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Energy Eater - Chapter 13 - Some have game
🕑 Added 2024-07-27 14:00:04 +0000 UTCIt took the rest of the morning to finish cleaning up the boar’s carcass. The meat was being sun cooked, and I made sure to put as much in the stone as I could. With some luck, the heat of the sun would start to boil the small amounts of fat left in the strips of meat that I was unable to remove and then drying it would be easier. Then again, if I didn’t have to worry about rationing, I might end up eating this entire boar very quickly. All this effort to make the meat last for a while might be a waste.
There wasn’t much I could do with the organs, cooking wasn’t an option and any different use was beyond my knowledge. But the leather could become soothing else. Thanks to my new bone knife, the fur on the boar’s skin was shaved and then came the tanning process by following a very strange recipe Blake once told me. First mashing the brain of the animal with some water until it turned creamy. Then, I applied it to the already stretched hide being held by the climbing spikes. Once that was over, it was just a matter of waiting, pulling the leather again a few more times during the day. There were a lot more steps in making a good piece of leather, not to mention necessary tools. But this was all I had, and worst-case scenario, this attempt could turn into a sack for me to carry stuff around. Even I should be able to make that, right?
“Open {Energy Storage} window,” I asked once my work was over.
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Energy Storage - Passive - Fledgling
Reserved Cost: 1 Energy
Every life needs Energy, and those in harsher conditions are able to store said Energy for when they need the most.
Units of Energy stored: 100/100
Energy recovered: 1 unit every 10 minutes.
Energy to SP current conversion: 6.67% per unit.
Time required per unit conversion: 1 hour.
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Once my level reached 6, the Energy to SP conversion stayed the same at 6.67%. It was logical to think that with each level, that value would go down.
“System, does leveling up get harder? In games and such, leveling up is supposed to get harder the higher the level.”
[Leveling up only gets harder once user changes tier.]
“Why is that?”
[User’s body is being filled up with SP. Once a level is gained, it does not become harder to fill up user’s body. If that makes it hard to understand, System will use an analogy. Picture user’s body as an empty bowl. Once 10% of it is filled with water, does it become harder to put more water inside?]
I couldn’t help but frown after hearing that. Was the System messing with me again? Then again, it might just be looking out for me and trying to explain things better. In the end, I decided to think the best of it and accept the help, “No, or at least it shouldn’t.”
[Correct. In the same way, user’s body does not become harder to improve as it gets closer to being 100% covered in SP. Once user changes from Tier 0 to Tier 1, the Energy required to make more SP will change. After that, there is another moment when leveling up takes more energy for the same result. However, that will only be relevant once user is at Tier 1. Would user want to know that information now?]
“No, hold on to that. I’ll probably forget about it if you tell me now. Either way, since the storage is full again, use any excess for leveling up. I’m going to hold back on using {Body Regeneration}.”
[Acknowledged. Inquiry: why user decided to make that change?]
“Because of the boar. I knew that monsters, or mutated animals, were a thing. Everyone just thought they were caused by radiation. Or some strange effect of the presence of the Eaters. Some creatures could be stronger, yes. But they could have their own set of problems. Issues with sight, or maybe they had extra limbs and strange things. In my mind, and in the mind of every hunter back home,” saying that word made me pause. I didn’t have a home, not anymore. Suppressing the bad feeling washing over me, I continued, “Every hunter believed the mutated monsters were the ones that survived. But according to what you told me, that’s not the case. The animals are being mutated by the SP, which means that most, if not all of them, are more dangerous. I’m not dealing with a situation where one or two of them will appear, but I might find an entire nest of monsters.”
[Acknowledged.]
I sighed, “You can just say, I see. Or Understood. Acknowledged feels weird.”
[Understood.]
During the rest of the day, I continued my routine of training, resting and using {Body Regeneration} to fix my wounds. My body was no longer in a dangerous situation, but there was still room for improvement. Still, I did my best to keep some Energy for SP creation in hopes of leveling up faster.
Once I could finally eat, a question popped into my mind, “Ok, so the particles are like… Spreading? Is the goal to cover everything?”
[System does not have a goal. System is a tool made only to assist with user’s goals. One of the basic orders present in all system particles is to improve themselves. One of the options of improvement is the change in tier. However, performing that change cannot happen without System assistance. At the same time, the particles are aware of the fact that, in order to upgrade their tier, a large number of particles are required. As a result, the basic order of ‘self improvement’ also becomes an order of ‘proliferation.’]
“I really don’t know how I feel about that. You are basically telling me that the particle’s goal is world domination. If they would stop with the world.”
[That is incorrect. Just like System, SP do not posses a goal or an objective. They are simply acting as per their basic functions.]
“So are the Eaters. That’s the problem.”
For the first time, it seemed like I managed to make the System speechless. It didn’t give any snarky remarks, or argued about what I was saying. There was just silence. Then again, it was always a silent conversation, since everything was happening in my head.
Either way, I continued eating, enjoying my gains after a successful hunt. There was still an issue of the blood on the terrace, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. The only way to clean that up was with the rain, and it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon. After about one hour, when my stomach complained enough for me to grab a bit more meat, the System spoke up.
[New skill available.]
“Oh? What is it?”
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Powerful Fangs - Passive - Unranked
Reserved Cost: 1 Energy
The might of your tusks will be remembered.
Enhance the canine teeth, allowing them to become weapons.
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It took me a while to say anything. The boar was strong, quick, and resilient. Yet, instead of getting a skill to make my bones sturdier, or my muscles stronger. I got… teeth?
“Are you joking?”
[New skill is not a joke, but the only remaining complete set of instructions present amongst the SP that belonged to the mutated boar.]
“So nothing else? Nothing about a charge attack or something?”
[No.]
I sighed, thinking about training again. The fight against the boar took way too long. If I had a spear, my usual weapon, that wouldn’t have lasted as long. Then again, most of my attacks still held the idea of using the sharpened edge to strike. Maybe the training wasn’t going in the right direction and it would be better to try something new.
The problem was, what? It was one thing to learn a new weapon while being taught by someone, another to figure it out by yourself. Either way, this was going to take a while. With that in mind, a different thought crossed my head.
“Hang on. System, you said the SP were already working on the boar, right? They were mutating it because they were around. They exist in this region. Why no one in the village was affected by that?”
[System is unable to confirm if that really is the case or not. During integration System was incomplete and was unable to check the presence of existing SP. However, it is possible to infer their existence depending on user’s interaction with other humans. Inquiry: Do people who lived in the same village as user Cassandra seemed to be stronger than people who lived outside?]
“Not particularly. I mean, some were, but those were hunters. Or the people who train every day.”
[What about the elderly?]
“I’m not sure… I mean, Pops is doing great for his age, but that’s about it. He was the oldest person in the village, and I’ve never seen anyone older than him.”
[Understood. To answer user’s question. It is possible that user, and all those living in the village, also were being enhanced by SP even without use of System. Said improvement would likely only affect simple things such as increased regeneration and overall good health. Unless a highly concentrated mass of SP was found and consumed by someone. However, without humans from a different location, it will be hard to confirm the effect of SP on user and those who lived in the village.]
“Got it,” with yet another thing to worry about, I went back to training.
Since going outside wasn’t a good idea in the sun, especially with my food still out there, I kept to the cave. During the fight, the boar rushed at me a few times, and it was a nasty charge. Maybe there was a way to incorporate that into my own fighting style. The whole idea behind martial arts was to take things from nature and use it as your own after all. Or at least, that’s what the stories I read said.
The rest of the day went by in a flash, from practicing that charge to checking on my supplies. Once the sun came down, all the meat that was on the terrace had to be placed inside, but I kept it away from my water. Just in case something went bad. Outside, the plan was to continue using Draco as inspiration to practice.
My training continued until the late hours of the night. Or at least it felt like that. When I grew tired, it was time for bed. The next day was very peaceful. I stayed in the cave, continued practicing, occasionally using {Body Regeneration} but most of the Energy I got went toward progressing my level. Even what was saved on {Energy Storage}. The plan wasn’t to empty out those reserves, but there was no need to keep it full all the time. Especially when the conversion to SP was so cost effective. Even without doing anything aside from eating, it would take just around 10 days to reach level 10 and Tier 1. But that was just a delusion.
“What do you mean it’s not just about reaching level 10?” I gasped.
[In normal circumstances, once an user reaches level 10, they are still required to formulate a way to improve the SP they generate. System will assist with that process. However, it is impossible to predict a time frame in which said process will be completed. It will depend on user’s actions as well as available resources.]
“Resources like what? And what about the skill I have? {Quick Tier 1 Evolution}, does it do anything about that?”
[With the assistance of {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} user will have a reduced requirement. However, some steps still will need to be taken. Access to skills or SP related to the desired path of progression and a decision on what user desires System to focus on.]
I rubbed my eyes, “This is confusing. Can’t you just show me what is going to happen when it’s time for me to tier up?”
[System is unable to do that. Currently, without the amount of SP necessary for going from tier 0 to tier 1, System does not have access to required data for the upgrade.]
“Fine. I’ll wait. Just let me know if there is something I could do now to speed up that process later.”
[Acknowledged.]
“By the way, I can ask for a specific skill, right?”
[Correct.]
“Can I ask for a specific skill to show up at a specific time? After going up a tier I wanted to save {Quick Tier 1 Evolution}, but I don’t want to have it wasting one of my Memory slots. Any chance I can, I don’t know. Have a memory slot skill? So I can keep some skills there and swap them out later? But I also didn’t want to get it now since I’m still using that skill, you know.”
[Such skill is within the realm of possibility. System will analyze the request. Once analysis has been complete, will inform user about necessary steps to receive desired skill.]
“Thanks,” turning back to my supplies, I ate the meat from the boar and frowned. The taste wasn’t quite right. It still seemed good enough to eat, but it was just on the cusp of spoiling. And there was still a lot left. With a sigh, I continued eating, and that was already a risk. But here is the thing. Everything I’ve been doing the past few days was a risk. Running from the Eaters, blowing up the village, climbing into the cave, hunting the boar. It was all crazy! So what was eating a bit of old meat?
Besides, it didn’t smell bad, and maybe the SP did something to the boar so it would take longer for bacteria to go after it. I don’t know, and it wasn’t like I had another choice. This meat was still going to be my meal for the day, and tomorrow, I had to hunt again. Glancing outside nothing seemed to be happening. Maybe the Eater had given up and was now gone. But that hope lasted only a moment. Even while being unable to see the forest floor properly from here, I saw tentacles slowly reaching out in my direction. They would go back and fort, licking the air again and again. A part of me could swear those appendages were aiming at me, even across all this distance. If I wanted to get out of here I would need to be able to run from that monster.
