The Lupine System-Chapter 137: The Concept Behind Vitality

The Concept Behind Vitality

• Vitalis Core [B+ → A (Evolving)]

A recovery-type ability that drastically increases the Vitality of the user. Through this ability, the user can heal from small injuries to recovering from serious injuries as well as being able to regenerate lost limbs. Speed of regeneration, as well as the seriousness of the wound, determines how much energy is consumed to recover.

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Vitalis Core [A]

A recovery and reinforcement-type ability rooted in the user’s own mastery of his life force.

Vitalis Core grants the user direct control over the production, distribution, and expenditure of Vitality within his body. Beyond accelerated healing and regeneration, the user can choose to actively shape how their Vitality is used, rather than allowing it to function passively.

That settled it. Mike’s sudden realization about Vitalis Core was unfounded. In fact, it wasn’t just unfounded, the system practically threw it into his face how mundane his usage of the skill was.

Sure, the skill had evolved, so it was better than before. But rather than unlocking new usages, it was more accurate to say that it had simply become better at doing what it was already capable of. The system simply pointed out that fact.

It was embarrassing, but also exciting.

Mike had been so focused on improving his aura and Lupine-based abilities, that he’d neglected another very important part of his kit. And now that his attention had been brought to it, he was determined to use it to its fullest potential.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. He could already feel it. The lingering ache from using Overclocking in conjunction with his aura at maximum output was whisked away, and his body felt like it had been soaked in a warm bath as every part of him was touched by his Vitality.

In a few short moments, he was brought back to his peak state.

Before, Mike would have been satisfied with just that. However, he knew that this was just the bare minimum.

After basking in the upgrade, he immediately began to think.

’Where do I start?’ He hummed. With the amount of possibilities, it was easy for him to get stuck due to having too many things he could do.

So after a moment of hesitation, he took another breath and asked himself.

’What is Vitality?’

The basics.

’Vitality is the presence of life within all living things. Vitality is what ensures someone, or something, is alive. Plants, animals, humans, and all living beings possess it. But what IS it?’ He mused as he turned his attention inward.

He briefly focused on the Energy Pathways. With all his abilities currently deactivated, the flow of energy was calm and slow, but if he wanted to, he could ramp it up. But he didn’t, he simply observed.

’If energy is what fuels abilities, Vitality is what fuels the vessel for said abilities,’ Mike continued his musing. ’For instance, if energy is the power source of a laser gun, and the laser is the ability, then the gun itself is the body and the condition of the gun determines how well the laser will be fired out. That’s why brand new guns will perform better than their aged and battered counterparts.’ Then he frowned slightly.

’But... that analogy isn’t truly accurate, because guns aren’t living things. They don’t possess Vitality. So they cannot repair themselves, they rely on external support. Otherwise, they constantly deteriorate until they are scrapped or recycled. In my case, or the case of all living beings, that isn’t the case.’ He thought about a plant.

’If a plant gets damaged in any way, the vessel has been damaged. When that happens, a complex process occurs for it to repair that damage. But what fuels that process?’ Mike soundlessly snapped his fingers.

’Vitality. In the case of ability users, it’s even more complex. Our Energy Pathways don’t exactly exist in our bodies. As Mrs. Alice said, our Energy Pathways don’t actually exist on the physical plane, but they are still connected to our bodies. But that begs the question, why is it that it’s harder to express one’s abilities from a damaged body part where circuits reside?’ He hummed.

He clearly remembered how, when he fought the panther, he’d taken extreme damage when it used that obscene skill that he’d barely survived. He used Vitalis Core to heal himself, but before that, he couldn’t properly output any energy from the damaged parts, especially the lost limb.

Did that mean that his Pathways were also shredded when that happened? The answer was, surprisingly, no.

His Pathways were still there, but because the vessel needed to express the energy was gone–the limb–they simply floated in that strange alternate plane until it regenerated.

In other words, Mike’s analogy of the gun being the vessel and the energy being the source for the laser still tracked somewhat, because if the gun were too damaged, no amount of energy would allow it to fire out the laser.

So, with all that said, where did Vitality fall into all of this?

Well, we’ve established that the body is the vessel and energy is the fuel. If the body is too damaged, it cannot utilize that fuel. Hence, Vitality is what repairs the body to ensure that it can continue to use the fuel and fulfill a task.

But here’s the thing. In most cases, Vitality isn’t infinite.

Mike may be a part of an academy with a large number of students with abilities, but the fact is, they are in the minority, the top 1%, perhaps even lower than that.

Most mundane humans don’t get more Vitality as they get stronger. As such, when they get older and accumulate injuries throughout their life, the Vitality that repairs this damage starts to wane, and eventually, it gets extinguished, which is how people die from old age.

Ability users gain more Vitality the stronger they become. It’s why, even if one doesn’t strictly have a healing ability, they still heal faster than most. Mike didn’t know why this was the case, but he could make a few guesses as to why.

With all that established, he focused on his Vitality again.

’Most people can’t control their own Vitality, even ability users. Whenever one gets injured, the healing process begins immediately without their control. But I’m different.’ Mike hummed.

The new description for Vitalis Core said that he can control how his Vitality moves and is distributed throughout his body.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the other parts of the cave where Kris and Theresa were in their own corners, also similarly meditating.

When he was sure that they weren’t paying attention to him, he looked at his arms, and after a moment, he brought his claws to each arm and gouged a sizable wound in both.

The pain made him wince, but he ignored it.

Instead, he focused on the wounds.

Almost as soon as they were inflicted, he saw steam coming from them as they began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye, and in just a few short moments, the wounds had closed completely. Even the blood that leaked out was sucked back in, making it look like everything had been rewound.

Mike marveled at the process for a moment. It was so much more potent than before. Which was saying a lot. But it wasn’t enough.

Without hesitation, he inflicted the injuries again, but this time, he focused inward.

He felt his energy move slightly, but it didn’t move towards the wound. Not quite. Instead, it moved towards something else, which is when he noticed it, and when he did, Mike couldn’t help but be startled.

Vitality and energy were two independent forces, but they weren’t mutually exclusive. One could turn energy into Vitality, and vice versa. It’s how Mike could afford to heal himself constantly when he should have exhausted his Vitality after using it to heal one or two lethal injuries. But the exchange was inefficient, and abusing it could come at a cost

However, he never really thought about where Vitality existed in his body. His energy existed in his Energy Pathways which were connected to his reserves somewhere in his body. But there were no Pathways for Vitality. No reserves.

Now, he realized where it was.

It was everywhere.

Not kept within a specific pocket and drawn from there. No, within him, Vitality existed everywhere, immense and turbulent, and right now, it was moving towards his wounds.

He split his attention, and he watched as his regeneration kicked in while his Vitality moved towards the injury and promoted healing.

His energy wasn’t still either. In fact, it’s what was guiding the Vitality to the damaged spot to let it do its job. Mike had a feeling that the Vitality could carry out the task regardless, but the energy just made it smoother and faster.

When the wound was fully closed, Mike sat there in silence as he considered everything he’d observed just now. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Then, he sighed.

’This is way more than I could have ever imagined.’ Then he cracked a smile.

’Well, time to see just how much more it is, then.’ And without hesitation, he inflicted the injuries again.