Game Over!
John commented to himself: "Finally this seed is ready to sprout a lovely flower, there is a good chance of a mental meltdown. In either case, this test subject has little value left. Next steps should be in proper order by now, a long time of observation has led to a soar in success rate. 95% is good with other 5% being accounted for with multiple contingency plans. Let's see if she can save herself again, I am quite curious"
"System show me my growth options" John commanded.
[1. Improved constitution
2. Stronger metabolism
3. Faster speed
4. Keen intuition]
"How interesting, the new paths do not focus on a single organ, but the more general use of the function. The same logic applies to this round as well, a better constitution would be a conflict of interest with my goal. Metabolism has no value left after this round. Intuition can contribute to my plan, but speed is more pressing" John concluded, then commanded the system: "I chose option 3"
Jill was tirelessly swallowing plants, some time ago, she had stopped caring about proper orders of eating. She would take the plant with all the roots and dirt attached to, while John digested everything that came inside her stomach. If the cruelty of this event was ignored, the teamwork of these two would have impressed many. She stopped wondering about her digestion, time, future and all the danger; the only piece of comfort in such time was a smiling face. The smile seemed to have profound meaning behind, Jill had seen it on many occasions. Now that she had more time, she could see some hidden pain, or her mind was starting to play tricks on her. Suddenly she stopped, there was no more authority forcing her to consume. This would have caused a celebration in a different moment, but Jill had a very bad feeling about this. It felt like some insects crawling inside her skin, Jill hated insects from the bottom of her heart. Then there was only pain, so severe, it made the smile fade away; she tried to keep the picture in her mind. She ran after the memory with all might, but the distance would only grow. After a while, she asked herself: "Why am I running? What was I chasing? Who am I?"
Abruptly her mind blanked-out. Once she awoke from a dreamless sleep, there came a sentence with the same voice but different feel. "Huh, so she was not lucky anymore, now I have complete control"
John thought: "In the third level, mana imprint started to touch upon the soul as suspected. But it did not fully develop, just lightly grazed it. This experiment showed until we are strong enough to force this process to a halt, all hosts should possess a residing soul in control. It is also concluded that the mark works in a programmed manner, so hiding would not cause any issue for the time being. However, every 10 levels should have some sort of bottlenecks. When the body is hypothetically fully scanned for abnormalities, it should also signal a sudden burst of attributes"
"System, show me status window"
[Name: Jill
Race: mutated rabbit
Level: 3
Class: Runner
HP (Health Point): 2.5/3
MP (Mana Point): 1.6
SP (Stamina Point): 3.5
Attributes:
Strength – 0.15
Dexterity – 1.00
Constitution –0.30
Intelligence –0.05
Wisdom –0.05
Charisma – 0.01
Skills: N/A
Condition: Permanent brain injury
XP (Experience Point): 0/25]
"So, the increase in attributes is more focused on speed with some effect on overall physical fitness. It is really interesting that this system does not care if the host is sane, rather the presence of the soul is the only requirement. Since I do not wish to be branded and controlled, preparations are in order. And it seems level 3 is not the limit for this creature, it could be that she is special or previous calculations are incorrect"
Altering his plans, John started to devour plants again, now that he had complete control. Sometime after the XP bar was filled again, with far fewer plants insight than before he started to ravage the land.
"Now would be a good time to take a rest, going back to her community would pose some issues. They might recognize the difference in habits, and after her absence for such a long time, she would most definitely be grounded when she returns. Running away would not pose any issues, but I don't plan to involve more variables. There are many unknown factors within this new world, as I expand my knowledge, it seems caution is of the utmost importance" John thought.
Looking around with his new vision, John saw the fields of greens, with occasional colorful flowers in their midst. It would have been a touching scene for anyone with heartbeat; yet, for some odd reason, the lonesome rabbit within the field was looking around with indifferent look in its eyes. John moved around in his new vessel, testing limits of freshly attained abilities. The speed was as fast as Long-legs, who he had hunted many days ago. He had calculated the speed of jackals and foxes he had seen, when in plant form. Compared to them, he could easily hold his own; granted they were not an advanced class. He had decided to call these strange levels, above the life force genetic limits, advanced class. He moved around some more assessing surrounding environment, for predators, traps and other rabbits. However, he did not ask the system about future growth possibilities, as the options given now, would be under the influence of her broken spirit.
Night came, taking the bright light of day away. Which was strange, since the high ceiling would not allow any sunlight to shine inside. Night had been prime time for hunting amongst many predatory species, so the rapid rise in the number of dangers came as no surprise to John. He tried to slow the breathing rhythm of the vessel, concealing his presence. Unbeknown to him, a fox was hazardously approaching his hiding place. Sharp nose, ear, and eyes would give any prey a hard time staying unnoticed. Step by step the fox came closer, at this pace, it would only be a matter of time before John was chased. Meanwhile, John was slowing the breathing until it completely stopped, and for the scent, he used wet soil. Since he had control over this body, concealing himself was an easy task for him. He was quiet, like a stone, the fox found no trace and unwillingly left. Other than the fox incident, the night was very peaceful.
Then came the morning after, with John out of hiding, he was about to start his journey towards the rabbit community. But first, he asked the system: "System, show my growth options"
[1. Improved constitution
2. Stronger metabolism
3. Super speed
4. Keen intuition]
"It seems this creature truly suffers from limiters, the options are exactly the same, besides super speed, which makes a lot of sense, no one with a sane mind would grow a zoo with no restraints. So, it means I will encounter many magical beasts designed to protect this place in the future, it sounds very fun! Now for the obvious choice"
He chose the speed enhancement option again, but this time with full control he improved the body, by personally directing the mana and some life energy to proper genes. Since he knew more about genetics than some pre-programmed function of the core, the ending results were more than impressive. To such extent that it would bring envy and jealousy from other members of the rabbit community if they were informed. "System show my new stats"
[Name: Jill
Race: Advanced mutated rabbit
Level: 4 (MAX)
Class: Advance runner
HP (Health Point): 4/4
MP (Mana Point): 2
SP (Stamina Point): 6
Attributes:
Strength – 0.3
Dexterity – 2.00
Constitution –0.50
Intelligence –0.05
Wisdom –0.05
Charisma – 0.01
Skills:
1. Sprint (you can activate this skill to increase your speed by 1 level for 5 seconds or until mana is exhausted; uses 0.5 mana per second)
Condition: Permanent brain injury
XP (Experience Point): N/A]
"It seems I made this round of transformation much more fruitful than the ones before, as suspected the program really has no proper idea on how to improve the body, rather it pressures the neurons within the brain, to improve the organs by force, thus the mental pressure. Now, with me taking control of the process, I used all of the energy properly, with no wastes, on designated cells and genes, making a smooth evolution with full health at the end and no backlash. It seems my class and species have also changed to a more advanced version of mutated rabbits. By a stroke of luck, my name seems to collide with their naming!" John concluded.
All of a sudden, John started to run towards the rabbit community whilst using his new skill sprint.
"It seems my speed has increased by a notch, around 50%. It feels great to run free after all this time. I just passed the rabbit village, ah there seems to be a rabbit following me. Its speed is impressive but cannot measure to me" John was thinking these lines, while the pursuer ran after him.
John stood still and turned around to confront his chaser. Then an abrupt shade on the ground appeared, on top of John; similar to fall of a tree. A bear had jumped out of hiding towards her target. How could she let this small rabbit leave? It was game over for any unfortunate soul that became her aim.