Chapter 93

Chapter 93: A longing (3)

「 You have entered the 11th-floor waiting room. 」

I felt a strange sense of coziness and smiled when I finally returned to the waiting room.

To think I was more familiar with this waiting room than Earth now…

I realized that I really had changed a lot every time something like this happened.

Of course, aside from that realization, I opened the shop window as soon as I returned to the waiting room.

This was because there were a few things I learned from the battle with Namgung Hyuk.

Ashen Blood.

It’s a regeneration skill with an overwhelming performance among the skills I own, but…

After a fierce battle with Namgung Hyuk, I realized that this skill also has a limit.

That is, unlike the skill of pain resistance, the ability to regenerate doesn’t activate properly when you’re running low on HP.

I realized this when I lost my left arm and right eye at the end of the battle.

Originally, even if both my legs were crushed, it started the regeneration starting from the bones, but later, my left arm or right eye showed no sign of regeneration at all.

‘It probably means that the bigger the injury, the more HP it takes to regenerate.”

In fact, the lack of HP was the main problem of the skill ‘Accelerated Regeneration’, which was the ability before it was combined into Ashen Blood.

And because of that, I’ve been carrying a regeneration potion and replenishing my hp with abilities of Necromancy, but…

‘Now, even this isn’t enough.’

I was sure that it was time for me to acquire a new serious HP regeneration ability.

Some abilities looked quite useful as I explored the skill shop.

「Skill : Auto HP Regeneration (D-)」 

「Price: 15,000 Point 」 

「Effect: Automatically recovers 0.07% of total HP every 180 seconds.」 

The skill that I had wished for, the skills related to HP regeneration, stood out.

I thought it’d be somewhat okay when I read the description that says it recovers HP automatically, but…

After thinking about it, even if it recovers based on total HP, not lost health, it’s only about 0.07%, and on top of that, it only regenerates every 180 seconds.

‘That’s not going to be enough.’

Considering the HP consumed by Ashen blood, it was clear that it wasn’t a very useful skill.

Of course, I had the ability to combine the skills, so I roughly committed it to my memory and looked at other skills.

「Skill : Moonlight Absorption (E-)」 

「Price: 10,000 Point 」 

「Effect: When exposed to moonlight, basic HP regeneration is increased by 100%」 

Since it’s stated as basic HP regeneration, there was no possibility that it could be linked to automatic HP regeneration.

Automatic HP regeneration is the ability to recover from skills, and the basic HP regeneration would just be the user’s basic HP regeneration ability.

Of course, when the ability to maximize the basic HP regeneration appears, its value will increase.

「Skill: Sunlight Absorption(E-)」 

「Price: 10,000 Point 」 

「Effect: When exposed to sunlight, the basic HP regeneration is increased by 100%」 

This skill was no different from the skill Moonlight Absorption.

It’s just that the condition for skill activation changed from moonlight to sunlight.

I thought I could counterbalance the skill activation condition to some extent if I had both, but…

In fact, they were abilities that wouldn’t activate in places where there’s neither sunlight nor moonlight.

Should I say that these had quite a number of flaws to utilize both of them?

‘That’s iffy.’

When I looked at the skills a bit more, I found two more abilities worth using.

「Skill: Overgrowth (C-)」 

「Price: 20,000 Point 」 

「Effect: In proportion to the HP stat, all HP regeneration abilities and basic HP are increased by 70%.」 

「Skill: Call of Blood (C-)」 

「Price: 20,000 Point 」 

「Effect: When the user absorbs the blood of a creature they killed, the user’s HP and vitality are greatly restored in proportion to the amount of blood absorbed.」 

They were quite expensive skills, but their abilities were pretty useful.

“…”

I stared at the shop window for a while and then came up with the answer.

‘Then I can just do this.’

The answer I just came up with was a fairly simple but reasonable choice.

It was to purchase all of these skills.

There were three main reasons for making such a choice.

「You’ve purchased Automatic HP Regeneration (D-)」 

「15,000 points deducted.」

First and foremost, I must purchase Automatic HP Regeneration because it recovers my HP even when idle.

「You’ve purchased Moonlight Absorption (E-)」 

「10,000 points deducted.」

「You’ve purchased Sunlight Absorption (E-)」 

「10,000 points deducted.」

Secondly, Moonlight Absorption and Sunlight Absorption were like twins. It’s just that their conditions were different.

They’d have good compatibility when used for skill combination, so it was clear it’d result in a pretty good ability.

「You’ve purchased Overgrowth(C-)」 

「20,000 points deducted.」

The third and last remaining reason is— though I say it myself —but…

「You’ve purchased Call of Blood(C-)」 

「20,000 points deducted.」

“…I really did a great job saving up these points, huh.”

It was because I had enough points for myself even if I purchased all these skills.

That was the biggest reason.

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

「Activating the innate power ‘Skill Combination.’」

「Listing the available skills.」 

「Please select combination material from the skill list.」

After purchasing all the skills, I immediately activated the skill combination.

It’d been a while since I did a skill combination, so I was also quite excited.

Should I say I’m excited to see what kind of skill I would acquire in this combination?

I continued and started the combination with a pleasant sense of excitement.

The skills that I started with were ‘Sunlight Absorption’ and ‘Moonlight Absorption’.

Both skills only slightly differed in condition, and the skill effect was almost the same.

And there was not even the slightest difference in the skill ranks.

「 The two skills are identical in rank. 」 

「 Please select the core skill. 」 

Well, because of that, I was confused about which of the two to choose as the core of skill combination, but…

‘Is there a point in thinking about this?’

As a matter of fact, I thought that no matter which one becomes the core, the outcome wouldn’t be very different.

After pondering for a while, I finally decided to proceed with a skill combination with Sunlight Absorption as the core.

「 Skill combination will start with ‘Sunlight Absorption’ as the core. 」 

「 Current probability for a high-tier skill is 100% 」

「 Start the Combination? 」 

Maybe because it’s a skill like a twin with almost no difference?

“Probability of 100%… That’s incredible.”

I never imagined that the skill combination probability would be 100%.

「 Combination complete. 」 

I proceeded with the skill combination, and the result was revealed.

「 Skill ‘Photosynthesis(C-)’ generated. 」

However, contrary to the high-ranked result, the name was quite bizarre.

I didn’t know how it turned into Photosynthesis when Sunlight Absorption and Moonlight Absorption were combined.

‘…Photosynthesis, huh.’

「 Skill – Photosynthesis (C-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – When exposed to moonlight or sunlight, the basic HP regeneration rate increases by 200%, and mana can be absorbed through the light.」 

“It’s not a bad ability.”

It felt like it mixed only the strengths of Moonlight Absorption and Sunlight Absorption, plus additional abilities.

However, I had no intention of stopping here, so I then activated Skill Combination again.

「Activating the innate power ‘Skill Combination.’ 」

I had already thought about which skill to combine in my head.

Call of the Blood.

I decided to combine Photosynthesis with this skill I just bought from the skill shop.

If you asked me why, it’s because the ranks of these two skills became the same.

「 The two skills are identical in rank. 」 

「 Please select the core skill. 」 

‘The rank of skills used for combination are identical, so I can decide the core for the combination.’

To be frank, Photosynthesis is a good skill, but it doesn’t suit me.

I thought the ability to kill living things and absorb their blood suited me more, like Call of the Blood.

And in the end, I narrowed my choice down to maximizing the Call of Blood by using Photosynthesis as a sacrifice.

「 Skill combination will start with ‘Call of the blood’ as the core. 」 

「 Current probability for a high-tier skill is 70% 」 

「 Start the Combination? 」 

Without further ado, I pressed confirm.

「 Combination complete. 」 

And…

「 Skill ‘Blood-red Contract(C-)’ generated. 」

“…”

I frowned after looking at the message that popped up.

‘It failed.’

The probability of Skill Combination decided whether it’ll result in a higher rank skill or not.

However, in this combination, it didn’t result in a higher rank skill, so it meant that it failed.

When I looked at the skill description, the thought that I failed grew bigger.

「 Skill – Blood-red Contract (C-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – Vitality, HP, and mana can be extracted from the blood of living things, and this only applies to living things that the user killed.」

There was even a phrase saying that mana can now be extracted, but all the advantages of Photosynthesis had disappeared.

In a nutshell, this skill is no different from failure.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, I guess.”

However…

「You’ve purchased Call of Blood(C-)」 

「20,000 points deducted.」

A single failure was just good enough to be used as a stepping stone for success.

After purchasing the same skill from the skill shop, I immediately activated Skill Combination and selected the Blood-red Contract and Call of Blood.

「 The two skills are identical in rank. 」 

「 Please select the core skill. 」 

The ability to be the core of skill combination was the Call of the Blood this time again.

「 Skill combination will start with ‘Call of the Blood’ as the core. 」 

「 Current probability for a high-tier skill is 98% 」 

「 Start the Combination? 」 

The probability of skill combination has increased a lot.

I was able to realize quickly that the cause was none other than the ‘Blood-red Contract’.

Due to failing Skill Combination once, it became a slightly better rip-off skill for the Call of Blood.

And thanks to that, the compatibility with the current Call of Blood has improved considerably in skill combination.

‘That’s a surprise. The failure of Skill Combination can also work well like this, I see.’

This was the first time I failed to combine skills, so I wasn’t feeling very good, but I benefited from it unexpectedly.

「 Combination complete. 」 

And—

「 A new skill is being generated…! 」 

I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide at the system message that appeared. 

As there’s a proverb that goes— failure is but a stepping stone to success.

「 Skill ‘Truth-seeker of Blood(B)’ generated. 」

The Skill Combination that followed after one failure had come up with a really successful result.

——