CoJoGo
patreon
CH 12: Round 2
🕑 Added 2024-11-21 17:36:29 +0000 UTCReid awoke, coughing and sputtering as an unchewed piece of jerky slipped partway down his throat. Thankfully, it dislodged itself when he rolled over. He panted, looking at the small bit of meat on the ground.
He spent a long minute considering how awful it would be to survive the absolutely unimaginable pain he'd put himself through just to choke to death on half-chewed snacks.
Reid finally shook away the thought and sat back, cross-legged. He looked at himself. Reid was swole. Glorious pecs pushed his tattered vest-shirt partway open. If the shirt still had sleeves, he guessed his new biceps would've ripped them apart. He wasn't actually sure he could remove the shirt anymore without ripping it. His once-baggy hiking pants strained against his thighs and a pair of massive calves. He felt damn good.
Reid carefully raised a finger to his arm and poked it. The muscle felt completely solid. He tried to wrap his hand around it, and smiled when it didn't even cover the bicep halfway.
After a very small, totally reasonable amount of time checking himself out, Reid decided to check on his gains a different way. He focused in on the changes.
-
Constitution: 4 -> 5
Power: 8 -> 11.5
-
He marveled at it. Once again, even though he wasn't focused on that, his constitution had increased. And, his power had risen to half of his control total.
Exactly half.
Reid's face scrunched in thought. There hadn't seemed to be any option to distribute half points back when he had viewed the options. And it just didn't seem right, by usual game logic. There weren't half-levels, right? Not usually. It felt like there was meaning in it - somehow related to the hill he felt when he'd tried to push himself further. If he really had met the limit of his ability to self-strengthen, did that mean the ability was pegged to his control level?
He would either need to find a way to massively raise other stats, or increase his level and try for power again, he reasoned.
Phantom pain jolted through him as he pictured another muscle-growth session. Then his pangs of hunger made themselves known. More strengthening could - and should - wait until he properly fed himself. Reid popped to his feet, stomach rumbling. He instinctively looked for his knife, and frowned when he realized it would still be stuck in the salamander. He'd have to find another way to finish off his next meal.
#
Reid trudged loudly though the forest, trying to catch the outline of something edible in the receding dusk light. In one hand, he held a stone the size of a small child.
He glanced at it again, sighed, and gave himself the same reminder he'd been repeating for a while now - 'It isn't stupid if it works'. He figured that when he found a creature, he had two really solid options.
Option 1, he would rush the creature and smash it. Option 2, he would throw the stone at the creature, smashing it at range. He nodded to himself. "Rock solid plan."
Light was almost gone when the high-pitched, wailing call pierced the forest. Reid's heart pounded in his chest. That was the bugle of a bull elk.
Elk were large mammals on normal, non-awakened days. The bigger males could weigh over 1,000 pounds. They had antlers, and could kick with a great deal of force. Part of Reid did not want to know what an awakened elk was capable of. A bigger part of him was hungry - for food, and for a fight.
#
The elk stood at the center of a clearing. Long grass swayed in the cool night breeze, sweeping against the elk's legs. Reid said a silent thank you to any listening deity and licked his lips. It appeared completely mundane. It was quartering away from him, back and right side visible for Reid to target. He wrapped his fingers tighter around his rock and found himself naturally taking a baseball pitcher's stance. He kicked a leg, and threw.
The Rock whistled as it hurled through the air in a straight line at the still-stationary mammal. A baritone THWUMP echoed off the trees as the rock impacted the creature just right of its tail. The elk's backside exploded, hind legs and torso turned to a pink mist as the rock obliterated it. The front half slammed forward and bounced once off the ground before coming to a rest in the now-red grass.
You have defeated Elk lvl 8. Experience awarded.
Reid looked at his hand, and back at the elk. The rock was a good idea, after all.
#
Reid cooked and ate through the night, two fires burning so he could keep one entirely focused on jerky while he cooked open flame elk steaks in the other. They sat on mostly-straight points of the elk's antlers he had broken off. The antlers had been almost as tall as he was, and Reid turned a jagged, two-foot long piece in his hand while he stared at the fire. Something clicked, and the memory of his wall-smashing escapade flashed into his mind.
He put down the antler, checked on his jerky, and took a few deep breaths before he closed his eyes and reached out for the skills.
-
Strengthening [Basic]
Scales with Level. User's base power is increased. Advanced practitioners can manually control the application of this skill.
Hardening [Common]
Scales with Level. Increases resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage. Advanced practitioners can manually control the application of this skill.
Calcification [Uncommon]
Scales with Level. Increases bone durability. Advanced practitioners can manually control the application of this skill. Highly advanced practitioners can create bone armaments and armor.
-
He let out a whistle.
Strengthening no longer had a partially restricted note next to it. The entire function of the skill was open to him - and may have been why Reid was able to push it further than just repairing torn muscle. But, this skill was definitely the one responsible for his ability to do some self-healing, and for the... well, the strengthening.
Hardening was an interesting one. He hadn't been cut or stabbed at since unlocking it, and wasn't quite sure what it did or how it was supposed to feel. He didn't want to injure himself just to find out, so he moved on to the final skill.
Calcification was an interesting name, to start. Calcification was generally a bad thing - calcium building up in body tissues was bad for one's health. if it was referencing calcium deposits on bones, those were called bone spurs - or osteophytes, if he was recalling Susan's flashcards right. Neither seemed like a skill anyone would want to have. He had also only been able to repair his arm after unlocking this skill. So there had to be more to it that wasn't well represented by the name. He looked again at the description.
Increased bone durability was a great add. With that, his arm might be able to survive the next bite from a beast - not that he wanted to try it. It was the only skill that had a 'highly advanced practitioners' note in the description, as well. Bone armaments and armor meant bone weapons, right? Reid mused on the idea of himself - a bulked-out, near shirtless man, charging into a fight wielding a bone club. He would look absolutely feral.
A screech filled the clearing, and Reid's eyes snapped open.
At the edge of the tree line, a Red salamander with fully intact claws stared Reid down with its slitted, angry eyes. The skin on its head had grown up to the handle of a knife wedged into its skull.
#
Dirt flew as the salamander tore towards Reid in the center of the clearing. He took a moment to look around. There were no rocks or cover to hide behind - and none to throw. Reid hadn’t even started to look for the one he'd used to take out the elk.
The only thing close by was the jagged piece of antler. Reid picked it up in his right hand and lowered himself into a ready squat. His heartbeat slammed in his ears and he drew short, shallow breaths. He already knew he couldn't outrun the beast. He had to fight.
When it was only feet away, it lunged teeth-first. Reid twisted and took a half step back as it soared through empty air. He raised the antler above his head and gripped it with both hands, then plunged down with it in one smooth motion.
The salamander's forward momentum was completely stopped as it slammed into the ground, improvised weapon stuck through its midsection and into the earth below. It scratched frantically at the dirt, trying and failing to scramble away.
Reid let go of the antler and grinned. The salamander was still stuck. He'd managed to capture it.
He lifted a boot high and brought it down as hard as he could on the beast’s clawed arm. Flesh squelched and bone snapped, and Reid's boot found the dirt below the creature. He took a moment to marvel at himself. The middle of the salamander's arm looked like a deflated balloon, only connected by a thin strip of ragged skin.
He hadn't just broken the arm, he crushed it. The salamander was even more violently trying to break free now. Reid ignored the ear splitting screeches it emitted.
He moved to a hind leg and repeated the boot slam. Same result. The flesh on the deflated front arm was already starting to wriggle and heal. It was slow enough that Reid had time to continue.
For the other hind leg, Reid decided to try a punch. The outcome was nearly the same, but this time he could feel the muscle and bone breaking down under the force of his blow.
He did it again for the clawed front leg, just to be sure. The same result happened, but Reid noted the far end of the arm, towards the claws, felt like it took more force to destroy. It might mean the bones themselves got harder before they met crystal.
The salamander was smashing its head against its shoulder, trying to get close enough to put some part of Reid into its snapping jaws. Reid stared at the knife crowning its head for a moment before he stood and walked to the back of the creature.
He braced a foot against its rump and grabbed the tail with one hand.
"Not yet." He started to pull with only a fraction of his strength, slowly increasing it until he heard and felt the tail starting to stretch and tear.
"You still have more to teach me."
#
The salamander looked like a fresh kill in a cluttered butcher shop. Ten torn limbs were scattered around it, along with a trio of tails that ended in uneven, torn flesh. There were also chunks of meat, some with clean cuts, and others that were half-crushed on the edges. A few vertebrae were stacked like a pyramid - though the top piece had fallen down.
Reid was crouched in front of the salamander, knife in his left hand. It was no longer flailing, but its jaws still snapped angrily.
He'd learned much from the salamander. He knew how long it would take its limbs to fully regenerate, and that the back limbs did so slower than the clawed ones. He knew tails would grow back the fastest, and internal organs took the longest. Skin that was sliced cleanly healed faster than ragged openings. Bones from its spine regrew at the same speed as bone in the back legs.
Reid also learned that he could crush or pull apart the salamander with his bare hands. He put away his knife and pushed down on the salamander's nose until the jaws were finally shut. Its yellow eyes still shone with a fierce glean. He raised his right fist and let out a breath with a slight shudder.
"Fuck you, lizard. I win."
The skull cracked and splintered under his blow, and his fist was covered in grey matter when he pulled it back. The notification popped onscreen.
You have defeated Salamander lvl 2. Experience awarded.
Reid made the short walk back to his dying fires. He pulled a blackened steak off his antler skewer and tossed it over his shoulder. Then plodded over to the elk and cut off a section with his newly reclaimed knife. It sizzled in the fire as juices dripped down.
He gave another glance back at the salamander's corpse. He would hunt and kill every fucking thing in this goddamn forest. He'd tear it all apart with his bare hands if he had to. He would make it to the beacon.
The fire popped and sputtered. Reid added another piece of wood.
"I win."
