If it wasn't for Skullius not having enough mana at the moment, he would have already committed to spamming the skill as he had nothing better to do.
His teeth clacked as he finally saw the boons of having the Vehement Bone Nullmancer as a class. The ability to extract skills from objects that held mana!
This detail went to convince Skullius that the description for the class back then was not a hoax. He could truly use Null Life Essence to enhance his connection to mana. It was pretty accurate.
Red Rage watched the Boneman silently.
His master doing a little dance - swaying his waist unattractively - made his socket lights blink furiously, as though he was trying to turn them off... along with the vision that came with them.
Skullius only sat down after a while as he inspected the staff again with his guidance field.
He noticed that it didn't have the skill [Mana Bolt] anymore!
"Interesting..."
He hurriedly picked up the short staff and began to spill his deep focus into it.
There was a clear distinction between this staff and the crooked magic staff.
The short magic staff did not expand his range for [Unbound]. As he willed, it was set alight with Null Life Essence as his mind was drawn to its inner mana workings.
Once more, Skullius saw mana networks that were slightly more complex than those of the crooked magic staff.
However, regardless of how they tangled and turned, the determined Skullius followed through, looking for all the passages made from mana as they were then filled up with Null Life Essence.
[You have mastered the skill 'Flame Shot' from the short staff. Your understanding of the compounds of the world and mana increases!]
"Yes!"
The Boneman immediately went to look at the skill in his panel.
~~~
[Flame Shot | Lv.1]
Release a burst of highly condensed fire that explodes upon contact with the target.
Mana Requirements: 30 Mana Points
Cooldown: 10 seconds
~~~
Another one!
"That's right!" Skullius exclaimed.
Since he didn't have mana at the moment, he decided to add something else that could improve these skills. Well, one of them.
He was going to use [Unbound]!
The skill, according to its description, could upgrade any stat, skill or weapon.
Skullius had initially wanted to save these points for Red Rage, but on top of his personal decision not to for the time being for obvious reasons - most closely related to burning jealousy - he simply didn't think the Bone Boar needed it as much as he did.
He needed an offensive move he could count on at the moment and didn't have to luxury to wait anymore. Besides, he could always gather more Null Life Essence after acquiring a powerful skill from this upgrade.
"I need an attack I can use for simple offense - better than I have now - and another for dealing a lot of damage. If I can get a better version of [Flame Shot], I will have some peace of mind. I can leave [Mana Bolt] as it is and continue to level it up."
This was Skullius' reasoning.
What he considered to be a problem when using [Unbound], was the fact that he might score an ability that required too much mana and therefore be unable to use it.
He aimed to use 1000 Null Life Essence Points for a [Permanent Random Upgrade] so the skill he got would forever be planted in him.
Thus, it had to count for something.
Using 1000 Null Life Essence Points presumably guaranteed that what he drew was not something weak at least.
Thankfully, there was still some time before he could use [Unbound] because of the cooldown, which gave him quite the bit of time to settle his mind on the matter.
The time sadly elapsed faster than Skullius had imagined.
"Well... with time I will be able to use it even if its cost is too high, right?" he rationalised concerning a worst case scenario that involved a high mana cost for the new skill.
Oh well.
[What would you like to Upgrade with Unbound?]
"Flame Shot," Skullius responded.
[1000 Null Life Essence Points expended for Permanent Random Upgrade]
[Random Upgrade decided!]
Skullius felt something being drained from him and then... something else began to be inserted into his core!
It had a burning sensation to it that he felt raging out, begging to be released!
The anticipation Skullius felt was unmatched!
He hoped that it wouldn't be something bad. He was practically begging in his mind.
[Random Upgrade Complete!]
[Your skill 'Flame Shot' has been upgraded to 'Bitter-Sweet Hell's Inferno']
"Uhmm...." Skullius tilted his head upon seeing the name.
What Inferno?
He then turned from the name and went on to check what this new skill could do, hope gripping his core.
~~~
[Bitter-Sweet Hell's Inferno | Lv.1]
A horrendous flame that subjects the target to unimaginable torment through immense heat that delivers extreme pain and extreme pleasure interchangeably until nothing of them remains.
Mana Requirements: 150 Mana Points
Cooldown: 5 minutes
~~~
"..."
The description of the skill left Skullius torn between the thought of whether this skill was actually powerful or not.
He waited for his mana to regenerate, hours passing before he saw it full up.
"Right!" Skullius said as he then prepared to test out his skills.
He decided to try [Mana Bolt] first.
He stretched out his bony hand, pointing it towards the other side of the gorge. He intended to appraise the damage capability by using the hard rock that formed a slope as the target.
With the activation of the skill, mana surged from Skullius' core, extending to his hand as he then called out...
"[Mana Bolt]."
A bright flash of light coalesced within his hand! It shone with a bright white light and condensed to fit in his palm!
Skullius looked in awe as the ball of light pulsed like a heart and he then commanded it to shoot forward!
The bolt of mana whizzed through the air and met the hard rock on the other side in a flash!
The rock was smashed apart as the [Mana Bolt] blew against it, rocks and dust rose from the destruction!
A crater the size of a human head appeared, being a bit deep as it showed the potency of the attack.
"Not bad. This is a bit stronger than when it was a skill in the staff."
Skullius still remembered how that one goblin mage had managed to damage him quite a bit with a single [Mana Bolt]. Now, it was stronger and had an added effect that he hoped to test out soon.
After evaluating the strength of this skill, Skullius decided it was time to test out the big one.
He stretched his hand and activated the skill, calling it out its name loudly for dramatic effect.
"Bitter-Sweet Hell's Inferno..." Skullius paused. "... that doesn't sound epic enough. I'll just call it Hell's Inferno for now. HELL'S INFERNO!"
Mana once again surged from his core, a vast amount of it gathering in his hand and then...
A purplish-orange glow sprang into existence with a large size and grandeur that eclipsed its caster's own!
It was like a star with the odd colour mix, issuing a great heat to the surroundings!
A ball was formed from this, being as large as Skullius' upper frame, tendrils of heat dancing at the edges.
"Oh... my..." Skullius was entranced.
Red Rage also looked on with interest.
Skullius debated on whether to actually fling this thing as he thought about the danger of attracting unwanted attention.
"I don't need to compare it with [Mana Bolt] anymore. Let's send it that way..."
Skullius decisively pointed the fireball further away within the gorge and released it!
Upon firing, the Boneman drew back a bit from the power of the skill, the [Hell's Inferno] flying with quick speed, heading for the rocky slope ten meters away!
BOOOM!
The rock wall shook, a massive chunk of it being blown away!
Only a large crater with a significant portion of it hissing while layered in red remained. It was quite deep, smoke coming from it in thick billows.
Skullius looked on with unseen joy!
"This..."
He couldn't form a sentence. He disregarded this not being what the description about the skill said and relished in how much destruction it could cause.
Skullius looked at Red Rage who was enthralled by the skill as well.
"Well my bro, Red. It's settled what we are going to do until the light returns. We are going to level up our skills! 'There ain't no rest for the wicked,' they say. Wait, who says that?"
Skullius shook his head and dismissed the thought. Red Rage nodded, beginning to work on his skills, while Skullius decided to use the rest of his mana for spamming [Mana Bolt] before resting, waiting for it recover.
The night passed with flashes of white and purplish-orange faintly appearing from the gorge as the two went hard at the grind, bolstering their offense.
Chill, spam. Chill, spam. That was the plan.
Soon the sun rose, an existence that could be found in most worlds. It brought about light and caused the two Null Lifeforms to stop their spamming as even though they didn't know what the word 'tired' meant, they did know that the day time was an active playground for most creatures.
The results were great for Skullius, but even greater for Red Rage!