270 Growing the Skill Tree ?

The moment Lucifer cemented the pact, the Book was promoted to level 5. It also meant that Zhao Yao's quest to gain the allegiance of five supercats was done and dusted. He was rewarded with a neat 2,000 experience points.

A new mission instantly took its place.

Main Mission: Gain More Cat Powers, Get More Supercats

Objective: Pledge the loyalty of six cats and upgrade the Book to level 6

Reward: 2,000 experience points

Punishment: None

Changes had also been made to everyone's experience levels:

Book: Level 5 (2,268 / 10,000)

Matcha: Level 5 (70 / 5,000)

Elizabeth: Level 5 (70 / 5,000)

Dust Ball: Level 5 (290 / 5,000)

Ares: Level 4 (140 / 2,000)

Lucifer: Level 1 (0 / 10)

It did not take many points for Lucifer to be leveled up, so Zhao Yao spent 1,100 points in one shot to upgrade him to level 4 (0 / 2,000). This left the Book to be at level 5 (1,158 / 10,000).

The different levels of his power helped Zhao Yao better understand Lucifer's regenerative ability. In its most primitive form, the body's health had to be above 25% for super-regeneration to work.

"Well, every skill is bound to have its limit," Zhao Yao mused before studying the next branch of Lucifer's skill tree.

He picked a level 2 skill that reduced the 25% requirement to a mere 15%. For level 3, he chose to learn Pleasure of Pain, which did exactly as its somewhat gross name promised. The more pain he was dealt with, the more pleasure he would feel. The worse the damage, the faster he would heal.

He would never have to fear physical blows again.

Zhao Yao watched in anticipation as Lucifer's skill tree branches out into level 4. Based on past experience, the new abilities introduced in this level were always ultimate skills. He was eager to see what Lucifer had to offer.

The two choices did not disappoint.

The first skill was called Death Holdup. It could hasten the speed of regeneration by ten times when the body's condition dropped below 15%. The rapid healing could last three minutes and the cooldown took 24 hours.

The other option was Death Feign. Like the Holdup, it could only be activated when health levels dipped below 15%. When that happened, Zhao Yao's physical body would slip into a state of death. He would, however, remain very much alive and conscious. He could revive himself within the next 24 hours, after which the skill could only be used again another 24 hours later.

Both abilities gifted him a second life. However, one was clearly far superior to the other.

Zhao Yao picked Death Holdup without hesitation.

Death Feign was great, but it had the potential to backfire. The more cautious opponent might find it suspicious that someone so powerful was actually dead. This could invite another onslaught of attacks to make sure that Zhao Yao was well and truly dead.

That would really kill him.

Death Holdup was different. Instead of faking death, he could avoid it altogether through unparalleled healing. Lucifer's regeneration was already gloriously remarkable. Now that it was 10 times faster, even a gunshot to the chest would not be able to take him down. Coupled with Pleasure of Pain, Zhao Yao would never again be defeated by physical blows of any sort.

He could welcome them with open arms.

"This is not bad at all," Zhao Yao chuckled to himself, "Now that I have Death Holdup and Time Distortion, I don't just have a second life. I have a third one."

He would never know every power that existed in the world. This was why it was more crucial to be able to protect himself than to be able to chalk up ungodly amounts of damage on the enemy.

Zhao Yao turned to Lucifer.

"So, what do you think? Do you feel yourself growing stronger?" he asked.

The cat looked down at his paws before shaking his head. "Nope. Nothing's happening."

"Well, your skill is regeneration. I believe you might need to experience a bit of pain and injury in order to feel the change…"

Bang!

Raksasha the American Shorthair had snuck up behind Lucifer and struck him with his claws, which were tough as steel.

Lucifer fell to the ground from the blow, but there was no wail of pain. Instead, he let out an ecstatic meow as a spasm ran through his body. His face was tinged pink.

Raksasha looked at him curiously.

"So, do you feel stronger?"

"I...I don't know," Lucifer responded truthfully, getting onto his paws quickly.

He could feel himself getting flushed from embarrassment.

"It kinda felt like...like it didn't really hurt," he finished awkwardly.

Zhao Yao knew that Lucifer just had his first taste of Pleasure of Pain.

"Lucifer, this is one of your new skills," he explained sagely, "From now, you'll never feel pain from an injury ever again. In fact, the more trauma you experience, the more pleasurable it will feel."

"Is that true, Lucifer?" Ares asked.

Lucifer tilted his head.

"Well, I guess we'll have to test it out. Can one of you help me?"

Bang!

He had barely completed his sentence when Raksasha walloped him again, sharp claws gleaming in the light.

Lucifer took a few dainty steps backward, an indulgent smile on his face.

"How is it?" Raksasha inquired.

"Mmm," Lucifer grinned.

He had been reduced to a babbling fool high on the pleasure of pain.

Caesar was watching this from a distance. He could not help but touch the back of his own head at the sight of Lucifer being beaten up.

"Why does my skull hurt from seeing this?" he wondered aloud.

His wife, Catherine, threw him a dirty look.

"Are you having another one of your phantom headaches, Caesar?" she asked sharply, "You've been using the pain as an excuse to smoke more and more catmint. It's unsightly! Have you forgotten how you should act as a noble?"

On the other side of the room, Lucifer was asking for more punches to be thrown his way.

"C'mon, try again! Harder this time," he instructed.

Raksasha nodded seriously. He raised both paws, which revealed lethal looking claws cloaked in titanium. With a yell, he darted forward and attacked Lucifer, slashing and ripping with all the strength he could muster.

His victim seemed to enjoy every moment of it.

In fact, he had started moaning in pleasure.

"Oh yeah!"

"Don't stop, Raksasha!"

"Ravage me with your strong claws!"

A disturbed Raksasha looked to Ares for help.

"Boss, Lucifer's acting weird, isn't he?"

Ares did not respond with words. Instead, he extended a paw and unleashed a force field in Lucifer's direction. This sent him flying through the air and right into a wall, which he was stuck on momentarily before sliding to the floor.

"Ah…" Lucifer sighed, a look of bliss on his face, "You guys should just beat me to death."

Ares studied the cat, his head tilted to one side.

"I suppose he's grown stronger then?" he said with uncertainty.

The corner of Zhao Yao's lips twitched. He had watched the entire scene unfold.

"I wonder if I chose the wrong power," he thought to himself.

He was not the only one who was watching Lucifer with interest. The Sphynx cat was observing from the confines of his cage as well. He looked terribly troubled by what he saw.

"Can King George really strengthen a supercat's natural powers?" he wondered.

The rest of the cats rushed forward in a heap.

"Zhao Yao, Zhao Yao!" Airplane called out, "I want to grow stronger too!"

"Get out of my way!" Sausage yelled as he pushed past his friend, "Where's King George? He's the one who can make me stronger."

Zhao Yao shook his head at the frenzied display.

"King George will only strengthen the cutest and most well-behaved cats. You'll have to work hard to be picked," he explained.

This announcement caused the supercats to grow quiet. They were all deep in thought, wondering how they could stand out as the most well-behaved.

Zhao Yao's attention had turned to the diamond hall in the Book.

Normally, he could earn a diamond from completing daily missions. These diamonds could be exchanged for double experience and power-up cards in the hall.

Now that he has completed his main quest of pledging five supercats, there seemed to be an addition to the diamond hall.