A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Tamara

Tamara had been taken out of the backpack and left behind, just inside the first rows of trees. Her wounds were still deep despite having rested and eaten enough to cancel out the hunger penalties, she was absolutely in no position to fight and Luchael had probably taken this into consideration when he abandoned her at that point, not too much into the woods and not outside to be potentially seen by some casual adventurer.

I hope nothing happens to him while he is alone in the forest, Tamara thought to herself, trying to walk although with a lot of pain from the wounds that were still healing and were tearing her in certain places until the bone underneath was showing. Perhaps It's better if I invest my time distributing points from my recent level up instead of focusing on the pain.

“Status,” she said softly, best not to draw any potential danger to herself.

___

[Tamara Parker][Salmadrer][Monster (lv.4)]

[Health: 7/50 (50)][Mana: 30/30 (30)][XP: 167/338]

[TRAITS MODIFIERS]

Nourished

[TRAITS]

[4 points to place]

► Dexterity: 12

► Faith: 6

► Knowledge: 6

► Resilience: 10

► Speed: 10

► Strenght: 6

[FEATS]

► Scale Armor (Lesser) I

► Scratch I

[1 Feat slot free to use]

___

The priority thing was to place Trait points. From what she understood, Dexterity quantified her quick reflexes, Faith and Knowledge still eluded her understanding but she concluded that they must be characteristics related to the use of magic or divine powers – so it was nothing that she could use, not until then – while Resilience was tied to the amount of health points she had at her disposal. Speed and Strength were straight-forward enough that they didn't need to imagine what they were for.

Um…so, the wise man usually says that the best way to avoid getting hurt is to avoid being hurt, but the dungeon I'm facing at the moment is narrow and doesn't allow much room for maneuver, she thought, keeping her eyes wide and completely black on the translucent screen that only she could see. It is better for me to strengthen the natural resistance I have.

SYSTEM: [2] Trait Points have been distributed on [Resilience]. Your maximum [Resilience] score is increased to [12].

SYSTEM: [1] Trait Point has been distributed on [Strenght]. Your maximum [Strenght] score is increased to [7].

SYSTEM: [1] Trait Point has been distributed on [Speed]. Your maximum [Speed] score is increased to [11].

Satisfied with her work, Tamara focused her attention on the Feat box. Even this time the system showed her a different selection of Feats than the last time.

___

FEAT LIST:

► Acid Spit I

Monster obtains the ability to spit acid. Mana costs dependant on use (related Trait: Knowledge).

► Nimbleness (Lesser) I

Makes the user move and react faster by 5%

► Scratch II

Strenghtens all claw attacks by 5%

► Tail-Whip (Lesser) I

Strenghtens all tail attacks by 5%

___

[Scratch II] seemed like a good opportunity to improve her damage output since this time the system didn't re-prompt her with either [Growth (Lesser) I], or [Scale Armor (Lesser) II], however, there was a new Feat that immediately caught her attention: [Acid Spit I].

So the reasoning from before was correct, and now she was receiving the ability to use her Mana to fight. Against her better judgment, Tamara gave in to curiosity.

SYSTEM: You have chosen [Acid Spit I], do you want to confirm? Y/N.

Y.

SYSTEM: [Acid Spit I] added to your Feats list. All slots are occupied, it is not possible to choose another Feat.

Now I can use magic! She exclaimed inside her head, she was trying to keep her head busy so as not to focus too much on the pain, she was a simple human girl inside the body of a monster, her soul came from a part of the Earth that knew no war, no constant threats to her life. Or at least, something that resembles it… she concluded.

Luchael hadn't returned yet and she had time to spend trying out her new ability, the dilemma was whether to do some practice tests or wait... did Mana regenerate like health points? If there wasn't fast enough regeneration she would run the risk of using up her new arsenal without even really benefiting from it on a level growth sense.

Tamara considered her options: maybe try using her power sparingly? It was better to know one's abilities before fighting than to discover them while her life was on the line.

She looked around, first of all she needed a target she could study to understand the effects of her new powers. She found a rock the size of a human fist, placed herself a few steps away, and then concentrated on her... magic skill.

…

Why wasn't anything happening?

“[Acid Spit]!” Tamara exclaimed loudly making the typical hissing noises of a lizard.

Nothing.

“[Acid Spit]! Activate!”

Nope.

“Maybe I can help you?” Velen's sudden appearance made the salamander monster let out a shrill cry, a reaction that made her giggle, "did you gain the first special ability of your type?"

Tamara took a second to catch her breath and slow down her little heart, “yes…? I have no idea what my type is, but I gained a Mana-based ability.”

“Your type is [Salmadrer], which means that as you level up you will gain access to [Acid] and [Earth]-based spell-like abilities,” Velen explained, “judging by what you were saying, you got [Acid].”

“That's right, I just don't understand how it works.”

“You're lucky I'm around for you!” Velen exclaimed as she fluttered around as if she were a classic dancer… a classic dancer made luminous ball, “I'm not sure which Traits you've chosen so far, but each Trait you've chosen has changed your body, for example, now you should feel in your mouth a gland from which you can spit acid.”

Now that Velen had made her think that, she had actually felt something when she chose her Traits: when she chose [Scale Armor (Lesser) I] she felt her skin itch for a few moments, when she chose [Scratch I] a tingling sensation momentarily took hold of her short claws. Even when she chose [Acid Spit I] she felt something coming from her body, a sort of lump in her throat. Tamara checked with her tongue, focusing on the inside of her mouth: yes, the acid gland was there.

“There is,” Tamara kept her eyes on the guardian spirit, waiting for a further explanation, which however did not come, “…so? How do I activate it?”

“You have to use the gland, of course!”

“Yes, ok, but how do I use it?”

Another long silence.

“So you don't know,” Tamara concluded.

“I-I don't have all this experience with monsters!” Velen exclaimed in response with a sulky tone, “I think you should try to concentrate on the gland to open it and then spit, a bit like opening and closing the fingers of your paws.”

“Okay, let me try…” murmured the salamander monster in a disconsolate tone. Her target returned to being the stone from earlier, her large and completely black eyes fixed on the target. Maybe I should try doing it like I want to spit? She thought uncertainly.

Tamara focused her perception within herself, to the point that her awareness of that new part of her body came to draw the shape and size of the gland inside her mind.

But will I be immune to my own acid?

Tamara shook her head vigorously, obviously she was immune to her acid! If that hadn't been the case, she would have started to melt the moment she chose that Feat! She didn't need to waste time worrying that her mouth would melt when she spit the acid out, so she braced herself, puffed out what sort of cheeks she had, and…

...It took at least twenty attempts before Tamara managed to activate [Acid Spit I]: the system deprived her of a few Mana points in exchange for an unconvincing spit of acid that only dissolved the superficial part of the stone and consumed a few blades of grass without causing any significant damage.

"It worked!" From Velen's enthusiasm alone, Tamara assumed that the spirit would applaud her if only it had hands.

“Yeah, and I can already tell what the good and bad side of this ability is.”

"And that would be?"

“The upside is that it only cost me three points of Mana,” Tamara snorted, “the downside is that it doesn't seem to be much of a weapon, at least at the moment.”

“Mh…” Velen groaned thoughtfully, “I've seen some salmadrers use this ability for prolonged times, and I think it's more effective on creatures made of flesh.”

“Prolonged times,” Tamara murmured, “okay, let's do another test! But first… how is Mana recovered? Just sleep on it is enough?"

“Yup, you recover Mana points at half the rate you recover your Health points, but the method is the same.”

Tamara nodded and made a second attempt; she opened the gland and held it open trying to feel the Mana coming out of her body to produce the acid, then she opened her mouth spitting a short jet of acid strong enough to leave visible marks on the stone and completely consume the blades of grass that surrounded it.

“It went… better, even if it cost me double Mana,” Tamara commented, “I would like to do some more tests, but I'm risking running out of Mana without even fighting.”

“I think Luchael won't take you into a dungeon today, and maybe not even tomorrow,” Velen reassured her as she approached the ground hit by [Acid Spit I], it was probably not the first time she had seen the effects of such a weapon, but maybe she was trying to quantify how strong Tamara was getting, “she needs you to win, and you're in no position to fight.”

“That doesn't mean we shouldn't expect some monster to appear in the forest, who's to say Luchael won't come running to us chased by some big monster?”

"Me?" Velen asked in a tone of voice that expressed disarming obviousness.

That's right, Tamara had forgotten that Velen was capable of instantly knowing everything that was happening along the banks of the river that had given her power and life. Probably, if Luchael had been in danger she would have already warned her and then guided her to the battlefield.

“My next test is distance,” She held out a small paw to indicate the partially corroded rock, “I'm not sure how big or how tall Luchael is, but from my current distance to the rock it will be at least five feet.” Tamara stepped back moving her fat tail left and right, “let's see what the maximum range is.”

The next few minutes were a series of throws from different distances, she had almost completely used up her Mana reserve when Luchael finally returned, finding her complaining to what from the point of view of Luchael was empty air and trying to climb a tree.