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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 5
Title: Enduring Heart
Tier 0

Mind 1 - Body - 6
Energy - 4 Energy - 1/3

Skills - 4/4
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
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The System went on to explain the differences between Body and Mind, but that was pretty intuitive. Body made my, well, body, stronger. Organs worked better, muscles could handle more weight, bones were sturdier, healing was easier and quicker. All the expected benefits that making one body stronger would bring. Mind, on the other hand had a bit more nuance to it. For one, it would help me think faster. Or at least process information at an accelerated speed. Another benefit was a better control over the System Particles. The benefits would be pretty minor for now since I barely understood what I was doing, but eventually, that would make the skills considerably stronger.

There was also a decent amount of overlap. The brain was part of the body, so increasing Body would also have some effect on it. While increasing Mind would help the brain better control the other organs. Basically every 10 points in Mind would give the same benefit as 1 point in Body, and vice versa. That would create a situation where I never had to worry about not being able to use my new abilities to the fullest because of an imbalance of attributes.

The logic behind all that was simple, even if unbelievable. The SP would be attaching themselves to either my body or my mind and helping with whatever task that part of me had to do. Each particle would be floating nearby one of the molecules that created my cells and doing… something. That something would, in turn, make me stronger.

After that conversation the feeling of something moving inside me vanished. The skill was over and it did feel like my body was better. Even the pain I felt in my back for sleeping in the floor was now gone. Pushing off the ground, I stood up and walked towards the entrance of the cave. There were still a lot of questions to ask the system, but now it was daytime. maybe I could see someone outside. A sign or something that could show how Pops and the others survived.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, I approached the opening and took a look at the forest beyond the cave. To the right, I could still see a column of smoke going to the sky. That should be the ruins of the village that still burned thanks to the explosion. Or maybe it was the missile that Pops salvaged. I still had no idea what it actually was. There was something called nalpalm that, supposedly, burned like crazy. Could that be what caused the explosion? But there were no signs of people. The watchtower had even collapsed and the places where we would put up flags to communicate were still empty. However, that wasn’t all. To the south, directly in front of the cave but still a few hundred meters [yards] ahead, I could clearly see some trees moving. And not the kind of sway caused by the wind, but the motion that would be created by an Eater as they walked across the forest. It wasn't just a single spot either, but three of them, all close to my location but none moving towards me. A loud sound of metal grinding against bark echoed through the forest. More two sources of the same noised joined in not long after, that came with the yelps of an animal, maybe a boar who was caught by one of them. Its cries where replaced by a sickening squelch as the monster had its meal.

The only thing I could do now, is head to the side entrance of the cave. The one that led to a small terrace outside. Brining my clothes along and the rope to set up a clothesline as I continued to ask more about my status.

“System, can we keep going? I understand what Mutations, well Titles, are now. Mind and Body also make sense to me. But what’s about those two mentions of energy?”

[Energy refers to the amount of skills user is able to have at any given time. While Energy is a value representing the current amount of energy available to user. The energy necessary for motor functions and production of additional SP.]

“Ok, no, fuck that. We could change from mutation to title, can we change the names of those things too?” I heard my voice echoing in the cave a bit and stopped. Worrying that the sound could attract something, I decided to continue this conversation in my mind.

[It is possible to change the names of the values.]

‘Great. First, open my status screen.’

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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 5
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 0

Mind 1 - Body - 6
Energy - 4 Energy - 1/3

Skills - 4/4
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
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‘Right. Since the first Energy mention is actually how many skills I can keep, what if we call it Skill Slots?’ the tunnel was a bit longer than I remembered, but I could finally see the light from the sun on the other end.

[That name cannot be used for the Energy attribute.]

‘Why not?’

[The term Skill Slot makes a reference to a physical slot where the skills would be placed. That is not how System operates. Using such name would likely cause confusion for user.]

‘But I’m the one suggesting that. I’m not going to get confused,’ I frowned.

[That name cannot be used for the Energy attribute.]

‘Ok, then let’s try something else. Using the word skill will be confusing, and you don’t like slots. So… Memory? Like, you can only keep 4 skills in your memory? And I don’t mean that you can’t remember things about more than 4 skills, but since I can only use 4, I assume that’s my limit. Right?’ maybe putting the blame on me instead of it was the way to go about this. The system seemed upset about me changing those names.

[Acknowledged. Attribute Energy will be renamed to Memory.]

‘Next up. The second mention of energy. That’s kind of like the mana in video games, isn’t it? The fluid resource that I spent and gain back to cast skills again. Can’t we change it to Mana?’

[Mana is not a concept with basis in reality. Fantasy concepts can be used as terms of attributes or other facets of System. However, according to user’s memories, each story defines mana differently. Hence, the use of said name will cause confusion.]

‘Even if the concept behind it is not the same everywhere. Like how mana actually works, the idea of mana is generally the same. I don’t see how that would cause any confusion,’ I huffed while walking back to the cave proper. Being naked out in the open wasn’t my idea of fun, and I didn’t want to risk losing one of my blankets by accident. At least my underwear should be dry before sundown, maybe even the shirt.

I checked my status again and saw a change, ‘My energy was 1, why is it 2?’

[User has the {Energy Storage} passive skill. Once Energy drops below maximum, energy can be transferred from the storage to the Energy reserve every 10 minutes.]

I took a sip of water, not because I was really thirsty, but just because I wanted to do something, ‘So that’s the 1 Energy mentioned after the passive?’

[Incorrect. The Energy number after the passive represents the amount of Energy required to maintain the passive. While said passive is active, the maximum Energy value is reduced by the amount reserved.]

‘So my maximum Energy is actually 4?’

[Incorrect. The maximum Energy is 3. But the passive reserve a total of 1 Energy, making the effective maximum Energy user has available to use to be 2.]

‘Ok that needs to be clearer. Can’t you add a value for the reserved Energy?’

[Acknowledged. Showing revised information.]

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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 5
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 0

Mind 1 - Body - 6
Memory - 4 Energy - 2/3 (1 Reserved)

Skills - 4/4
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
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That felt better. Taking some more jerky I watched the trees moving in the distance, still painfully aware of the danger that represented. Even so, my stomach growling, forcing me to focus on more pressing matters. I should have a proper meal now.