And since I know the general direction to the pond, Creeper Thorn, and the lone rock, I'm going to have Bomber help clear the grass to make paths while Ivy and I protect the base and him.
As fierce as the ranbi are, all three of us evolved... and now, the true strength of the protagonist is going to come out and show everyone up! Today, I conquer the sun as strongly as the nights!