A Plant's Life 28 Gaining Authority

"The outcome of this endeavor had been truly marvelous, the energy attained has much higher quality, with a silver of unfathomably sharp essence. With this harvest, I can cultivate my core extensively. If my hypothesis is correct, I may gain some authority over the system. My experiment on souls had also bore fruits, now is the time to a.s.semble the parts and measure it for future references! There should be some origin mana within all imprints giving them their power, marks od more advanced races should contain much more of it. Once they die for any reason, it goes back to the dungeon core to be recycled. However, I suspect this force is not the purest mana, rather an imitation! Monsters will need this force to be able to climb the hierarchy, but since it is not the purest form, they will not be able to challenge the dungeon master. The core should contain the purest form of mana, I look forward to a day where I can use it in my trials"

Meanwhile, inside within the ma.s.sive celebration of goblins. Few started to scream out of desperation, then dark green blood would flow from their eyes, ears, and nose. After which they would fall flat on the ground, not moving anymore. However, the savage and stupid humanoid monsters a.s.sumed it to be due to their lack of support from ancestors. They were not able to secure a blessing from ancients, so they lost, we are truly the fortunate, residing above all; was the thought in their minds. After seeing this scene, they attacked the dead body of their brothers and sisters in arms eating them!

John pondered momentarily, then started to purify the attained energies. The matter took hours to complete, even with his extent of control and grasp, the origin energy was unyielding. It made him think of his past life, where cowboys tried to tame a wild horse. They rode and held on for dear life until the wild animal accepted them as a new master. John had to ride on the waves, much more terrifying than any animal; if he lost control, his soul would be erased completely. However, with strength came opportunity, the feat which was impossible for others had been completed by him at last. The now ownerless, powerful force was then hurriedly consumed by him. Cultivating the core to unbelievable heights, breaking any limits, like dry twigs stuck by a dominant tsunami. He could now feel some connection to the system, he understood if he asked for status, more information would be shown!

Then he pulled all the broken pieces of soul fragments together, used mana to form them into whole again, moments later they separated. John measured any result reached, without being disappointed he tried again, and again and again. Each experiment would teach him some points about spirits. As his previous occupation entailed, he had attained a shocking level of patience, so he kept on pus.h.i.+ng forward. Until the parts formed a whole picture, of an expressionless pale goblin with many deformities. John used some force to help it self-heal, yet it was not successful, as the ghost did not know how to use this power. After some struggle, many of the troubling wounds were closed with John's help.

As most of the energy was used to reinforce the core, not much was left over. John used all the remainders to upgrade his vessel and fill up HP, MP, and SP while staying in control. This led to vast improvement over the original advancement provided by mana imprint.

Sometime later, his body stabilized, then he scanned his new stats.

[Name: Kala the Bloodthirsty

Race: Hobgoblin

Cla.s.s: Archer

Level: 7

HP (Health Point): 90+40/90+40 (CON*8+10)

MP (Mana Point): 42+24/42+24 (INT*12+6)

SP (Stamina Point): 106.5+53/106.5+53(CON*10+DEX/2)

Attributes:

Strength – 8+3

Dexterity – 13+6

Const.i.tution – 10+5

Intelligence – 3+2

Wisdom –4+1

Charisma – 5

Luck – 4+1

Spirit – 1 (Broken soul, cannot be improved anymore)

Skills:

Lead (Intermediate): 20% chance of success in rallying troops, tied to spirit attributes, cannot influence targets with higher spirit points, the limit is 5 members

Good shot (Basic): 6% chance of success in shooting a target, tied to luck

Intimidation (Basic): charm+1 when in war, pa.s.sive ability, tied to a t.i.tle

Condition: Healthy, stable, broken soul, reached maximum advancement of the race

Mana imprint: 36% connection to the soul

XP (Experience Point): 0/450]

John a.n.a.lyzed: "This experiment resulted in some good data, which in turn helped to measure unknown factors. It also seems further transformation is needed, but this time I will personally write the DNA of new race, there should not be any need in using the symbol. The connection to the soul has reached a high level, the reason it has not pa.s.sed 40% should be due to the damaged spirit. Now it is time to see my new authority within the system"

He relayed his message: "System show my status window"

[Name: Kala

t.i.tles: The Bloodthirsty

Race: Hobgoblin

Cla.s.s: Archer

Level: 7

HP (Health Point): 90+40/90+40 (CON*8+10)

MP (Mana Point): 42+24/42+24 (INT*12+6)

SP (Stamina Point): 106.5+53/106.5+53(CON*10+DEX/2)

Attributes:

Strength – 8+3

Dexterity – 13+6

Const.i.tution – 10+5

Intelligence – 3+2

Wisdom –4+1

Charisma – 5

Luck – 4+1

Skills:

Lead (Intermediate): 20% chance of success in rallying troops, the limit is 10 members

Good shot (Basic): 6% chance of success in shooting a target

Intimidation (Basic): charm+1 when in war, pa.s.sive ability, derived from a t.i.tle

Condition: Healthy, stable, maximum race advancement,

Authority: 0.001% clearance in the system, unlocking more information and transformation options

XP (Experience Point): 0/450]

John concluded: "I used attained data, measuring the effect of my skills, but the higher clearance enumerates skills as well. The authority does not have much advantage in small amounts, rather now that I know the amount I have is measured in this scale. I can use it in my own window. The skill is used by the old amount of 10 members rather than the new effect under a broken soul reducing to 5. It also shows that my third test has been a success, the system cannot distinguish between the owner of this origin energy, it simply feels its existence. Even though I have used the pure mana to cultivate after purifying it, the radars perceive the trail of it. It is logical to have this force under strict observation, even if it is nothing but an imitation! I need to use this body for some time, to become accustomed to new changes brought by upgraded stats"

After some time pa.s.sed, he walked out of his hiding place, not discovering anyone around.

The goblins were terrified of their new king, he killed all without mercy and held the key to transcendence. So, they did not try to seek out the location of their leader's hiding place, waiting patiently. With all the corpses around, they had enough food to hold them for a while.

Finally, the tall, grey hobgoblin strode into the village, firm like a mountain. All the goblins cheered, asking to kill any and all enemies. The king held one hand high addressing his fanatic believers: "My troops, we have gained victory over this village, yet this is not enough, to attain evolution more sacrifice is needed, we march again. Slaughtering and eating all who stand before us, showing our might to monsters and humans alike. Now my brave warriors, rise like the army of dead, we shall conquer. OUR TIME HAS ARRIVED"

John used his energy manipulation to strengthen the effect of lead skill, affecting the entire crowd. The goblins yelled from deep within their spirit, some even attained a light hue, proving ancestor blessing.

Once the ma.s.sacre started, this army of savage beasts left no survivors, killing any member, and eating their dead bodies. John used this opportunity to gather more power, until the needed energy had been attained.

John retreated to seclusion again, commanding the system: "System show me my possible growth paths"

He planned to investigate options provided by the system as reference, and manually enhance this transformation!