Symbiotic: Chapter 2.5

Even as she worked to come down from the adrenaline high of combat, the system’s glow returned, lettering itself across Sara Bloom’s vision:

[Skill Acquired: Two-Handed Weapons]

[Subskill Unlocked: Power Swing]

She looked down at her so-called weapon, a jagged tree limb, stripped of bark, scarred from her last desperate fight. Cracks spidered along its length, threatening to split it in two. Not exactly the mighty greatsword the skill description implied.

Still, when she gripped it with both hands, something shifted. The branch felt heavier, steadier, as if the system itself had wrapped invisible weight around it. Her stance widened, her shoulders squared.

The skill didn’t care that her heroic “blade” was splintering wood. It was actively teaching her the basics. Balance, leverage, the art of channeling force through both arms. The subskill pulsed like a heartbeat. She could almost see the arc of destruction it promised. A powerful, crushing blow meant to shatter shields and scatter foes.

Focusing on here System display, she quickly called up any information on her two new skills.

[Two-Handed Weapons: A core combat skill that governs the use of large, heavy weapons requiring both hands to wield effectively]

[Power Swing (Subskill of Two-Handed Weapons): A specialized combat technique that channels momentum into a single, wide, crushing blow. (Doubles the users Body: Force when determining damage at the temporary cost of 1 Soul)]

Sara nodded, analytical mind running. “So the main skill is passive and just makes it so I know what I’m doing. The Subskill is more of an active skill with a cost associated. One Soul. Probably not a hefty cost to the average person, but with my measly two Soul, it’s not something I can do often. Time to see how long it takes to get my Soul back!”

She sat and waited, counting silently to herself while she watched the jungle for movement and wished for her lab stopwatch. “OK. Five minutes for a Soul…. Um… Point? God this sounds weird! But now… Let’s make sure I can actually use the skill when I need to!” Sara inhaled, raised the branch into her softball stance, focused on swinging as hard as she could, and slammed the branch down at her target. The Jungle silence cracked as the limb tore through it, slamming into a half-rotted stump. The impact sent splinters flying, but the weapon itself creaked alarmingly in protest.

She winced, running her fingers along the fissures. The system had given her the skill, but not the weapon. Every swing risked breaking her only weapon.

And yet… she smiled. Even with a branch, she was learning. Even as her improvised club splintered, she was becoming something more. The “System” was a world build to test her, and she would pass the test like she had so many others in her life.

<>

Sara pushed deeper into the jungle, her cracked branch gripped tight in both hands. Her attempts at stealth failed with ever loud, cracking, step. Every movement felt louder than it should, every rustle of leaves a warning. She wasn’t hunting so much as trying to keep from being hunted, hoping to spot another Monkey Mauler before it spotted her.

Movement flickered in the canopy above. A shadow darted between branches, too fast to be wind. Sara narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to focus.

If the network needs biological samples stronger than me, she thought, then there must be a way to measure them. To see their stats.

She watched the Mauler movement every time she spotted it, focusing as best she could on her target. Her vision blurred from staring too hard, her eyes aching as if the system resisted her curiosity. Then, with a sudden pulse, the shimmer of text appeared:

[Skill Acquired: Identify]

The shadow resolved into the hunched, muscular form of a Monkey Mauler. Its fur bristled, its long arms coiled with tension. Sara’s new skill flared, overlaying numbers across the creature’s outline.

[Monkey Mauler]

[Body: (Force 8 | Speed 14)

Mind: (Thought 10 | Knowledge 6)

Soul: (Self 10 | Sum 8)]

Sara’s breath caught. The stats were higher than hers in every category. The Maulers speed being so much higher was terrifying. No wonder she’d been dead before she even knew it was there the first time. But what was depressing. No, Infuriating… This Gods Damned “System” considered a Monkey Mauler smarter than her. “Unh-uh. No way!”, she hissed to herself through clenched teeth. “I’ll show you smarter, shark-monkey!”

She tightened her grip on the branch, feeling the cracks shift beneath her fingers. The weapon might not last another fight, but now she had knowledge, and knowledge was power.

The Mauler’s form flitted through the treetops. Sara steadied herself, heart pounding, as the jungle seemed to hold its breath. She waited until it was in the right direction to give her cover and force it to come right towards her swing, and then smacks the tree trunk to get its attention. “Batter Up!”, she muttered, voice sharp and deliberate, taunting the beast into motion.

The Mauler shrieked and launched itself downward, a blur of speed and fury. Sara’s grip tightened, her body aligning with the rhythm the system had taught her.

[Power Swing Activated]

She swung with everything she had. The cracked branch carved a brutal arc, colliding with the Mauler mid-leap. The impact thundered through the clearing, a shockwave of splinters and force.

The beast’s cry was cut short as it slammed into the ground, lifeless.

*Ding*

[Your party has killed a Monkey Mauler.

100 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (334) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: .9 of 250]

Sara staggered, staring at the remains of her weapon. The branch had shattered in her hands, fragments scattering across the jungle floor. She laughed hoarsely at the first System notification. One death, three kills, skills learned… “And I’ve almost earned one whole Experience Point!”

She exhaled, chest heaving. The Mauler was dead, but so was her club. Power had come at a cost. Sara dropped the splintered remains of the branch, her arms trembling, her breath ragged. She stared at the fallen creature as the expected notifications filled her vision before she could swipe them away.

*Ping*

[50 Microbes gained.

Current Network: 233 of 333]

*Ping*

[Compatible Biological Sample Detected: Monkey Mauler

Monkey Mauler Sample 3 of 5 absorbed.

Effect: Stat growth stored to be triggered during Regrowth.

Note: Stat increases limited to 5 samples per biological source.

Condition: Growth only occurs if source stat exceeds host stat.]

Sara straightened, eyes scanning the trees once more. She had proven she could follow through with a plan and kill, proven she was smarter than a Monkey Mauler. But now she was unarmed, and the jungle was far from empty.

<>

Sara’s breath came fast as she scanned the jungle floor, desperate for another branch, another weapon. But every limb she saw was too thick, too heavy for her Body Force of two to break free. The sound of movement in the undergrowth sounded like it was growing closer, each rustle a reminder that she was unarmed.

I need a club. I need something now, she screamed inside her own head, panic clawing at her chest.

Then, like a miracle delivered, her Mycorrhizal network answered.

[Mycorrhizal Ability Unlocked: Create Basic Object]

[Create Basic Object: Converts 100 microbes into a basic object of the user’s choosing weighing no more than five pounds. The object is formed from hardened fungal fibers reinforced with silver-threaded network strands, giving it durability and a faint connection to the network.]

Her hands tingled, warmth spreading through her palms. She gasped as a fungal growth erupted between her fingers, silver threads weaving through it like veins of light. In seconds, the mass elongated, shaping itself with uncanny precision.

It grew into the size and weight of a large softball bat, not crude wood, but a living construct, its surface smooth yet faintly pulsing with the network’s energy. The silver lattice shimmered faintly, reinforcing the fungal fibers until the weapon felt solid, balanced, deadly.

Sara lifted it, stunned. It was exactly the size and heft of her favorite bat from before all this, the one she had swung a thousand times in practice. Muscle memory took over instantly, combining fluidly with her newfound Two Handed Weapon skill; her grip was natural, her stance familiar.

She exhaled, relief flooding her. The jungle’s menace hadn’t vanished, but now she was armed again, and this time not with some half broken tree limb, but with something born of the network itself.

[Weapon Created: Mycorrhizal Bat]

Sara smiled despite the fear. The jungle could keep its stupid branches. It’s about time she introduced these shark-monkeys to her favorite pastime. “Play Ball!”

<>

Sara crouched low in the undergrowth, silver-threaded bat gripped tight. The jungle was alive with sound, the chatter of far too large sounding insects, the distant cry of massive birds, but her focus narrowed to the two Monkey Maulers prowling ahead. Their movements were sharp, restless, and unfortunately for her, never far from the other.

She exhaled slowly, setting her ambush, waiting until there was a bit of separation between the two Maulers before tapping the trunk to get their attention. As both heads swiveled toe focus on her, she knew she had to act quickly. To kill the first one before the two had a chance to surround her. When the first Mauler leapt into range, she swung with perfect timing. Even though it would use half her resources in one swing, she couldn’t risk hesitating!

[Power Swing Activated]

The bat connected with a thunderous crack, fungal fibers flexing but holding firm. The Mauler’s skull caved under the force, its body collapsing mid-leap.

[Enemy Defeated: Monkey Mauler 1 of 2]

But the second Mauler was already in motion, somehow already within her reach. It shrieked, claws flashing, and lunged at her with terrifying speed. Sara twisted, bringing the bat up in a defensive arc, but the beast was faster. Even as she gave it a halfhearted swing to its side, its claws raked across her arm, shallow but burning. She gritted her teeth, pivoting to counterstrike.

The Mauler ducked low under her follow up swing and lunged again. This time its jaws clamped down on her leg. Pain exploded, white-hot, as teeth tore into flesh. Sara screamed, staggering, blood spilling into the soil.

[Status Effect: Wounded]

[Body Force Reduced]

Desperation surged. She swung wildly, the bat smashing into the Mauler’s shoulders. The beast snarled, staggering but refusing to let go. Sara forced herself to breathe, to focus, and raised the bat high.

With a final roar, she brought it down on the creature’s skull. The silver-threaded weapon pulsed with the impact, fungal fibers vibrating as the Mauler crumpled lifeless at her feet, even as her own blood continued to pour from the open flesh bite on her leg.

[Enemy Defeated: Monkey Mauler 2 of 2]

Sara collapsed to one knee, clutching her bleeding leg. The jungle fell silent again, but her body was not. Every pulse of pain reminded her that victory had come at a cost.

Her bat remained solid in her hands, its weight reassuring, but her blood stained the ground. She had survived two Maulers… barely. And now, wounded and alone, she had to decide whether to press deeper into the jungle to try to find safety or find a way to heal before the next predator found her.

She tried to rise to her feet, but dropped to her knees as the pain proved, momentarily, too much. She had to do something about her leg. And Fast.

<>

Sara followed what little actual medical training she knew, as best she could. She tore her now irreparably shredded sleeve free and tied it tightly, and amazingly painfully, around her wound. This slowed her bleeding, but neither stopped it nor allowed her to put pressure on her leg yet.

“Well, little buddy”, she said to her bat. “I guess you’re a cane now!”, she grunted as she used it to rise to her feet and, putting as little pressure on her injured leg as possible, began to make her way away from the scene of the crime. She only remembered at the last moment, that there was still more to do before she could leave. She reached over and, tapping each body once, grabbed the two brown crystals and pocketing them with the three others as the bodies turned to dust and disappeared and the notifications came in.

*Ding*

[Your party has killed a Monkey Mauler x2.

200 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (334) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 1.5 of 250]

*Ping*

[100 Microbes gained.

Current Network: 233 of 333]

*Ping*

[Compatible Biological Sample Detected: Monkey Mauler

Monkey Mauler Sample 4&5 of 5 absorbed.

Effect: Stat growth stored to be triggered during Regrowth.

Note: Stat increases limited to 5 samples per biological source.

NO MORE STAT GROWTH MAY BE GAINED FROM MONKEY MAULER SAMPLES

Condition: Growth only occurs if source stat exceeds host stat.]

<>

End of Chapter 2.

Here’s a structured character sheet for Sara Bloom based on everything she’s unlocked, fought, and endured so far in the story. Formatted in a LITRPG style so it feels like an in-world system readout:

________________________________________

Character Sheet: Sara Bloom

Name: Sara Bloom

Race: Mycorrhizal

Affiliation: Mycorrhizal Network

Max Network Size: 333

Current Network Size: 223

Racial Title: [Symbiotic]

[Effect: Host entity cannot truly die. As long as one fungal spore survives, Regrowth will occur.]

[Commensal Mycorrhizal Network]

[Effect: As the network feeds, it grows stronger. All stats increase based on Stat Growth Energy stored.]

________________________________________

Core Stats

• Body: (Stat Growth Energy Stored)

o Force: 1 (reduced temporarily due to wound)

o Speed: 2

• Mind: (Stat Growth Energy Stored)

o Thought: 2

o Knowledge: 2

• Soul: (Stat Growth Energy Stored)

o Self: 1 (reduced temporarily due to Power Swing use)

o Sum: 2

________________________________________

Skills & Abilities

• Two-Handed Weapons (Core Skill)

o Proficiency with heavy, two-handed weapons.

o Increases damage and control when wielding large objects.

• Power Swing (Subskill)

o A wide, crushing strike that deals heavy damage and knockback.

o Costs more stamina and risks damaging fragile weapons.

• Identify (Utility Skill)

o Reveals target stats (Body, Mind, Soul).

o Higher proficiency increases detail and accuracy.

• Mycorrhizal Ability: Regrowth

o Converts 250 microbes to Regrow host body where regrowth spores are saved

o Any Stat growth stored will be triggered during Regrowth.

• Mycorrhizal Ability: Create Basic Object

o Converts 100 microbes into a simple, functional item.

o Current manifestation: Mycorrhizal Bat (durable, silver-threaded fungal construct).

________________________________________

Equipment

• Mycorrhizal Bat

o Durability: Enhanced

________________________________________

Status Effects

• Wounded (Leg Bite)

o Body Force reduced by half.

o Movement impaired.

o Requires healing or microbial regeneration to recover.

________________________________________

Recent Achievements

• Defeated total of 5 Monkey Maulers

• Discovered Regrowth ability and Stat growth capability

• Survived first serious wound in battle.

• Successfully unlocked Two Handed Weapon, Power Swing, & Identify Skills

• Successfully Unlocked Regrowth & Create Basic Object Network abilities.

________________________________________