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Energy Eater - Chapter 16 - Level 9
🕑 Added 2024-07-30 14:00:03 +0000 UTCMy free attribute point went to Body, increasing it from 6 to 7.
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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 9
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 0
Mind 3 - Body - 7
Memory - 4 Energy - 0/4 (1 Reserved)
Skills - 4/4
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
Mind of Possibility - Unavailable
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There was no change in the Memory or the Energy which really sucked. I was sure that by eating the lion I could get a skill, and it should be a strong one. More Energy would also mean I could use skills more often, and the issue of being unable to use {Compression} in the middle of a fight wouldn’t happen again.
Out of curiosity, I also asked the System to see the progression to the next level.
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Current level - 9
Progression to next level: 89.7%
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Killing that mountain lion was a massive boost. It was kind of hard to believe that a monster like that gave me almost two full levels. Then again, just the body of the Eater made me go from level 1 to level 5. Maybe killing it would give a lot more SP.
‘System, do you know how much SP the Eater gave me?’
[User killed the being known as Eater before integration. System was not able to quantify or analyze the amount of SP that was transferred from being known as Eater to user Cassandra, if any.]
‘Thought so, it was still worth a shot,’ I sighed.
Glancing down to the spike trap, the body of the lion was still there, and it was a mess. I might have overdone my freak out. Now I understood what actually happened. While {Mind of Possibility} was active, my emotions were kept in check. Which was helpful, don’t get me wrong, but it also meant that once the skill was over, everything came flooding back. All the fear, the anger, and the horror of the dozens of times the lion was able to get the kill…. Everything, all at once. Not to mention the pain I was still feeling. Once the lion jumped on top of me, its claws opened a large gash on my shoulder, almost hitting my chest.
‘System, how long until I can recover 1 Energy?’
[The conversion from {Energy Storage} will take another 7 minutes. System is unable to give an approximate time frame for the Energy to be acquired from the venison user ate.]
‘Why not?’ with a groan, I started walking around. There were a few herbs nearby that could be used to dress wounds, which could help until I was able to use {Body Regeneration}.
[This is the first time user ate that kind of meal while integrated with System. System does not have enough data to give an estimate related to the time it will take for user’s stomach to digest the food and convert it into Energy.]
‘Ok, ok,’ it didn’t take long for me to find some aloe in a nearby tree.
It was one of the most common types of plants in the region that could be used as medicine. According to Pops, this area was supposed to be too cold for it, but about 15 years ago, they started to show up. It should be a mutation, especially since its leaves were a shade of turquoise instead of the usual green of other plants. However, its effects were weaker than the ‘normal’ version of aloe. Maybe that was the price the species had to pay to survive colder environments. Either way, taking the leaves apart was easy and the gel inside helped stop the bleeding, even if it stung like a motherfucker.
‘System, do me a favor. Going forward, if I’m ever using a skill that has charges and it runs out. Hell, not just that, when I’m using any skill that has a duration or a charge. Warn me when the skill ends, or it doesn’t have a charge anymore.’
[Acknowledged.]
While trying not to move my left arm too much, I jumped into the spike trap to salvage whatever I could from the mountain lion. Since it had eaten the meat I was preparing, my food would come from it instead. Not to mention, it was a strong creature, and it clearly had a skill or two. Maybe I could get something from that. Something better than the ‘Strong Fang’ or whatever the fuck the boar gave me.
Doing all of this with mostly one hand took a while, especially since the body was full of holes, but eventually, I had a good chunk of meat laying on the floor of the forest. Taking the organs was an option. Maybe eating specific parts of a creature could give me more specific skills, but lions didn’t have any particularly strong organ. Their hearts were small when comparing to the size of their bodies. Going after the lungs was stupid, it would be better to hunt some birds for that. To get a better stomach, I should look for a goat, those things can even eat metal. The one part that might be useful was the liver. But there was one animal with a liver that could kill anyone who took a single bite out of it. I just couldn’t remember if it was a lion or something else. Besides, this was a mutated one, it was better not to risk it.
The one part that I really considered taking were its eyes. Being able to see in the dark would be a game changer. The problem was… I would have to eat the eyes. Just the thought of that made my stomach turn. Yeah, I’m not that desperate yet.
Just as I climbed out of the trap, after struggling a lot since I still tried to not strain my left arm, the System spoke up.
[User Cassandra currently have 1 Energy avaliable to use.]
‘Ok. {Body Regeneration},’ I replied right away before sitting with my back against a tree.
For the next 10 minutes, the skill was the only thing on my mind. How it moved through my body, the small tingling sensation reaching to my open wound and making the flesh regrow. I could see that happening, but it wasn’t like a regular wound that was being fixed. There was no scab, or anything like that. My skin just started to regrow, almost like a balloon being inflated. When focusing on each small piece, it was almost as if I could sense the particles working their magic. They wouldn’t make anything by themselves, but act as guides for the cells. In a way, it felt like this ability was coming from me, not from the SP itself. The particles were just helping organize everything else.
However, it was clear to me that this wasn’t true. In fact, I wasn’t sensing the cells or anything like that. The System was just understanding my intention and showing me a representation of things. Once I came to that realization, and thought about not getting its help, all that insight vanished. What remained was the tingling sensation of the particles moving around. Still, it was sharper than before. Instead of just a mass, I could perceive the strands of energy and where they were. Even if it took a lot of focus for that. Maybe this was the effect of the increase in Mind, or just what happened once a user tried to sense the SP.
Fixing my shoulder took around 8 minutes, the remaining 2 were spent making sure the rest of my body was ok. Mainly my leg. During the fight, the Lion had broken my shin guards. Thanks to that extra protection, my leg only had superficial scratches. They hurt like hell, and were by no means small, but between that and having a bone sticking out, I would get a scratch every day of the week.
With all that out of the way, I prepared another fire and once more started making some meat. I still had around 30 points in the {Energy Storage} skill, and one extra Energy point that had just came from it. But instead of using it on {Body Regeneration} right away, I decided to use {Compression} to fix the size of my staff. Moving with something that was a meter [3.2 ft] taller than me wasn’t ideal. In addition, having a weapon was always a good call in case another mutated animal showed up.
This time, my meal wasn’t interrupted. Almost two hours later, most of the meat was either gone or being turned into jerky. In addition, my Energy was full again, even after spending another point with {Body Regeneration} to finish up healing any wounds that were still left. That skill was absurdly strong. Just one hour and two uses of it was enough to fix my shoulder to the point where there was only a scar left. Then again, maybe the Enduring Heart title was also helping with that. It was something that made it easy to recover from critical injuries. The aloe on my shoulder could also be influencing the effectiveness of the skill. I was distracted with those thoughts when the victory fanfare sounded again, followed by the voice of the System.
[Congratulations user Cassandra. You have reached level 10, the final level of tier 0. 1 Attribute point available, 2 skills available.]
‘Put that point in Body and show me my status,’ a small windown appeared in front of me asking to confirm my decision. Just by thinking I did just that and another windown appeared.
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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 10
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 0 - Saturated
Mind 3 - Body - 7
Memory - 5 Energy - 3/5 (1 Reserved)
Skills - 4/5
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
Mind of Possibility - Unavailable
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“Finally!” I couldn’t stop myself from cheering out loud. Both Memory and Energy had increased. Which meant I could have one extra skill, and use them more often.
Speaking in my mind again, I turned to the System, ‘I thought you said that Energy and Memory wouldn’t grow together.’
[System had no data related to the increase of Energy or Memory. In addition, the information that is available to System is that those two attributes increase independently of each other.]
‘Fair enough. Now let me see the skills.’
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Memory Bank - Passive - Unranked
Reserved Cost: 1 Energy
A brain is a powerful tool, capable of storing vast amounts of information. With this skill, you can store up to 5 skills.
Storage/Retrieval time: 1 hour per tier of the skill.
Current Stored skills 0/5
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Burst of Strength - Active - Fledgling
Cost: 1 Energy
Sometimes, a quick burst of physical power is all that’s needed to overcome an obstacle. This skill temporarily enhances your physical strength.
Duration: 2 minutes
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‘Fuck, both those skills sound good. If I get Memory Bank now, can I already store Burst of Strength on it?’
[Yes, however, the process will require 1 hour as per the description of Memory Bank.]
‘Ok then. I don’t even have to think about that. Give me both. Also, it says 1 hour per tier of the skill, but what about unranked ones?’
[Unranked skills also take 1 hour to store or retrieve.]
‘Got it. Can I do that with more than one skill?’
[You can only retrieve one skill at a time. However, storing skills does not share the same restriction.]
‘Meaning that if I get a skill from the mountain lion, I can also store it right away. Right?’
[Correct.]
‘Great. And my other skills still work when that is happening, right?’
[All other skills will remain available while a skill is being stored.]
‘This is awesome. But now comes a different question. I’m currently at max level, correct?’
[Correct.]
‘How do I get to tier 1, then?’
[The process of increasing user tier can be considered complicated. User has the skill {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} which will simplify the procedure. If user desires, System can explain everything now, from how to change the particles inside user’s body to what are classes. However, System suggests user to return to the cave. This conversation is likely to distract user, hence being in a safe location is highly advised.]
‘Fair point,’ I got up and took a look at the meat.
It was mostly done or at least, as done as it could be in a short notice. Either way, I really wanted to know how to get even stronger. I had just killed a mountain lion on my own. A mutated mountain lion at that. After getting to tier 1, there was a chance that I could even kill a bear.
My eyes turned in the direction of the lower forest.
Or kill something even stronger.
##### Author's Note ######
Yes, I know she ends the chapter on level 10, but I didn't want to spoil with the title, ok?
Also, I can't stop thinking about the contrast. Hera got to level 10 on chapter 250, and here we have Cass, lol
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