Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 248

Chapter 248

His attributes stood at Body 140, Mind 130, and Magick 175. This meant the only abilities he could learn at the moment were Chainsaw Arms, Drill Gauntlets, and Grappling Hook Arm—the three abilities he had acquired after completing the first three floors of the dungeon. He took a closer look at each of them, one by one.

Chainsaw Arms: You can morph your arms into chainsaws to deal devastating melee attacks to your enemies and cut through various obstacles. 

Rarity: Epic

Upgrades: 0 of 5 

Requirements: Body 125, Mind 110, Magick 150

Cost: 50,000 MP

Drill Gauntlets: You can transform your hands into powerful drill gauntlets that can pierce through various obstacles and enemy armor with equal ease.

Rarity: Epic

Upgrades: 0 of 5 

Requirements: Body 130, Mind 115, Magick 160

Cost: 55,000 MP

Grappling Hook Arm: You can morph one of your arms into a grappling hook. This allows you to swing across gaps, climb to higher areas, or pull objects from a distance. The grappling hook can also be used in combat to ensnare foes and pull them closer, setting them up for powerful melee strikes.

Rarity: Epic

Upgrades: 0 of 5 

Requirements: Body 135, Mind 125, Magick 165

Cost: 65,000 MP

He had almost 268,000 MP at his disposal. The total cost for these three abilities was 170,000 MP. If he purchased all these abilities right away, he would be left with a little less than 98,000 MP. However, he had over two dozen mana crystals stashed in his Inventory, each containing 5,000 MP. After checking the exact number of mana crystals he had, he learned that by siphoning mana from all of them, he could raise his mana reserves to over 220,000 MP, which wasn’t bad.

So he decided to purchase all these three abilities. He did so one by one and then took a moment to think. After defeating the dragon liche and evolving into the Stage 3: “Apex Manifestation: Corruptor ”, he gained 20 skill points. He decided to use some of them to unlock available upgrades for his newly acquired abilities and allocate the rest of the skill points to his attributes. 

Chainsaw Arms: Rank I (0%) (Upgrades: 0 of 5) (Epic)

1. Quick Charge: Decreases the time needed to morph your arms into chainsaws. Cost: 1 SP

Drill Gauntlets: Rank I (0%) (Upgrades: 0 of 5) (Epic)

1. Enhanced Reach: Extends the reach of your drill gauntlets. Cost: 1 SP

Grappling Hook Arm: Rank I (0%) (Upgrades: 0 of 5) (Epic)

1. Extended Range: Increases the length of your grappling hook. Cost: 1 SP

Only one upgrade was available for each of these three abilities. He figured that as he progressed them to higher ranks, new upgrades would become available for unlocking—one upgrade per rank. It was definitely a change from his previous abilities and skills. Previously, he didn’t need to progress his abilities and skills to unlock new upgrades. He suspected that the reason for this was that the Chainsaw Arms, Drill Gauntlets, and Grappling Hook Arm were of Epic rarity. It appeared that Epic abilities and skills followed a different set of rules than the Common and Uncommon ones.

Another thought occurred to him. He couldn’t help but notice that most of the skills and abilities in the third section of the Genetic Development Interface required not only his attributes to be at specific levels but also various skills to be at Rank V. While in the dungeon, he mostly relied on his favorite abilities. However, to acquire new skills and abilities from the third section, he needed to advance many of his existing skills to Rank V. He decided to give his full attention to this once he completed the dungeon and returned to the surface.

After spending three skill points to upgrade each of his three newly acquired abilities, he was left with seventeen skill points remaining. He decided to allocate them to his attributes. All the skills and abilities in the third section of the skill store were quite demanding in terms of attributes, so he was going to have to put many of his future skill points into his attributes to be able to purchase new skills and abilities.

Body: 135 →140

Mind: 125 → 130

Magick: 168 → 175

All his skill points had been spent, so it was time to check out his newly acquired abilities. Before doing so, however, he took a few minutes to retrieve the mana crystals from his Inventory and absorb magical energy from them. He did this one by one, dropping the empty cracked crystals at his feet, creating a growing pile on the ground.

Once he was finished, he held his arms out in front of him and mentally commanded them to morph into chainsaws. Before his eyes, each of his lower arms transformed into a completely different shape. His fingers disappeared, and his lower arms reshaped into chainsaw blades with large, jagged teeth.

The entire transformation process took about three seconds, longer than Jake had hoped. Hopefully, future upgrades to the ability would reduce that time. With both of his lower arms now transformed into chainsaw blades, the jagged teeth sprang to life, whirring into action.

He fully expected to hear the mechanical growl of the chainsaws, but it didn’t happen. Which wasn’t all that surprising. After all, unlike standard chainsaws that were powered by robust engines, his unique versions seemed to operate on an entirely different principle, having no engines at all. However, he felt vibrations coursing through the chainsaws and into his upper arms.

The process was quite fascinating. Each of the triangular teeth formed on one side of his chainsaw-blade-shaped arm, starting at the elbow and traveling all the way to the end of the blade, over the rounded top, and then down the other side back to his elbow, where it merged back into his flesh.

Then Jake realized his chainsaws were idling and that he could ramp them up to full power. He did so with a thought, and the chainsaw blades exploded to life, the jagged teeth spinning at a much more drastic speed. The vibrations intensified greatly as well, as if the blades were hungry to shred some human or monster flesh.

Jake then morphed one of his arms back into a normal human-like arm. He realized he could have either both arms transformed into chainsaw blades or just one. It would depend on the situation whether he needed one or both arms as chainsaws. After that, he morphed his other chainsaw blade into a human arm as well. Now, he was ready to test out another of his exciting new abilities.

With a thought, he activated Drill Gauntlets. This time, his lower arms remained unchanged while his fingers fused together, each hand morphing into a formidable drill-like bit. Just like Chainsaw Arms, he could switch the drills to full power, causing them to spin with incredible force. Sure enough, at full power, these abilities consumed mana at an accelerated rate.

He then activated the final of his newly acquired abilities, Grappling Hook Arm, giving the command for one of his arms to transform. It began to reshape, and a couple of seconds later, his hand vanished, taking the form of a long, pointed spike resembling a harpoon. Jake aimed it at an empty spot ahead and launched the grappling hook with a mental command.

The spike shot forward, morphing his lower arm into a long cable that trailed behind it. After traveling several meters, the grappling hook hit its limit, causing the line to go taut. From the tip of the hook, three smaller hooks shot out. However, since Jake had aimed the grappling hook at nothing but open air, it had nothing to latch onto and simply fell to the ground.

With a thought, Jake retracted the grappling hook, the line quickly pulling back and merging with his arm once again. The process was quick, and within a moment, the grappling hook jutted out from his wrist once more. In contrast to Chainsaw Arms and Drill Gauntlets, Grappling Hook Arm served more as a tool than a weapon, though it still had its uses in combat.

Jake transformed his grappling hook back into a human hand. It was time to continue exploring the dungeon. He felt a surge of excitement at the thought of testing his newly acquired abilities on some dungeon monsters. A nightmarish grin spread across his face. It was time to put these abilities to good use. He stepped into the portal and was teleported back to the cluster of islands from which he had come.