VN Ren'Py Superhuman [v0.99999b] [WeirdWorld]

[Acanthite]

if the theory that reaching level 5 without outside influence leads to greatest potential is cannon ( which I'm not sure about ), then the Mc already fibbed it no ? Because back in the Battle Of Diamonds he evolved by being exposed to monster blood, Xanthe himself says that was kind of in the same vein as how his serum works. Or am I remembering it wrong ?

Not necessarily. It's a little muddier with MC. His level 3 was similar to taking the serum as explained by Xanthe, but it was also a direct result of his victory over Deryl's giant chimera form. It's somewhat plain that naturally reaching the 5th evolution is about specific, unique achievements and for all we know that could've been one of them. I mostly suspect there's a difference in result because of Henri's chained evolutions. It doesn't sound like he was given much choice about it, it was just something that he had to survive while he evolved as fast as his body could tolerate.

I think that means there's something special about meeting the requirements. Michael for instance sounded very much like he'd be getting more out of his evolutions by passing the trials set by the Second. And he even vowed to the Second that he'd still manage to surpass its expectations. There's SOMETHING different about it and Ella's failure to get a trait from Memory is the perfect example. That said yeah we don't know for sure if that difference is especially meaningful because we have so few examples and the ones that are still alive were freakishly powerful before 5 anyway. But the drama of it is more what I meant by what I said. Not only meeting the requirements, but the danger of the evolution itself when it occurs naturally. It'd be way more hype for the story than to take the serum.

With Ella, her failed trial iirc wasn't even from Body, she failed a trial from Memory to earn her trait right? So if I'm remembering that correctly we do know for sure that completing the trials/requirements can earn tangible benefits. And if I'm correct it would also mean a big part of the reason the requirements are so rarely met is because goals can be set by other Apostles that a spawn won't be able to connect to normally. Which then has EVEN MORE implications for our two sets of Twins. It's no surprise that with Body and Memory being so chummy that they would require their spawn to inherit a trait from the other, while with Devana and Evander it wouldn't come as any surprise that they probably both need to meet the requirements simultaneously (this is in theory, since it's almost a given they'll be getting the serum). With Liz and Amber it starts getting weird as hell cuz even their second evolution seems to require something no one understands, and the Great Ocean isn't an Apostle at all so what will their evolutions even be? What will they connect to in their trance if they have one? This shit is why I love this story so much.

I'd almost be willing to bet MC will take the serum for level 4 just because he's not evolving and HERO needs the extra firepower ASAP. It won't matter how much potential his 5th evo has if he dies at level 3 type logic. I think Xanthe would rather MC be alive and still have the same snowball's chance in hell Malik and Bernhardt had. Not that I think it's especially likely to come down to that, but it's an interesting possibility. It would also put a very interesting spin on MC's relationship with Nico.

It is unlikely that the MC will get the serum right after evolving. I forget if it was said in game or on a stream but you have to be "ready" to evolve again, which most likely takes days to weeks, or risk failing.

Oh yeah I know. I meant he'd still have to keep impressing Xanthe to get the serum sooner than later since Xanthe gives it out pretty slowly. He's been very impressed with MC so far so MC is probably on the shortlist for it. But even Nico had to wait a while and she's bordering on being as important to HERO as Zack. Alexis and Clark getting it before Nico was dramatic for a showdown against Ella, but it's almost certainly just one of those early writing choices that doesn't quite mesh well with how the story has developed since.

 

[kazuan]

There is. Since Superhumans are constantly adapting to both the power and their surroundings and thus to how they use their power, it stands to reason that you can screw up your progress, like Ella did.
We are not sure of the exact mechanism, but with the trials, there seems to be a 'right' path and while that doesn't necessitate a 'wrong' path, it implies that Superhumans can adapt in ways their ancestors would find undesirable.
It's especially the talk that Superhumans have the potential to outgrow their monster parent. To me all of that is just a lot of implications to talk around the actual situation.

With Ella specifically we have 2 reasonable guesses on how she "screwed up". First being the failed ritual during the school massacre and second by simply not being chosen by the Eye. Though the second one is more of a guess than the first.

But back to the main topic: None of what you mentioned really effects the serum since it's just a refined version of a known way to force evolution, just like how the MC almost forced an evolution at level 1 when he tried to see how big he could grow. The main probable ways to "screw up your progress" is either to fail trials or possibly go against your intended purpose. But considering the 3 Captains the latter may not be a factor or they shouldn't have become as powerful as they are.
In fact the trials and power progression for each superhuman may be outside of the Apostles control, they just know what needs to be done to pass the trials and if you have someone else (like Henri) who can tell you what your trials are then the Apostles input is no longer needed.
The word "trial" may just be a misnomer, they are only called that because they are usually tasks given by the Apostles and what they are actually just ways to progress your power that may be unintuitive, like how the MC needed to learn to shapeshift objects or make metal. Michael absorbing a planets worth of heat probably isn't something he would normally think to do for example.

As for potential to outgrow your monster parent: That may or may not include Apsotles. I say may because the 7th/Darkness/Lord of Dark seem to have "usurped" the title. In any other cases, well monsters can't really get stronger outside of rare mutations where a superhuman at level 3 and up have a theoretically limitless power ceiling as far as we know.

Yeah, but as she herslef said, everyone searching for their own ways to empower themselves, rather than just keep gaining power via training is the way to go, the Captains most definitely did that on a way that would make sense for their powers, MC is doing that too, eating memories and samples of powerful monsters to keep improving his body and transformations, he's on the right path, but given how 'easy' is for him to diverge in path thanks to the nature of his powers, I suspect that he need to go to a larger extreme to branch his powers in the manner the Captains and Nico did. I mean, Nyx has a ton of differences with the Monster that is suspected to be her Sire, Lucius is confirmed to have warped his powers in some way thanks to corruption, and finally Malik has a sixth sense to tell if a Monster has killed a human or not, despite being mainly a Pyromancer.

Based on a early-ish conversation with The Eye it may be either eating as many strong people as possible or forming as many bonds with people as possible.

Oh yeah I know. I meant he'd still have to keep impressing Xanthe to get the serum sooner than later since Xanthe gives it out pretty slowly. He's been very impressed with MC so far so MC is probably on the shortlist for it. But even Nico had to wait a while and she's bordering on being as important to HERO as Zack. Alexis and Clark getting it before Nico was dramatic for a showdown against Ella, but it's almost certainly just one of those early writing choices that doesn't quite mesh well with how the story has developed since.

There is a decent in-universe reason for it I can see: Nico (and her power) is practically unreplaceable and core to HERO operation while the "Do Nothing Duo" is... Not. Alexis and Clark getting the finished prototype, as an emergency plan when going after Ella, before the designated chauffeur of HERO is a solid enough reason.
Though Clark really has been putting the work in lately, without him it would probably be much harder if not practically unfeasible to hit monster worlds like Malik and Bernhardt is doing.

 

[Acanthite]

Based on a early-ish conversation with The Eye it may be either eating as many strong people as possible or forming as many bonds with people as possible.

Tiffanny Love Point stonks are going up if the latter is true.

There is a decent in-universe reason for it I can see: Nico (and her power) is practically unreplaceable and core to HERO operation while the "Do Nothing Duo" is... Not. Alexis and Clark getting the finished prototype, as an emergency plan when going after Ella, before the designated chauffeur of HERO is a solid enough reason.
Though Clark really has been putting the work in lately, without him it would probably be much harder if not practically unfeasible to hit monster worlds like Malik and Bernhardt is doing.

You know what, that does make a ton of sense. Fair enough. I take back saying it doesn't mesh well.

 

[kazuan]

Based on a early-ish conversation with The Eye it may be either eating as many strong people as possible or forming as many bonds with people as possible.

Actually I just remembered more of this, the Eye asked the MC what he wanted and "Power" and "Love" I think were options. If you answered Power it tells you to eat and if you answer Love it just says that such things doesn't come easy to "us" or something along those lines.

So eating people is still likely one of those alternate ways but bonds may not be. Though for a Memory based trial/way it makes some sense, if Syla is any indication.

 

[Ray_D]

Logic aside.......pretty sick burn...
It's actually so true; we can't all live up to such high aspirations as the official tour guide of all things AVN
A legacy your grandkids will brag about.

Don't exaggerate so much, man, we're talking about WW, not Ocean. At least with WW we'll see an ending next year, with the other one we'll never see anything.