Jake was pretty much sure his torn-off arm would eventually grow back, but he didn’t know how long it would take. Just like the bladed tentacles that detached from his body, his left arm had disintegrated into a pile of black dust shortly after being separated from his body.
He glanced at his left shoulder and noticed that his body had already sealed the wound, preventing mana loss. For the next several minutes, he focused on his shoulder, watching the flesh slowly regenerate. Judging by the rate of growth, Jake estimated it would take a few hours for his left arm to fully regrow.
He considered acquiring the regeneration booster for 10,000 MP but ultimately decided against it. Though it could have accelerated the growth of his left arm, he wasn’t willing to spend that much mana.
He glanced at the motionless body of the abomination he had just defeated. If he had been a human with normal human feelings and emotions, he might have kicked the massive corpse of the monster in frustration. However, Jake didn’t feel much of anything at that moment. Averting his gaze away from the dead beast, he decided to take a moment to review his stats. Closing his eyes, he summoned them with a thought.
Race: Ex-Human Morphus
Evolution Stage 2: “Savage Ascent”
Claws: Rank III (37%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Swords: Rank III (29%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Bladed Tentacles: Rank III (25%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Mind Reader: Rank III (0%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Smashfists: Rank III (21%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Gravity Leap: Rank II (15%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Cloak: Rank II (44%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Acidic Spit: Rank I (77%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Senses: Rank III (33%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Agility: Rank III (35%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Intelligence: Rank III (45%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Reflexes: Rank III (38%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Strength: Rank III (23%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Regeneration: Rank III (26%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Feral Instincts: Rank III (17%) (Upgrades: 3 of 4) (Uncommon)
Enhanced Durability: Rank III (21%) (Upgrades: 3 of 4) (Uncommon)
Adhesive Secretion: Rank II (67%) (Upgrades: 4 of 4) (Uncommon)
Toxic Resistance: Rank I (13%) (Upgrades: 0 of 4) (Uncommon)
All his skills and abilities were gradually progressing. Unsurprisingly, those at Rank III were the slowest to progress. He noticed that Acidic Spit, which was currently at Rank I, and Adhesive Secretion, at Rank II, were both nearing completion. Acidic Spit was at 77%, while Adhesive Secretion stood at 67%.
So, he had 15 skill points at his disposal. Jake decided to invest some of them in skills that weren’t maxed out yet: Feral Instincts, which had 3 upgrades out of 4, Enhanced Durability, which was in the same position, and Toxic Resistance, which had not received any upgrades yet.
Skill: Feral Instincts
4 - Improve the ability to anticipate enemy actions based on their body language and movements, allowing for preemptive defensive or offensive maneuvers.
Requirements: Mind 60
Skill: Enhanced Durability
4 - Increase resistance to concussive forces, preventing disorientation from powerful impacts.
Requirements: Body 55
He thought the upgrade for Enhanced Durability was very good. He recalled the moment he had been stunned when the abomination smashed him against the brick wall, allowing the beast to grab him before he had time to recover. With the latest upgrade, such unfortunate incidents should happen much less frequently.
After that, he purchased all four upgrades for the Toxic Resistance skill.
1 - Decrease the duration of negative status effects caused by toxins.
2 - Reduce the damage taken from acidic attacks and shorten the duration of their effects.
3 - Enhance your body’s recovery speed after sustaining toxic or acidic attacks.
4 - Obtain the ability to store toxins in your body and release them later as a concentrated attack against enemies. Requirements: Body 50, Magick 55
The fourth upgrade certainly caught his interest the most. He wasn’t entirely sure how it worked yet, but he figured he would find out eventually. Most likely, he would need to be exposed to a toxic or caustic environment to store toxins in his body.
With that, all of his current skills and abilities had been maxed out in terms of upgrades. Now, he had 9 skill points remaining.
He then summoned the second section of the Genetic Development Interface to review the skills he planned to acquire. Ignoring the skills and abilities he had already obtained, he focused solely on the three he had yet to acquire.
Evolution Stage 2: “Savage Ascent” (Level 25)
Ability: Serpentine Form
Requirements: Body 50, Mind 45, Magick 50
Requirements: Body 60, Magick 65
Skill: Adaptive Armor
Requirements: Body 55, Magick 50
Since each of his three attributes was at 70, he met the requirements for all three abilities. However, he intended to wait until his arm regrew before acquiring them. This way, he could evaluate his remaining MP and determine how many skills to purchase based on that.
He then opened his eyes, causing all the information to disappear. There were mutants in the sewers, but Jake didn’t want to engage them while he was still handicapped. So he crawled up one wall. Despite currently having only one arm, climbing vertical surfaces wasn’t difficult for him. Upon reaching the junction where the wall met the ceiling, he went still. He decided against needlessly activating Cloak to conserve mana. If he heard any approaching mutants, he might or might not turn it on to avoid detection. After all, since neither the mutated rats nor the devourers had ranged weapons, even if they spotted him clinging to the wall far above the tunnel floor, they wouldn’t be able to reach and attack him anyway.
Jake checked his current mana reserves. After purchasing the skills, he would be left with less than 20,570 MP. However, that number would be even lower since his body tapped into his mana reserves to regenerate his left arm. Judging by how much mana was being consumed during the healing process, he estimated that it would set him back around 5,000 MP by the time his arm completely grew back. This meant that after acquiring the three skills, he would have roughly 15,000 MP left, which wasn’t much at his current level.
He weighed his options: he could take it easy for the rest of the day to preserve his mana and, as usual, go on a mana hunt after nightfall. Alternatively, instead of acquiring all three abilities at once, he could buy only one or two for the time being. Yet, Jake had a strong desire to acquire all three skills right away because once he did, all the skills and abilities from the second section of the Genetic Development Interface would be acquired. This would set him up perfectly for evolving into the next stage, allowing him to focus solely on the skills and abilities from the third section from that time on, which would unlock after the next stage of his evolution.
After purchasing upgrades for Feral Instincts, Enhanced Durability, and Toxic Resistance, he was left with 9 Skill Points. He decided to save them for later. Once he had acquired the three remaining abilities from the second section of the Genetic Development Interface, he would use the nine skill points to obtain upgrades for them.
His initial plan had been to defeat the abomination and then conduct his regular cleanup of the mutants. However, with only one arm, he wasn’t prepared to take on the mutants lurking in the underground tunnels. While he hated being inactive, he knew engaging the mutants in his current state was unwise. So he opted to wait. Once his arm fully regenerated, he would clear the sewers of its inhabitants. Perhaps he might even level up one more time in the process.
By the time he completed that task, he figured the HQ in the Los Demonios base would complete its upgrade to Level 6. He planned to return to the base to see what changes that would bring. Afterward, he would decide on his next steps. Most likely, he would evolve into the next stage and then launch an offensive against the bandit base.
But for the next few hours, all he planned to do was wait for his left arm to grow back. Jake steeled himself for several hours of idle waiting.