Chapter 56: Super Piglet: Force Resistance

This was a piglet born a little over a month ago, fifty centimeters long, with skin that was white with a hint of red.

It was precisely the most adorable age in a pig's life.

Wagging its tail and shaking its head, it slapped its own face, as if looking at some rare thing.

Tymora's expression was ice-cold: "Mortal, you cannot defy a deity. This is the punishment I bestow upon you; for the rest of your life, you shall live as a pig."

"Oink~ oink~ oink!"

Hearing Tymora's verdict, the piglet could not help but cry out.

As a deity, Tymora naturally possessed the ability to understand all languages.

She had expected Fang Shi to beg for mercy, but instead, the more she listened, the colder his expression became.

"I think this body is quite good; I can be a Super Pig Hero."

Fang Shi, now transformed into a piglet, spoke in a calm tone, revealing a hint of joy.

Tymora's face was frosty: "Mortal, you do not feel despair."

Becoming a different species, no matter what, would cause a great shock to the mind of any normal living being.

This divergence, originating from the conflict between self-perception and physical difference, is unavoidable.

Especially on Blue Star, where humans are the pinnacle of all creatures, while pigs are merely food for the mouth.

Such a huge gap would drive most people mad at first.

Losing the appearance of a human means losing human identity, and naturally, one is cast out of human society.

Humans possess social attributes; turning into a pig...

Not causing a personality collapse would already count as psychological resilience.

Most importantly, a deity's reality alteration is true creation.

It will not fail due to Dispel Magic, anti-magic fields, or other reasons.

Fang Shi naturally knew this, which made him even happier.

"No, Lady, I am very despairing, very despairing that you did not turn me into a cockroach."

"That would be the greatest punishment for me."

Piglet Fang Shi continued to oink, but this time the tone was very despairing.

As if realizing that provoking a deity was a huge mistake, he must self-flagellate to seek the deity's forgiveness.

Tymora's eyes rolled, lost in thought.

Deities are not stupid; perhaps limited by habitual thinking, they did not understand at first.

But now she understood Fang Shi's intention.

"Mortal, your mind is indeed strong, but I will not satisfy your request."

"On the contrary, I will turn you back to your original form."

Divine Power—Reality Alteration.

Fang Shi, restored to human form, wore an expression of regret: "Lady, you are truly compassionate."

"I was already planning to turn into a cockroach and self-flagellate, but who would have thought the Lady would forgive me."

Tymora sneered: "Mortal, if you truly repent, I would not mind turning you into a cockroach."

"But do you really want that? Or are you just overjoyed?"

Fang Shi smiled slightly, as if admitting it, with not a trace of guilt or embarrassment on his face.

That's right, he truly did not care about becoming a piglet or a cockroach.

Generally, transformation spells, besides changing the form, also alter basic attributes and specializations.

For the subject, this is a double weakening of mind and body.

But the existence of the Command changed all of this.

Tymora used Reality Alteration; although she turned Fang Shi into a piglet, all attributes, specializations, and stats were retained.

What does this mean? It means the birth of a Super Piglet.

With power unchanged, mass is reduced.

Fang Shi's running speed in piglet form will reach 60 meters per second.

If he uses Double Force, it will approach 100 meters per second.

Furthermore, since the Command only recognizes enhancement and not weakening,

Longsword Weapon Proficiency I and Unarmed Strike I merged, converting into Natural Weapon II.

Combined with a speed three times faster, the power is not simply tripled,

but a full nine times.

This is purely in terms of lethality, not considering the advantage of maneuvering at three times the speed.

Taking everything into account, turning into a pig actually increased his strength instead of decreasing it.

How could this not make Fang Shi joyful?

Before his rebirth, in human settlements, a group of people had already undergone various modifications to survive.

They simply stopped being human.

If Fang Shi had not been forced to that extent, he also would not have planned to be human.

Pity. Later, the human settlement was breached.

Fang Shi struggled to escape; he had wanted to stop being human many times, but the conditions for modification were gone.

Therefore, when turning into a piglet, Fang Shi was not panicked at all.

He even actively requested to become a cockroach.

Do not think that because a cockroach looks ugly and is repulsive to humans, it is bad.

If Fang Shi truly became a cockroach, he would be a supersonic cockroach.

The reason is simple: a cockroach's mass is far too low compared to a pig's.

Several times, or even more than ten times the speed of sound, raging through the air, more ferocious than a sniper bullet.

In this stage of the apocalypse, he would be an existence that roamed invincibly.

One could simply say: a legend is within reach.

Moreover, there was no need to worry that after becoming a cockroach, his tiny body would be unable to withstand the recoil force during an attack.

When Fang Shi transformed into a small pig, due to the compulsory effect of the Decree.

Tymora reluctantly granted Fang Shi a new feat.

"【Sturdy I】: Your hit points increase by 3, and when your Life Level is greater than 3, each time you gain a new Life Level, you additionally gain 1 hit point."

This new feat directly increased Fang Shi's hit points by 5.

Significantly enhancing the defense of Fang Shi's small pig form.

This would reduce the self-inflicted damage caused by shrinking in size while maintaining the same strength during an attack.

Even more wonderfully, due to the effect of the Decree, when transforming back into human form.

The divine gift belonging to the enhancement naturally remained.

Fang Shi essentially got a feat for free.

Conversely, to ensure the smaller cockroach wouldn't die.

Tymora would be forced to grant an even more powerful feat.

In that case, how could Tymora be willing?

These actions all consume divine power; the greater the change, the more divine power is consumed.

To allow a tiny level 5 cockroach to withstand supersonic speeds without dying, how monstrous would that feat have to be, and how much divine power would be consumed?

Her original intention was to use this to punish Fang Shi and force him to admit his mistake.

Ideally, he would realize his error, correct it, and convert to her service.

Little did she know Fang Shi's mind was firm; he simply went ahead and sheared the wool.

Tymora could not possibly grant his wish.

"Since the Lady is unwilling, may I ask if we can speak frankly: what exactly is your purpose?"

Divine light flickered in Fang Shi's eyes as he met Tymora's gaze, neither humble nor arrogant.

Tymora's expressionless face said: "Mortal, you are so bold."

"You are the first non-legendary mortal to dare propose terms to me."

Fang Shi smiled: "Everything has a first time. If legendary strong ones can propose terms, why can't I?"

"Moreover, Lady, you yourself said I am the 'Unsettled Fate One'; then how could my future achievements be lower than legendary?"

"If you do not wish to speak, I will leave. Regardless, I have already profited."

Tymora smiled, like flowers blooming in spring: "Mortal, you are right. With your abilities, you can indeed reach the legendary realm in the future."

"There is even a slight chance to open the path to Immortality."

"Here is what we shall do: I will make a pact with you, under the witness of Fate."

"On some future day, you must do one thing for me."

Fang Shi said calmly: "Lady, what is your contribution?"

"And regarding future matters, this agreement is too vague."

"Even if you do not let me die, there are simply too many losing deals."

Tymora was not surprised by Fang Shi's attitude: "As for the terms, I can gift you an Epic Feat."

"As for future matters, since you fear losing out, I will grant you the right to cancel."

"As a price, in the future you will lose this feat, and simultaneously drop ten Life Levels."

"Furthermore, I must clearly tell you: the witness of Fate cannot be blocked even by the Decree."

Fang Shi's heart stirred. Although he had sought benefits from the Lady of Luck, his greater aim was to extract information.

Even if an Epic Feat was powerful, compared to the secrets of the gods, it seemed somewhat cheap.

Because an Epic Feat could only dominate for a time, whereas these key pieces of information might decide your life or death in the future.

Little did he know the Lady of Luck was unwilling to reveal even a sliver of her lips; instead, she gave Fang Shi the right to regret.

This made it even clearer that this information was of critical importance.

"Lady, I feel these terms are insufficient. How about ten Epic Feats, with no loss of Life Levels if I break the pact?"

At this moment, Fang Shi was like the shrewdest merchant, beginning to bargain with Tymora.

Given the situation, the Lady of Luck would likely not reveal a word, so it was better to take the benefits first.

As for whether to accept, the decision power was in his own hands anyway.

Ask first, then decide.

Anger appeared on Tymora's face: "Mortal, your demands are far too excessive."

"Do you truly think gods can be bullied? The Decree is not eternal."

"When that day comes, divine punishment will truly descend."

Fang Shi shrugged indifferently: "You also said 'that day'; we do not know how long 'that day' is."

"Lady, if you do not give me more feats, how can I survive until the day the gods descend?"

"As for going to the River Styx to fish people out? Do you think souls of people like us go to the River Styx after death?"

Tymora's tone grew colder: "Mortal, do not be too excessive. At most one Epic Feat and eight Life Levels. Know that humans like you are not rare in this world."

"Two." Fang Shi held up two fingers.

Thamora's expression was indifferent as she gazed steadily at Fang Shi.

"Three!"

"Four!!"

"Alright, five. Help me raise one more feat."

"Plus, the condition for the future is that you won't let me die, whether directly or indirectly."

"Including power reduction, harsh environments, and the like."

Fang Shi relaxed his terms; after all, it was better to settle the agreement first.

He had already made up his mind to probe the Lady of Luck's limits as much as possible.

As for agreeing?

Don't be ridiculous. Five life levels are equivalent to a drop of one tier in power.

Especially for the major bottleneck of Legend.

A Legend below level 25 would directly plummet below the Legend threshold.

The difference in power between non-Legends and Legends is vast.

How could such a huge cost be compensated by a single Epic feat?

"Deal."

Thamora finally relented, then stated the feat she intended to grant.

"【Force Resistance I】: Your Force Resistance equals your Life Level +1."

Fang Shi was shocked; he had thought the so-called Epic feat was self-selected.

For some rare feats, one might even bargain with the Lady of Luck for a long time.

He hadn't expected there to be no choice, or rather, only one option.

But this feat was truly, truly excellent!

What is Force? It is the source of all power in the multiverse.

Whether elemental power, spell power, arcane power, psionics, internal energy, or even divine power, all are converted from it.

It has no harmful effects, nor does it carry any damage; instead, it nourishes all things and all spirits.

It is the mother of all energy and the foundation of all supernatural power.

In that case, Force Resistance seems useless, even hindering one's own evolution.

If understood that way, one would be gravely mistaken.

Force Resistance targets all power converted from Force.

Elemental power, spell power, arcane power, psionics, internal energy, divine power.

All must first pass through Force Resistance before taking effect.

However, for one's own evolution, or even beneficial powers, it offers no resistance at all.

Or rather, whether to resist depends on the owner's will.

Such free and willing resistance, and its scope is so comprehensive.

Naturally, this feat is especially precious; apart from divine bestowal, there is basically no other way to obtain it.

Yet even so, the vast majority of Divine Chosen, and even Divine Descendants, cannot obtain this feat.

Fang Shi's heart stirred; someone once said that if there were three hundred percent profit, one could even throw away one's life.

Force Resistance is that three hundred percent.

If it were specialized resistances like energy resistance or spell resistance.

Fang Shi would have glanced past them; those could be obtained eventually.

Although needed currently, compared to the future cost, they were still not worth it.

But Force Resistance combines multiple resistances and is a growth-type feat.

How immense would the boost be for Fang Shi? If he had possessed Force Resistance before.

The Cato Monster's death ray would have been completely ineffective.

The fire attacks of the Fire-Feathered People would have posed a greatly reduced threat.

Even if encountering disgusting attribute drain or level drain in the future, the chance of saving throw would increase greatly.

Even if encountering a Deity in the future, Force Resistance could block divine power attacks.

Anyone encountering this feat would have their heart stirred.

Fang Shi was no exception; he wished to agree immediately.

"Wait, does the Lady really have that much goodwill?"

"This feat is basically equivalent to a weakened version of Divine Domain Immunity."

"Especially its effectiveness against divine power, which means almost no Deity would bestow it."

"Has the Lady gone mad?"

"Oh, I understand. It's not that the Lady has gone mad; it's that She is too clever."

"Once I obtain this feat, any future resistance-type feats I acquire will be merged into this one."

"Suppose I disobey the Lady in the future; once this feat is stripped, I would be completely ruined."

"As the saying goes, levels are easy to raise, but feats are hard to come by. What deep scheming, what long-term calculation."

Fang Shi understood that once he took this feat, it would be like handing a huge leverage to the Lady of Luck.

Whether he becomes round or square in the future, he would be controlled by the Lady of Luck.

Thamora's indifferent voice rang out again: "Mortal, how have you considered it?"

"This is a fair trade; under the witness of Fate, even Deities cannot break it."

Fang Shi's tone was profound: "Your Majesty, I agree to this transaction."

A witness of fate?

Heh, I want the specialty, but as for the price? I am not willing to pay so much.

PS: Thank you to I Iris I for the two monthly votes and the 1,500 Qidian coins tip.