NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 56: Skill Combination (2)
「 Skill ‘Demon Slayer (C–)’ generated. 」
“…?”
I stared at the generated skill in confusion.
‘What…?’
This skill had nothing to do with the two skills I combined…
「 Skill – Demon Slayer (C–) 」
「 Proficiency – 0% 」
「 Explanation – A fighting style custom made by a hunter to slay demons. 」
「 Basic Effect – Basic information about all swordsmanship styles increases and upon using a bladed weapon, cutting force increases by 3 times. However, this effect does not stack with other weapons skills. 」
「 Additional Effect – Upon attacking non-humans, attack speed increases by 2 times. 」
“Demon Slayer…”
Was it the influence of Hunter’s Daggermanship?
‘It’s like a skill that’s custom-made for killing monsters.’
Especially that attack speed boost when you attack non-humans.
More importantly, the skill was C– rank but still had a ‘proficiency.’
That meant it still had room to grow.
I wasn’t sure how good the other innate powers were but…
‘Skill combination is pretty great, huh.’
This skill made up for the downsides of necromancy.
Being able to harmonize the random and dissonant skills that I get from necromancy…
In that sense, it was the perfect partner for my innate ability.
Plus, this way, I could just get rid of the skills that I wasn’t using and keep the useful ones.
It allowed me to grow in the way that I chose.
‘Should I just try combining all the skills I don’t use then…?’
The combinations hadn’t failed me yet.
“Status.”
「 Skill – Eye of Truth (A), Triple Laceration (A-), Wind’s Blessing (A-), Demon Slayer (C-), Instant Acceleration (D+), Pain Resistance (D), Accelerated Regeneration (D), Forceful Breakthrough (D), Physical Resistance (D), Mana Circuit (D-), Mana Resistance (D-), Mind’s Eye (D-), Strengthened Eyes (E-) 」
“Wow, that’s more than I expected.”
I couldn’t even remember the times when I couldn’t become a hunter due to my lack of skills.
Seeing it at once also made it clear that I wasn’t making use of all of the skills.
‘A lot of these passives aren’t very useful anymore.’
Physical Resistance and Accelerated Regeneration were barely doing anything anymore.
Part of it was that my fighting style didn’t fit well with those skills…
「 Activating the innate power ‘Skill Combination.’ 」
「 Listing the available skills. 」
「 Please select two skills from the list. 」
I chose Physical Resistance and Accelerated Regeneration to get rid of.
「 The two skills are identical in rank. 」
「 Please select the core skill. 」
Physical Resistance’s low mitigation wasn’t very effective but…
‘I like that it doesn’t have a trigger requirement…’
But I didn’t want to put it in as a core and end up with another physical resistance skill.
Then…
「 Skill combination will start with ‘Accelerated Regeneration’ as the core. 」
「 Current probability for a high tier skill is 72% 」
「 Start the combination? 」
***
Reaper Scans
***
“Ooh…”
The two skills must have synergized pretty well for them to have such a high success percentage.
But I canceled the combination and then tried combining Pain and Physical Resistances.
Of course, the core was Pain Resistance.
Because the core seemed to determine the nature of the skill, as well as the activation requirement.
「 Skill combination will start with ‘Pain Resistance’ as the core. 」
「 Current probability for a high tier skill is 68% 」
「 Start the combination? 」
“Hmm…”
‘If you think about it, 68% isn’t that low but…’
The one that used Accelerated Regeneration was higher.
It probably meant the two skills synergized much better together.
‘It’s a bit of a gamble but… Well.’
I chose ‘Accelerated Regeneration’ and ‘Physical Resistance again.
Like before, the core was still on Accelerated Regeneration.
And…
「 Combination complete. 」
「 New skill generated. 」
I selected it immediately.
「 Skill – Steel Regeneration (C) 」
「 Proficiency – 0% 」
「 Explanation – A trait developed by a mutant vampire. 」
「 Effect – The user’s regeneration increases proportionally to the user’s tenacity or toughness of their body. 」
“…”
Tenacity or toughness of their body…
‘Interesting.’
If your regeneration goes up the tougher your body is, it means you’re specialized for close combat.
The skill itself was pretty respectable but not one that I welcomed.
Well, it doesn’t hurt to have and I do have the tenacity stat but…
‘Should I combine this with something else…?’
I didn’t know.
It didn’t seem like a bad skill, but it was a bit lacking for my taste.
‘I wonder what will happen if I mix in the Pain Resistance to this.’
But if I get a garbage skill after using Pain Resistance to this…
I wouldn’t even get my money’s worth.
The only reason I did this in the first place was to get rid of the useless skills.
And if I happened to get something useless from that combination, I’d end up with one useless skill instead of three.
‘What should I do?’
I considered it for a bit and came to a conclusion.
‘No harm in just checking the percentage.’
If it happened to be under 70%, I wouldn’t go for it.
「 Activating the innate power ‘Skill Combination.’ 」
「 Listing the available skills. 」
「 Please select two skills from the list. 」
As I selected Steel Regeneration and Pain Resistance…
「 The two skills differ in rank. 」
「 Skill combination will start with ‘Steel Regeneration’ as the core. 」
「 Current probability for a high tier skill is 85% 」
「 Start the combination? 」
“…Huh?”
‘No, wait… The success rate is 85…?’
Mesmerized by the rate, I forgot to even consider the consequences as my finger pressed the button.
「 Combination complete. 」
「 New skill generated. 」
“Ah.”
Jaw dropped, I stared at the newly formed skill.
「 Skill – Ashen Blood (B-) 」
「 Proficiency – 0% 」
「 Explanation – A transcendent trait developed by a mutant vampire. 」
「 Effect – The user’s regeneration increases proportionally to the user’s tenacity. The regeneration is increased by threefold when inflicted bodily harm, and up to 40% of the pain is blocked depending on the damage. 」
Jackpot.
That was the only word to describe this situation.
“Holy shit…”
As if the initial effect wasn’t enough…
The additional effects were somehow even more mindblowing.
‘Regeneration increasing by three times with pain reduction?’
Plus, it was only a 15% reduction when Pain Resistance was at D-rank.
How did this skill bring it up to 40%?
Granted, it did say the rate depended on the amount of damage but…
The effects overlapping was impressive enough.
And seeing that the proficiency was at 0%, that meant it still had room to grow.
‘I do have to check how fast the regeneration is though…’
「 The auto-healing has been disabled. 」
「 The body will retain physical stress and injuries will not heal. 」
After turning off the healing effects of the waiting area, I tested out a couple of things for Ashen Blood.
I already absorbed all of my souls, so I shouldn’t have to worry about the passive acting up.
As I sliced down my left arm to create a sizable cut to let it bleed out…
「 Activating the skill ‘Ashen Blood.’ 」
「 All pain inflicted on the user is reduced by 7% 」
“Oh…”
I couldn’t help but be impressed at the speed of the regeneration.
‘This is even faster than when it was just Accelerated Regeneration…!’
Of course, the pain resistance wasn’t as effective as before, but I felt that this skill was more advanced in a variety of ways.
Sktaaat…!
I continued to experiment by stacking the cuts into my forearms and so on.
The waiting area was a safe haven where I was blessed with infinite healing.
‘It would be foolish to not take advantage of it.’
Obviously, the pain was still there but…
「 Activating the skill ‘Ashen Blood.’ 」
「 All pain inflicted on the user is reduced by 28% 」
Even that was being diminished.
‘The reduction percentage goes up more easily than I expected.’
And thanks to my tenacity, the regeneration was pretty astounding.
Ssslkt…!
“…Ugh”
I found out that even if my arm was halfway detached, it welded back together as long as I held it in place…
I tried cutting off some fingers completely and had no problems reattaching them.
This is what I learned after a couple of experiments.
That even if I completely cut off parts of my body, it can still heal, and that as long as I have the stamina, I can recover from multiple life-threatening injuries.
“…”
Ashen Blood.
It was broken beyond belief.
——
Translator’s notes – Or ask me for clarification on our channel in discord!
Bin: Op is a starfish
DVN-L: MC just glosses over CUTTING HIS OWN ARM HALFWAY OFF and PURPOSELY DISMEMBERING MULTIPLE FINGERS just to experiment with a new skill. If anyone asks about the toughest/craziest MC, show them this.
——
fre ew𝒆bnovel.com