Chapter 456
For a mont, neither of them moved. They simply stared at each other, both seeing another of their kind for the very first ti. Then Jake assessed the other morphus with a thought, and D’s stats popped up in his mind.
Na: Ex-Human Morphus
Evolution: Stage III – Devastator
Level: 233
Body: 743
Mind: 158
Magick: 486
The System didn’t tell him D’s real na, and Jake had a pretty good idea why. He knew the System considered him dead. As far as it was concerned, the human nad Jake Turner had ceased to exist the mont he was pulled into the Dark Void anomaly, where he underwent the transformation into a mutant.
From experience, he knew that when a human scanned him with their PDA, it only displayed the na of his mutant classification, morphus, and his level. At least, that was the case in the earliest days following the Collapse. He had learned this when he needed to lure Frank, a Los Demonios mber, and his group into a high-rise building, where he planned to use their help in completing a tower-climbing challenge.
But since survivors could upgrade their PDAs, those devices could probably now display additional details about him, perhaps so basic information like his attributes.
Sure enough, all of the above applied to D as well. Whoever he had been before turning into a morphus, he was no longer. He was now just another mutant, as far as the System was concerned, and for that reason, it didn’t reveal D’s real na.
Jake took a mont to examine D’s attributes. His counterpart had obviously prioritized Body and Magick, which was easy enough to explain. In combat, a Devastator clearly relied mostly on brute force. The System didn’t allow Jake to glimpse D’s abilities, but he could guess that most of them had sothing to do with incredible protection and powerful attacks.
At least, that was the impression he had gotten when watching a vision about the Devastator while studying the three available subclasses. Body was apparently the most important attribute for D, which explained why he had allocated the most skill points to it.
Magick played a significant role in a morphus’ managent of mana. It governed how much mana could be stored in a morphus’ mana pool and dictated how much mana was consud when using an ability, as every ability depleted a certain amount of mana when activated. Since Magick was also extrely important, it wasn’t surprising that it was D’s second-highest attribute.
As for Mind, D had allocated significantly fewer skill points to it than to the other two attributes, only 158. He apparently didn’t have many skills that required Mind to be at a higher level. Jake couldn’t help but wonder if this was the reason D struggled to keep his monstrous side and dark instincts in check. That is, if the Commander had told him the truth about D succumbing to his dark impulses, of course, but Jake figured he was about to find out for himself.
By contrast, Jake hadn’t been neglecting Mind, having allocated 323 stat points to that attribute so far. For him, it was as important as Body and Magic, as it governed how many creatures he could command at any given ti. And perhaps this was the very reason he had managed to keep his inner beast under control and maintain a balance between his human and monster sides. For D, however, Mind apparently wasn’t all that important.
So, the System only showed him D’s vital stats: level, evolution stage, and attributes. It didn’t display D’s skills or abilities. That was both frustrating and encouraging. While he couldn’t see what skills and abilities D possessed, aning he couldn’t predict what to expect from him in a potential fight, at least D couldn’t see his, either. Just like Jake, D was in the dark about Jake’s abilities and therefore couldn’t anticipate what tactics he might use if they were to fight.
But the real question was how much their abilities actually differed. Their paths began to diverge only when Jake picked the Corruptor and D chose the Devastator. As for the previous two evolution paths, they had been exactly the sa for both Jake and D, so they clearly had lots of similar abilities, such as Claws, Swords, Smashfists, and others, all of which were obtained from the first two sections of the Genetic Developnt Interface.
However, Jake hardly ever used those initial abilities anymore. After completing the Maze of Tornt dungeon, he had gained several powerful abilities, such as Chainsaw Arms, Drill Gauntlets, and several others, and since then, he had mostly relied on them in battle instead of reverting to older combat skills. Out of the older abilities, he still used Smashfists most often, resorting to the others only under specific circumstances.
Whether D still relied on those initial abilities, Jake didn’t know yet. When Jake evolved into a Corruptor, he had received only one new skill: Mana Core. While it might initially seem unfair to gain just one ability with a new form, Mana Core was incredibly powerful and useful. It allowed him to create lairs where he could cultivate all kinds of monsters.
As for D, he obviously couldn’t create his own creatures. Instead, he could rely only on himself in battle, so it was fair to assu that when he evolved into a Devastator, he must have gained many more new abilities compared to Jake, who had only gained one. What those abilities were and what they were capable of, Jake could only guess.
During the subclass selection process, Jake had glimpsed visions of all three subclasses and therefore, was already aware of so of the abilities a Devastator could have and what this subclass was capable of. Still, it was clear that D possessed many more skills beyond the ones Jake had seen. Just as Jake favored the abilities he gained in the Maze of Tornt, D likely now depended on new combat abilities rather than on older ones that had beco obsolete.
D’s level was 233, making him 58 levels stronger than Jake. But that wasn’t what surprised him. Unless the System had deceived him, and Jake had no reason to believe it would, D was still at Evolution Stage III. He hadn’t yet evolved to the final form, which was surprising given that he’d had many months to do so. He hadn’t even progressed to the next stage, much less the last.
Why could that be? It didn’t feel right. Jake knew that, for himself, evolving to the next form required developing at least one of his lairs to the final Rank X. Obviously, D’s requirents for evolving to the next Rank were different, and Jake didn’t know what was required for him to accomplish to reach Rank IV. But whatever those requirents were, it was clear that D hadn’t been able to et them yet for so weird reason. Perhaps the Ravage Contamination was preventing him sohow? Or maybe the reason was sothing entirely different.
It was a matter to think about another ti, though. While all those thoughts flashed through Jake’s mind in just a few seconds, he decided it was ti to try and break the ice between him and D, especially considering that D apparently wasn’t eager to make the first step.
All around them, nurous bulges swelled on the pulsating organic layer, quickly transforming into all kinds of monsters. For survivors, such a sight would have been unnerving to say the least, but the two obsidian mutants weren’t concerned at all. They stood like statues, their gazes locked on each other, totally ignoring the horrors developing all around them.
Then Jake retrieved his electrolarynx from his inventory and pressed it against his mandible. D tilted his head ever so slightly, staring at the device. He clearly wasn’t sure what it was or what Jake intended to do with it.
“You are D, correct?” Jake said. “I’m Jake, and I’m not here to fight you.”
The mont the words ca through the device in its usual chanical, emotionless tone, D instantly shifted from standing still like a statue to rushing forward like a homing missile. Hands clenched into massive fists, D charged at Jake like a bull seeing red.
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