I read the description once and then reread it, just to make sure.
[Apex Body – II (Passive) → Apex Body – Transcendent (Passive)]
[Strength (Alpha +) → Omega]
[Constitution (Alpha +) → Omega]
[Dexterity (Alpha +) → Omega]
[Apex Body – Transcendent (Passive)]:
The body has fully merged with Essence, becoming a vessel that adapts beyond natural limits. Muscles, bones, nerves, and even blood are woven with Essence channels, allowing conscious reshaping and reallocation of power.
Morph Adaptation: The user can consciously alter their physique at will. This includes structural shifts, surface alterations and minute control over body functioning. (Cannot change species or core racial traits.)
Essence Redistribution: Up to 20% of any stat (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Psynapse) can be transferred temporarily to another stat. The transfer is time-limited.
Reinforced Vessel: Natural durability, healing speed, and resistance against hostile influences are heightened beyond Apex Body – II. The body instinctively adapts to maintain balance, reducing long-term strain from stat redistribution.
I whistled under my breath. "Now this was what I called an upgrade."
Eight hundred points. That was what twenty percent meant for me right now, eight hundred points sliding from one stat into another like moving weights across a scale.
I wasn’t sure if the system had been designed to hand me something this broken, but at the rate I was going, I wondered if I even needed laws anymore. I could almost brute force my way through everything. Almost.
The advantages jumped out instantly.
With Morph Adaptation, I didn’t just heal faster; I could re-shape myself at will. If I needed more reach, I could stretch out.
If I needed a heavier frame to absorb impact, I could build it in seconds. If infiltration ever came into play, I could change my face, my height, my whole body.
Not a perfect disguise, my race and Essence signature would still give me away to sharp eyes but enough to throw people off or make me unrecognizable in a crowd.
Essence Redistribution was even crazier. If I needed a sudden burst of speed, I could drain a chunk of Strength and pour it into Dexterity.
If I was about to take a beating, I could push it all into Constitution and tank through the storm. In fights against someone who specialized in one area, I could mirror or counter them just by shifting my foundation.
And with my Reinforced Vessel backing it all up, my body wouldn’t collapse from the strain like it once would have.
But the system never gave anything for free. The disadvantages were there if I looked hard enough.
Morph Adaptation wasn’t instant. Changing my face or bones on the fly would take focus, and in a life-or-death fight, a second of focus was dangerous. Worse, the more extreme the change, the more energy it cost. If I wasn’t careful, I’d exhaust myself mid-battle just trying to play shapeshifter.
Redistribution had its own traps. Moving stats around was tempting, but twenty percent was still temporary.
There was the danger of dependence. If I always solved problems by swapping stats around, I’d risk forgetting the bigger picture—laws, tactics, Essence control. This ability was powerful, but it wasn’t meant to replace everything else. It was a tool, not the core of who I was.
The Reinforced Vessel gave me healing and resistance far beyond before, but that too could backfire. If I got too used to surviving impossible damage, I might start gambling with my body more than I should. Just because I could heal didn’t mean I should be reckless.
Covering these weaknesses was simple in theory but harder in practice. I’d have to train redistribution until it became second nature, not something I consciously calculated in the middle of a fight.
I’d need to run drills until shifting stats was as natural as moving my arm. Morph Adaptation, too, I had to practice subtle, efficient changes instead of wasting energy on flashy ones. And above all, I had to discipline myself not to lean on this passive like a crutch.
It was easy to get lost in the numbers, the raw power. Omega stats. Eight hundred points of free movement. Essence woven into my blood itself. But power without control was just a trap waiting to spring.
I closed my eyes and focused on the new passive humming inside me. Redistribution. All it took was intent.
Twenty percent. That was the number I chose, siphoning it from Psynapse and pouring it into Constitution.