7 Selecting and Usurping?!
[Day 2... Can this day just be done...]
Right as Abel saw his new trait, he clicked on it using his mind.
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[Usurp]
[Take one beneficial Trait, Characteristic, or Skill of other races. Making them different and stronger than the originals and suited to function along with your other skills. Devouring the victim completely will give their stats; depending on whether your stats are lower or higher than theirs, you will get more, or less, stats.]
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Abel looked at the description but still asked Omi, 'What does this mean, and also what is the average intelligence for human adults?'
"Well, Master, what it's saying is that any of the zombies' Traits, Characteristics, and Skills will be stored for later perusal and selection within the System. As for the average adult Human's stats, they would all range at about 10 each..." Omi said this while anxiously watching for Abel's reaction.
'Hmmm, that's useful to know that Usurp can keep whatever I can select from the beings I consume to choose for later.
That makes sense now that I think of my thought processing being compared to that of an infant's.
Also, at least now I'm not as stiff as I was thanks to the zombie's stats that I Absorbed. Thanks for clarifying that for me, Omi!' rubbing Omi's head, Abel thanked her.
"Hehe! It's a pleasure, Master!" she said while giggling and squirming with glee at having her head rubbed.
'So, let's see what I got from using Usurp on the zombie.'
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[Skills to Select]
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[Nurturing Corruption]
[Using the zombie's Skill, Infectious Disease, the Trait Usurp has twisted its nature to suit your skillset.
No longer having negative effects on others, you are able to use this after using Corrupt to mutate a selected being, causing them to undergo metamorphosis and unlocking their own unique Trait through the process.
It also has the chance to increase the strength of their dormant Bloodlines or Physiques.]
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'So, I can only pick this Skill, Omi?'
"Sadly, the zombie was not able to unlock its own Trait or Characteristic yet." she said with a disappointed look on her face, while thinking that the zombie had somehow wronged her.
'Well, that's too bad; we'll just have to find a zombie that has them unlocked then.' he said while rubbing Omi's head with his finger, causing her to devolve into a fit of coquettish giggles once again.
Abel then clicked on the Skill to select it. Which after selecting caused his Status to open up highlighting the Absorbed skill.
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[@%$&#%! $%@# System]
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[Name: Abel Obsidian] | [Age: 17]
[Race: Husk]
[Physique: Unknown]
[System Lvl: 0]
[System Exp: 0/10]
[Host Lvl: 0]
[Host Exp: 0/10]
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[Stats]
Health: 610.5/610.5
Mana: 190/190
Strength: 1.1 | Dexterity: 1.005
Constitution: 1.1 | Intelligence: 1.1
Vitality: 5.005 | Wisdom: 0.8
Agility: 1.005 | Spirit: 11.1
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[Skills]
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{Novice Skills}
[Appraise: 11%] | [Wither: 5%] | [Corrupt: 0%] | [Nurturing Corruption: 0%]
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[Trait(s)]
[Usurp: 1%]
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After looking at the changes on his Status screen, Abel noticed that the Host and System exp hadn't gone up after killing his first zombie.
'Omi, why didn't my experience go up?'
"Ah! Sorry for not explaining that to you, Master, but if you use Wither on a target, you won't receive experience. That includes when you use Usurp; you will not get any experience from the kill, but you will get stats." Omi said this while sticking her tongue out cheekily.
'Hmmm, oh well, let's just move on since there's no way to do anything about it.'
Abel then looked at the three other zombies, using Appraise on each one of them.
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[Name: Raphael Sanchez] [Age: 17]
[Race: Zombie]
[Physique: None]
[Level: 0]
-
[Stats]
Health: 600/600
Mana: 20/20
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[Name: Adam Davis] [Age: 17]
[Race: Zombie]
[Physique: None]
[Level: 0]
-
[Stats]
Health: 600/600
Mana: 20/20
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[Name: Liam Smith] [Age: 17]
[Race: Zombie]
[Physique: None]
[Level: 0]
-
[Stats]
Health: 600/600
Mana: 20/20
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(A/N: The stats for all creatures without intelligence are the same, unless they are of higher levels or of variant/mutant versions.)
Looking at the stats that were exactly the same, Abel decided to just make a small wound in their skin so that he could use Wither on them to Absorb their Vitality, killing them in the process, following which he would proceed to eat them as he needed the stats.
Facing back towards the infirmary, there were two zombies on the left by the infirmary's door and another one on the right.
Seeing that the one on the right was far enough from the other two and that it was alone, Abel decided to kill it first.
He took about 15 minutes just to walk 3 meters to the first zombie, but at least he was faster than before having his stats boosted by the zombies.
Lifting the Broken Stick, he brought the sharp splintered part near the back of the zombie, trying to pierce through the shirt to get to the skin of the zombie, which is where shit hit the fan.
Like a switch going off in the zombie's head, it started growling like a feral dog as soon as the Broken Stick pierced through the shirt and its skin, turning to lunge at Abel with its arms out.
Luckily, the stick was still between them, pressed against its back, causing the stick to tear open the zombie's flimsy, decaying skin all the way to its ribs like wet toilet paper when it turned.
Sadly, Abel was not strong enough to hold onto the stick when the zombie made the sudden turn, having it ripped from his weak, dried-up hands when the stick got caught on a rib.
The zombie then did a clumsy lunge/drop toward Abel while it was turning, so he placed his right forearm in the zombie's mouth.
Sadly, what he didn't realize was that the gash he made was also on the zombie's left side, and now he had to find a way to get his left hand in there so that he could use Wither while the zombie was busy holding his left arm while biting his right arm.
'What the hell, why are these bastards so sensitive to damage?!' Abel complained while wrestling with the zombie on the ground.
Having had enough, he decided that drastic times called for drastic measures, so he bit the fucker right in the throat, activating Wither through his mouth.
This time his mana, which he assumed was this feeling coming from his chest, went through his neck and into his teeth and throat, causing the zombies Vitality to rush down his throat, making him feel as if he were a man dying of dehydration in the desert, and suddenly he had found an Oasis with the sweetest water, giving life back to his body.
Thinking about how he wished to just use the Usurp trait like this so that he could just consume anything in one go.
He activated it subconsciously, causing the soothing feeling to be replaced with an ever-ceasing emptiness that drew everything that was in its way into itself like a blackhole, which increased the usage of mana.
Following that, a familiar never-ending darkness left his mouth, enveloping the zombie and breaking it down into particles of energy that entered through his mouth, going down his throat to the crystal within his chest.
After which, the darkness started to recede back down his throat towards the crystal within his chest, but what followed was a crippling weakness that caused him to fall to the ground, unable to move whatsoever.
