Content with my final setup, I closed my eyes to sleep.
...What is this nonsense?! Slimes have inherently good self-modification, yet I tacked on a messy trait crafting system on top, to do item creation? Then tacked on minion creation to add low level logic to the result? This is a horrible mess. I should clean this up.
Tossing out that mess, let’s start over. As a slime, by default I’ve got a weak consumption power… Oh, that’s why cum tastes good. Anytime I absorb something with good energy content I can keep some of that energy for myself. Sadly, the amount gained is so small, as to be almost meaningless right now.
I want to be able to learn more about others. Understanding the properties of other items and/or the properties of other beings is going to be important for optimizing designs for my creations. Physical contact is a reasonable limitation.
Proposal: Analysis quality impacted by range of contact from barely touching to consumed (absorbed). Prolonged contact would improve contact rating for analysis. Knowledge level limited to basic information. Exploitable information: restricted (no learning secret weak points).
Overall power rating: Rank 1. Cost: Very Low.
Slimes already start with good self-modification. It is a key part of their basic attacks and defenses. This should be maxed out (Rank 4; cost: High). The ability to reshape my body, as well as harden or soften it at will is going to be a key element of later creation skills. The trait system employed before is stupid. It limited options with little real gain. The cost savings was entirely too small considering the difference in difficulty of use.
To create things that have included logic systems, I should employ the cloning ability, and unconscious actions. Making physical clones with full capability is very expensive. To keep costs down, I’ll have to add some limits. I don’t want to limit the maximum number of clones, so I’ll have to restrict the power of them, and limit mid combat usability.
Proposal: Can create clones. Clones are created inside internal storage (so I can’t make them appear behind someone in a fight). Controlling a clone directly requires concentration (preventing other actions from being taken by the main body at the same time) and only one clone can be controlled at a time (though unconscious actions are still possible). Clones are limited to a maximum of rank 3 power. If the main body dies, a clone will become the new main body.
Overall power rating: Rank 3. Cost: High
Despite costing as much as a rank 4 power, it’s really only rank 3, because nothing it makes will be strong enough to be much threat to anything above rank 3. Since my clones retain my self-modification ability, I can make clones into almost anything, and since they retain the cloning ability, they can even self-replicate.
Creating programmable unconscious behavior patterns for myself and my clones will enable magical items and defenses to be made that act autonomously. As this doesn’t actually enable actions that can’t normally be done (with proper training and practice) this ability is fairly cheap (Rank 1; cost: very low).
With this, my power is consolidated into two main powers: Self-modification, and clones. Now I just need to update my existing enchantments with the new unconscious action system to make them all work right, and construct a proper user interface for the new features. After that… I should look into improving my ability research capabilities. Knowing what’s possible is super important.
---
As I wake up, my memories of what I did while sleeping fade away like a dream. I can tell now though, Sam is clearly half human and half monster. The monster half is animal type. I think animal and human probably have good affinity for each other. Other monster types are less likely to be able to make offspring with humans without deliberately trying.
Smiling as I hold Sam close to me, I whisper: “Good morning, love.”
He looks at me with his eyes open wide, which I answer by giving him a kiss on the lips and a smile, that he returns.
Sam:
“Hey, if you can modify your appearance, does that mean you can be even more beautiful?”
Ariel:
“I can. I didn’t before because I figured it’d just draw more attention.”
Sam:
“You already draw a lot of attention. An even more beautiful you is something I’d like to see.”
Ariel:
“Alright.”
I still have some spare power to spend on abilities after last night, and a little bit of beauty is pretty cheap.
Ariel:
“There, Rank 1 beauty.”
After setting it, I took a look at my self-view in the UI I built. I look like someone from a cosmetics commercial. It’s not obvious to me exactly what’s changed, but it’s very obvious that I look way more beautiful than before. My now flawless skin is the most obvious change. Not being able to tell exactly what made a face beautiful or not is why I never dared tinker much with settings for faces in character creators for games. Too easy to just end up making things worse.
Sam:
“Wow, you look amazing!”
He hugs me and seems to start crying. Confused I ask him, “Are you okay?” as I wrap my hands around him and hold him.
Sam:
“Yeah, just overwhelmed by how awesome this is. Yesterday I thought I and my friends were all doomed to starve, and now I’ve got this amazing woman with me, and I feel like there’s really hope!”
I just held him and let him cry himself out.
Sam:
“You don’t think I’m a sissy for crying?”
Ariel:
“No. I’m glad you feel safe enough to cry with me. I don’t have any special ability to understand your feelings, so I’m happy to have you share them with me.”
Sam:
*sniff* “You’re awesome. I’m so glad I met you.” *sniff*
Ariel:
“Is there anything you want to do today?”
Sam:
“Um, I’d like to have you meet the rest of my family and friends. The other beastkin like me would probably benefit a lot from learning about monster abilities. Even if we can’t get normal jobs, with this we might be able to become hunters.”
Ariel:
“Unless you invest heavily in concealment abilities, you might find hunting difficult. Monsters usually find it easy to tell how powerful other monsters are, so normally weaker monsters would flee from you.”
Sam:
“Huh? I’ve never heard of monsters avoiding or fleeing people before.”
Ariel:
“That’s because a monster’s power sensing method doesn’t work on humans and registers all humans as powerless. So unless a monster is smart, it won’t know when not to attack, and the dumber ones will continue attacking until slain thinking the human is a weakling.”
Sam’s Stomach:
“Grrwl”
Ariel:
“I guess we should get breakfast.”
After breakfast, Sam took me to see his friends and family.
---
Innkeeper’s view
Having a noble lady staying here makes me nervous. It’s dangerous to upset a noble, and here in the east district, there’s no shortage of terrible hooligans. Then she invited a beastkin to her room! When the two finally left, I could swear she looked even more beautiful than before. Did I misremember her appearance? Or, is it true that love makes a lady even more beautiful? To love a beastkin of all things… this lady must be crazy. Surely insanity can be the only reason for her to be here.
“That’s because a monster’s power sensing method doesn’t work on humans and registers all humans as powerless. So unless a monster is smart, it won’t know when not to attack, and the dumber ones will continue attacking until slain thinking the human is a weakling.”
Sam’s Stomach:
“Grrwl”
Ariel:
“I guess we should get breakfast.”
After breakfast, Sam took me to see his friends and family.
---
Innkeeper’s view
Having a noble lady staying here makes me nervous. It’s dangerous to upset a noble, and here in the east district, there’s no shortage of terrible hooligans. Then she invited a beastkin to her room! When the two finally left, I could swear she looked even more beautiful than before. Did I misremember her appearance? Or, is it true that love makes a lady even more beautiful? To love a beastkin of all things… this lady must be crazy. Surely insanity can be the only reason for her to be here.
