Chapter 573: Arctic Stalker (1/2)
Del poked her sleek black head into the backroom closet where Nix was going through his box of gear. ”Something is going on outside.”
”Huh?” Nix slammed the box shut and walked towards the back door just in time to see something flash by. ”The hell? Was that one of Mina's Vilas?”
Nix pushed the door open and was quickly forced to dodge as he came face to face with a smiling jade figure. The quills on top of her head were standing up straight; it was obvious that she'd been playing in the turtle pond. ”Playing with the Vilas?”
Soup's round face smiled as she made a chewing motion. ”Nom, nom, nom.”
”Going to eat Mina's Vilas?” When she nodded, Nix released the turtle. ”Have at it; she has plenty of them.”
Nix was still smiling when he resumed his seat in the kitchen. ”What?”
Del's ice-blue eyes were watching him. ”You're going to let Soup eat a Vilas?”
”Sounds bad when you say it like that.” Nix placed three Emperor puppets on the counter in front of him.
”You made a white Orion?”
Nix shook his head slightly. ”The Orion's were already white; I had to waste an enhancement slot to change them to black. Guess the jokes on me.”
Del stared at the white Orion; it had been placed between a Dire Wolf puppet and a Ravager. ”Can you strengthen it? I don't mind switching out.”
Nix knew firsthand how effective shapeshifting during battle could be. While chasing Hulo, he had used the Basilisk and the Phoenix very effectively. His yellow eyes examined the Ravager for a moment; it was the one that Jun Li had removed from the rubble of the Bone Fortress. Sasi had been using it when the structure collapsed.
[Animator Interface Activated]
[Ravager: Emperor (Damaged)][Dire Wolf: Emperor]
[The resulting repair will decrease the quality of the end product. Do you wish to proceed?]
”No.” Nix glanced up at Del, who was watching the process. ”When I made Raine's Ravager Armor, I was able to apply miniaturization to avoid quality degradation.”
”Bigger is better,” Del put forth.
”Maybe,” Nix added the Orion to the Animator Interface.
[Ravager: Emperor (Damaged)][Dire Wolf Emperor][Orion: Emperor]
[The resulting repair will decrease the quality of the end product. Do you wish to proceed?]
”No,” Nix muttered a curse. ”I thought maybe the extra Emperor would raise the quality. ”Guess I have to miniaturize it.”
[Ravager: Emperor (Damaged)][Applied Miniaturization Text: .75][Dire Wolf Emperor][Orion: Emperor]
[The resulting repair will decrease the quality of the end product. Do you wish to proceed?]
”No. Shit... That should have been enough.” Nix decreased the sizing from .75 to .5.
[Ravager: Emperor (Damaged)][Applied Miniaturization Text: .50][Dire Wolf: Emperor][Orion: Emperor]
[This repair will result in a mutation of the queued Animations. Do you wish to proceed?]
”Yes.”
[Critical Crafting]
Arctic Stalker (S)
Del's loud purring was the only sound in the room for several seconds. ”That's for me, right?”
Nix stared at the newly created puppet, his hand running over the soft white fur. ”It doesn't have any of the base puppet skills; stealth, dominate and self-destruct are missing.”
”It's beautiful.”
”Yeah...” Nix pulled it closer; it had cost three emperor puppets to make, the cost of which was astronomical when you considered the component items. It was larger than both the Orion and Ravager had been, but smaller than the Dire Wolf. Its body bristled with muscle, especially the neck and shoulders. The four limbs seemed thicker than they should be; wickedly curved retractable claws tipped the feet. The muzzle was rounded and full of sharp teeth; large, wide-set eyes gave it an apex look. ”Losing the base skills is shitty.”
Del hadn't taken her eyes off it since it appeared. ”The ears are funny and the tail is gone.”
”Hmm?” Nix ran his hand over the rounded head, the ears were much smaller and facing forward. ”Not gone, just smaller.” He pointed to the tiny nub of a tail, only a few inches long. ”Follow me.”