Jake checked the second section of the Genetic Development Interface.
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
Requirements: Body 45, Mind 55, Magick 60
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
As he was already aware, all the skills and abilities listed there were expensive and had demanding requirements. For that reason, he decided to use all forty-five skill points he’d earned during the Wave Survival challenge to upgrade his attributes.
He could now acquire the Gravity Leap ability and the Adhesive Secretion skill he had set his sights on a long time ago. The requirements for the former were Body at 43, Mind at 40, and Magick at 37, while for the latter, Body at 40 and Magick at 35. He first checked out the ability.
Gravity Leap: The mutant can jump high up in the air, defying the laws of gravity.
Upgrades: 0 of 4 (Uncommon)
Requirements: Body 43, Mind 40, Magick 37
The ability sounded quite impressive. Thanks to one of the upgrades for Enhanced Agility that improved his acrobatic abilities, he could already perform mana-infused jumps that propelled him a considerable distance. With Gravity Leap, he would be able to execute not just long jumps but high ones too. After acquiring the ability, he checked out the skill.
Adhesive Secretion: The mutant obtains the ability to exude a sticky substance from his skin, allowing him to cling to surfaces and ensnare foes.
Upgrades: 0 of 4 (Uncommon)
Requirements: Body 40, Magick 35
Jake could climb pretty well. His agility and acrobatic abilities allowed him to scale almost every surface. However, when he climbed a wall, he always had to look for footholds and handholds, such as cracks or any features protruding from the surface. While he could climb almost any vertical surface, it could still be quite challenging at times. With Adhesive Secretion, he should be able to climb any surface without any trouble, even if it lacked handholds altogether. He acquired the skill.
After he finished the Wave Survival challenge, the Cloak ability had been added to the Genetic Development Interface. Jake decided to check it out as well.
Cloak: The mutant can merge with their surroundings to become nearly invisible. This ability allows the mutant to move stealthily, stay hidden, and set up ambushes.
Upgrades: 0 of 4 (Uncommon)
Requirements: Body 45, Mind 55, Magick 60
The Cloak ability had demanding requirements. His Body was 46, but his Mind and Magick were lower than needed. It was also quite expensive. Gravity Leap was 17,000 MP, while Adhesive Secretion was 15,000 MP, so he had spent a total of 32,000 MP and now had just over thirty thousand mana points left. Even if he met the requirements for Cloak, he wouldn’t have purchased the ability just yet, as it would have left him with too little mana. However, Cloak seemed like an extremely useful ability, so he planned to work toward acquiring it next.
While Jake had enough MP left to acquire one more skill or ability, he decided against it for now. At his current level, thirty thousand MP wasn’t particularly high and could be depleted quickly. His powerful body demanded a significant amount of mana to function, with all his abilities and skills consuming varying amounts of mana during use. So, he decided to return to the Genetic Development Interface after he gathered more mana.
Jake opened his eyes, and all the information vanished. It was time to try out his newly acquired skill and ability. He decided to start with Gravity Leap. He scanned his surroundings, making sure no helicopters were nearby that could mess with him. He bent his knees and then jumped straight up into the air, activating the ability with a thought.
He floated through the air with ease, as if experiencing zero gravity. His ascent gradually slowed until he reached the apex of his vertical jump. For a brief moment, he seemed to hover motionless in the air, having risen several meters. Then gravity took hold, and he began to plummet, rapidly picking up speed. Upon landing on the rooftop, he dropped into a crouch to absorb the impact.
He stood up and looked around, turning toward the adjacent building before bursting into a sprint across the rooftop. When he reached the edge, he executed a mana-infused jump while simultaneously activating Gravity Leap, propelling himself forward and upward, flying through the air in a high arc. He soared across the gap between the two buildings. The breathtaking leap lasted just a couple of seconds before he touched down on the other rooftop.
He ran across the rooftop for a few yards before gradually coming to a stop. Gravity Leap was definitely a powerful and useful ability. Acquiring upgrades and leveling it up to higher ranks would make it even more effective, likely increasing the height of his vertical jumps. Currently, Gravity Leap allowed him to ascend several meters. Eventually, he might even be able to reach helicopters when they weren’t flying too far above him.
Next, Jake wanted to test out Adhesive Secretion. Unlike Gravity Leap, it was a skill, not an ability, so it would activate on its own without any mental commands from him. He made his way to the edge of the rooftop, leaning over to gaze down. After a moment of thought, he turned and swung one leg over the ledge. With both hands gripping the ledge, he swung his other leg over the edge of the rooftop, feeling his body drop.
For a second, he hung motionlessly, gripping the edge of the roof above him with both hands. Since Adhesive Secretion was a skill, not an ability, it should activate automatically without any commands from him. It was time to see how it worked.
He bent one knee, pressing the tips of his feet against the wall, and immediately felt a sticky substance begin to form. It seeped through his textured skin and tiny pores, causing his foot to adhere to the building’s wall. Next, he pressed the other foot against the wall, and more secretions were released, making his other foot stick to the surface securely.
Jake released one hand from the edge of the roof and pressed it against the wall. As he did, the sticky substance oozed from the tiny pores in his palm and fingertips, allowing his hand to adhere to the wall, increasing friction and securing his grip like an insect’s. He then let go of the roof with his other hand and pressed it against the wall too.
Thanks to the adhesive his body produced, he clung securely to the side of the building. His body seemed to instinctively know how much sticky substance it needed to generate to keep him anchored to the wall. Now, he was ready to see if he could crawl across the wall without losing his grip.
He glanced at his right hand. For a moment, he worried that he wouldn’t know how to unstick it from the surface, but the answer popped into his mind almost instantly. His body adjusted the amount of adhesive it produced depending on the situation. The moment he decided to unstick his right hand, the adhesive ceased to flow from it.
Also, as he had noticed a long time ago, his skin was irregular and textured. Now he knew the reason for that—at least one of them: the specific pattern helped break the adhesion. By adjusting the angle of his feet and hands, he could peel off his grip without losing balance. He learned how to do this surprisingly quickly, as if he had been crawling across vertical surfaces like a bug his entire life.
He turned to the side and crawled across the building’s wall, resembling an insect in his movements. He moved easily and quickly, as if he had experienced this in a past life. At one point, he changed direction and crawled down toward the street ten stories below. Jake also discovered that instead of twisting his hands in a specific way to break the adhesion, he could simply tug them forcefully, which instantly detached them from the surface.
For several minutes, Jake crawled in different directions along the building wall. He then realized something: while Adhesive Secretion was active, not only did his body release the adhesive, but its structure also appeared to alter slightly. Although his form was primarily humanoid, it adapted to facilitate crawling like an insect. Jake couldn’t see his reflection, but he suspected that he looked more like a massive insect than a humanoid-like creature when he crawled across the wall. He was also keenly aware that his body was consuming mana at an increased rate while Adhesive Secretion was active, though thankfully, it wasn’t excessive.
When Jake decided he had mastered the art of imitating a huge bug, he turned upward and crawled to the edge of the roof. Upon reaching it, he grasped the edge and pulled his body up and over. Moments later, he stood on the rooftop again. Both Adhesive Secretion and Gravity Leap had proven to be incredibly useful. He knew he would frequently put these skills to good use. Thanks to Adhesive Secretion, he could now easily scale any surface without having to search for handholds. Gravity Leap would also come in handy in various situations, such as taking down helicopters.
He then checked his current experience count.
It wouldn’t be long before he leveled up again. He had less than thirty thousand mana points left, though. So he was going to spend the rest of the day slaying mutants for XP, and come nightfall, he would continue his routine of hunting for various mana consumables, using Mana Vision to locate them. With that determined, he picked a random direction and set off.