NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42: Lukas's First Mutation!
Keith looked at his surroundings that did not feel familiar in any sense. The world around him looked like it was painted with blue, green and yellow.
It felt and looked weird as he took in the familiar yet unfamiliar faces. At the same time, he could sense vibrations through his feet which was extremely foreign as it felt like he was standing on rippling water.
Every time he saw a person speak or move, he felt a vibration and every single 'ripple' was different. It felt like the ground was trying to speak to him but Lukas was unable to understand anything.
'This is the hearing through vibration thing that snakes have? I didn't expect to get this one.' he thought as he watched the people bow before him. Rena stood still like a statue while tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lukas took a deep breath and looked at the notifications he had received in the past few minutes.
[Danger! Body is undergoing Mutation!]
[Danger! Body is undergoing Mutation!]
[Danger! Body is undergoing Mutation!]
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[Danger! Ash Viper Spirit has awakened inside host's mind. Automatic Purging initiated.]
[Ash Viper Spirit absorption process initiated.]
[Congratulations on a successful mutation!!]
[Congratulations on a successful Spirit Absorption!]
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[Due to the reactions of the people around you, the rank of Skill - Charm has significantly increased.]
[Status Screen]
Name: Lukas Margrave
Status: Healthy
Talent: Divine Chef (SSS)
Mana Heart: Active (D)
Primary Job: Shaman
Secondary Job: None
Unique Skills:
Divine Farm (D) (0.09%)
Recovery (D)
Mutation (B+)
Skills:
Rest (A), Velvet Tongue (E+), Mana Breathing (E+), Charm (F - D+), Nature's Whisper (S), Snake Scales (SSS)
[Stats]
Strength: 57
Speed: 29
Endurance: 20
Durability: 69
Vitality: 24
Dexterity: 42
Perception: 35
Mana: 296
Lukas casually went through the changes until his gaze landed on his mana stat. It had gone up from 28 to 296, an increase of more than 250 points.
Feeling like there might have been a mistake, he hesitantly asked the system about the overwhelming increase in Mana Stat.
[The Ash Viper is a snake that went through a highly dangerous and unstable mutation process, a shortcut that could help it skip a few evolutions. Usually, mutated creatures gain access to elemental manipulation when their mutation reaches D rank.]
[Most creatures at D rank will have cores that store elemental energy and the Ash Viper imitated this by condensing large amounts of atmospheric mana inside it's body and with external help, this pure mana was converted into electricity.]
'External help…. it's a man made creature?'
[The clues point towards this possibility, yes.]
'I see… well this was a creature that the prince gave me so I can't neglect the possibility that he has a laboratory where he experiments on creatures like this.' Lukas thought as he nodded to himself and checked the new Unique skill that wasn't supposed to be there.
Unique skills were skills that a person would be born with and a vast majority if not all the people, only had one. Lukas's theory for him having two was his transmigration.
In a way, his soul had merged with the old Lukas's and ended up giving this body two unique skills. Now, he was faced with another unique skill and did not have an explanation for this.
'Uhh… is this because of the spirit or something? Is it like another soul? Hey system, answer me. Why do I have a third unique skill?'
[Mutation is a fundamental change in the core structure of your body, bones, cells and even your mind. Mutation allows you to transform and in a way, is a combination of multiple skills.]
'Huh?'
Lukas stared at the screen as he didn't really understand much. He was expecting an answer that said; "Your body now has the soul of the Ash Viper."
But instead he got a weirdly worded answer that didn't make much sense at first.
'Well whatever.' he mused as he checked the description of the unique skill.
Mutation (B+)
Due to the perfect absorption of Ash Viper's cores and spirit, you have access to the most optimal transformation for your body. During this transformation, you will have access to the skills: Lightning Dash, Lightning Augment and Vibration Sense.
During this transformation, all your stats will increase by 20 each.
He had been expecting underwhelming skills that needed physical contact with his target to work efficiently, but the current situation was way better than his expectations.
The books he had read on his way to the island said that the first successful mutation would give around 10-20 extra stats and it didn't have any information on transformations.
'More than two hundred in mana…. god damn…' he marvelled as he slowly shifted his attention to the skill that he had gotten through his successful mutation.
Scales (SSS)
Grow a thin layer of durable scales over your skin that mitigate all damage by 20%. Slash Damage will have a reduction of 60%.
'System, why is an SSS rank skill have such low percentages?'
[Damage reduction is extremely rare and the maximum it can reach, is 100% but that is impossible unless one was born with a unique skill that gave them access to Damage Reduction of at least 20%. Skills acquired through various means can at most, reach 80%.]
'Like Kiki's thick skin? Hmm usually people are born with unique skills of ranks ranging betwen D and FFF but every person in this island has SSS ranked ones. Even toddlers…' he thought as he pushed the screens away and glanced at a baby that was in the arms of a woman.
Every single person had their head bowed except the baby as it held onto it's mother while looking around and wondering why people were acting so strange.
"Raise your heads." Lukas said as the scales on his body receded into his skin and his eyes turned normal.
As people looked up at him in reverie, he put his arms behind his back and closed his eyes, "The forest spirit has told me that it's time for us to reclaim what's ours. It's time to make our ancestors proud." he said calmly.
A moment after he finished speaking, a child's voice sounded.
"SUK MA DEEK!!"
The moment he began the chant, the people around him joined in.
""SUK MA DEEK!! SUK MA DEEK!""
Lukas let out a sigh as he glanced at Nina, 'I really shouldn't have made such a chant…'
[War Cry has provided you with…]
'Tch… maybe it's not so bad after all…'