Synexus had traveled for two days after the nightmare spider incident, only resting when his stamina got low. He had been attacked by a few more monsters, but they were nothing like that first one. There was a giant bear type monster that could charge forward at incredible speeds, but it wasn’t intelligent enough to change up tactics and fell to his sword. Then there was a crow that could screech to cause disorientation before swooping in, but after a few scratches Synexus caught on to its patterns and was able to end it. Finally, just moments ago there was a two-dimensional turtle-like creature that shot razor thin projectiles that left nasty cuts, but in the end Synexus cut through it like paper. He didn’t like killing these monsters if he was being honest, but they all had attacked him first and the experience was a nice motivation to not flee. On top of that all three dropped some form of loot.
Shield of Rage: The echoes of a skill used by Rage Bearer have been reformed into this shield. Use this shield to charge quickly forward. Hitting your opponent with the charge will cause knock-back.
Screech Beak: The beak of a slain Screech. Can be used in magical crafting and alchemy.
Razor-edge Ring: The echoes of a skill used by Ixily have been reformed into this ring. Shoot sharp, flat projectiles that can cut foes easily. Requires mana per projectile.
Truthfully, it had been an easy couple of days compared to that first night and Synexus was enjoying it. He even made some progress in his skills and had gotten a class level.
Name: Synexus
Race: Zaxillian
Class: Progress Druid
Level: 3
Health Points: 50/50
Mana: 50/50
Stamina: 50/50
Stats
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 3
Endurance: 4
Vitality: 4
Agility: 3
Perception: 3
Skills
Race: Sensing Touch, Enhanced Cognition, Perfect Memory, Silver Blood, Absorb Sunlight
Class: Gene Library LV 6, Gene Editing LV 3, Accelerated Growth LV 5
Achievements
Slayer of Monsters: You will now be able to see the remnant magical material of slain monsters.
He had noticed something interesting about his leveling too. He had raised Accelerated Growth and Gene Library up again before leveling Gene Editing, but he hadn’t gotten the class level until after Gene Editing leveled up. Synexus pondered if his class level can’t exceed his lowest leveled skill. The first time he had gotten a class level was right after he leveled up Gene Editing the first time, so it made sense. To test it he decided to level up Gene Editing again and see if he got another immediate level since he had gotten experience from all the fights.
As he was thinking over his options of possible useful gene combinations, he felt something tug at his bag. He looked down to see his shield moving across the ground at a steady pace away from him. Further inspection revealed that a vine was pulling the shield. Synexus didn’t stop it but instead followed it to the source. After following for a few minutes, he saw the culprit. It was some sort of plant.
Watching from behind a bush, Synexus saw the plant open and store the shield inside before closing itself again. He wasn’t sure if this was just a plant or a plant monster, but either way he wanted it for his Gene Library.
As he approached there was no sign of aggression, so it was safe to say it was just a plant. He walked right up to it and placed his fingers along the thickest portion of the plant. It had a rough texture to it like running your fingers over tree bark, but it didn’t seem like it would be a tough substance. As he was waiting for his sensors to get all the information, he pushed some mana into the plant to activate Accelerated Growth. He wanted to know how big it would get. It grew a few more feet, but didn’t get any wider. It stopped growing and it was a few more seconds before Synexus absorbed all the information.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Thief Plant: 100%
Thief Plant (rare): A plant known for stealing magical items and storing them within itself. The ambient magic provides additional sustenance for the plan to grow. It can sense magic items from up to 100 yards away in any direction. This plant does not destroy or damage magic items. Often, these plants will have multiple items within them.
This is an incredible plant. The evolution this plant must have gone through to gain these traits is a wonder. Synexus was intrigued at the potential because after an easy few days, he realized one problem he would eventually have: inventory space. He didn’t want to carry around all this loot. His nature dimension bag only held plants and seeds. His regular bag was quickly being filled with random loot. The shield was already annoying to haul around, especially since he wasn’t going to use it. This plant could potentially solve his problem. Not by itself of course. He was talking about using his Gene Editing skill with the genes of this plant and the genes of a seed that the Elder had put in his bag.
Dimension Vine (rare): This vine has dimensional energy running through it. The fibers made from this plant are often used in making dimensional bags. This vine should not be consumed.
Synexus assumed the Elder put it in his bag just in case he needed to make a new one. But he wasn’t planning to make a dimension bag. Instead, he wanted to push the dimensional energy genes into the thief plant. Have it hold all his loot he wasn’t using and then store it inside the nature dimension bag. He liked the idea even though he could probably just wait until he got to the coastal city and have a craftsman make him a bag for his loot. Gene Editing needed to be leveled up anyways, so it was worth a try.
He sat next to the thief plant with his hand on it. Closing his eyes, he focused on his Gene Library skill to obtain the genes he needed to transfer to the thief plant’s genome. Once he had the genes located, he switched his focus to Gene Editing. It took a lot of focus and time for something this complex especially since he was so new to it. He tried placing the genes into the genome of the thief plant where he thought it would make sense, but his inherent knowledge from the skill nudged him like he was wrong. After an hour he opened his eyes and backed off. He had to take a break.
Gene Editing failed
“Yes System, I know” Synaxus said aloud. He got up and walked to the waterfall he had found earlier to get some water and relax. While he lay there, he thought about his failed attempt and how to succeed next time. They were both rare plants which probably means their genes are more difficult to edit, but this would solve some problems for him and it’s good to keep his mind busy on something. He randomly decided that his break was over, and it was time to get back to it. The break left him with some ideas to try this time.
He went back into his mediation for Gene Editing with his hand on the thief plant again. “This time would be different” he thought. There was a lot in the genes to consider, but he was sure that they were compatible. He went deeper into focus than before, almost feeling like he was within the thief plant clipping its genes and inserting the ones from the dimensional vine. His instincts from his skill led him and he followed, soaking up every aspect of the process. This was learning at its peak, and he lived for this. It was like he understood the fundamentals of both plants to the point that he was these plants. The edit still took nearly two hours, but this time it was different.
Gene Editing Successful
Gene Editing has leveled up!
You have leveled up!
15 stat points available
Synexus jumped up from his spot on the ground and threw his hands up in the air. He was absolutely elated that it was successful and on top of that he had gained a class level. His theory seemed to be right, which was smart. It made sure people didn’t just grind one skill to level up quickly. You really had to become your class to earn it. He looked at the new genome he had created for the thief plant.
Dimensional Thief Plant (unique): A hybrid plant that stores items within a dimensional space. The ambient magic provides additional sustenance for the plant to grow. It can sense magic items from up to 100 yards away in any direction. This plant does not destroy or damage magic items. This plant can hold a substantial amount of items within its dimensional space.
This was better than he thought! It seemed to take away the restriction of magical items as well which will be much better in the long run. He looked at the thief plant and then tried to open the top where it had eaten his shield earlier. It resisted a little but finally gave way to reveal a vast space where his shield and some other items were floating around. The only thing left was to try to put it in his nature dimension bag. He threw all the rest of his items into the plant and then took out his dimension bag. The plant reacted by trying to eat the bag, but it was going to be the other way around. Synexus started with one of the vines that had taken his shield away then worked his way up the plant. It slowly was taken into the bag. The only hard part was the top of the plant, which was wider than the bag opening, but with some finesse he got it in there. Dimension bags were weird like that. It was like the space could stretch the bag to an extent for easier use.
For his stat point allocation, he decided to divide the points between all the stats making them equal at 6. That raised his health, mana, and stamina storage to 60. He sat for a while and pondered about the stats again. Intelligence seemed to improve his already impressive processing speed as well as raise the mana storage and regeneration. Vitality only really seemed to raise his health point maximum, however, he thought maybe it effected healing speed too. Some experiments were due there though. Endurance raised the stamina maximum, and he could feel the stamina regeneration rise from when it was at 1. He still didn’t see a difference with perception. He thought maybe his sensors were able to get more information or perhaps his eyesight was getting slightly better each time. He wasn’t sure yet. Agility helped him walk through the tough terrain easier and he did feel a little faster, but not by much, which again it only had 5 points put into it. Strength was probably making him stronger bit by bit. Again he couldn’t really tell the difference yet. He was sure he eventually would, or he would ask someone in the city what they specifically did before he set out on the ship. With that thought, he got up and moved to the waterfall to set up camp and get some real rest.
After travelling for two days, fighting multiple monsters, levelling up his class and skills, and creating a hybrid dimensional thief plant, he fell asleep quickly to the sound of the crashing waterfall.
