Jake spent the rest of the night searching for mana, using the Mana Vision perk. In the morning, he headed for the sewers to grind for XP. Before entering the underground tunnels, however, he decided to purchase an Increased XP booster. With a thought, he opened the Boost Menu and examined it.
Enhanced Regeneration
Increased Movement Speed
Increased XP Gain (x3)
1 - Kill 250 ex-human walkers.
2 - Kill 150 ex-human leapers.
Upgrade Boost Menu to Rank 3: Requirements are not met!
Jake wasn’t interested in Strength, Agility, Speed, or Regeneration boosters, so he didn’t bother purchasing them. He was satisfied with his body’s current strength, speed, and regenerative abilities and didn’t feel the need to enhance them. The only booster he acquired was Increased XP gain (x3), for which he spent 10,000 MP. He now had over forty thousand mana points left, which was plenty. For the next ninety minutes, any XP he earned would be tripled.
Before closing the Boost Menu, he gave it one final glance. At some point, he had upgraded it to Rank 2. Although it didn't introduce any new boosters, it did extend the duration of each one from 60 to 90 minutes and increased the effectiveness of Increased XP Gain from x2 to x3.
It had been a while since he last checked the Boost Menu. Examining it now, he saw that he was close to meeting the requirements for upgrading it to Rank 3. He needed to kill a few dozen more walkers and leapers before he could upgrade it to the next rank, which would either add new boosters or strengthen the existing ones.
He spent the next two hours killing mutants in the sewers, with every bit of XP he earned tripled. By the time he finished clearing the underground tunnels of all their unsettling inhabitants, he had leveled up two times, progressing from level 40 to level 42 and gaining 10 skill points to allocate.
As planned, he used one skill point to upgrade Mind Reader to Rank II.
Mind Reader: Rank II (0%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
The ability’s progress bar had returned to 0%, meaning it could be advanced again, albeit at a slower rate. Now that Mind Reader was at Rank II, he could supposedly explore someone’s memories in greater depth, instead of just glimpsing a few minutes of the most recent events.
He had nine more points to allocate. He checked his attributes.
He wanted to purchase some abilities and skills from the second section of the Genetic Development Interface, but as far as he could remember, each skill listed there had quite high requirements. To refresh his memory, he summoned the skill store and browsed through the skills and abilities available for purchase.
Evolution Stage 2: "Savage Ascent" (Level 25)
Ability: Gravity Leap
Requirements: Body 43, Mind 40, Magick 37
Requirements: Body 45, Magick 45
Ability: Serpentine Form
Requirements: Body 50, Mind 45, Magick 50
Requirements: Body 60, Magick 65
Skill: Adhesive Secretion
Requirements: Body 40, Magick 35
Skill: Toxic Resistance
Requirements: Body 45
Skill: Adaptive Armor
Requirements: Body 55, Magick 50
Requirements: Mind 30, Magick 25
Skill: Enhanced Durability
Requirements: Body 30
Jake’s first targets were the Gravity Leap ability and the Adhesive Secretion skill. Although he had enough MP to purchase them, he didn’t quite meet the requirements, which were pretty high. Gravity Leap required Body at 43, Mind at 40, and Magick at 37 while Adhesive Secretion needed his Body to be at 40 and his Magick to be at 35.
So he allocated five skill points to Magick and the remaining four skill points to Body.
Once he leveled up again, he intended to invest four additional points into Body. After doing so, he would finally be able to purchase the Adhesive Secretion skill.
At last, he opened his eyes, and all the information vanished. Thanks to the XP booster he’d acquired, he had gained a significant number of experience points, leveling up twice in the sewers. However, the most effective way to level up faster was by completing challenges. Since there were no more mutants left to defeat in the sewers, Jake decided to return to street level and search for anomalies that offered challenges to complete.
For the next several hours, he searched for them, eliminating all groups of ex-humans he encountered along the way, earning additional chunks of XP. As he traversed the city, he couldn’t help but notice that Los Demonios seemed to be everywhere now. They chased other survivors in pickup trucks and large SUVs, equipped with machine guns mounted in the beds of the former and on the roofs of the latter. Above, several helicopters continuously patrolled the area, circling the rooftops.
The Demons had developed their own emblem, a simple drawing of a human skull adorned with two curled horns. Each of their vehicles displayed the image of the demon skull painted in red on the hoods and doors. While on street level, Jake also came across the same demon skull painted on many building walls.
It was obvious that Los Demonios were asserting their dominance, trying to intimidate other groups of survivors into submission. This strategy seemed to be working, as the gang’s numbers grew each day, with more and more survivors being captured.
Although Jake wasn’t concerned with what the humans did, this situation was quickly becoming frustrating. While he chose not to engage with the Demons, they persistently attempted to chase him in their vehicles. At street level, evading them wasn’t particularly difficult, because their cars struggled to maneuver around buildings, navigate streets riddled with large cracks, and weave between long-abandoned, dilapidated vehicles. So when a Demon car began tailing him, Jake didn’t have much trouble slipping away.
However, things were quite different at the roof level. Unlike ground vehicles, helicopters didn’t have to contend with obstacles. In the air, nothing prevented the sleek, futuristic choppers from reaching their top speed. Most of them tried to pursue him as soon as they caught sight of him, forcing him to seek refuge inside one of the buildings and wait for them to fly away before stepping outside again.
It was becoming quite annoying. Each time he emerged onto a rooftop, his first instinct was to glance up to make sure no helicopters were hovering nearby, ready to chase him again. Los Demonios grew stronger with every passing day. If this situation wasn’t contained soon, it would soon be nearly impossible to turn a corner without running into the members of the gang. Although some other groups of survivors attempted to fight back, they had little success. The Demons vastly out-leveled, outnumbered, and outgunned any other survivor groups in the city.
At some point, while on the roof of a towering high-rise, Jake finally came across an anomaly that had a challenge to offer. First, he summoned the description of the anomaly itself.
Description: Launches bolts of lightning energy every which way when disturbed. Can also be activated when a living being comes within a foot of it.
Effective range: 95 yards
Danger Level: 45 (High)
Without a doubt, this anomaly was extremely dangerous. He had encountered variations of the Electro anomaly before, but none were as perilous as this one. He made sure to keep his distance. He then checked out the challenge connected to the anomaly.
Challenge: Wave Survival
Objective: Survive all waves. Complete the challenge within 60 minutes to receive an additional reward.
Note: You must remain within a designated area during this challenge. If you leave it, you’ll have thirty seconds to return. If you fail to make it back in time, the challenge will be failed.
Recommended Stats: Evolution Stage 2 “Savage Ascent”, Level 40, Body 35
Reward: 10,000 XP, 30,000 MP
Extra Reward: Ability - Cloak
Jake hoped he wouldn’t have to tackle the Wave Survival challenge near the Electro anomaly. Even while maintaining a safe distance, he could hear the hum emanating from it and feel vibrations pulsating through the air. The atmosphere around it felt electrified, sending an unpleasant prickling sensation through his skin. The anomaly was incredibly powerful, and if he had to undertake the Wave Survival in its vicinity, it would be one hell of a challenge.
The rewards were quite impressive, though: 10,000 XP, 30,000 MP, and a cloaking ability. Usually, abilities were earned by completing mutation research quests. However, in this case, it was an additional reward that he would receive only if he managed to complete the challenge in under sixty minutes.
He then summoned the Boost Menu and purchased the Increased XP booster once more, spending another 10,000 MP. He now had thirty-five thousand mana points left. However, if he completed the Wave Survival challenge, it would be worth it because he would gain 30,000 MP. Additionally, with the XP booster he’d purchased, he would receive three times the XP reward, potentially leveling up multiple times at once, which wasn’t bad at all.
After that, he accepted the Wave Survival challenge.