Museum Core Chapter 92: Seeking Power

One month later

Jaclyn let herself flop back into a chair in the forward base, while the others headed off to do … whatever they wanted to do. But she had something that needed to be done right here, right now, or else she might vibrate herself apart from sheer excitement.

This was a system message that she desperately wanted to address.

You have reached the peak of D-Rank and must now choose a new power to advance to C-Rank.

Two powers will be unlocked by reaching D-Rank, Level 20, and two more can be unlocked by achieving certain things. These powers will not necessarily be stronger than the standard offerings.

If you have already achieved the requirements, they will be listed aside the unlocked power, if you have not, they will be listed alongside the name of the power they gatekeep.

Same play as D-Rank. Two perfectly servicable powers available by default, two arguably better ones gated behind certain “achievements.”

Additional Bond

Choose an additional bond, under standard rules.

Transformation

Gain the power of transformation, of transforming into the creatures you are bound to.

Chimeric Bond (locked)

Gain the power to design a “chimera,” a fusion of existing creatures to forge a new and powerful creatures, with you gaining attributes based on the primary biological function of the chimera.

This power is unlocked by properly synergizing existing bonds.

Mythic Bond (unlocked by defeating a vastly superior enemy at some point and defying the tyranny of rank all throughout D-Rank)

This power grants you the ability to draw upon the spirit of not only the natural world, but the imagined one, of a supernatural creature that may be solely limited to myth and legend … within reason.

An obvious choice, right?

Transformation still wasn’t a good option, not with how comparatively small her bonds were. Well, the badger, at least, and the eagle wouldn’t really give her any options that she didn’t have in her normal body.

Chimeric Bond was incredibly difficult to work with, According to the archives of the orcs, you needed a working, natural, creature; simply smashing together a bunch of regular animals with one desirable trait each was guaranteed to fail. Not that she’d unlocked it in the first place.

And Mythic Bond was a straight upgrade to the standard “Additional Bond.”

Ergo … she had a lot of things to try. Between Granger and her own research, she’d found more powerful mythological beasties than she’d even known existed before she’d started looking.

First, she started with demons from Hindu mythology.

“Raktabija,” she requested. She got hit, a lot, and if she got the power of a demon who could summon a clone of himself from every drop of blood he shed … let’s just say that she would become a literal one-woman army.

Invalid Target

Weeeeeell … it sure would have been nice to know why it was invalid, but okay, that was a very powerful monster, and she’d always known the process could fail.

“Hiranyakashipu.”

A demon immune during the night and during the day, inside and outside, on the ground and in the air … a whole lot of things to the point where even Vishnu had to acutally exploit the wording of the immortality by slaying the demon on the threshold, at dusk, and having placed the asura on his knees, which were either the earth nor the sky.

Of course, if this worked, the strength of her own immortality would depend on her Spirit stat, but if this was accepted, it …

Invalid Target

Bollocks.

“Great Sage Equalling Heaven, Handsome Monkey King, the Intelligent Stone Monkey, Sun Wukong.”

A whole bunch of names and titles for a singular being, but she’d wanted to make sure she selected the right one.

Invalid Target

Urgh.

Asuras failing immediately, she could understand. But shouldn’t the Monkey King be a bit more in line with what the Anima Monk was all about?

But it had failed, and since it had, in fact, not worked, the next one was unlikely to fly either ... she still wanted to try.

“Six-Eared Macaque.”

One of the Monkey King’s most formidable opponents, a nigh-omniscient being who’d matched him blow for blow, requiring the Buddha himself to subdue …

Invalid Target

… yeah, that felt right.

There were two more spiritual primates mentioned in the Journey to the West that were said to be comparable, but they were obviously also out.

“Vali.”

Uncle to Hanuman, the Monkey King of Hindu mythology, a nigh-invincible being capable of taking and permanently keeping half the strength of those he fought.

Invalid Target

Shame, would have been nice. But not unexpected.

On and on they went. Until a new kind of screen popped up.

System Notice:

You are aware of the limitations of the Mythic Bond, you will not be able to activate this ability.

If you feel like you’re managing to exploit a loophole, your attempt has likely already failed.

“Uh, what does a ‘System Notifice’ mean in this context? Is it a threat?” Jaclyn wondered.

“In those exact words?” Harjaz asked, looking up from the corner where he’d been sitting with an Agatha Christie novel. “It means the system thinks you’re having trouble understanding something and is attempting to help you. The more sarcastic it’s being, the more stupid it thinks you’re being.”

He paused for a moment, then tapped his chin. “But if you see a ‘System Warning,’ immediately stop whatever you’re doing because you’re about to tear your soul in half or something.”

Jaclyn winced. “It’s just the notice, thankfully.”

But it was one that settled things.

No more chasing the absolute strongest possible bond, because those options were decidedly not working.

So, what were they to do now?

Pick something for its synergies instead. And that was a much shorter list. She, simply put, needed something with regeneration.

Jaclyn’s entire fighting style revolved around taking a hit, mitigating that hit to the bare minimum, and striking back with devastating precision. It worked, but at the same time, it did involve her taking damage, which would rapidly mount the longer the fight went on.

There were a lot of fairy tales and the like out there with individual beings in a species being able to survive lethal attacks and easily recover from them, but those were just individuals that were a part of the greater whole, and they would unlikely result in her getting the required power.

No, she needed a species which had regeneration as a fundamental attribute.

Vampire, werewolf, phoenix, etc.

But the former two could easily give her highly uncomfortable food preferences, and the latter … no one knew just how that would play out in the real world. The original myth involved a nest of cinnamon twigs, or other fragrant woods, lighting that on fire, and regenerating that way. Not exactly doable in the middle of combat.

Yet she didn’t have to risk it. Because there was something oh so much more suitable out there.

A truly legendary regenerative capability.

Toxic blood that would result in anyone who managed to land a solid blow on her taking damage in turn.

The power to get stronger by regenerating damage.

And, while it was hardly the deciding factor, this bond would also allow her to live and easily move underwater, an arena in which she’d been unable to effectively operate previously.