Chapter 5: Skill Abuse

Chapter 5: Skill Abuse

Derivan knew what he needed to do.

The rest of the party had already expended everything they had. Sev had exhausted most of his mana trying to keep them all alive. Vex had similarly spent most of his mana on spells, and Misa was already barely keeping it together. She had 30% of her health left, and a direct hit from a three-digit leveled creature something he had, until now, been certain was impossible would kill her instantly even if she were still at full health.

Derivan had a protective buffer she didn't, and much more health besides.

He took a breath. He didn't need to, but he did it anyway; it was one of the many small things that made him feel a little more like what he yearned to be. Someone the system didn't see as a monster. Someone with a name, and a class that reflected who he was as a person.

Not what he had now; not the label the system had burned into him.

Level 86 Infiltrating Armor.

He'd given himself a name, but if the system that the entire world ran on didn't acknowledge it then who was he, really?

Derivan had never really allowed himself to consider his wish of being more, before. It seemed like too much to hope for. Then he'd been revealed, only to find out that his party members already knew, and didn't care... he felt that spark of hope.

Now, again, that spark died; he wasn't foolish enough to think that he could survive against anything this powerful.

But he could buy them time.

The system did not see him as a person. Misa, Sev, Vex they did. That was enough to be worth sacrificing himself for.

He would've done it for less.

Besides, he could already feel what Sev meant his link to the system creeping in once again, shrouding his soul. It was so insidious a force that he'd never felt it before, had assumed it to be just a part of his being; only when it was gone and then returned did he understand it for what it was.

And along with the link came a feeling of foreboding. He didn't know what it meant, but he had a suspicion, and it was a suspicion that both terrified him and filled him with resolve.

"Run," Derivan said quietly. "Please."

He didn't hear what they said in response. He understood, intellectually, that they protested immediately; he saw in the corner of his eyes that Misa was struggling to get up, that Vex was staring like he wanted to run after him. Sev held them both back with a gentle barrier of light, though he himself looked torn, and Derivan allowed himself a small, hidden smile at the sight.

They were true friends, all of them.

Disguise Status deactivated.

Level 26 > Level 86

All [Disguise Status]-related restrictions removed.

Maximum health increased. Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Maximum MP increased.

Derivan leapt into the air. It'd been a long, long time since he'd moved like this, completely free from the restrictions imposed on him by [Disguise Status]. He shot through the air faster than he anticipated, his blade whistling through the wind in front of him. Wisps of black lightning congealed along his sword as he activated another skill.

[Paralyzing Slash].

It was a basic Skill afforded to many melee combatants. He didn't need to defeat the Overseer, whatever an Overseer was. He needed to grapple it for the one second he would need to activate [Consume] at its maximum level. It could break out afterwards, but that happened at set intervals. It would give his friends time. It hadn't even finished forming yet; he was willing to bet it couldn't use skills

The Overseer reached for his blade and caught it. Lightning dissipated like so much useless mana.

Worse, that same black lightning began to course through its body.

Derivan stared.

Far, far away, he thought he heard Sev yell in panic and felt the familiar charge of a heal rush through his body. It was a powerful heal that brought him back up to full health in a fraction of a second, and even then it barely hit him in time.

He hadn't been sure it would. Derivan took a breath he didn't need to take, then slammed his sword into the ground to kill his momentum. A split second later, he'd deactivated [Disguise Status] to charge forward again.

The Overseer was underestimating him; he'd paid attention to exactly what it had done. It attacked him as soon as he was within reach. It wasn't guaranteed that it would do the same thing twice, but that was often the pattern that other monsters followed, for reasons he didn't yet understand.

He didn't wait for the Overseer to attack he didn't have the speed to dodge out of the way. Derivan jumped as soon as he was within reach, anticipating the attack.

It came.

The blow was powerful enough that the drag force pulled him along with it; Derivan went along with the flow, knowing he had only a split second of confusion in which he could act. He needed to get behind the Overseer. The change in his momentum helped. He darted to the side, leapt

And clung to the Overseer's back.

It helped a lot that the Overseer's chosen body plan was, frankly, terrible. Long arms gave it better reach, but it couldn't maneuver them into position to hit him, and it didn't have the joints. He didn't know what skills the Overseer had, either, but as long as he could hold on for a second

[Buff [Satiated]applied!]

The Overseer vanished in a flare of black light. Derivan fell to the ground, almost stunned that it had worked.

It was only enough to guarantee them five seconds, but five seconds was a lot in combat.

"...What happened?" Misa asked. She didn't ask if he'd won; she knew from the tension in his posture that he had not. But Derivan didn't have time to answer.

He'd gained skills, and they needed information. He glanced through what he'd gained as quickly as he could, flicking copies off to Vex and Misa at the same time; Sev couldn't receive system boxes while preparing [Divine Communion].

[Creature of Mana] [Passive] [No Grade] [Temporary]

You are born of mana and made of mana. Any mana-based spell effect that would be turned against you is altered to your benefit, whether to strike down your foes or to reinforce your form.

As an additional benefit, your physical form holds no true shape. You may, through an act of concentration, change the appearance of your form.

[Overseer] [Passive] [No Grade] [Temporary]



Skill description and functionality not available. Locked to administrator access.

[Creature of Chaos] [Active] [No Grade] [Temporary]

Shape mana to your will, imbuing it with the very essence of Chaos. Mana manipulated by you will be unstable in form and aspect, shifting rapidly until all possibilities are exhausted.

As an additional benefit, slow down or speed up the entropic progression of any object or creature with an act of concentration.

Derivan didn't know how [Creature of Mana] would affect Vex's spell; he trusted the mage to figure it out. If it was too risky to cast, he wouldn't cast it, and they would hope that Sev's spell would give them a way out of this situation. He knew very little about [Divine Communion], for Sev had never truly explained what it was, only that it could save them if they were caught in an impossible situation. It seemed powerful, but the fact that it could only be used once and had a cast time that made it nearly useless in combat made it... difficult to work with.

[Overseer] was... interesting. But there was nothing he could do with it.

[Creature of Chaos] was concerning. Clearly, whatever the Overseer was, it hadn't seen him as enough of a threat to use that ability. Derivan didn't know what entropic progression was, but it didn't sound good. He would have to make sure that the Overseer didn't get the opportunity to concentrate.

There wasn't much he could do about the first part of the skill. He'd just have to deal with it.

Two seconds had passed. Derivan felt something in his soul seem to shiver.

Three.

Something inside his soul seemed to snap. Derivan felt a strange sense of impossible vertigo for a moment, as something occupied the same space as him; he'd never experienced his [Satiated] buff failing early before. He was thrown back violently, and he only barely managed to catch himself and prevent damage.

But five seconds hadn't yet passed.