Ray woke to the familiar hum of his depot's core generator, the faint glow of dawn glinting off the cracked window. His body felt strong, the gremmeling fight's aches long gone (HP: 170/170, Mana: 170/170). At Level 12, he was no longer the Londoner kid scraping by. William Hatcher's gone, he thought, gripping his Anansi-core short sword (0.5 attack boost, illusion resistance). I'm a White Claw mercenary, building a legacy. The Yomi Protocol's blue screen flickered in his mind, displaying his mutagen-derived abilities—Shadow Cloak, Muscle Boost, Bone Proficiency. These powers are my edge, but I've got to keep them secret.
Ray's HUD
Level: 12 (EXP: 1210/2000)
Stats (Max 100):
Strength: 14 (Enhanced by Orc Mutagen)
Endurance: 14 (Enhanced by Lizardman Mutagen)
Speed: 12
Agility: 14 (Enhanced by Dark Elf Mutagen)
HP: 170/170
Mana: 170/170
Magic (Level 12, Mana Costs):
Elemental:
Fire: Flames (10), Fireball (20)
Water: Drip (10), Torrent (20)
Lightning: Spark (10), Bolt (20)
Ice: Frost Touch (10), Frost Nova (20)
Earth: Pebble Toss (10), Quake (20)
Wind: Gust (10), Tempest (20)
Universal:
Healing: Minor Mend (10), Major Mend (20)
Spatial: Short Blink (10), Long Blink (20, detectable by high spatial users)
Mutagen-Derived:
Shadow (Dark Elf): Shadow Cloak (10), Shadow Veil (20)
Enhancement (Orc): Muscle Boost (10), Power Surge (20)
Bone (Lizardman): Bone Spike (10), Bone Spear (20)
Skills (Level/Uses to Next Level):
Hacking: Level 2 (1/4 uses toward Level 3)
Engineering: Level 2 (2/3 uses toward Level 3)
Swordplay: Level 5 (5/6 uses toward Level 6)
Markmanship: Level 5 (2/6 uses toward Level 6)
Forging: Level 3 (0/5 uses toward Level 4)
Stealth: Level 4 (4/5 uses toward Level 5)
Alchemy: Level 4 (1/5 uses toward Level 5)
Inventory (Dimension Pocket):
Crafting Materials:
Rat Pelts (x830), Rat Blood (x828), Rat Claws (x170)
Boar Hide (x1)
Anansi Silk (x46), Trickster Venom (x49)
Sonic Essence (x1), Mana-disruptive Residue (x18)
Copper Wiring, Rubber Grips, Silicone Components, Bone Fragments, Basic Alloys
Cores:
Lesser Anansi Cores (x4)
Lesser Gremmeling Cores (x6)
Low-tier Goblin Cores
Weapons and Gear:
Impundulu-core Light Armor Chestpiece (0.3 Defense Boost, Lightning Resistance)
Impundulu-core Boots (0.2 Agility Boost)
Impundulu-core Gauntlets (0.2 Strength Boost)
Impundulu-core Crossbow (0.4 Attack Boost, Lightning Affinity)
Impundulu-core Bow (0.3 Attack Boost, Precision Enhancement)
Anansi-core Short Sword (0.5 Attack Boost, Illusion Resistance)
Core-forged Short Sword (Goblin Core, 0.05 Attack Boost)
Bow, Crossbow, Crossbow Bolts (x40), Shuriken
Tools and Misc:
Portable Alchemy Set
Empty Canisters (x3), Meshes (x2)
Truck Keys
Silver Dust, Sea Salt
Ward Tech Mana Sensor (Torin's Gift)
Currencies: 1265 Daalers, Lumen 200, Durin 300
Ray showered, the core-powered hot water easing his muscles. A deafening BOOM shook the depot, flames roaring from a fire rune detonation. My traps, Ray thought, heart pounding. He had rigged the compound with runes powered by his own Mana: fire (explosions), earth (spikes), healing (race-specific plague), spatial (teleports), enhancement (debuffs), shadow (obscuring), lightning (surges), ice (freezing), water (flooding), wind (knockback), bone (piercing). Someone's here.
[Yomi Protocol: Fire rune's popped, kid. Quite the mess—how're you gonna get out of this one, genius?]
Ray whispered, "Mess? I'll turn this into a slaughter, Yomi." He equipped his impundulu-core armor, boots, gauntlets, crossbow, and bow, plus his Anansi-core sword, and grabbed his Mana sensor. Activating Stealth (Stealth: 5/5 uses, Level 5, +10 EXP, 1230/2000 EXP), he slipped outside.
The depot's terrain—rusted tanks, narrow choke points, jagged vines, high ridges—was a mercenary's dream. From a ridge, Ray used Inspection: Bandit Group, 10 Members: Orc Leader (Level 9, Strength 12, Enhancement Magic), 7 Orcs (Level 8, Strength 11, Blades and Guns), 2 Nagual (Level 8, Beast Magic). The orc leader, scarred like the bandit from, roared, "Where's my brother? His scent ends here—human did this!" The orcs charged with warhammers and guns, while the Nagual adopted traits from their homeworld's fauna—heightened smell, agility, elusive forms—sniffing out rune traps. His brother—the orc I killed. Nagual are the priority, Ray thought. Planning wins wars.
[Yomi Protocol: Orc's out for blood, kid. Nagual's sniffing your traps—tricky. Got a plan, hotshot?]
Ray whispered, "I'll burn their noses, Yomi." Using William's bear spray trick, Ray mixed Trickster Venom and Mana-disruptive Residue into a cayenne aerosol (Alchemy: 2/5 uses toward Level 5, Trickster Venom: x49 to x48, Mana-disruptive Residue: x18 to x17). He sprayed it, the mist stinging the Nagual's senses. They staggered, and Ray sniped them with lightning-charged bolts (Markmanship: 3/6 and 4/6 uses, EXP: 80).
The leader's Enhancement Magic boosted his orcs' strength. Ray triggered an enhancement rune, their resistance limiting the debuff (-1 Strength, short duration). A lightning rune electrified two orcs (EXP: 80). Static rounds clipped Ray's shoulder (HP: 160/170). He used a shadow rune to blind two orcs, sniping them (Markmanship: 5/6 uses, EXP: 80). The leader's warhammer shattered a crate; Ray countered with Power Surge (20 Mana, Mana: 150/170) and a jian slash (Swordplay: 6/6 uses, Level 6, +10 EXP, EXP: 40). An orc's blade grazed him (HP: 150/170); a bone rune impaled it (EXP: 40). Another orc's warhammer hit his side (HP: 140/170); an earth rune trapped it (EXP: 40).
[Yomi Protocol: Hammer's swinging heavy, kid. Got any spicy tricks left, genius?]
Ray grinned, "Spicy? Watch this, Yomi." Shadow Veil (20 Mana, Mana: 130/170) hid him; an ice rune froze an orc (EXP: 40). A Long Blink (20 Mana, Mana: 110/170) positioned him above two orcs, whom he swept away with a water rune and sniped (Markmanship: 6/6 uses, Level 6, +10 EXP, EXP: 80). A wind rune dazed the last orc (EXP: 40); Ray teleported behind the leader (Short Blink, 10 Mana, Mana: 100/170), driving a Bone Spear (20 Mana, Mana: 80/170) through him (EXP: 50). The final orc lunged, but Ray sidestepped, landing a point-blank bolt (Markmanship: 1/7 uses, EXP: 40).
The depot fell silent, littered with bodies (total EXP: 450, 1670/2000 EXP). Auto-loot collected orc tusks (x8), a Nagual mutagen (Beast Magic), mid-tier armaments, 300 daalers, 200 Quetzals, 200 Draks, and an encrypted data crystal. Ray used Major Mend (20 Mana, Mana: 60/170) to heal (HP: 160/170). Why does trouble always find me? he wondered, echoing William's cynicism. [Yomi Protocol: Trouble's got your address, kid. That mutagen's juicy—what's the plan, mastermind?]
Ray smirked, clutching the mutagen. "Let's see what it does, Yomi." Activating it, pain surged as his personal reality shaped the Beast Magic into partial transformations from Earth's mutated beasts, distinct from Enhancement Magic's stat boosts. His legs sprouted wiry, clawed rat-like limbs (Rat Agility, 10 Mana, +2 Agility); shoulders bulked with boar-like muscle and tusks (Boar Strength, 10 Mana, +2 Strength); arms thickened into gorilla-like limbs (Gorilla Resilience, 10 Mana, +2 Endurance); hands grew lion-like claws (Lion Ferocity, 10 Mana, +2 Attack); skin gained tiger-like stripes and padded feet (Tiger Stealth, 10 Mana, +2 Stealth); torso thickened with bear-like fur (Bear Endurance, 10 Mana, +2 HP); gills and fins emerged on arms and legs (Whale Vitality, 10 Mana, underwater breathing, no combat). The Yomi Protocol flashed: System Activation: Nagual Mutagen. Beast Magic Unlocked. Partial Transformations from Earth's Mutated Beasts (Rat Agility: clawed limbs, +2 Agility; Boar Strength: tusked muscle, +2 Strength; Gorilla Resilience: gorilla arms, +2 Endurance; Lion Ferocity: clawed hands, +2 Attack; Tiger Stealth: striped skin, +2 Stealth; Bear Endurance: furred torso, +2 HP; Whale Vitality: gills and fins, underwater breathing, no fighting). No full shapeshifting—your reality's grounded, not kraken-level.
Ray flexed, feeling the transformations fade. "Grounded? These'll do, Yomi."
[Yomi Protocol: Beast Magic's wild, kid. Claws and fins? How's the strategist using that edge?]
Ray twirled his sword. "I'll beast my way through, Yomi." He headed inside, ready for new challenges.