NOVGO.NET Chapter 172: First Merge
Chapter 172: First Merge
[The Epic Skills <Elemental Body> and <Five Element Affinity> are branches of a pathway. Once a skill is used, the other cannot be used at the same time.]
[Merging Opportunity Detected. The skills from the same pathway have the opportunity to be merged. Upon merging, the resulting skill might favor one skill more than the other. Skills are not lost upon failing the merging opportunity.]
[Merging Success Rate: 25%]
[Cost: 200 Lives]
[Merge?]
Staring at the unexpected notifications materializing before him, Moon’s eyes glinted with excitement. He had never expected such a possibility—the system was offering him the ability to merge his two related skills precisely because they originated from the same pathway.
Upon successful merging, he would possess a single unified skill that could leverage both abilities simultaneously, which would be more powerful than being restricted to using just one skill at a time with the other sitting dormant and inaccessible.
’To merge the skills, I must pay a cost in lives?’ Moon processed the information while studying the disappointingly low twenty-five percent success rate displayed.
Skill merging wasn’t something Moon had ever heard other awakeners discuss at all, at least not within his knowledge from conversations and research. The mechanic might be unique to the Classless path, or perhaps so rare that most people never encountered the opportunity.
Thankfully, the system explicitly stated that even if he failed the merging attempt with such unfavorable odds, he wouldn’t permanently lose either skill. They’d remain intact and usable despite the failed investment.
Without hesitation or extended deliberation, Moon decided to immediately attempt merging the two complementary skills.
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
A notification flashed across his retina almost instantly. Moon wasn’t particularly surprised by the immediate failure, with only a twenty-five percent success rate, he would have been surprised by his own luck if he’d somehow succeeded on the very first attempt.
Moon tried again without pause.
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
“…”
Moon began feeling frustration rising as the failures continued flashing across his eyes. He’d already burned through a thousand precious lives with absolutely zero progress to show for the investment. The success rate remained steady and unyielding at twenty-five percent, offering no improved chances for his continuous tries.
’I refuse to believe I can’t eventually force this merger to succeed,’ Moon thought stubbornly through gritted teeth. He still had plenty of accumulated lives remaining, his total reserves had long since broken through five digits thanks to his countless hunting. He could afford to keep going.
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging Failed.]
“…”
The soul-crushing parade of failures continued relentlessly until the tenth attempt, where the message display finally changed.
[200 Lives Consumed. Merging has been successful.]
[Your skills <Elemental Body> and <Five Element Affinity> have merged to form <Advanced Elemental Body>.]
Moon’s entire body straightened with triumph despite the two thousand lives he’d just burned through the merging process.
[Advanced Elemental Body]
[Rank: Epic]
[Details: Your entire body has been tempered by the five elements—Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Lightning. You gain strong affinity with the four basic elements, and low affinity with the lightning element. +100% Elemental Control. +100% Elemental Damage. +100% Elemental Resistance to the five elements.]
Staring at the new merged skill description presented before his eyes, Moon felt deep satisfaction spreading through his chest. The result fit exactly what he’d hoped to achieve, a skill allowing him to leverage both skill sets simultaneously rather than being forced to choose between defensive tempering or offensive power.
Thankfully, the warned possibility of the merge heavily favoring one skill over the other hadn’t manifested. The resulting ability preserved both the defensive elemental resistance from Elemental Body and the offensive power amplification from Five Element Affinity in roughly equal measure.
Another detail that immediately caught Moon’s attention was the rank of the newly merged skill. It remained firmly at Epic rank rather than somehow ascending to Legendary tier through the fusion process.
This made Moon believe even more strongly that there must be specific hidden prerequisites or conditions for gaining a Legendary rank skill—he just needed to discover what those mysterious requirements actually were.
The day was still relatively young, with hours of useful daylight remaining. They’d just finished a brief rest period when Moon abruptly stood up from his seated position.
Everyone sitting down beside him moved their heads up towards him, wondering what he was planning to do.
He looked directly at his assembled team, currently composed of five Savi Clan members including Selene, and his loyal mount Mirage.
“Are you all ready?”
Yara tilted her head with obvious confusion. “Ready for what exactly?”
A grin began to spread across Moon’s face, his eyes already environing the destruction of the Heretic forces. “Ready for war.”
The Heretics had made his stay troublesome on this island, forcing him into constant defensive positioning and making him reminisce uncomfortably about the miserable early days inside the first hidden realm he’d entered. Back then he’d spent weeks constantly hiding in caves and various other concealed spots, living like hunted prey.
This hidden world had so much potential to explore, so many mysteries to uncover and resources to claim. Moon absolutely wasn’t going to waste the precious time continuing to hide defensively from the Heretic faction like some frightened rabbit. Especially when he had the power to destroy them all.
’I will deal with them first, eliminate the primary threat to my freedom of movement. Then, once they are dealt with, I will properly explore this realm and attempt to understand the specific conditions required for completing it and escaping back to the normal world.’
“War? Against whom?” Yara gulped down, a terrible thought that she didn’t like emerging in her mind.
“Who else? The heretics.” Moon responded calmly.
“What?!” Yara stood up from her position in shock, the other Savi Clan members following suit. “No, we absolutely cannot do that Moon!”