Lycan Transformation, Gameplay Differences

Kirou was currently walking around Elderwood Village. The conversation he had with Bladesmith got him thinking about a few things about his weapon master class. The fact that he would eventually have had to get the blacksmith subclass to get his own personalized weapons was surprising. That wasn't info he was privy to before starting the game. He understands why he would have had to do it in the long run, especially with all the weapon designs he has in mind, but he couldn't help but take note of this detail. Hell, the only reason he got it so early is due to him finding some common ground with Bladesmith from the start.

'I guess this game isn't so simple as the game company's advertisements made it seem so far. I wonder what else I will stumble unto while playing this game.' Those were Kirou's thoughts as he was opened up his status menu. He's been receiving a reminder from the system for a while now so he decided to check it out.

Name: Kirou

Race: Werewolf(Lycan/Human)

Class: Weapon Master

(The collective term for all mixed-breed races is Half-lings but since this is a wolf variant, I'm using the term 'werewolf'. I'll probably point out each half-ling later on if necessary.)

Subclass: Blacksmith, Cook, Alchemist, Armorer.

Traits: Lycan Transformation(Minor)(Available), Keen Senses(Minor), Adaptability(Minor), Information Analysis (Minor), Man-at-Arms(Class), Forge Your Own Path(Class), Fast Hands(Class), etc.

Skills: Pickpocket(active), Silent Steps(passive), Ambush(passive), Cutthroat(active), Shadow Clone(active)

Level: 5

HP: 192/192

MP: 160/160

Str: 15

Int: 13

Def: 14

Mag Def: 14

Const: 16

Dex: 11

Agi: 11

Luck: 55/100

Phys Attack: 55 (45+10)

Mag Attack: 39 (39)

Phys Defense: 33 (28+5)

Mag Defense: 31 (28+3)

Movement Speed: 5.5 m/s

Attack Speed: 1.65/s

Skill Points: 25

(Every level increases each stat by 1 point until the level is a multiple of 5 where all stats are increased by 3. As for the skill points, they increase by 1 for each level and by 5 at every multiple of 5. This is to help out certain classes later on.)

After taking a look at his stats, Kirou noticed that there was an active message next to one of his traits. Wondering why that trait was being highlighted, Kirou activated it. That caused his body to change from the dark-skinned human with tribal tattoos wearing coarse linen clothing to that of a humanoid wolf with black fur. Unlike before where he stood out like a sore thumb, Kirou currently looked like any other lycan roaming the village. The only difference between his body and that of pure-blooded Lycans was that he was slightly smaller and not as wild looking.

'So this is what the system was alerting me about.'

Apparently, the trait 'Lycan Transformation' was unavailable to Kirou since the start of the game due to him not being at the requisite level. The moment he got to level 5 the skill finally became active and the system kept prompting him to use it. Maybe even the system found it weird for a half-ling like him to be in human form while roaming around a village full of lycans.

"Seems like this form comes with some pros and cons with its usage," Kirou said that to himself as he noticed that after he changed forms, half of his base intelligence and magic defense was lowered and added to his attack and defense. It seems like he also got a 50% boost in agility as well with this form.

Instead of heading towards the village head Old Wolf to complete his quest, Kirou made his way outside of the village. He suddenly felt the urge to test out his new weapons against the monsters. Don't get him wrong, the fight against Bladesmith's shadow was fun but he needed to see how good his weapons worked against regular monsters.

**********************

Reya was currently on her way to turn in the final quest to the village head of Thousand Wood Village. She was currently lost in thought, thinking about that human(?) she met in the forest a few hours ago.

She remembered how this seemingly average looking guy asked for advice with plant harvesting and preservation. The man himself didn't look remarkable or all that strong but he just had this presence around him that made it seem like he could accomplish whatever he wanted if he was interested. It was for this reason why she initially decided to help him.

Reya, herself, had traveled quite far to get to where she had met up with Kirou in that forest. She had done so solely to collect plants that weren't available near her village. In doing so, she forgot to kill the beasts and collect their respective materials as she was so focused on those plants. The two making that deal to trade materials probably benefited her more than it did him as she was sure she wouldn't have been able to collect materials of such quality on her own.

Speaking of material quality, it wasn't just her that was surprised by them. Apparently, all the quest givers she had to report to were surprised to see materials of that quality. In their words, even the best hunters in the village wouldn't be able to guarantee that they would be able to get items of such quality if they went out to collect it themselves, much less in the quantity that she gave them in.

This caused Reya to confirm that her initial impression of Kirou was off the mark as his feats couldn't be described as anything but remarkable, especially by elven standards. She couldn't help but wonder what Kirou was currently up to as she felt strangely curious about his actions.

'I hope I'll be able to meet him again tomorrow. Maybe I can get him to show me how he was able to acquire those materials for me.' After that thought ran through her mind, Reya shook her head to clear any other stray thoughts from forming and continued on her journey to the village head at a brisk pace.

*******

Bang!

Bang!

Crit [-115]

Crit [-140]

The body of a wolf was lying on the forest floor with smoke rising from its body. Upon closer inspection, one could see a few dark spots on the wolf's body. The marks themselves weren't big but you could tell that they were made by something hot.

Kirou was currently a few meters away from the wolf's body, lowering the barrels his tonfas. It seemed that that attack was him testing out the effectiveness of the tonfas' ranged damage and it's effective range.

'Seems like I can't go beyond five meters with this thing or the damage drops drastically.' That was Kirou's thought as he was currently surveying the results of his test. This was the seventh wolf Kirou had slain using the ranged mode of the tonfas. So far he has checked the damage between half a meter to twelve meters. Up to five meters the attack will always hit but beyond that other variables start affecting the shot. Kirou was still able to hit the target from nine meters away with a few shots but the damage was too low to be of relevance. Beyond that, even with his great skill in using the weapon, he was not able to hit a single shot. His pride would have taken a hit if it was his fault but it seems that the weapon itself won't be able to hit anything beyond ten meters. It seems that the prototype gunblade tonfas just aren't good enough for it.

Weapon: Prototype Gunblade Tonfas

Weapon Level: 5

Weapon Type: Unranked

Requirements: 10 Strength, 20 Attack

Attack: 5-25

Ranged Attack: 10-30

Description: Prototype weapon created as a collaboration between Player Kirou and Weapon Master Bladesmith. This weapon shows potential but its current form is lacking in many areas. Recommended that it be upgraded as soon as possible or be scrapped, whichever works.

Looking over the stats of the weapon and its description, Kirou couldn't help shaking his head. He couldn't help but wonder who it was that made the description for his weapon.

'It's almost as if I'm being hated for something outside of my control.'

Kirou then shook his head free of these thoughts and approached the wolf's corpse. Just as before, he was about to skin it and harvest all the required materials when his hand stopped a few inches away from the corpse.

'This seems like a perfect time to test why those guys were having so much trouble with this,' was what Kirou thought to himself. Afterward, he opened his menu and change his gameplay mode from 'Manual' to 'Automatic.' After doing so he then placed his hands on the wolf's corpse.

As soon as he touches the corpse, it turned into particles of light and vanished. Kirou immediately received a prompt on the items he obtained from the corpse.

[You have received the following: damaged wolf fur x1, average wolf fur x1, average wolf bone x1.]

Kirou stopped in his tracked and blinked at the message he just saw. He blinked a few more times just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"What the f**k?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!" Those were the words Kirou spoke after seeing no change in the prompt.

'Maybe it's just a one-time thing and it's because I used it as a target dummy.' Kirou thought this in denial as he didn't want to believe what he just saw.

He then found another wolf and used the knife he was given by Bladesmith to make quick work of the wolf. He then reached out his hands to touch the corpse again.

[You have received the following: average wolf fur x2, average wolf bone x1, average wolf canine x1.]

'...' Kirou was at a loss at what was before his eyes.

Kirou then proceeded to kill another wolf. This time, he killed the wolf with his bare hands just to avoid damaging anything on the wolf's body.

[Generating skill...]

[Skill generated: Stunning Blow]

[Generating skill...]

[Skill generated: Kidney Blow]

Kirou ignored the two newly created skills and rushed to touch the corpse again.

[You have received the following: great wolf fur x1, average wolf fur x1, average wolf canine x1.]

"..." Kirou was speechless.

In denial, Kirou hunted a dozen more wolves using a mix of weapons and empty hand combat, only to see the same message each time.

In the end, Kirou finally stopped hunting the poor wolves. He said nothing and thought nothing. All he did was to open his status menu, go to gameplay settings, and swapped it back over to 'manual.'

"Yea, I'm gonna pretend I didn't see anything and just go hand in this quest then go to bed. I've got to get up early and do my daily routine after all. I can't let my hobby stop me from building up this weak body after all." Kirou said this out loud as he turned around and made his way back to the village. During this time, he never once thought about what he had just done, nor even thought about testing out the other gameplay mode.

It's as if he erased everything that happened in the last half-hour from his mind and had no intention of repeating it, ever. It wasn't until he finally made it back into the village, seeing the players scurrying about, that another thought went through his mind.

'You guys have it tough. Maybe I should sell you the materials to complete that quest.' No sooner had the thought flashed into his mind that he shook it from his thoughts. 'Yea, no. That sounds like work and I'm not gonna do that. Best of luck you guys. You are gonna need it.'