NOVEL NEXT 36 - Fusion Happy Dance
The flight back to Woodland had been longer than David thought it would be, the Event Quest having taken them nearly outside the city limits as they pursued the creatures through the sky. David chatted a bit with Kai and Dallas during the trip, offering his opinions and listening to their advice about how to use his quest rewards in turn. Dallas had resolved to use the powerful skill token on something outside his usual skillset, remembering how quickly he’d run out of venom against the gelatinous creatures. He’d been reduced to stabbing with his long daggerlike stinger, which was effective, but lacked the lethality it would have had if he’d been more sparing with his Special. Kai, however, had doubled down with his own Minor Trait Improvement and immediately used it on his Flight trait.
Lucky shit is just flapping along barely even using Stamina now. I think his feathers got denser too, let me just…
David covertly pulsed the enormous bird with a few sets of Echolocations, nodding in approval as he realized he was correct. Not only had the plumage on his wings thickened and multiplied, but the feathers all over his body had been modified slightly, increasing the bird's aerodynamics. It wasn’t a sweeping improvement by any means, but Kai moved much easier through the air for it, and it seemed to be worth the use of the Token in David’s opinion as a fellow flyer.
That’s good to know, I doubt it’d work the same way for me but it’s good to see how it worked. Minor Improvement, right what it says on the tin. I’m hoping this Fusion token works as well as that did.
Woodland Park rolled into view through the decrepit ruins of the city, the dense cluster of trees standing out vividly against the broken and rolling patchy vegetation that covered the city when seen from above. David chattered animatedly with Dallas while Kai soared on slightly ahead, clearly enjoying his augmented flight immensely, and he listed off several abilities he had remembered seeing during his deep dive when he evolved. Dallas listened with interest as David launched into a tirade of theories he’d been thinking about on the subject while he glided, Dallas following along diagonally in the air to face him as they flew.
“...so yeah, if every single thing you have is in the Offense category like you said, you’re gonna want something to buy yourself some time. I feel like I’m biased, but I’d recommend a Control or Defense Ability. Honestly, I’m not sure about Summoning, I think you’d have to specialize in it a little bit. All the ones I saw had ‘Extreme Stamina Cost’ in the description.” David chittered to the huge wasp as the warehouse came into view in the distance, “They might be really good, I don’t know. I had terrible stats as a Hatchling and couldn’t risk it.”
“Interesting. I think I over-specialized on my venom. I should be using it as a knockout punch more instead of wasting it on smaller stuff, but I don’t have anything else. I bought everything specifically to strengthen it.” The wasp mused as his antennae somehow gave him the appearance of a concerned frown.
“Yeah, it’s kinda like how more than half my build is centered around stopping things from doing anything. Three Mutagens, and two of my abilities. It kinda bit me in the ass against those gross-ass…ech, I can still taste it!” David rolled his tongue out of his mouth and licked his chops distastefully at just the memory of the foulness.
Dallas buzzed a laugh and waved one of his antennae in a salute before peeling off of their little trio and descending towards the ground by the Gate, angling himself towards where Thomas lay concealed against the inside of the wall. David shouted a quick parting shot about Kai’s wings and earned himself a false haughty stare from the bird as he swiveled his head around creepily to fix him with a single blue eye. With a chuckle he leaned forward and angled his wings down, gliding quickly down below the treetops and glancing about for Claire but not finding her outside. With a bit of a mental shrug, he continued in the direction he knew she was in, swooping low over the grass as the Hatchlings milling around outside the Warehouse door started in alarm at his sudden appearance.
“Hey,” David barked in greeting as he dropped to the ground from chest height, landing lightly on the soft grass. He loped forward a bit until his talons clicked against the pitted sidewalk that led up to the front of the building where the random assortment of creatures were gathered.
Something that resembled a long-haired walrus with a bristly mustache turned to give him an interested look before speaking, “Hey, it's the new guy. Daniel right?”
“David,” He replied, “Close though.”
“Oh, sorry. Hey, you and Claire evolved already, right? Special Evolution?” The odd-looking thing blurted out suddenly, “Do you have any advice you could spare? Everyone heard how you guys survived out in the woods alone, you gotta know something Herold and them don’t.”
David suffered a brief episode where he thought he might be having a stroke, completely unable to believe anyone was approaching him, of all people, for advice. He waffled for several seconds, trying to make sense of it before concluding that he would do the same in their positions, especially considering what Dallas had revealed to him about the disastrous attempt at the Area Quest. He frowned a bit in thought, and several of the smaller creatures cringed away from him, which made him sigh and relax his thinking snarl a bit.
“Don’t forget to diversify a little bit, but you gotta build on your strengths first.” David said finally, “Does that make sense? You don't need one of everything, you just need a few good things and careful planning. Take your time on the evolution, I promise you no matter how long it feels to you almost no time passes for anyone else.”
“Makes sense. Herold recommends specializing, but he’s always talking about ‘Don't forget Utility and Defense’ all the time.”
“Control is good too, it's the only reason I stayed alive out there. Tricky to start with though, might wanna lean into it as you go instead.” David excused himself and simply bounced over the group, unfurling his wings and drifting past them to land just outside the loading door Claire had flattened into the ceiling.
“Hey, Claire! I’m back. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t almost die this time, I just almost crashed.”
“Isn’t that kinda the same thing, David?” Claire’s bass rumble of reply was familiar and oddly comforting despite echoing out of the darkened warehouse ominously.
David chuckled and scampered inside, his sensitive eyes instantly thanking him for getting out of the bright midevening sun. Claire was sitting on the cold concrete floor, her tail curled around her scaly legs, the tip flicking around like an irritated cat as she fixed him with a steady gaze. David had to physically restrain himself from cringing as her eyes caught the light from the doorway just right to glow with reddish-orange eyeshine. She clacked her jaws and motioned him over with her head, letting out a short happy noise as she saw him that made several of the people inside freeze briefly. David hopped into the air and fluttered across the open warehouse floor to land next to her, giving her a fair imitation of a wave with his wing before he furled them.
“You guys finished the Quest then I take it?”
“Oh yeah, was a lot easier with more people. Nobody even got mauled, except me kinda. It wasn’t my fault though, the monsters were sticky and had tentacles with fishhooks on them.” David spat grumpily as his back and chest prickled uncomfortably at the memory.
“That…gross, David. I’m glad you’re okay though, I was starting to get a little worried for a while but I could tell you were still moving around. How high did you go? Felt like you were straight up for a while.”
David opened his jaws to reply before his stomach dropped, “Shit, we should tell them about the Pack Quest. I totally forgot and we can trust them, I think. Even if we don't end up staying I don't think they’ll do anything malicious, and it’d help them out.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. I wouldn’t mind staying for a little while though…It’s nice to have other people around. Hey! Did you know Betty–” She snickered before David cut her off.
“Yes, Kai and Dallas were laughing at me about it…It was kinda funny.” David snerked despite himself, “That reminds me, I got some Tokens from the Quest I’m gonna use. I talked to Dallas and Kai about it on the way back, I think I’m gonna use the Mutagen one first. The other one’s a surprise, mostly because I’m not sure exactly how it's gonna work even if I know what it does.”
“If you say so, squeaky. Want me to go tell Herold while you play with your toys? I don’t mind, I’ve just been sitting around for a while to get out of the sun. It’s hard for me to cool down sometimes.” Claire gave him a questioning tilt of her head as he spoke.
David nodded happily as his ears bounced with the motion, “That’d be nice of you if you don’t mind. I’m gonna try this and hope that I don’t get an Ugly Mutagen or something.”
Claire stood, shaking herself like the world's largest dog as she did so before she turned to leave with a good-natured parting shot, “Too late, I think that’s your special anyway, isn't it?”
David’s attempt to blow a raspberry at her resulted in him simply spitting his enormously long tongue out comically, and she snorted with amusement before giving him a boop on the head with her armored snout and stomping out of the Warehouse. David sucked his tongue back up, slightly shocked that he’d never noticed it was so long until now, before shaking his head and fluttering up to the rafters of the warehouse to get some privacy. He squirreled himself away at the junction of several support beams, where the darkness was the thickest and he felt most comfortable. After a few moments to get comfortable he took a deep breath and nudged the System with a mental command.
I want to use my Mutagen Token.
–You have received a Random Mutagen Token: F–
–Would you like to redeem your Token?–
Yes.
–SysAutoGen_RMT:F–
–Received: Myoclystic Mutagen F: Causes your physical attacks to have a chance of inflicting uncontrolled muscle spasms in targets. Upgradeable.–
David jumped as the familiar bubbling sensation swept down from the back of his neck, filling his mouth and oozing down his shoulders into his wings. The crescent moon patterning began to fizz unpleasantly, and the sensation only spread further until both his claws and his talons were unpleasantly numb. It never hurt, but it toed the line between the intensity of pins-and-needles combined with something almost like an itch, and David did not enjoy it inside his mouth. He sneezed a few times and rolled his tongue around his fangs experimentally when the sensation faded and feeling returned.
…oh my god did I get something good for once?! WOOO! That makes this so much easier…okay…So, I’m not sure I want to fuse my abilities. Screech just ranked up, Gloom is useful by itself right now, just not against those asshole jellyfish things. Glare is the only thing I have right now that tells me stuff's names…plus you know, combo breaker. Nocturnal strike steals stamina…Yeah, definitely going with the Mutagens this time. I’ll be back down to 4, but I got a new one anyway…okay let's see here…