Mutating Gills

"Originally, running from the cave to the river would take about thirteen minutes. However, with his agility now increased to nine, it only took him eleven.

Once he got to the river, Kane sat down to rest.

"Hmm, I'm not as tired as I normally would be... I suppose that's stamina. Fantastic, now even if I'm fighting, I can go longer. Though I want to see how strength affects me. I'll also have to see how they go together..."

Looking at the water, Kane saw shadows in the water zoom by.

"Hmm, could I possibly use them to grind out some experience before I head back?"

With this thought in mind Kane uttered (tentacles).

From the ground beside the water, a tentacle rose.

"Can I catch them with this?"

As a shadow started zooming by, the tentacle quickly reached for it and squeezed.

"I caught it!" He exclaimed. "Let's see what it looks like before I kill it."

The tentacle pulled out of the water. In its grasp was a large fish-like creature about two feet long with razor sharp teeth and bulging eyes. Covered in silver scales, the creature struggled and attempted to break free.

"Hm. I wonder if it would taste good." Kane wondered aloud as he controlled the tentacle to crush its head.

<EXP: 41/1000>

"One experience point... Hmm. I'm starting to piece the rules of experience together. I really need to find more things to kill."

Looking at the fish, Kane slowly developed the urge to cook it.

"Should I make a fire to eat it here? I don't have anything at the village that would really let me cook there..."

With this thought, he got rid of the tentacle and created a new one by a tree.

"Then I'll need firewood." He said as he controlled the tentacle to grab the tree and lift it up.

As the Ent began to struggle, Kane grabbed a rock and began chipping off pieces.

"Some branches. Some chips."

Upon getting the wood, he crushed the Ent.

<EXP: 42/1000>

Separating the chips and branches, Kane went to the side of the river and looked for another piece of flint.

"Not you, not you, not you... Ah! There we go." He mumbled as he grabbed a piece of flint.

"First I need to get rid of the scales of the fish. Can't just eat it whole after all. Well... maybe with (Genetic Mutability) I could eventually."

With the rock in his hand, he removed the scales on the fish before handing it to the tentacle to hold.

"Next is the fire. I believe I'm supposed to start with the smaller pieces first."

He piled the chips together before hitting the flint and rock together to light it. Once it was lit, he began to slowly add bigger pieces of firewood.

Within three minutes, he had a fire he thought was big enough to cook on.

Using the leftover branches, he fashioned a spit.

"Then I suppose it's about time to start. I didn't bring any seasonings unfortunately."

Taking the fish from the tentacle and piercing it with a branch, Kane put it on the spit and began to rotate it.

"This should take a little more than an hour... Well this world might work differently. Hm. I suppose I'll need to pay close attention."

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"Hmm. It looks about ready. So it takes about an hour and ten minutes for this one."

He looked at the fish that was cooked into a golden color.

"That... should be correct right? I don't remember too much about cooking..."

Using a tentacle to lift the branch the fish was pierced by, Kane blew lightly on it a few times before taking a bite.

"Mmmm. That's pretty good."

Swallowing and taking another bite, within five minutes, he had eaten it to the bone.

"Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good. I really hope I had prepared it right though... If I die from eating poorly prepared fish..." His face darkened.

"Well then, now that I've eaten, back to testing my st-"

Suddenly, in his mind, a process he didn't fully understand occurred.

Slowly, a sort of understanding formed, he understood the various parts of the fish.

"I have to test this now."

With his eyes closed, Kane began to will (Genetic Mutability) to change some of his genes.

On either side of his neck, two slits appeared.

His eyes opened and he ran to the river.

"Here goes nothing." He said as he jumped into the water.

*Splash*

Once int the water, Kane prepared himself to get out as quick as possible if need be.

He opened his mouth and gulped in water.

As he swallowed, instead of feeling like he was holding his breath, he felt like he was just breathing normally.

One minute, two, three.

He continued this process for three minutes before getting out of the water to think.

As he left the water, he used (Genetic Mutability) once again to change the slits back to normal.

"Interesting. First, whether it's (Eldritch Brain) or (Genetic Mutability) it seems that eating something will allow me to understand their genes to easily change mine to something similar. Although I've had several meals in this world already, only this one was killed and cooked by me. It also was relatively fresh as I ate it... So maybe there are conditions to fulfill for this to happen. Second, this discovery came with the benefit of me being able to breathe under water. In other words, I can mutate gills for myself. I suppose I need to kill and eat things more often now..."

He debated the various creatures that he would have to eat.

"But since I can mutate myself without it, I suppose that it's something along the lines of figuring out how to mutate certain parts on my own, and figuring it out by looking at a template."

He smiled.

"I wonder if it would work on plants as well... Do they even have genes?" He said as he glanced at a tree.

"I'll have to find out later. I don't think I'm willing to eat bark or leaves just yet. And I'm still not done with testing the stats... I should head back to the cave then."

With that, he started to jog back to the cave.

Twelve minutes later he had made it back.

"A jog back takes about twelve minutes it seems. Pretty good." He mumbled to himself as he walked up to the rock he normally sat on.

"Well then, let's see if I can lift this. Probably should have tested that before adding the point though..."

Bending his legs, Kane grabbed the rock. Slowly, he raised his body with it still in his arms.

"So I can lift it. Then how long can I run around with it?"

He began to lightly jog around the cave with it in his arms.

Eight minutes later, he set it down where it normally was, and laid down on the floor panting.

"It's" *panting* "Exhausting."

Slowly recovering his stamina the panting gradually stopped.

"About eight minutes or so. I definitely don't think I could do that normally. And if it goes as planned, it should only get easier."

Getting off the ground, Kane debated what to do next.

"I could grind experience..."

Suddenly it hit him.

"Oh yeah! I need to go to the guard station. I have to learn fighting techniques."

Tapping his head lightly, he started to get dressed.

In three minutes he was ready.

"It's good to somewhat know my limits, now I should be better prepared for fighting." He said as he began walking back to the village.

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Fifty-five minutes later, he made it back to the village.

Greeting Rylan and Harry, he asked if he could start learning the combat techniques today.

"Of course. Lindsey should be there now. You can ask her to start teaching you. Once my shift ends I should be able to spar with you."

Nodding and thanking him, Kane headed to the guard station.

Once he got there, he walked to where the training dummies were to see if Lindsey was there.

"She isn't outside. Hm. Might be inside then." He muttered as he walked in.

"Lindsey!" He called out.

"Huh?" Lindsey responded as she walked out from one of the rooms inside.

"Oh Kane! What are you doing here?"

"Rylan told me to ask if you could help teach me some fighting techniques."

She smiled.

"Of course. Although I still have a few minor injuries, so I won't be going as hard as I normally would."

"That's perfectly fine, I just need you to show me. Rylan said if his shift ends in time, he should be able to spar with me."

"Then let's head outside and get started." She said as she walked past him.

Following behind her, Kane watched as she grabbed a wooden spear.

"Go on and grab one. We'll start with a spear."

"Okay." He said as he grabbed a spear.

"Well then." She started. "From what I saw from you in the battle, you know how to use the spear at its most basic levels and can calculate the best ways to move in a fight. Mainly using your intellect to substitute for your shortcomings in other areas. So what I think, is that we need to give you higher level skills and strength so that instead of substituting them with your smarts, they compliment each other and make it so you can focus your brainpower on more in a fight."

"So, I basically need to get stronger and learn how to use a weapon beyond the basics?"

"Correct."

"Now based on this idea, we need to start off with practicing the basic principals of the weapon. While you seem to understand them, it's better to practice to iron out any flaws you may have in that area. Then we can start with learning the basics of certain techniques."

"Sounds good. What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to watch what I do, and then repeat the actions. Since you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, you should be able to get it somewhat quickly."

Kane nodded and watched as she showed him a few basic movements.

"Okay." She said as she stopped. "Now it's your turn. Let me see what you got."

"Okay." Kane responded as he began to mimic what he had seen.

As he repeated her movements, he quickly began to feel familiar with them.

"Wow!" Lindsey exclaimed as she watched. "You might be more talented than I thought."

Kane smiled.

"I suppose I am gifted."