[Murder Squirrel Defeated! +12 Essence!]
Would you like to learn the Skill [Melee Combat]?
She paused, examing the floating window with it's glowing text uncertainly, before shrugging and hitting accept.
*Sure, fuck it, sounds worthwhile.*
She waved her sword around experimentally, and found her strikes just a bit faster and surer.
*Okay, neat. Will level that after I grind some experience for it.*
"So are you done playing with your sword yet, or...?" Asked Claire, walking up behind Miria.
"Ahh! Hey, don't sneak up on me, no fair!" She protested, turning to Claire. "...I just got a skill, though, cause apparently that's a thing?" She says, sharing the system dialog with a thought.
Claire leaned forwards and read it. "...Huh. Okay, well, good to know."
"Mmm! You might want to go back to the stairwell though, I haven't barricaded the place yet, so we might get interrupted." Miria suggests, and Claire shakes her head.
"Nah, fuck it, I'll just stay close and I think I'll be fine. I want to try my Plant Growth ability out, like you said." She replies.
"Ah, alright, fair enough!" Miria responds, and the two of them set to work. She guided them through a repeat of her approach to the stairwell on the second floor but on a much larger scale, finding heavy furniture and disassembling it to pile it up against the doors and windows, blocking them off. They cautiously opened some of the windows so Claire could test her abilities out, growing the bushes outside until they covered the glass, concealing the interior while still allowing them to look out.
"Oh that's so weird. Well, it works, and I can feel it..." Claire says as she works. "I'm burning through mana so fast though, I'm gonna use like half my pool covering just the windows we picked out. At least MP regens daily, you're gonna be waiting several days before you're full again on HP..."
Miria shrugs. "Eh, yeah... I'm gonna get a point in Vitality though, it gives me a lot of regen. And I can still stab stuff without HP, I'll just have less protection against getting cut up."
Claire rolls her eyes. "And it's fine if you're not protected against getting cut up? Careful, I think that sword is going to your head."
"Yeah yeah, okay, I'll be careful, Jeez. Anyway, we ready to start looting the place?" Miria asks, and at a nod from Claire, they set to work, gathering bags of supplies by the stairwell. Several trips later, and a repetition of the process on the second floor, and they're surveying their resources in one of the rooms adjacent to Claire's. "Okay, I think we have enough food here for several months, even if we can't supplement it in any way. And we've got plenty of sheets and blankets, and some tools, and that lucky find with the camping gear, and I think some of this could be good for improvising more tools and weapons if we need them..."
Claire nods. "It's hard to be sure how useful the books will be, but I think there might be some important survival tips in there? And the textbooks could come in handy... Well, we'll see. Oh, and lots of paper and writing supplies too."
"Yeah. Do you want me to move my stuff up here? Take an apartment across the hall from you or something, in case a monster tries to come through the window or something?" Miria offers, and Claire sighs and nods.
"Yeah, that's probably best. So, there's our initial preparations out of the way... You still want to go outside? Maybe stick close to the building, though." She asks, looking apprehensively at Miria, then sighing. "We'll need to bury the bodies at some point, too..."
Miria nods, face grim. "Yeah. We'll also need to decide whether we're staying here long term eventually, too."
Claire bites her lip, before she sighs and speaks. "...One more thing. Have you examined your mental stats or your 'Mentality' ability?" She asks, and at Miria's shaken head, continues. "Well, take a look at mine."
"Huh... What about them?" Miria asks, and Claire hesitates for a moment.
"...Our stats and abilities don't just effect what we can do, they modify our minds. Like, I don't think the effect is very large, but I can tell I'm a little different than I was before all this happened. I mean, I don't hate it, but I'm still not comfortable with my mind being messed with like this."
Miria frowns, her mind going to how delectable Claire looks. "...Oh. Yeah, I see what you mean. Damn." She brings up her own traits and shares them with Claire.
Intelligence
* Common Stat (1 Star)
* +3% mental ability per level.
* +1 CP per level.
* +1 CP Regen per day per level.[Raise? Cost: 11 Essence]
Instinct
* Uncommon Stat (2 Star)
* +5% awareness of instincts per level.
* +2% effectiveness of actions when following instincts per level.
* +1 CP per level.
* +1 CP Regen per day per level.[Raise? Cost: 20 Essence]
Dominance
* Rare Stat (3 Star)
* +5% ability to dominate others per level.
* +5% ability to influence others when taking the dominant position per level.
* +2 CP per level.
* +2 CP Regen per day per level.[Raise? Cost: 36 Essence]
Tyrvexi Princess Mentality
* Rare Ability (3 Star)
* Longer Time Horizon
* Eusocial
* Aggressive
* Dominant[Cannot Raise. Cost: 65 Essence]
"Shit, you're right. Mine's influencing me too. I mean, it's technically all positive things? But that's still kinda fucked up..." Miria alternates interlacing her fingers between different hands, trying to pull her mind away from thoughts about what Claire's skin would feel like under them. "...Well, what do we want to do about it?"
Claire shrugs. "What can we do about it? I mean, I guess we can just choose not to raise them?"
"Ugh. Yeah, I guess that'll have to do for now. I mean, I don't hate the idea of like, being friendlier, more confident, planning better, and leading others..." Miria says, still looking her sheet over, biting her lip and trying to ignore the feeling in her gut.
"...Leading others? Pretty sure there's more to Dominance than that." Claire says, giving Miria a skeptical look.
Miria, for her part, crossed her top pair of arms. "Maybe, but I should be able to influence it and decide what it means for me. I've been doing this so far - aggressive or not, I still chose to pick fights with the monsters how I thought best, I wasn't just pushed around by my instincts. That's like, one of the reasons our minds exist, is to handle the things in life that are too complex for us to navigate by instinct alone." She said stubbornly, pushing her own doubts aside.
Claire raises her eyebrows. "...Well that's downright poetic. I guess we'll see if it works, hmm?"
She should definitely check on Instinct and Intelligence! Though maybe tomorrow.
I actually edited those into this chapter. Wasn't any other convenient place to put them. :/
Thanks for the chapter. Longer time horizon in the mental racial abilities is interesting. If it were in the physiology racial ability I'd assume it meant a longer lifespan, but maybe it's more planning further ahead?
What does “Longer Time Horizon” entail?
Making decisions with longer term consequences in mind, basically.
If i were to guess. It's also an indicator of life span as well. Sense it's intrinsic to her species. Wouldn't be surprised if sophonts can get classes that give skills to long term planning.
Thanks for the chapter.