The path of cultivation is one of defiance, defiance of fate, of destiny, of death, life, of reality itself. To become a cultivator, one must reject the way of things, absolutes, and truth. Trust in one thing, and one thing only: your soul. Do not view the world as a place to live and be content, no; the world is but a mere grindstone, sharpening our internal flame and inner world. View it not from the lens of the eyes, but from the soul, only then will the true face of Heaven show itself, only then will one understand why we have rebelled.
–Excerpt from [REDACTED], by [REDACTED]
Harry planned to do the opposite this time; instead of upgrading the known, useful traits first, he planned to upgrade the neglected ones to see if they could become useful.
First on his list was [Photosynthesis]. According to his instincts, this trait held great stamina recovery potential. The rat had experienced it first-hand shortly after gaining it, but didn’t have the time to test it fully until now.
The rat shifted off the bed, onto the expensive-looking mud floor, and outside. Golden rays of sunlight greeted Harry warmly, filtering in through the spaces between blades of tall grass. Some even reflected off the tiny droplets of morning dew that had accumulated over the night, creating a beautiful, picturesque scene.
Harry savored it for a moment, committing as much as he could to memory before moving on to the task at hand.
The rat moved over to a specific spot, where the morning light concentrated the most, turned his back to the beautiful rays, and sat down.
The trait began working almost immediately, and Harry felt something akin to a warm stream of energy steadily building up in his back and flowing down into his bloodstream before dispersing, alleviating his light hunger and thirst slightly.
It was an odd feeling; there weren’t enough words in his vocabulary to accurately describe the feeling, it wasn’t a bad or unpleasant feeling, though.
Satisfied, the rat invested the fifty units of biomass a second later, upgrading the trait.
-Trait upgraded: Photosynthesis (0) → Photosynthesis (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Sunloved (1): +15 sun affinity.
-Efficient (1): Streamline your absorption process, making it 20% faster and more efficient.
-Efficient (2): Streamline your absorption process, making it 40% faster and more efficient.
The rat’s thoughts paused as he gazed at the level two upgrade; this was his second time seeing such a high-level upgrade, and the difference between it and a level 0, for example, was vast.
Harry took after some debate with his intuition; it was the best option among the three, so it made sense.
Ethereal crimson power flared up as it manifested behind the rat before slamming into his exoskeleton, fusing with it as it made a host of unknown but beneficial changes. When it was done, Harry could tell the difference immediately; it was as if the sun’s rays suddenly doubled in power, even the weakest one gave him twice as much energy.
Harry now felt that with this trait, he wouldn’t starve to death if left in a desert, as long as there was sufficient sunlight. The current trait was enough to alleviate his hunger, slightly.
Harry felt that was enough, for now.
Next up was [Iron Stomach], one of Harry’s early traits he’d neglected.
-Trait upgraded: Iron Stomach (0) → Iron Stomach (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Speed (0): Your digestion speed is increased by 5%.
-Internal forge (1): Replace your digestive acid with a stronger, more potent version, increasing overall functionality by 20%.
-Speed (1): Your digestion speed is increased by 20%.
Harry selected the internal forge upgrade, feeling a sudden surge in warmth that settled within his lower body, then belly, before vanishing.
Feeling pleased, Harry moved on to [Fat storage].
-Trait upgraded: Fat Storage (0) → Fat Storage (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Space (0): Store 1% more fat than normal.
-Compact fat (1): Your cells adapt the ability to compress and store more fat.
-Space (1): Store 5% more fat than normal.
Stolen story; please report.
Harry felt that the upgrade options were somewhat lackluster, but that was to be expected. His intuition didn’t feel like this trait had great potential, so it made sense. The only good option was compact, which was what he took.
Next came [Forced Hibernation]. Harry found this trait in particular very interesting; it allowed him to forcefully enter a state of hibernation, which was a new concept to Harry. Thankfully, the trait came with some useful bits of information.
From what Harry could grasp, hibernation was a kind of sleep, a very deep one that could last for a very long while. His bodily processes would slow down to the absolute minimum during this time to conserve as much energy as possible, which the rat found very interesting.
Harry felt like this trait could potentially be of great help to him, and luckily, his intuition agreed too.
-Trait upgraded: Forced Hibernation (0) →Forced Hibernation (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Insulation (1): Grow a fatty protective layer that’ll protect you from the heat and cold upon entering a state of forced hibernation.
-Ingrained instincts (1): Your body knows how to defend itself, even when in a state of forced hibernation.
-Grubby (1): Your body conserves 10% more resources when entering a state of forced hibernation.
Harry tapped his paws thoughtfully; he never expected to be blessed with three level one upgrade options, which alone spoke volumes of how much potential this trait had, which made the rat grin.
All there were good, but the one that called out to him and made the most sense given his situation was ingrained instincts; Harry knew that he’d be in danger the majority of the time, so it made sense to have a way to defend himself, even when he was sleeping.
His power flared, and Harry felt a mild tingling sensation before the sensation vanished alongside the cloud of crimson of otherworldly power.
Next came [Iron skeleton], Harry’s second trait to manifest within him instead of being plundered from another creature.
-Trait upgraded: Iron skeleton (0) → Iron skeleton (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Elastic iron (1): Adds a slight elastic nature to your skeleton, granting 5 points in [AGI].
-Conductive iron (1): Changes the nature of your skeleton slightly to be more conductive to electricity and heat.
-Toughness (0): +1 point to [DEF]
Harry nodded slightly, in deep thought. Elastic iron was good, great even, but so was conductive iron. One would prevent him from potentially killing himself if his bone came in contact with any of the listed things on the list, while the other would make him faster and more flexible.
After some thought, Harry decided to go with the middle option; his reason for this was twofold: he was already quite fast and could become even faster with last stance, while more speed was good, he wouldn’t be losing out on much, it was only five points, after all. Harry also wanted more versatility in his arsenal, which would increase his chances of survival; the more he could prepare and account for, the better.
The upgrade screen vanished, and intense heat and numbing electricity flowed through Harry’s entire body for a split second before vanishing, too.
With that out of the way, Harry moved on to [Dual Heart].
-Trait upgraded: Dual Heart (0) → Dual Heart (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Moreair (0): Your blood cells adapt the ability to carry 1% more oxygen.
-Moreair (1): Your blood cells adapt the ability to carry 20% more oxygen.
-Robust system (1): Your circulatory system undergoes an upgrade, becoming slightly stronger and more robust.
Harry was caught in a dilemma; the robust system upgrade sounded good, felt good, but was just too vague with its intentions, and the word slightly didn’t appeal to the rat at all. The other option was good, but how would carrying more oxygen help it? Harry didn’t even know what that was, at least not fully.
He knew that it was something vital, nothing else. That was a lot better than slightly, though; gaining the ability to carry more of something that was supposedly vital to your continued existence was better, right?
Harry selected the middle upgrade, and his power flared, drilled into his two hearts, then his entire body, then vanished. Harry didn’t feel much of a difference, but his stamina pool was now significantly larger and shot up from 300 points to 400, a significant jump.
[Super strength] was up next, and Harry didn’t hesitate.
-Trait upgraded: Super strength (0) → Super strength (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Protein powder (1): +10 [STR]
-Protein powder (0): +1 [STR]
-Core strength (1): Adapt your muscles slightly to better make use of the [STR] stat.
The rat shifted his head thoughtfully; he instinctively wanted to pick the first option, but the last option sounded more appealing the more he thought about it; more points in strength weren’t bad, objectively speaking, but it didn’t make sense if he couldn’t fully utilize said strength.
That would be like upgrading to a larger tank to carry more water while neglecting the tiny outlet pipe; only a very small percentage of the massive amounts of water could flow through at any given time.
With thoughts like these in mind, Harry selected the core strength upgrade rather than the protein powder upgrade, feeling very good about himself at the end.
Now, only two traits remained on his list: [Regeneration] and [Spiritual sense]. Harry had no plans of upgrading [Spiritual sense] for now, though, so technically only one trait remained, and it was [Regeneration].
-Trait upgraded: Regeneration (0) → Regeneration (1)
-Please select an upgrade option:
-Potency (1): The power of your regeneration is increased by 20%, but the cost is also increased by 20%
-Smart healing(1): The trait gains the ability to prioritize lethal wounds over superficial, minor ones.
-Clean healing (1): The trait gains the ability to heal cleanly, reducing scar chance by 50%
The choice was obvious to the rat the moment the screen unfolded: Smart healing. It was the best of the three and had the most use to him, the rest weren't worth looking at.
With the basic upgrades out of the way, Harry summoned his status sheet, feeling quite pleased with himself and his progress.
Name: Harry [####]
Species: Common Rat
Authority: Predation
Facets:
HP: 1/1 (1HP/D)
STAM: 400/400
VENOM: 100%
AGI: 20
STR: 30
INT: 10
WIS: 21
DEF: 20
Biomass: 4800
Souls:
Traits:
Iron Stomach (1) (100)
Iron teeth (1) (100)
Adrenal Burst (3) (600)
Wall (1) (2000)
Wooden Exoskeleton (4) (1000)
Spiritual sense (0)(1000)
Photosynthesis (1)(100)
Fat storage (1) (100)
Kin link (-)
Fast clotting (1) (100)
Sharp claws (1) (100)
Thermal vision (1)(100)
Venom Glands (1) (100)
Forced Hibernation (1) (100)
Iron skeleton (1) (100)
Dual Heart (1) (100)
Super strength (1) (100)
Regeneration (1) (300)
His eyes settled on the [Wooden Exoskeleton] trait. The rat had a premonition that something drastic was going to happen the moment this trait was upgraded; he didn’t know where this feeling came from, but even his intuition agreed with him.
Harry felt like the leap from four to five wouldn’t be a simple upgrade but rather a qualitative transformation of the trait’s fundamental composition, one that would provoke a reaction from the immortal world itself.
Harry didn’t know what that meant, but he knew that it could be dangerous, potentially lethal. That didn’t disuade the rat, though, if anything, it emboldened him; Harry firmly believed that without danger, true growth could never be accomplished, only by putting one’s life on the line could one truly gain new insights into their ways.
It was with thoughts like these did Harry funnel 1000 units of biomass into the trait, watching as the world seem to go still as if the world itself had its eyes on him.
His power flared, but the sky suddenly darkened in response, and dark, oppressive thunderclouds manifested overhead alongside the crackle of heavenly thunder that roared through the heavens.
