While he slithered through the forest, TJ almost deliberately made more noise than he needed to. He was itching to slaughter the monsters, and he had every confidence in being able to escape anything. Maybe that was foolishness on his part, but barring a Chindi being able to do a whole lot more to him than the other had been able to, he'd be able to escape. Right? As soon as that thought crossed his mind, TJ immediately stopped rushing headlong everywhere. He couldn't let this strange pride drive him forward. Instead, he would be wise and intelligent with every step.
Speaking of intelligent, TJ remembered to allocate his Free Point into Intelligence. With his Fixation soaring well into the 80's with his Divine Tribulation, it had left his Intelligence behind. Looking at his Strength and Agility, it was still one of his highest attributes, but TJ found that more and more, he was going to rely on his resources to make himself strong. Even so, the thought of this extended siege coming up tempted him to put more into his physical attributes. His body itself wouldn't betray him, and he had a difficult fight ahead. Even so, there was so much more that Intelligence would do for him in the long run. He was quickly realizing the niche that he was going to fit into long term, though how he could do so with his attributes steadily skewing away from his body's strength confused him. He'd only survived this long because of the strength of his body and Divine Transformation, and he didn't like the idea of becoming wholly dependent upon his MP to keep himself alive.
The thoughts of how to fix his attributes was washed away as he finally found something worth testing out his new combination on. A herd of thirty javelinas with a troop of half as many pukwudgies above them in the trees. He couldn't see the pukwudgies and so couldn't Appraise them, but the javelinas were all at least level 12. TJ grinned, and, checking to see that he still had plenty of time left on his Divine Transformation (it'd only been ten minutes since he'd left the safe zone), TJ activated Divine Manifestation, focusing on Divine Transformation.
As the Skill said, it empowered another Skill. He'd only truly used it in his dream state of the Tribulation, so TJ didn't know what to expect. The persistent pain certainly was a surprise as he felt his HP drain away. Beyond that, though, was the immense power that flooded TJ as soon as Manifestation surged through him. His body crackled with power, lightning and gale-force winds accompanying his every movement, and TJ shot forward into the middle of the javelinas.
Since Manifestation was draining his MP so quickly, TJ used only the bower of his body instead of relying on Wind Manipulation. His fangs ripped through the javelinas without any difficulty, their spines giving way with each snap of his jaws. Piglike squeals filled the air, but TJ didn't slow or stop himself. His body was stronger than ever before, and the javelinas' tusks couldn't break his scales. There was a plinking, like a heavy rainfall on a metal roof, as a hail of javelins shot towards him and bounced off his body. These attacks would, at most, bruise him, and TJ cackled with reckless abandon.
More and more he lashed out, his entire body flashing with lightning while he tore through the javelinas. Blood coated his body and whipped around him while the squealing beasts were felled like so many stalks of grass. A mere second or two was all it took for each to fall, and TJ laid in the killing field, a pool of blood filling the area. He wasn't done yet, though, and TJ coiled and threw himself up into the air. With a slight boost from Wind Manipulation, TJ's 40 foot body was able to reach the pine trees' branches above him. He hissed as the pukwudgies' birdlike cries filled the air and they fled. There were more still to slay.
TJ chased through the treetops, felling four of the screeching monsters in less than half a minute, but he retained his head and rationality. His MP was sure to be nearly depleted, and TJ deactivated Manifestation while he descended from the treetops. Corpses filled the area, and all that TJ could smell, taste, and see, was blood, though none of it was his own. He shook himself and blew a firm gust of wind down his body to clean the worst of the viscera off.
Then, knowing that this preliminary test was effectively complete, TJ gathered two of the least destroyed corpses and dragged them back to town. Now that he was down and done with using Manifestation, he took stock of his resources.
Health Points (HP): 1968/2060
Mana Points (MP): 62/740
Stamina: 1123/2040
That explained the killer headache. TJ did notice that he'd spent a bit more of his Stamina than MP, and given that he'd slaughtered the vast majority of his enemies with his body, it wasn't surprising that he'd expended additional Stamina there. In reality, he felt like Stamina was a pretty oblique resource, given that it was just… there a lot of the time. Of course, it was important, but for so long, it'd faded into the background. The Zealots had told him that many of their Skills drew on Stamina instead of MP, which made sense, TJ supposed.
Just a couple minutes later, TJ dragged the javelinas into town, where mass destruction was just beginning to get under way. Homes crumbled and trees became timber wherever people passed, and TJ deactivated Divine Transformation. The javelina corpses weighed heavily in his hands, but TJ, given his Strength, could carry a couple hundred pounds of animal for the quarter mile or so ahead of him. Other Participants looked at him, watching as he returned without any outward signs of battle, but still carrying enough food to feed dozens of people. TJ nodded at them as he passed, but didn't engage until two of the people who worked with Penny, an older man and woman named David and Denise, came forward.
"We'll take those for you." David said, hauling one over his shoulder without much effort. Denise, more focused on keeping herself clean, grabbed the other by the tail and dragged it behind her while she walked towards the store.
"Thanks for going out there." Denise grunted as she continued pulling.
"Yeah." TJ responded, unsure of what else to say. They didn't seem to need anything else, since the pair of sixty-somethings continued walking with their charges, uncaring of anything else. TJ wondered if they, too, were Attendants like Penny. Maybe that or something similar. He was grateful to have them, but he refused to take an Occupation that would put him at so much of a disadvantage. Being dependent upon serving someone else to gain a measure of strength was far from TJ's ideas of how to survive this apocalypse.
Instead of continuing to dwell on someone else's choices, though, TJ decided to go to where Farid was leading people in the process of getting the Meditation Skill. He had neglected to find out where they were intending to do so, but TJ didn't struggle too much in finding the group of thirty Disciples and Farid sitting in a relatively quiet area in the safe zone. When he arrived, TJ found himself slightly disappointed, as he'd hoped to gain some further insight into actual Meditation through listening to Farid's instructions. Instead, TJ was left alone, while all these people tried desperately to get the Skill they'd been told was so important they gained.
With a grunt, TJ settled onto the ground where he could get some space. He closed his eyes, and as soon as he thought of activating Meditation, he felt his mind slip away. He could still think about all of the problems they were facing, about Junior and himself, but they lost their urgency, and he felt his shoulders sag down. Then, with another deep breath, TJ's perception of the world around him slipped away.
While in his mind, TJ had a question that'd slowly been growing in the back of his mind, one he asked the System.
"What exactly happened when I used Divine Manifestation on Divine Transformation?"
Under the influence of Divine Manifestation (Copper (I)), the Skill Divine Transformation (Copper (I)) gains an additional 250% bonus in statistics to apply during the duration of both Skills' activation. That 250% is applied evenly to each attribute amplified by Divine Transformation. In your case, Strength, Agility, Endurance, Vitality, Toughness, and Perception each receive 41.67% additional bonus.
Though still meditating, TJ felt himself gasp and his concentration fell away. It took him another minute to recenter himself, but he eventually did. Then, as his mind returned to the featureless nothing of Meditation, TJ asked another question as he braced himself to remain in the bounds of the Skill.
"What do my Attributes look like under the influence of Divine Transformation, Divine Manifestation, Primal Savagery, and in the bounds of my Divine Authority?"
Attributes
Strength x2: 116+12+48+23=199
Agility x1.5: 63+6+26+13=108
Endurance x2: 204+20+85+41=350
Vitality x2: 206+21+86+41=354
Toughness x2: 158+16+66+32=272
Wisdom: 55+6+11=72
Intelligence: 74+7+15=96
Perception x1.5: 105+11+44+21=181
Willpower: 88+9+18=115
Fixation: 86+9+17=112
Looking at the numbers in his Attributes as the System presented them was amazing. TJ couldn't help but admit he was a little disappointed to see the bonuses didn't compound, with the exception of those granted by Divine Transformation. Was that because those were the attributes of his body as a coatl, not his attributes as granted by any additional Skill?
Yes.
"If that's the case, then why didn't the bonus from Divine Manifestation get added on to the baseline attributes to draw the bonuses for Primal Savagery from?
The bonus attributes granted from Divine Manifestation when used to amplify Divine Transformation are similar to those granted by Divine Manifestation itself, but they are not the body's base attributes, and as such, are counted as a bonus, given that they are a bonus granted by the Skill Divine Manifestation.
TJ got the distinct impression he was being treated as if he were a dull child. Even so, he felt like he needed to ask to be sure. Then, since he was on the topic, there was another question to ask the System. "Why doesn't Primal Savagery give me more of any of my resources? That 20% boost to my Intelligence should be more notable, since another 150 MP would be huge."
Per the description given at the time of this Skill's acquisition: "This Skill grants a 20% increase to all your attributes while you engage in combat without any pre-Integration tools or equipment." This Skill does not, at this time, grant a universal bonus to attributes whilst complying with the requirements, but only within the constraints of battle.
"It doesn't say that it's Dirt or Copper tiered. Can it upgrade, even though it isn't a tiered Skill?"
All Skills can be upgraded, though each will have its own requirements and level of difficulty. Some can only be upgraded by taking Skills at opportunities of Skill selection while others still can be evolved or upgraded by enlightenment or personal effort.
So, while Primal Savagery was impactful and powerful, it could still grow further. TJ nodded internally and asked that the System remind him when his MP had recovered to 85%.
While meditating, time passed by quickly, and it wasn't long before the System gently flashed in the corner of TJ's eye. With the bulk of his initial recovery complete, TJ woke from his meditation, ready to work on the fortifications.