With that entirely unexpected conversation out of the way, I decided it was time for a nice, long sit. Between the events of the day and the news I had learned, I had a lot to think about. I also had a whole new ability I needed to look into.
While Adaptation Fusion was something I had never heard of, given everything I've learned about the strangeness of this integration, I wasn't entirely shocked at another mystery. What Grimbleflork had told me still left me questioning what was coming, and the Loamhag's words made it all the worse. We needed to get this valley fully explored and cleaned out as soon as possible. Which meant I needed to understand every ability I had, old or new.
That meant it was time to take a look at just what I had gained with the Lost Hero progression. Pulling up the main menu of Adaptation Fusion, I read over just what was there.
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Lesser Bravery
Bravery
Lesser Accelerated Healing
Lesser Lightning Resistance
Lightning Resistance
Lesser Mental Defenses
Lesser Muscle Control
Lesser Poison Resistance
Poison Resistance
Lesser Sleep Deprivation Tolerance
Adaptation Points (100)
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Adaptation points were certainly new. The way it was laid out looked a lot like attribute points, but at the same time, I knew how I gained those. How did I gain Adaptation Points, and what exactly did they do?
This wasn't the first time I wished abilities came with guides to how they worked. Sometimes their descriptions were self-explanatory, but often, when they gave you whole new concepts within the System menus, you were left on your own to struggle. And this was why so many people died so quickly in a new adaptation. They were tossed into an open ocean without a life preserver but given instructions written in a language they'd understand on how to swim.
Going back into the menu, I tried selecting Lesser Bravery to see what would happen, and was immediately told I needed to add a second adaptation. Bravery seemed like the obvious choice, so I started there.
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Lesser Bravery Selected.
Please Select Another Adaptation.
Bravery Selected.
Add Third?
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I figured I may as well keep it simple in this first attempt and chose no for a third adaptation. I was starting to get an idea of what was about to happen, but I needed to see it first to be sure. The new System message told me I was in the right direction.
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Combine Lesser Bravery and Bravery.
Adaptation Points remaining after combination (90).
Proceed?
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I didn't like it at all that it didn't tell me what the combination would look like. I was worried that I could push myself backward with this. With how powerful bravery was, it probably wasn't the best test subject, so instead, I switched it over to the Lightning Resistances. It would be more of an annoyance to lose those than it would be a giant hindrance. Selecting yes gave me another System message.
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Fused Adaptation
Lightning Resistance α-II
Type
Reactive
Through the combination of Lesser Lightning Resistance and Lightning Resistance, a new adaptation has been created. Lightning Resistance α-II combines the damage reduction of both of its lesser forms and then further improves it into an overall 36% reduction from lightning sources.
11/50 Recaptures Unlocked for Lost Hero Progression.
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Immediately, I checked if I still held the original adaptations and found they had both vanished from my status. In their place only remained the new fused adaptation. This was interesting. It wasn't something overwhelmingly powerful, at least not initially, but for anyone who understood the long-term way adaptations worked, this had a very subtle power growth to it.
The more adaptations a person gained, the harder it was to get new ones. This applied even more so to adaptations that fell outside of chains that they had already begun. The number of adaptations I had possessed at my prime had already put me in the upper limits of what one person normally had. I strongly suspected that Adaptation Fusion would help push against whatever stopped a body from gaining more. And that opened the door for me to push myself further than ever.
First, though, I had more questions to answer about this new ability. For instance, could I combine adaptations that worked in the same chain? I started by trying to add Lesser Bravery to my new fused adaptation.
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Error.
In order to fuse adaptations from outside of their respective chains, they must be of an equal rank.
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This didn't surprise me in the slightest and made a lot of sense. I had a feeling the alpha symbol was denoting the new rank, and the idea of packing it full of smaller adaptations would easily break whatever little balance this new ability had. So instead, I quickly fused together Lesser Bravery and Bravery, dropping me down to eighty adaptation points.
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Fused Adaptation
Bravery α-II
Type
Reactive
Through the combination of Lesser Bravery and Bravery, a new adaptation has been created. Bravery α-II combines the attribute boosting effect of both its lesser forms and then further improves it into an overall 6% increase to all attributes while venturing into encounters in the defense of others.
12/50 Recaptures Unlocked for Lost Hero Progression.
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The fact that this also boosted the ability of each fused adaptation made it all the more valuable. The only problem I had with this entire new ability was that I didn't have the slightest clue how to gain adaptation points still. That made me question continuing with my experiments, but first, I had to at least attempt to combine the new fused adaptations to see what happened. After that, I could attempt to figure out how exactly I got more of those points.
The price to combine fused adaptations jumped rapidly. Though it was possible, it had less to do with the fact that they were fused and more to do with combining higher-ranked adaptations. There was a good chance I'd see a higher cost for adding in any greater or above adaptation into the mix. That wasn't something I had access to test at the moment. For now, I just had to accept the forty points it would cost to do this.
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Fused Adaptation
Fused Double Chain
Bravery/Lightning Resistance α-II
Type
Reactive
Bravery and lightning resistance have been fused into a double chain, increasing both of their abilities by 1%. Overall, lightning resistance has increased to 37%, and the attribute increase has risen to 7%. Furthermore, the fused adaptation has gained the synergistic effects of the attribute increase applying whenever the Lightning Resistance portion has been triggered, and will last for 1 minute afterward.
13/50 Recaptures Unlocked for Lost Hero Progression.
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I was sorely tempted to try more combinations, but as I was already through more than half of my starting pool, it was best I held them in reserve until I figured out how to gain more. The fact that there was a synergistic boost when the chains were combined was almost more than amazing.
People spent their entire lives trying to unlock synergistic effects of various abilities and often never got anywhere. The closest I had ever really seen were certain mana orbs that were hybrids of different abilities, and those came at a high cost. Most people would never be able to afford one, let alone utilize it in any sort of setup similar to my own.
It wasn't that my sword was a unique weapon in the greater scheme of things, but it had taken an incredibly long time to create. And finding the right type of smiths to put it together was no easy feat. And the fact that I now just had the ability to fuse adaptations from the comfort of a lawn chair would prove incredibly useful.
Still, though, it was the unanswered question of how I got the points needed to do that. The total didn't mesh up well with the levels I already had, so that seemed out. Though it was possible that one hundred was just the starting value, and I would start gaining them at every level, but that still felt wrong somehow. Basing it on level gain would make the ability too unpredictable.
I had an idea, though testing it wasn't exactly going to be pleasant. Then again, no pain, no gain. With that in mind, I set off for one of the fires.
“Surprised to see you out here this late, Adam. Thought you were trying to rest up,” Greg said, looking up from his chair as I approached. It was his night to watch one of the fires.
“Yeah, I should be, but I gained an ability that I need to continue testing. Greg, do me a favor and don't tell Ash what you're about to see,” I said, giving him a serious look. It wasn't that she wouldn't understand; it was more that I didn't want her to repeat what I was about to do. Forcing an adaptation often went wrong, and it was never pleasant.
“Okay…” he replied, sounding a bit confused.
I didn't explain further. Instead, I walked over to the bonfire and pulled loose one of the burning sticks. Lifting my left arm away from my body, I held the fire over the top of my forearm, letting my skin burn.
Greg grimaced and looked away.
I didn't blame him. I hated burns. They were some of the most annoying wounds to heal. But I had kept this one to an area that shouldn't hinder me in any fights, and it should give me access to an old adaptation, assuming I was on the right track.
A System message popped into view.
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Adaptation
Lesser Fire Resistance
Type
Reactive
Through exposure to fires, the burns they cause, your body has gained the ability to better move moisture around your exposed flesh. The Lesser Fire Resistance Adaptation reduces damage from fire sources by 10%.
14/50 Recaptures Unlocked for Lost Hero Progression.
Adaptation Points (50)
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That had proved it. Gaining an adaptation gave me adaptation points. Interestingly, fused adaptations also contributed to my recaptures towards my progression. Considering I wasn't sure I actually had fifty total adaptations before this, that would be useful.
I tossed the stick back into the bonfire. I was happy with the result, even if my arm hurt like hell. Every adaptation would gain me another ten points. Likely, there were at least a dozen more I could force if I tried. Though I needed to see how far along we were on healing magic before I pushed some of them.
There was likely also another way to gain adaptation points, but I needed to do some monster hunting before I was sure of that. There would be plenty of time for that another day.
“So are you done burning yourself? The hell did you do that for anyway?” Greg asked.
“Sorry. I know that was probably a bit horrible to watch, but I needed to try to force an adaptation,” I replied, moving the burned skin out of his view.
“Did it at least work? I'd hope that wasn't all for nothing, at least.”
“Oh yeah, it worked great! Fully unlocked the Lesser Fire Resistance adaptation. I'll let you get back to watching the fire in peace, though.”
“Appreciated. I think. Oh, Bob and Noah were looking for you. It seems they found some wasps that were growing bigger than usual out in the woods. I didn't know what to do, and they couldn't find you, so they let me know.”
“Ah, so the mana flow is starting to mutate the insects already. That's going to be interesting quickly. I'll talk to them in the morning and see what we need to do. Considering they're wasps, we may just have to exterminate them. But it is possible we could communicate with their queen, though it'll be dangerous.”
Not wanting to worry Greg anymore, I left him to the fire and made my way back toward the garage. I needed to find a burn salve and, hopefully, do so without Ash noticing my arm.