New Ability Leveling System
Chapter 34
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[Water Snake (Lvl 5): Threat Danger: Red]
[Water Snake (Lvl 4): Threat Danger: Yellow]
[Water Snake (Lvl 5): Threat Danger: Red]
[Water Snake (Lvl 6): Threat Danger: Red]
"From the frying pan and into the fire. Why is my luck so bad?" Astaroth asked in exasperation.
If it were just Lvl 4 and Lvl 5 Water Snakes, he might have been able to beat them after a bit of trouble. But when it came to Lvl 6 Water Snakes, he didn't need to be a genius to know that they were very close to being deemed black-tagged organisms by the system…
However, that wasn't to say he would just up and leave all the peacefully sleeping loot, as they were simply begging to be looted!
|Tadpole Flash| X125
Like a blur of green and black, Astaroth phased toward the closest Lvl 4 Water Snake. Even though it was the weakest of the bunch, it was still five times his size.
"If I wish to kill this snaeke without alerting the others, then I need to act a little cowardly," Astaroth said as he moved toward the flaring nostrils of the Lvl 4 Water Snake.
With it being utterly unaware of his presence, Astaroth activated Venom Spit and blew just the fumes of the poison into the snake's nostrils. It wrinkled its nose a little bit, but other than that, it remained in its state of deep sleep.
As the deadly poison circulated through its system and messed with its internals, Astaroth dangled from a string of spider silk. He patiently waited for the poison to finish running its course.
After half a minute, the Lvl 4 Water Snake started to convulse and spasm, but due to the dampening effects of the surrounding water, it moved around just about as much as the other sleeping snakes. Still, just to be safe, Astaroth used 'Chameleon's Deceit' and blended in with the background.
Getting caught was not an option.
Luckily for him, the Lvl 4 Water Snake succumbed to the effects of the poison mist and left for the afterlife.
"..."
After confirming the death of the Water Snake, Astaroth slingshotted toward its head and used |True Absorption|.
When the large canopy of black slime was finished covering up the snake's lengthy corpse, it quickly shrank and reached a very small size.
It was then sucked into Astaroth's spider stomach.
[Ding! You have absorbed 2.2 billion Energy from a Lvl 4 Water Snake!]
[Ding! You have received the following Abilities: [Water Manipulation (Lvl 4)], [Poisonous Bite (Lvl 4)], [Hydrodynamic Speed (Lvl 3)], [Constricting Coils (Lvl 3)]]
"Hmm… I noticed that some of my abilities are stronger or better even though they are of a lower level than others. Why is that, and how can I fix it?"
[Ding! The host is correct! Based on the Lvl of the organism before the host absorbs it, the acquired abilities will be of a similar Lvl. To change this, the host will need to spend 100 billion Energy in order to fabricate a level matching system!]
Question marks went off in Astaroth's head. "A level matching system? And I can create it myself?" He asked in confusion.
[Ding! Yes, the host is able to use Energy to do anything! Even if it involves altering reality itself, the host can do it!]
"This is…" Astaroth was at a loss for words.
However, after regaining his bearings, he realized it likely wasn't as easy as it sounded. "There's a catch, isn't there?" He asked.
[Ding! Affirmative! To alter reality, the host would need to use an amount of energy so large that it's unknown how many eons he would need to spend devouring things to reach that point!]
"But, for now?"
[For now, the host can use 100 billion Energy to fabricate a level matching system that will scale all abilities by a 'unique ranking system'. It will be vastly superior to the guessing games that the host will have to play with the abilities that match to the levels of their previous owners before death!]
"I see…"
Digesting all the information made Astaroth understand that he needed to get back to the grind, so that's exactly what he did.
After the death of the first Lvl 4 Water Snake, there arrived the demise of the second one… and then the third and fourth…
Before long…
[Ding! You have absorbed 11.2 billion Energy from a Lvl 4 Water Snake!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 12.5 billion Energy from a Lvl 4 Water Snake!]
[Ding! You have absorbed 23.8 billion Energy from a Lvl 4 Water Snake!]
[Ding! You have…]
[Ding! You have amassed a total of 120 billion Energy! Would you like to use 100 billion of it and create a unique level matching system for abilities?]
"Hmm…" contemplating this matter, Astaroth ultimately ended up saying, "Can you wait until I reach 200 billion Energy before going through with the creation process?"
[Ding! Certainly!]
Astaroth wanted to retain at least 100 billion Energy before following through with something that would use up most of his current energy stock.
This turned out to be the right decision to make, for when he did end up amassing over 200 billion and told the system it was okay to create the leveling feature, his size, power, and everything else immediately took a large dip…
The decline hurt him quite a lot, but with a solid leveling and less confusing leveling format, he was content with what he had done.
Opening up his system interface, Astaroth saw:
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{[Infinite Energy System]}
[Host: Astaroth]
[Evolution Stage: Bell Spider (Lvl 6)] - [105 billion/500 billion]
[Evolution Area: Pond]
[Energy Storage: 2 billion/50 billion]
{[Top Energy Abilities:]}
[True Energy Absorption (SA)], [Spider Grapple (Lvl 2)], [Blood Drain (Lvl 2)], [Blood Restoration (Lvl 2)]
[Venom Spit (Lvl 2)], [Speedy Regeneration (Lvl 1)], [Spidey Senses (Lvl 2)], [Claw Slash (Lvl 2), [Web Swing (Lvl 2)]
[Tadpole Flash (Lvl 1)], [Paddle (Lvl 2)], [Lunge (Lvl 2)]
[Pincer Attack (Lvl 2)], [Chronic Fart (Lvl 1)], [Hardened Armor (Lvl 1)]
[Water Manipulation (Lvl 3)], [Poisonous Bite (Lvl 3)], [Hydrodynamic Speed (Lvl 3)], [Constricting Coils (Lvl 3)]]
[Head Butt (Lvl 2)], [Tough Skin (Lvl 2)], [Tail Burst (Lvl 2)]]
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