Free Web NovelChapter 36: Big teen crow >>> Bigger teen crow
The two things he bought, be it the strength upgrade or the following skill, were implemented in his body fast enough.
Ideally, Jimmy wanted to spend all day trying to get his strength closer to the maximum level, which was level forty, but he knew that it would be a bad idea.
He didn’t have enough time to max out his strength level, for one thing, as an attack from the ravens was unpredictable. It could happen at any time.
Second, he was sure he didn’t even have enough points to max out his strength. With a single upgrade costing seven-hundred system points, he was sure that he wouldn’t even reach level twenty before he ran out of points, nevertheless level forty.
With that said, he began exploring the second sub-branch of the Physique Branch.
This sub-branch revolved around durability, something he knew he lacked drastically. The close combat with the Razor Squirrels helped him reach this conclusion. If he hadn’t stolen their main defensive ability, he’d be dead by now.
The Retractable Razor Armor evolution was a nice addition to his defense, but he knew that it wasn’t enough.
The option to upgrade his durability was at the very bottom of the sub-branch. Much like his Strength, he hasn’t touched this option ever since he bought the Assassin Crow Evolution path, so it was time to upgrade it. He requested it immediately.
[Confirmed]
[Initiating...]
In an instant, Jimmy felt the skin below his feathers burning. For a moment, it felt as if he was being burned alive!
"Son of a bitch!" He shouted, "That hurts!"
The pain was brutal, but it wasn’t paralyzing. He could still move. He ran across the rooftop in circles, as if he could outrun the pain.
Virena was on top of him. She held on to his feathers as if Jimmy was a bull that was trying to knock her off. Yet she didn’t say a thing. She had a very good idea of what he was going through, and tried her best to remain attentive, and protect him if any unexpected threats were to appear.
Jimmy ran in circles until he tired himself out, and at some point, the pain became more bearable. His skin was still burning, yes, but he could endure it.
Twenty minutes later, the pain disappeared entirely.
[Complete]
[-600 system points]
[Durability: Level 4 >>> Level 5]
"Finally," He sighed in relief.
However, he felt that a single upgrade in his durability wasn’t enough. So he requested to upgrade it again.
As he suffered through another half hour of burning pain below his skin, he requested for his ability to be upgraded once more!
In the end, he was satisfied. He didn’t know what his upgraded body could endure now, but if it made him at least twice more difficult to cut compared to earlier on, he imagined that he’d be very pleased.
[-700 system points]
[-800 system points]
[Durability: Level 5 >>> Level 6 >>> Level 7]
[Remaining points: 7,367]
"That was expensive," He shook his head.
Jimmy didn’t feel any different. He only knew that he experienced a lot of pain to go through these upgrades, but he hoped that they were worthwhile.
Durability featured twenty-five levels in total. He was hoping that he didn’t have to upgrade it again anytime soon.
After those few upgrades, he jumped to the fourth sub-branch, regarding size.
The collar, otherwise described as the bottom of this sub-branch, was split in two paths. He could either choose to increase his size, or reduce it.
"I don’t see a use in being smaller right now," He said.
Likewise, he avoided that path entirely, and chose the path that guaranteed him an increase in size.
Jimmy envied White Blade. That crow was like a god amongst their community. He was almost two feet taller compared to Jimmy, and he could see how such size could benefit him.
Although the path to be as big, or at least as tall as White Blade seemed expensive, he gave it a shot nonetheless. He put his considerably high IQ into use, and made several purchases across the Size Sub-branch.
He bought a bundle of them at a time. Much to his advantage, every option was cheap enough. They were like micro-purchases, which together summed up to a few hundred system points in the end.
Jimmy spent the following hour laying on the rooftop. At certain points, one could’ve confused him with a pile of cow dunk.
His body, in a sense, lost its physical outline, and flattened itself into a sub-liquid form. His beak, his eyes, his legs, all sailed around his body during the upgrade.
It made him feel weird, but he pushed through.
[-900 system points]
[Max Flying Speed: 65 km/h (40.3 mp/h) >>> 70 km/h (43.4 mp/h)]
[Wingspan: 105 cm (41 inches) >>> 115 cm (45 inches)]
[Body weight: 1kg (2.2 pounds) >>> 1.2kg (2.6 pounds)]
[Beak to tail length: 60 cm (23.6 inches) >>> 65 cm (25 inches)]
[Height: 45 cm (17.7 inches) >>> 50 cm (19.6 inches)]
[Complete]
These statistics were the turning point where he decided to chase two more bundles of upgrades. He liked that he was a little bit bigger now, but he felt that it wasn’t enough.
With that said, he went for another bundle, and suffered through another set of the random, and rapid shots of pain he experienced throughout the hour-long period where his body turned into a puddle.
Jimmy had a goal in mind, so he endured the pain until the upgrades were finished.
[-1,300 system points]
[Max Flying Speed: No changes]
[Wingspan: 115 cm (45 inches) >>> 120 cm (47 inches)]
[Body weight: 1.2kg (2.6 pounds) >>> 1.5kg (3.3 pounds)]
[Beak to tail length: No changes]
[Height: 50 cm (19.6 inches) >>> 55 cm (21.6 inches)]
[Complete]
The second bundle of upgrades helped him reach a decent size, but still, he was not satisfied. He felt small compared to more reputable crows.
Despite his upgrades, he was still smaller compared to his older brother. In an odd way, he saw that fact as a challenge.
"Come on!" He exclaimed, "My beak has been floating like a damn sail-boat for over an hour! I want to be bigger!"
Jimmy demanded another set of upgrades right after.
It wasn’t easy to endure another hour of pain, but in the end, he found that the third bundle of upgrades left him at a position where he truly felt powerful. Paired with the prior upgrades regarding strength and durability, he believed that he now was a true force to be reckoned with!
[-2,100 system points]
[Max Flying Speed: 70 km/h (43.4 mp/h) >>> 75 km/h (46.6 mp/h)]
[Wingspan: 125 cm (47 inches) >>> 130 cm (51 inches)]
[Body weight: 1.5kg (3.3 pounds) >>> 2kg (4.4 pounds)]
[Beak to tail length: 65 cm (25 inches) >>> 75 cm (29 inches)]
[Height: 55 cm (21.6 inches) >>> 61cm (2 feet)]
[Complete]
[Remaining points: 3,067]
The points went down quickly, but he wasn’t worried. They were a digitalization of his recent effort, his sacrifice, and he was quite happy that he could actually reap benefits of his efforts directly.
Jimmy stood up, stretched his wings, shook his leg as if he was trying to shake off a bug, and looked at his body. He could easily tell that he was a lot bigger now than he was before!
The outlines of his bloodied feathers from the prior fights had stretched out, and allowed for new feathers to break in. The new, clean feathers pointed out exactly where his body had changed, grown.
"I can work with this," He mustered a tiny smile.
