270 Growing the Skill Tree ? (1/2)

The moment Lucifer cemented the pact, the Book was promoted to level 5. It also meant that Zhao Yao's quest to gain the allegiance of five supercats was done and dusted. He was rewarded with a neat 2,000 experience points.

A new mission instantly took its place.

Main Mission: Gain More Cat Powers, Get More Supercats

Objective: Pledge the loyalty of six cats and upgrade the Book to level 6

Reward: 2,000 experience points

Punishment: None

Changes had also been made to everyone's experience levels:

Book: Level 5 (2,268 / 10,000)

Matcha: Level 5 (70 / 5,000)

Elizabeth: Level 5 (70 / 5,000)

Dust Ball: Level 5 (290 / 5,000)

Ares: Level 4 (140 / 2,000)

Lucifer: Level 1 (0 / 10)

It did not take many points for Lucifer to be leveled up, so Zhao Yao spent 1,100 points in one shot to upgrade him to level 4 (0 / 2,000). This left the Book to be at level 5 (1,158 / 10,000).

The different levels of his power helped Zhao Yao better understand Lucifer's regenerative ability. In its most primitive form, the body's health had to be above 25% for super-regeneration to work.

”Well, every skill is bound to have its limit,” Zhao Yao mused before studying the next branch of Lucifer's skill tree.

He picked a level 2 skill that reduced the 25% requirement to a mere 15%. For level 3, he chose to learn Pleasure of Pain, which did exactly as its somewhat gross name promised. The more pain he was dealt with, the more pleasure he would feel. The worse the damage, the faster he would heal.

He would never have to fear physical blows again.

Zhao Yao watched in anticipation as Lucifer's skill tree branches out into level 4. Based on past experience, the new abilities introduced in this level were always ultimate skills. He was eager to see what Lucifer had to offer.

The two choices did not disappoint.

The first skill was called Death Holdup. It could hasten the speed of regeneration by ten times when the body's condition dropped below 15%. The rapid healing could last three minutes and the cooldown took 24 hours.

The other option was Death Feign. Like the Holdup, it could only be activated when health levels dipped below 15%. When that happened, Zhao Yao's physical body would slip into a state of death. He would, however, remain very much alive and conscious. He could revive himself within the next 24 hours, after which the skill could only be used again another 24 hours later.

Both abilities gifted him a second life. However, one was clearly far superior to the other.

Zhao Yao picked Death Holdup without hesitation.

Death Feign was great, but it had the potential to backfire. The more cautious opponent might find it suspicious that someone so powerful was actually dead. This could invite another onslaught of attacks to make sure that Zhao Yao was well and truly dead.

That would really kill him.

Death Holdup was different. Instead of faking death, he could avoid it altogether through unparalleled healing. Lucifer's regeneration was already gloriously remarkable. Now that it was 10 times faster, even a gunshot to the chest would not be able to take him down. Coupled with Pleasure of Pain, Zhao Yao would never again be defeated by physical blows of any sort.

He could welcome them with open arms.

”This is not bad at all,” Zhao Yao chuckled to himself, ”Now that I have Death Holdup and Time Distortion, I don't just have a second life. I have a third one.”

He would never know every power that existed in the world. This was why it was more crucial to be able to protect himself than to be able to chalk up ungodly amounts of damage on the enemy.

Zhao Yao turned to Lucifer.

”So, what do you think? Do you feel yourself growing stronger?” he asked.

The cat looked down at his paws before shaking his head. ”Nope. Nothing's happening.”

”Well, your skill is regeneration. I believe you might need to experience a bit of pain and injury in order to feel the change…”

Bang!

Raksasha the American Shorthair had snuck up behind Lucifer and struck him with his claws, which were tough as steel.

Lucifer fell to the ground from the blow, but there was no wail of pain. Instead, he let out an ecstatic meow as a spasm ran through his body. His face was tinged pink.

Raksasha looked at him curiously.

”So, do you feel stronger?”

”I...I don't know,” Lucifer responded truthfully, getting onto his paws quickly.

He could feel himself getting flushed from embarrassment.

”It kinda felt like...like it didn't really hurt,” he finished awkwardly.