The presence of additional people didn’t slow them down, though.
“So, I hear that you agreed to try to make Ahmad a new skill. Do you think that it will be able to adapt to his level? Finding skills that don’t cap out at Royal Rank or lower has been one of the hardest parts of trying to advance.” Overlord Johann asked in a jovial voice.
“This one is somewhat special. I think it should be able to adapt enough to match up with an Overlord Rank mage, but it was a bit of a nightmare attempting to find one who could actually use it. The chances of just stumbling across one, and such a powerful one, are crazy.” Karl joked.
Hawk had all the materials that he would need already prepared and waiting for Karl, and he dropped them on the table as he was speaking, so that Karl couldn’t back out now.
One way or another, he was going to make that book.
Karl smiled at the angry bird’s insistence on spreading fire skills, and started to work. The [Flaming Body] skill took much longer than the warrior skills to write out, but there was a whole table full of baked goods in front of him, and Karl only needed one hand to write with.
“The Inscriptionists would cry if they saw your skill book creation process.” Overlord Ahmad laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t usually snack while working, as I don’t want to get crumbs on the book, but it’s too good to miss out on.”
The mage shook his head. “No, I meant that they need intense focus, constant mana transfer and multiple reagents to create the book.”
“Oh, that makes sense. I can do the mana transfer easily enough, but Hawk made the ink for the book before he put it on the table. There are five different Fire Elemental ingredients mixed in there, blended with his Royal Rank fire and my spiritual energy.
I might not be an Inscriptionist type class, but I am still a Royal.”
Karl slowly finished the text, and with a final surge of mana, it formed into a deep red tome that seemed to flicker with flames under the surface. It was locked with a golden strap, and the design was absolutely exquisite.
“This is a thing of beauty. Does the Library have one yet?” Overlord Ahmad asked.
“No, they said to hold off for now, as the restrictions on the book are so extreme. Hopefully, you will be able to use it, I think that you meet all the requirements.”
The Mage crossed his fingers for luck and carefully opened the latch on the book.
“So far, so good. It let me look at it.” He breathed.
Then he flipped open the cover, and a surge of red light flooded from the book and surrounded his body as the book slowly vanished.
It looked like it was working properly, Karl thought. At least for the first few seconds.
Then a gust of magic blew back Ahmad’s hood, allowing fluffy cat ears to poke free as the fur changed to a deep flaming orange and red along with his hair.
Power poured from the Overlord as the [Flaming Body] spell took effect, and his eyes glowed bright crimson, then a deep red shine settled in over him, and Ahmad smiled.
“It works. Overlord Rank Defensive Skill, Flaming Body.” He gasped, still shocked, even though he was the one using it.
“It’s not just defensive. You can use it to coat weapons to attack, and with practice, you should be able to use it to enhance your fire attacks.” Karl explained.
The Overlord smiled and created a flame in his hand, then focused and let the power of the Flaming Body spell flow into it.
“I think that will take some time, but for now, it will be a huge benefit for me because I can do this.”
As he finished speaking, Overlord Ahmad summoned four golems that looked like overgrown hoplite legionaries, with their banded golden chest plates, small round shields and short swords.
Then, the flames surrounded them, and they gained an extra layer of protection, as well as a damage enhancement to their weapons.
Johann whistled in appreciation. “Now we’re talking. Overlord Golems with an extra barrier. Is that stronger than the regular barrier spell?”
Dana laughed, and Ahmad smiled.
“It’s the primary defensive ability of Vermilion Birds. It’s on an entirely different level than a basic barrier spell.” Karl explained while the mages struggled to stop laughing.
Overlord Ahmad nodded. “While the barrier spell can be used with Overlord Rank strength, it’s still a Tier 1 ability. The Flaming Body skill is a Tier 3 or possibly a Tier 4 ability. I can’t use it to its fullest capability yet, as it’s an adapted species ability, but it would take you three or four slashes to break the barrier on the Golems.”
“Does your Hawk use it as a primary attack ability?” Johann asked Karl as he considered the versatility of the skill.
“Indeed. He likes to fire explosive fireballs at the ground laced with [Rend] for the extra shredding damage when they explode.”
The Knight looked confused. “You’re saying that he uses a warrior’s Rend ability, mixed with a mage’s fireball that is derived from the Flaming Body ability, as his primary attack?”
Karl shrugged. “They’re innate skills to his species. It only made sense to blend them, and having a sphere of Rend attacks burst out is much more effective than just a fireball on its own.”
“I will have to get you to show me that later. I have never seen such an odd thing. Many monsters at the higher Ranks use creative and deadly skills, but that particular combination sounds like it would be a mass casualty level terror.” Overlord Ahmad insisted.
He then dismissed the golems and ended the [Flaming Body] spell, which returned his hair and ears to their natural honey blonde colour, and his eyes to green.
Karl briefly wondered if constantly using a racial ability from another species could make a beastkin evolve, but that seemed a bit farfetched.
Hawk had evolved as he learned new skills and gained power, but that was more likely to be because of the bond, and not just because he learned a new skill. Beastkin were at least half human, and Karl had never heard of a human evolving.
Well, other than the ones who had randomized themselves with the system stones.
Maybe it wasn’t so outlandish to think that gaining new skills might have a physical impact on the user. Most skills were pretty human compatible, but ones like [Refreshing Lightning] and [Flaming Body] were made specifically for beasts.
“I don’t suppose that you have other useful sorts of skills, do you? You know how limited the Library is. There’s only like ten skill books available, not counting the Blue Dragon Barrier.” Overlord Niall, the Inquisition Rogue, asked.
“For ones that you could use, I would say either Rend or Bone Crusher. I’m not sure whether you can use the second one, though. The original said it was for warrior classes, and Rogues aren’t really warriors, are they?” Karl asked.
Niall shook his head. “No, we have entirely different skills than the warriors. No warrior could use Shadow Step, and no Rogue can use Cleave.”
Lotus giggled. “Rae, the Bloodbath Spider, can use Shadow Step, and it is hilarious.”
[Just wait. Soon, I will teach the Golems to Shadow Step.]
