Received. It is possible to link Dark Lightning with the extra skill Control Particles. Execute?
Yes
No
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Looks like I was right. Yes, I thought to myself—and with that, the skill Dark Thunder was mine. This, by and large, gave me access to Dark Lightning–type skills without the need to transform my body into a Twilight Starwolf, as well as adjust its strength to some extent. The wolves could use the dual horns on their heads to fine-tune the intensity and range of their attacks, but Dark Thunder eliminated the need for all that.
I tried summoning some electricity between my thumb and pointer. An arc of bluish-white energy danced between them. Just like with Dark Lightning, I could freely control its size and force with the amount of supernatural energy and magicules I used—from a light, paralyzing jolt to a vaporizing thunderclap.
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Honestly, this Control Particles stuff was getting a little godlike. It was nothing all that exciting by itself, but when paired with other skills, it turned into a juggernaut.
Although, really, it was my Sage unique skill that was creating all this, alongside the Deviant skill that Shizu left for me. If it weren’t for that, then…
…Hey, what kind of skill is Deviant anyway?
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Received. The unique skill Deviant is capable of the following…
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To sum up what the Sage told me, Deviant’s effects could be broadly divided into two categories.
This appeared to be the main engine behind Shizu’s transformation. Human and spiritual forms, two very different things, synthesized into a single creature. It was hard to say whether Ifrit took Shizu over first, or if Shizu invented the Deviant skill to keep Ifrit from staging a complete power grab. There was no way of knowing for sure now, but either way, it was clear I could adapt this skill for a number of things.
I already knew that Synthesize could be applied to skills, leading to all manner of other combinations. Perhaps it could be combined with magic as well? Maybe fusing flame and wind to create hurricanes? Or maybe I could give magical effects to weapons and trigger a special attack with just a little magic force?
To give you my honest opinion, this Deviant skill was a scarily good fit with my own skill set. As a slime, I wasn’t capable of nervous sweating, but I might as well have been. A few quick experiments had already given me Control Particles and Dark Flame, and I now also had full control over electrical attacks. There were tons of monsters left for me to Predate and glean new skills from, and I planned to do that as much as I could.
And for that matter, could I use the Separate function to seize skills from my enemies?
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Received. It depends on the specific scenario. However, erasing or separating skills etched into the target’s soul is not possible.
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So it couldn’t do everything. But it’d work sometimes? I’d need to figure out exactly what was available to Separate from my target first.
But really, Synthesize was the biggest prize with Deviant. I was planning to take a lot of skills from a lot of monsters going forward, and seeing what kind of things I could create from them was already getting me excited.
I suppose it was all thanks to the Great Sage, but either way, Predator and Deviant made for a potent duo. It didn’t exactly have the most attractive name, but in Deviant, Shizu had given me one hell of a farewell gift.
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I decided to wrap up that day’s session with a few Cancel Temperature tests. Temperature covered both fire and ice, I supposed, and considering even Resist Temperature was enough to handle Ifrit’s mega-charged fire, having an upgraded version should handle most attacks tossed my way. Anything short of being launched into the sun like a slingshot, at least.
There was a barbecue waiting, and I wanted to wrap this up quickly. But defensive skills directly contributed to the preservation of my life. I had to figure out what I had.
Just as I had yesterday, I used a sizable amount of magicules to create a Replicated slime body. Something about attacking a cloned, naked human resembling a young girl gave me pause. I could probably summon up some clothing or armor once I was more versed, but that didn’t make this any less in bad taste. (Slimes were pretty cute themselves, but if I wanted to do any real experimentation, I had to beat up something.)
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I knew from yesterday that I could apply a Barrier to block my own Water Blades. Now, let’s try attacking it with Dark Flame.
Using the same level of magical energy as before to smash Dark Flame against a Barrier, I found that it succeeded in fully blocking the heat. Not bad. If it could annul Ifrit’s Flare Circle, it could handle well near anything, I supposed, to say nothing of Icicle Lance. So I was good against hot and cold, then?
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Received. Cancel Temperature is linked with Ranged Barrier, thus canceling the effects of temperature-related attacks.
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Ah, perfect. If Shizu possessed Cancel Flame Attack, Ifrit must as well, since it let them each handle such high-temperature attacks in the first place. It seemed like the perfect tool. Now that it was combined with Resist Temperature, I had nothing to worry about from ice, either.
Removing the link for a moment, I tried Dark Flame once more. This time, it smashed through the Barrier instantly, but my Replicated clone was perfectly safe. Resist Melee Attack must have helped absorb some of the shock wave-based aftereffects.
Between all these resistances and my Barrier, I figured I could rest pretty easy when it came to my own defenses. Better not forget to link all this stuff with the Barrier first, though.
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Received. Ranged Barrier is now linked with your resistances. Relaunch as Multilayer Barrier?
Yes
No
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As it turned out, I couldn’t create a single Barrier with lots of different effects applied to it, but I was free to create multiple Barriers with one resistance effect each. So “yes” it was, once again, and the moment I thought it, I could feel a thin, colorless, invisible coating come over me. It was a Multilayer Barrier, consisting of several layers but still so thin that my Magic Sense skill could only barely spot it. It didn’t require much magic energy to keep going, either—once it was summoned, it barely consumed any at all, far less than I could naturally recover by myself.
Another great success for today, then. There were still some potential skill combinations I wanted to work my mind around, but for now, I had done more than enough. I had gained more offense and defense, and as I departed the cavern, I felt more than satisfied.