Twenty-six Beast Cores.
That was the total number of Beast Cores that were currently in Lux's possession. One of these cores belonged to the Alpha Beast, Red-Eyed Terror Mantis.
The Half-Elf looked at these cores, not with happiness, but with a serious expression on his face. He was torn whether he should use these cores to upgrade himself or to upgrade his summons.
If Lux chose to use these Beast Cores for himself, he wouldn't be able to add any points to his existing stats anymore because it would kick him out of the Beginner's Zone.
The Half-Elf knew this, but there was one more thing that was making him hesitate and that was not knowing what skills could be learned from the Beast Cores.
If he used the Cores for his Summons, he would no longer have the chance to learn the skills from them. Although the chances of learning a skill from a Beast Core was small, the possibility still existed. This was why he was hesitant to not use them to strengthen himself.
"Soul Book," Lux muttered as he raised his hand.
Immediately his Soul Book appeared.
The Half-Elf then checked his stats to see what he could do about his current predicament.
—---
Name: Lux Von Kaizer
Age: 16
Race: Half-Elf
Rank: (None)
Health: 960 / 960
Mana: 940 / 940
Strength: 46 (+3)
Intelligence: 46 (+1)
Vitality: 31
Agility: 34 (+3)
Dexterity: 31 (+3)
Free Stat Points Available: 35
Special Abilities: Skill Evolution [EX], Mana Drain [EX]
Active Skills: Power Shot, Slash, Dark Arrow,
Passive Skills: Enhanced Fortitude
—--
Elysium Copper Coins: 170
Elysium Silver Coins: 24
Elysium Gold Coins: 8
—--
< Immortal Conqueror's Legacy >
Rating: F+
Progress: (56/100)
Conquest is not all about claiming lands, and expanding your Domain. True conquest is conquering the hearts of people. Once you gain their loyalty, the path to Dominion will open its doors for you.
Upgrade Rewards: +5 to All Stats, +200 Health Points, Mana Drain [EX]
Note: Upgrading your special constitution will allow you to unlock its abilities.
—
< Diablo >
– Named Skeleton
– Skeleton Fighter
– Rating: D
– Mana: 10
– Progress ( 40 / 100)
—-
< Skeleton Warrior >
Rating: F+
Mana: 5
– Summons one Skeleton Warrior to fight for you
– Summon duration: 1 hour
– Skill Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Progress ( 0 / 100)
—--
Lux gazed at this status page as he held the Rank 3 Beast Core of the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis in his hand.
'I need 44 Points to upgrade my Body Constitution to its next stage,' Lux thought. 'With a Rank 3 Beast Core, I can get 15 free Status Points, and 15 Body Constitution Points.'
The Half-Elf had long decided that he would be using the Alpha Beast Core on himself, because the Terror Mantis had three skills and they were Fury Slash, Gust, and Berserk.
Right now, his Slash skill was on its way to evolving into Fury Slash. Among the three skills that could be learned from the Beast Core, Fury Slash was not something he wanted to acquire.
Gust was a Wind Elemental Skill that created powerful gusts of wind that dealt damage and blew away one's enemies.
Berserk, on the other hand, was a very useful ability that doubles one's stat points for a brief period of time.
However, it had a downside.
When the berserked state faded away, the user would have their stats halved as they fell into a weakened state for a period of time. This was also why the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis fell to the Mosquito Swarm. After losing half its health points, the backlash of the weakened state made it unable to resist the Mosquitoes and died under their suppression.
'Okay, I will upgrade my Body Constitution then focus the remaining upgrades on Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior.' Lux clenched his fist as he made up his mind to upgrade his Body Constitution.
When he upgraded his Body Constitution for the first time, the overall upgrade to his body was fantastic. Also, the Half-Elf was hoping that the free options that would be available to him after his upgrade would include the War Cry skill.
Last time, he was forced to choose Mana Drain in order to last longer during battles, which had been a great boon. Now that another upgrade was on the way, Lux wanted to choose the skill War Cry so that his subordinates would have increased bonus damage that would make their attacks stronger.
'Okay. Let's do this!' Lux held the Beast Core with both of his hands and willed his thoughts to consume it.
—--
< Ding! >
< Do you wish to consume the Rank 3 Beast Core? >
< Yes / No >
—--
Lux naturally chose yes and picked the Upgrade Stat Points option.
—--
Obtained 15 Free Stats Points
Obtained 15 Body Constitution Points
You have acquired the Fury Slash
—--
The corner of Lux's lips twitched when he saw that the skill that he acquired was the skill that he didn't want to learn!
The Half-Elf was about to curse out loud when a series of notifications appeared in his Soul Book.
—--
< Skill Evolution [EX] detected that the skill Slash was on its way to evolving into Fury Slash. >
< Forcefully upgrading Slash to Fury Slash. >
< Upgrade Successful! >
< Skill Evolution [EX] has detected that the skill Fury Slash can be upgraded one more time. >
< New Skill Unlocked! >
< Double Fury Slash >
Active Skill: Requires 10 Mana to use
– Slash the enemy twice forming an X dealing Heavy Physical Damage with a very high chance of dealing critical damage.
– Deals +100 Damage with high chance of dealing critical damage.
– If your target has less than half of its health remaining, it deals an additional +100 damage to your attack with a high chance of dealing critical damage.
– Requirements to upgrade: Use Fury Slash 10x
Progress: (0/10)
– You can use Fury Slash and Double Fury Slash anytime once the requirement has been met.
—---
Lux blinked at the information in front of him before his initial annoyance turned into happiness.
"Not bad!" Lux grinned after seeing the new skill that was added in his collection.
The Half-Elf then used three more Rank 1 Beast Cores and successfully upgraded his Body Constitution to the next level.
—--
< Ding! >
< Congratulations! Your Body Constitution has been upgraded! >
< Choose one from among these three options as your bonus reward! >
(Option 1) – +50 permanent points to Vitality
(Options 2) – Warcry: +30 Physical and Magical Damage to you and your allies
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: 10 minutes
(Options 3) – Item Transmutation
– Transfer a skill from one item to another. Once the skill has been successfully transferred, the item will be immediately destroyed.
—--
As expected, the skill War Cry was available after Lux had upgraded his Body Constitution. However, a new skill had caught his interest and it was none other than Item Transmutation.
After using the Elysium Compendium, Lux found out that the skill "Item Transmutation" was a Pseudo-Mythical Tier Skill that could only be learned by Grandmaster Alchemists, Grandmaster Blacksmiths, Grand Master Jewelers, and other Grandmaster Artisans that specialized in creating items.
In a nutshell, if Lux were to sacrifice Tranquility and transfer its ability to summon a Forest Wolf to Oathbreaker, the Unique Sword would gain a "bonus skill".
But, it wouldn't end there. If Lux could acquire other items with special abilities then he could transfer all of them to his equipment, making them more powerful.
"... Damn! Why must you make things difficult for me?!" Lux was both happy and frustrated at the third choice that appeared after he had upgraded his Body Constitution.
His initial choice was to get War Cry. But now that the skill Item Transmutation has appeared, he was having a hard time deciding between the two.
Right now, Lux was in a dilemma. Just like last time, he wasn't sure if the skill Item Transmutation would still be there after he upgraded his Body Constitution again.
For him, a Pseudo-Mythical Skill like Item Transmutation would allow him to have Overpowered Equipment if he played his cards right.
Lux could see the skill's potential. He even thought of buying cheap equipment with special skills so he could attach them to his own equipment.
Simply put, this was a money burning skill with great payoff.