Alrighty, one at a time as before.
New Race Skill Options Available: Three.
Total Race Skill Options Available: Five. Previously unchosen skills improved.
Consuming Strike. Common. Your hunger is so great it can affect your other natural weapons. Absorb a moderate amount of vitality with each strike while this skill is active.
Still not really feeling this one, so I’ll wait to see how the System improves it.
Gluttonous Leap. Common. You seek to feast even upon those who dwell in the skies, and your body adapts. Your leap height is moderately increased when jumping towards a foe, and your first strike against said airborne foe is increased by 10 percent.
Meh. Again, highly circumstantial in usefulness. Pass.
Corrosive Arc. Common. In your desire to consume, you have learned to send out corrosive arcs of energies to break down barriers and damage natural armor.
I’d rather build upon Feast Bolt than gather other similar skills. Actually, it may be because of Feast Bolt that this even became an option. So, again, I’ll wait for the System to upgrade it a bit first to see if it becomes worthwhile.
Void Step. Common. You can expend personal energy to force yourself through space to arrive at a point you can see within range.
Teleportation sounded awesome! But, the cost being unknown made it potentially not yet worthwhile, and I would always be able to pick it up later, assuming the last skill choice was better. And as with the class choice, it was.
I Have Two Mouths and I Must Feast. Uncommon. Your hunger is so potent that you need more than one mouth to satisfy it. You gain a second mouth that you are able to open on any other part of your body. Its size is relative to the location. For example the second mouth will be larger if opened from your chest versus opened on the palm of your hand.
Fucking finally! This! It had taken me an hour to finish eating the stag patriarch, primarily because I could only fit so much into my already significantly large mouth. And what’s better than one gorge to shovel food into? Two! I felt my body adapt and understood how it worked. Oh! And with the extra feeding spot, I can more readily get the regenerative effects I need to empower my Purging Surge. Hell yes!
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
My eyes popped open and my huge grin got Cari’s attention.
“Did you choose your new abilities?” Her expression turned to horror as my chest opened wide, revealing similar rows of shifting teeth.
I spoke from my second mouth. “I sure did!”
“Umm, Dan? That’s going to give me nightmares. Please stop,” Cari said.
A mud covered hippo man landed hard a few yards away from Cari. “I think it’s cool!”
“See?” I said. “Gregory thinks it’s cool!”
“Well, it isn-” she stopped as we all received a notification.
Quest: Concrete Jungle Complete.
Objective: Band together and take over the city. Control the most spheres. Each sphere is marked with a beacon and/or bubble.
Control Spheres Controlled by You: 0/200.
Total Control Spheres Controlled: 200/200.
YOU HAVE RECEIVED A NEW QUEST!
Quest: Forced Teamwork.
Objective: The monsters about the tutorial space have grown stronger and now wish to gain control of the spheres. The protections that were in place have faltered, and you are in danger. To regain protective bubbles, you must team up and get at least 50 control spheres together.
Control Spheres Controlled by You: 0/200.
Total Control Spheres Controlled: 200/200.
Tutorial Time Remaining: 45 days, 23 hours, 44 minutes.
Survivors: 1274/2000.
The last of the control spheres had been claimed and things were going to get rough for those who hid beneath the bubbles for this long.
I hoped Jenny was okay. I really should try to find them, but for now-
“Stronger monsters, eh?” I said, feeling excitement, and more pointedly, hunger, beginning to build.
“How much stronger?” Cari asked, looking around intently.
I felt my Sense Power skill start to detect powerful beasts all around us. “Strong enough to give us some good fights!”
And indeed they were. We scaled the building we had before and looked out over the city. No more bubbles were visible, but the beacons were. Spotting the purple beacons that must be Jarrod’s area, we decided to go in the opposite direction, hitting up the next closest beacon, which just so happened to be black. I was interested in what these cubes of unknown purpose were, and we quickly set out that way.
I was between buildings in the middle of a leap between vine swings when a large chunk of concrete slammed me off course, rocketing me hard onto the pavement. Five hulking figures, most of them at least 3 meters tall, landed heavily around me, hooting and pounding their chests. One of them was nearly twice that of the others, and it pounded its chest with all four of its arms.
“Hey! You’re like me!” I shouted up at it as I identified them all. “Dibs on the boss!”
Chimpcrete Gorilla Cretin. Level 22.
Chimpcrete Gorilla Cretin. Level 23.
Chimpcrete Gorilla Cretin. Level 25.
Chimpcrete Gorilla Cretin. Level 27.
Chimpcrete Gorilla Cretin Boss. Level 30. Highest Stat: Strength.
“DIBS?!” the gorilla boss rumbled, sounding like the crushing of concrete.
“Oh, you are able to speak?”
“ME BOSS! KILL YOU!”
“Let's go, big boy-san!” I said as I motioned it forward.
“We'll work on the… less huge ones,” Cari said as they landed nearby. Her skin was grey like stone. Gregory's had a thick coating of mud and his axe glowed with energy.
I charged the Boss, scooping up loose concrete and shoving into my chest, crunching as I ran. I felt the weak regenerative energy begin coursing through me, far too weak to create any worthwhile surge.
But there was plenty of time for that.
