Then, he moved to absorb the Morphic Stones. Beyond the Pneumonic Enhancement Stone, the stones existed for the purpose of upgrading his Predatory Grace Attribute to Delta class. He’d considered upgrading the Hunter’s Domain to Delta Class instead, since the ability was so useful, but it was a double-edged sword. A Delta class version of the Domain would be more costly in terms of Mental Energy, in addition to being more likely to cause sensory overload. Wielding a Psionic Capacity a class higher than your own was generally advised against, for good reason. This was less true for Personal Attributes, so Daniel decided to upgrade that instead. A Zeta class stone would give him one MP and an Epsilon class stone would give him 3. That would be enough to upgrade the Attribute.
In theory it would have been more financially effective to buy 7 Zeta class stones and use those to upgrade the attribute instead. Unfortunately, one could only glean MP from a stone that was of a lesser class than the ability being upgraded once. So, he could only use a Zeta class stone to get 1/7 of the points he needed for the Attribute. To use another example, he could only get 3/15 of the points he needed to upgrade his Delta class Attribute from an Epsilon stone. Furthermore, A Zeta class stone would be totally useless in upgrading a Delta class ability, as stones couldn’t provide any MP to abilities two classes beyond their own.
The results of his most recent stone absorption looked like this:
User Name: Daniel Sylvester Hardgrave
Age: 18
Pioneer Class: Epsilon
Rank: Private Second Class
Status
Strength: 193 -> 208
Dexterity: 201 -> 220
Constitution: 164 -> 185
Adaptability: 171 -> 194
Psyche: 188 -> 214
Psionic Capacities:
Slot 1: Hunter’s Domain (Epsilon) (MP=1/10)
- Establish an Extrasensory Domain with Psionic Energy surrounding the User.
- Senses are enhanced within the Domain. User extends Senses throughout the Domain.
- Dexterity is enhanced while the Domain is active.
Slot 2: Destroyer’s Strike (Delta) (MP=0/21)
- Use Psionic Energy to temporarily Enhance a user’s limb or weapon.
- Enhancement increases the attack power and durability of a limb or weapon.
- Enhancement reaches its pinnacle when first activated, losing power quickly over time.
Personal Attributes:
Slot 1: Predatory Grace (Delta) (MP=0/15)
- Significant enhancement of natural Dexterity.
- Improves the ability of the User to move silently.
- Scales with Dexterity (D) and Adaptability (E).
Slot 2: Titanic Might (Delta) (MP=0/15)
- Considerable enhancement of natural Strength.
- Toughens skin, making User harder to damage.
- Scales with Strength (D) and Adaptability (E).
Slot 3: Pneumonic Enhancement (Epsilon) (MP=0/7)
- Increases lung efficiency, allowing User to survive with less Oxygen.
- Allows User to more easily convert the atmosphere around them to Oxygen, making breathing in many hostile environments possible (e.g. Breathing underwater)
- Scales with Adaptability (E).
Integrated Technologies:
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Slot 1: Archangel System (???) (Power=5.2%)
He had specifically chosen stones to give him an all-around stat bonus. On top of his already decent improvements from the most recent mission, he was confidently charging to the top of the Epsilon class. That would have to be enough for now.
The rest of the flight continued without issue. The complications began when they got to the rendezvous point. Once they’d landed, Daniel walked to meet up with his new group. He found the 19 other strangers in the designated meeting hall, but his first impression was far from ideal: “You there! You’re late!”
Daniel was immediately accosted by an irritated-looking blonde man. He glared at Daniel like a disgruntled supervisor, folding his arms confrontationally. The man was handsome, his face symmetrical and unblemished, his eyes blue and sparkling. He looked like a trust fund child, his top-tier genetics forged by the best human science had to offer. However, trust fund children rarely made good soldiers, and this boy did not look like a soldier. He was well muscled yet unscarred, lacking the gravitas and maturity that typically surrounded experienced warriors. In response, Daniel just crossed his arms and stared back. He wouldn’t start a fight, but he’d finish it if he needed to. This only further enraged the man: “Is that the attitude you should be taking with your commanding officer, Private? I am Second Lieutenant Marko Korta, Delta class. Commander of this squad. And you will show me respect!”
Daniel fought back a sigh as he snapped into a stiff salute. Would it really be so hard to get a decent officer? Still, he couldn’t afford to show disrespect: “Apologies, sir. I was unaware of your rank.”
Korta was mildly appeased, though he never lost his frown: “Unaware or not, I will tolerate neither disrespect nor tardiness in my squad, understand?”
“Yes sir!”
Korta looked Daniel up and down, irritation turning to mild derision: “Don’t worry. I’ll whip you into a real warrior in no time.”
Daniel had nothing to say to that, so Korta just jerked his head to the right: “Take your seat. We have work to do.”
As Daniel went to do just that, he got a good look at the other people in the room.
It was all male again. A female Pioneer was very unusual among the enlisted lower classes, since the basic training was so physically demanding. Some tried and couldn’t hack it, while many didn’t even bother. To be frank, there were other things a woman could do if she were desperate for money. That calculus changed when you started talking about the upper classes. They typically had the money to finance their daughters’ abilities, meaning that no basic training was even needed for them. Most of these rich kids, male or female, automatically became Pioneers by virtue of the fact that they were Epsilon class or above. The Federation wouldn’t turn away people at that class of any stripe. They were typically here for the personal prestige that came along with being able to say they were ex-Pioneers. Any money they could get would be a nice bonus.
Alas, Daniel was stuck with a spoiled rich boy as his commander. At least a rich girl could have provided an opportunity to marry up. He recognized the last name as being from the ruling clan of Sector 6. Even if the Korta clan was known more for its diplomats than its warriors, all 8 Great Clans had a portion of their scions perform military service.
The rest of the men were a motley crew. The humans were from all over the Empire, and Daniel was relieved to see that most of them lacked any sign that they were from any of the Great Clans. The only exception was one man who looked like he might be related to the Brekinar clan, though he lacked the same pompous vibe sported by their commander. In addition to the humans, there were four non-humans in the group. There was an Andrako, two Forsica, and, strangely enough, a Colare.
The Andrako was a large, grey-skinned humanoid with a sharklike face, vermillion eyes, and sharp black ridges running up and down its arms. An ancient race, they were one of the few who had survived the Collapse. Hardy and proud, they were well known for their combat abilities and general stubbornness. Their remaining home planets were mainly within the boundaries of the Empire, and they were fiercely loyal to their adopted human rulers. The Forsica were a green-scaled lizard people, known for their natural combat instincts, who were discovered by humanity after the Collapse. Their home worlds were members of the Confederation of Free Worlds, but their mercenaries often joined the Imperial Pioneers for money. So long as they weren’t asked to fight against their own kind, they were among the fiercest soldiers the Imperium possessed.
The presence of both the Andrako and the Forsica was to be expected. But the Colare were both a rare and weak species. The alien’s blue, cone-shaped body literally hovered in the air, staring at Daniel with three black, suspicious eyes. It was a small thing, and Daniel stared back at it out of curiosity as he sat. The Colare reproduced slowly, so they were an uncommon sight. They were especially rare in the military, since they were not known for their combat prowess. The Colare mostly leaned on their intelligence to survive. They made for good investigators, rhetoricians, and negotiators. To Daniel’s surprise, this one suddenly spoke to him in a heavy-accented, aggressive voice: “Ye ‘ave a problem with me, aekor? Or ‘ave I got somethin’ in me eyes?”
In response to this provocation, Daniel just gave the alien an easygoing grin: “Sorry about that. It’s not every day that you meet a flying traffic cone.”
That got a few chuckles out of the others, and even the Colare seemed slightly amused. Before he could respond, Korta piped up again: “Silence! There is no time for banter. Take your seats, and I will tell you fools what you need to know.”
Now the ire of both Daniel and the Colare was turned on the CO, but they did as commanded. Once everyone was seated and paying attention to the commander, he began the meeting: “Now that everyone’s here, I will lay out the relevant facts. First, this mission is very important to the Empire. It’s not about finding Philosopher itself, whatever that is. Though snatching up something the Republic wants would be nice.
No, it’s about proving that our Imperium is strong. The Republic has made a fool of itself by losing the ship. If they can trounce our forces, retrieve the item, and turn the tables on us, they can wipe that stain away. Worse, if we show them that the younger generation of Imperium elites is weak, that signals that our Empire’s foundations are weak. Showing that kind of weakness would be a grave humiliation, only inviting our enemies to cause us further problems. Do you understand?”
After a chorus of affirmation from his subordinates, Korta continued: “Which brings me to my second point: You are weak.”
Now that caused the men to bristle in anger. All of them had gone through many tribulations on various recent missions. This was especially true for the men who were unfortunate enough to encounter the Kharnidd. Everyone here felt like he was a serious fighter and had good reason to believe as much. The commander ignored their discontent, forging onward: “Don’t give me those looks. I know that many of you have achieved strength beyond your peers. But power without skill is worthless. As a member of one of the 8 Great Clans, I have been trained in martial arts from a young age. Not only am I above you in class, but I also far outclass you in skill.
That said, because of the importance of this mission, I will move to rectify your deficiencies. Over the next two weeks of travel, I will give all of you a martial arts crash course. I will ensure you will not embarrass yourselves when you encounter the Republic’s soldiers. Be grateful.”
Daniel quietly gritted his teeth, fighting to stay outwardly stoic. This was going to be a long two weeks.
Scratch that. This was going to be a very long mission.