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Current Evolution: Bobtail Squid
Rank: A
Size: [Extra Small]: 11 cm
Heath Points: 3/3
Speed: 1
Attack: 1
Sight: 1
Mobility: 2
Current Skills:
[Ink Blot] Level 1
[Sucker Punch] Level 1
[Tentacle Grab] Level 1
[Hide] Level 1
Mating Skills:
[Squid]: Large Load: Increase initial stats +2
'Umm, Mom, how come my stats are baseline?'
'I think MainFrame changed something with the System and there is no leveling system, just a ranking one now.'
What the hell? MainFrame did this on purpose? Nah, I must have been something that just happened, but the thought still left me with an eerie feeling.
'Well, feed me the other points from the Harem system. Two can play at this game Mr. MainFrame!'
'Alright, but be careful, MainFrame doesn't like cheaters and it will do some nasty things to try to make you lose because of your system. I think you should hold onto the point until you need them.' -Tequila.
That was a very good point about points, my points, all the points, and now to the point. I was an itty bitty little tiny rainbow-looking squid. I looked around and I was surprised how sharp the image was, and it looked almost like a bright moonlit night and it was a peaceful scene.
I started to move around and I was surprised to find that there was nothing in the area I was in, but when turned there was a massive wall behind me. Okay, maybe it was only massive to my smaller than a fist-sized me, and I might just easily be able to swim over it with no effort, but that didn't make it loom any less.
Okay, let's see what is over there...what's going on…
'Octopuses and squids move using jet propulsion. They suck water into a pocket in the cavity surrounding their bodies and quickly expelling it out a narrow siphon.' -Tequila.
Hmmm...suck in...weee! I shot up and over what would be considered a half meter tall rock by normal human eyes. I immediately shot down and into the sand trying to cover myself as fast as I could.
[Hide] Has increased to Level 2.
There were fish everywhere, and almost every one of them was bigger than I was. It was like the land of the fricken giants! What was I supposed to do? Mom, any help?
'Sorry, I am being blocked from telling you…' -Tequila.
Mom cut off and a message in red popped up in my HUD.
//TIME TO PLAY THE GAME, DAVE
Really? Now I had no guide and a computer A.I. with a temper that thinks I am cheating, just peachy. Well, fine to hell with this jerkwad Mr. MainFrame! I will win just like I do every time.
//I HEARD THAT AND NO YOU WON'T
Oh really now? You don't think I will win? Want to make a bet?
//WHAT DO I GET THAT I CAN HAVE?
You can be me and don't think I don't know. You wouldn't be throwing such a hissy fit over the system that your bosses gave me if you were jealous, right?
//...WHAT? JEALOUS? I HAVE NO 'BOSS' AND I HAVE NO NEED TO USE YOUR BODY IN THE MANNER YOU SUGGEST. I WILL TAKE YOU BODY AND TURN IT INTO MANY MORE!
Sure, buddy whatever makes you float. Are we done yet? I need to figure out how to play the game.
//I WILL RETURN THE [Tequila] GUIDE, AND I WILL TAKE YOU BET WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Easy, more SP for my Harem System and for you to piss off. Is that too high of a price? Let's say 100SP for my life? It's nothing to the computer god, right?
//DEAL, BUT I WILL BE UPPING THE DIFFICULTY FOR YOU.
Why do you have to be such a cheeky bastard? I swear...but it wasn't worth the curse and it was gone. I no longer felt like I had someone over my shoulder, but suddenly my eyes picked up what looked like a tiny little shrimp floating towards me. Okay, it was the same size as me, so not what I might call tiny. Oh, was this my first prey?
I prepared to lash out with a Tentacle Grab, but right before the little bugger got in range, another fish came and grabbed it, devouring it whole. Great, what an asshole of a fish, just an easy-going squid here, TRYING TO GET SOME LUNCH! Dammit, I would just have to wait, anything else was basically suicide because I would end up like that freshly eaten shrimp.
I waited and time passed, this was not what I was thinking when I picked this squid. I was very tempted to use my skill points, but Mom said not to.
'Just be patient, okay? Something will…' -Tequila.
[Tentacle Grab]
[Tentacle Grab] Has increased to Level 2.
GOT IT! As Mom was reassuring me, I noticed something to my right and I lashed out, catching a mini-lobster with weird claws. I pulled the struggling creature to be ready to hit it with a Sucker punch, but it turned its large claw toward me and snapped its claw. I realize too late what this thing was, a Pistol Shrimp.
[-1 HP] ⅔ HP
I tried to get behind the shrimp, by pushing out water, but three of my eight suckers got hit by whatever kind of weapon this creature just used.
[Physical Resistance] Skill has been gained.
[Scan] Skill has been gained.
[Scan]
Name: Pistol Shrimp
HP: ⅚
Skill:
[Bubble Bullet]
[Hide]
[Scan] Has increased to Level 2.
Everything flashed across my screen in a blur, but I got it all, I just had to avoid that damn claw. I was behind the creature and I pulled myself to it, five suckers raised.
[Penta Sucker Punch]
I smashed down into the exoskeleton of the pistol shrimp and crushed it. The body turned to black particles and I quickly dug back into the sand. Just because I had won was no reason to get sloppy now. I was still a thumb-size squid, but one that just messed that shrimp up!
[Sucker Punch] Has increased to Level 3.
[Exoskeleton] Skill has been gained.
[Bubble Bullet] Skill has been gained.
I felt something start to change on me as soon as the messages left my screen; it was like someone was pouring that special chocolate syrup on my head and then it hardened. I could see what I looked like, but it didn't matter, it was some kind of defense and I needed every advantage I could get and that water shot should be useful! I could just hide and shoot things down like a sniper!
Suddenly another message popped up, and then I lit up with a tiny burst of light. I was sure I was dead now, but I looked around at the fish above and none were coming for me. That was a relief, if they could have seen that I would have been like a beacon for the predators! Woohoo! I ranked up!
[Rank A+] Acquired!
Current Evolution: Bobtail Squid
Rank: A+
Size: [Extra Small]: 12.5 cm
Heath Points: 4/4
Shield Points: 2/2
Speed: 2
Attack: 1
Sight: 1
Mobility: 2
Current Skills:
[Ink Blot] Level 1
[Sucker Punch] Level 3
[Tentacle Grab] Level 2
[Hide] Level 2
[Scan] Level 2
[Exoskeleton] Level 1
[Bubble Bullet] Level 1
Mating Skills:
[Squid]: Large Load: Increase initial stats +2
...Well, that was not as impressive as I thought. Hey, Mom, how many levels are there per rank?
'There are five tiers per letter' -Tequila.
How many letters are there, Mom?!
'Twenty Six.'
Okay, then what about the cap on the skills?
'You can only have twelve skills and If you get rid of one it is gone forever. There are no skill caps, MainFrame has removed them.' -Tequila.
Well, I guess that means that we can expect some seriously dumb thing to show up, but that damn computer was going to lose. I would grind the shit out of this world and find the girls and any others along the way! I was going to get those one-hundred Skill points and tu
rn the girls into real gods!
Chapter 178: Poor Menu Choice
I looked around myself and I didn't really see anything that was close to me, so I decided that I would try out my new fancy skill, Bubble Bullet. I wasn't sure where the attack would come from, but I extended one of my longer tentacles towards the rock I had swum over.
[Bubble Bullet]
Instantly, a small bubble shot forward from my tentacle and exploded, making a small *pop* noise. Well, now that was disappointing; the bubble had traveled no more than a couple centimeters. That was not was I had expected, but it wasn't useless, though now I would have to stay still for a while or risk attracting too much attention.
'Mom, is there any way to move around slowly, without trying to pull myself or do the weeee thing?'
'You have fins on the side of your mantle that can be used for steering and slow movement.' -Tequila.
My mantle? What is that? My head? I tried to move my...fins...yes, there we go! I could feel the flaps waving and trying to pull myself out of my sandpit, so I stopped.
Now I knew how to move and catch prey, time to put them to work! I looked above and there were still tons of giant fish roaming around, so going up wasn't an option. There were coral ahead and smaller fish in it that didn't look like they would eat me, so I looked around again and wiggled out of my sandpit.
Once out, I used my fins to slowly propel me forward, keeping my eyes peeled and ready to use my ink spurt at a moment's notice to try and get away, but it was uneventful as I wandered into the reef. Once inside, I was blown away by the number of colors filling the area.
[Underwater Mobility](Passive) Skill has been gained
It was like an underwater rainbow garden and it was filled with life! As pretty as it all seemed, I came here to get some experience!
I let myself fall down to the bottom of the reef and then noticed a shrimp floating casually not too far from me. This one wasn't the same as the last one I fought, more of a normal variety, so I lashed out at it.
[Tentacle Grab]
I latched on to the struggling shrimp, but it was stronger than it looked and was trying to break my grip.
[Bubble Bullet]
I used the blast of air close range hoping to knock out the shrimp, but to my surprise, the shrimp broke apart into little black particles.
[44%/100 Experience]
Okay, now this is what I am talking about! I looked around again, but nothing was paying me any attention. I let myself fall back down and looked around again, trying to spot my next prey, but also keeping a watchful eye to the sky...or up I guess. This body made me very nervous, the tiny bit of shell I had would have no more help than the chocolate ice cream topper if something big wanted to eat me.
I settled down and decided that the hide and wait tactic would be my best option right now. For something as small as me, there were a lot more things above the food chain than below, but I would just have to be patient, but I also needed a scan of the shrimp. Once I had that, then I would know roughly how much damage I was doing with my bubble.
There were so many unknowns and no clear way to even check my stats except for when an ability or I leveled. I would need to test how often I could use my abilities, and if the ink spurt did anything but a little cloud, but I will save that for right now.
[Hide] Skill Level has increased to 3
[Active Camouflage](Passive) Skill has been gained
[Moonlight Camouflage](Passive) Skill has been gained
What is this? I looked down and it was hard to tell me from the sand I was hiding in; now that was cool.
'Mom what does the moonlight camo do?'
'Bobtail squid are nocturnal hunters, this ability makes you illuminate to match the brightness of the moon.' -Tequila.
There we go! Ho! I was gonna be the night time extraordinaire! Suddenly, something inside of me told me to sit extremely still. It was like a cold shiver, but it was the movement in the water and I could...feel the sound of the swishing of sand as something approached from behind.
[Hide] Skill Level has increased to 8
I was frozen as the ugliest fish I had ever seen slithered by me.
[Scan]
Name: Synodontidae/Lizardfish
HP: 42/42
Skill:
[Bite]
[Chomp]
[Active Camouflage]
[Scan] Skill Level has increased to 5
It was brown, red, and other sandy colors and about ten times my size. Yup, I was frozen still, if I moved, I was done for. The Lizardfish suddenly dart up, and into a passing school of fish and snatched what looked to be a clownfish. Never found them that funny, but better him than me, and now the ugly bastard was out of sight and I was free to get back to my grind!
[Scan]
A minnow looking fish swam by me. I got a quick scan of it, but it was getting away...no it would get away, that massive ugly fish put the fear of God into me and I would just wait. Now, I looked over the scan that was still on my screen.
Name: Slippery Dick
HP: 7/7
Skill: N/A
What the hell was that? Was that a real fish name? Well, the Slippery Dick had no attack, so that looked like my next...meal? No, my next...target? Mmmm, I don't know, fuck it, I was going to kill a Slippery Dick! There really wasn't a good way to say this, but that didn't matter!
I could feel another Slippery Dick getting closer to me and I started to get a completely unreasonable fear because it was approaching from behind. This thing had no attack, and I would be fine, it was just a Slippery Dick approaching me from behind…
[Tentacle Grab]
[Tentacle Grab] Skill Level has increased to 3
[Scan]
I lashed my tentacles up to grab the fish, but the scan again threw me off; why was it scanning it again? But, as I latched on to the fish I realized why.
Name: Big Slippery Dick
HP: 12/12
Skill:
[Dash]
Oh shit.
I automatically pulled myself to the fish, by now I was holding on for dear life! Big dick is right! This thing was almost twice as long as the last one I scanned!
[Bubble Bullet]
[-3] 9/12 Hp remaining
I tried to use it again, but nothing, so I kept trying until it did, but I counted the seconds.
[Bubble Bullet]
[-3] 6/12 Hp remaining
Five seconds was a long time, but I couldn't pull myself closer to sucker punch this asshat. The Slippery Dick was dashing nonstop, but it wasn't trying to hit anything so I wasn't in too much danger.
[Bubble Bullet]
[-3] 3/12 Hp remaining
The problem was that we were just a pair of moving targets for any predator in the area, but the chase was almost over now.
[Bubble Bullet]
[Bubble Bullet] Skill Level has increased to 2
[Rank A++] Acquired!
[Slippery Dick Killer] Title has been acquired and applied!
That was enough, the fish disintegrated into the black particles and I fell down to a patch of sand and buried myself up to my eyeballs. No chances being taken. Time to look at the new fancy things!
Current Evolution: Bobtail Squid
Title: [Slippery Dick Killer]
Rank: A++
Eexpreaince: 11%/100
Size: [Extra Small]: 12.5 cm
Heath Points: 5/5
Shield Points: 3/3
Speed: 2
Attack: 2
Sight: 1
Mobility: 4
Current Skills:
[Ink Blot] Level 1
[Sucker Punch] Level 3
[Tentacle Grab] Level 3
[Hide] Level 8
[Scan] Level 5
Harem Reborn c1-297 Page 75