22 - Share Status

“Sooo…oh, whoa. I think that worked.”, Claire rumbled loudly, "So we're in a Pack now?”

David nodded dumbly as he stared down at the behemoth Claire had become in awe.

She had easily doubled in size, standing almost 10 feet tall at the hip, thick armored plates covering her back from her head to the tip of her tail. She'd gained muscle, mostly in her neck and legs, giving her a stocky bullish appearance. Her jaws had widened, and her scaly skull was now encased in bony armor, thick horn plates protecting her snout and jaws. The tiny useless arms had lengthened and swelled in size, and now sported sturdy hooked claws while long sharp teeth protruded slightly from her maw. David couldn't help but think she’d gotten rather lucky with her Evolution.

“Okay, now say ‘Share Status'. I stayed up reading about it after I hunted the uh…jackalope? Bouncey-llama? …Breakfast.” David trailed off for a moment, "We really need names for these things.”

"Yeah, you do that a lot. Share Status."

David blinked in surprise as a screen appeared in front of him, displaying his Status for a brief instant before flickering and replacing itself with new information.

User: Claire Dombrowski

Species: Bonejaw Brute Α

Rank: E

Health: 230/230 (++)

Stam: 100/100

Level: 5

Exp: 084/125

Special: Shred D

Traits: 4/4

Survivalist F: Slow metabolism allows for longer periods between feeding, lowered water requirements.

Next Upgrade: E

Shred D: Your attacks ignore a moderate amount of the enemy's physical defenses. Repeated attacks cause Wound ailment.

Next Upgrade: C

Raw Power F: Your bloodline thrives in battle, bolstering your vitality. (health+)

Next Upgrade: E

Large C: Your form is large, weighing no more than 5,000lbs. (health+)

Next Upgrade: B

Abilities: 4/4

Kick E (2pts): Lash out with your clawed feet, damaging a single enemy. Mild Stam consumption.

Next Upgrade: D

Rend F (2pts): You rend the target, inflicting Bleed. Moderate Stam consumption.

Next Upgrade: E

Grab D: Seize your target, grappling them and inflicting damage over time. Variable Stam consumption.

Next Upgrade: C

Thundering Roar E: Let out a thunderous roar, intimidating enemies and bolstering the physical attack and defense of allies for a short time.

Next Upgrade: C

Mutagens: 4/5

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Swift Mutagen B: Augments musculature and neural pathways for increased speed/reactions.

Lithic Mutagen E: Stone-like deposits harden across the skin creating living armored plates.

Devourer's Mutagen D: Allows for rapid healing for a short time after consuming fresh food.

Lockjaw Mutagen E: Strengthens your jaws, improving the damage you deal with bites and grab effects utilizing your jaws.

Empty:

“What happened to not wanting to be mean? And where the fuck did you find a healing ability? I spent forever looking for those and didn't see a single one.” David barked in irritation as he read through her Status before dismissing it, “Share Status.”

Claire rumbled again as her snout began to move as if she was reading, and David felt the sound in his chest as much as heard it, "I think it's from the special Evolution. It mentioned that the bloodline swallows enemies whole.”

“Oh, so you can pick ‘noob eater’ and it's cool but when I wanna get in on the action I'm snarly?”

"Nah, you had a point. I thought about it and you're probably right. All those quests wanted us to fight stuff, there's no getting away from it. And if everyone else can't even manage to evolve I need to be able to protect my family from people that did when I find them.”, Claire replied with a hint of guilt at having shamed him for his own choice.

Shit, now I feel like an asshole. How are we even gonna find her family? Or mine? The other waves haven't even started yet, and we don't even know when they're supposed to begin. I wonder if they're all still at home back in the…

“CLAIRE! Did you live in the city?!" David screeched suddenly, leaping down from the fruit tree nimbly to land on her broad armored back.

“What the fuck? Who said you could ride me asshole?" Claire hissed loudly before shaking herself and sending him flapping back into the air indignantly, “But yeah, my job’s over in Redfield, and I live in the city. Good old Riverport, same as you.”

"You think everybody is still there? We panicked and took off, I can fly and you're fast. We just booked it because that's what our instincts told us to do, and we ended up out here. Why don't we go back?! I bet there’s stuff we missed!”

Claire's jaws fell open; she stood there breathing heavily for a few moments as her pupils dilated in excitement. She sucked in a massive breath and roared back at him loudly enough to scare the insects around the meadow into flight.

“WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT BEFORE?!”

"I DUNNO I WAS BUSY TRYING NOT TO GET EATEN!” He screeched loudly in reply, further scattering the wildlife.

David let himself drift to the ground in front of her, craning his neck upwards as she stared down at him. Claire flexed her claws reflexively in anticipation as she considered the possibilities before she slowly became hesitant, clacking her jaws the way she always did when she thought of something negative.

“Actually, that might be dangerous. What if people attack us? I'd shit myself if I saw you, no offense. I'm probably just as bad on the other end of the spectrum. How would we even recognize our families anyway? I can't even fit into my mom's apartment anymore and…and I…what if they…”, Claire's voice was quiet and uncertain by the end of her diatribe as she trailed off.

“We don’t know any of that until we go look, it might take a day or two for you to get there now that you’re…uh…” David began strongly before waffling a bit.

“Are you calling me fat?”

“Oh shut up, what I mean is...Okay, this is gonna sound stupid but bear with me okay?” David rattled off, “Most games have like a, uh, new players zone? Where you can learn about the game system and things aren’t as dangerous. Our System seems like something you’d see in games like that, but we just ran off immediately and ended up here. It’s possible we just fucked up, and we weren’t supposed to make it this far yet.”

“Are you saying that we made it harder on ourselves by freaking out and trying to run away then?” Claire seemed to consider what David was saying critically.

“Honestly? I think we did. There are still 2 days left before most people finish the Survive 7 Days quest for their evolution, and I don’t think they’ll be getting a special evolution for doing it that way. Think about it. The message from Omega seemed to imply it was a reward for ‘participating’ in the Integration, and that they were learning things from our ‘data’. I bet that’s because nobody wants to leave a safer zone if they don't have to.”, David sagged a bit on his feet as he chattered everything out in almost a single breath.

“So we go back and do what, exactly? Terrify everyone we meet into hiding under a rock?

“Honestly? We just try to find out what happened to the people that aren’t in Wave 1 and see if there are quests we could do now that we have an edge. If it works like I think it might, we can just backtrack and get a bunch of xp for a huge lead now that we evolved. Then if we do run into assholes that try to hurt us…Well, y’know…” David’s lips crept up over his large sharp canines in an entirely unpleasant-looking smile.

Claire’s jaws snapped together meaningfully in response to David’s grin as she replied, “Alright, I’m in. How do we find our way back though? You just gonna fly around until you find it?”

“Nope, I already know…sort of. I know where the river is from here, and I know Riverport is upstream. We’ll just follow the river.” He gestured with his head in the river’s general direction as he spoke.

“Oh, perfect. I haven’t drank anything since I hatched and I’m starting to get kinda thirsty.”

“..well shit, let's get moving then. We got the whole day to get there, we can make it for sure.” David flattened the grass around him with the wind from his wings as he leapt into the air and called back at her, “It’s just up this ridge, and over the foothills in the woods!”

“WHY IS IT ALWAYS UPHILL?!”

David grinned slightly at Claire’s anguished roar as she began to jog after him.

Time for some answers, but first let's get Claire a drink. I feel like I’m forgetting something…