Abyss Draconis

"Wow, this is more serious than I thought..." Ryuk thought to himself, his heartbeat unconsciously increasing by a few beats.

[Yes, Host. It is a serious issue.]

[A normal cultivator only has so many skills—at most, seven.]

[To increase this, they need tools: Armors, weapons, artifacts, and other similar objects that allow them to activate preinstalled skills within them.]

The realization dawned on Ryuk.

When he had fought Zar'kul, the Knull Calamity, the creature wielded a staff that activated his abilities. Being able to unleash so many techniques likely had something to do with the artifact.

The same could be said for High Scholar Emeris, who had both a brush and a grimoire to summon various abilities.

Even the Ruin Guardian possessed a staff for his techniques, and Antares, too, had an axe along with gauntlets.

Only now was it occurring to him—he was the only one who never needed a weapon or an artifact and still faced each of them head-on with no problem.

[But the Host has 24 skill slots, which is already beyond what would be normally possible for a cultivator, even with multiple artifacts.]

[The Host must maintain this limit and not surpass it, or the consequences listed earlier will begin to occur.]

The system ended its warning, and he nodded internally.

"Fine, I'll create some space."

"But eventually, I'll get more skills once I fuse with new body parts. It'll surpass the limits no matter how many skills I try to combine now..." Ryuk mused worriedly.

But then, the system interrupted.

[There is a high probability that acquiring new body parts will lead to an increase in skill slots. The host should not worry about that for now.]

He exhaled, relaxing slightly, before focusing once again on his Skill Tabs.

"Let's fuse some skills then. But wait—you mentioned something about a..."

The panel shifted back up.

_____

"Yes, a Class Evolution? What's that?" he asked.

_____

[A Class Evolution is an upgrade protocol that can be used on a particular skill category.]

[Let's take your elemental skill as an example. If you possess a Class Evolution, you can use it, and it will absorb all your Ice Skills to produce one skill that encompasses or surpasses the combined strength of those skills.]

[Like a Class Level-Up—but you don't have one.]

As the lights dimmed slightly in his eyes, Ryuk muttered:

"I'll make do with what I have for now..."

[Host must also realize that not all skills can be fused. Only 5 can be fused right now.]

"Oh? Show me the ones I can fuse then."

[Fusion-Eligible Skills:

Tyrant Form — Frostborne Calamity Dragon

Void Vortex

Draconic Overdrive!

Draconic GraveMarch

Sovereign Rewriting

[Ability Upgrade Cards: 101]

[Special Evolution Cards: 2]

"Just 2 Special Evolution Cards. I can release two more spaces at least. Then, I'll combine some skills."

"The first skills I want combined are the two draconic transformation skills I have."

[You mean Draconic Overdrive and Frostborne Calamity Dragon?]

"Yes. Both of them are two of the strongest draconic skills in my arsenal. If I conjoin them, I should get something even more powerful."

[Host's choice has been recognized. What is the other skill Host wishes to conjoin?]

"None of the remaining fusible skills will give me anything good..." Ryuk muttered to himself, looking at the list.

The skills just didn't synergize well, and he felt they were better off remaining separate. In the end, he made his choice.

'That's the only skill I'll fuse for now. I'll bide my time and try to get my other parts quickly so I can unlock more skills. For now, I'll leave just one space open.'

The system notification reappeared.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – SPECIAL SKILL FUSION IN PROGRESS]

[Skill Evolution Card Detected]

— Initiating fusion sequence...

Skills selected:

Tyrant Form — Frostborne Calamity Dragon

Draconic Overdrive!

This is a high-risk, high-potential fusion between two Forbidden-Tier Draconic Transformations.

Warning: Time Required — 5 Hours (System Cooling Period Enforced)

Fusion Compatibility: 97.9%

Fusion Rank: [Apocrypha Class Skill Fusion — Beyonder Pathway Unlocked]

Fusion Logic Recognized:

"Merge the colossal elemental destruction of the Tyrant Frost Dragon with the raw ancestral overload of the Jade Dragon's Overdrive."

Stabilizing...

Splicing skill DNA...

Weaving bloodline affinity threads...

Estimated Completion: 4 hours, 59 minutes...]

"Seems like I'll have to wait a couple of hours. Fine by me."

"Now, let's get to the other skill panel," Ryuk ordered, watching the countdown fade off, replaced by:

[<<Old Skills>>] [<<New Skills>>]

His attention was magnified onto the New Skills Tab, and it quickly shifted, a new set of text appearing before him.

[Host has awakened a total of two new Draconic skills from obtaining his Skeletal System, along with two new Knullic ones.]

[<<Draconis Skills>>]

[Skill Name: Skyvein Lattice

Type: Draconic Perception Trait

Level: 1

Description:

Life reveals its threads to you.

Sense all living things in a 300-meter radius as glowing veins of motion and essence.

May link to one entity per day for emotional or predictive sync.

Unnatural or false life glows erratically or frays at the edge.

Verdict: "Truth bleeds through the veins of life."]

[Skill Name: Pale Womb of Embers

Type: Draconic Cocoon Skill

Level: 1

Description:

Once per day, enter a 10-second stasis cocoon.

You become untouchable during this time.

Upon exit, your next skill or strike deals +25% damage and bypasses cooldown.]

Verdict: "From stillness... the world ends faster."

"These..." Ryuk muttered to himself as he reread the skill descriptions three times, yet still found them difficult to fully comprehend.

"Hey, System. Can you help by further breaking down this skillset and stating exactly what they mean in terms more...comprehensible to me, please?"

[It seems like the Host's lacking intelligence stat is starting to become an issue.]

The light in his eyes dimmed right after.

[But the system will further explain both skills... just this once.]

The system responded, as Ryuk rolled his eyes, watching as the skills appeared again in a separate, simplified panel.

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A/N:

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