Chapter 38: System Testing

Recalling the damage Scarlet had taken, even if she’d faced multiple toads, made her realize how utterly outclassed they were in that Crystal attack; strangely, the only alien she could replicate in this space was the one she’d fought, adding more depth to her knowledge of the place.

I have to personally meet and contend with the person to have an accurate base, I suppose. What are the conditions; do I have to see them in combat? No... It’s proximity-based.

Flipping between the Green Berets and how close they’d interacted, she discovered a set distance of between three to five meters. Certain things were also impossible to uncover, such as the Berets who wore masks having static-like faces once removed.

There were limitations to this mental space, but it would be an indispensable asset, and it might even be possible to sleep in this meditative state; she’d have to consult her grandfather for advice in that area because that could completely change the game.

"Hmm?"

Rachel’s mind was instantly diverted as her status window popped up, indicating changes to her Feats and putting a smile on her lips.

[Strategic Mind - Advanced to D-tier]

[Mental Acceleration - Advanced to D-tier]

[Bestial Instincts - Advanced to C-tier]

"So...even in here, I can exercise these Feats? They’re advanced through use then, and there could be hidden Feats I can gain through certain actions, plus whatever Cerridwen and this new goddess Eostre blessed me with. Hmm..."

Leaving it there for her initial assessment and deep dive, realizing she needed to look up who this new goddess was, her anxious feelings dissipated, and Rachel created an armchair to drop into.

In listening to all the college kids discussing The Oscillation and the System, she’d been mildly surprised at the forethought many had regarding the change in their society; sure, most of it had been wrong, but what they had gotten correct was huge.

Unfortunately, there was an expiration date on the worth of such information, which was why she had to move fast. It was nearly priceless at the start, yet word would swiftly spread, diminishing the value, which put a timer on all she’d gained through this experimentation, and she needed someone with a lot of influence to sell it to; whoever she was going to meet better have the sway she required, or she was screwed.

Pulling up the menu, she studied her level 6 advancement—Anthony hadn’t been joking when he said level 5 was huge—processing her options:

[2 Stat Points Available]

[1 Stat Modifier Point Available]

[1 Feat Extension Available]

[1 Refinement Point Available]

[1 Branch Feat Point Available]

For Stats, she threw one point into Toughness to compensate for her Power and handle the recoil of her Speed; it was the remaining point that made her frown.

Continuing to pump points into her Dexterity seemed like the right decision, but if all of this testing and the previous battle showed her anything, it was that she needed better long-term stability in a fight.

Eyeing the Stat Modifier, she hummed; sure, right now, Endurance was Below Average—and she felt it—yet something to take note of was that the modifier didn’t specify how much it would improve. A minor improvement to an extremely high Stat could mean nothing if the amount was fixed, but in a lower Grade Stat, it could significantly improve the base.

Deciding to test it before adding the Stat Point, if anything, to have another piece of information to add to the value of her proposition with the military, Rachel sank the upgrade into Endurance.

[Endurance Grade Modified - Increased to Above Average]

Rachel internally cheered; from Below Average to Above Average was huge. She’d been right in there being a hidden number given between each Grade. The point was a flat amount boosted; otherwise, it would have only advanced to Average.

Sure, it could have boosted one of her higher Stat Grades, yet due to it being a rounded number and not a percentage, that difference would likely be minimal compared to increasing the lower ones.

Now comfortable with adding the point into Endurance, she moved on to the next item on the agenda: Refinement, Feat Extension, and this new Branch Feat that bypassed the limited equipped and appeared to be linked to an Achievement of advancing to Level 5.

Refining a Feat was reasonably straightforward; it would increase its base abilities, and a swift examination of her list made her curious. It didn’t specify what could be refined since this System was fairly hands-off regarding possibilities, though that also made it flexible.

Her eyes hovered over one Feat in particular that had Zoe seething due to how broken it had proven to be, and she pulled the trigger. Her smile grew at the notification.

[Primal Force X] - Refinement Time - 7 Days

It was unexpected that it needed a set period to accomplish, but she should have expected it, given the name; still, Zoe’s explanation as to why it was so broken had completely sold her.

Zoe...you’ve created a monster, she thought with a laugh. An EXP base multiplier that will be shared with those in our party, and might be multiplicative or additive with other mythickin joining in to increase the overall EXP pool? So much to test.

The Feat Extension was more restrictive, giving her three options that included her previous ones, which was interesting:

[Strategic Mind I: Split Focus - Allows the user to split their attention to multitask better.]

[Mental Acceleration I: Rapid Mode - Allows the user to enter an advanced mode for two seconds; 5-minute cooldown.]

[Divine Beast Empowerment I: Seventh Sense - Further delving into the supernatural aspect of the Feat, the user is able to sense potential threats and adds a minor penetrating affix to bypass all cloaking methods.]

It amused her that it named it a seventh sense since [Bestial Instinct] was technically her sixth. The fact it gave her more perception abilities was huge, especially given what she’d seen from the Scarlet Hand, and, while the others were far from useless, the potential of a seventh sense was too great to pass up, given the unknown elements the Crystals and legendkin quests brought—she went with the last option.