BXBX NOVEL Chapter 7 Family Matters
"R-Really!?"
Yan\'s crimson iris sparkled at this.
"Yeah. But you gotta help me out with all this demon shit, aight? Make sure I don\'t end up dead." Harker looked beyond the window, seeming to be deep in thought.
"I\'ll try! I can\'t do much besides inform you about your system status, however…." Yan said.
"Why not? Didn\'t you say you transcend space and time? I\'ve been wondering about that, since you could have escaped my hair and yet you didn\'t."
Yan nodded. "You see, I can easily vanish and move between dimensions, but it\'s all up to the will of the master I serve. I\'m only powerful when I have a master. Otherwise, I\'m nothing but an eyeball."
As Yan said this, he truly vanished, and then reappeared again.
Harker was pretty impressed. "Cool. So basically all you\'ll be is an assistant, and you can\'t fight me back even if you want to. I dunno, man.... That feels a bit like slavery to me."
"Yep, I\'m the master\'s slave!" The eyeball said joyfully.
Harker was a bit unnerved. But then again, this was a monster, not a human. They\'re bound to have different mindsets, he supposed.
He just asked: "What are the limitations of my abilities? Like can I use my hair to swing like Tarantulaman around those buildings over there? I don\'t have clothes and carrying this large bag of evidence would look suspicious."
"Oh, that\'s what the system is for! But since you\'re not so keen on big numbers…."
Yan\'s holographic screen appeared, this time with a chart.
"I\'ll use letters and descriptors instead to show your power stats!"
The holographic screen showed two graphs:
[ Xi Hua\'s Succubus Ability
Raw Power: D
Endurance: C
Range: B
Speed: C
Precision: B
Potential: A ]
[ Xi Hua\'s Snake Demon Ability
Raw Power: B
Endurance: B
Range: A
Speed: A
Precision: A
Potential: C ]
Harker studied the letters carefully. "What does this grading system mean?"
Yan explained: "Grade levels of monsters start at D, which is worth millions of EXP points. But the lowest grade would be D-, worth less than a million for average humans, plants and animals. For example, an average ant has 100 EXP of Raw Power, thus its Raw Power is D-."
He added. "C is worth 10x the EXP of D, B is 10x of C, and so on. But since you don\'t like seeing those big numbers, I used this instead. After A is A+, then R for \'Rare\', then SR for \'Super Rare\'. The highest would be UR or \'Ultra Rare\', worth 10 trillion points and above." *
He then explained the stats one by one:
"Raw Power is how much force this ability has, sort of its strength."
"Endurance is how durable your body becomes when using this ability."
"Range is how long the distance of the ability could reach."
"Speed is how fast, Precision is how precisely it can strike a target."
"And finally, Potential is how much this ability could be developed and cultivated, thus possibly raising the other stats\' levels."
Yan reminded him: "Potential is the only stat that never change. It instead serves as the basis of how much the other stats could level up."
Harker kept that in mind. "So since the range of the snake demon ability is A, that means I can extend my hair pretty long, right?"
"Yes. It\'s estimated to grow to at least 40-50 meters."
Harker grinned. "Sweet! Fly close to me and explain the rest of the stuff. I\'ll swing around those buildings and get myself home in no time!"
He tied an Alpine Butterfly knot to himself using a third of his hair. Then, he took the bloody bed sheet that he used as a makeshift bag to keep the evidence, and put it in the loop next to him.
Yan panicked. "Wait, Master Harker! Are you sure you\'re willing to do something this dangerous after receiving this abilities—"
"It\'s now or never!" He yelled, and quickly jumped—
And he managed his first swing so easily!
The remaining parts of his hair latched onto electric poles and window bars, allowing Harker to truly swing around the city like \'Tarantulaman\'. The busy streets of New York were so cooped up in their own thing that nobody had time to look up and see this naked man swinging with his hair.
He watched the people hailing cabs on rush hour, people going through the subway, all kinds of events happening all at once in every corner they pass by…..
"Nice! The view\'s not bad from above here!" He yelled. "What were you saying, eyeball?"
Yan shook, just trying to keep up with him. "Nothing. You\'re a natural at this, Mas— Harker!"
"Hah, I\'m a pretty fast learner." Harker said. "What else do I have to know about my \'system\'?"
They traveled at about 15 meters per second, faster than the average car speed.
"Let\'s see…. Oh! The DNA absorption. The duration of the abilities you gain depend on the amount of DNA you absorb. Since you ate Xi Hua, these abilities you gain would last for a month."
Harker blinked. "Just a month?"
"Yes, DNA absorption has its own different set of stats too. Here, I\'ll show you. It has a great Potential but since you\'re just starting, the duration is still low."
[Harker\'s Shapeshifting Ability
Duration: D
Effectiveness: B
Resistance: C
Absorption Limit: D
Concealment: C
Potential: UR ]
Harker frowned. "Those are pretty low stats except for Potential. But I guess that just means they could go even higher than Xi Hua\'s stats. What do they mean?"
Yan explained the stats:
"Duration depends highly on the amount of DNA you consume, but higher Duration means you can maintain the ability longer despite small absorbed DNA. If a absorbing a whole body is only worth 1 month now, when Duration gets higher, it might last for 2 months, maybe even a year."
"Effectiveness means how effective your shapeshifting is, both in your gained abilities and appearance. At low Effectiveness, you might not have certain skills or assets that come with the ability of the person you shapeshift as. "
"Resistance is how much it can resist abilities that can temporarily cancel, overpower or permanently erase yours."
"Absorption Limit is how much DNA you can absorb until your Absorption Space is full. That Absorption Space would of course be your stomach, you would have to absorb DNA through digestion."
"Concealment is how much it can be concealed from people who have abilities to see into altered forms and disguises. Low concealment also means higher chances for enemies to read your thoughts and emotions, bring out the truth in you, or learn your identity if they have those abilities."
He assured Harker. "Don\'t worry about the low stats, Master! Once you tap into your large Potential, these stats could reach R, SR and UR too! Usually, abilities that have high stats like Xi Hua\'s Snake Demon Ability have low potential to develop. They\'re powerful at the start but don\'t give room for more changes."
Harker nodded, taking in all this information as much as he could. He\'s not a supergenius that can remember everything. But once he needs it, he can recall information in the right moments. Just like when you let a sponge absorb water and then squeeze it.
He continued swinging until he spotted his house. It was a small, unappealing shack surrounded by similarly small homes and dilapidated apartments. He aimed his hair straight for his bedroom window.
"You mentioned I can change my appearance too. I\'ll change into Xi Hua later to cover my tracks somehow."
Yan nodded. "What do you plan to do, Mas— Harker?"
"You\'ll see. For now…." Harker landed on his house\'s backyard quietly like a cat. "I have to show up to my family or else they\'d be worried."
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A/N: EXP per Grade Level for Nerds like Me
D- : less than or equal to 1M
D: 1M+
C: 10M+
B: 100M+
A: 1B+
A+: 10B+
R: 100B+
SR: 1T+
UR: more than or equal to 10T