BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1266: Rescue trip (14)
"Damn this muck,"
Erik pulled his leg from the sticky mud filling the entire area. He couldn't stop swearing. Not only was walking harder, but now his clothes were all dirty and wet, and he couldn't even fly since there were flying thaids everywhere.
The funny thing was that the mud was there because of him. Erik had to fight some particularly troublesome pack thais, and he used water powers to do so since the beasts were really fast. This way, he could slow them down.
Mixed with the water and earth was also the blood of the slain creatures, which made the already sticky substance even more sticky.
"Fantastic," Erik muttered, looking down at his mud-caked boots. "The most powerful man alive, and I still end up looking like I fell in a pigpen."
[You know, with your telekinesis abilities, you could just lift yourself above the mud... but then again, that would be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! System laugh But seriously, you might want to invest in some better boots. These constant mud-wrestling matches are not doing wonders for your dignity.]
<Very funny,> Erik thought dryly. <Maybe next time you could materialize some stepping stones while you're at it. Even better if they are made with your face. So I can give you a proper stomp.>
It wasn't like Erik didn't think about using levitation, but there was no point for multiple reasons. The first and most important was that he would just waste mana he needed to keep for future fights. Every drop of mana counted.
The second reason was that the mud didn't significantly slow his movement speed—it was just an inconvenience rather than a true impediment.
The third reason was simply timing: he had already gotten muddy during the heat of battle, so staying clean was no longer an option.
Besides, the muddy area only extended for about fifty meters in each direction, making it faster to trudge through than to spend energy to avoid it. It was better to keep his mana for when he truly needed it.
He paused, looking at the body of one of the creatures he just killed.
<Should I get its brain crystal power? Would it be worth it?>
[Hmm... I wouldn't recommend it. It was nothing much to begin with, and for sure it did nothing you aren't already able to do.]
<And the alpha?>
[That one... well, it had some interesting abilities, but again, nothing worthwhile.]
The beast not only had the ability to generate a sort of mana armor like the rest of its kin, but it could also create something similar to what the Leylarhads could do, a sort of mana construct, which instead of being a giant wolfish head, was a long scythed tail.
The two powers would be sure useful, but not for Erik, who had plenty of ways to attack and two very strong defensive abilities, plus telekinesis, through which he could use the debris to create a shield to protect himself from physical attacks like Uncle Benjamin did.
Getting them would only be a waste of DNA points, even if he gave the power to the Chimaeric Demons, considering he gave them the power of a barrier master.
He sighed.
<All right then. Show me my status. I want to check how the situation is.> Erik thought, catching his breath after the fight.
—[Erik's Status]—
[Host Information]
AGE: 22
POWER LEVEL: 1,853
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SYSTEM LEVEL: 470
EXPERIENCE: 60,630,925,330/119,787,791,441
DNA POINTS: 23,349,440,123.66
HEALTH: 68,410/68,410
MANA: 68,340/68,340
{Attributes}
STRENGTH: 652
INTELLIGENCE: 584
DEXTERITY: 632
ENERGY: 2277
Available attribute points: 10
{Powers}
[Biological Supercomputer Powers]
-Brain Crystal Manipulation
Brain Crystal Power Extraction
Brain Crystal Power Merging
Brain Crystal Power Analysis
Brain Crystal Power Editing
Brain Crystal Power Strengthening
Brain Crystal Power Sharing
-DNA Manipulation
DNA Extraction
DNA Merging
DNA Analysis
DNA Editing
DNA Strengthening
DNA Sharing
-Analysis
-Brain Information Injector
-Device Manipulation
[Host's Powers]
Chimaeric Demon: Xα3X-RANKED, Instability: Xθ3B-RANKED, Phantom Veil: Xε3A-RANKED, Beastwalker: Xθ1B-RANKED, Telekinesis: Xο2A-RANKED, Will of the Hydra: Xο2X-RANKED, Verdant Architect: Xο2X-RANKED, Rejuvenating Touch: Xο2A-RANKED, Elemental Lord: Xο2X-RANKED, Absolute Wall: Xο2A-RANKED, Absolute Castle: Xμ3X-RANKED, Eclipse Field: Xσ1B-RANKED, Shadow Rend: Xσ1B-RANKED
{Skills}
Kyokar hand-to-hand style (MASTER), Etrium's sword style (ADVANCED), Crypt of the Desert Style (MASTER), Alchemy (Intermediate), Architecture (Beginner), Thaid Expertise Proficiency (Advanced), Flora Expertise (Master), Tactical Expertise (Advanced), Management Proficiency (Intermediate), Stealth Proficiency (Intermediate)
—[END]—
[Your status is looking good.]
<Yeah… Too bad it's not enough.>
Erik had fought many thaids, but they were the equivalent of the low and middle leveled thaids on Mannard. He was nowhere close enough to kill the highest-ranking monsters here, like he did on the human-controlled continent.
However, he was still underestimating himself in the biological supercomputer's opinion.
[What do you mean it's not enough?] The system was shocked. [We thought we wouldn't be able to hold a candle to any of the thaids here; instead, we learned that while the thaids here are indeed much stronger than on Mannard; you are strong enough to take care of a rather large pool of them.]
<Not all of them, though. There are still things I can't defeat, like flying thaids.>
Erik had the mana to kill one or two if he focused on them, but without an army protecting him, he was just a sitting duck. The flying thaids were not only filled with mana, but they also had attributes much greater than Erik, which made them insanely fast, to the point that he couldn't even see them flying.
Of course, these kinds of monsters did not always fly at full speed; they often cruised the area. So, in a normal situation, he would be able to at least spot them and hide, but in the other cases, during battles, Erik wouldn't be so lucky without the clones.
[You couldn't do that on Mannard for a long time. Why now is it different from back then? You just need time.]
Erik sighed. There were many reasons for that indeed.
<First, because I have things to do. Second, because every second I spend not hunting the blackguards is a second more they will use to get stronger.>
[Erik... I know it's frustrating. But you've come so far already. Remember when you first started? You couldn't even handle a single thaid without breaking into a sweat. Now look at you—taking down whole groups from Mur!] The system's tone was unusually gentle, giving Erik the mental equivalent of a comforting embrace. [This is something that most people would only dream about on Mannard and something that no one before you accomplished.]
<The blackguards did.>
[Based on what your father said, the blackguards had to fight single groups of thaids with hundreds of thousands of people. They don't count, and even if they are stronger now, it is only thanks to their insane experiments and the technique I made for you.]
Erik took a moment to reflect on what the system said and about his progress. His power and system level grew a lot, yet he knew there was still room for improvement. His attributes—especially his energy—had come a long way from his early days.
<The numbers are good when I look at them like this,> he thought, reviewing his status. <But I need to push harder.>
[Your progress has been remarkable, not just good,] the system chimed in. [You should use them.]
The system was referring to its own powers, those that allowed him to modify his already existing abilities.
<To what end? I don't really have an idea on what to change and how to change them.>
[You could have asked me.]
<Right, so what do you suggest I do?>
[Looking at your powers, I can see several flaws we could address through editing. For example, your Chimaeric Demon's neural link complexity is a limitation. We could use DNA editing to make them better, but this will require further analysis in order to find the best way to change them all. We might also try to decrease their maturity time.]
<Go on.>
[We might also make Phantom Veil better. Through editing, we can make the illusions more stable with lower mana used. We could improve Elemental Lord's mana consumption. You name it.]
<What about the defensive powers?>
[Absolute Castle's main weakness is its high mana cost. Through careful editing, we could improve its mana efficiency while maintaining its defensive capabilities. We could also address Eclipse Field's range limitations.]
Erik nodded. These were just ideas, but most of them revolved around improving the mana consumption of his powers. Aside from Chimaeric Demon, few things had to be changed.
<These modifications would require a lot of DNA points, wouldn't they?>
[Yes, but you have over 23 billion DNA points. That's more than enough to make these improvements.]
<I'll think about it, then. I want some more time to think about what we really need to change.>
[All right then… One thing though—you might want to get out of here soon. All that blood is going to attract scavengers, and on this continent, even the scavengers are deadly.]
<Good point,> Erik thought, already checking for a safe path out of the muddy clearing. The last thing he needed was to be caught in this terrain when something bigger and hungrier arrived.
