NOVEL NEXT Chapter 99: Increased in Cost
By the time the last of the moons was heading towards the horizon, all the members of their little party were tired and ready to join the rest of the pride. They’d just met another group of foes, and the females had earned enough points to level again. Even Dominic and Leo had managed to get over the threshold of his next level.
Now at level 19, it had been a bit of a debate between the two of them as to what to upgrade. Finally, compromising with something neither of them had really wanted, they’d gone for levelling both Regeneration and Brain.
- Enhanced Regeneration level 3 (1.75 –> 2.25 HP / second)
- Brain level 4 (Cognition speed standard measurement 6 –> 7)
Leo had, of course, wanted to increase his mane, and Dominic had at first wanted to increase his offence one way or another. Leo had argued that given that at the moment they were essentially taking points away from the lionesses, adding more damage ability wasn’t likely to be useful. Dominic had argued in turn that the benefits Mane offered just weren’t that useful right now.
In the end, Dominic had suggested Brain – hopefully that way he’d be able to think of better strategies to use in battle – and Leo had suggested Regeneration. They’d managed to agree on that, so had levelled up. Unfortunately, none of their Abilities had been at 100% so there were no other benefits gained.
The enemies they’d fought that night hadn’t been particularly difficult, which was both good and bad. Good in that he hadn’t had to get too involved in the fights; bad in that they didn’t have very good Cores. On the other hand, at least their numbers had made up for it, giving all of them the opportunity to increase in power. He’d managed to level up after the second group they’d come across.
The final group had given them all a good few points too, despite their originally unpromising appearances.
They had been creatures that looked rather like prairie dogs – acted like them too. Jenkins had happily leapt on the small group of five creatures – asleets, apparently. Clearly, she still had some cub impulses to attack everything that moved. Dominic hadn’t been upset with her choice that time.
At least, he hadn’t until the five asleets had turned into twenty-five.
Evidently they were quite protective of their own and upon the attack from the young lioness, the rest of the family had poured out of holes in the ground to counter-attack.
The other two lionesses had decided to go help their pride-sister. Between the three lionesses and the boiling mass of prairie dog type creatures, it was soon hard to tell where the asleets stopped and the lionesses started.
As it turned out, the asleets were almost the upgraded version of meerkats. They had a similar dart in, bite, dart out approach. The difference was that the meerkats had been levels 0 and 1 when Dominic had been level 9. These were levels 4, 5, and even some Half-Step Evolved at level 6 against lionesses who were level 5.
Although size was still an important factor and non-venomous creatures about the size of one of Dominic’s paws were unlikely to easily take down a creature the size of a lion, it turned out that the System did have its own ways of equalising things.
Just as Dominic had brought down the rhinos which had been multiple times his size by piling on the damage, so did the asleets. Attacking in numbers, they overran the lionesses, scrambling up onto their backs when possible, and biting painfully even when they couldn’t. As it turned out, several of them had Bleed too, the second time that night he’d seen that Ability, so several of the wounds ended up being more serious than they really ought to be.
A mixture of amused and frustrated that he needed to get involved, Dominic had actually made a roar his opening move. And, as it turned out, the ending move too. With the enhancement he’d given it, he’d been able to send a wave of fear rippling through their opponents.
The asleets had turned towards him as one, then, in just as much unison, had fled for their tunnels.
Perhaps they’d been able to sense that he was a much higher level than them and had been scared by that. Or perhaps his size had been the deterrent. Either way, they’d soon be left on a field littered by carcasses and bleeding lionesses.
With a mental nudge, the lionesses had started absorbing the carcasses, ignoring the Cores, knowing full-well that they wouldn’t do anything. As it turned out, his thought that it was something specific to either him or chimeras in general, seemed to be accurate.
He knew that because, prior to moving on from the queerbs’ battlefield, he’d tested it. Out of interest, and because Jenkins had been bugging him about it, Hathor and Neith showing signs of curiosity too, Dominic had nudged the Cores of the queerbs that he hadn’t wanted to absorb towards the lionesses.
He’d sent them the image of trying to absorb the Cores like they did the bodies, but a warning that he wasn’t sure if it would work. All three tried anyway. The lionesses had kept nudging at the Cores for a while, but had lost interest when nothing happened throughout that time.
It meant that Dominic hadn’t felt any guilt when he followed the lionesses and took the Cores they left behind from the newest enemies.
Bleed had turned out to be a common secondary Ability, almost all of the Half-Step Evolved asleets having it. The exception was one which had contained something called ‘Dominant Chirp’ instead. The description had been unclear as to whether he would actually have to ‘chirp’ to use it, or whether it could apply to any type of vocalisation.
In the end, Dominic had shrugged and had absorbed the Core. As it turned out, he beat the odds and got that one, but he had no intentions of going running around and looking for other creatures with the same Ability, not at all sure it would be any use to him even if he got it. If he found them accidentally, great. If not, oh well.
The basic Ability all of the Cores had held had actually been Pack Attack, and seemed like basically another version of Group Attack. That one, he was interested in gaining, hoping that it would stack with Group Attack.
All told, they had gained a fair number of points from the creatures, each one offering between four and thirteen Prey Points depending on how much involvement was put into killing them.
Post Half-Step Evolution, all the lionesses proved to be easier to communicate with, just as with Sekhmet. They weren’t using words yet, of course, but their mental communications became more pointed and they actually initiated contact.
Actually, it was interesting to be able to compare the three of them. Jenkins felt…young. Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising, but it was – her physical appearance was almost identical to that of the adult females, just a little smaller. But her mental state was much more curious, interested in everything around.
Dominic could now understand why she had been the one to jump in each time: she had wanted to find out what would happen, how her prey would react. Not to mention that she appeared to be quite easily distracted, movement grabbing her attention and immediately engaging her predatory instincts.
Hathor and Neith were both a lot more cautious. They were predatory too, and the interest in movement was clearly something that never truly left, but where Jenkins would quickly go to investigate what had caught her interest, Hathor and Neith would observe a bit first and try to work out if it was dangerous or not.
Perhaps it was as a result of having been mothers? Dominic knew that people tended to change when they became parents – he’d seen it in a couple of friends who had had children. Suddenly, they were pointing out all sorts of dangers which Dominic would never have thought about.
However, even between Hathor and Neith there were differences, and neither of their thoughts felt like Sekmet’s had. Neith was very alert, tuning into every sound and sight, sending Dominic messages on a regular basis of things she’d noticed - danger, potential prey, the smell of water.
Hathor was more patient. She too was alert, but she didn’t send ‘updates’ all the time. Instead, she calmly asked Dominic what was next, the question coming through in a mixture of emotions and images. Then when Dominic told her he wanted to finish absorbing the Cores before they moved on, she accepted the news with equanimity, starting to groom herself.
Dominic wasn’t sure why – she was clean from levelling up. Maybe it was for the sense of comfort? Well, not like he could throw any stones in that glasshouse – he knew exactly how nice it felt to groom himself. Even his more human instincts had got over that and had just given into the sense of enjoyment.
Once he’d absorbed all the Cores, he had a quick look at how his progress towards new Abilities was coming on.
Rage (24% to level 1)
Charge (67% to level 1)
Stunning Roar (19% to level 1)
Easy Landing (48% to level 1)
Rending Bite (17% to level 1)
Fleet Foot (15% to level 1)
Enduring Stamina (5% to level 1)
Bloodied Stalwart (40% to level 1)
Enhanced Fertility (16% to level 1)
Bleed (48% to level 1)
Dominant Chirp (6% to level 1)
Pack Attack (52% to level 1)
He’d unfortunately been unable to avoid making some progress towards Bloodied Stalwart – a percentage chance of 80% wasn’t easy to shift, even with both him and Leo working on it. He was still pleased with the new additions, though.
There was something else that had changed too and Dominic was glad to see it.
Pride status
Level 2 Pride (progress to next level 5/10)
Current information shared:
Health, Abilities
Current members:
Dominic/Leo (T2, L18) – leader. (Health: 558/600, Abilities: Quick Strike, Second Wind, Group Attack, Crushing Bite, Pounce, Powerful Swipe, Sharp Nip, Rapid Attack)
Hathor (T1, L6) (Health: 380/380, Abilities: Pounce, Rending Bite)
Neith (T1, L6) (Health: 380/380, Abilities: Pounce, Keen Senses)
Jenkins (T1, L6) (Health: 450/450, Abilities: Pounce, Quick Strike)
Pride enhancements:
1% increase in Prey Points for all Pride members – level 1
Increased damage for Pride members fighting together by ((number of enemies/number of pride members in the fight)*level of enhancement)% – level 1
Each of the lionesses had gained a new Ability, and none of them were the same. It was interesting, though, that two of them were ones he’d already come across, and he could guess what Neith’s Ability did. No wonder she’d been sending him messages about things she’d detected: if she was using her new Ability, she had to have access to all sorts of information she hadn’t known before.
That Jenkins had gained Quick Strike was more than a little ironic. What a good idea – give the already impulsive lioness a way to improve her impulsivity. With Pounce and Quick Strike, she’d be able to land a pretty good first blow.
Hathor getting Rending Bite was a nice addition too, from what Dominic remembered of that particular Ability. I wonder what Sekhmet got…? He’d have to find out when he added her to the pride party.
Each of the lionesses has increased in level – and made it to Half-Step Evolved, even. I wonder if I’ve – we’ve – gained any more Pride Points.
Opening that screen easily enough, Dominic was delighted to see that they had.
[Pride enhancements
(Points available: 7)
Share Prey Points – all points will be equally shared regardless of who caused the most damage. (4)
Lion’s Share – the leader will take 90% of the points of all kills made by pride members. (4)
Increase the number of Prey Points gained by 1% (repeatable) (2)
Increase the damage done by the members of the Pride when working together ((number of enemies/number of pride members in the fight)*level of enhancement)% (repeatable) (4)
Increase the chance of Pride members gaining a higher tier Ability on their next Tier or Half-Tier by 5% (repeatable) (4)
Increase the chance of being able to determine the type of Ability a Pride member will gain on their next Tier or Half-Tier by 5% (repeatable) (5)
Note: more options may be added later depending on your actions with the Pride.]
Seven points? Dominic wondered in surprise. He thought back to what had happened, trying to work out why they had so many points available. The Pride did increase in level, he thought to himself. That must have been the source of one point. And then the other six? Was it per level the lionesses had gained?
No, it couldn’t be – that would be far too generous. Then he remembered how he’d started with three points – two for him being Tier 2, he guessed, and one for becoming a level 1 Pride. Or three for each of his half-steps. The lionesses had been level 4 when they’d joined, so one point for each of them joining and then another point when they’d reached half-step? It made sense.
‘The options you took last time have increased in cost,’ Leo pointed out. Dominic startled a little.
‘You’ve been quiet for a while,’ he couldn’t help but say.
‘I was having a nap in our mental space,’ Leo told Dominic with a yawn. ‘The savannah area I created is very pleasant.’
‘I know,’ Dominic agreed, having spent some time just sunbathing there while Leo was last ‘spreading his seed’ with his lionesses. Then turning his mind back to the task at hand, he looked and saw that Leo was right. ‘Guess we won’t be able to invest much in those for now, then.’
At least he had enough points for the obvious choice: sharing Prey Points among members of the Pride. Plus, he even had enough points to ‘buy’ a second tier to the number of Prey Points earned which should help them level up quicker.
Selecting the two options without double-guessing himself, he closed the screen and then stood up. Time to join the rest of the pride.
