Chương 351: Changes (VIII)

My first focus was on the movement art that Dai Xiu asked for. I've watched her fight quite a few times now (quite a few times), and I can kind of understand what she means when she says Shadows Steps aren't suitable for her. For me, the art was practically indispensable, even before it evolved. It's kind of like an 'Undo' button, where I can quickly reposition because I made a mistake (or two).

It also allows me to actually fight to some degree, as, even without too strong of an attack, I can 'teleport' into their blind spots and attack from there. Dai Xiu, however, doesn't fight like that; she's far more adept at melee combat than me, with the ability to bob and weave between attacks with ease and almost animal-like instincts to dodge attacks she can't see entirely. Shadow Steps, for her, might even be a weakness, as they do essentially kill off all momentum.

Even if I'm moving at a great speed and executing an attack, I can't use the steps--not even in the evolved form--to teleport myself in the act of movement. The landing is static, as it sort of 'refreshes' the state. As such, for Dai Xiu, who is a quintessential example of a momentum-based fighter, Shadow Steps as a movement art really wasn't suitable.... which begged the question, what precisely would be suitable? The first thing my mind wandered off to was the boxers back on Earth and their 'movement techniques'.

Though Dai Xiu didn't fight wholly like one, she's approximating a lot of the same philosophies. A lot of twitch, precise movements within a limited position to create just enough space to dodge and counterattack. There was one big issue: I... have not a fucking clue how boxers moved. I've watched, what? Maybe three boxing matches in my entire life? And all of them before I even turned twenty.

I never had any training in any kind of martial art, so me trying to use boxing principles to create a movement art would sort of be like asking a college student who just took an intro class to physics to build a nuclear bomb. But maybe I can just imbue the general philosophy and hope that the system can make something of it? Ugh, whatever. I have almost 13, 000 points. If I can't splurge a bit now, then when can I? I pulled up the creator's window and got to work.

Choosing Movement Art as a type, I paused a bit on the core structure; my instinct was in collision with my general understanding of Dai Xiu. That understanding was telling me to go for just two or three stances, but my instinct was telling me to go for 7 or 8. I'm not even sure why; maybe due to the sheer variance of possibilities when it comes to melee combat? I don't know, but I decided to trust it and see what comes of it. With that, 55 points were already off the deck.

I opted for the 'Standard' logical connection as I wanted to save some points, though I also knew that this could be where the entire thing gets choked up. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I could also save some points on Energy Type as I actually opted for it being purely physical. This would essentially make the art only useable by Dai Xiu, even if there'd be no outright restrictions. The reason was simple: it was her special constitution.

Even when she's just moving and walking, she is using Qi as it's stored in every inch of her body. As such, she can supplement the lack of energy type through the fact that she naturally has Qi in her legs, something that nobody without either hers or a similar constitution could replicate. I added a minor infusion of Wind and a minor infusion of Sound, totaling up to 110 points. Finally arriving at the Specific Effects & Characteristics portion, I knew that this would likely be the bulk of the cost.

There were a lot of options specifically for Movement Arts--dozens, in fact, with dozens more that were still grayed out--but I couldn't just add them willy-nilly. Two, however, I added off the bat and without thinking too much--Burst Speed, which cost 30 points, and Agility/Flexibility Enhancement, which cost 20. I scrolled a bit past the more extreme options, such as teleportation, short flight, and even stealth, and came upon a rather interesting one: Stop-and-Go.

It cost a whopping 100 points, more than Short Flight, even, which cost 'just' 90. And, as with most things in the system, its description was remarkably vague. Lightly suspends the natural body resistances when stopping and moving instantaneously. What the hell did that mean? I have no idea. I mean, I do have an idea --it likely just means that her ligaments won't be torn off when she accelerates and decelerates aggressively, but to what degree? No clue. Regardless, I added it, totaling to 260 points.

After scrolling a bit more through the options, I frowned; there were a few more candidates, but all of them were simply too expensive. The cheapest one was 130 points, which would put me just shy of my maximum budget, but before committing to it, I wanted to see if I could add anything better somewhere down the line. Pinning it to the back of my head, I moved down to Modifiers. The one that I immediately added without a second thought was 'Reduced Learning Curve', which cost 50 points.

I love Dai Xiu, and I think she's no less talented than any of the other kids, but I've gotten plenty of proof by now that her comprehension abilities are likely the worst out of everyone... and that includes me. She makes up for it by having probably the sharpest combat instincts out of everyone short of Long Tao, but... yeah. Any way I can lower the difficulty for her, I have to take it. With that, I was up to 310 points, but there was nothing else in Modifiers that I wanted.

Well, that's not true; I wanted a lot of things, but they all cost an insane amount of points. There was a particular concept that I think would suit her perfectly called 'Wind Perception'; she already seemed to have some innate connection to Wind, and with this concept, she'd be able to discern even the most minute movements through air currents within some radius around her. The issue? It cost a whopping 800 points. Plus, I don't think it would be particularly suitable for a movement art.

One day, when I redo her cultivation method to upgrade it to a higher tier, I'll probably have to add this to it. My one bet to increasing the art's quality further is to find a way to shave off 40 points and add the characteristic I pinned in the back of my head--Perfect Stabilization. This one, at least, was far more direct than most, acknowledging that it did as its name indicated: regardless of her body's momentum and acceleration, she would be able to immediately stabilize her center of gravity.

This, in combination with Stop-and-Go, would make for a mean combo in close-quarter fighting.... and I found a perfect way to add it. Under flaws, there's a particular one that I wouldn't add to any of the other kids, but it might be doable if it was Dai Xiu: Qi Consumption is increased by X amount. That X amount was a variable I could modify (up to 2x right now for a whopping 600 points), but I don't think even Dai Xiu would be able to sustain double consumption.

I increased it just enough to shave off 40 points, which worked out to be about a 30% increase. Alright. I'm finally done.... no, gotta name it first. And I have a perfect name for it in mind--