Hiding in a bush across from the tree she planned to climb, Sam lined up her shot for the stag. Thanks to the piercing enchantment, it shouldn't have any trouble getting through the integrated beasts tough hide. Taking a deep breath while pulling back the string and arrow, she aimed for the heart of the stag. She released the the arrow and grabbed another as she ran to the tree.
{Crit shot!: -150HP}
{Double Double Skill Activated: -150HP}
{Piercing damage: -35HP}
{Double Double Skill Activated: -35HP}
Her shot didn't one hit it. However she did hear a suddle ding for something, she'd check her notifications when she was done. For her second arrow she aimed for the neck. The stag only managed to shoot off one lightning attack before it collapsed. Thankfully it was falling at the time and it's aim was off.
{Piercing damage: -35HP}
{Double Double Skill Activ…Uh nevermind (no HP to remove)}
After dodging the lightning attack Sam jumped into the tree and grabbed a branch, pulling herself up. She grabbed another arrow and aimed for the closest Cinderhoof. One shotting it with an arrow to the heart. She kept going shooting arrow after arrow. Weakening the deer. She'd get to the ground and finish off any were left still alive.
Unfortunately for her the Silverhides had healing skills and started healing those they could. Ignoring the others she took those ones out first. Not having the ridiculous health points the stag did it didn't take long for all the Cinderhoofs and Silverhides to fall to her arrows. Just in time as she was running out.
She dropped to the ground and picked off a few of the Dappledbacks that she could 'see' on her map. Knowing they were found out, they took off in a blink of the eye. Sam made the rounds to finish off the few she didn't take down completely with her dagger, however they all seemed to have bled out thanks to some well aimed shots saving her the trouble.
Like all integrated beasts their bodies disintegrated leaving behind a plethora of loot, coins and cores. Checking her map for any threats she bent over placing her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.
She wasn't physically tired but the adrenaline from the fight slowly dissipating wore her out. She walked around the clearing storing her loot in her inventory and then called it a day.
Well, actually she did have one quest she could finish. Double checking her map again. She found a cluster of boulders to protect her back as she made a fire and then sharpening a couple of branches, she diced some chunks of deer meat and pierced them on the two branches. She even sprinkled some dried herbs she had brought along. She then stabbed them into the ground over the fire turning them ever now and then.
Finally she could look at her gains from the fight. What was before her could only be described as a quintessential 'Wall of Notifications'.
{Ding! Congratulations you killed a Level 6, Blue Tier, Rare Lightning Stag}
{Ding! Achievement:
"Sneak Attack! (Or Not)"
Description: Land a critical stealth attack, then get caught.
Bonus: +2 to Perception}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +2 Perception}
{+120xp}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +120xp}
{Ding! Congratulations you killed a Level 5, Level 4 and Level 3, Orange Tier, Uncommon Cinderhoof}
{+240xp}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +240}
{Ding! You've Leveled Up! You're now level 7 189/1142xp)
{You've Gained +2 STP, +3 SKP}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +2 STP, +3 SKP}
{Ding! Congratulations you killed a Level 4, Green Tier, Uncommon Silverhide x3}
{+210xp}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +210xp}
{Ding! Congratulations you killed a Level 3, Green Tier, Uncommon Cinderhoof x2}
{+120xp}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +120xp}
{Ding! Congratulations you killed a Level 4, Orange Tier, Uncommon Dappleback x2}
{+160xp}
Double Double Skill Activated: +160xp}
{Ding! Achievement:
"One-Man Band"
Description: Defeat enemies using only one spell or weapon.
Bonus: +2 to Strength}
{Double Double Skill Activated: +2 to Strength}
As she bit into her first deer meat kabob, yet another notification popped up.
"Oh for fucks sake! Alright Jarvis we're going to have to do something about this. Any way you can.. like condense these notifications? Maybe remove the Double Double ones and just add it all together? This is getting ridiculous. There's a reason people silence their notifications." Sam grumpily said chewing her meal.
{"Well if you remember there was an option to do just that. Silence your notifications."}
"Yes, I am aware. However I enjoy the little dopamine hit every time they pop up. THIS, is a little much. Can I get a… I don't know, a combat report? Or something at the end of fights, especially when dealing with multiple enemies?"
{"Fine! But only because it's a brilliant solution."}
Smiling while taking another chunk of meat she read the newest notification.
{Ding! Quest complete! Fire and Teeth}
{Reward: +100xp, Satiated Buff: A satisfied belly does wonders - You will not feel hungry for 24 hours}
"Oooh I like that buff! Guess I can save the rest of this. Also is that the condensed double double version?" Sam said putting the remaining kabob into her inventory.
{"It is"}
Looking at all the cores she had, she counted five fire, three light two air and one lightning core.
"Jarvis, how does the core percentage work for progression?" Sam wondered if she had enough for the day or if she needed to go hunt some more. She already had an inventory full of hide, antlers and meat and cores. If nothing else she needed to empty her inventory before going out again.
{"It's pretty straightforward, every level boosts the core by 2.5%, and for the tier it's Green 5%, Orange 10%, Blue 15%, Purple 20%, Red 25%, White 30%, Gold 50%. Though most non-integrated animals never get their paws or hooves on anything above Orange. Unless maybe a large pack of carnivores going after low levels."}
"Ugh math…" Sam's shoulder dropped "Sooo…"
{"So, after your haul, depending on how you divide them Tempy could gain 60% for the lightning core and another air core, Iggy would gain 89.5% using all the fire cores, Sunblaze would gain 60% using the light and air cores. She could finish her integration but I'd suggest her last core being as high as you can get to give her tier a final boost"}
"Sigh, thanks for that. So Sunblaze would be at 80%, Iggy at 99.5% and Tempy 70%... But still no idea what rarity?"
{"Yes. However Tempy, if you could get another rare blue core, even at a lower level would most likely be a rare. But like I said rarity would just tell you the type of beast she'd be. It's the tier you want. She might get a bonus to her skills if you can kill another Blue Tier and probably be a Blue Tier herself.
The rarity, while also determining the beast type to a degree, only really benefits their loot in their Integration forms. Their resource rarity boosts the quality attributes of the items made from them.
Iggy and Sunblaze will most likely be Orange Uncommon. Since their progress will jump so high. If you manage to get higher tier cores that may be enough to change their tier, with the remaining power giving them a boost.
I would also suggest staggering their consumption of the cores to allow them to acclimate. Also I'd recommend getting an air affinity core for Sunblaze "}
"Alright, that settles it, we're going back home"
Sam threw dirt and water onto her fire to snuff it out, and then made her way home. The whole way home she felt like something was watching her, but the map didn't show any enemies near by so she ignored it and just ran home getting the last couple kilometers she needed for her quest.
Finally arriving home, she pushed aside the camouflage hiding the entrance and walked inside. Thankfully her 'All Tongues' assisted her with convincing a curious Tempy to stay inside. Iggy had no problems obeying the rule as she didn't care too much for the outdoors.
"Hello my lovelies, I am back with treats for you." Sam said petting and giving scritches to the kitties.
They rubbed up against her legs and Tempy made use of her claws pulling herself up Sam's leg. Plucking her off and cradling her in her arms. The kitten purred in delight at the attention.
Sam walked over to Sunblaze and gave her a good scratching as well, telling her what a good girl she was for watching over the rambunctious duo. She then pulled out the lowest grade light core and fed it to her. Glowing once again the horse shook herself feeling rejuvenated. Sam took another look at Sunblaze's progress.
{Name: Sunblaze 'Sunny'
Age: Adult
Species: Domesticated Horse
Level: Un-Integrated
Integrated Process: 40%
HP: Full}
{"With the common cores you can probably give her another tonight before you go to sleep"} Jarvis helpfully added.
"Sounds good" Sam agreed
Making her way over to the kitchen, she put Tempy down and picked up their now empty bowls. She refilled their water and gave herself a reminder to fetch more.
Then she took out the lightning core and the lowest grade fire core. Looking at the blue core which was roughly the size of a lime and then back at Tempy. Who currently was sitting still, tail flicking back and forth rapidly, while staring at something on the wall tilting her head back and forth. A head almost the same size as the core.
"Uh, Jarvis, quick question. Will breaking the core release the mana into the atmosphere or something? Cus this thing is way too big for a little kitten mouth. She'll probably end up batting it around until it gets stuck somewhere." Sam asked.
{"Fear not you can crack it open without fear. Or even melt it down in hot water and add her food into it. A kind of mana stew, if you will. The core itself has a pleasant taste for animals. So no fears she'll walk away from it. Just don't add too much water."}
"I always swore I'd never be one of those 'cooking for my pets' types and here I am. Making a stew for my kitten. Might as well do the same for Iggy." Sam said shaking her head.
She lit the fire and placed two metal bowls on her makeshift counter. She divided some meat into each, even adding some chopped up manaweed for a little boost. Might as well go all in.
She filled them with water until it covered everything by a couple inches and then plopped one core into each bowl. The colour would help tell them apart. Bringing them to her campfire she settled the bowls onto the makeshift grill that sat over top of it.
The flames just barely touching the containers. With a spoon for each, she stirred the mixture until the cores melted. The meat didn't necessarily have to be fully cooked for the little beasties so she just let it sit there for a few minutes to let the core soak into everything.
Some of the water had evaporated away but Jarvis was kind enough to go into an overly scientific explanation about evaporation rates and water and liquified core density. Essentially the mana core didn't boil away.
"Alright, come and get it!" She said after letting it cool a little after transferring it into the kittens bowls.
Sitting back she watched each devour their meal.
"I take it you are enjoying it?" The was no response, obviously, other then content purrs.
Once they were done and the flow receded she checked their status again.
{Name: Ignite 'Iggy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Domesticated Cat
Level: Un-Integrated
Integrated Process: 22.5%
HP: Full}
{Name: Tempest 'Tempy'
Age: 2.5 Months
Species: Domesticated Cat
Level: Un-Integrated
Integrated Process: 50%
HP: Full}
"Perfect, I'll give you another tonight." Sam said when they came over for more snuggles.
"I suppose I should get these other quests done…they are daily after all. Might as well get the benefits while I can." Grabbing a rather large bucket she went to leave the the cave when her eyes travelled to her new workbench.
'Hmmm' she thought. Going up to the bench she searched the database for what she was looking for. "Perfect!" Finding it, she provided the items from her dwindling supplies and places them on the bench.
"Create" the telltale magic glow receded and standing on the bench was a large water barrel.
{Ding! You've created a large water barrel}
{+150xp}
Seeing the reduced notifications, she smiled. She moved it into her inventory and after gearing up she called out to Sunblaze.
"Wanna go for a ride girl?" Sam opened the makeshift gate and walked in. Saddling her up and putting the bridle on Sunblaze, she led her towards the cave opening. "You girls be good and stay inside." She said to the kittens as she left.