Free Web NovelChapter 38: Warhammer Comprehension evolution (1/11)
Jimmy ran his claw across the pile of hammers, grabbed one by the handle, and pulled on it.
"Motherfucker..." He held his breath as his body tightened, "How the fuck did they squeeze all these hammers in here?"
Try as he might, the hammers were stashed too tight on top of one another for him to pull without great exertion. He needed five minutes just to pull one of them out of the pile.
There were a hundred hammers here, retrieved from the slaughtered ravens. The rat hole the hammers were stashed in wasn’t so big to begin with, and with that said, he spent the following hour pulling hammers out of the stash, pawing them as he tried to spread them wide and flat.
"Damn..." He took deep breaths, "I’ve never been this tired. Not even when those squirrels were eating my ass."
Physical labor was not within his skillset. He discovered that today.
Worse yet, he was nowhere closer to picking the hammer he was supposed to wield.
"They all look stupid," He said.
These hammers were hardly designed to be weapons. They were tools. Be it from carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, or otherwise, the ravens had stolen them across the city or from some other human-built settlement. They weren’t supposed to be pretty, or badass, as he described it.
Jimmy threw the ugliest ones, along with the smallest ones, out of the rat hole. He had no intention of ever wielding them.
The hammers that remained in the rat hole were still difficult to sift through. Nevertheless, he tried.
Another hour into the process, he narrowed his choices down to ten hammers.
Five of them, to his surprise, were too big for him to wield. Their wooden tails were too thick, as if they were tails of wood-axes, to the point where even his claws got sore when he tried to handle them.
"Fuck you," He said.
Just like that, he disqualified all five of those thick-tailed hammers, and focused on the ones he could actually handle.
Three of the remaining hammers, although easier to handle, had wooden tails as well. He could drag them around with his claw, yes, and he could even lift them easily, but their wooden handles irritated him.
"I don’t want splinters in my foot, that sounds painful." He said, "Wood can break, and it can rot. I don’t want to deal with that."
Two of the remaining hammers, with full steel tails, were the best, and last candidates.
One of them was too small. Its hammer head was small, at least, and in his eyes, it would be a few grams away from being considered a toothpick. He pushed this hammer away as well, and was left with the last one that he deemed usable.
"This one’s made of steel, head to tail." He pondered, "Hmm... it’s head doesn’t look so bad either. Pretty big, but not too big."
Grabbing it by the tail, he lifted the hammer, and got used to its weight. Since it was made entirely out of steel, the hammer was heavier than he was, but that didn’t bother him.
Jimmy hit the ground with the hammer. It bounced back from the hard ground, and slipped out of its claw.
"Fuck!" He exclaimed, "That hurts!"
The hammer almost broke one of his claws, but he wasn’t discouraged. He saw it as an advantage, and figured that it could break bones easily, if wielded under the right conditions.
Its weight was a bit of a problem, but since he could lift it, he didn’t pull the hammer out of the race.
"This’ll work," He said.
With the decision made, he sat in front of the hammer and opened the Evolution Tree. He liked this hammer, and he didn’t know what sort of craftsman used it, as it appeared to be custom made by some amateur, but the important thing was that the hammer was a good fit for him.
The problem was that currently, he was below amateurish at wielding it. He needed some help with it, hence, he had to evolve.
Within the Evolution Tree, he explored the second branch, otherwise known as the Assassin’s Branch, and then he went down to the first sub-branch in the line, which was dedicated to Weapon Mastery.
"I can swing blades pretty easily," He said, "Now I gotta learn to swing hammers."
Directly adjacent to the Swordsmanship Comprehension evolution, was the Warhammer Comprehension evolution. It featured eleven levels of mastery, four more levels than the mastery revolving blades.
"I want this one system," He said.
[Confirmed]
[Initiating...]
Jimmy lost his balance instantly. He expected every type of pain to strike his body, his legs, specifically, but he was surprised when he noticed that the only pain that followed, was a wide-spread burn across his legs, and abdomen.
As he looked at his legs, he saw them getting thicker, bulkier.
"That’s interesting..." He gasped, and then his beak sealed shut as he tried to endure the pain.
The burning sensation didn’t come along with any other sort of pain, but it was still a lot to handle. He had to endure it for a full hour.
As the sun set above the horizon, he struggled within one of the city’s rat holes, sacrificing his comfort for the sake of a greater purpose.
Virena watched him in horror. She could not understand how Jimmy began to evolve after merely holding a few hammers without even using them in combat. She was amazed and confused at the same time. Yet, she refused to say a word.
[Complete]
[-500 system points]
"Finally," He sighed in relief.
Afterwards he stood up, stretched his legs, and grabbed the tail of his chosen hammer. Its head was nearly as big as his chest, which he very much liked.
"Feels different now..." His tone crackled in joy.
Jimmy swung his hammer left and right, around himself, and close to his body as if he was swinging nun-chucks!
’Did you add some sort of new joints in my legs system?’ He queried silently.
[No, that would be unnecessary as your legs are already flexible thanks to your Swordsmanship Comprehension purchase.]
[As you might’ve seen, your purchase added fresh layers of muscle across your leg, and abdomen. You have gained the muscles required to wield a heavy hammer.]
[It’s worth noting that you need to consume more protein now in order to maintain your muscles, or else, your new evolution becomes useless.]
’Noted,’ He nodded.
After a few more swings, the hammer weighed him down significantly! He didn’t like that, and immediately figured that he was still too weak to wield the particular hammer he fancied.
"Upgrade Warhammer Comprehension to level two," He said, though he chose not to stay quiet this time, because Virena didn’t understand him anyway.
As of recently, he had a hard time deciding when he should communicate quietly with the system.
[Confirmed]
[Initiating...]
Jimmy went through another episode of searing pain. One would say that he was beating down on his body like there was no tomorrow, but he didn’t care. The last thing he wanted was to be underprepared for the battles that were to come in the near future. He endured the self-inflicted torture.
[Complete]
[Warhammer Comprehension evolution: Level 1 >>> Level 2]
[-650 system points]
[Remaining points: 1,917]
With little effort, he got up on his feet, and started swinging his hammer again.
Although his bones remained unchanged, he discovered that he could swing the heavy hammer a lot easier now. It was hardly a burden, and he even found himself using the pull of gravity at his advantage.
For example, every time his hammer gained too much downwards momentum, he shifted his claw inwards a little bit, which in turn made the hammer continue its path, at an upwards angle, without adding any more muscle behind his swing! His leg muscles did get stronger, but he didn’t always need them now.
"Oh... now this’ll help me crush some skulls, hehe!" He celebrated.
