Chapter 2: The Human

“Is… Is this evolution?” Naipas asked himself as he stared at the ceiling of his hut. He hadn’t moved yet, or even dismissed the system notice, yet he already saw a major difference.

It’s like the world expanded. His eyes could see so much more! It’s not that his eyes could see further or in more detail, but rather he could see more.

“Field of view,” Naipas muttered to himself, the phrase coming to him out of nowhere.

It was then that he realized that he suddenly knew a lot more words. They just kept coming, popping up one after the other in his mind. Confused by this, Naipas refocused himself on the screen in front of him to find answers.

[Congratulations! Species has successfully been changed from Gorilla Beringei to Homo Sapien!]

[Traits Added-

Insatiable Curiosity

You are one of the most insatiably curious creatures in existence, wanting to explore and understand everything that catches your attention; a trait that has pushed your species to unprecedented heights. But be sure to control yourself carefully, after all, curiosity killed the human more often than it killed the cat.

Human Creativity

The inventors of art are unmatched by other species when it comes to creativity, due to a higher level of sapience. Human creativity increases in strength every time you experience something new.

Super Genius

You have evolved into one of the most intelligent creatures in existence through your own efforts alone, granting you an additional 65 starting intelligence.

Sweat

Humans have sweat glands all over their body, allowing them to cool themselves off without the use of the {pant} trait. Increases stamina limit by 10 times. Increases heat endurance by 5 times.

Furless

Humans have no fur, and as such have significantly lowered stealth abilities and cold resistance. Triples the effect of {sweat} and increases heat endurance by 2 times.

Center of Gravity

While all other species have this, humans are the only ones that have it in the optimal location to be useful. Unlocks throwing.

More traits will be added as the user discovers them]

[Status Updated!]

[Name: Naipas

Species: Silverback Gorilla -> Human

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Strength: 20/75 -> 4/35 +

Dexterity: 18/30 -> 36/70 +

Speed: 32/55 -> 24/80 +

Stamina: 17/20 -> 30/1,500 +

Vitality: 30/80 -> 46/70 +

Intelligence: 100/100 -> 165/300 +

Titles-

Leader of the {unnamed} Tribe

Seeker of Knowledge

Underdog]

[Notice! You are now Omnivorous, it is suggested that you consume both plants and meat to maintain and increase vitality. Failing to do this may result in decreased health.]

[Notice! Basic human knowledge has been added!]

[Notice! System access privilege has been increased to level 2!]

[Notice! New crafting recipes unlocked!]

Naipas was slightly overwhelmed by all the notifications but quickly managed to sort through it all.

“So Naipas is a human now?” His brows creased as he spoke. Ignoring that his voice sounded slightly higher pitched, he shook his head. “No, that’s wrong. It’s not Naipas, it’s I. So I am a human now?”

Naipas was confused as to why he suddenly knew that but assumed that it was part of the basic knowledge added by the system. It didn’t just increase his vocabulary, but also made his grammar better.

Scanning over his system screen again, Naipas nodded to himself. “Naipa- I don’t have any new titles. I don’t know what half of the notices mean. I don’t understand most of the traits either. The only things I DO understand are the stats. I’m weaker and slower than before, but everything else has improved a lot. My intelligence is 165!”

Though he was a little annoyed that he was weaker than before, he could deal with that realization later, for now, he focused on the oddity in the system. “These signs near the stats, what are they? They were never there before.”

Curious, Naipas focused on the + sign next to the strength stat.

[Strength: This is calculated based on the force the strongest muscle in the user's body can produce, and divided by one hundred.

Example - User Naipas’s maximum deadlifting weight is 400 kilograms, so user's strength stat is 4. Because of stat equalization, all other muscles can also produce a strength of 400 kilograms.

Due to species Homo Sapien, user is capable of super-levels of strength.]

Naipas’s eyes widened in understanding. So he now had access to descriptions of his stats! This must be because of his access privilege being raised. He didn’t see anything else different about his status screen though, so he didn’t know if that was all it did.

Naipas then tried to focus on the only phrase in the description that he didn’t know automatically. Stat Equalization.

To his surprise, another screen actually popped up.

[Stat Equalization: Because all animals have different levels of stats and quantifying all of them would result in hundreds of different statistics for them to keep track of, it was simplified for ease of use. Now each stat has multiple stats that it governs over, and all are equalized for simplicity's sake, resulting in minor to major super-characteristics.

Example: The vitality stat governs many other stats such as resistance, immunity, regeneration, lifespan, etc… As this stat is based off of maximum natural lifespan, it normally results in a species gaining much higher regeneration than they would naturally have. The Bowhead Whale species has a maximum natural lifespan of 200 years, so their maximum vitality stat is 200, however, because of this, if a user with the species were to max it out, they would have regeneration capable of healing a formerly fatal wound in seconds.

Example 2: The strength stat governs all muscles and force produced in the body. Normally a species would have one or two very strong muscles and the rest would be much weaker or intended for control over strength. Due to stat equalization though, each muscle in the body now produces just as much as the strongest muscle would, normally allowing for high levels of super-strength.]

This left Naipas even more confused. He might not have never really noticed it before, but he was pretty sure that his legs weren’t as strong as his arms when he was a Gorilla. Maybe this stat equalization just didn’t work on him?

Anyway, thoughts for later, for now, Naipas was more curious about what the other stats descriptions were.

[Dexterity: This stat is calculated based off of the ability to multitask. For every one task the species brain can manage at once, ten is added to the maximum. This stat governs body control, coordination, balance, agility, flexibility, muscle memory, and multitasking.

Due to species Homo Sapien, super-levels of ability are possible in all of the above stats excluding multitasking.]

[Speed: This stat is calculated based off of the ability to run in miles-per-hour doubled. This stat governs sprinting speed, running speed, reaction speed, perception speed, thinking speed, and all forms of physical movement speed.

Due to species Homo Sapien, super-levels of ability is possible in all categories above excluding sprinting speed and running speed.]

[Stamina: This stat is based on maximum kilometers ran without stopping. This stat governs stamina, endurance, willpower, recovery, temperature endurance, pain endurance, focus, food-water-oxygen retention, and bodily efficiency.

Due to species Homo Sapien, extreme levels of super-ability are possible in all of the above categories excluding stamina.]

[Vitality: This stat is based on maximum natural lifespan. This stat governs lifespan, youth retention, immunity, regeneration, physical force resistance, bone strength and density, tendon/ligament strength, reproduction, and adaptability.

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Due to species Homo Sapien, super-levels of ability for all of the above categories.]

[Intelligence: This stat is based off of the Intelligence Quotient (I.Q). This stat governs all 9 types of intelligence, memory, learning ability, logic, deduction, and awareness.

Due to species Homo Sapien and the inefficiency of the Intelligence Quotient, super-levels of ability is possible in all of the above categories.]

Naipas read through the descriptions with increasing excitement. There was so much information! And it was so easy to read through them. Back when he was a Gorilla, even after he passed the 90 intelligence mark it was still very hard to read new notifications from the system, but now all of the words just seemed to flow into his brain. Like it was second nature!

He was so excited that he sat up, which turned out to be a mistake as he was immediately disoriented.

“Wha…” He stopped his question to himself as his eyes refocused on the room around him. Was he standing up?

Confused, he looked down and froze. Sure, the system had told him that he was furless, and he knew that he was going to change, but this? He brought his hands up to his face and experimentally wiggled his fingers. They had the same general shape, but other than that they looked completely different!

He now had completely bare skin all over his body, save for his crotch, armpits, and head. His skin was a light brown now, much lighter than Naens fur, with the occasional darker brown dot littered across his body. “Freckles.” He muttered as the word came to him.

His body seemed to have been completely restructured. It still had the same rough shape, but his waist was a lot shorter now, and his legs longer. Both his arms and legs seemed to have more muscle than before - his legs especially. That was another thing, his body seemed a lot more muscular than before: almost like those cats he came across sometimes. He knew that the muscles didn’t make him any stronger since his strength stat was so much lower now, but for some reason being able to actually see his muscles like this made him feel more powerful.

Reaching up he started feeling his face, his newly enhanced sense of touch helping him get a sense of what he looked like without actually seeing his face yet. His nose seemed much smaller and differently shaped than before — which probably explained his inability to smell the rest of his tribe outside like he could before — and his mouth also seemed smaller.

Sticking his fingers in his mouth, he started poking around, noticing that his teeth were smaller. He then quickly yanked his hand out of his mouth and started spitting on instinct, his face scrunching up in disgust. It seemed his sense of taste was also better, and his hand tasted terrible for some reason.

He then snapped his head toward the back of his tent, where he heard a rustle. His eyes zeroed in on a mouse that had thought it wise to steal some of his stored fruit. Without thinking he pounced, his legs exploding in movement toward his target. His arm swung down to where the mouse was - keyword ‘was’ because the mouse had bolted the second it saw Naipas’s eyes lock onto it. However, the small rock that it was standing on wasn’t as lucky and exploded as soon as the former-apes fist made contact.

Luckily the fruit was not only left behind but survived the rock explosion as well.

Not thinking much about the rock, Naipas instead picked up the fruit and put it back in its basket — something he had made a few months ago when trying to learn every crafting recipe.

He then looked at his hand, which was still curled up.

“Fist… Punch.” The idea was new to him since he couldn’t make a fist with his former hands, however since it seemed to be a combat-related ability, he decided to ignore it as he only cared for science.

Naipas froze as the word appeared in his thoughts. “Science…” He said slowly, testing the word with a sort of awe as its definition was revealed to him.

Understanding, trial and error, the scientific method, learning, and the pursuit of truth! The endless chase of understanding the secrets of the universe!

“Yes… science. That’s what I am! I am a scientist! I am a scholar!” He declared the instant he learned the definition. This is what he always wanted to be!

-o0o-

Meanwhile outside the hut.

“Remember tribe, Naipas not look Gorilla. Evolution change fox to Gorilla. Evolution change Naipas, but Naipas still Naipas. Naipas still Chief.” Omoh said as the final day was upon them. Their chief would be coming out of the hut any time now, and Omoh was getting anxious.

She trusted the tribe, but she had learned that ‘trust but confirm’ was the best way to deal with other creatures. It must be right too, it was what had earned her the title [wise man] after all. The system wouldn’t give her a title like that unless it was true.

So she wasn’t too worried about them revolting, but she wanted to make sure.

“Omoh not worry, Naipas smart. Too smart to fight. Lath not stupid. Lath not betray Naipas. Tribe not betray Naipas either.” A slim Gorilla with pitch-black fur reassured her.

Omoh huffed in amusement. Of course Lath wasn’t stupid, he had an 85 in intelligence after all. He was the second smartest member of the tribe after Naipas.

“Naen protect, tribe betray.” Naen added from his place in front of the village ‘gate’. It was only called a gate because it had the largest gap between the wooden pillars that were jammed into the ground as a makeshift fence.

The other Gorillas nodded along, none planning to betray the one who had led them after the old chief had abandoned them.

Omoh sighed in relief, especially happy after seeing how serious Naem was. Naem was the strongest in the tribe, and could probably take half of them out before they could stop him if he felt like it. It was really good that he was so loyal to Naipas.

It would have been especially bad now since Naipas would likely be weaker after his evolution. He had rarely ever exercised his strength after all, and anything that he might become based on intelligence alone likely wouldn’t be that naturally strong.

[For logical thinking, you have gained +2 intelligence]

Omoh looked at the notification in shock. You weren’t supposed to be able to gain two points at once! It was impossible! How did she do that?

[Congratulations! Hidden trait {In face of a Genius} discovered!]

[In face of a Genius

A trait all mammals were forced to develop in order to survive the power of humans, your intelligence increases at a much higher speed when in the presence of a being that has 30 or more intelligence than you. If you can’t beat them, join them!]

“30?!” Omoh said out loud accidentally as she looked at her new trait. There was no one here that was that much smarter than her! She may not be as smart as Naipas or Lath, but she still had an intelligence of 80! Well, 82 now…

‘Wait… Naipas at one hundred, but evolution change Naipas. That means…’

[For logical thinking you have gained +2 intelligence]

She looked with wide eyes at the entrance of the chief's hut. So that’s what evolution did.

She also noticed how Lath — who was in front of her — seemed to suddenly snap his head toward the hut as well. That probably meant he also got the notification.

[For logical thinking you have gained +2 intelligence]

Omoh’s eyebrows creased at the notification. That was a simple thought! She shouldn’t have gotten an intelligence increase for something like that. Was the system mocking her?

She didn’t have a chance to think further on that though as her thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of leaves and she refocused on the hut; which was now open. Her mate walked out and she truly understood how much evolution could change. Though, all things considered, this probably wasn’t as drastic as a change as fox changing into a Gorilla was.

He was tall now, and shiny. Very shiny.

He stood at least a head or two taller than Naen: who was the tallest in the tribe. His furless skin was a light brown in color, with odd little, dark-brown dots scattered across his body, a larger concentration of them on his nose and cheeks. His now green eyes seemed to pop with color, especially now that there wasn’t as much protruding bone protecting them.

He had a soft, youthful face, looking much younger than he was. It was outlined by long black hair that ran down to the middle of his shoulder blades. He also had a lot of muscles visible on his body, which was especially apparent in his legs — which were very long now — as they looked very large now.

Everyone in the village was looking at him as soon as he walked out of the hut, and he was looking back at them with a very happy expression. The gorillas mostly has looks of confusion or bewilderment, only Omoh, Naen, and Lath had different expressions.

Lath looked like he was thinking very hard about something. Omoh looked relieved now that she saw her mate's new body, as she had been slightly scared that something might have gone wrong. Naen though, looked like he didn’t care.

He didn’t, not really at least.

He only cared that Naipas was happy with his new form, not what it was. So to congratulate his friend, Naen walked up to Naipas and patted his shoulder gently.

“Naipas happy?” He asked, receiving a firm nod in return. “Then Naen happy. Naipas smarter now. Eyes smarter. Naipas be better chief. None smart as Naipas.”

Judging by the way Naen was talking much better than a few days ago, he probably also received a few points in intelligence already. Omoh wouldn’t be surprised if everyone did.

Maybe this was a turning point for them? For everyone even. For some reason, Omoh felt in her very bones that something had changed, and she was suspicious that Naipas was responsible.

[For logical thinking you have gained +2 intelligence]

She takes that back. Omoh was certain that Naipas was responsible.

-o0o-

Quick author's note to clarify a few things I don't think I did too good a job explaining.

1. Stat Equalization. The simplest way to understand this is to think of it in terms of muscles. The strongest muscle in the body could produce 400 kilograms of force, and because of stat equalization, every other muscle can also produce that much force now. Each. This is why Naipas could shatter a rock, because every muscle in his arm, chest, and back each added 400 kilograms of force to the punch, which added up to a lot. Any negative effects of this though are negated by the system micromanaging some things.

2. His appearance. He's nineteen years old, but he appears to be a very lean and muscular native American fifteen-year-old (with lots of freckles just cuz' I thought it would look cool). This is due to Stat Equalization again, specifically the vitality stat which allows users to maintain their youth much longer depending on the stats level.

Other than that, I think I explained things enough in the chapter, let me know if I didn't and I'll clarify to the best of my abilities in a reply or in the next chapter. Anyway, thanks for reading!

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