Buller
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Chapter 88: [Otter] vs [Tree]
🕑 Added 2021-11-29 19:30:24 +0000 UTCThis chapter is getting further edits in a week or two. Pacing is all over the place. Chapter after this will have new POVs
Character Screen
Name: -
Gender: Male
Level: 5
Class: Aquamancer
Race: Lacus Otter
Title: Dungeon-Born
Health: 120/120
H-Regen: 0.12/sec
Mana: 150/150
M-Regen: 0.15/sec
Stamina: 140/140
S-Regen: 0.22/sec
Cost: XX MP
Basic Stats
Strength: 10
Wisdom: 14
Vitality: 11
Intelligence: 15
Dex: 13
Willpower: 7
The Core had never seen such a thing before, except for itself and the Queen. All non-sapient creatures, be they able to move or not, had never shown off any classes at all. That part of the [Status Screens] had always been blank. And perhaps that was for the best. Most of the creatures met had been enemies, creatures seeking the death of the Core or perhaps hoping to reap the benefits from enslavement. Either was possible yet both had the same reaction from the Entity. It didn’t like it.
Yet here a creature had come along, the newly upgraded [Otter] showing clear signs of having specialized its being. The downgrades of physical abilities had seemed like a negative at first, but the increases in other areas had turned the entire idea around on itself. The creature had learned Magic, had learned the secrets needed to Channel its mind through the fundamental energies that the world shined with. It could sense it, could manipulate it, and could change the world as it pleased. It was one step closer to growing mentally, to stand equal among the Core and the Queen. And if such an event ever were to happen, the Core was sure it would welcome it with an open spirit.
Not now, though. Even with a refined gaze, the Core couldn’t see the hint of intelligence behind those movements. The creature was still what it had been before, albeit able to think a bit more about its action. This time, it perhaps wouldn't try and fight a tree and lose. Only time would tell, however, the [Lacus Otter] showing signs of mild aggression already. Which was weird since both creatures were on the same side. The Core had somehow expected each to be passive about the other but that wasn’t turning out as well as it had hoped.
Just… Why was this? During its previous adventures with newer species, more specifically the interaction between the [Giant-Ants] and the [Blood-Moss], both had worked together perfectly, going so far as to not attack when in direct contact. And that saying something, the bloody plant lives its entire life through the power of siphoning the energies of touched creatures. But why was it different here? What factors had changed? The Core had ideas but wasn’t sure how to test them out. So, like it had been done more than a few times now, it went to the Queen for answers.
‘Are creatures not meant to cohabitate?’ the Core asked the Queen, hoping she knew the answer. ‘The new one fights too much. It’s too aggressive.’
‘Mammals do tend to do such things,’ the Queen answered bitterly. ‘No real reason within those things. Everything is decided by pure desire. If they want to eat, kill, and… other things, they do it as they please, never thinking about the consequences. They will run when they feel fear and strike when they feel greed. And both can cost them dearly in the end, their reasoning not holding up to those grand desires of theirs. Something to think about when looking over this scene of ours. I do believe that he is trying his luck yet again.’
Putting the focus back on the new [Variant], the Core was dismayed to see it pulling off another stunt. With its new abilities to manipulate the water in a tight bubble around it, the creature shot itself up towards the upper branches. The [Entangling Oak Tree], able to sense the fast projectile, was all too happy to slap the creature back down to its rightful place on the ground. However, there was quite a bit of misunderstanding of the status quo, forcing the new [Variant] to do its best to fight back. The ability to manipulate water was not understated, the Entity was quick to realize. Just as the nearby branch had an impact with the liquid, it semi-hardened, slowing the progress towards the Otter just the slightest. It did reach the soft body, of course, nothing truly able to slow such a large branch. Yet the impact was softened more than slightly, to the point that the water was able to hang onto the piece of the tree.
Not in a claw-like fashion, of course. The bubble of water was still round as ever. Only… there was a branch sticking through the side, clearly trying to get out. Yet the [Lacus Otter] wasn’t having it, slowly but surely climbing towards the middle of the tree, hanging on using the hardened water.
‘Does water usually act like that?’ the Core had to ask, having never seen such an ability before. And certainly not from the liquid itself. Usually, it would splash and get all over the place when it had an impact with another object, yet the current result was that it just hardened and hung on. While the Core understood perfectly well that it was the result of the [Otter]’s manipulations, it likewise thought it impossible for the liquid to act in such ways. It wasn’t meant to harden or hold onto other objects. Not in such large amounts, anyway.
‘No it does not, little rock,’ the Queen answered with the patience of a thousand suns. ‘What you are seeing right now is an example of why we need to fear anybody that works with [Elemental] magic.’
‘[Elemental] magic?’ the Core had to repeat.
‘Indeed. It’s a bit different from simply working with the colours. Here, one dives into a specific material of this earth, studying its pattern to learn its secrets. And when you learn enough, you can start to copy them, wield them for your desires,’ the Queen continued. ‘And when you learn a tad more, you can start breaking the material’s self-imposed laws. You can make it soften or harden, split up into the air and collect meters away, and you can change the levels where it turns into the liquid to force it down into the throats of animals before allowing it to return to its normal state and watch them silently as they… excuse me for that last part. I got a bit too into an old memory right there. But, [Elementalists], as they are generally called, need to be feared for this very reason. They can work within and out of a specific element or material. You can never truly know what they can do yet you can be sure that they can be very powerful. Even here, the simple ability to move around water can drown even the most advanced creatures. That is… if one got close enough. From what I can guess, the little thing likely can’t use its liquid too well past a certain radius. Lest it would have perhaps made a more devastating blow already.’
The Queen’s words likely had some merit to them. As the creature got closer and closer to the centre of the tree, the Core saw several openings where better methods could have been used if the lengthening of the bubble was possible. The ability to stretch it out was seemingly lost on the Otter or perhaps it wasn’t able to hone it into a specific area yet. Whatever the reason, it was limited in its output and suffered from it.
Holding one branch at bay was very possible but how about two? Perhaps with some skill dodging it could have worked. Not that the Core would figure that out, the otter hit with four at once instead of scaling it up linearly. Those three additional hits were too much for the creature and it was thrown right back onto the ground, a few broken ribs being the pay-off of that experience. Yet… the [Lacus Otter] was not down for good, clearly looking forward to the second round. And while the Core did have some desire to see the results if the creature was allowed to learn from its mistakes, it thought it best to stop it for now.
With a quick order, both creatures were given the command to not hurt each other intentionally. And the additional order to not threaten the other party was given as well not long after, the snarls from the water-enveloped otter being much too loud.
‘I understand what you mean about their more aggressive tendencies,’ the Core had to admit, not liking that aspect of them. ‘While I do appreciate their ability to learn magic, are there any cures for this mental deficiency?’
‘None that are currently known, I'm afraid,’ the Queen answered. ‘It is simply another issue you need to think about when working with these types of animals. Don’t put them together with enemies, leave them plenty of space to roam, and hope they give all their anger to the actual adventurers.’
Isolate issues and work on getting them resolved. Current enemies were the [Entangling Oak Trees] due to their shared habitat of the outside. There wasn’t much the Core could do about that particular issue, both needing to be in that location if they were to survive. The Entity supposed it could distance both parties to either side yet that left the issue of one of them needing to roam. And since the area wasn’t that big, the [Lacus Otters] would more than likely run into the tree they hated so much. Orders would be all that was open for right now. Though distancing those two parties would happen in the future. But, going back to looking at the new variant instead of just observing its actions, the Core was still with the desire to overview its [Skill Screen]. And doing that was easy enough, another [Apprarisal] sending in the info it had desired.
Bite
Common
Allows the user to bit with a high power
10SP
Fluid-Movement
Uncommon
Allows the user to move more seamlessly. Is more effective in water
Passive
Boost Movement
Rare
Increases overall [Movement-Speed] by 100% for 10 seconds
30SP
Water-Manipulation
Uncommon
Allows for the user to manipulate [Water]
Passive
Mana-Sense
Rare
Allows for the user to sense [Mana Currents]
Passive
The skills had changed by a bit, with some new additions coming along together with a few changes to the skills from before. Starting from the top, the [Bite] skill had increased its costs for activation. The Core wasn’t fully sure why this was so until it started to think back to the status screen seen before. Dexterity had fallen quite a bit. Since the skill required stamina to use, could it be that the lowering of the stat had caused a negative reaction for the physical abilities and the related skills? It certainly seemed that way. Not that the otter would use the skill much anymore, since it wasn’t getting close to the outside of its water-ball, but still.
[Fluid Movement] did not seem to have changed much, allowing the Core to jump down to [Boost Movement]. It had increased in duration, changing from six seconds to ten. Yet again, the Entity guessed it as being due to the changes in Mental stats, the increases likely proving quite effective. But… after that came the newer skills.
[Water-Manipulation] and [Mana-Sense]. One had been seen before, the latter skill having been used extensively by the Core throughout its entire life. That the Otter had it in its skill list was not too surprising, seeing as it had to see somehow. Only… the fact that it wasn’t specialised like the other new skill did cause some questions to appear. Though, the Core could only assume it to be due to practicality. The ability to sense water and nothing else perhaps wouldn’t prove too great in the long run. But the ability to manipulate water was much more in line with what the Core hoped to see. It was one of the creature’s main abilities as well, it being used for every part of its life.
Did the [Otter] eat? No creature born in a dungeon consumed food, that much had already been proven, yet did the new variant of the creature consume food in the wild? The Core did wonder about such for a while, not sure about the logistics of such a thing. With almost the entirety of the organs removed, what was there to process anything? It just seemed like water was the only thing being consumed. It wasn’t like the creature needed air anymore either so the theory did hold some credit.
But it didn’t matter. The creature was back in its paces, going back into the small pond that the Core had created for it. The [Lacus Otter] did seem more comfortable when around more water than the bit it had for itself. That was an idea to work with…
‘Did everything seem alright?’ the Queen questioned. ‘Any misgivings?’
‘None at all,’ the Core assured the ant. ‘Is there anything else we need to work on now?’
‘Well… while I wouldn’t mind the idea of evolving my children, I believe it would be best if we waited a few weeks before trying that out. In the meantime, I do think there are a multitude of minor things that you can improve on when building one of your tunnels.’
The Entity felt that the next few weeks would be quite boring.
