Charlemagne was feeling great after taking out the group of human hunters. For one thing, he had some delicious-smelling meat to eat. But, more importantly, he had figured out a way to handle the overwhelming mana flowing into his body from the Settlement Token. As he made his way over to eat the spoils of victory, the squiggles returned, bearing great news.
Charlemagne read over the squiggles’ long message several times, slowly going over each portion to ensure that he understood it. It seemed that he had done something noteworthy once again, increasing the effectiveness of all four of his attributes. His Special Attribute, which was the most closely tied to his magical abilities, had gone up the most due to the tempering process he had undergone.
His Mana Core was gone, which made the rooster a little sad, since the skill had been with him since the fight with the plasmodium Champion. But it was okay; he had a new core, which the squiggles had called an Ember Core. And gaining two levels right off the bat was a great way for the new core skill to ingratiate itself with Charlemagne. He idly remembered that there was some other energy skill that had been integrated into his Mana Core skill at some point before moving on to more important things. Namely, figuring out what his new core could do.
He was unfamiliar with the word ‘ember’, but as he concentrated on the symbol written in the air, it seemed that the name had something to do with the fire that he had recently learned how to summon and control. If that was true, it explained why his Pyro Skill had been absorbed by the Ember Core, since he had gained Pyro right after the first time he had summoned flames. That meant that Charlemagne should be able to summon and manipulate flame far better than before. He would have to test it on a few lizards…they would undoubtedly taste better a bit charred.
Having examined all of his gains and daydreamed long enough, the rooster turned his attention to the decision at hand. He could upgrade any of his three Special Abilities, but he could only pick one. The only problem was that he liked all three of his Special Abilities.
Battle Meditation had been a lifesaver multiple times, keeping his body from tearing itself apart due to his occasional overreliance on mana to solve his combat-related problems. Upgrading it might give him even greater control over his Ember Core in combat or even allow him to meditate outside of battle. Both would be useful in their own ways.
The Power of Progeny also merited serious consideration. It had also saved Charlemagne’s life in the fight against the giant human. The strength that he had gained from several thousand eggs hatching all at once was incredible, and once he found more hens he could start the process all over again.
Finally, there was Food for the Stomach and the Stomach for Food, which consistently gave him smaller gains from eating his enemies and occasionally gave him larger ones. It also greatly boosted his recovery speed, which was never a bad thing. It was the strongest contender just based on the usefulness of the skill alone, and Charlemagne knew he never would have made it to level 10 without the ability.
Instead of making an immediate decision, the rooster mulled over his choices while he munched one of the humans. As he did, something caught his eye…a lot of somethings. The man had been blown clear through one of the farm walls, breaching into the main production floor where the hens had been laying their eggs. Thousands of eggshells lay broken on the floor. The sight sent a wave of grief welling back up to the forefront of Charlemagne’s mind. He silently thanked his chicks for their brave sacrifice that had enabled the rooster to win the fight against the incredibly powerful human. As he mourned, he wondered if there were any chicks that had survived. The squiggles answered his query.
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Hope rose in the rooster’s heart as he read the answer, before understanding quashed the nascent emotion rather thoroughly. The squiggles weren’t telling him that he still had over four thousand chicks alive: they were only telling him that four thousand chicks had hatched. But there were 42 eggs somewhere out there that would eventually hatch into chicks, and he was determined to find them. The only problem was that he had no idea where they might be located. He vaguely recalled that he had met several hens up north during his search for the city of animals. He had also mated with a few chickens near the beginning of his journey, so maybe they had laid eggs that would hatch into his chicks? The details on how eggs became chicks were still fuzzy, but the rooster felt confident that mating played a role.
With these thoughts swirling through his mind, Charlemagne made his decision. He told the squiggles to upgrade The Power of Progeny, hoping that he would get an ability that let him locate his pending offspring.
Although disappointed that he did not gain any way to track down the eggs that would eventually become his chicks, Charlemagne was nonetheless pleased by the upgrade. He read the new information a few times, doing his best to remember it for later. Maybe he could use his new Ember Core to help hatch chicks that could control fire?
While Charlemagne had been eating, ruminating, and coming to a decision, his Ember Core had been slowly filling up with the mana that was still flooding in from the Settlement Token being digested in his stomach. It was difficult to tell since the skill had gained two levels, but it seemed like the soul tempering process had made it easier for him to affect his body with the mana stored in his core. He now needed to use less to get the same effect. But many of his mana channels were still severely damaged and he needed to restore them before he could get the full benefit of circulating mana through his body.
The process was not easy, but it wasn’t painful either. A pleasant warmth filled the rooster as he slowly pushed mana out of his core and down his main pathways until it reached the smaller vessels that branched out again and again, growing in number but decreasing in size with each split. At first, the amount of damage was overwhelming, and it was almost impossible for him to focus on any given spot long enough for the mystical energy to repair the damage, but Charlemagne was determined to keep at it until everything was back to the way it was before.
During the process, a lot of the fiery mana was absorbed by his flesh, bones, and organs. Although Charlemagne didn’t understand why, the process made his body feel stronger and lighter, so he didn’t fight it. The truth was that this was a beneficial side effect of his recent evolution combined with his latest bout of soul tempering: not only was his body stronger and capable of being reinforced with more mana than before, but his Ember Core was better integrated with his flesh, allowing the rooster’s body to keep more of the mana in circulation outside of his core.
The process gained speed after the majorly damaged areas were patched up as the rooster was able to devote all his attention to each spot rather than trying to hold everything together while mending the damaged portions. Still, it was nearly dark by the time that Charlemagne was finished with the process. As he circulated mana throughout his newly regenerated pathways in a great loop, he could feel the way that his Ember Core synced up perfectly with his body. It was a great feeling that made up for the hours of hard work. He couldn’t wait to try it out in a fight. Maybe once he found his chicks and raised them, he could find something worthy to challenge him. Humans just weren’t cutting it anymore.
The rooster fell asleep perched high on a shelf in one of the storage rooms. He dreamed about running wild through the jungle with dozens of hungry chicks behind him. At every turn, he beheaded an Assassinadder and threw the body to his progeny. As he watched, the chicks grew up into hens. The hens laid eggs, which the rooster infused with mana and then induced to hatch with a healthy dose of radiation. Those chicks grew to be hens themselves. And so, the cycle continued.
The next morning Charlemagne woke up a bit earlier than usual. His heart was overflowing with complex emotions that his brain didn’t know how to process. So he crowed his heart out at the rising sun. He crowed for himself, for his dead hens, and for his liquefied baby chicks who had been cut down all too soon. He crowed defiance to the world, expressing his willingness to take on all comers. Then he waited a few minutes, hoping that something would show itself and fight him. But nothing came.
So, the rooster ate a hearty breakfast from the farm’s stores before heading out, flying south. His eggs were out there somewhere, but first, he needed to collect something.
