Chương 9: Constraints and Innovation

Time until next Elemental Storm: 6 Days I can't see its life force, was the first thing that came into Ethan's mind. The two eyes that stared at him were completely still and feline looking. He didn't move an inch, and neither did the monster in the bush. That's no normal monster, that's for sure. Where's my— He glanced at his spear, but it was propped up against the wall. Damnit, that was sloppy of me. He thought he'd found a place where the monsters wouldn't go. That had made him careless. I could rush it.

If it's only as strong as a wolf, a single DE Overlay strike should do it in. He readied himself to rush towards the spear. Life reinforcement filled his limbs and he lowered himself. The fire crackled, and the lilac eyes darted towards it. A second later, they were back to staring at Ethan. Wait a minute… Ethan dismissed the life reinforcement for a second. Instead of grabbing his spear, he grabbed the meat skewer instead. He ripped a piece of meat and threw it towards the bush.

Before it even landed, he saw a panther face come out and swallow it whole. The face didn't recede once it was done eating, looking back at Ethan expectantly.

"So, you're just hungry. Could've gone about that without giving me a heart attack," Ethan said. He threw a second piece, and the panther came out further to snap it up again. This time he saw more of its body. It was pitch-black thin fur that covered the monster, speckled with white stars that glowed even in the night. They were brighter when the panther was eating, and grew dimmer when it looked back at Ethan.

"Greedy, aren't you?" Again he threw a piece, a little closer. The panther's body came out fully, and even its claws bore a white shine, just like the stars over its body. It had a back that ended in two long tails, and whenever it moved, the monster blurred a little.

"Definitely not a normal monster," He said, and the panther's ears perked up.

"What? You speak English? Or does the system translate into Panther-speak?" He waited for a few seconds for the monster to respond. The time passed in silence, the only sound being the panther licking its face.

"... You just want more meat," Ethan sighed. He would've given the monster the organs he'd harvested, but he'd thrown them into the spike pit so it wouldn't attract this exact kind of attention. Don't I have egg on my face, huh? Should've expected monsters would have a strong sense of smell. Ethan didn't have any non-charred pieces of meat left either, so he threw them at the beast. The panther sniffed them once or twice, but then ate it up regardless.

"At least you're not a picky eater." Ethan threw the rest of the charred pieces in a pile in front of him. The panther came close enough for him to touch, sat down, and started on the meal presented. Ethan watched closely as the panther ate. Even this close, he couldn't feel the life force of the monster. He willed his Talent to work harder, to pierce further, but it had no effect on the panther. Eventually, he gave up, deciding to find out the old fashioned way.

He waited until the panther was done eating, and then moved a hand slowly towards its back. His heart picked up a beat or two as it approached. He brought it close to its soft looking fur, and placed his hand gently on it. The panther shouted an angry growl at him. Ethan's hand jerked backwards, and so did the panther. The monster poised itself, ready to strike at any moment. It had bared its teeth and was snarling.

Any hint of the gentle beast from before had completely gone away, leaving Ethan to worry once more if he was going to get mauled. Just my luck. I thought we were getting somewhere, but I really am just a meal ticket, huh? The panther kept snarling, and Ethan steeled his heart for what was about to come. If he had to kill the monster to survive, so be it. But then, just as fast as the hostility had appeared, it left. The panther took on a proud look, covered its teeth, and turned away from Ethan. Is it… sparing me?

Even if he did hate being pitied, he wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth. Ethan watched the panther walk back into the bushes and disappear out of sight. He didn't even see where it had gone, but it was none of his business.

"You're welcome, by the way…" he mumbled, before preparing to turn in. He put out the fire, grabbed his belongings, and took them into a nearby hovel. It wasn't the most comfortable bed, but considering how tired he was, Ethan couldn't find it in himself to care. He just laid his head down against the leaves, closed his eyes, and hoped for a better tomorrow.

[Unimart Shop feature has been unlocked!] Ethan woke up to another screen staring at his face. He rubbed his eyes before reading the text, and only understood it after repeating it a few times. When he did, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and yawned. Shop… feature?... is that where I spend the credits? You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He already had plans for the morning, but he could spare a little time for the shop feature.

He opened it up, and what looked like an online marketplace popped up. Some of the items in Unimart didn't look any different from a normal marketplace. There were calorie bars, hiking gear, radios, phones and everything else you'd expect. But scrolling downwards, that's where the interesting items came into play. [Polymorphic Self-Repair Garb (Price: 2000 Credits): A set of fabricated garb that will instantly absorb and mimic the first piece of clothing it comes in contact with. It possesses a recharging supply of energy that it can use to repair itself over time. Provided by: Mass Magics] He looked down at his own tattered clothing, and shook his head. Maybe when I start talking to actual people, I'll put on a new pair of clothes. He checked the normal clothing section, and the pricing was actually pretty small. He could probably buy himself a new pair with just fifty credits. But there was something else that piqued Ethan's attention more.

[F-Rank Identification Crystal (Price: 100 Credits): A crystal containing an F-Rank Identification Skill that can be used to check hidden features of any unknown item. Provided by: Mass Magics] The Skill Stone from before came to the forefront of Ethan's mind. 75% chance it turns out to be a different skill stone to the one I already have. If I'm right, I could add a whole new power to my arsenal. An external skill would be his best bet.

Something ranged so that he didn't need to keep getting mauled by all his enemies. I could shoot out lances of death energy, or maybe even affect other people's life force! But he wouldn't mind an aura skill either. Those were the ones that affected the environment around a Designer. And with his essences… It'll probably be some kind of constant healing. Not just for me, but for any allies I make too. That was getting a bit far ahead though.

He didn't even know what kind of allies he'd make on the road, though he was excited to find out. The worst case would be a spirit skill. They were the most esoteric type of skills that one could awaken with a Talent. The only one he could really recall was The Beastmaster, a Designer whose spirit skill let him stimulate and direct the growth of his tamed animals to his preference. With that power, he'd trained ten different monsters for ten different purposes, and become a swiss army knife in tournaments.

Fifty-fifty it's something I actually want. Still not a bad shot. It hurt to part with so many credits at once, but Ethan closed his eyes and pushed the button on the screen. Something materialized out of light a few inches from his face. When he stopped squinting, a double-sided pyramid of white crystal landed in Ethan's hands. Against the shade of the trees, the crystal glowed a tiny bit, but the essence within it wasn't aligned to life or death.

The crystal didn't come with an instruction manual, so Ethan did the first thing he could think of. He brought out the Skill Stone and touched the identification crystal against it. Do something! Ethan thought, and only then did the crystal start humming. The light inside started pulsing in a weird series, and rose a few inches into the air. A few seconds later, the shaking subsided, the crystal fell, and a new screen appeared in front of Ethan.

[F-Rank Identification Crystal is insufficient for analysis of this item.] What? Ethan tried again, wondering if he'd accidentally directed it wrongly. But it didn't change anything. [F-Rank Identification Crystal is insufficient for analysis of this item.] What the hell is going on? The item had to be defective. But Ethan couldn't be sure, so he tried it out on his shrine map instead. This time, the crystal broke apart into dust and vanished entirely. A description appeared in its place.

[Smart Map - Light Choked Jungle (Price: 1000 Credits): A smart map that automatically marks the important locations and items inside of the Wood Shrine "Light Choked Jungle." Provided by: Mass Magics] B-but… if the crystal is not defective, that means… An F-Rank identification crystal can only identify items denoted as f-rank or first realm items. Which meant… This is… an E-rank or higher item… And much much beyond what Ethan Collins was ready for.

There was a world of difference between each realm, and that went for the items as well. Ethan sighed. Great, I just put a target on my back for an item that I can't even use. Had he tried, the overflow of energy from the E-rank stone would've exploded his body. But what if I can handle it? A small part of him thought as he stuffed the unknown Skill Stone into a deep pocket of his duffel bag. He could barely survive the trial. He didn't need to add another risk to it. But I can't just give it away either.

Who knows when I'll come across another one of these? That means I have to guard it. And that's just what I'm going to do. He stuffed the duffel bag back in the hovel and converted a bunch of life essence before he began. Then he picked up some random branches and stuck them upright using the grooves in the platform. He shaped off a small bit of the death essence from a mass, and then spun it into a tiny spear. If I'm not getting a ranged technique from the Skill Stone, I'll just make one.

He launched the spear like a softball, but it went wild in a random direction before disappearing. The essence just wouldn't obey him when he flung it, and it made him twitch with anger. But he was wasting time as he was training and not finishing the shrine quest, so he had to be efficient. He tried different shapes for the projectiles. Spears, arrows, balls, and even beams. Out of all of them, the beam was what worked best. It fired straight and narrow, off of his pointed palms. But why?

Ethan thought back to each motion he'd done. Flinging it, throwing it, flicking to get the essence to his target. He stretched his fingers, and the answer became clear. It's pushing off of my hands! There were too small holes in the skin of his palm where the death beam had fired from. The essence needed something to push off of, and that's why it went so wild before. Even Raphael had needed to hold out his palm to fire his massive globe of death essence.

If that's the case, I've got five digits worth of launching pads for you to use. An hour of training was all he could spare to make, test and drill in the motions for the technique. Animals gathered around him during that time. Squirrels, marmots, ferrets and birds. It made him feel like a fairy princess, though he bet they didn't get their hair chomped on as much.

"Quit it!" Ethan told the squirrel once he'd plucked it from his shoulder. He thought the little monster would be squirming or struggling to leave, but somehow it was completely fine with being held captive.

"You peanut-headed little fuzzball, how the hell did you survive in this forest for so long?" he insulted the lazy-eyed little animal before setting it down. After that, it watched him from afar as he prepared his new technique. It started with making finger guns. He coated the barrel of the gun with a thin layer of life essence for protection, before putting on a thicker mass of death essence at the finger tips. Then, he aimed at the branch ahead of him, and fired.

The death essence ate the life force as it fired off. It flew twenty feet before hitting the middle of the branch and breaking it off entirely. He coated his fingers again, life first and then death, and fired several more shots in succession at his targets. When he ran out of practice sticks, Ethan smiled, looking towards his audience of animals.

"See that? Pretty good shot, h—" But they'd disappeared. —uh? I guess they got scared? It was a little disappointing, he couldn't lie. But the pride in his new technique overcame that. DE Shot. He named it in his head. Not great for major damage, but that was a matter of essence control, which Ethan could fix in the future. Right now, he was ready to blast some monsters in the eye, and that's what he set off to do.