NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Upgrades
Inspired by the notification, Dominic first opened the section of his status which dealt with his Aspects.
Defensive Aspects:
- Fur level 5 (35-49 Slicing damage reduction, 10-16 Piercing damage reduction, 14-20 Crushing damage reduction, 9-14 Tearing damage reduction)
- Muscles level 2 (10-15 Piercing damage reduction, 16-24 Crushing damage reduction)
- Skin level 5 -> 6 (6-8 Slicing damage reduction, 4-8 Piercing damage reduction) Flexibility +5% -> 20%
- Mane level 4 (20-26 Slicing damage reduction, 22-32 Crushing damage reduction, 19-21 Piercing damage reduction (attacks to the relevant area)) +100% charisma (for members of the same species)
Offensive Aspects:
- Claws level 2 (53-65 Slicing damage, 32-41 Tearing damage, 24-35 Piercing damage)
- Bite level 4 -> 5 (54-82 Crushing damage, 72-100 -> 92-112 Tearing damage, 72-98 Piercing damage)
- Strike level 1 (+10 to Crushing or Blunt damage, +5 to all other physical damage types)
- Feathered Wings level 4 (+20% to strikes from the air) (25-50 Blunt damage)
General Aspects:
- Enhanced Muscular Body level 3 (max speed 50 -> 53 m/s; max speed duration 45s), (750 SP), (+20% to attack force, +30% to attacks using forelegs), (balance +15%)
- Carnivore Constitution level 4 (800 HP) +80% health regeneration
- Enhanced Regeneration level 5 (3.25 -> 3.80 HP / second)
- Brain level 7 -> 8 (Cognition speed standard measurement 8.5), (Perception processing speed standard measurement 5 -> 7)
- Mana heart level 2 (26 MP) - 67% penalty
- Soul level 2 (Resilience to mental attacks standard measurement 7) +6% mana regeneration (-70% reduction to mana regeneration)
- Bones level 2 (growth +20%)
- Flesh level 1 (growth +10%) +5% resistance to basic magical attacks.
- Nervous System level 6 -> 7 (reaction speed +90% -> +110%)
- Sinuses level 4 +30% range; +20% intensity
- Telepathy level 2 +10% force.
- Sharp Eyesight level 2 +10% acuity of vision
- Wide Diet level 2 (current diet: 80 - 100% non-poisonous, non-rotten meat; 0 - 20% non-poisonous, non-rotten plant matter)
He was curious to see what had changed – and what hadn't. It was hard to know exactly which choices had affected what, but the flexibility aspect of his Skin had clearly come in for a good increase, going from a 5% to a 20% bonus. The tearing capacity of his Bite had improved a bit too, though nothing else in that Aspect. That must have been from Ripping teeth.
Otherwise, all the other changes were to his general Aspects. Enhanced Muscular Body had come in for several upgrades with a small increase in his speed, an increase in his attack force when it came to attacks with the forelegs – surely a consequence of taking Muscular shoulders – and a new enhancement 'balance'. Dominic could only guess that the Enhanced balance had ended up affecting his muscular body too since keeping one's balance required micro-adjustments of muscles to hold someone in place.
His Brain Aspect had also gained an extra enhancement – perception processing speed. When he'd chosen Enhanced perception, he'd expected it to enhance his eyesight, or maybe even all of his senses. But he supposed it made sense for it to enhance his processing power instead – seeing something was no good if he didn't notice it, after all. He remembered seeing something about an experiment where a guy in a gorilla outfit walked through a group of people passing a basketball – and where few people watching the event actually noticed the 'gorilla' because they were watching the players. Perhaps this improvement to his perception processing would allow him to notice the gorilla as well as the players. Finally, his reaction speed had gone from an increase of 90% to 110%. Maybe next time he faced a speedster like the veten leader, he wouldn't have as much trouble in reacting to the enemy's attacks.
Next, he checked out were his new Abilities, and the ones he currently had which had been changed.
First, of course, there was Majestic Sonic Roar, which had once again absorbed the newest vocal-type Ability into its increasingly wide scope.
Majestic Sonic Roar (T3) level 5 –> 6 (6% –> 0% to level 7) – As the lord of all you survey, challenge and damage your rivals with an ear-splitting roar, and support your allies.
According to your will, command your enemies to obey you. You will have an increased chance of succeeding if you command your enemies to flee or to attack, but you may now command your enemies to do other actions such as surrender or turn on their own leaders with a chance of success (the chance varies on the level difference between you and your targets and the level of this Ability). (70% + Evolution level difference%) chance that your opponent will be stunned for a varying amount of time (active effect). The greater your will to succeed at the time of your Roar, the longer the stun duration. Determination of inferior, equal, and superior is according to your Evolution level with a level range according to this Ability's level (6).
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All non-ally listeners of an inferior Evolution level to your own have a 60 - 95% -> 70 - 95% chance of feeling intimidated by you and losing some or all motivation to fight or desire to follow orders (based on level difference). All non-ally listeners of a superior Evolution level to your own have a 2% chance of feeling intimidated by you and losing some or all motivation to fight.
All ally listeners have a 60% -> 65% - 100% chance of feeling inspired by you with a further 15% chance of gaining a 12 minute buff: *inspired*.
You are also capable of roaring in a way which produces little sound, but causes your body to vibrate. Although your body is capable of withstanding this vibration for a period of time, extended use may have consequences on your internal systems.
The addition of Powerful Voice had increased Majestic Sonic Roar by a level, which by itself both increased the chances of creatures being stunned and eliminated the original delay until sonic damage could start kicking in. Since he'd originally had to wait 6 seconds minus his level, at level six, that was removed completely. As expected, the chances of him having an effect on both his ally and non-ally listeners had also increased.
In addition to the benefits given by increasing to level 6, there were two more changes which he guessed were more directly a consequence of taking Powerful Voice. First, it seemed that the duration of the stun effect of his Roar was now dependent on his level of confidence – or 'will' – when he Roared. At least, that's what he interpreted that new bit to mean. Second, he now had a chance, small as it was, of affecting listeners of a superior level to his own. If it worked, it would intimidate his opponents and perhaps even make them lose their motivation to attack him – make them run away, even. It didn't seem to affect their desire to follow orders, however, which was an interesting distinction.
Bleed (T1) level 1 –> 3 (58% –> 0% to level 4) – Use 2 SP per attack to apply a bleed effect to any strike which draws blood from the opponent. A bleed effect will increase the rate at which blood flows. At level 3, this increase is +10% -> 30%. The bleed effect will last (Ability level*2) seconds. Bleed effects can be stacked.
Bleed, of course, had increased, and by a surprising two levels even. He didn't remember exactly how much he'd 'paid', but he remembered thinking at the time that it was cheap and that he didn't expect to get much from it. He'd still gone for it since he might as well, and he was glad now that had. Perhaps it was just because his own Bleed had still been at such a low level – and had been more than halfway to the next level as it was.
'We need to use this Ability more,' he told his companion firmly. 'Now that it causes blood to flow thirty percent faster per application and lasts six seconds, we might be able to stack some of them.' Though it still cost 2 Stamina Points, that was much more worthwhile considering the benefits than it had been before. He'd been using it in fights along with his other staples of Rapid Attack, Quick Strike, Powerful Swipe, and Sharp Bite Attack, but he could definitely make more of an effort to incorporate it in his general fighting style.
Leo didn't reply, but Dominic felt the agreement from his side of things and knew it was just because the lion didn't want to verbalise it.
Easy Landing (T0) level 2 –> 4 (22% –> 86% to level 5) – Reduce your impact with the ground at will. Up to -40% -> -55% fall damage.
Easy Landing was another simple upgrade, going up two levels, much like Bleed.
Finally, there were the two new Abilities Dominic had gained and even if he'd already accrued a whole long list of the things since the start of the System, he was still excited to see what these might entail. Especially the mysterious Conviction.
Piercing Bite (T1) level 1 (0% to level 2) – Consume 50 SP to enhance the piercing damage of your teeth by 100%. Consume 1 - 10 SP per second to enhance the piercing damage of your teeth by 5% - 30%.
Conviction (T2) level 1 (0% to level 2) – Impose your will on others around you by projecting your own confidence. The greater your confidence and the more susceptible your opponent, the more likely they are to believe and obey your words. Hidden fears within yourself and a suspicious nature in your opponent may reduce the chances of this Ability working, or reduce its effectiveness.
Piercing Bite seemed to be simple enough, and the only reason it appeared to be Tier 1 was because it had two effects. The first effect was costly – 50 Stamina Points was a fifteenth of his stamina pool – but it gave the immediate benefit of doubling his piercing damage. Which, with a normal range of 72 to 98 units of damage, would mean 144 to 196 with the effect active. With that kind of damage, Dominic might even have been able to pierce through the rhino's skull. And cutting through the matriarch's muscles to get to her spine would have been far easier too. Most interesting was that the cost appeared to be per attack and not per second, so that he could pay it once and hold it as long as he wished – or could. Perhaps that was because the majority of the damage bonus was done on the initial bite, but maybe not.
Dominic had to admit to being a little surprised that it hadn't combined with Sharp Bite Attack, though.
'Perhaps the damage of this is too specific,' suggested Leo.
'Or perhaps it will offer the option when I level up,' countered Dominic. 'That's happened before, I'm pretty sure.'
'Perhaps. This other Ability looks well suited to us as king of the savannah.' Leo had changed the subject, but Dominic didn't mind – he wanted to dig into that one in a bit more detail too.
'Is it just me, or is this description rather…vague?' Dominic asked, not really responding to Leo's assertion.
'What is vague about it? The more confident we feel about something, the better we can convince others that we are strong. It seems to be only a stronger version of something that has always been true: look weak, become prey; look strong, be left alone.'
'I suppose,' Dominic agreed thoughtfully. Was it really that simple? Like how a man wearing a suit and speaking with an air of confidence and certainty was far more likely to be trusted than someone dressed in rags and speaking to the ground? Only somehow System enhanced? Yet it was Tier 2 which indicated that there were some hidden depths to the Ability. He'd have to test it, he decided.
He took a moment to absorb the bodies, noting with pleasure that the kesh's body gave him some progress in Conviction and the veten's body added some extra percent to Bleed. Their Cores fell to the ground and he eyed them with a sigh. Now, he had a job to do which he'd been putting off for a while: dealing with the massive number of Cores in his storage space. Still, as a reward for doing that, he'd finally be able to find out what would happen when he levelled up to 30.