Keep Low Profile, Hero!: Abyssbound

"From any perspective, this name is just so cool!"

[◈ Everlasting Elemental Sovereign

Transformation into the Everlasting Elemental Sovereign, the ruler of all elements. Beware, excessive use can cause permanent damage to the body.

Effect: Amplifies all aspects by 400%.

Cost: All Mana and Qi.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Ability Type: Active.

Cooldown: 5 hours.]

Unfortunately, its weakness is severe. After using it, I'll be at my weakest state.

"But that's fine. I can use this as a trump card alongside Voidforge Eternia."

The most important thing is that while creating this new type of Devil Change, I learned something valuable.

Creating skills is incredibly difficult—not just technically, but also in adjusting them to the body.

To put it simply, it's like cultivation methods. You need step-by-step processes, like breathing techniques, energy circulation, energy release, and so on.

Skills are no different from combat techniques in a cultivation world.

"Turns out reading novels and watching donghua all this time wasn't a waste."

"Skill Creation!"

[A new skill has been created: Infernal Blaze (Master—Profound Stage)]

"Infernal Blaze."

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

With one wave, scorching flames engulfed the entire area in an instant.

The monsters chasing me burned to ashes in seconds.

The series of explosions melted the ground quickly.

[Skills]

[Predation (Grandmaster—Entry Stage)]

[Infernal Blaze (Master—Profound Stage)]

"Entry Stage, Profound Stage, Innate Stage, Comprehensive Stage."

These are the stages I've established.

Entry Stage is when you first learn a skill. It's filled with flaws due to lack of experience.

Profound Stage is achieved after repeated use of the skill, reaching a level of familiarity and significantly reducing its flaws.

Innate Stage is when the skill has been mastered perfectly, eliminating all imperfections and marking the completion of its learning phase.

Lastly, Comprehensive Stage. This is when you start developing the skill further—essentially the stage for evolving it to new heights.

That's good enough. I don't want to think about further comprehension stages for now.

Roarrr!

A deafening roar echoed from the side.

It came from a Drake in the sky, which quickly dived toward me.

"A lizard? This is my first time seeing one like that."

The crimson-red Drake dove down swiftly from the sky.

Its mouth glowed with a bright red light, unleashing a fiery breath straight at me!

"Skill Creation, Aqua Shield."

[A new skill has been created: Aqua Shield (Master—Entry Stage)]

A bright blue bubble of water enveloped my entire body.

With a wave of my hand, tendrils of water extended and struck the Drake.

"Skill Creation."

[A new skill has been created: Tidal Surge (Master—Profound Stage)]

The water tendrils morphed into surging waves, crashing into the Drake relentlessly.

KYAAAK!

The fierce waves transformed into a miniature ocean in the sky, trapping the Drake beneath it.

It didn't take long for the Drake to heat up its body, causing the miniature ocean to evaporate.

"Skill Creation, Wind Cutter!"

I swung my hand, creating a cutting wave of wind!

The powerful strike sliced through both the miniature ocean and the trapped Drake, leaving it in dozens of pieces.

[A new skill has been created: Wind Cutter (Master—Profound Stage)]

"Not bad. Now, let's train my swordsmanship."

I dove down, heading toward the monsters waiting to be slaughtered.

"Skill Creation, Seismic Wrath!"

[A new skill has been created: Seismic Wrath (Master—Profound Stage)]

BOOOM!

A powerful shockwave devastated the surroundings, creating cracks that obliterated all monsters in the area.

CRASH!!!

I drew my sword, coating it with deep blue mana and golden Qi Yang.

"Hmm…"

I felt a mismatch within my sword.

"It seems they're slightly out of sync."

Something was odd. When I created skills like Infernal Blaze, I used both mana and Qi to stabilize the energy consumption.

"The difference is subtle, but when using skills, these two energies blend perfectly. However, now I can feel a slight disharmony between them."

There's still so much I don't understand.

GRAWR!

A shocking roar froze my body for a moment.

A two-headed lion lunged at me.

Its massive size, larger than a truck, shook the ground as it charged.

[Species: Two-Headed Earth Fire Lion]

[Realm: Master (Peak)]

[Skills: Champion's Roar, Earth Binding, Earth Claw, Snap The World, Fire Breath…]

"Unnamed Swordsmanship Chapter One—Fourfold Cut."

Ah... I don't know what to say.

I swung my sword horizontally, forcing the lion to cancel its move.

"Wh-what!?"

The lion seemed to be performing ballet!

Its massive body leaped into the air with a single step, dodging my slash.

While airborne, the lion manipulated the surrounding earth as if it were under its control.

My legs were quickly bound by the ground.

Both lion heads exhaled scorching breath, aiming straight at me from above.

"Skill Creation, Spark Rush!"

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

An immense amount of lightning energy enveloped my body, moving me over 100 meters away in an instant.

[A new skill has been created: Spark Rush (Master—Entry Stage)]

Unfortunately, the force of the move threw me harshly.

"Ughh."

Damn, that hurts like hell.

"How the hell does Flash do this? I even burned myself!"

"Skill Creation, Verdant Regrowth."

The burns healed quickly.

Life energy flowed through my body, drawing vitality from the atmosphere.

[A new skill has been created: Verdant Regrowth (Master—Profound Stage)]

I could've used Devil Change to heal my wounds.

But the foundation of Devil Change's healing is demonic energy, which isn't present here.

So, I created this skill using life energy as its core.

Although this place is barren and filled with roaming monsters, surprisingly, the life energy here is abundant.

Perhaps that's why the monsters here are so powerful.

While I was briefly distracted, a large boulder flew toward me.

SWOOSH—

No, not a boulder—a hill.

I raised my sword.

"Chapter One, Fourfold Cut!"

Three slashes—horizontal, vertical, diagonal—followed by a thrust, sliced through the hill.

"This is strange..."

The lion shouldn't be this strong.

But its earlier attack was almost at the Grandmaster Entry Level.

I dispersed the rising dust with wind energy.

And there, I saw something shocking.

The lion stood on two legs!

Its entire body glowed with blazing red flames and earthy brown light, partially encased in earth.

"Not bad, stupid monkey. You've forced me to use this form."

"Hey, who are you calling—"

I shivered slightly.

The two-headed lion lunged, its sheer weight shattering the ground beneath it!

"Quick!"

I swung my hand, unleashing Fourfold Cut.

"ROAAAAAR!"

My body froze due to its roar.

"Damn, not this skill again!"

The problem was that the stun duration was longer than the last time it used this skill.

"Fire Breath!"

The lion's fiery breath morphed into a superheated laser, breaking the sound barrier.

SWUNGGG!

"Aqua Shield!"

BOOM!

Unfortunately, my skill was too late. The superheated laser pierced through my body.

A large hole formed in my stomach.

"Kwargh! Ugh, ugh..."

But the lion didn't stop its attack.

"Hahaha! Not bad for a stupid monkey! Now, feel this!"

"Earth Claw!"

A shadowy claw tore through the ground, ripping it apart.

CRASHHH—

Its speed wasn't a joke.

My head spun as I tried to think of a solution.

"Skill Creation, Flame Incarnation!"

[A new skill has been created: Flame Incarnation (Grandmaster—Entry Stage)]

"Too late, fool! Die!"

The lion roared as its claw grew larger and faster.

Aqua Shield around me evaporated and shattered instantly.

SWISH!

The area spanning hundreds of meters was neatly sliced by the lion's lethal claw.

Moments later...

"Hmm? Did I overdo it? I can't even find the stupid monkey's corpse."

The lion scratched its thick mane.

In the sky, a massive figure descended rapidly.

"Rakan, didn't I tell you to save some for me?"

"Hou? Weren't you dead?"

The massive figure was the Drake I had defeated earlier.

"Of course not, fool. I was just toying around earlier. So, where's the stupid monkey?"

"Haha, sorry to say, but it seems I was too strong and completely obliterated its body!"

The lion's chuckles shook the ground.

"Tsk, what a waste. I flew all the way here for nothing."

"Well, honestly, I'm a bit surprised a stupid monkey managed to reach this place. I wouldn't have come here to deal with such a lowly race if 'he' hadn't ordered us."

Tap—

The massive lion stomped the ground, creating a stone chair and table before him.

The lion gestured for the Drake to sit down as if inviting him for tea.

"So, what do you think? Have a seat, Dread. I've also summoned the rest of our allies."

"Puhahahah! Time for round two, you idiot!"

"Of course, let's continue our discussion about—"

Both of them froze.

"Eh, who's that voice, Rakan?"

"Huh? Why'd you call for reinforcements? Are you afraid I'll beat you up?"

Rakan frowned.

"The stupid monkey…"

Flames burned in the distance.

They quickly took shape, forming a human figure. It was me.

"Did you think I was dead?"

My appearance changed.

"It seems our foolish cat needs another lesson in discipline."

My hair grew longer, reaching my waist.

"You two, come fight me!"

My outfit transformed, adorned with the brilliance of various elements.

A mystical circle floated behind my back, giving me the appearance of a celestial being.

[Devil Change Type: Everlasting Elemental Sovereign activated.]

[400% amplification applied.]

"Let the battle... begin."

[Remaining duration: 9 minutes 21 seconds.]

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Happy New Year, New Year New Me 😈 (7/10)