584 Spell Upgrade (2/2)

Qin Ruo was absolutely certain that this was a result of the 'Pierce' technique. Not only was the new spell more powerful than the Compressed Frost Bullet, even its range had been extended. The Laceration effect had been enhanced slightly, as well.

No matter how you looked at it, a long day of hard work down in the Underworld had turned out to be time well spent!

However, although the Tier 4 Frostburst Blade meant a slight improvement in his offensive capabilities, it hadn't been Qin Ruo's true goal.

Majestic Hero's 'Black Hole', Savior's mysterious 'Light: Devour', these were all spells which produced effects of epic scale. This Tier 4 Frostburst Blade wouldn't be enough to allow Qin Ruo to match them.

Of course, being able to upgrade his Compressed Frost Bullet after just half a day's labor was encouraging, too.

Qin Ruo took a deep breath, but his thoughts only scattered further away.

The way that Xiaoxiao had invented the Compressed Frost Bullet, she'd combined the 'Form', 'Freeze', and 'Burst' techniques, squeezed it all together, and in so doing had accidentally stumbled upon one of the most powerful Tier 3 attack spells possible.

Now, with the addition of 'Pierce'—another mid-tier Elementalism technique—another phenomenal Tier 4 attack spell had been found.

Since it was possible to upgrade spells, could this Tier 4 custom-made spell be evolved any further? Perhaps to Tier 5?

Qin Ruo's heart leapt. Another deep-blue Aquaball floated up over his hand, water churning furiously once again!

The azure blade was formed again, and as its surface was smoothed out and sharpened, Qin Ruo tried something new:

”Shift!”

This was a high-level Aquamancy technique which altered the very structure of the elemental water, distributing everything more evenly while packing it together more densely, thus heightening the potency of the spell!

However, this technique was the most time-consuming. Manipulating microscopic particles too fine to see with the naked eye, Qin Ruo had to rely upon his Elemental Perception to direct the process. As the molecular rearrangement went on, the azure blade began to hum loudly.

Now the blade was quivering dangerously. It looked like he was going to lose control of another spell!

***

There was another loud splash of water!

Not far away, Fateless once again had to turn aside.

***

”Where did I go wrong?” Ignoring Fateless's futile attempt to hide his amusement, Qin Ruo stood in place and replayed the whole thing in his mind, muttering to himself.

The way he saw it, the only applicable Tier 5 technique was 'Shift'. The other two, 'Swell' and 'Sense', couldn't be of any use with the Frostburst Blade.

And yet, Qin Ruo had clearly felt something, just now. When he'd compressed the water blade, and then subjected it to elemental rearrangement, it had been enormously difficult. The water itself had been resisting his efforts, moving about wildly and paying no heed to his will.

And then, when he'd tried to apply a little more force, the whole thing had burst apart!

”Let's try that again.”

Qin Ruo was not one to despair. This could be seen from the way he'd spent the whole day standing in one spot, practicing his skills ceaselessly.

It was one failure after another.

With Fateless, Xin Yu, Pretty Woman, and the others as his awestruck audience, Qin Ruo drenched himself repeatedly over countless failed attempts, and was drawing ever more attention from onlookers.

The so-called Winter Demon, making a fool of himself so many rounds at a go… it was a rare wonder.

”Haha, what in the world are you up to?” Fateless couldn't help himself any longer. Truth be told, the two parties farming XP in the area were already in quite a state from watching Qin Ruo's curious antics.

”Upgrading spells.” Qin Ruo nonchalantly belted out a term which thus far only he would understand, stunning Fateless and leaving him flabbergasted.

”What's that?” he finally asked.

It was easy to understand his bewilderment, considering few Elementalists would even be able to recognize this term, to say nothing of a Bandit like him.

Since he hadn't been able to find any success for a while now, Qin Ruo paused to explain everything that had happened to Fateless.

”Custom-made spells can be upgraded?” This was the first he'd ever heard of it.

It was quite possibly the first time such a thing had ever been encountered in the game. There weren't a lot of custom-made spells in the game to begin with, and typically you'd be pleased just to have discovered one—who would think to keep experimenting further with it?

As for what Qin Ruo had done, it was basically unthinkable: To have upgraded the spell from Tiers 3 to 4, but to still not be satisfied; to continue searching for some way to bring it up to Tier 5, as though anything was possible as long as he wished for it.

”Isn't that good enough already? That was a one-in-a-million fluke. How could you hope to get one after another, just like that?” Fateless admonished.

”No way. I'm gonna figure it out by today, no matter what. Don't mind me.”

Rolling his eyes, Fateless turned away in exasperation, and returned his attention to Xin Yu, leaving Qin Ruo to his personal struggles. Having just raised a Tier 3 spell up to Tier 4, he was immediately trying to upgrade it again to Tier 5…

… Stubborn fool.