The storm and subsequent near-death experience had halted their progress towards Gale. It took two full days afterwards to fully recover from their injuries. Well Synexus’ injuries. Kumo was all healed up after a good night’s sleep. Still only two days to completely heal from a broken leg was fast and now they were determined to make some ground towards their destination.
The only thing they stopped for was to fight monsters and that was only to mitigate the drawbacks of their legendary items. Synexus did stop them a couple times to pick up some new plants he had spotted, but that only took a few seconds each since he was using his sensors to learn about them while on the move. He was all out of seeds now, so he had to find anything new he wanted to add to his Gene Library.
They figured it was about four more days to Gale and they were making good time with their ignited excitement for the journey ahead. Going through an experience like the one they barely escaped helped them to work as a team. They were efficient with their fights and were able to cover the other’s weaknesses. With Synexus Body Transmutation skill, he had been able to be more versatile. He used his paralysis thorn, his leech moss, his binding vine, and any others he found appropriate to help in combat. This support complimented Kumo’s more straight forward fighting style. Her cloud blades sliced through paralyzed enemies or enemies distracted by the scene of Synexus’ pink arm which he claimed was a valid tactic. The vortex created by her new bracers was powerful and so far, seemed inescapable. The monsters would try to claw their way out with no luck. It also seemed to suck the air from their lungs, but they weren’t sure how much that was doing to monsters. Things were going well.
Synexus had fed his amulet a magical item each day to reset the cooldown and ensure the side effects wouldn’t kick in. It had granted him a point in endurance and a point in intelligence. That’s when he realized that now that his stats were above 10, he was getting an increase of 10 mana/health/stamina points per stat point allocated. Kumo said it would continue to get higher, but the next jump wasn’t until he hit 100 stat points in the given stat which would be a while. He needed to work on levelling Body Transmutation and Gene Editing to level up his class again, so while they walked, he had several projects going on and his arm was always showing traits of different genes.
Kumo was working on working on levelling up Cloud Cover, Conjure Fog, and Breeze as they walked. Blades of the Cloud and Cloud Wave were reserved for combat. She had caught up to Synexus and she wouldn’t be surprised If she got to level 6 first. His abilities took a lot of preparation and focus to level up. Hers were just about being used and she could have all three going at once since her own breeze didn’t interfere with her fog. Her abilities also helped them on their trek. They kept them with a cooling breeze at their back, in the shade of her cloud, and obscured from any hostile enemies that they didn’t want to fight. The progress in their journey and in their abilities felt good after the hell they had lived through.
Two days at their newfound pace had passed and they found themselves in the middle of a tough fight. It happened right before sundown when they were getting their camp prepared for the night.
A giant raven-like creature flew in and tried to grab Kumo with its talons. Little did it know that Kumo felt the disturbance in her breeze and that allowed her to dodge the attack. The fight that followed was rough because the monster had the ability to fade into the shadows and become ethereal right when an attack was going to connect.
Kumo had started using her fog to mask their attacks which allowed them to get some minor damage in on the bird. It was clever however and started to anticipate the faints. It was becoming a drawn-out battle.
Synexus tried to bind it with his arm reaching out like a whip. Using Body Transmutation, he changed his arms genes to the ones of the binding vine, but the bird simply turned into a shadow and escaped the trap. The shadow properties were becoming a problem, and he got an idea to deal with them. He pulled out a hybrid he had created the day before.
Starlight Fungus(unique): A hybrid made from combining the genes of star flower with the moonlight fungus. This fungus can glow a subtle blue or produce a blinding light if squeezed.
Putting the fungus between his fingers he squeezed to produce a blinding light. The raven shrieked in pain as the shadows washed away. It was this exact moment that Kumo shot several cloud blades towards the monster, cutting off its head and ending the fight.
Eye of the Shadow Raven: This eye can be activated with mana to see in the darkness.
Shadow Feather: Remnant magical material. This can be used to create invisibility potions.
They celebrated their victory by making some sweet tea from an herb that Synexus had found on his plant finding expedition earlier in the afternoon. It was delicious and a nice treat after the long hike today and the tough fight.
Synexus had realized that his Gene Library didn’t just have to be filled with magical plants, so he had spent hours over the past two days cataloging the basic plants of the forest. All sorts of grass, trees, and even the weeds overgrown in some of the clearings. This had nearly doubled his Gene Library entries and resulted in two more levels for the skill. Body Transmutation also reached another level which meant it was down to Gene Editing once again. He could have leveled it up today, but he was stuck on a tricky project and would try again tomorrow.
The third day they noticed that the trees were starting to thin out, which meant they were almost out of the forest. They were able to slow their pace and focus on their advancement. It wasn’t like they were on a set schedule, and they knew once they got to the city their progress would slow until they were out on the ocean where monsters were in an abundance.
Instead of just walking straight East, they diverted so Synexus could catalog plants or so they could fight monsters. It was because of this day that Kumo hit level 6. She was excited when Cloud Cover finally hit level 6, and she got the notification. Levelling up always felt good and she knew she wasn’t far from seven. All her skills were level 8 except for Cloud Cover which was surprising to her. Cloud Wave levelled up quickly in comparison to how many times she had to use it before getting a level. Her theory was that it was because it was active rather than passive.
Synexus wasn’t far behind. Only two hours later he hit level 6 by leveling up Gene Editing after finally succeeding in the project he had been working on. He wanted to move the extreme propagation from the hybamboodra to his hybrid leech moss, so it would self-replicate quickly when on an enemy. What made it so difficult was that the moss was already a hybrid, so he had to edit a genome he already edited which complicated things, but the payoff was worth it.
Replicating Leech Moss(unique): When this moss is stuck to an organism it feeds off its health and mana. It uses that energy to replicate itself. Due to the extreme propagation gene this process is quick. The more moss replicated and the longer this moss stays on an organism, the faster the drain.
Gene Editing has leveled up!
You have leveled up!
25 Skill points available
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This level felt earned after all the failures to make the new moss. He knew he would have to work harder for the next level, but that only grew his excitement since the moss was a welcome addition to his arsenal. What would he make next? The possibilities were truly endless.
For his skill point allocation he had to look at this status screen to decide. Every day he got a random stat point due to his amulet. Today and yesterday, it had put the points into strength which wasn’t extremely helpful to him, but any stats were welcome. Then he also had to factor in his achievement bonus. This resulted in him putting enough in each stat to make them 15 base except for strength which stayed at 12 with the bonus. The other skills were at 17 with the bonus. He was starting to really feel the difference the stats were making sense he was putting in multiple at a time now. He felt stronger, faster, and even how much his senses were improving with perception. He was regenerating mana, health points, and stamina much faster than before. His mental strain was lessening, and his mental process had gotten faster. He was improving and it was an addicting experience.
The rest of the third day was spent walking and taking breaks to focus on progress. They could see the road to Gale now and knew they would be there by midday tomorrow. The first leg of their journey was coming to an end.
Finally, the day had come for them to reach the gates of Gale. The morning had been fairly boring since they had left the forest behind and were following an actual road. They mostly chatted about their plans when they got into the city. They decided to find an inn and then go to the docks to see when they could be on the first ship out of the city. The initial plan for Synexus was to stay in the city for weeks until he could get enough money for passage on a ship, but Kumo’s father had given them more than enough to pay their way.
They also needed to get supplies, so they discussed what they needed for the few weeks they would be at sea, and she explained how the market was set up. Synexus wanted to be ready. This city was five times as big as Whisper and that was already massive to him. He felt a lot of anxiety being around that many people, but also a sense of excitement. It’d be something new for him. An opportunity for him to learn and that was his thing.
The city was in sight and their conversation faded. They approached the gates in silence, but they both knew why. In their minds, they reflected on all the gains they had made on the adventure so far. The past day and most of the morning had been focused on progress and even though they both levelled up just yesterday, they knew they were close to another one.
Kumo had levelled up several of her skills the night before and gotten another level in Breeze this morning. Her skills were sitting at level 9 except for Cloud Cover which was still at level 6. She had been using it all morning though, so she knew it would level up soon. Hopefully she had enough experience for the level. She felt like she did since they had been nonstop fighting their way through the forest. They didn’t get much in the way of magical equipment after the worm, however, they had plenty of remnant magical material for Synexus’ necklace.
Synexus was happy with the progress they both made. After setting their minds to it the day before, they had made great strides in their classes. He had completed several projects in Gene Editing and was expecting a level soon.
Plipio Bamboo(unique): A vibrant pink bamboo that gives off a unique scent. This scent can attract people, monsters, and insects.
Crimson Aura Oak(unique): The leaves of this tree give off a faint red glow from the life energy running through them. These can be used for their healing properties in many alchemical ways.
Binding Tall Grass(unique): A tall grass with the genes of binding vine. This patch of tall grass will coil around any entity walking through it to bind them. It is incredibly difficult to walk through.
He realized that putting the genes into regular plants was much easier than moving genes from one magical plant to another and he started to have fun with making different hybrid plants. He also had cataloged every normal and magical plant he saw over the past four days which resulted in Gene Library getting to level 9. He then practiced Accelerated Growth all morning as they walked on the road to make the grass along the way to grow. This had netted him two levels in the skill making it match Gene Library. Much of today and yesterday he had spent with his arm taking on various traits to level Body Transmutation up another time making it level 7.
The random stat point for the day went into perception which he was fine with. He liked the excitement of seeing where it would go each day. He hadn’t suffered from the drawbacks of the amulet yet and he didn’t plan too. Hopefully there would be enough monsters on the sea to keep up their progress.
They approached the gate with smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes. It was the next part of their journey, and they would face it head on. Finding a ship, finding a crew, and getting supplies would be nothing compared to taking on the titan worm they encountered. The only thing to worry about was what they would encounter on the sea. With one last look at his status screen, they walked through the gate.
Name: Synexus
Race: Zaxillian
Class: Progress Druid
Level: 6
Health Points: 155/155
Mana: 155/155
Stamina: 155/155
Stats
Intelligence: 15 (+2)
Strength: 11 (+1)
Endurance: 15 (+2)
Vitality: 15 (+2)
Agility: 15 (+2)
Perception: 16 (+2)
Skills
Race: Sensing Touch, Enhanced Cognition, Perfect Memory, Silver Blood, Devour Sunlight
Class: Gene Library LV 9, Gene Editing LV 6, Accelerated Growth LV 9, Body Transmutation LV 7
Achievements
Slayer of Monsters: You will now be able to see the remnant magical material of slain monsters.
Ullashtt Ender: You bested one of these massive, fabled beasts taking some of their vast power for yourself. +10% to all stats.
***
Name: Kumo
Race: Human
Class: Cloudmancer
Level: 6
Health Points: 215/215
Mana: 195/195
Stamina: 215/215
Stats
Intelligence: 15 (+2)
Strength: 8 (+1)
Endurance: 14 (+1)
Vitality: 17 (+2)
Agility: 17 (+2)
Perception: 9 (+1)
Skills
Race: Increased Stats, Ancestor's Experience, Efficient Mana
Class: Blades of the Cloud LV 9, Breeze LV 9, Conjure Fog LV 9, Cloud Wave LV 9, Cloud Cover LV 6
Achievements
Knowledge of Tongues: Pick up languages much faster due to your heritage
Slayer of Monsters: You will now be able to see the remnant magical material of slain monsters.
Ullashtt Ender: You bested one of these massive, fabled beasts taking some of their vast power for yourself. +10% to all stats.
