Now that his defense and stealth were good, his eyes drifted to his primary offensive gene the Spore Dart gene.
The base stats appeared in his vision, showing how weak the original skill was.
According to Scott's memories, he never wanted to absorb such a weak gene, however this gene was absorbed by his body automatically when he absorbed the gene core with the camouflage gene.
There is no way, the chances of absorbing a specific gene from the Gene core was always less than 50%, unless the Gene Core was purified using advanced purification methods.
And their current camp doesn't have such methods or facilities.
[First Order Common Gene: Level 0 Spore Dart]
[ Description: Allows the user to generate and launch a small, hardened spore from their fingertips. It is a silent, ranged attack for hunting or distraction. ]
[ Life Energy Cost: 10 per dart ]
[ Range: 20 meters. ]
[ Velocity: 30 m/s. ]
[ Impact: A distracting tap. ]
"Upgrade Spore Dart to Level 1," he commanded.
[ Upgrading First Order Common Gene: Spore Dart from Level 0 to Level 1... ]
[ 100 Experience Points deducted. Remaining Exp: 1645. ]
A sharp, tingling sensation, like pins and needles, shot through his arms and concentrated in his fingertips.
The feeling wasn't painful, just intense.
It felt as if the very cells in his hands were rearranging themselves, creating tiny, efficient pathways for life energy to flow.
The skin on his index finger felt a little tougher, more resilient.
He checked the stats.
[ First Order Common Gene: Level 1 Spore Dart (+50%) ]
[ Life Energy Cost: 15 per dart ]
[ Range: 30 meters. ]
[ Velocity: 45 m/s. ]
[ Impact: Stings like a paintball. ]
"A paintball sting," Scott laughed. "Annoying, maybe it can cause some damage to ordinary lifeforms, but it won't stop anything serious." He didn't hesitate. "Upgrade again."
[ Upgrading First Order Common Gene: Spore Dart from Level 1 to Level 2... ]
[ 200 Experience Points deducted. Remaining Exp: 1445. ]
The tingling intensified into a low, warm hum that vibrated from his wrists to his knuckles. He could feel the biological structures within his fingers becoming more complex. It was like his body was growing a tiny, internal weapon, reinforcing the launch mechanism and perfecting the spore's composition. For a brief moment, a faint green light glowed under his fingernails before fading.
[ First Order Common Gene: Level 2 Spore Dart (+50%) ]
[ Life Energy Cost: 22.5 per dart ]
[ Range: 45 meters. ]
[ Velocity: 67.5 m/s. ]
[ Impact: Can now break the skin of ordinary Life forms, with power comparable to ordinary arrows… hitting in the weak spots can cause higher damage from the impact. ]
"Now we're talking," he whispered.
The ability to break skin from almost 50 meters away, silently, was a significant advantage.
It could cause bleeding and pain, disrupting an enemy's focus. But he knew he could push it further.
He had the experience points, and he wanted this skill to be a killer.
"Upgrade… Upgrade… Upgrade…"
[ Upgrading First Order Common Gene: Spore Dart from Level 2 to Level 3… 4…5]
[ 300 Experience Points deducted. Remaining Exp: 1145. ]
[ 400 Experience Points deducted. Remaining Exp: 745. ]
[ Upgrading First Order Common Gene: Spore Dart from Level 4 to Level 5... ]
[ 500 Experience Points deducted. Remaining Exp: 245. ]
The sensation this time was radically different.
It wasn't just a surface-level change or a strengthening of muscles.
Scott grabbed his right wrist with his left hand as a searing heat burrowed deep into the marrow of his forearm bones.
He could feel the biological piping inside his arm widening and reinforcing.
The tendons in his fingers tightened and snapped like high-tension cables, and the small gland in his palm that produced the spores pulsed violently, expanding and hardening.
It felt less like growing a body part and more like installing a high-caliber pistol inside his flesh.
His veins bulged, turning a dark, vibrant green for a split second before the energy settled.
He flexed his hand… as the pain began to slowly fade.
The joints seem to click with a mechanical precision.
[ New Characteristic Unlocked: Bio-Pocket Reserve ]
Scott let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and summoned the status panel.
The numbers that greeted him were beautiful.
[ First Order Common Gene: Level 5 Spore Dart (+100%) ]
[ Life Energy Cost: 100 per dart ]
[ Range: 200 meters. ]
[ Velocity: 300 m/s. ]
[ Impact: Lethal. Capable of penetrating thick chitin armor, hardwood, and light metal plating. ]
[ Bio-Pocket Reserve (Unlocked at Lvl 5): A secondary energy sac developed within the forearm. It stores enough condensed Life Energy for three full-power Spore Darts. These shots do not drain from the user's current Life Energy pool when fired. ]
[ Recharge Rate: One charge recovers every 10 minutes, or can be manually refilled instantly by consuming 100 Life Energy. ]
"Three hundred meters per second..." Scott muttered, doing the math in his head. "That's nearly twice the speed of a handgun bullet." And the range... 200 meters was no longer a skirmish distance."
Scott stared at the text floating in his vision, his chest heaving as the residual heat from the upgrade slowly dissipated from his veins.
He rubbed his right forearm. It felt denser, heavier. Beneath the skin, near the wrist, he could feel a small, hard lump that hadn't been there before, his new "magazine."
"A backup mag," Scott muttered, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Three free shots that won't drain me dry in a fight. That is a lifesaver."
He flexed his fingers again. The mechanical clicking sensation in his joints was gone, replaced by a smooth, fluid feeling.
He focused on the stats again, specifically the velocity. 300 meters per second.
His mind immediately went to the old world Earth, the weapons of the military and the police before everything went to hell.
He did some quick mental math.
"A standard Glock 19... that 9mm round travels at about 375 meters per second," he pondered, his eyes narrowing in calculation. "I'm clocking in at 300. I'm just shy of a handheld firearm."
He wasn't quite at the level of an assault rifle yet.
He knew an AK-47 fired rounds at over 700 meters per second, and an M4 was nearly 900.
Compared to those, his dart was still slow.
But compared to a bow and arrow? Or a crossbow? He was light years ahead.
Combined with his [Level 6 Fungal Acuity] , which allowed him to visualize heat and scent trails, and his [Level 5 Camouflage Spores], he had just become the ultimate ambush predator.
He immediately wanted to test it. His eyes scanned the edge of the clearing.
About a hundred meters away, near the drop-off of the canopy, stood the withered, petrified trunk of an old Iron-Bark pine.
Its wood was notoriously hard, almost stone-like, which is why the villagers rarely harvested it for construction.
Scott raised his right hand, extending his index finger. He didn't need to "aim" in the traditional sense.
His body, refined by the upgrades, instinctively calculated the trajectory.
He focused his Life Energy. He could feel the Bio-Pocket Reserve inside his forearm, three distinct pulses of pressure waiting to be released.
The energy pooled in his forearm, spiraling down towards his fingertip.
Thwip.
The sound was incredibly soft, a short, sharp exhale of air, quieter than a bowstring snapping.
There was no muzzle flash, no smoke. Just a blur of motion that even his enhanced eyes struggled to track.
CRACK.
A split second later, a loud, dry report echoed from the edge of the clearing.
Small splinters erupted from the back of the Iron-Bark trunk.