Ayna stared through the pod's observation point as she saw a glimpse of where they landed.
Stormflash had warned they would be landing in a forested area, although the pod had been diverted to a natural clearing where it had a stable landing.
Surrounding them was a dense forest, similar to an extensive rainforest, yet noticeably alien to Ayna, with its vegetation bright and exotic.
The majority of the vegetation was crimson red, with trees soaring high and dense bushes.
Stormflash, who had made a remarkable recovery, suddenly said, “It seems we are not alone. A tribe of Ghadapes are near. They are large primates that are very territorial. I could deal with them, yet I feel this may be an opportunity for you.”
Ayna felt herself instinctively nodding at Stormflash; her gamer mindset recognised the perfect opportunity to grind EXP and improve her skills when she saw it.
Ghadapes? She knew what they were. They were big ape-like creatures, larger and stronger than the average Silverback Gorilla.
They are also carnivorous and far more predatory, actively preying on humans when given the opportunity, with razor-sharp teeth suited to tearing flesh rather than eating plants.
A confrontation with them was unavoidable when they set their sights on you.
“I accept. As you said, my Esper power is advantageous in versatility, yet the drawbacks are the constant need to rank my acquired powers. I need to take opportunities such as this; hiding behind you will only hinder me in the long run.” Ayna said in agreement.
Stormflash smiled at that and replied, “It is your choice. Just know I am here, though I will only step in if it gets truly dire.”
At that time, Ayna received another notification from the system.
New Quest: [A New World]
You have made it. Tanus is a teeming World filled with opportunities, yet it contains equal danger; though beautiful, the wildlife is filled with peril that becomes the premature end of many would-be hopefuls. A tribe of Ghadapes has surrounded you and will be the first of many obstacles that will present themselves. Be warned, not all dangers are so straightforward.
Object: Defeat the Ghadape Alpha and force the tribe to flee, or slaughter them.
Reward: Experience. Unlock Map System. X500 Credits.
Not all dangers are straightforward. Now that seems ominous.
Additionally, map function?
Ayna was wondering when that would be unlocked. Usually, a player would gain these features upon completion of a tutorial, involving quests on the starter planet. Yet, Ayna is bizarre in that case, waking up as a test subject for a crazy, psychopathic, powerful psychic.
“Are you prepared?” Stormflash suddenly asked, waking her up from her thoughts.
“Ready as I am ever going to be,” Ayna replied after some thought. After all, there was not much more she could do, and the further she delayed, the more coordinated the Ghadape's inevitable attack would be.
Hearing her reply, Stormflash informed her he was about to open the pod, and Ayna found the pod's seal open. The pressurised, thick doors let out a deep mechanical noise as she felt the fresh air of Tanus.
Taking a deep breath, Ayna, in a swift motion, stepped outside the pod, feeling the grassy floor beneath her feet. She felt relieved to be on land, no longer on a space shuttle. No matter how comfortable it was, it felt good to be in such an environment after spending so long cramped in an artificial shuttle.
Rapidly taking in the vibrant world, Ayna heard the primal grunts and chest-beats as the Ghadape neared.
I can not be distracted.
Ayna was far stronger than before, being an E grade now, yet she decided to focus on her under-levelled acquired Esper abilities here and try out her new main class skill, Synergist.
Currently, only Pyrokinesis advanced to an E-grade power. Though Cyrokinesis and Toxigenesis were both stronger than before, she had to focus on their advancement to unlock their full power at E-grade.
All powers have disadvantages. Even an ability such as Ability Absorption has drawbacks, including the need to continuously manage the advancement of multiple powers rather than a single one.
I will conjoin Cyrokinesis and Toxigenesis and see the effects.
Stormflash remained in the pod as Ayna observed her surroundings.
The vegetation was thick and dense, yet she could already make out the Ghadape as the first of them began to near.
A Ghadape resembled a large Silverback Gorilla, standing on average 6 and a half feet tall and weighing effectively double that of a Silverback; they were hulking primates and intimidating to look at. They had vibrant, fiery orange fur and crimson red eyes, whilst having jagged, sharp teeth that could crush bone and tear flesh effortlessly.
Ayna already began her preparations, knowing the Ghadape were hostile the moment they emerged from the trees.
Forming sharp spikes of ice, she instantly felt the synergistic nature of combining it with Toxigenesis, turning the spikes a light green.
Numerous Ghadape were already charging towards her; the brutes, though relatively fast for their size, were nothing to the Zylaxar.
The Ghadape were bloodthirsty as they spotted her, their grunts excited at the sight of fresh meat.
She would disappoint them; she was no easy target. The first of ice spikes in a blur of green flew towards the Ghadape vital areas, dealing devastating damage to a large number of them.
The shrieks and cries of the Ghadape filled the grassy clearing as blood sprayed the grass, the toxic nature of the ice defied sense as even the Ghadape who survived the initial strikes found the weird green substance in the ice seemed to transfer and melt into their bodies, the effects of Synergist in play as the Ghadape screams were cut short as a potent toxin filled their body ceasing their struggles.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Despite the initial charge facing losses, the Ghadape remained undeterred, and Ayna continuously cut down a number of them.
She avoided using her firearm, focusing on utilising her abilities to level them. She found the large bodies of Ghadape made them easy targets. With her spears and sharp, ice-like projectiles, she just needed to hit them before the Synergist effects transferred deadly toxins, meaning she was taking them down swiftly with the combination of her two acquired Esper powers.
Ayna felt the Ghadape were a more favourable match-up for her than the Zylaxar, who were far faster, compared to the Ghadape, who were pure brutes.
Eventually, the Ghadape losses made the alpha finally show itself.
Ayna found herself suddenly diving hastily to the side as a large stump of wood was thrown her way.
Searching for the culprit, she found a giant Ghadape emerge, one that cowed the others, standing over seven feet and was twice as wide as the others. It had crimson fur mixed with fiery orange, and a potent aura that made it clear it was above the other apes.
Ayna knew it was an E grade similar to hers; however, she remained undaunted. She defeated an E grade whilst being an F grade, never mind now.
The Ghadape Alpha went on the offensive as soon as it saw her, ripping out a large chunk of wood from a tree. The Ape utilised it as a make-shift shield, knowing the dangers of her ice projectiles and came barreling towards Ayna in a forceful charge.
Ayna decided to draw on her reserves, as she conjured the most enormous spear of ice she had and flung it towards the Ghadape Alpha, who, in a decisive motion, threw the massive chunk of wood at the projectile, avoiding it entirely as it came dangerously close to her and swung its giant fist towards her body.
Resisting the urge to draw on her Pyrokinesis, she instead created a deadly cloud of toxic gas, swiftly releasing it from her body before utilising it as cover to create some distance between her and the Ghadape Alpha, who shrieked with wariness as it partially came in contact with the gas, feeling its deadly nature first-hand as a portion of its fur melted and blackened.
Ayna, like Viper, can control the properties of her toxins in a myriad of ways, and she was already flinging more shards of ice towards the Alpha, whose large, robust body made it difficult to evade.
Yet, despite her ice shards piercing the Ghadape Alpha's body in a multitude of places, the Ape roared furiously, disregarding the damage and pain, showing it would not go down as easily compared to the other apes.
Ayna found, as she was about to target the Alpha again, more Ghadapes appeared, distracting her a moment as she was forced to slay another few who came at her from the other side of the trees, which led to the fist of the Alpha almost catching her clean until she rapidly formed a shield of Ice that neutralized some of the force as she was flung back across the grassy clearing.
That was so close.
Ayna found her inexperience showed, and that her energy reserves were being depleted rapidly, whilst Synergist, though a powerful skill, seemed energy-intensive.
It forced Ayna to be more conservative, and she drew her pistol, firing shots at the other Apes who attempted to intervene further in her fight with the Alpha.
Ayna did not want to waste further energy on the other apes and decided to go all out to deal a fatal blow to the most significant threat amongst them.
The Ghadape Alpha, at this point, was brimming with confidence from its success and beat its chest to assert dominance.
Ayna smirked despite the show and decided to lure the Alpha close. As she moved back, the Alpha once again began its charge, yet this time she waited, and as the Alpha neared, she poured every ounce of energy into a row of ice projectiles filled to the brim with toxic energies and fired them all at once as the charging Ape. At this time, she went all out, even utilising the new skill Empower Energy.
The Ghadape Alpha's eyes widened in shock, though it showed intelligence in their confrontation; in the end, it was a brute with a straightforward, predictable fighting style, and it was unavoidable with the sheer amount of projectiles she flung at it.
The Alpha used its brute strength to bunch and whack away some of the projectiles.
Yet its thick flesh proved inadequate to stop a multitude of projectiles, piercing deep enough for the toxin to be released.
The Ghadape Alpha tried to continue its dominating momentum, yet fell to its knees in a few meagre steps, and at that point appeared defeated as Ayna approached in triumph, bringing her pistol to its head as she fired concentrated blasts to finish the beast off.
“Good fight,” Ayna said out loud, as the shrieks of Apes sounded in the background, the remainder of the tribe fleeing into the dense Forest.
Ayna did not bother to chase, though she appeared unstoppable at the moment; that last attack had made her spent, and if the remainder of the tribe attacked her, she might actually have been in trouble.
Lesson learnt.
You have dealt fatal blows!
You have killed Ghadape Brute {Lvl 14} x10
You have killed Ghadape Brute {Lvl 17} x7.
You have killed Ghadape Alpha {Lvl 29}.
You have gained experience towards [Assimilator (Apprentice)] and [Soldier (Novice)]
[Assimilator (Apprentice)] has levelled up.
Lvl 21 > 22
Energy +15
Intelligence +3, Willpower +3, Charm +3.
You have received 3 attribute points.
[Soldier (Novice)] has levelled up.
19 > 20 [MAX] You have reached the maximum level for this class; advancing your main class means you meet the requirements to rank up this class.
STR + 1 END +1
You have received 1 attribute point.
Your main class skill [Ice Affinity] has advanced to level 6.
Your main class skill [Toxin Manipulation] has advanced to level 7.
Your main class skill [Synergist] has advanced to level 2.
Your main class skill [Focused Mind] has advanced to level 2.
Your subclass skill [Athletics] has advanced to level 10 [MAX].
Your subclass skill [Weapons Proficiency] has advanced to level 10 [MAX].
Wow, that is a lot of advancements!
And there was more to come.
You have completed the quests [A New World]!]
You have dealt with your first hostile encounter in this world and lived to tell the tale. Perhaps, there is hope for you after all, yet not all threats are so direct on Tanus, though at least you proved your mettle against the most basic threats.
Rewards received: Map System unlocked. X500 Credits stored in inventory.
You have gained experience towards [Assimilator (Apprentice)] and [Soldier (Novice)] [MAX]. Class max, experienced stored until ranked.
The experience from the quest was not enough to level her main class again; it becomes more troublesome to level the higher you go, though she was already near her next level.
Her subclass, on the other hand, will store the experience until it is levelled up.
Well, then, I have much to do.
First, she will utilise the unlocked loot for the first time, and then rank up her subclass.
Of course, she had other matters, such as checking the map system and her rewards, such as the Refined Zylaxar Vibroblade, which she decided not to use because she didn't have any skill with a blade.
She also had maxed general skills to enhance, yet she did not want to waste skill points and had already decided to find a skill trainer to advance them. All in all, the real journey had just begun, and it was time to take her next step on Tanus.
