I managed to retrieve six of the cores from the burning corpses, bringing the total to seven, including Kamera’s. The other two corpses were too charred, and while the lava didn’t immediately harm me, the longer I spent in it, the more uncomfortable I became. I returned to my little island and held all seven cores I had collected. I had noticed that my notifications about killing creatures had stopped giving me a headache when I didn’t look at them. I didn’t dwell on it and focused on the cores.
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You have obtained six Sobekian Cores and one greater Sobekian Core. Would you like to consume [Y/N]?
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That was new! I wondered what the greater moniker meant, as that was the second creature to have it. I tried the old trusted method of focusing on the word and praying to the system overlords. Lo and behold, it worked!
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Greater creatures are creatures that are on the verge of evolution into the rank above yours. Their cores will hold vastly more EP than a regular core.
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Bonus! With your Progenitor title, when you use your ability to turn cores into an ability, you can use greater cores to select a specific ability from the creature you’ve taken it from.
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Well, that was interesting! I absorbed the cores and turned the six regular Sobekian cores into EP, keeping hold of my greater one. I had been tempted to hold onto them, but the greater cores were good enough for getting an ability, and since I could only get one a week, I figured that using greater cores was much more efficient than the random gamble of regular cores. I got excited at the thought of the new abilities I could get from my two greater cores, but the limit on the ability was really annoying. I wished there was some way to upgrade my progenitor title, but when I thought about it and its significance, maybe it was fine just the way it was. I wasn’t ready to father a new species just yet.
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Now that I knew about the greater cores, I decided to turn the other two snuffler cores into EP. The hunger that had been creeping up on me receded as I felt the influx of EP. I focused solely on raising my EP percentage, and a progress bar appeared in my field of vision.
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EP is now at 86%
I was so close to evolving! Still, I wanted to max everything else out first before I made that leap. For the moment, I had no idea which ability to focus on, so I decided to hold off on using my EP until I reached a safer spot or 100%. At the moment, I had a bigger concern. I was trapped in the circular chamber. The golden door behind me hadn’t reopened and I couldn’t see any other openings.
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I walked around the room, noting that all the statues had been destroyed. I prayed that they weren’t actually some secret mechanism to open the door. My fears were assuaged when the whole room began to rumble, and a golden door, like the one I had entered this room through, appeared on the opposite wall, covered in dinosaurs and other ancient reptilian species, such as pterosaurs and plesiosaurs.
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Having learnt my lesson from the other door, I decided to approach this one with caution. I poked at the dinos covering its surface, marveling at the details. Then I pushed it open, making sure to stay on the outside of the door. What I saw on the other side was definitely very different.
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On the other side of the door, there was a small room, probably three meters across and a meter and a half wide. The room was very tall, though at least twice my height. At the far end of the room, there was a very ornate lectern made from a dark green wood. The room was lit by those same suspended light cubes. I couldn’t see anything that gave me any real cause for concern, so taking a breath, I stepped into the room. As soon as I entered the room, the golden door winked out of existence behind me and was replaced by a black wall.
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I waited using my refractive scales to blend into the environment as well as possible. Still, after a few minutes of nothing happening, I walked forward to the lectern. As I neared it, I noticed there was a roughly A4-sized bit of parchment atop the lectern. I picked it up, and my mouth dropped in surprise as words in a strange language of curved lines appeared. As the letters appeared their meaning was seared into my mind.
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, that is what was written over and over again, the same phrase. Then it changed; I had no idea who or what was reaching out to me, but I could feel the emotions in the words on the paper. They were desperate, I had to turn away from the sheet to escape the onslaught of contradictory emotions, hope and fear, happiness and pain. My body shook as I tried to wrestle control back from the invasive sensations. It took me a couple of minutes, and when I finally had control again, there behind the lectern was another door. This one wasn’t the golden, ostentatious affair; this was a small, circular wooden door barely big enough for me to fit through. It swung open as I watched, revealing a large, empty room with a single wooden box.
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Gingerly, I made my way in. As soon as I had entered the room, the door behind me vanished, only to be replaced by a similar door on the opposite side. I made my way to the box, wondering if this was the gift that thing had been reaching out to me about through the paper. I cracked the box lid open and was greeted by a wonderful sight. There were clothes! I had weirdly gotten used to running around naked, probably the same thing that made me so comfortable in my new form, but seeing the clothes made me realise what I’d been missing.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
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The clothes were made from a golden silk-like material. There was a sleeveless shirt covered in black-and-gold suns. The top didn’t have any buttons, so I’d still be bare-chested, but it was better than nothing. The next item in the box was what really got my attention. There in the box were trousers. Loose billowy aladdin-esque trousers! I didn’t waste any time and popped the clothes on, marveling at how they seemed to adjust to fit me just right. I tried to focus on them, feeling there was definitely more to these clothes, but the system didn’t respond. I really needed to get a bloody Identify skill or something!
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There were two more things in the box, a couple of books. I pulled the first one out, and it was a solid leatherbound tome. As soon as I touched it, the system reacted.
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Magic Fundamentals :- This tome contains the basic knowledge of spell forming and spell casting. The knowledge in this book requires a Mana Nexus.
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Using this book will unlock the affinity feature of the magic subsystem.
Using this book will unlock the spell craft skill.
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Use this book [Y/N]?
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I held the book with a stupid grin on my face. I was going to get my magic baby!!! I selected yes marveling in the sensation of my mind expanding. I felt more attuned to my mana nexus; I could feel it physically within my chest as it orbited my monster core. My mana nexus was filled with a putty-like energy I could grasp and attempt to form into different shapes. Feeling cocky, I tried to shape the energy, and while it initially seemed to respond well to my efforts, it turned to sand in my imaginary hands and slipped through my fingers.
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I resolved to set aside some time every day to practice shaping. I greedily went to pull out the second book, hoping it might aid in the shaping.
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Basic Earth Magic Skillbook:- This skill allows you to learn the fundamental spells of earth magic. With time and effort you can learn new spells to add to your repertoire. Would you like to use the Basic Earth Magic Skillbook (Y/N)?
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Not shaping, but this could come in handy. I was about to select yes, but paused. I should probably look into the affinity feature before getting new spells or skills. I had an inkling of how it worked, but it was better to make sure. I pulled up my magic subsystem.
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Mana Nexus- level 1
Mana pool 10/10
Mana regeneration: two mana per second (2MPS)
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Affinities:-
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Damn! 100% affinity had to be a rare thing, surely?! Still, I wondered how many affinities it was normal to get. Did they tie me to only those magic types? I tried to focus on the word affinities, but nothing happened. The system wouldn’t give me any more information. Still, with a 100% affinity in Earth, I was excited to see what options the spellbook would give me. I selected 'yes' to the book prompt, and the system responded.
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Congratulations, you learnt the skill Basic Earth Magic! With this skill, you can pick four basic earth magic spells from the following list. More spells can be learnt as you level up the Basic Earth Magic Skill:-
Stone Bolt
Cost: 2 MP
Effect:- Fire a small, high-velocity stone shard.
Earthen Spikes
Cost: 3 MP
Effect:- You can choose an area within 10 meters and cause an eruption of earthen spikes. The area covered by the spikes is a 3-meter radius.
Tremor Sense
Cost: 1 MP to activate, 1 MP per 5 sec to maintain
Effect:- Allows you to sense all movement and vibrations in a 10-meter radius made by contact with Earth.
Soil Manipulation
Cost: 1–3 MP depending on volume
Effect:- Shape soil, sand, or clay like an extension of your body. Create burrows, small walls, or trenches.
Dust Cloud
Cost: 1 MP
Effect:- Create a 10-meter cloud of dust centered on you.
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Stone Hardening
Cost: 2 MP, lasts 30 sec
Effect:- Temporarily reinforce any stone object or patch of ground.
Six Choices, I wondered which ones were here because of my high affinity and which were the basic selection or was it a case of me being able to pick four being a perk of my high affinity? It didn’t matter anyway, what did matter was which spells I picked. The effect section was, I found, very brief, and I wished it had given a more concrete explanation of what the spells did and their restrictions. Still, I knew which spells I definitely wanted. Tremor Sense was a definite yes. It would act as an early warning system, giving me plenty of chances to avoid threats and ambush prey. The only downside was the range. But I reckoned I could improve that by leveling up the spell.
The next spell, which was a yes from me, was Dust Cloud. I had a feeling it would work really well with Tremor Sense, as I would effectively extend that ability off the ground for the flying and leaping beasties while also obscuring me. I hoped the combo worked the way I felt it did and turned to my next spell choice. This was probably the easiest choice on the list; Earthen Spikes was a must. Not because having a spell that could hit multiple enemies was amazing, not because I could use it to create my own lookouts, or use it as an emergency escape. No, the reason I wanted this spell was because of the sheer cool factor. I could imagine it now, me facing down that goblin horde. I would spout some witty lines, then, when they charged me, I would go full weeb mode, say ‘Stone Palace!’ and boom, all impaled while I stood on the tip of a spike, aura-farming the shit out of the situation.
Soil Manipulation was my final choice because of the burrows line in the effect text. If I could make myself an extensive tunnel network, I could pop up anywhere on the island, ambush a critter, and disappear before anyone knew, and if something was dumb enough to enter my tunnels, it would be fighting me where my magic was going to be most effective. Also it meant I could make a safe haven for myself. With my options registered, I grinned and accepted my choices, feeling the knowledge of the spells sear itself straight into my brain. After a full minute of intense migraine-like pain, I found myself lying on the ground in the fetal position. I brushed myself off and got to my feet shakily. My spells would work just how I imagined they would, but now I need to leave this little room and give them a test run. Oh, and save my mysterious benefactor.
