"230,000 points, huh..."
Deep in thought, Kenmyo Isayama casually tossed a leftover cucumber end into the air. Suddenly, a small, dark shadow blurred past.
It unhinged its serrated mandibles and cleanly snapped up the cucumber stub in a single, efficient bite.
"You're certainly not a picky eater."
Kenmyo looked at the little monster, which was currently baring its teeth and growling at him. He pushed the rest of the fruit toward it.
"Here, have it all."
Who would have thought that this "glutton," covered in heavy chitinous armor, could be so lethal? Despite looking tiny and carrying a [Congenital Malnutrition] debuff, the sheer difference in raw stats meant it could probably crush Kenmyo's head like a grape if it wanted to.
The Tyranids possess incredibly high racial growth; the only reason this one looked skin-and-bones was because the [Warhammer Simulator] had forcibly hatched it using points.
Sensing a wave of pleasure radiating from the little monster, Kenmyo smiled. The connection between a summoner and his summon was tight; he could feel its state of mind and emotions perfectly.
Tyranids are omnivores—they eat everything. And come to think of it, Greenskins are essentially mushrooms, and mushrooms are basically vegetables. By that logic, feeding it a cucumber wasn't that far off.
Still, Kenmyo felt that if the [Hive Mind] ever found out he was feeding a Norn Queen his table scraps, it would probably send a bio-plasma blast across the galaxy to vaporize him.
Once it finished eating, he returned the little Norn Queen to the summoning space.
Training this little thing was going to be a massive headache. Even in the Warhammer world, no one had ever raised a Tyranid Norn Queen as a pet; there was exactly zero parenting advice available for this particular species. Especially since, even as a newborn, its psionic level was already higher than Kenmyo's. With a single telepathic nudge, it wasn't always clear who the "master" was.
Kenmyo knew he had to quickly convert his new resources into raw combat power. He opened his personal attribute page.
Name: Kenmyo Isayama
Class: Psyker
Level: LV.3, IOTA-grade (Upgradeable)
[Note: Every 10 levels represent a tier. The next tier is Theta.]
[Current experience is sufficient to upgrade to Theta-grade. Proceed?]
Kenmyo swallowed hard. Once he mentally prepared himself, he pressed the confirmation button. Raising one's psionic grade was different from spending stat points—the process was significantly more painful.
[Upgrade commencing...]
Kenmyo's vision was immediately plunged into darkness. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast, silent sea of nothingness. He slowly sank into this ocean, completely enveloped by black water.
The suffocating sensation of being unable to breathe, combined with the crushing silence and the feeling of sinking further and further away from the surface, would have driven anyone with thalassophobia insane. When the surface light dwindled to a tiny speck, the real test began.
[Notice: Warp Projection commencing.] [3... 2... 1...] [Projection Start.]
The sea of nothingness transformed. An evil force began to seep in, and the black ocean started to boil like a kettle under the intrusion of Chaos. Kenmyo's surroundings turned a vivid, bloody red.
A gateway to the Warp opened at the bottom of the deep sea. The seductive whispers of demons and hair-raising, eerie laughter filled his ears. The language was guttural, distorted, and echoed with the resonance of the Warp. Unspeakable, twisted entities began to drift through the water. Whether by accident or intent, their touch filled the mind with primal terror.
Some unknown entities even reached out with both hands to cover Kenmyo's eyes, pulling him down toward deeper, more heavily corrupted regions of the Warp.
The ritual required to ascend as a psyker involved bathing one's soul in higher-level psionic energy to purge lower-grade impurities. This was a projection provided by the system—a slice of the Warp brought directly into this void.
[You have upgraded to LV.8: Theta-grade.]
"Haa..."
When Kenmyo's consciousness finally returned to his body, his back was drenched in sweat.
"I'm... I'm back."
He could feel the psionic energy within him, far more active and potent than before.
"Let's test it out."
Kenmyo's pupils glowed with a faint blue light as he looked at the coffee table. Instantly, the table defied gravity, floating up toward the ceiling. The water within the cups on top also rose, drifting in the air as shimmering droplets.
With a thought, the table and the cups descended perfectly back to their original positions. The arrangement was identical, and not a single drop of water was spilled.
This was Telekinesis. Before, Kenmyo would have needed a physical medium (his hands) to focus the power; now, he could achieve it with a mere gaze. Both his precision and raw power had increased significantly.
As for testing destructive power, Kenmyo wasn't about to use his own furniture as target practice.
With his level raised, the triple-digit mana pool felt like an eyesore. He immediately set to work allocating his free stat points.
[Available Stat Points: 11]
He distributed them as follows: Strength +4, Intelligence +6, Charisma +1. Intelligence got the lion's share since it dictated his mana pool, but Strength was also crucial for physical resilience.
After ten minutes of physical agony that left him gnashing his teeth, Kenmyo opened his updated status:
Name: Kenmyo Isayama
Class: Psyker
Level: LV.8, Theta-grade
Health: 100%
Mana: 150 (Intelligence x 10. Regen: 15/min)
Strength: 9 (5+4)
Intelligence: 15 (9+6)
Charisma: 8 (7+1)
Luck: 2 (Extremely difficult to obtain!)
[Intelligence is an affinity attribute for Psykers. Base Intelligence has exceeded 10 points. Choose one of the following rewards:]
Specialization: Intelligence +1.
Indomitable Will: Resistance to status ailments (Charm, Confusion, Corruption) +25%.
Mana Augmentation: Permanently increase Max Mana by 10.
There's even a system like this?
Kenmyo chose Option 2: Indomitable Will. In gaming terms, this reduced CC (crowd control) duration. It meant he could break free from mental attacks or stuns earlier, and it overall bolstered his mental fortitude.
Upon selecting it, a surge of light flowed into his head, leaving his mind feeling remarkably clear.
With his stats and level sorted, it was time to look at the gear. Kenmyo pulled a scroll from his inventory that was saturated with a thick, vibrant Waaagh! field.
It was the "Power of Belief: I'z Finkin'!"
If used correctly, Kenmyo hoped this would be the answer to his mana shortage problems.