«System, show me my options,» Sarah said with eyes full of expectation.
* True Nightmare: Strengthening of your class's characteristics. You will receive two new abilities. The ability to track Magic Power Signatures. The ability to disrupt the perception of your enemies. Includes a new mutation, which will allow the above-mentioned abilities. Error: Unclear mutation specifications.
* Toxic Nightmare: Slight strengthening of your class’s characteristics. Stronger focus and more diverse integration of your ‘Poison Body’ skill, which will combine with your ‘Metamorphosis’ skill. Includes the new mutation ‘Nightmares Heart’, which will heighten the toxicity of your body.
* Undying Nightmare: Slight strengthening of your class's characteristics. Strong focus on survivability and your mutation ‘Restoration’, which will be converted into its mutation class, allowing for further sub-mutations.
* Mind Hunter: Strengthening of all mind-affiliated skills and mutations. A slight decrease in every other aspect. Includes the new mutation ‘Magic Crystal Brain’, which will enhance your brain structure and its conductivity of Magic Power.
* Calamity: Warning! Not recommended! Focus on ‘Disintegration’ specialization. All other aspects will degenerate. Error: Other aspects unclear.>
Sarah whistled with a smile on her face. “Those are some tasty options! Well, apart from the last one. At least the system now provides descriptions.” She mumbled with a sparkle in her eyes.
After reading everything again, she immediately discarded the last option. Even though the name sounded badass, the description was more than ominous. It seemed like her disintegration specialization had a very dangerous potential, even for herself. She resolved herself, to use and explore this ability with the utmost care. The implications of the class, that she would degenerate, were enough to convince her.
But that was a problem for future Sarah. For the moment, she fully concentrated on the other juicy options.
Mind Hunter was quickly discarded as well. While the mutation sounded great, she didn’t like the idea of a decrease in all of her other areas. She had a big arsenal of weapons, and she needed every one of them.
After some thought, she discarded the toxic nightmare as well. She knew the system all too well to be able to tell, that this class upgrade had the potential to make her untouchable. That was a big no-no for her. The joy of being close to Melissa was too great.
Sarah slightly blushed at the thought and quickly concentrated on her last two options.
She was rather torn about these two options. The undying nightmare sounded not only awesome, but it seemed to make her unkillable. If she had understood the system correctly, restoration would become a category like bones or muscles, where she’d be able to add new mutations. Which sounded awesome. Her mutation was already insanely useful as it was, and she couldn’t even imagine, what sort of mutations she could choose from.
The true nightmare, on the other hand, would strengthen all of her abilities, and not only slightly like the other options. With her many abilities and mutations, this could make a huge difference. The two new abilities sounded rather nifty, but not as useful as the restoration stuff. But the one thing, that intrigued her, was the error message. And the fact, that the system didn’t warn about this option.
This meant, that this was outside of the perception or knowledge of the system. The skills and mutations she read about in this list already sounded unreal. She was curious about what even the system couldn’t understand.
She knew, that choosing the undying nightmare would be the smart and sensible choice. That it would assure her. But she couldn’t help it.
“Fuck, I’m so curious.” She shouted and ruffled her hair.
Sarah clenched her teeth and stared at the class options again. Her mind told her, that undying nightmare was the right choice. But her gut told her, that whatever it was the system didn’t understand, would turn out amazing.“Ahhh fuck it! I’m not meant to be a thinker! I’ll choose true nightmare!” Sarah burst out in frustration, and the system immediately went to business.
Sarah felt a woozy feeling in her mind, but nothing happened. “Uhhh. Please try again?” She asked with a panicked smile. She didn’t want to be awake for this procedure.
Sarah felt the woozy feeling come back, but this time it felt like a tree had fallen on top of her consciousness. She groaned, swayed a little, and fell unconscious.
Like no time had passed at all, Sarah woke up again. And then she nearly threw up.
“Ugghh, this is horrible.” She groaned and held her spinning head. Too many, way too clear sensations were storming into her mind at once. It felt like the time when she had mutated her eyes and couldn’t properly open them for a while afterward.
She dry heaved a few times until the sickening feeling finally subsided somewhat. And when it did, she started feeling something irritating right between her throat and collarbones. She tried to clear her throat, but it didn’t help at all.
The feeling was so irritating, that she started to massage the place. And then she felt it.
“Uhhh. Should there be something hard there?” She asked while laughing joylessly. Of course, she knew, that there shouldn’t have been anything hard there. “Damnit, I should have known, that I’ll get something new and freakish. At least it's not visible this time.”
Upon further inspection, she noticed, that it was a more or less round and hard object, which seemed to be logged right on top of her lungs. But before she tried anything else, like injecting magic power into the thing, she opened up her status screen. Maybe the system had found out by now, what the heck it had implanted her with.
Details:
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Level: 40
Name: Sarah Anna Fischer
Class: True Nightmare
Race: Mutant
Status: Normal
HP: 695/695 (+55) SP: 560/700 (+55) MP: 220/1205
Achievements:
* How the hell are you still sane?: Resistance to mind damage increased by 10%.
* Poison gorger: Resistance to orally consumed poison increased by 30%.
* More than a human: Higher success rate on special mutations.
* Budding Reaper (upgradable): You can slightly sense weak points in your enemies.
Affinities:
Mind (Mid) Body (Mid) Energy (Low)
Specializations:
Mind (2/2)
Invasion
Nerve Control
Body (2/2)
Adaptation
Mutation
Energy (1/1)
Disintegration
Basic Stats:
Strength: 33 (+8)
Dexterity: 35 (+8)
Endurance: 36 (+6)
Resistance: 31 (+6)
Intelligence: 29 (+1)
Force: 25 (+3)
Special Stats:
Magic Power: 40
Life Force: 120 (+11)
Mental Power: 80
Pure Energy: 1
Active Skills:
Mind infiltration (Invasion): While using Magic Power, you can invade the mind of another being. Invasion is facilitated if the being has been poisoned by you.
Disintegration Infusion (Disintegration): You can infuse any part of your being with the energy of ‘Disintegration’.
???: You can disrupt the perception of your enemies. Unclear specifications.
???: You can track a Magic Power Signature. Unclear specifications.
Passive Skills:
Poison Being (formerly Poison Body) (Adaptation): You can increase your resistance to hazardous substances and reinforce your body with their properties in combination with your “Mutation” Specialisation.
* Poison and acid resistance: You are extremely resistant to various poisons and acids. (Overcoming new or stronger poisons or acids strengthens this ability)
* Walking Calamity: Your body liquids are highly toxic and acidic. You are now naturally producing a strong nerve toxin and acid inside your body. Highly concentrated poison and acid contain a fraction of disintegrating properties.
* Mutated glands: Toxin and acid glands are incorporated in certain mutations. They contain a fraction of disintegrating properties.
* Poisonous Magic Power: Your Magic Power is slightly changed in its composition. If another being comes into deep contact with your Magic Power, or other energies converted from it, they will receive Magic Power poisoning. Additionally, your Magic Power is suffused with a fraction of disintegrating properties.
Metamorphosis (Mutation, 100/109 Life Force used): You can mutate your body. The amount of mutations is dependent on your Life Force. Due to your “Adaption” specialization, there will be less Life Force needed and you will have fewer limitations. Your class “True Nightmare” will influence your mutations.
Skin:
* Dense skin (1 LF): Dense and leathery skin. More force is needed to penetrate the skin and shallow wounds close up faster.
Bone structure:
* Predator’s bones (4 LF): Incredibly robust and dense bones. Includes retractable claws and predator teeth.
* Vital organ shielding (2LF)
Muscles:
* Strengthened Magic Fibers (2LF): Increased muscle strength. Muscles are slightly tougher and stronger. This can be reinforced with Magic Power
Brain, nerve system, and sensory organs:
* Predator’s eyes (1LF): Higher sensitivity to movement. Higher chance to spot camouflaged beings.
* Predator’s nervous system (15 LF): Optimised brain structure, focused on movement and decision-making. Signals can be transmitted, as long as one nerve-string still connects the brain to the respective body parts.
Organs and processes:
* Magic Power nourishment system (5LF): Your body is adapted to run only on Magic Power. You can sense Magic Power in other living organisms and can feed on it. Most matter that enters your digestive system and lungs will be converted into Magic Power. Warning: High potential for cell breakdown if your Magic Power is empty for too long.
* Acid Gland (not recommended, 4LF): A gland located in the throat, which produces highly corrosive acid. Can be spit out with moderate pressure.
* Extension: Gaseous acid (1LF)
Special mutations:
* Nightmare’s tail (class-specific, 5LF): A long and flexible tail with an exoskeleton made out of spine-like bone segments. Can be stretched over its original length, but will leave the muscle and sinew under the exoskeleton exposed. Poison gland incorporated in the tip. Strengthened muscle fibers.
* Nightmare’s Stalwart Horns (class-specific, 10 LF): Two large, sturdy, and curved horns located on top of the forehead. Directly connected to your brain through nerve strings. Amplify mind-related skills and resistances and enable them to work without direct contact. If another being tries to influence you with mind-related skills, they get a strong magic power poisoning. You can detect if another being wants to influence your mind and/or soul and can locate it.
* Restoration (30 LP): The speed of regeneration is heightened. Magic Power will be consumed if not enough nutrients are available. Heavily mutilated or lost body parts can be regenerated, apart from the brain. A minimum of 60% of the body mass is required, to enable this ability. If the body mass falls below 60%, you will fall into a comatose state, until you are sufficiently regenerated. While in a comatose state, you will regenerate slowly. Only possible with at least 40% remaining body mass.
* ??? (Class-specific, 20 LF): Unclear substance. Unclear structure. Unclear effects.
Tempered Soul (Unique): Your soul is highly resistant to damage and invasion.
Suppression (Nerve Control): Your emotions will influence your nerves less. Warning: Instinctual behavior is also suppressed.
Struggle (Conditional passive): Your Resistance is increased in dire situations.
Slightly crazy: Most things won’t bother you that much. If certain conditions are met, however, there is a slight chance that you will go berserk.
Mean eye: There is a certain chance, that other beings will shortly freeze in fear when they look at you. Higher chance with sentient beings.
“Hehehehe.” Sarah started cackling with a mad fire in her eyes. “Hehehehehe!” She started laughing more loudly until she couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She wildly laughed and threw her arms up in joy. Even though she had no idea what was inside her, one fact was definite. She had gotten stronger again. A whole lot to be precise.
It was amazing, that the system had not only upgraded several core skills of her, it even had combined her mutations with their respective mutation additions. And if her memory served her right, this even included a slight decrease in used life force. She was already looking forward to choosing a few new additions. The only concerning thing was the part about the disintegrating properties. The specialization was strong, but she was worried about its long-term effects on her.
But even though this worried her a little, she couldn’t help but feel amazing. She felt the power coursing through her body on a completely different level than before. It was comparable to the sensation after she had broken through to level ten.
And her new skills sounded nifty, even though she was unsure of how effective they would be, and how exactly she could even use them. Luckily, she had the perfect sparring partner.
“Let’s cheer Neil up a little bit,” Sarah said with a gentle smile and started going out of the cave.
She sped down the cliff and started walking with a spring in her step. And if her luck hadn’t been enough up until now, she saw a cluster of delicious mushrooms hidden underneath shrubbery.
But when she tried to stop and gather them, she just continued walking. Before she could even think clearly, she already reacted. She pumped her brain full of magic power and started pushing the control over her body back. But it was no use. She felt incredibly weak compared to this unimaginable power.
She struggled with all her might, but nothing was happening. Her body simply walked toward the clearing. She didn’t even manage to move her eyes the way she wanted.
While her mind was still racing, she walked out towards the open clearing. A rather bizarre sight greeted her. Everyone stood in a neat line in front of the cave. No, this wasn’t completely right. The still-tied-up people simply floated in the air. They floated.
When her body also stood in line, she finally saw the perpetrator of this fucked up situation. It was a man, looking so foreign and out of place, that she had to ask herself for a moment if she was dreaming. He was dressed in impossibly white and strange clothes and held some kind of shining slate in his hands. And then, he smiled at them and started speaking.
“Hello, so nice to see you again! You may remember me, but for those who don’t, I’ll introduce myself again. My name is Detlef, and I am the administrator in charge of your region.”