[The Primeval Apocalypse] - Chapter Six (collaboration with u/hydrael)

LitRPG

The Primeval Apocalypse, by Robert Keene and Alex Raizman

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Becoming a Beastmaster was something of a transformative experience. Adapting to the senses added by the Beast Hunter passive took me a few minutes.

The bit about my senses becoming sharper was not flavor text to explain the expanded detection radius. All of my senses grew sharper, and the sudden onset was difficult to adjust to.

I could smell where people were still cooking and eating their dinner across the camp. I could taste the humidity in the air, and the system translated that information into assumptions about the weather. I hadn’t expected my vision to sharpen, but suddenly I could see the inside of my tent clearly, even though the last bit of the day’s sunlight had dribbled down to nothing.

The worst part, however, was the sound.

All around me was the low murmur of the townsfolk winding down for the night was nearly negligible normally, but when my hearing was enhanced it sounded like everyone in town had suddenly shoved into my tent together. It was deafening. I could clearly hear so many conversations that they all blended together in a cacophony that had me pressing both hands over my ears immediately to try and block it out.

I just had to keep telling myself that it wasn’t too much. I could handle this. It was just a matter of time. Just like jumping into a cold pool, it was overwhelming at first, but my body and mind would acclimate. A little willpower would keep me sane until it happened.

As things became more manageable, the advantages of this new ability became more and more obvious. In my mind’s eye, I could see the layout of Jamestown. I could feel where the campfires were, I could hear where people were talking, and I could sense which people in their beds were asleep and which were awake.

In several cases, I could tell just how awake they were in a way that felt like an invasion of privacy.

It made me feel suddenly self-conscious. Did anybody else in town have such sharp senses? I didn’t think it was completely a secret what was going on when a woman accepted an invitation into my tent, or when she invited me into hers, but the idea that my more private moments might have been even less private than expected was a bit disorienting.

At least I had only just gained these senses.

Besides a few of my friends and closer acquaintances, I didn’t have a clear picture in my mind of whose quarters were whose.

I, uh, tried not to notice what James was doing in his centralized wooden shelter. And the multiple whos he was with. He had always been in vocal support of the people of Jamestown doing what they needed to do for stress relief, and it certainly wasn’t any of my business his preferred methods of blowing off steam.

Logic seemed to have no power over my detection skill. I could feel what was beyond the nearest bramble wall. One of our scouts was returning from the east. There was a nest of small lizards that he was just a few feet from blundering into, all tensed and emitting a pheromone smell to ward him away.

My senses reached the barest bottom layer of the forest canopy, too. I could detect the movements of unknown species of small mammals, hunting and foraging up in the tree branches, presumably living entire lives without ever touching the ground.

Returning my attention to my more immediate surroundings, I couldn’t quite separate and pick out individual conversations—presumably that was an ability I would have to develop over time—but the din of voices all around became my new normal. By the time I could think clearly, I had been laying still in my bed for long enough that I could Activate Beast Hunter to increase my detection radius even further.

It didn’t seem like a good idea, though. I needed to acclimate to what I had gained before doubling the bonus and short-circuiting my brain a second time.

For now, there was plenty to distract me. Gaining a level had given me three more attribute points. I could use them to shore up my offensive stats in order to better lean in to my new role as a DPS, or I could divide them into defensive stats to try and shore up my sustain, now that I would no longer be gaining new defensive abilities. Considering my constant neglect of offensive stats, I thought my STR and DEX could use the bump for now, and I could re-evaluate how to proceed at my next level-up.

Colin Richardson
Level 5 Beastmaster

HP: 554/554
MP: 0/0
SP: 110/110

STR: 18
CON: 18
DEX: 14
AGI: 16
INT: 10
WIS: 8

Class: Marauder
Subclass: Beastmaster
Beastmaster is a DPS/Support hybrid subclass that amplifies ally capabilities with a variety of buffs and debuffs. Instead of originating from the Beastmaster, most of these debuffs come from charming and training pets to use their abilities. It loses many of the more civilized class skills from Marauder in favor of those that enhance its wilderness survival and make it a more effective scout.

True to my expectations, several of my skills had changed between class skills and cross-class skills. Stealth and Intuit North were now class skills, as was Bow and Unarmed, though that seemed a strange adjustment. Block had become cross-class, which made sense, as I was no longer a tank and thus disincentivised to use a shield, but I still had at least Light and Medium armors. I’d never unlocked Heavy Armor skill since I’d never found any or met any armor crafter with the skill and resources to make them.

Crafting (Cooking) was now cross-class, but I’d barely used it since moving into Jamestown, so I wasn’t worried. Harvesting and Skinning were no longer cross-class, too, though Excavation now was. I was chagrined to see Use Rope remain cross-class, but I had been making do just fine with it as-is.

It wasn’t worth poring over the skills otherwise right now. The change in status didn’t change my actual skill levels, only the rate at which they would grow, and what level their growth would hit a prohibitive soft cap. Even though Cooking was now cross-class, my skill level was still 4. Even though Stealth was now a class skill, my skill was still 9.

What interested me most was the new abilities. Not just the ones that I had read about on the Choose A Subclass menu, but the new functionality that the system had opened up to me as a Beastmaster.

As usual, the system didn’t have a tutorial. But I was aware of a new kind of equipment I had unlocked. Or, at least, that’s what it felt most similar to. Focusing on the sensation and finding the slot empty, I discovered my Pet Stable.

My stable had one empty slot currently, but the system notified me that the next slot would be unlocked by reaching level 6. The empty slot obviously didn’t have stats for any pet at the moment, but examining the slot revealed that the pet would have a stat loadout similar to mine, though without achievements and with an expectation of much fewer abilities and skills.

As usual, seeing an empty equipment slot lit up that drive deep in my gut. I needed to find something to occupy that slot. Even if what I got wasn’t optimal, I couldn’t just wander around without something there. It was like walking around without pants on.

But what could I find? There were some obvious options. Even now, I could hear Richard on the north end of camp complaining that the pack of raptors expanding their territory in our direction was still a problem. One of them would make a good combat pet, as they were tiny, but fierce.

Acquiring one would be a serious challenge, though. They swarmed in such numerous groups that finding just one alone would be impossible, and thinning a hunting party down to just one was too tall an order for me to take on by myself.

I could try and find a territorial Daeodon, but if I failed to convince it to become my pet, then once the pacify effect wore off, I was going to be staring down a violent death.

And the Mandrills, while bestial, were definitely civilized beings. If I could charm and make one of them a pet, then I would be just as capable of making another human being a pet, and even without testing it, it just didn’t feel possible. And if it was, I certainly wasn’t comfortable with it.

There was another option, though. A stupid option, but one that might net me a fierce companion in combat, and could make me all the more vital a component to Jamestown’s infrastructure. It would be a tremendous risk, but if I understood how my new abilities worked, I could pull it off.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

It seemed that the system agreed with me. After a few moments of consideration, two new quests populated my journal. One of them had been expected, but the other was just the kick in the pants I needed.

Reach Level 6
Completing objectives, overcoming challenges, and defeating powerful foes will gain you experience points to increase your level. At level 6 you will unlock: Teamwork II, Savagery, Treat.

Grand Theft Animal (Solo Challenge)
You have unlocked the Beastmaster Stable. Enemy Settlement DawnSilence has a paddock where they keep captured beasts. Facilitate a one-sided exchange. [This is a solo challenge. Being a member of a party will prevent you from getting credit for objectives on this challenge.]

The name of the Mandrill settlement was new. The system had never surfaced that information to me before. But the encouragement was more than enough to have me planning a daring heist for the morning.

Of course, I would have to delay it. Even as I lay here, I could hear snippets of James’s postcoital conversation with his partners, bouncing ideas off of them for next day’s tasks to keep the town afloat. It would be grossly irresponsible to run off and start doing my own thing while everyone else was working hard to keep us all from starving, especially when I had to do it alone, so I couldn’t try and turn it into a group activity. Even if it might help in the long-term, it wasn’t a good look. If things didn’t go exactly according to plan, I was going to look like a total asshole.

But… that empty stable slot still haunted me. Deprived me of my will to sleep.

Because I could apparently see in the dark now.

Maybe the time to take on this challenge wasn’t tomorrow morning, but tonight.

“Alright,” I said firmly to myself, feeling the grin spread across my face. “Let’s go steal an aurochs.”

Posted Mar 25, 2023, 2:04 PM UTC · edited

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