Chapter 731: Minefield (1/2)

Three core skills had been directly upgraded to their E-grade equivalent without any major issues, with [Forester's Constitution] mostly staying the same and [Loamwalker] being adjusted to the point that it was given a new name. The former skill was a passive buff that boosted his Endurance and Vitality, with the peak skill adding something like an inborn instinct for the forests, helping him both find opportunities and avoid dangers.

Zac had tried to put more focus on the part that improved his instincts, but it had proved too complicated. He guessed that part of the drew inspiration from the Dao of Nature, and he was currently veering away from that path toward the Dao of Life. The two were pretty closely related, but they were still paths of their own.

Still, his efforts had been enough to slightly change the description to no longer just mention 'Man and Nature' to instead incorporate all living things. It was a step in the right direction, and he hoped it would broaden how the skill could be used. Being so dependant on forests nearby to provide full benefits was a weakness he wanted to move away from somewhat.

He didn't really sense anything different from the skill itself so far, except that his attributes had gained a small boost. That wasn't because the skill provided more points, but rather that it could scale even his massive attribute pools. It now provided 15% Endurance and Vitality as it did before Zac's attributes grew too big.

Perhaps the instinct would work like that as well, providing him with a natural understanding of stronger plants and places as well. After all, Zac doubted [Forester's Constitution] could give many insights to things like D-grade plants before.

The changes to [Loamwalker] were more extensive, where he mainly focused on improving the part that represented his double-jump. Staying inside the ocean had shown how big a weakness it was to always be landlocked. Soon enough he would fight Hegemons who all could fly, so he needed to improve the skill's aerial performance.

It looked like his change was a success, but he would have to test it out after leaving in a bit.

Unfortunately, problems cropped up when he had attempted to evolve [Cosmic Gaze]. Its fractal wasn’t too complicated on the surface, but it did contain a few unique patterns that weren’t present in his class skills. This had created some hidden connections and unexpected dependencies that made the skill far more complicated to upgrade than Zac had expected.

He was forced to perform one patchwork after another as the skill fractal started to become unstable, and the result was [Piercing Gaze], which Zac estimated was a high-quality sibling to [Cosmic Gaze]. It was a sobering wake-up call that there was still a lot that he didn’t know when it came to patterns, and it was also a good reminder that skills from outside sources ultimately weren’t as in tune with his understanding as his class skills or skills he would create himself in the future.

Upgrading them would require greater preparation, and some might be doomed to fail because of lacking compatibility.

Zac wasn’t all-too-beat up over the loss though. A high-quality E-grade investigative skill was still pretty much equivalent to his old skill at peak mastery. Besides, he still had the original skill in his Draugr form. He would prepare some more before upgrading the skill on his undead side, and hopefully, it would retain its full strength that time. As long as he succeeded, he would reform [Piercing Gaze] and restore it to its former glory on his human form as well.

Making some mistakes was ultimately normal, and something that happened to most people when upgrading their skills. Keeping them at the F-grade, waiting for perfection was a fool’s errand, as it would delay his own progression. He was already halfway to late E-grade and he still hadn’t completed the step that most finished before even reaching middle E-grade.

Adjusting skill fractals after the initial process was a chore from what he'd gathered, but it was possible. They were like brittle glass, and every change had to be slowly and carefully performed, and fixing one was a slow process that would take a couple of years. Still, it was simply something he could add to his daily cultivation routine, taking a few minutes every day to slowly work on those that needed to be fixed.

The downside was that it was a bit risky to use the skills while doing those kinds of upgrades, so he wouldn't be able to do so inside the Mystic Realm.

So some mistakes were expected, but he still left [Hatchetman’s Spirit] alone as he swapped to his Draugr form. That skill was simply too complex, and he wasn’t confident in changing it without System-assistance. Repairing mistakes was fine and all, but that was only true up to a point. If he messed up to the point that the skill became unrecognizable, then there was only so much he could do.

This time he meditated a full day before finally activating the array, and the skill fractal of [Fields of Despair] entered the array. The peak quality skills were more intricate compared to the high-quality skills of his old Hatchetman class, but this particular domain skill was one of the three basic skills he gained at level 25. Its effect was great, but the patterns were nowhere near at the complexity of [Profane Seal].

Besides, some of the structures in the skill fractal were surprisingly reminiscent of [Hatchetman’s Rage] and [Forester’s Constitution]. It was a marvel in a sense. Two opposing concepts with opposite effects, one buffing and one cursing, had such a similar appearance.

Soon enough the process was complete, and a new skill fractal entered his body.

[E] Fields of Despair - Proficiency: Early. A desolate haze, both entrapping and illuminating. Upgradeable.

The upgrade was a success, and Zac had only made some small adjustments. He had given up some of the skill's ability to provide Miasma to other undead warriors, and in turn, expand the omniscience the skill provided from Peak Mastery. Ideally, he would have done away with those parts meant for warfare entirely, but they were an integral part of the fractal.

Cutting them out completely would have caused too big an imbalance, to the point that Zac had no way to upgrade the skill at all. He would have to gently steer the skill in the direction he desired with each upgrade instead, and by the time he became a Monarch, it might be completely in tune with his Path.

Just like with [Hatchetman's Spirit], Zac still didn't dare to touch [Vanguard of Undeath] and [Profane Seal]. There was still reason to celebrate though after this latest boost in power. Just over half a year had passed now since Zac entered the trial, and the improvements he had made were shocking.

His raw attributes had increased by almost 80% since he left for the Havenfort Chasm, and his effective combat strength had increased even further. If he fought that Half-Step Blacksmith Golem today, he would be able to take it out without using any berserking items at all, and the same was probably true for Adcarkas.

Then again, Zac knew that as he got stronger, so would his adversaries.

There was no time to lose, so Zac finally set off again, heading for the stream indicated on the map. He still traveled in his human form, and he finally found a chance to try out [Earthstrider]. He swam between the mangroves, but a patch of grass suddenly appeared around his feet and he disappeared the next moment.

Zac appeared again a few hundred meters away, but he only stayed for a fraction of a second before he disappeared again, this time a few flowers appearing around his feet. He kept going, but suddenly he felt a sense of hollowness in the skill, and he landed on the seabed. The skill was quickly 'recharged' by some unseen force, and he felt he could flash away again any time he wanted.