NOVEL NEXT What? The Discarded, Half-Eaten Apple Core is Evolving?
I fired the Galactic Defender iCombiner's jump jets and soared five hundred feet in the air. There, the combiner Mecha exploded just because its suicide mission had reached its end. I flew up due to my ejection seat Perk, thankful that the human (and Aesir) pilots were safely back home. Larry was in my temple in Speranza, being petted by some gorgeous blonde priestess. Not. He was in the first wagon of the... grounded train that no longer has wheels or balloons.
I needed to renovate my inner world. It was a bleeping mess.
Anyway. There I was, a crystalline apple soaring fifteen hundred feet above the ground. Steel shrapnel rained on the ruins of Darwin, even more, ruined now. I Replicated five blimps and sent them to secure the front lines. Then I created a Steals Bras and Panties human-sized android Mecha for me to pilot.
The fail is strong with this one. I refuse to keep using this model. Design mode! I took advantage of my advanced enchanting Skills and upgraded the shields, and made the android buffier. It was now seven feet tall and had 30% more actuators and polymer tendons to give it more strength and speed. I also added a permanent backpack with a turbojet engine and a transformation mode into a small-scale fighter jet. It was rather similar to those unmanned drones the military liked to fly but more streamlined. The wings were folded into three parts and stored in the back to the sides of the engine.
I named it. "Rise Sky Kindred, Round Orb Urn Let Time Tell."
> For creating (Level 190, Epic) Enchanted Humanoid Android Transformer Mark VI "Risky Roulette", you gained 4,690 Experience points.
There, much better. I absorbed the Mecha that shall not be remembered and Replicated my new model. I entered my Cockpit and flew down to collect the Mana stones of the dead dragons. As usual, Infernali flesh gave me zero resources.
I looked around and to the north. I had to improve my blimp network, improve my weapons, and analyze the new telemetry data. With the Cores safely in my Mecha's dimensional storage box, I flew up, transformed it into fighter mode, and flew back home, breaking the sound barrier because why not. The same Attribute the giant robot gained, this one also did. Which meant a forty-something speed multiplier. I think I could reach Mach 15 or more with this baby easily if I tried.
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The Christmas trees had red glass apples hanging from them, and most children prayed in front of the tree. So cute. After they ended the prayer, I cast Bless on them. Customer service is the key to retention, after all. They went to bed, and I wish I could give them nice dreams. I hadn't figured out how yet.
I let Dungeon automation take hold of a few dozen thousand songbirds and have them trill Christmas carols all around Speranza. Being a Demiplane, it had the weather I felt like having so I had a light snow shower near midnight.
The Christmas party was a blast. All the Guardians gained a new type of power armor that was compact and futuristic, granting them awesome protection. The hardened device casing gave the armor an armor rating of (29/75%) from Hardened Device Casing. That was for damaging the item. The armor rating it granted the wearer was smaller than that but very close. Something like 20 or 25 points of armor. While much weaker than the Dungeon Walls, they could take it anywhere they wanted. They weren't restricted to staying in range of qDCSC or anything.
Some Guardians also took Classes that allowed them to use weapons, like the Heavy Gunner Class that was offered to me. They also gained Vulcan autocannons, and in a few cases, even the Avenger autocannon, if they had Perks that allowed them to use vehicular guns. They came with a gyro stabilizer harness.
What? Do you think a guy carrying an A-10 cannon around (and using it in combat) is weird?
Look, almost all of these level 150+ guys could bench press 20 tons. A Strength score above 2,000 was required, depending on the physical build. They had no trouble holding the autocannon steady. Especially with the gyro stabilizer harnesses.
People also gave me gifts, which were worth more because of the Devotion points I gained than the actual physical objects.
Interestingly enough, some cultures handed presents after the Christmas eve feast, and not on the 25th. Also, I didn't care if this was a holiday of another culture. It was my culture too, from before Ragnarok.
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A few days after Christmas, several earthquakes shook everything. The ocean was going bonkers and massive 100-foot-tall waves were common. Whatever was causing this, I hoped it was far, far away. New year's eve was coming. I hoped nothing would come to ruin my evolution.
And then it came. I gained 5 deferred levels again, and all the Guardians also advanced one level.
> Congratulations! You completed your species evolution quest. You have 1,421,185 deferred Exp, accounted at level 180. You also have 30 levels as quest rewards.
> Activating Evolution. Generating choices.
> Select one New species. The bonuses supersede your current ones and are retroactive:
> The Fruit of Knowledge: Ensconced in Western legend, the Apple is the forbidden fruit that holds the knowledge of good and evil.
You are not a social creature. You have no Charisma Attribute.
You gain +2 Intelligence +5 Wisdom +2 Will and +1 Hardness per level. The effectiveness of Intelligence, Will, and Hardness is increased by 20%. The effectiveness of Wisdom is increased by 50%.
You receive your choice of two repositories of knowledge from Pre-Ragnarok Earth. This is a one-time bonus.
> The Golden Apple: A prize coveted by many. A symbol of beauty and mysticism. Coveted by many, the golden apple grants immortality to those who eat its flesh.
You are not a social creature. You have no Charisma Attribute.
You gain +1 Intelligence +1 Wisdom +3 Will and +5 Hardness per level. The effectiveness of Wisdom and Will is increased by 20%. The effectiveness of Hardness is increased by 70%.
The first mortal to eat your flesh shall be granted eternal life. You will regenerate later. This is a one-time bonus.
> The Philosopher's Apple: Source of inspiration, the symbol of knowledge. Gifted to Teachers. The Apple that fell on Sir Isaac Newton, that rebirthed Saint Konorin, The Apple that fed Merlin, grown in the mystical land of Avalon.
You are not a social creature. You have no Charisma Attribute.
You gain +2 Intelligence +2 Wisdom +2 Will, +3 Clarity, and +1 Hardness per level. The effectiveness of Will and Hardness is increased by 20%. The Effectiveness of Clarity is increased by 70%
You gain 5 base MP per level.
You may ask one question of up to 20 words and receive the full and complete answer. This is a one-time bonus.
Before making a choice, I checked the upgrades for my Dungeon Side.
> The Tower: A pillar connecting Heaven and Earth. A path to Godhood. A hundred infinite floors, each a universe in its own. An invitation to the climbers and players of the multiverse. Treasures untold and dangers unforeseen.
As a sessile entity, you have no Strength, Dexterity, Agility, or Endurance. Double the effectiveness of all remaining Attributes. Constitution has been renamed Hardness. You have the Intelligence, Will, Wisdom, and Clarity Attributes.
You gain +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +3 Willpower, and +3 Clarity per level. The effectiveness of Intelligence and Willpower is increased by 30%. The effectiveness of Wisdom and Clarity is increased by 25%.
You lose the Hardness Attribute and all related Traits. All points and Efficiency invested in Hardness are split between the other Attributes.
You become a Tower that reaches up to the sky, impossibly tall. You are invulnerable. You have 100 floors you can shape as you wish. Your Inner World becomes one of these floors.
You can spawn monsters. Creatures and demons you spawn drop treasure when killed.
You lose the Demiplane Collapse Trait. Your current Demiplanes become floors in your Tower.
> The Abyss: An endless pit full of treasures. The Abyss invites Delvers with the lure of wealth and power, to feed on them.
As a sessile entity, you have no Strength, Dexterity, Agility, or Endurance. Double the effectiveness of all remaining Attributes. Constitution has been renamed Hardness. You have the Intelligence, Will, Wisdom, and Clarity Attributes.
You gain +3 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom, +3 Willpower, and +3 Clarity per level. The effectiveness of Intelligence and Willpower is increased by 30%. The effectiveness of Wisdom and Clarity is increased by 25%.
You lose the Hardness Attribute and all related Traits. All points and Efficiency invested in Hardness are split between the other Attributes.
You become a Dimensional abyss with as many floors as you can create, each having a tenth of your allotted maximum volume. You cannot be damaged.
You can spawn monsters and demons. Monsters and demons you spawn drop treasure when killed.
You need to kill at least one sentient creature per month, or you starve. If you go a year without killing a sentient, you die.
You lose the Demiplane Collapse Trait. Your current Demiplanes become floors in your abyss.
> The Labyrinth: A maze of corridors, puzzles, traps, and monsters that lurk in the dark.
As a sessile entity, you have no Strength, Dexterity, Agility, or Endurance. Double the effectiveness of all remaining Attributes. Constitution has been renamed Hardness. You have the Intelligence, Will, Wisdom, and Clarity Attributes.
You gain +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +3 Willpower, +2 Clarity, and +3 Hardness per level. The effectiveness of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Clarity is increased by 20%. The effectiveness of Willpower and Hardness is increased by 25%.
You can spawn monsters.
Trap kills give you 25% more Experience.
Now, what should I pick?