The stronger the creature, the more it can impact the world around it – and therefore, the more potential Essence it has. To prove their hypothesis, Shelley began with a modest herd of giant spiders raised in captivity under identical conditions. They took the mature spiders and selectively crippled most of them, removing either two, four, or all of their legs. The spiders were then placed in cages surrounded by Illusion magic to make them appear identical.
A group of Mages was then asked to shoot a fireball into a series of cages and report on the strength of the Essence received once the spider perished. Remarkably, the Mages were able to reliably distinguish between the various groups of spiders based simply on the Essence returned, with less Essence reported for each leg removed.
The crux of Shelley’s hypothesis was simple: a crippled spider would have less capacity to impact the world around it, and therefore, less potential Essence, even though all of the spiders were of the same species, age, Level, size, and so on. Their study proved that anecdotal stories about lesser rewards for killing a monster previously wounded from another fight are likely true and based on the same phenomenon.
- Rufus Veres, Level 37 Verbose Historian, A Brief History of the System
At the bottom of the hill, I took out the two Level 2 mods with a big grin. The first one turned out to be the armor mod.
Item: Armor Modification – Attuned
Level: 2
Effect: Kinetic Dispersion – impacts taken on your armor are spread over a slightly wider area.
Type: Passive
It looked helpful in a modest way, though I wasn’t planning to test it in detail to see exactly how it worked. I wasn’t sure if it was worth the money, but it was clearly better than nothing, so I applied it. Then it was onto my last mod.
Item: Weapon Modification – Attuned
Level: 2
Effect – Weapon: Sonic Capacitor – stores a portion of the sound generated by each shot. On the sixth shot, the stored sonic energy is released with impact.
Type: Passive
Effect – Ammunition: Sonic Amplifier – increases sound energy released by your ammunition.
Type: Passive
What? Why would I want to make it louder? Whatever, I can always remove it later if I want…
“Put that thing away, Az,” Vale spoke from beside me, indicating my gun. “‘Less you know there’s an enemy nearby, better off with it in yer Inventory. You’ve not the Endurance to lug it ‘round all day.”
I considered her words as I obeyed the order. I guess she’s right, none of the others have a weapon out. It does appear almost instantly when I summon it, even faster than my armor. I’ll have to trust in my barrier and armor to protect me from any surprises long enough to get my gun out.
For the next hour or so I walked tensely, my eyes roaming around looking for threats that didn’t materialize. There were definitely monsters out there, but nothing showed itself. Finally, I asked Block, who was now walking just in front of me.
“Is it normal for it to be this quiet? I thought we’d be attacked for sure by now.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“It’s not surprising when you remember that the Army group came through here yesterday. They probably cleared out a good amount of the monsters near the road along the way,” he replied.
“Huh, I guess that makes sense. Does that mean we’re not going to be attacked before we get to East Bank?” That was the name of the closest town to the east of Sunland. “Um, actually – are we going to East Bank? I never asked.”
The green-haired man laughed softly with that deep voice of his. “Yeah, we’re passing through East Bank. And I’d bet you double or nothing on the money you owe me that we’ll run into some monsters before then.”
“Was that supposed to be reassuring?”
“Hah, there are no assurances in this world, let alone re-assurances!” Block winked at me and I groaned.
By the time another uneventful hour had passed I was starting to get tired. My stamina had dropped to about 25% and my legs were starting to wear down. I was used to hard work, but not used to walking at a quick pace for three hours wearing armor while on the lookout for an attack.
Even though it fit perfectly and the weight was well-distributed, the armor combined with the weight of my belt, canteens, and so on was noticeable. I was very glad to have my weapon and all my supplies in my Inventory, but even so I was sure I couldn’t have kept up this pace a few days ago. The System had changed my body already, and I was only Level 3…
Mason’s announcement was a welcome relief. A few minutes later he stopped near a trio of scraggly cacti and waved for the rest of us to join him. He led us off the road to the south for perhaps ten minutes. We moved uphill following a slight ridge-line, and the terrain got gradually rockier the further we went up. Ahead, there was a small spur of the Shadow Hills jutting up from the slope.
I almost jumped when I spotted Hassan standing by what looked like the entrance of a small cave – his color-shifting armor was blending into the rock and I didn’t see him until he moved. I was about to call out in greeting when I heard Mason again.
I froze in confusion. Does he want us to… I looked at Raylan as he sighed softly.
Surprisingly, Elin was the first to agree with my suggestion, followed by Zaire.
Wait, again? I wondered how well that had worked out last time.
I explained quickly how infusing Light worked with my gun and how I’d used it in the Tutorial.
We discussed our options for a few minutes. The mouth of the cave was nine or ten feet high and around six feet wide, though the opening was much narrower at the top. Raylan, our only melee fighter, would be the first in, with me to the side and just behind him. The two casters would follow us, having promised to be careful with their Spells.
We stepped up to the cave opening in our little formation. Hassan was now looking out to the north, keeping an eye out for anything coming up the hill towards us. The other three were watching with interest, with Block and Vale flanking Mason. Huh, Block hasn’t been disappearing on me recently, I wonder why…
I peered into the cave, hoping for some clues, but I couldn’t make out any tracks on the rocky floor. There was a musty smell, but not one I knew. The late afternoon sun didn’t shine directly into the cave, but it was bright enough to see for about thirty feet before the cave seemed to turn a bit and dipped out of view. The bottom of the cave was broken up by several large boulders half-buried in the ground.
Our plan to advance carefully into the cave would need to be changed if we couldn’t lure out the monsters. There was no way we could scramble down those rocks in anything like a formation. I infused Light, stepping to the left side of the entrance where I had the best angle to shoot down the cave as far as possible.
Boom! click-click
My new mod made my shot noticeably quieter, but it still ripped through the silence as booming echoes chased the pellets down the cave. Light bloomed around each one as they hit the walls and floor. Pointing my gun up, I took a couple of steps back and then quickly moved to my position slightly behind Raylan. I switched off the infusion and hurriedly loaded another shell into my gun. A moment later, a series of howls rang out, followed by the sound of something scrambling up the cave towards us.
Sounds like wolves, we should be able to handle… Shit! What in the Wastes is THAT?!