Chapter 94

094. Desire (4)

"Skill 'Crimson Seeker (B)' has been created."

The skill's rank, completed through a failed attempt, was surprisingly high.

'Crimson Seeker, huh...'

I immediately opened my status window to check the skill description.

【Skill – Crimson Seeker (B)】

【Proficiency – 0%】

【Basic Effect – Can extract life force, health, and mana from the blood of living beings, and develop a powerful blood control ability.】

【Detailed Effect – All blood that flows out and is consumed from the user's body will automatically be repaired to a certain extent over time.】

"..."

The restriction that I could only extract life force, health, and mana from beings I had killed, as mentioned in the previous description, was gone.

Moreover...

'Blood control ability?'

It was like I had gained a vampire's mysterious ability, which was hard not to be excited about.

That's not all.

The blood repair ability added as a detailed effect was compatible with items that create protective barriers by consuming blood, like the old tuxedo of the vampire baron.

Of course, I could only judge the actual usefulness of this repair ability after experiencing its efficiency firsthand.

'Well, it's not bad.'

At least, it was worth spending a lot of points on.

I immediately deactivated the recovery effect in the waiting room and used the Blood Sky Demon Sword to create a long slash on my left arm.

"Skill 'Ashen Blood' has been activated."

Drip.

At the same time, blood flowed from my left arm, and then the wound was healed by the Ashen Blood.

Seeing the blood flowing down my left arm, I narrowed my eyes and focused.

'Move, move, move...'

At that moment,

"Oh."

Swoosh.

The blood flowing down my left arm began to rise against gravity.

Not only that, but the blood soon floated into the air after flowing down my left arm.

"..."

In that state, I tried to control the blood that had flowed out and got a feel for this ability.

When I formed a sharp blade out of the blood, I let out a hollow laugh and was convinced.

"This is really a cheat ability."

What if this ability could affect not just the blood that flows out of my body but also the blood of other living beings?

The thought sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.

An ability that can extract life force, health, and mana from the blood of living beings and control blood without killing them.

'Of course, there are limitations, but there's no better ability than this.'

Thanks to necromancy, I was already good at large-scale battles, and with the Crimson Seeker, I would become even stronger.

The weakness of one-on-one battles could be better addressed with this ability.

I also realized that the blood repair ability would be quite useful in prolonged battles when I checked it.

"Simple, but definitely easier to handle because of that."

Now that I understood the composition of the Crimson Seeker, I turned my attention to another skill.

【Skill – Excessive Growth (C-)】

【Proficiency – None】

【Effect – All health recovery abilities and base health increase by 70% proportional to health stat.】

It was a bit disappointing that there was no proficiency, but it was still a skill I could use.

'Increasing health recovery and base health is useful.'

Especially since the effects are proportional to the health stat.

Of course, like the Crimson Seeker, Excessive Growth could be improved through synthesis, but I didn't have the points to spare right now.

No matter how many points I had saved, it was too much of a stretch.

Of course, if there were other skills worth synthesizing, it would be different, but mixing random skills would only cause problems.

I had a bad experience before when I mixed skills randomly and ended up with a skill that was more of a burden.

At that moment,

'...Come to think of it, there are skills I can synthesize.'

I suddenly remembered the 'Tough Eye (E-)' skill I had synthesized and left unused.

It was a low-rank skill with mediocre effects, so I had ignored it.

However, since then, I had gathered several skills worth synthesizing, like 'Eye of Truth' and 'Insight'.

"Hmm..."

But it was a shame to synthesize Insight or Eye of Truth carelessly.

Insight allows me to sense everything around me, and Eye of Truth lets me see through lies and gather information.

'It's a gamble.'

I know.

I know that this is a gamble that shouldn't be taken.

However, I also understood the value of a successful synthesis.

"..."

As I continued to ponder, a good idea came to me.

"Shop."

I immediately opened the shop window and started looking at the skills for sale in the skill shop.

And—

【Skill: Insight (F-)】

【Price: 10,000 points】

【Description: You might feel something that cannot be seen.】

"Really, it's here."

I soon realized that Insight was for sale.

'Of course, the rank is lower than I expected...'

During the battle with Namgung Hyuk, I had raised the proficiency of Insight to a crazy level and learned how to use it.

Even if it's an F- rank skill, I was confident I could quickly grow it to a higher rank.

【Unique Ability 'Skill Synthesis' has been activated.】

I immediately chose Insight and Tough Eye for synthesis.

Of course, since Insight had a higher rank, Tough Eye was pushed to the side in the synthesis process.

Insight remained at the center of the synthesis and the process continued.

【Skill synthesis is complete.】

【Skill 'Mystic Eye (A-)' has been created.】

Tough Eye and Insight disappeared, and a new ability with magic power in the eyes was born.

'I don't need to read the skill description to know what this ability is.'

Basically, it can be used like Insight, but the magic power detection ability has significantly improved.

It's a few levels higher than magic power detection that relies on magic circuits.

Even as it is, it's a skill that is almost a higher version of Insight, but it was still missing something.

My instincts whispered to me like a devil.

Synthesizing Eye of Truth would create a proper skill.

A skill that would not disappoint me, a very good skill.

【Skill 'Sixth Sense' is greatly activated.】

As if to support this thought, the message that Sixth Sense was greatly activated appeared.

With that, I initiated the skill synthesis, and soon the skill was synthesized.

【Skill synthesis is complete.】

And—

【A new skill has been created.】

The skill that was created next was beyond imagination, as if to confirm that my intuition was correct.

***

I opened my eyes wide as I read the system message that appeared before me.

【Skill 'Fire Dragon Eye (A+)' has been created.】

Fire Dragon Eye.

Regardless of the grand name, the rank was quite high.

It was a skill that could rank among the best I currently possess.

'Never thought it would turn out this well.'

I reached this point because I had never failed a skill synthesis.

【Skill – Fire Dragon Eye (A+)】

【Proficiency – 0%】

【Basic Effect – The power of the Fire Dragon resides in the eyes, allowing you to see the unseen.】

【Detailed Effect – Through the Dragon Eye, you can see the information of objects and discern lies.】

The skill content had no drawbacks and maintained all the advantages.

The only change was that the power of the Fire Dragon resided in the eyes.

'The power of the Fire Dragon.'

It was intriguing, but the changed wording alone made it difficult to understand the differences.

'But there must be some differences or improvements.'

With the rank this high, there must be.

Whatever it is, it will have advantages, so I immediately activated the Fire Dragon Eye.

【Skill 'Fire Dragon Eye (A+)' has been activated.】

I did this to confirm the ability inherited from the Eye of Truth, which allows me to see the information of objects.

I wanted to carefully check if there were any special changes.

And—

"What is this...?"

I soon understood the true meaning of the 'see the unseen' description of the Fire Dragon Eye.

【Blood Sky Demon Sword】

From the item that I had taken from Kim Seung-jun and now use regularly.

【...When the user reaches the level of Sword Flame and activates Blood Qi to the maximum, the true ability is unlocked.】

A description that I couldn't see before was now visible.

"..."

It wasn't a particularly useful ability when checking the item directly, but...

Now I could not only perfectly confirm the item's performance but also see new descriptions.

'This is...'

It was unbelievable.

I thought it would just be a slightly enhanced version of Insight and Eye of Truth.

I never expected it to evolve into such a useful skill.

When I opened the item description window, it became even clearer.

'The descriptions that can be seen with the Fire Dragon Eye do not appear in the item description window.'

Realizing this, I checked all the other items.

【Vampire Baron's Old Tuxedo】

Hidden descriptions were scattered everywhere.

【...When a protective barrier is formed by consuming blood, additional durability is added to the barrier.】

There were also obscure facts that I didn't know before.

【Boots of Swift】

Even from items I didn't pay much attention to, new descriptions were found.

【...When magic power is infused into the boots, the duration of the speed boost slightly increases.】

This could be somewhat helpful in battle.

Of course, no significant new descriptions appeared for other items, and they didn't provide much help in battle.

However, it wasn't something to be ignored.

"..."

As I examined various things with the Fire Dragon Eye, I realized one thing.

The Fire Dragon Eye was much better than I thought, and its true potential had yet to be fully revealed.

The Eye of Truth, which I hadn't used properly, had been inherited and strengthened to this extent.

How much stronger would the inherited aspects of Insight be in battle?

Thinking about this, I couldn't help but smile.

In the end, instead of thinking about it, I immediately activated the command.

【Do you wish to challenge the 11th floor trial?】

Without considering any other options, I immediately accepted the challenge and entered the portal that appeared in the center of the waiting room without hesitation.

【Entering the 11th floor of the Tower of Trials.】

【Difficulty – Hard】

【The theme of this trial is 'Mental Proof'.】

【May the challenger find a satisfactory result at the end of their chosen path.】

The two new skills, Crimson Seeker and Fire Dragon Eye, would soon reveal their true worth, whether I wanted to or not.