A/N WARNING: this is a painfully thick System chapter. I know that we've spent basically every chapter since the beginning of 100 talking about this. However, I want to present everything as it works together for TJ because, starting after this chapter, it's going to be at least 5, probably closer to 10 chapters (now that I've done it, more like 20) of pure fighting (with the exception of the inevitable level 20 Neophyte level that's going to be quickly dealt with because, honestly, screw Systems and needing to keep them functioning in a LitRPG.). There's going to be some stupidly powerful synergies, and I'm going to present everything in a neat little bow so that, if anything's a little confusing, you can come back and reference this chapter moving forward. Forgive me in advance, cause this chapter's a doozy. Anyways. Enjoy!
Title gained: Evolutionary Frontrunner.
Description of Title: You are the first in your Tutorial to evolve to Copper (I) tier. As such, you will remain a leader for all Participants for as long as you live.
Effects of Title: Ability to grant a Minor High Morale buff to those who are willingly following you.
Buff: Minor High Morale; 3% decrease in the expenditure of MP and Stamina.
Though it wasn't that much, the Buff provided by the Title would benefit people. All that he had to do was tell people that he would be the leader in the siege, and that would be just another step into ensuring that more people would survive. The idea that the wendigo that kept surviving was now going to be the Boss wasn't reassuring. With its frost, ability to eat corpses to heal, and physical power, it would be deadly, to say the least. Then, there was whatever extra Skill the Boss would have.
TJ continued walking, Molly falling in step beside him as he went to check the Silver tier of Divine Transformation. Before he looked at it, though, he asked, "What's up, Molly?"
"I just wanted to go out with you when it's time for the hunt. I'm not close to evolving, so I just wanted to help you out." She shrugged weakly before continuing. "The total number of people left alive is under 100. We… keep losing people. I'm scared."
TJ saw the reflection of that vision of Junior in the scared teenager before him. Without thinking, he reached out and put an arm around her shoulder, his other hand patting the top of her head. "I'm here. The rest of us adults are too. I know you're being pushed into adulthood, and this is frankly bullshit that you're being pushed into. If I thought I could make you and Tessie and the other young people stay here and be safe and it would work, I'd do it. Unfortunately, we're in hell, and I'll help you however I can. I'm happy to have you as strong as you are. Happy to have you watching my back, I've seen what you can do."
Molly sniffled and TJ felt his shirt soaking with her tears as the emotions she'd fought to keep down struggled free. He didn't say anything else, letting the kid cry for a while, but about a minute later she stepped back and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. Wiping at her face and nose, she scoffed at him, "You stink."
"Well," TJ smiled down at her, "That's something we old men do. Now, you wanna round up a team for me while I check out a couple last-minute things with my evolution?"
Molly nodded and jogged off. TJ felt his paternal instincts rise up, and for the first time, he truly promised to keep the people in the Tutorial safe. He couldn't guarantee that nobody would die in the siege. In fact, TJ could feel deep in his heart that there would be casualties. But now, he'd promised to himself that he'd actively protect these people. He would keep his own life as a priority, but he remembered his words when Jeff had first called him out as a danger. How he'd said they would all be on their own and he'd only do this to save his own skin and Junior.
Now he was going to do it for Molly and Tessie and their parents, for Peter and Farid's families, for Zig and Sarah and Rebekkah's loved ones. Maybe it was something to do with his new Class, or Occupation, or his Bloodline, but TJ didn't want to be so callous if he didn't need to. Maybe he was being inconsistent, but if he could help these people, if he could do something to save someone else from grief and mourning, why wouldn't he do it?
His decision made, TJ pulled up the last loose thread from this evolution.
Skill: Divine Transformation (Silver (II)); A Skill acquired at the Dirt (0) tier of Neophyte then upgraded and moulded through the acquisition of the Storm-Calling Neophyte (Copper (I)) Class. This active Skill has been adjusted to adhere to the form of the storm-calling nature of Kukulkan, to exemplify the physical prowess and magical stature of your Bloodline Origin. You use the strength of Kukulkan's body to supplement the power of your Divine workings, especially Wind Manipulation and calling Storms with your Divine Authority. As such, the Silver (II) tier of the Divine Transformation Skill transforms you into a storm coatl, a feathered serpent. As you progress in potency of your level of Divinity, your Divine Transformation Skill will improve. If you progress to the higher tiers of Divinity, beginning at Ruthenium, you will be able to adjust your Divine Transformation in accordance with your will.
TJ read through the Skill, seeing that not much had changed in broad strokes, but it specifically mentioned that he was focusing on Kukulkan's "magical" aspect. There was one question that the Skill and his Status together raised, though. He could ask the System, but instead, he decided to try to figure it out himself. He activated the Skill, and his body rapidly shifted to be long and sinuous, longer than before. He estimated that, with all that he'd consumed in the last day of the Tutorial, his coatl form had nearly reached 50 feet long. To his surprise, he hadn't grown as much as he'd suspected he would. That said, he was still a 70 foot snake, far longer than any anaconda or python he'd ever heard of.
The length wasn't the biggest difference, though, as he'd grown nearly 30 feet in the weeks since gaining his Class. No, now, instead of a more green color, much of his body was patterned with striations of electric blue, and his mane of feathers had almost neon blues interspersed alongside the purple, blue, and yellow. Though he felt the changes in his body, how strong he was, the feeling of the ease with which he could call Wind Manipulation and other Skills was the most impactful in his mind.
His Divine Transformation before had offered no bonuses to Intelligence or Fixation, which carried the greatest impact on his Wind Manipulation. Now, both were doubled while in Divine Transformation. The thought of how easily he could tear through the many monsters that plagued the Tutorial with Divine Transformation, Manifestation, and Authority was, to say the least, gratifying. A pack of javelinas would quickly be torn to shreds under his Wind Manipulation as a coatl, even when not under the influence of Divine Authority and being in the bounds of a Storm. Even so, TJ worked to rein in his expectations. There had to be a reason that the System was still giving bonus experience to everyone for this final day, and he was included among everyone else.
TJ looked at his Status again and, with a thought, put 26 of his Free Points into Strength and Agility, bringing them up to 100 and 80 respectively and leaving his Free Point total at 2. There wasn't anything else he thought to put them into right now, so he resorted to allocating them into Intelligence, bumping that up to get closer to Fixation. Then, to ensure he knew everything that he would be able to do to keep himself and others safe and kill all these monsters, he pulled up his Status and went through every one of his Skills.
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Semi-Divine Human – lvl 20
Class: Storm-Calling Neophyte lvl 19
Occupation: Savage Shaman lvl 21
Level of Divinity: Copper (I)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 1820/1820
Mana Points (MP): 1560/1560
Stamina: 1750/1750
Attributes
Strength: 100(+20)
Agility: 80(+16)
Endurance: 146(+29)
Vitality: 152(+30)
Toughness: 118(+24)
Wisdom: 91(+13)
Intelligence: 124+7(+25)
Perception: 109(+22)
Willpower: 134(+27)
Fixation: 138+3(+28)
Free Points: 0
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter
Evolutionary Frontrunner
Current total maximum Divine Transformation time: 0:00/2:51:45
(End+Vit+Will+Fix)/4
Status Sheet
Name: TJ (Thiago Jorge) Harris IV
Race: Storm Coatl – lvl 20
Class: Storm-Calling Neophyte lvl 19
Occupation: Savage Shaman lvl 21
Level of Divinity: Copper (I)
Divine Bloodline: Kukulkan
Health Points (HP): 3650/3650
Mana Points (MP): 3050/3050
Stamina: 3500/3500
Attributes
Strength x2.5: 250(+50)
Agility x2: 160(+32)
Endurance x2: 292(+58)
Vitality x2: 304(+61)
Toughness x2.5: 295(+59)
Wisdom x1.5: 137(+27)
Intelligence x2: 248+7(+50)
Perception x2: 218(+43)
Willpower x1.5: 201(+40)
Fixation x2: 276+3(+55)
Free Points: 0
Skill List: Hidden
Titles: Irregular
Elite Hunter
Evolutionary Frontrunner
Divine Trial Records (Copper (I)):
0 Minor, 0 Moderate, 0 Bitter, 0 Celestial
SKILL LIST:
Neophyte:
Divine Transformation (Silver)
Wind Manipulation
Shredding Bite
Divine Manifestation
Stormcaller (Copper)
Storm Soul (Copper)
Human/universal/other:
Appraisal
Meditation
Divine Authority (Storm, Copper)
Savage:
Introductory Divine Primitive Craftsmanship
Primal Savagery
Prehistoric Huntsman
Ritualistic Transfer
Description of Class Skills and Origins:
DEFAULT CLASS SKILL, SUBLIMATED AT EVOLUTION TO COPPER TIER: Skill: Divine Transformation (Silver (II)); A Skill acquired at the Dirt (0) tier of Neophyte then upgraded and moulded through the acquisition of the Storm-Calling Neophyte (Copper (I)) Class. This active Skill has been adjusted to adhere to the form of the storm-calling nature of Kukulkan, to exemplify the physical prowess and magical stature of your Bloodline Origin. You use the strength of Kukulkan's body to supplement the power of your Divine workings, especially Wind Manipulation and calling Storms with your Divine Authority. As such, the Silver (II) tier of the Divine Transformation Skill transforms you into a storm coatl, a feathered serpent. As you progress in potency of your level of Divinity, your Divine Transformation Skill will improve. If you progress to the higher tiers of Divinity, beginning at Ruthenium, you will be able to adjust your Divine Transformation in accordance with your will.
LEVEL 5 CLASS SELECTION: Wind Manipulation (Dirt): The descendants of Kukulkan are blessed with an inherent affinity for the skies, winds, and rains. You already have begun to dabble in the art of drawing the winds to listen to your command. This Skill will grant you the ability to more accurately and powerfully influence the winds that surround you. Your Divine Transformation currently inherently grants a sub-Dirt level Wind Manipulation adjacent ability, and while under the effects of the Divine Transformation Skill to a coatl or its subsequent evolutions, the Wind Manipulation Skill will ascend one tier. Usage of this Skill depletes MP at a rate inversely correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence while scaling in potency at a rate directly correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence.
LEVEL 10 CLASS SELECTION: Shredding Bite: Though born a human, you have embraced the savagery of combat that a bestial form lends. As a predator, your teeth are sharp, and as a serpent, your mouth is built to swallow creatures whole while your teeth prohibit their escape. Even so, you have used your mouth to shred and tear, to rip and destroy. This Skill will strengthen and broaden your fangs as a coatl to teeth meant to tear creatures apart. In addition, this Skill will grant an additional +1 Strength attribute per level of Neophyte, to be applied retroactively.
LEVEL 15 CLASS SELECTION: Stormcaller, (Copper (I)): You have embraced the storm and, with it, the Divine Authority of Storm. Some Divine Authorities are nearly or entirely omnipresent, while Storm, a violent, encompassing force, is fleeting and overwhelming. Those with a Divine Authority must have the capability to summon, create, and influence the concept, domain, or aspect that their Divine Authority encapsulates. Stormcaller allows its holder to create a storm in their vicinity that serves as a Storm for the purposes of Divine Authority and any other Skills. To create the storm, you sacrifice any amount of your current HP, MP, and Stamina over the course of any time longer than one minute. The strength, longevity, potency, and range of influence of the storm created is dependent upon how long you spend calling and channeling the storm, as well as how many resources you put into the creation of the storm.
COPPER TIER EVOLUTION REWARD: Storm Soul (Copper (I)): You have seized a Divine Authority as a Dirt (0) tiered Participant, and your soul has been moulded by that Authority. Storm Soul is the manifestation of that influence. While within the domain of a Storm, you can draw on the Storm to replenish your resources, weakening the domain in exchange for your own recovery. While within the domain of a Storm, your resource recovery will be doubled. NOTE: This bonus to resource recovery is in addition to the bonus to resource recovery granted by Divine Authority.
Description of Occupation Skills and Origins:
DEFAULT OCCUPATION SKILL, LEVEL 10 UPGRADE: Introductory Divine Primitive Craftsmanship (Copper (I)): This Skill would replace the existing Occupation Skill: Primitive Craftsmanship. You have exhibited the ability to create tools, equipment, and process materials, even of a higher tier of Divinity than you, more effectively. This Skill will increase the base 30% bonus to all crafting abilities and Skills when crafting without pre-Integration technology to 100%, as well as bless you with a greater instinctual understanding of how to process raw materials into a more easily used state.
LEVEL 5 OCCUPATION SELECTION, LVL 20 UPGRADE: Primal Savagery, (Copper (I)): This is an evolution of your current Skill of the same name. This Skill evolution will change the Primal Savagery Skill from an untiered Skill to a tiered one, and as such the Skill will be able to continue to advance in power and influence. This Skill will retain its 20% bonus to all Attributes that its untiered iteration does, but that 20% bonus will be universal and apply not just in combat, but at all times that you are only equipped with items created solely without any pre-Integration tools, materials, or equipment. As such, the 20% bonus will apply to resources as well as Attributes.
LEVEL 15 SELECTION: Prehistoric Huntsman: Since the Integration, you have not spent a day without hunting the monsters that plague your Tutorial. This Skill will grant a 30% bonus to tracking and ambush attacks. In addition, any attacks made with an item or weapon made without any pre-Integration tools or materials will benefit from minor additional damage scaling with the Participant's Wisdom.
COPPER TIER EVOLUTION REWARD: Ritualistic Transfer (Silver (II)): A Shaman serves as the center of the Savages' community, and can, as such, siphon, grant, and transfer resources from those around them. Through the use of this Skill and a base sacrifice of 75 HP, MP, and Stamina, the Shaman can create a ritual which will allow free transfer of HP, MP, and Stamina between themself and the rest of the participants in the ritual. For the willing, there is no loss of resources from one transferred individual to the next. For the unwilling, the Shaman can attempt to force the victim to surrender their resources. The Shaman and the willing participants in the ritual can sacrifice resources to extend the length of the trial presented to the unwilling participants. The difficulty of the internal trial that the unwilling participant faces scales off the Shaman's Willpower and Fixation.
Description of Other Skills and Titles:
Skill: Appraisal (Dirt); A Skill all Participants gain upon reaching the fifth level of their Occupation. This Skill allows you to gain additional information about the world around you. The greater the disparity between the tier of Appraisal and the item, participant, creature, or otherwise, the greater the variability in the amount of information provided. A higher tier Appraisal compared to the appraised will give a greater quantity and quality of information, while a lower tier Appraisal will give only limited and basic information.
Skill: Meditation (Copper (I)); You have communed with the heavens and lost yourself in self reflection. You can meditate, sacrificing mobility and external awareness for an increased level of self-reflection and recovery. When active, this Skill grants a 150% increase to the recovery of all resources and a 100% increase in the ability to undergo enlightenment. Note: some Afflictions can weaken or even disable the usage of this Skill.
Skill: Divine Authority (Storm, Copper (I)); You have claimed the Copper (I) tier of Divine Authority over the concept of Storm. Having gained the Divine Authority, any Skill or ability that is in any way linked to the concept of Storm will be empowered by 50% with no additional cost while within the influence of a Storm. While within the influence of a Storm, all of your resource regeneration is doubled and you gain a 10% bonus to all your attributes.
DIVINE TRIBULATION REWARD: Skill: Divine Manifestation (Copper (I)); You have shown yourself capable of harnessing a part of your Divine Authority to empower your Skills. You have ascended beyond the limitations of the Dirt (0) tier of Divinity, and can draw on your own Divinity to strengthen any one of your Skills. The utilization of this Skill will be greatly heightened and the cost will be halved by the natural presence of any one of your Divine Authorities. The usage of this Skill consumes MP and Stamina at a rate of 5 per second. The usage of this Skill consumes HP at a rate of 1 per second. This Skill scales in power and efficiency with your Fixation. This Skill's tier of Divinity is dependent upon the highest tier of Divinity your Divine Authorities have reached. Current Divine Authorities: Storm (Copper (I)).
Irregular: Description of Title; The vast majority of Participants who begin their journey towards the Throne in earnest acquire their Class before their Occupation. You are one of 0.5% of Participants who not only sought out but also acquired an Occupation before their Class.
Effects of Title: 5% increase in experience gain for all Occupation related Skills, levels, and more.
Elite Hunter: Description of Title; Elite monsters are the Tutorial's introduction to Boss-tiered monsters. You are the first Participant in your Tutorial to slay an Elite-tiered monster. In addition, you have slain the Elite-tiered monster as well as its cadre without support.
Effects of Title: Your Appraisal Skill can now detect the tier of those you Appraise. You are granted an additional 15% resistance to Elite-tiered enemies' innate expressions of Divinity. This Title is a record of a Minor Divine Trial and can be upgraded.
Evolutionary Frontrunner: Description of Title; You are the first in your Tutorial to evolve to Copper (I) tier. As such, you will remain a leader for all Participants for as long as you live.
Effects of Title: Ability to grant a Minor High Morale buff to those who are willingly following you.
Buff: Minor High Morale; 3% decrease in the expenditure of MP and Stamina.
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