[Try synthesizing this skill with another one, it may yield formidable results.]
Alex didn’t hesitate, as he already had [Oblivion Strike], [Bloody Slash] was pretty much just an extra skill that wasn’t necessary.
And his talent clearly stated this:
[Talent Effect #4: Synthesis; Combine items, skills, or abilities to create something stronger]
It wasn’t only items, skills and abilities like [Soul Attacks], [Arts] and even [Laws] could be synthesized! Your journey continues at
The two other concepts would only appear later in the game, though, so it wasn’t necessary to think about them.
With an eager focus, Alex began to process, clicking on [Bloody Slash].
[Bloody Slash (Skill) + ??? = ???]
He first selected Fire Meteor, just to test if the combination could work.
But a red warning panel immediately flashed.
[These two skills cannot be merged, try something else.]
His next choice was Oblivion Strike, and this time, there was no rejection.
[Bloody Slash (Skill) + Oblivion Strike (Skill) = ??? (Legendary Skill)]
[Note that as “Oblivion Strike” is already at Max-Tier, the synthesized skill will also be of the same level.]
“Makes sense,” though Alex considered the possibility of it being reset to [Basic] since it would be a new skill.
“Confirm,” he agreed to the synthesis.
And after a few seconds, the two skills merged.
Ding!
[You have acquired the skill “Bleeding Strike”]
[Bleeding Strike; A powerful dagger strike that deals 150,000 damage to the target + 100% of strength; has a 5% chance to cause bleed.]
“Wow.” He couldn’t help but be impressed.
Not only had the damage increase by 50,000, but there was now an additional effect, making it totally worth it.
Meanwhile, Alice was also engrossed in her panels, her face lighting up as she took in her new stats.
She was now level 86, and with her new [Blood Arrows], which could deal damage on par with Alex’s, she was becoming much more powerful than before.
Even Alex had been surprised by her different initiatives during the battle.
“Nice job,” he shouted to his undead army, and they all nodded, their eyes and faces hollow, but seemingly happy and cheering up.
Alex could swear he even saw two of them bump fists.
Finally, Alex took in the sight of the clearing battlefield, satisfied with how it had all played out.
[Ding! You have completed the SSS-Level Hidden Quest “Blood Moon Secret Boss Slayer”]
[Ding! Your reputation with Aiden has been maxed out, he may be able to help you out in the future.]
[10 Gold Coins have been transferred to your account!]
[+Skill Upgrade Orb (Divine): Evolve any of your skills once.]
He received the rewards of his hard work, feeling satisfied.
But instead of using the [Skill Upgrade Orb] for himself, he decided to hand it over to Alice.
He already had [Skill Evolution], and he wasn’t selfish enough to stop Alice from getting stronger when she was already doing this good.
“Here, take this,” he said, handing her the orb.
“Huh, what’s this…!?” she glanced at it, but upon looking up the name and description of that item, she couldn’t help but feel flustered, “A-Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s your reward for working hard,” Alex smiled, “Use it now, it would be better, except if you maybe want another sort of reward?”
“T-Thank you,” Alice beamed, kissing Alex on the cheek, the prospect of the other “reward” now on her mind.
She didn’t waste any time, immediately accessing her panels to select a skill.
[Arrow Type: Star Arrows (∞), Ice Arrows (∞), Blood Arrows (12)]
[Skills: Celestial Shot (Advanced), Shield of Night (Advanced), Super Agility (Advanced), Ice Torrent (Unique Skill), Blood Arrows Creation (Unique Skill)]
She didn’t have that many skills to begin with, which was expected, as Alex was actually a weird case.
Normally, players learned skills through teachers or mentors or from skill books hidden throughout Universal Descent, especially in secret areas/realm or from hidden quests.
But at this point in the game, both options were hard to come by, even Alex would struggle to find a [Skill Book].
And as for a [Teacher], he had the [Mage Tower Token] to meet up with Arceus, who was supposedly a [Grand Mage], but no real way to know where the tower was to begin with.
Alice crushed the [Skill Upgrade Orb] and used it on [Celestial Shot], which evolved to [Sparkling Star Shot] (High-Tier), each one of her arrows able to deal 50,000 damage now.
Watching her excitement made Alex feel proud. Seeing her strength grow felt just as rewarding as leveling up himself.
Hopefully, this happiness could last…
Because with everything that was coming up next, it would be hard.
Turning his head back, Alex’s expression grew serious again as he glanced at the [Fountain of Blood].
Anyone who saw it from there would probably think that it was just used to summon the [Blood Beasts] and [Blood Wolves] for the Wraith.
But not at all.
And even his [Cursed Eyes of the King] informed him of that.
Ding!
[Bathing in the “Fountain of Blood” may not do anything, but certain items can be used inside.]
[Hint: You got that item from the shop.]
It was quite literally giving him a tutorial of something Alex already knew, but to be honest, the confirmation did bring him some relief.
He advanced forward, glancing down at the red liquid in the fountain.
Its dark red surface rippled under the moonlight, casting an eerie reflection of his own face.
He took a steadying breath before climbing onto the edge.
“A-Alex?!” Alice, who didn’t know what the man was doing, was shocked, “Are you insane?”
No sane person would jump into a pool of blood as ominous as this one.
But after everything he’d been through, sanity was the least of his concerns.
With a final glance back at Alice, he took the plunge, diving into the Fountain of Blood and letting the dark liquid envelop him completely.
Contrary to how shallow it looked, the fountain seemed bottomless, an endless abyss.
The blood rose past his knees, then his waist, until he was entirely submerged.
You couldn’t even the see the bottom of the abyss under your feet!
But Alex wasn’t here to observe, holding his breath he summoned the [Blood Arts Scroll], its paper instantly soaking in blood.
But that was a good thing, because instead of just tearing apart, the scroll began trembling, emitting a dark aura.
[Conditions have been met.]
Alex smirked; he’d triggered it.
In Universal Descent, Arts represented mastery over specific powers.
There were dozens if not hundreds of them: [Sword Arts], [Light Arts], [Abyss Arts] and many more.
And to make it even better, every single [Art] is unique, meaning much like SS and SSS-Level talents, no one but their respective owner could get them.
They could only be triggered under specific and rare conditions.
For the [Blood Art], the requirements were specific: the user had to conquer this secret realm and bathe in the Fountain of Blood, proving themselves worthy.
[Do you want to use the “Blood Arts Scroll”?]
[Yes] [No]
Alex didn’t hesitate in clicking yes.
[Be quick, as emerging his body from the fountain of blood will break the link and destroy the scroll.]
“Shit,” the process could take up to a minute depending on the [Art].
Meaning that Alex is going to have to try hard and resist, otherwise all of this would have been for nothing.