What could this be? On Earth I had done my A level's in Biology and knew that the classical 'mutation' which occurs to a species is decided at birth, and several beneficial mutations eventually results in the evolution of a species into a better/more specialised creature for their environment, this usually takes an enormous amount of time.
However in this world, creatures could evolve and change their physical and mental attributes drastically at the press of a button, basically skipping a few hundred or thousand years of evolutionary magic.
This mutation option must also be unique to this place...
'Alright Mr.S, open up the mutation tab!'
I had decided to call my system Mr.S, I felt extremely awkward when calling the thing which helped me adjust into this world "system" and since my 'mom' was the one who abandoned me, she took the Ms. label and tarnished it in my eyes for a while, I had no father to speak of but the closest thing in this world is the KRYPTID system, so it shall be named Mr.S!
During this train of thought I wondered if I had really gone nuts, calling a magical software my father, the crack my sense of pride had was growing when I came to and realised Mr.S had opened up what I asked of him, chastising myself could be saved for later.
[ Mutations available for current species: 1 ]
• Ejectable Feathers
• Tempered Beak
• Sharpened Beak
• Soul Power Resistance
• Feather Rigidness Control
• Sharp Feathers
• Blood Talons
7 options popped up, each had a symbol of an eye next to it, looking at the 'Sharpened Beak' mutation I willed the eye icon to be clicked.
[Sharpened Beak Info]
- Beak is permanently sharpened.
I don't know what I expected to be honest.
Most seemed pretty self explanatory, all of them besides 'Blood Talons' had their descriptions almost equivalent to their names. I was growing increasingly excited as to what all of this meant while I went down the list, checking through each of the descriptions. I eventually reached the final mutation labelled 'Blood Talons', by name this was the most mysterious as it didn't really elude to what the mutation's effect was.
[Blood Talons Info]
- Talon's are coloured a deep red, concentrated mana of ___ , ___ and ___ elements are infused into the them, swipes do increased damage and if target bleeds, the healing process takes an increased amount of time.
Holy crap that's badass.
The name is kind of embarrassing due to the whole 'middle school username'ness of it, but the effects are the flashiest by far, it's offensive power is also impressive.
Above the screen Mr.S says that I have 1 mutation available for this species, by this wording I'm assuming that as I evolve, I'll be able to take on more mutations. Since I only have one, I better make this one count, before I did that however...
'How come the mutation's tab only just arrived? What did I do to unlock it?'
[ Mutations for most creatures are chosen randomly once they reach the Status Sum cap or by their affinity towards an element, rarely does a monster hold back on evolving long enough to reach the status sum cap ]
The Geckocide! My relentless murdering of the lizards caused my status sum to cap! Does this mean that if I had thrown caution to the wind and evolved I wouldn't have found this amazing part of the system? Mr.S you're getting more and more mysterious the more I know about you...
'Show me my Power levels please'
I hadn't checked out my increase in power, I felt that it wasn't too impressive compared with the initial power up I got from squashing the first lizard I came across, but with new information about the Status Sum cap? I wanted to know.
[Showing PL (power level) now]
Rank F
• HP : 35/35
• Attack : 17/17
• Constitution : 24/24
• Dexterity : 40
• Wisdom : 54
• Intelligence : 7
• Magic Power : 6/6
• Spirit Power : 513/513
I did some quick calculations.
'So my status sum is 690!'
[ False, it is 696 ]
I-
Mr.S I haven't had math class in a while alright? Cut me some slack please!
Every-time before I evolve I need to cap my status sum, otherwise I'll miss out on so many mutation goodies! I ignored the fact that I had no evolution pathway as of now, that can be tomorrow me's problem to groan about.
I carefully studied each mutation, they all seemed to greatly increase my chances of survival but the limit of only choosing one was putting a hamper on my plans. I found some mutations that while not having use by themselves, had great synergy when combined with other mutations. The most intriguing example of this was 'Sharp Feathers' combines with 'Ejectable Feathers', alas I can only pick one and by themselves they were close to useless. 'Blood Talons' were very edgy and impressive, but my 'talons' in my current body were tiny stubs of nails, even if they grew, my chances of using them to attack while not exposing myself to damage was very low. The evolution seemed very interesting... but the me now can't utilise it at all.
Alright then.
'Lock in Feather Rigidness Control!'
[ Mutation Feather Rigidness Control chosen, commence mutation? ]
'Yes!'
Feather Rigidness Control was a mutation who's name was equivalent to the description, it was quite a mouthful but it's utility was nothing to scoff about. It allows me to harden my feathers at will, even if they were detached from my body! Later on I could synergise this with a variety of other mutations as well. What intrigued and interested me the most was the possibility of hardening all the feathers around my body, creating a make-shift shield around me.
I was confident in my speed but my combat and defence were what worried me the most, this mutation patches one of my problems while paving the way for future synergy which can hopefully solve my other issue as well. I congratulated myself on my genius while I waited for the mutation to take place.
Hm, I selected it a while ago... why is it taking so long to-
*FWOOOMMM*
Each of my feathers started to glow with a pale blue light, it felt like I was taking a warm spa-bath in which I was fully plunged into. It felt quite comforting, ahh, I could get used to this.
Over time the heat of the 'spa-bath' increased and eventually crescendoed into it's peak. At that moment it felt like I had accidentally turned on the heat to the max and turned the shower on, luckily it only lasted for a second.
I stood up, ready to go out and test out my new battling prowess.
'Ahh yes... I can feel the power flowing through my veins, the buzz of superiority, the vibrations of supremacy, the heat of VICTO-'
I passed out.