4 Disrespecting my elders
Staring at my new father from behind, I go back to gathering up undergarments to take with me to use once the bath comes. My main concern that my new father's entrance may have scared away the maid that was coming with the fresh towels and soaps. This was Nikolai's usual attitude towards his father, he wasn't brought up as an alchemist so he was still very much a brute in the eyes of those raised with a quill in their hand.
I didn't want to be found out, so I just kept the same attitude that Nikolai had towards his father. The slight disdain, the mocking look on his face as he belittled his father with his eyes. I tried to mock it all with the knowledge that was inside my head.
The burly man stroked his beard, obviously used to the treatment his son gave him as he frowned. Something was off and he could sense it but couldn't put a finger on it, and I hoped that suspicion would go away eventually. He passed it off to the fact that his son just came back from the jaws of death to come back to him so there was bound to be differences.
"I have ordered ten meals for you! You should eat at least my fill before you go out today." My eyes rolled nearly immediately, this bear could eat twenty pounds of meat and ask for a keg of beer afterwards. With his portions, I'm sure that my stomach would explode and I'd be back under the healing effects of those mages.
"I am fine father." I shook my head a bit, truly I was grateful for this man. He was more than likely the reason the healers were here, and he probably risked everything for his son's life. Changing my attitude too much now though could expose the fact I was no longer the son he once knew.
"Fine my ass, look at you! You look like you've had your eyes punched by death himself. Food will be brought after your bath, and.." My new father gave a perverted grin before taking my hand and shoving a few gold coins in it. "..if your mind needs healing the brothel will accept these gold coins. Eh?" He gave a very obnoxious wink before elbowing me lightly.
'Three gold coins in possession, would you like to convert them into system currency?'
A surprised and delighted look passed by my new father's face as I actually accepted the money. "The coins will do well for some herbal medication." The few gold coins vanished from my hand as I pretended to put them in the pockets of the tunic, leaving one gold coin for emergencies.
"That's.. you.." My father held his chest a bit as if he was stabbed, looking betrayed. "A good lay makes everything better son, remember that! It's the motto of the Nightingales."
"I thought it was, 'Life is a forge, strength is a hammer, and our bodies are but iron'?" I glared at my father as he backed off a bit.
"Okay then, my motto! My motto!" He waved his hand dismissively. "But your grandfather said the same thing, one of those gold coins are from him."
"Don't put your words into the mouth of the dead!" I crossed my arms, reprimanding my father. The grandfather he was talking about had been dead a full twenty years.
"I went to visit him today, he agreed all you need is a bottle of spirits, and a good lay!" He slammed down a bottle of alcohol onto the table as if to prove his point, before turning around and storming out of the room.
A warm smile slowly spread across my lips as I took a look at the bottle, it was indeed alcohol but it was an herbal tonic that helps with healing. This father of his was truly a caring person, 'Fine, Nikolai. In your passing I will take care of your father for you, since he is your only family.'
*Ding!*
'Mining done, one strand of gene repair found.'
A minute later another notice came up before I brought up the screen again.
'Mining done, one advancement gene found.'
Huh? I clicked on the glowing symbol that was at the side that looked like a human body. There were two categories in here, repair and advancement with the list for repair already showing up.
Several things caught my eye, from Mediocre Mana Sensitivity which cost 1 to repair, to Ancient Tree of Life Connection which cost over a thousand to repair. Focusing on what cost only one upgrade point it gave me five choices.
Eyesight
Darkvision
Mediocre Mana Sensitivity
Cartilage
Danger Sense
I wanted to get them all, but I selected the mana sensitivity like any sensible person would in a magic controlled world. Decent Mana Sensitivity replaced the previous Mediocre one as I selected it costing five gene repair points now. The world around me seemed to get more vibrant as I chose that, and I could feel something moving around in my body following a set rhythm.
This was considered a mana circuit, that anyone that possessed magic could create to enhance their specialized field of magic. It had its trade offs, mostly that the opposing school of magic was a lot harder to cast than the one you specialized in. Nikolai had specialized in creation magic which could form objects for a limited amount of time boosting his melee capabilities.
I frowned though, with the increased sensitivity I could tell there were many flaws in his circuit, but getting out those flaws would take some time. Wasn't a priority for now so I made a note to take care of that later. Pressing on the advancement tab, another list came up.
Unlike the other one, I didn't hesitate to narrow down my selection to single point upgrades leaving me with ten options.
Grip
Reflexes
Memory
Cardiac Muscles
Skeletal Muscles
Smooth Muscles
White Blood Cells
M Blood Cells
Red Blood Cells
Bone Structure
None of these had any descriptions, though the only one that wasn't in my previous world was the M Blood Cells. They weren't actually blood from what I could tell, but it was another series of veins that ran through the human body that helped gather and flow mana. The better your mana veins the quicker you can make mana flow through your body.
The circuit that was running through his body followed along those veins, picking this would stack on the bonuses that I had so I chose that immediately. Specializing right now seemed to be the best option as unlike a video game character where you could be a jack of all trades, screwing up could cost me my life.
Clicking out of these options since they weren't of use to me anymore, another menu had opened up. I quickly added my workers to start digging again in the same spots before checking out that menu.
Status:
Mental: 89%
Body: 64%
Soul: 52%
Strength: 1*
Flexibility: 3*
Reflexes: 4*
Stamina: 3*
Magic: 3*
Potential: 30*
Tips: Your race has undergone genetic degrading due to the increase in medical treatment allowing the sick to prosper. Fix genetic flaws as soon as possible to go back to the peek of your race.
'Stars reflect how rare your ability in that category you are, this does not reflect age, except the last category, and the maximum for each category is 100 stars. This includes other races, not just your own in the rankings. For your age and race 2 stars is average.'
"Oh, so being human sucks. Can I get a race change then?" I mocked the system.
'Pick up genetic code if other races by killing them, and eating them within one hour of their death. You need a full profile to extract the genes that you want, this requires a large quantity of biological material. Gaining genes from other races may lock away advancements down other routes.'
I really hadn't expected an answer from the system, but that does help me out quite a bit doesn't it? I could kill a dragon and develop its draconic wings being able to fly like one does in the movies.
Taking a look at certain upgrades though, even simple ones like Jump Height which cost a hundred upgrade points this would be a long road.
