Chapter 7: Rewards (Patreon)

Author's Note:

Since this chapter is in large portion his full status sheet (and I do want to put this in at this point), I will be releasing chapter 8 today as well. So enjoy a double chapter :)

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Heading over to the carcasses of the lions, already starting to buzz with flies, Dominic Consumed them. Interestingly, nothing happened until he had Consumed the third carcass. At that point, the same message he’d seen before flashed up. 

[Congratulations! You have won the challenge: Winner Takes All. Would you like to see your rewards?]

This time, he eagerly agreed to them. 

[Benefits calculating….]

[Lion: Unevolved, level 5, 5 EP x3 (total: 15EP)]

[Enhancements available:

Sharp teeth (0 EP)

Long teeth (1EP)

Developed mane (5 EP)

Feline claws (0 EP)

Large body (0 EP)

Sharp eyesight (1 EP)

Quick reflexes (1 EP)

Pounce (2 EP)]

The benefits offered were, honestly, rather disappointing. Dominic found himself growling in annoyance as he looked at the pitiful list. Compared to the chimera he’d fought, there was little there that he wanted. But then, was that really so surprising? 

Dominic himself had started off as a baseline lion, just like these guys. Only, he’d increased significantly more levels, and gained lots more enhancements than them. The battle had only been made difficult by numbers, and even then it wasn’t that hard. At no point had he been in real danger. Sure, if he’d made a mistake, one of the lions could have got in a lucky strike, but that was the case in any battle. That didn’t make his opponents any stronger. 

So, add together the facts that his targets had had few bodily differences to him, and not much opportunity to improve down any particular route, and the poor list before him was explained. 

It does encourage me to go for more powerful opponents, I suppose, Dominic thought to himself. More Enhancement Points to spend, and better things to choose between. Why are there so many ‘free’ enhancements, though? Is it that I can’t choose them, or because I already have them?

‘I suspect that they are ‘enhancements’ which won’t actually ‘enhance’ anything since we have them already,’ responded Leo to his thought, his tone pensive, though Dominic was sure he could detect disappointment from his companion too. 

‘Probably,’ Dominic agreed. That would make sense. After all, in the previous challenge, he had been offered ‘feline paws’ for 0EP. ‘Do you think we should take them anyway?’ Then a thought occurred. ‘Actually, what if their ‘large body’ is actually smaller than mine and affects mine in a negative way?’ 

A sense of uncertainty came from the lion. 

‘I don’t think that would happen,’ he said slowly. ‘Look at how taking Acid Spit turned into Acidic Bite for us, and didn’t hurt us at all. It doesn’t seem like the world works that way now.”

‘Nothing we’ve seen so far works that way,’ agreed Dominic. ‘But that doesn’t mean something we haven’t yet encountered might work like that. Like this.’

‘I think it’s worth the risk,’ Leo said finally, sounding more confident. ‘I think that at worst, it simply won’t do anything. At best, it might actually improve something.’ 

Dominic thought about his words for a moment, then mentally shrugged. He had no evidence to disprove Leo’s assertion, and agreed with his companion that so far nothing had actually taken away what he’d already earned. He did bear in mind the possibility for it later, though. 

In the meantime, he simply took everything on the list. There was no point not to. Having teeth that were too long wasn’t a good idea, but none of the lions had had that so choosing ‘Long teeth’ for 1 Enhancement Point shouldn’t cause any issues like that. Though he did wonder whether that lion had been trying to head down the sabre-tooth devolutionary path. 

He felt Leo’s approval and anticipation as he selected ‘Developed mane’ so at least someone was happy. 

Once the list was empty, he still had 5 Enhancement Points left. Oh well, he decided. I guess I’ll find out next time whether EP are carried forwards or not. Hopefully the next challenge will be one with better options to choose between. 

Closing the menu, he took a moment to inspect the changes. His mane was the most obvious one. It felt heavy and warm on his neck and framing his face. He shook it and felt Leo shiver in delight at the weight of it shifting back and forth. 

‘We must look at ourselves in some water,’ Leo grunted at him with elated satisfaction. ‘All the females are going to love it.’ 

Dominic shook his head, both mentally and physically. The ruffling of his mane caused by the action made Leo shiver in delight again. Checking out the other Enhancements he had chosen, the former-human was able to confirm that Leo’s guess had been correct: he hadn’t lost anything by choosing the free options. He hadn’t gained anything, either. 

He didn’t think he’d grown in size; nor had his claws got noticeably any sharper. His teeth had grown a little longer, but that was barely evident and certainly wouldn’t cause any issues. It might have increased his piercing power by a point, but he’d have to check that out in his status in a moment. 

As for his eyesight, he thought that things were perhaps a little sharper as he looked both into the distance and at the dirt before his eyes, but again, there weren’t really any noticeable differences. His reflexes might have been similarly affected, but he’d only know that when he had cause to use them. 

While Dominic didn’t know the exact formula which went into calculating how much each enhancement cost, this was clear evidence that how much it affected his body was a part of the consideration. 

Pulling up his status screen, Dominic decided to look at the whole thing for once instead of just the most recent changes. 

Status of Dominic Martin Cole / Leo

Species: Lion (body) / Human (mind), Two-Souled, Chimera

Level: Evolved Beast Level 20 Tier 2 (Path of Evolution) 

Progress to Evolution: 82/508 PP

Satiation level: 99%

Hydration level: 97%

Health Points: 600/600

Stamina Points: 320/320

Mana Points: 15/15

Quests: A Noble Endeavour; Regain what is Lost

Acquired Abilities:

Quick Strike (T0) level 3 (15% –> 21% to level 4) – 3 SP for +35% speed; 8 SP for +70% speed.

Second Wind (T1) level 1 (24% –> 32% to level 2) – activatable when under 50% health or stamina. Gain 50% of your maximum health and/or stamina for the duration of the timer. Timer: 05:00. At the end of the timer, lose 50% of your max health and stamina.  

Crushing Bite (T0) level 1 (57% –> 89% to level 2) – Use stamina to enhance the crushing power of your jaws. +6% - 60% Crushing damage for 2-57 stamina per second. 

Group Attack (T0) level 1 (8% –> 22% to level 2) – +1% to offensive damage dealt per other being who is considered to be in the same group during an attack or defence. 

Pounce (T0) level 1 –> 2 (79% to level 3) – +75% damage to a hit which is delivered without the target being aware of you until the attack is too close to avoid. +45% damage to an attack which is made directly to a vulnerable area.

Powerful Swipe (T0) level 2 (63% –> 75% to level 3) – Use stamina to enhance the damage of your swipe. +6% - +60% damage increase for 5-75 stamina per second. 

Rapid Attack (T0) level 1 (22% –> 27% to level 2) – Spend 3 SP or MP to attack for a second time within 1 second. SP or MP costs double per additional attack within half a second of the previous. Maximum number of chained attacks at level 1: 5.

Sharp Nip (T0) level 1 (11% –> 25% to level 2) – When lunging to bite at something, consume stamina to offer a burst of speed. At level 1, consuming 1 SP will offer +10% speed. Consume 3 SP for +20% speed. If the bite is to a flesh and blood creature, a Bleeding effect may be applied.

Sure Feet (T0) level 1 (0% to level 2) – A passive improvement to your ability to your balance and traction. At level 1, this ability offers +10 to your steadiness when moving slowly and +5% to your steadiness when moving at speed (more than 25% of your maximum speed). The bonus this Ability offers may increase as Ability increases in level and other effects may be discovered.).

Acidic Bite (enhanced) (T2) level 1 (0% to level 2) – Use an acid gland below your tongue to shoot balls of acid. At level 1, the maximum range is 1 length, and the maximum diametre is 3 cm. Enhancement: your teeth have become resistant to acid damage and your top canines have become capable of absorbing the acid and transferring it in your bite.

Rage (30% 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)

Defensive abilities:

- Fur level 3 (12-16 Slicing damage reduction, 2-4 Piercing damage reduction, 6-8 Crushing damage reduction, 2-4 Tearing damage reduction)

- Skin level 5 (6-8 Slicing damage reduction, 4-8 Piercing damage reduction) Flexibility +5%

- Mane level 3 (4-6 –> 15-19 Slicing damage reduction, 2-4 –> 12-19 Crushing damage reduction, 2-4 –> 11-16 Piercing damage reduction (attacks to the relevant area)) +40% –> +100% charisma (for members of the same species)

Offensive abilities: 

- Claws level 2 (53-65 Slicing damage, 32-41 Tearing damage, 24-35 Piercing damage)

- Bite level 3 (54-82 Crushing damage, 72-100 Tearing damage, 55-76 –> 59-80 Piercing damage)

- Strike level 1 (+10 to Crushing or Blunt damage, +5 to all other physical damage types)

- Roar level 1 (+10% chance of intimidating the listener. +20% - +50% if listener is already intimidated by you.) 

General abilities:

- Muscular Body level 8 (max speed 34 mps; max speed duration 15s) (260 –> 320 SP)

- Carnivore Constitution level 3 (600 HP) +60% health regeneration 

- Enhanced Regeneration level 3 (2.25 HP / second)

- Brain level 4 (Cognition speed standard measurement 7) 

- Mana heart level 1 (15 MP) - 75% penalty

- Soul level 1 (Resilience to mental attacks standard measurement 7) +2% mana regeneration (-80% reduction to mana regeneration)

- Bones level 2 (growth +20%)

- Flesh level 1 (growth +10%) +5% resistance to basic magical attacks.

- Nervous System level 1 (reaction speed +10% –> +20%)

- Sinuses level 2 +10% range; +5% intensity

- Telepathy level 2 +10% force. 

- Sharp Eyesight level 1 +5% acuity of vision

Spells:

Lightning Discharge level 1 (20% progress to level 2) - 1:1 mana / unit of static electricity to damage ratio. Coat your weapons with electricity and discharge it into your opponent on contact. Electrical resistance is effective against this attack. Magical resistance is partially effective against this attack. 

Equipment:

- Leather Gorget (T1) - +12 to Piercing/Tearing/Slicing damage reduction and +6 to Crushing damage reduction to attacks to the neck. 6m³ storage space (non-stasis)

- Tail Armour + Tail Morningstar (T1, Common) - Tail armour offers +20 to Tearing/Slicing damage reduction and +12 to Crushing and Piercing damage reduction to attacks to areas covered. Tail club offers +10-24 Crushing damage and +5-12 Piercing damage. (currently unequipped)

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Chapter 8: Touch-starved