Once everyone had returned to their homes or beds for the evening, Karl settled in to meditate and work on combining skills.
If he could get [Skill Master] to Rank 3, he would be able to upgrade monster skills by a tier, making more powerful versions of the base skills. So, if he had combined skills that were already more powerful than what the monsters had begun with, the upgrade to Skill Master would become even more impressive.
There was also hope that one of the others would get a skill to Monarch Rank soon as well. Cara had begun with Disintegrate a Rank above herself, but Rae and Hawk had skills advanced well before their body did.
If they could do the same again, it would give everyone an extra level of safety against attacks.
So, dealing with stronger attackers became Karl’s priority for the evening. An effective combat skill that would allow the beasts to eliminate threats at the Monarch Rank before they made it there themselves.
The problem was that they all used different skills. Unless one of them advanced a skill on their own, he would have to choose who would be the one that got the attention. Cara understood that she was at the bottom of that list, as she was not only the youngest sister, but she was also the only one that already had a Monarch Rank skill, so she could somewhat take care of herself.
Oldest to youngest would be the way that Karl tried this time.
Hawk and Thor hadn’t had new skills in a while, and Thor had gained most of his through hard work and not a deliberately concocted resource.
But that was the easiest way to gain new skills, assuming that Karl could find the materials.
[Is there anything in particular that you want?] Karl asked Hawk as he tried to uncover some secret to combining skills.
[We haven’t seen cool new skills in a while. We need to look for new creatures to fight.] Hawk sighed.
That might not be an option for some time, as they were trying to avoid fighting as they pretended to be merchants, and they had already gone through the dungeon that they had come here to find.
It hadn’t given them any new ideas, as the slimes were just mimicking their appearance.
[What if you learned Trollish Regeneration from your Skill Tree and combined that with Eternal Lightning?] Hawk suggested.
[For faster regeneration while the barrier is up? That’s not a terrible idea. They’ll both be skills that I can use, so I’ll at least have the chance.]
[Do that then. You have enough points, right?]
Karl checked his status
[Skill Points] 31
He had enough. In fact, if he had to, he had enough to get [Barrier] or [Refresh] as well. He had skipped almost all of the defensive tree because he had Thor and the Clerics with him, but at some point in the future, those core skills might become the basis for new abilities.
He also wouldn’t be able to see what the Tier 4 defensive options were until he unlocked them, and following the logic that it would include a skill that was better than [Trollish Regeneration], it would make Thor a very happy Cerro.
[Trollish Regeneration] learned.
[Remaining Skill Points] 11
[Merger Available] Success Rate 100%
[Proceed?]
Karl stared at the information on his status screen. He hadn’t expected that there would be something that was guaranteed to mix with [Trollish Regeneration].
[Details?] Karl tried, unsure what the command was, to look at the option before he chose yes or no.
[Merged Skill: Void Body] Limited Invulnerability and Trollish Regeneration may be combined to create the Epic Ranked skill [Void Body].
[Void Body] Ignores all attacks under ten percent of total health and regenerates five percent of total health per second. Severed body parts may be transformed to void energy that may be merged with the main body to speed regeneration.
So, it was basically the same effect as the two skills individually, but if he lost an arm again, it would just turn to energy and grow back. No need for Lotus to practice her embroidery skills on him again.
Karl rubbed his forearm where it had been reattached. That arm still felt slightly different from the other one, even if the doctors had assured him that it was all in his head, and the cleansing spells had purged the taint of Frost Giant blood from his body.
[Skill: Void Body] learned
[Shared Skill: Void Body] gained by Cara
[Additional Group Members Able To Learn Void Body] Dana, Ophelia
Karl smiled as he read through the message. Perhaps tomorrow, while they were driving, he would try to make them a book to learn the skill. That wouldn’t be too hard.
[Materials needed] 1ml Totem Rank void element blood, 3 Void Stones over 6 grams each, ground onyx sand, 10ml Overlord Rank Troll blood
Or maybe it would.
Why was that skill so much more ridiculously difficult to turn into a book than anything else that he had made? First off, a Totem Rank Void Element beast probably didn’t exist on this continent, and secondly, Void Stones, and most other Elemental stones were normally tiny. Finding ones over six grams was ridiculous, like asking for a thirty-carat diamond.
Hawk laughed. [I guess that you won’t be making that book for anyone else. But can you use it on us?]
Karl focused on spreading the passive skill and mentally frowned at the bird.
[No, it will only work for myself and Cara. At least for now. I can use the passive skill of Trollish Regeneration on you all, but not the new skill, and not Limited Invulnerability.]
Hawk shrugged and pulled a feather that was bothering him. It immediately grew back in its proper position, and he chirped happily.
Trollish regeneration was going to be a true pleasure for preening, as he could pluck any feather he was dissatisfied with, and get a new one instantly.
[Can our clerics have Trollish Regeneration?] Cara asked curiously.
Karl quickly checked the requirements for the Trollish Regeneration skill.
[Nope, just the beasts. Two of them might be able to learn the new skill, but Trollish Regeneration is just for us so far. Like with Refreshing Lightning, I might have to learn how to share it with the whole group.]
[Ooh, ooh, when you learn to use it on them, will it make all their hair grow back? I know that they like to cut it off with a blade.] Cara giggled.
Karl didn’t have the answer to that. If the trolls cut their hair short, it grew normally, but if they ripped it out, it returned at a much longer length.
Applying it now shouldn’t cause their hair to rapidly grow. It hadn’t changed Karl’s as far as he could tell.
[I think that they will be fine. If we do learn to share the skill, we might want to warn them before they shave, though. If they shave everything and it immediately grows to full length, they will not be happy.] Karl replied, trying not to laugh out loud while everyone was in bed.
Dana had just fallen asleep, and as eager as he was to tell everyone about the new skill, there was no need to do it right now.
So, Karl double-checked that the Naga Warriors and the Golems were on duty and let his mind go blank, much to Cara’s dismay.
There were new developments, and she needed answers. But Karl was ignoring her, so she would have to wait.
