The crimson blood slowly ran down the blade of Synexus’ katana. Red standing against the nature brown of bamboo. It was late afternoon, and this was the first monster they had seen since leaving the village. They both agreed to engage to really see the combat potential and sort out what problems they would find. He had just left a deep cut on the monster’s side thanks to the distraction of Kumo’s fog.

  At almost nine feet tall, the menacing six-legged reptilian foe was becoming a good challenge for them. Despite its size, the creature was fast, and all its limbs showed surprising dexterity. It’d put all six legs on the ground to skitter across the ground when it needed to get out of harm’s way. When it wanted to stand and fight, only two legs stayed on the ground and the other four became lethal weapons. Dodging its monstrous claws was key to this fight. The only other attack it used was a purple breath of some kind, but Kumo was easily able to blow it away.

  It was also important now to not stay too close because its skin was rough like sandpaper. Accidentally getting caught by it would do some damage, and the beast knew that. The tail whipped around in a frenzy in seemingly random patterns. Synexus had tried to cut it off, but it was too fast, and the risk wasn’t worth taking a blow. Instead, he had pulled out a vine he had collected a couple of days ago and started pouring his mana into it.

  Binding Vine(uncommon): This special root binds itself around any object in its near vicinity. Once fully bound, it is extremely difficult to pull off. Slightly constricts, but it is not lethal.

  Now it wasn’t the most useful plant that he’d found, but he was hoping it could bind the creature’s tail. When he started pouring mana into it, he was behind their foe. There was enough distance that the tail wouldn’t reach him. Kumo had the monster fully consumed in her and her cloud blades. Finally, the vine stopped growing and Synexus fled before it tried to bind itself around him.

  He went around to where Kumo was and went on the assault with his katana. Together they were able to push the creature back while parrying the claws. Synexus was hoping the vine would bind the tail so they wouldn’t need to worry about it flailing about, but what happened was even better. The vine ignored the tail completely and slithered its way around the monster’s leg, torso, and finally one of the four limbs it was using to fight.

  It tried to wriggle free, however, the vine had fully bound itself and the creature. Those roots were strong, and the monster was obviously confused by this. The panic in its eyes became more apparent the longer it was stuck.

  Synexus knew it wouldn’t hold it long though because he could already see the creatures’ rough skin damaging the vines the more it tried to wiggle free. They both had to make the best of this moment to end the fight. Kumo already realized this and five cloud blades manifested then swept through the air at the reptile eliminating it’s one free leg and its top right arm.

  Blood gushed out of deep cuts all over the body of the monster, but they didn’t let up. Synexus closed in with his katana. He leapt and sliced at the creature’s throat in one fluid motion leaving another deep gash hoping to end the fight right there.

  The monster went to scream at the pain. Instead, it came out as a bloody gurgle. Its eyes met his and they were filled with a burning hatred, but before it could do anything else, another cloud blade swept in right at the gash that Synexus had made in the monster’s throat to decapitate the beast.

  Accelerated Growth has leveled up!

  You have slain a Slesht

  They both lay there looking at the notifications after the fight. Both of their stamina pools were low and Kumo’s mana pool was almost empty. One of the Slesht’s claws had remnant magic, but it sadly didn’t offer any other loot. Well except for the levels of course. Synexus only got one. Kumo, on the other hand, had leveled up three of her skills. That was the glorious thing about combat skills. He liked his skills of course; however, he felt that he could barely use them in fights. Seeing Kumo use ability after ability had only made this feeling worse.

  After some rest, Synexus decided to bring his concerns up to Kumo and see if she had any thoughts. She replied, “I do think you’re too reliant on your skills with your sword. They are good, I’ll give you that, but being able to adapt to combat is important. It was brilliant to use that vine and stop the agility of the monster except, I had to distract it for almost two full minutes for you to prepare”.

  He nodded, knowing she was right. What was he to do? He had some plants prepared that would be effective in fights, but he can’t go in prepared for everything. He turned to look at her, “How do I get more skills then?”

  She laughed, “You make it sound like you can just go buy them when we get to Gale. You said you’re level 4, right? What level are your current skills?”

  Synexus looked at his status screen before responding, “My Gene Library skill leveled up this morning while we were walking, so its level 7 now. My Gene Editing skill is level 4, and my Accelerated Growth is now level 6 after that fight.”

  “Well, there you go! Sounds like you just have to level up your Gene Editing one time and your class will level up. Now I don’t know much about your class, and I couldn’t find anything in our library about it, but since you only have three skills now there is a good chance it’s a class that gets another at level 5.”

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  “So, I was right? Your class level can’t exceed your lowest skill level?”

  “You’re serious? Wow, the Branch didn’t tell you anything. You are correct, but your class won’t level up just because you got all your classes to the next level. You also need to have enough experience.”

  “And you only get experience from slaying monsters?” Synexus asked with the fear of sounding ignorant.

  Kumo sighed. “No. You do get experience from slaying monsters, but also for doing anything relating to your class. For example, could you feel how I was using my breeze ability while we were walking? Well, I was getting experience for that. Yes, it levels up my Breeze ability, however, it also gives me experience towards my class or at least that’s what my father told me.”

  “That makes a lot of sense. My Gene Library skill is a higher level, so I probably have a lot of built-up class experience ready to be expended when I do finally get Gene Editing levelled up once more.”

  With that they both went back to resting for a little longer. Once their stamina was full again, they set out to continue their trek while chatting about what they could do better in combat with each other.

  The conversation started to fade since they established all the observations they had made about the others fighting style which gave Synexus some time to think about what he wanted to use his Gene Editing skill on. There was the leech moss which had been on his mind for a day now, and then there was one other combination he wanted to try.

  Sweet Thorn(common): Known for the sweet secretion that comes from its thorns, this plant is a common sight in gardens. The thorns are extremely hard and sharp. Caution is advised when handling.

  Paralysis Herb(uncommon): Can be used to create a strong paralytic. The secretions of this plant can cause mild paralysis if touched and extreme paralysis if ingested. The length of the paralysis depends on the dose.

  One was his last seed from the Elder and the other was found in a garden that he passed in Whisper. The plan was to combine the two so the thorns would secrete the paralysis oil instead of the sweet stuff they put in tea. He would turn a common household plant into a dangerous weapon. The hope was to be able to throw it somehow or wrap it around his katana.

  He didn’t want to stop their progress, so he attempted to combine the leech moss with a healing gene while on the move. He felt like this would be an easier edit which he found to be the case.

  Leech Moss Hybrid(unique): This moss feeds on mana and health when in contact with any living being. The longer it stays in contact, the faster the drain becomes. It will drain health points at a slower rate than mana.

  It had only taken him twenty-five minutes this time and he was walking. He could feel his proficiency getting better and better as he practiced. He waited for the level notification, but it never came. That was disappointing, however it was expected. He knew it was taking more and more to level. Good thing he had another project ready.

  After forty-five minutes and a few judging comments from Kumo, he failed his first attempt at the paralysis hybrid. He could feel the mental exhaustion building, but he wanted to level up. He reiterated to Kumo that he needed complete focus before starting his second attempt. This time he knew what he was missing and why it failed the first time. He realized that just changing what the sweet thorn secreted wasn’t enough. The plant wouldn’t survive without the sweet mixture. Instead, he decided to take the genetic makeup of the thorns and edit it into the herb.

  Thirty-seven minutes was all it took, and he now had a new weapon to use against foes. He turned to his notification to check out his new hybrid.

  Gene Editing Succesful!

  Paralysis Thorn(unique): Can be used to create a strong paralytic. The secretions of this plant can cause mild paralysis if touched and extreme paralysis if ingested or injected through the thorns. The thorns are as sharp as needles and hard as steel. The length of the paralysis depends on the dose.

  Gene Editing has leveled up!

  You have leveled up!

  20 skill points available

  New skill selection is available

  Synexus couldn’t be happier, and it obviously showed because Kumo turned to him and asked, “You got the new skill selection?”

  He only nodded in return because he was busy allocating his stat points. With 20 available he was able to put 4 in two of the stats for which he chose intelligence and agility. Then he put 3 in the rest of them. This put intelligence and agility at 10 and he could tell that something significantly increased with his processing speed. He was sure it was the same for his speed. He’d ask Kumo about this later, but for now it was time for a skill selection.

  Name: Synexus

  Race: Zaxillian

  Class: Progress Druid

  Level: 5

  Health Points: 80/80

  Mana: 75/75

  Stamina: 75/75

  Stats

  Intelligence: 10

  Strength: 9

  Endurance: 9

  Vitality: 9

  Agility: 10

  Perception: 9

  Skills

  Race: Sensing Touch, Enhanced Cognition, Perfect Memory, Silver Blood, Absorb Sunlight

  Class: Gene Library LV 7, Gene Editing LV 5, Accelerated Growth LV 6

  Achievements

  Slayer of Monsters: You will now be able to see the remnant magical material of slain monsters.