Chapter 27: Firestone Skin
’Holy shit! It’s a defence type!!’
Rohan was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Of all the different types of genes he could get, this was one of the best. Defence type Genes were some of the highest in demand in every market. They always sold for higher prices than the more ordinary ones that just increased an attribute or gave a mundane ability like the Normal tier version of this gene.
And there was a very good reason for this. They were OP!
What’s the difference between a defence-type Gene and an armour-type Genetic Armament you may ask? Well, that was the reason they were so sought after.
Defensive Genetic Armaments were self-explanatory; they were like a beefed-up version of the equipment you could buy at cheaper prices, like Rohan and Elane both did. Except they could be summoned and unsummoned at any time and could self-repair slowly over time. They provided around 60% defence of the beast that dropped it, which was good, but it wasn’t amazing.
Still, it was much better than anything humans could produce. The best armour smiths around could only get out about 30% of the original beast’s defence by incorporating the skin or carapace of a beast into the creation process. Which was why the body of the Soldier Ant was so valuable. 20-30% of the defence of an Elite beast was still much better than what a normal tier Genetic Armament could offer.
But defence-type Genes were different. True to their name, once absorbed, they fully assimilated into your genome and gave your skin an immediate increase in defence.
Best of all, they provided the full 100% defence of the original beast!
’Does this mean my skin would become as hard to pierce as the Soldier Ant’s!?’ He was taken back to the fight against the Elite, in the moments where he tried to thrust his spear through the dense armour plating of the Ant.
Before becoming an Elite tier Genetic Armament itself, his Horned Rabbit Spear was barely able to leave a dent. Elane’s arrows were even worse — her bow was an ordinary weapon, not even a Genetic Armament, so any arrow she shot just bounced right off.
Only by hitting spots where he’d already damaged with his spear, or for its vulnerable eyes, could she actually do anything.
If his skin could become as tough to pierce as that...
’I’d be like a tank! I wouldn’t have to worry about dodging so much and could focus on getting as many of my own hits in with this to protect me!’
Though he had to wait a week before he could absorb it, since doing so in the Origin Realm wasn’t possible. Nobody knew why this was the case, but they had long accepted it by now.
’Let’s try this, now.’
He withdrew his hand from his pocket, afraid that if he daydreamed about absorbing the gene any longer, the impatience would kill him.
On the bed, the most conspicuous thing was definitely the Elite tier Origin Crystal. It outshone all the others in both vibrance and size. What intrigued Rohan the most was how it would react once his Evolution Gene absorbed it. This was the very reason he chose to keep it instead of selling it to the Red Fang Exchange.
Otherwise, he would have been able to nourish much more of his genome with an additional 25 Origin Crystals. That would be enough for him to sit and cultivate for the next few days rather than having to go out hunting for more. Elite tier Origin Crystals were much more valuable to those at the peak of their rank, as Normal tier Origin Crystals could no longer increase their strength anymore, while Elite tiers could.
However, he wanted to perform a little experiment before he went ahead and absorbed it.
First he grabbed one of the Normal tier Origin Crystals, and felt that same sensation as before once his Evolution Gene sensed its presence.
Once he felt the crystal turn to dust, he checked his status.
[Name: Rohan Roy]
[Rank: F]
[Talent: Evolution Gene (F rank - 16%)]
[Genes: — ]
[Genetic Armaments: F rank Horned Rabbit Spear (Elite)]
’As expected, the percentage has gone up.’ This confirmed that the first time wasn’t a fluke or a one-off.
He continued absorbing more until it reached 100% again and felt his heartbeat increase to crazy speeds. ’If this works, then I think I might just pass out...’
He activated his Evolution Gene, causing the energy inside his body to stir once more. However, after a few seconds, the feeling disappeared like a fart in the wind.
Disappointment was evident on Rohan’s face. He understood what just happened.
’There was no qualifying target to evolve, so the Evolution Gene returned back to its dormant state.’
Which could only mean his Spear couldn’t be evolved again. But his hopes weren’t diminished, Rohan had a theory.
’Perhaps each step up in evolution requires the corresponding tier of Origin Energy — so my Spear can only be upgraded again by absorbing Elite tier Origin Energy rather than normal crystals.’
There was only one way to test his theory. He glanced over at the Elite Origin Crystal lying dormant on his bed and grabbed it.
Without hesitation, he started absorbing it and directed it towards his Evolution Gene. The feeling was no different than absorbing the other crystals, but Rohan could already tell something was different right away.
’It wasn’t rejected!’
When the percentage reached 100%, the Evolution Gene automatically stopped absorbing any more and switched the target of absorption back to his body.
But that didn’t happen this time, and Rohan only had to wait a second for the Elite tier crystal to turn into dust to confirm it.
[Name: Rohan Roy]
[Rank: F]
[Talent: Evolution Gene (Normal(F) - 100%, Elite(F) - 14%)]
[Genes: — ]
[Genetic Armaments: F rank Horned Rabbit Spear (Elite)]
"Hahaha!! It’s changed! My status has changed!" Rohan burst into excited laughter.
This confirmed his theory! There wasn’t a need to wait until his Elite Origin Energy reached 100%, as the very fact it was separated from the Normal energy was enough to confirm he was right.
It took him a whole 5 minutes to calm down.
’Now to worry about how I can get more Elite Origin Energy?’
It wasn’t like he could go out searching for more Elite beasts to kill. One, that was a terrible idea to try before he absorbed a gene. He had the means to kill them now, but they could kill him even easier. One strike was all it takes to kill him; his current defence was abysmal.
And two, they were so rare that he could spend all six remaining days looking and not find a single one.
Which begged the question.
’Can I absorb Elite Origin Energy from the atmosphere?’
He sat down on the floor in a meditative stance and decided to give it a try. Ironically, this was the first time he was using his training method to absorb Origin Energy from the surrounding air rather than using Origin Crystals. Other newbies would probably die from jealousy if they found out how easy he had it...