Ryan woke up and nearly passed out again immediately afterwards. The flood of sensations pummelling him was beyond any understanding. Trying to understand it was akin to standing under an ocean pouring off the edge of the world, opening your mouth and trying to drink it all. His newly enhanced senses buffeted him with information, he could smell so much more. He heard a mouse moving in the dry grass over the river. Sight was crystal clear, overwhelming. The wind caressed his skin, he could feel it’s eddies and whirls, anticipate its whims. He tasted, blergh that was horrible. But this information was easy to process, intuitive, natural even.
What wasn’t was the information that bombarded his conscious from his new organ, Bifröst. He felt himself hurtling through space at a stupefying velocity. He could feel the dense mass of the planet below him, the tug and attraction of the rising sun, the setting moon. The tingling feel of dimensional membranes just frustratingly out of range of touch. Feel everything. And fail to understand anything. The sensations he felt were inexplicable, beyond understanding and he was lost in it all. Trying to find himself in this deluge of senses, grounding his reality. He stood up, and promptly face-planted into the soft sand, his sense of balance non-existent. So he just remained lying in the soft sand, trying to tame the torrent.
An eternity later he made progress, centred himself. With intense focus he wrestled the information under control, assigning himself as the centre of this new universe, the surroundings becoming static, fixed in relation to his movements, and suddenly everything started to make sense, the new world conforming to his perspective, the sun moving in relation to himself. It was a relief beyond anything he had ever experienced.
So focused was Ryan on his new senses he had missed everything else. The group was surrounding him, chattering in a worried tone. Alexis was holding his hand and focussed entirely on him, a perplexed frown drawing deep lines on her forehead. “How are you feeling?” she asked once his eyes focussed on her. “Fine now,” was his answer, “overwhelmed earlier.” “Anything to do with that strange new thing pulsing next to your heart? I can’t determine what it is, what it does in your body.”
Ryan considered for a moment before he let the entire group know that he would explain it later once he had come to grips with it, then asked immediately what had been planned next. William informed him that they would return to the fortress, him being the last to wake and hold a meeting. What they would do after was something that would be addressed then.
Ryan grabbed his gear and while the group started moving off he informed William that he would have a peek at his Character Sheet and assign his points before discussing the changes with John. His called up his character sheet and immediately selected his Class to read its description.
Class: Wild Shifter
This class is the near ultimate Survivalist, difficult to ambush and very mobile, this form of Hunter is geared to survive and thrive in any Wilderness. Recommended Stat priorities: Agility, Perception, Energy, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Will, Intellect. Sub-classes: Survivalist, Hunter, Shifter.
Mutation: Recombinant Omnivore
(Player can eat and digest almost all organic substances, poisons based on proteins are ineffective and may nourish the Player. Allows Player to absorb and decode the DNA of beings consumed, dependent on amount of biological matter consumed. )
Skill: Directed Metabolic Reinforcement
(Passive: Player slowly metabolises non-toxic materials, whether organic or inorganic over time and stores them. Active, Channelled: Player may utilise stored materials to reinforce their body permanently. This reinforcement is independent from energetic reinforcement and can permanently improve the bodies Characteristics. *Warning: Improper application may result in loss of function, mutilation or death of the Player!)
Mutation: Recombinant Crystal Lattice
(This mutation allows the Player to dedicate a portion of the energy of their Core to grow a Recombinant Quantum Crystal Lattice which processes and stores the genetic information obtained from Recombinant Omnivore together with all information Player learns or purchases* regarding genetic modification. *Note: The purchased information is limited to information related to genetic modification which can be obtained via the Interface including properly formatted information purchased from traders)
Skill: Directed Mutation
(Active: Player can actively change their DNA by incorporating DNA obtained from Recombinant Omnivore. *Warning: Improper application may result in loss of function, mutilation or death of the Player!)
“Well, well, well. Interesting” Ryan thought to himself, having a quick look at his log to confirm whether his suspicions were correct. The log proved him correct. His Protean trait had interacted with his Class Choice, and the results were speaking for themselves. The upgraded functionality of the Omnivore mutation had immense potential for the future. Provided he didn’t kill himself experimenting with changing his own DNA he could see himself becoming ridiculously powerful. In passing, he wondered how much genetic material he would need to consume to decode a targets DNA, from the description it sounded as if the process wouldn’t be very efficient, but that, as so many many other things, would depend on further experimentation.
Ryan was ecstatic, his Class was clearly powerful and would greatly increase his chances of survival, particularly because he felt that he would intuitively use his Shift Skills in future, which made Dimensional Shift a valuable escape tool. In addition, the Survivalist Skill set would allow all of them to adapt to their changing world far easier, lessening their need for scarce resources on top of it. He also had an inkling of the compound benefits the Scavenger Profession might bring to the table. All in all, it seemed as if someone at least was looking out for humanity.
He quickly assigned his stat points, electing to increase all his physical characteristics to 20 at a minimum, raising his Energy to 20 as well. That left him with exactly zero available points. Before forwarding John all the information Ryan had a last satisfied look at his Character Sheet, all in all, he was coming along nicely.
Ryan Alexander Hunter
Wild Shifter
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Level
10
Cultivation:
Mortal Realm (mid*)
Experience
602/1800
Energy:
1115/1286
Statistics
Strength
Muscle Strength
20
Intellect
Speed
15
20,0
Tendons
20
15,7
Cognitive
17
Bones
20
Memory
15
Agility
Muscle Speed
20
Will
Resolve
15
20,0
Nerve Speed
20
12,7
Force
10
Cartilage Friction
20
Focus
13
Dexterity
Muscle Control
20
Energy
Capacity
20
20,0
Proprioception
20
20,0
Efficiency
20
Flexibility
20
Regen
20
Constitution
Resilience
20
Perception
Acuity
22
20,3
Healing
21
17,7
Psy Range
11
Shield
20
Processing
20
Available Points
0
Allocated
439
Affinities
Kinetic (macro)
22
Kinetic (micro)
21
Gravitational
52
Soul
14
Space
79
Time
50
Matter
12
Electromagnetic
19
Biological
19
Psychic
22
Skills
Class Skills:
17 listed
(expand)
Profession Skills:
518 listed
(expand)
General:
10821 (listed)
(expand)
Special Skills:
None
Unique:
None
Achievements
First Kill, Sneaky Bastard, David vs. Goliath, Hat-trick
Traits
Protean, Indomitable
Mutations
Recombinant Omnivore, Enhanced Senses, Bifröst, Quantum Crystal Processing Lattice
Looking up from his walk he spotted John and approached him, speeding up his pace until he was next to the analyst. Even walking, John was scribbling on his notepad, clearly correlating the information he had received from everyone. Feeling slightly awkward, he coughed to get the man’s attention. When that showed no result he coughed louder. John startled and turned to him with an irritated “What?” Looking him in the eye he informed him that he had forwarded his Character Sheet and logs, emphasising that John would be greatly interested in the information. Seeing that John was currently no fit discussion partner he made his way over to Alexis, thanking her for watching over him, before making his way to William, asking whether he should scout ahead.
When William informed him that Miguel was already scouting ahead but that it wouldn’t hurt to have more eyes on any possible dangers Ryan moved ahead of the group, amazed at how fast and silently he was moving through the thick bush. He couldn’t find Miguel at first, but eventually stumbled over his tracks, electing to follow them until he found Miguel, crouching behind a bush and staring ahead. Before he could make his presence known Miguel turned around, clearly having detected him and told him: “Have a look at that, think we can take that alone?”
Taking Miguel’s position he carefully scrutinised the area in front of him, at first not spotting anything suspicious. The flickering of a tail alerted him to the shape concealed within the bushes and slowly the details became clearer. A massive Leopard was slowly stalking along the track, keeping in cover and moving stealthily. Identify gave him a thrill, Spiked Leopard, Level 15. Closer inspection showed that instead of fur, the beast was covered in short, bristly spikes and a larger spike capped its tail instead of the normal tuft of hair. The tail was muscular and clearly another weapon added to the leopard’s already formidable arsenal. Considering the situation for a moment, Ryan quickly decided that it would be safer to inform the group, preparing for a reverse ambush seemed the safest option of taking down the monster.
Miguel shot a message to William, explaining what they had encountered and that they should prepare for an ambush. Keeping up a running dialogue while they could hear the group approaching. The leopard was clearly aware of the group, slinking off to the side into thicker bush, approaching Miguel and Ryan, definitely preparing for an ambush on the group.
Ryan and Miguel froze, breathing shallow, while the leopard approached closer. Ryan became ever more aware of every little sensation, his beating hard, the glare of the late morning sun and the soft scuffle of the leopard’s paws on the hard ground. The slight rattling noise of the spikes rubbing in rhythm with the animals stride. Up close, Ryan determined that his initial estimation of the beast’s size was conservative, the monster massed at least twice, if not three times any previous recorded kills and stood at more than hip height, a truly formidable predator. He had long since drawn his bow, aim shifting ever so slightly as the leopard approached. His new strength made holding the bow at full draw near effortless, Ryan idly musing that he would need to improve its power if possible but keeping his attention on the predator.
John and Carmen were leading the group, Mike and William towards the middle, defending against the leopard’s most likely point of attack. Ryan could see the leopard’s muscles bunch up before it exploded into action, charging towards the group. Ryan loosed his arrow just in time, the arrow penetrating through the dense spikes and entering its gut, immediately hampering its charge. Mike took the charge on his makeshift shield, deflecting the charge to the side while William hacked at the animal with his Panga. Nobody fired, the animal rolling through the middle of the group. The momentum of the charge carried it through and Carmen dashed sideways, opening up with the AKM, hosing it down with a tightly controlled stream of bullets.
The leopard was clearly dead, its head resembling an exploded water melon but Ryan watched in impotent horror as its tail flicked out at knee height, the spike cleanly taking off Stephen’s lower leg at the knee before he could dodge. The fight was over so fast that Ryan hadn’t even finished redrawing his bow after taking another arrow from his quiver. The ping of the experience was scarce consolation for another injured team member but Ryan followed William’s telepathic order to scout the perimeter to ensure that no more threats could approach the group while they dealt with Stephen’s injury.