Chapter 189 - Skills

The last time Wain improved his skills was also in this Void. Most of his skills were First Chronicle, but their Rating was quite low, and Wain wanted to fix that. 

He also still hadn't improved one of his most powerful skills, Oblivion Thunder, to First Chronicle.

Wain opened the menu and saw a surprising picture.

[You can develop the Distant Bullet skill]

[You can develop the Sigh of Lightning skill]

[You can develop the Oblivion Thunder skill]

[You can develop the Dark Sword skill]

[You can develop the Heat Resistant Flesh skill]

[You can develop the Mastery of Reading skill]

[You can develop Ghost Healing Threads skill]

[You can develop Black Thunder's Renegade soul]

"Holy shit..."

Wain was stunned. He didn't expect so many options to appear in front of him. Before, he could improve three skills at once, a record, but the previous number seemed laughable compared to this.

"I can improve soul... That's interesting. It's a shame that I can only have one additional soul for now. Although considering the total number of skills, I already have a ton of work to do..." Mumbled Wain.

He started with a skill that lagged behind the others but was quite powerful.

[You decided to develop the Oblivion Thunder skill.]

[You used 2% of your Soul Essence total. The Oblivion Thunder skill is ready to be developed. Choose one of two ways]

[Improve Chronicle skill.]

[Improve the Rating of the skill.]

Wain could have tried to improve the Rating of Oblivion Thunder, but he didn't see the point. Oblivion Thunder was a Primary Chronicle skill, which meant Wain would need Primary Chronicle Soul. He didn't have any at the moment and didn't want to waste his time on it.

'Hmm, when I improve Black Thunder's Renegade, Oblivion Thunder will disappear, and another skill will replace it. I have a lot of Primary Chronicle souls, so I'll just make that skill stronger until it's time to replace it.' Wain thought and made his choice.

Wain didn't really know what happened in such cases. That was his guess. 

Nevertheless, he was sure that when Black Thunder's Renegade turned into a different soul, the corresponding skill would change as well. In his opinion, this was logical since it was similar to the principle of how video games worked.

[You decided to improve the Chronicle skill.]

In that case, Wain had no options for skill development from which he could choose any one skill. Moreover, he didn't even know the result, the necessary conditions just appeared before him.

[Any First Chronicle Rare Rating Soul: 1/1 is required.]

Wain had about six hundred First Chronicle souls left over from his battles in Snowe Desert and the golden Dungeon. 

He hadn't originally planned to keep souls to improve his skills, but after the battle with Purple Pilgrim, he decided it was better to spend a few souls improving his skills than to raise one level.

[Do you want to use the necessary materials and increase your Chronicle skill - Oblivion Thunder?]

"Yes." Said Wain, and a blue soul and a dark rune flew out of his body the next moment.

Wain wasn't sure how many skills he could improve since he had a few dozen Rare Ratings and only a couple of Epic Ratings out of six hundred souls. However, most of these souls had the attribute of ice, sand, water, or gold.

The rune and soul connected, and there was an electrical explosion. Then the renewed rune flew into his glabella. Black sparks appeared in Wain's eyes, and he took a deep breath.

[The Fall of Thunder Eye (First Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)

You were lucky enough to see how dangerous thunder and darkness can be when they become one. You've become a little more aware of your powers, and now you have a deadly weapon in your hands.

By accumulating a huge amount of energy in two hands, you will be able to create a pulse that will unleash a beam of dark thunder from the heavens on your enemies. At the end of the beam will be a thunder eye, which will emit a ring of thunder around itself when it touches the ground.

It will hit anyone in range of the ability and create hundreds of high-powered electrical discharges.

You must be careful, as this skill consumes a lot of energy, and if you make a mistake during preparation, the pulse will explode in your hands]

"Great." Mumbled Wain. "It's a partially modified Oblivion Thunder, though, which is inherent when the Chronicle is upgraded. In that case, the skills change only slightly from their original form."

Wain didn't check the power of the new skill and moved on to the next one.

[You decided to improve your Sign of Lightning skill.]

[You have used 5% of your Soul Essence total. The Sign of Lightning skill is ready for development. Choose one of two ways]

[Improve the Chronicle skill.]

[Improve Rating skill.]

It didn't make sense for Wain to improve Chronicle as he would need Second Chronicle Soul. He didn't know where he could get such a soul. Such powerful monsters had not yet appeared in the world.

Of course, he could try to attack Second Chronicle Void, but that was suicidal and not worth it.

[You choose to improve your Skill Rating.]

[Choose one of the options.]

[Thunder Impulse]

[Storm Gloves]

"Only two options..." Wain muttered and opened the description of the first skill.

[Thunder Impulse (Frist Chronicle Active Skill, Epic Rating)

Lightning has always been synonymous with speed and thunder with power. Now you will be as fast as lightning and as destructive as thunder.

When you use the skill, lightning discharges will go through your body, and you will turn into a blue flash. If you develop enough speed, you can unleash a thunder strike on your enemy]

[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met.

[Requires a First Chronicle Epic Rating Soul with lightning attribute: 0/1. Ten units of First Rank Essence with lightning attribute: 0/10.]

"What? What is it?" Wain muttered.

Before, he had always only needed souls to improve the skill, but now the situation had changed.

"Hmm, ok then, I'll look up some more skills and head over to Sven, he should probably know what it is..." Mumbled Wain and opened the description of the next skill.

[Storm Gloves (First Chronicle Active Skill, Epic Rating)

Wind and Lightning are formidable elements, and when they become one, it's a real disaster. You risk to harness this power and use it to your advantage.

On your wrists will appear wind gauntlets charged with the energy of lightning. You'll get a big boost to your speed, attack speed, and your attacks will become more destructive].

[It is possible to develop this skill if the following conditions are met.

[First Chronicle Epic Rating Soul with lightning attribute: 0/2. Fifteen units of First Rank Essence with lightning attribute: 0/15]

'The conditions are identical this time, only more difficult. Okay, I like this skill better. The past skill looks like an enhanced version of the past one. I need more variety and variation without losing effectiveness.' Wain thought.

Then Wain moved on to the interesting part. He wanted to see how he could improve his very first skill, with which he had already killed hundreds of enemies and was able to kill the keeper of this world.

[You decided to improve the Dark Sword skill]

[You have used 7% of your Soul Essence total. The Dark Sword skill is ready for development. Choose one of two ways]

[Improve Chronicle skill.]

[Improve the Rating skill.]

Wain made the same choice as last time.

[You choose to improve the Rating skill.]

[Choose one of the choices.]

[Dark Flame Sword]

[Shattered Part]

[Phantom Sword]

[Sparkling Ice Sword]

"So many choices..." Wain muttered.

[Dark Flame Sword (First Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)

When used near the wielder, creates a fiery sword with a burning dark flame. This weapon is ideal for battling against enemies with the attribute of light and wood. 

Dark Flame is special and incredibly difficult to extinguish. It requires powerful skills with water or ice attribute].

[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met.

[Requires First Chronicle Rare Rating Soul with fire attribute: 0/1. Necessary First Chronicle Rare Rating Soul with darkness attribute: 0/1. Three units of First Rank Essence with Darkness Attribute required: 0/3. Three units of First Rank Essence with Fire Attribute: 0/3]

'It's a pretty ordinary skill, nothing interesting.' Thought Wain and moved on to the next option.

[Shattered Part (First Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)

Summons a dark sword made up of 90% energy. You can use it as a weapon, but that's extremely inefficient given that the material part is only 10%. 

Shattered Part can be applied to other weapons, thus increasing its power and adding corrosive effect].

[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met.

[Required First Chronicle Rare Rating Whole Soul with darkness attribute: 0/1. Seven units of First Rank Essence with darkness attribute: 0/7.]

"Hmm, maybe that's what I was looking for..." Mumbled Wain. "I already have a powerful weapon, and I've learned lately that it's better to have equipment than to summon a sword with skill. It's more efficient and practical. In the beginning, the Destruction Sword was  useful, but the sword became more fragile and weaker."

[Phantom Sword (First Chronicle, Active Skill, Rare Rating)

When used creates a massive, semi-transparent sword almost four meters long. This sword can fly through walls and enemies, wounding them internally, but whether the sword can pierce enemy flesh depends on his stats.

You can also create copies of this sword, up to a maximum of ten. However, each time the sword will shrink a little because the energy will be distributed to several weapons at once]

[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met.

[Necessary First Chronicle Rare Rating Whole Soul with illusion attribute: 0/1. Seven units of First Rank Essence with illusion attribute: 0/7.]

"So-so... Moreover, I have no idea where to find a soul with the attribute of illusion. I've only encountered one enemy before whose soul could be classified in this category." Mumbled Wain and moved on to the next skill.

[Sparkling Ice Sword (First Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)

When used creates a long ice sword, which increases its power depending on the attack speed of the owner. As a result, sparkling rays can burst out of ice crystals, which will pierce your enemies and turn them into sieves.]

[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met.

[Need First Chronicle Rare Rating Whole Soul with ice and light attribute: 0/1. Eleven units of First Rank Essence with ice and light attribute: 0/11]

'Hmm, apparently this is a pretty strong skill, this is the second time a soul with two elements is needed to improve, but I'm not sure I need it...' Wain thought.

He didn't want to go back to relying on the skill as a type of gear. Wain believed that the Forgotten Monarch's Sword was an excellent weapon, and he had no intention of replacing it anytime soon.

He also understood that even if he could find the necessary components and souls, he wasn't sure he could fight with two swords simultaneously. He had no experience in this combat style and no time to train.

He was used to having one weapon and being completely focused on one target. That was his fighting style, and he didn't want to change it.

"Maybe if I got a passive skill that greatly improves my mastery of two swords, I would change my mind, but that doesn't make sense in this situation. Good, then it's settled." Said Wain.

He chose Shattered Part because, with this skill, he would be able to make Forgotten Monarch's Sword even stronger, and he would not need to distribute his attention to two weapons. 

Concentration during combat was important, especially at critical moments.