Chapter 224: Comprehensive Enhancement, Surging Combat Power
Chapter 224: Comprehensive Enhancement, Surging Combat Power
At this moment, Sterl let out a hearty laugh and embraced Sonis and Sosia.
"Master… you're too eager," Sosia said with a playful pout.
"Ouch, you're a bit rough…" Sonis added, though her eyes glinted with mischief.
Without needing further encouragement, the two women leaned in closer. Despite their feigned resistance, their actions were fervent, their gazes seductively melting into his.
Sosia lowered her head and took Sterl's member into her mouth, while Sonis entwined herself around him, kissing him passionately.
Sterl, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, enjoying the moment. He opened his attribute panel and inventory, admiring the results of his recent upgrades.
Thanks to ample time for upgrades, all of his equipment had been enhanced.
The overall attribute boost of his Spirit Armor had increased from 10% to 15%.
The "Reserve Power" passive ability of Dragon Blood Black-Yellow, which originally increased final damage by 1% for every 10% of health lost, was now enhanced to 1.5% final damage increase.
The skill damage associated with Frost Perception had also received a boost.
The enhanced Heart of Sacrifice now reduced the health cost for activating its skill to 3%.
Mountain Guardian provided an additional 10 points to all attributes.
The ultimate skill, [Gate of Hell], had finally been maxed out. Its final effect allowed Sterl to open a portal to Hell on the 13th of each month. This time, it wasn't a random teleportation; the portal's destination would correspond to the Crystal Barrier Galaxy and its specific connection with Hell's layers.
Of course, how this connection was calculated remained a mystery to Sterl, so it essentially still meant entering a random location in Hell.
The only advantage was that before entering the Gate of Hell, Sterl could see which layer he would enter, and he would have a month to return to the main world through the gate.
Additionally, the time flow in Hell didn't necessarily match that of the main world. A month in Hell could translate to just a few weeks or days, or conversely, to several months or years in the main world.
"I'd better gather some intel on Hell before rushing in blindly," Sterl thought. It seemed wise not to use the Gate of Hell recklessly.
According to human records, some of the more powerful layers of Hell were teeming with legendary demons and demigods, with divine-level demons waging continuous wars. Sterl's chances of survival in such a place were slim.
"I'll check the layer each month and look for relevant information in the Hall of Valor. If the danger isn't too high, I can explore a bit."
The reason Sterl was so keen on venturing into Hell was clear—
As a realm starkly different from the main world, it thrived on chaos and slaughter. It also harbored countless rare materials, unique skills, and excellent equipment that could never be found in the main world.
In the main world, skills that theoretically could only be improved through arduous practice could be instantly catalyzed by a god-level demon in Hell, using something like blood force. This shows that, despite its dangers, Hell is a treasure trove of opportunities.
Similarly, many resources found in the main world are unattainable for the denizens of Hell, which is why legends of demonic invasions are prevalent. These aren't just legends, though; the Blood Cult serves as a beachhead for demons attempting to enter the main world.
After pondering for a moment, Sterl reviewed the other skills he had evolved through added points.
The skill[Devour]had been enhanced seven times for his Star Radiance Dragon, and with an additional forced enhancement, it had transformed into[Consume].
Although the skill name was just a single character, it evoked a profound sense of excitement in Sterl, akin to the primal fear one feels when encountering an enraged lion. It was the human instinct of fearing a top predator.
However, his initial anxiety was quickly overshadowed by the skill's effects.
[Consume]
[Category: Special Skill]
[Description: A special skill acquired by player [Sterl] due to unknown reasons… [Data Error]]
[Effect: The body composed of special energy that devours everything has extraordinary effects. When attacked, you will automatically expend energy and stamina to form—
[Divine Protection (generates universal-type armor, all attack damage must first deplete Divine Protection before affecting the user, including but not limited to continuous poison damage, environmental damage, etc.)]
If an opponent's attack cannot break through Divine Protection, the damage will convert into your maximum health, energy, and stamina, permanently increasing these values.
However, due to the influence of the devouring energy, if Divine Protection is broken, all damage received will reduce your maximum health, energy, and stamina.
In melee combat, every second, any player or unit you touch will lose health, energy, and stamina, which will convert into increases in your own maximum health, energy, and stamina.
Upon killing any unit, you can gain 40% of their maximum health, energy, and stamina, 25% of their overall attributes, and randomly acquire 1-2 of their abilities (including but not limited to skills, Law Power, Legendary Abilities, Divine Power, divine authority).
Due to insufficient physical conditions (currently being a player of the Earth Human race), the skill's effects are diminished. When attacked, you will still generate Divine Protection, but its defensive efficiency is reduced by 50%.
When you kill an enemy target, you restore health, energy, and stamina.
You can only increase your maximum health, energy, and stamina by killing strong enemies (level 100 and above), and the increase rate is extremely low.
There is a small chance to plunder the legendary abilities Law Power, Divine Power, or divine authority from dead enemies.]
"Good! Good! Good!" Sterl couldn't help but smile as he looked at this skill. He felt like he had hit the jackpot.
Though the skill noted that due to his insufficient physical conditions, its effects were significantly weakened—
Sterl felt a bit disappointed but not entirely. After all, the skill Infinite Evolution had already mentioned that some skills limited by body form would not be able to display their full power even if acquired.
In fact, the skill [Devour] could not be absorbed initially and was forcibly obtained through the Fate Token.
Therefore, Sterl was mentally prepared for not fully utilizing the evolved skill [Consume].
Moreover, it wasn't entirely unusable!
Regarding Divine Protection, even with a 50% reduction, it still proved to be a decent life-saving skill.
Sterl tested his own Ignition Flame, and it took a full 1.5 seconds to burn through the Divine Protection.
Keep in mind that this was a golden skill with all of Sterl's attribute boosts maxed out and an SSS talent boost!
This meant that the ultimate moves of ordinary second-class and third-class players could be blocked by Divine Protection for at least half their output!
Absolutely ridiculous!
Then, there was the aspect of killing enemies to restore health and mana. Sterl tested it and found that during group battles or monster farming, this skill allowed him to go without any consumables.
Against stronger enemies, as long as it wasn't a one-on-one situation, it could save Sterl a significant amount of mana recovery items.
As for killing strong enemies and permanently increasing his maximum health, energy, and stamina—
Since Sterl had left the Hall of Valor to "visit home," the enemies he encountered on the way were relatively weak.
So he hadn't had the chance to test this yet.
However, he estimated that the efficiency of this increase was likely not very high. For other players, it might take decades to slowly improve their level, with the accumulated value being substantial.
For Sterl, though, it seemed rather trivial.
Fortunately, for Sterl, the greatest boon of the skill [Consume] was its final special effect:
"You have a small chance to plunder the legendary abilities, Law Power, Divine Power, or divine authority from dead enemies."
This ability was absolutely outrageous!
When it first appeared through point allocation and evolution, Sterl's heart nearly stopped for a few seconds.
Plundering legendary abilities! It was crucial to understand that Sterl currently had only two extra legendary abilities. Even with point allocation, without Legendary Crystals dropping, there was nothing he could do.
Plundering Law Power! This was even more significant. Sterl had painstakingly sought to acquire just one Law Power.
After leaving the Netherworld, he had no new opportunities to obtain it.
Plundering Divine Power and divine authority???
That was simply beyond belief!
It was known that even Gloria and her group of gods could only enhance their power by hunting beings with the same divine authority.
Randomly plundering Divine Power and divine authority was considered impossible!
If such a being were to emerge, countless gods would band together to annihilate it! Because if such an entity existed, the whole of creation would become its fodder, propelling it to unparalleled heights!
And now, Sterl had become such an entity!
The vast universe was his sustenance. The only downside was the "small chance"; how small this probability was, he didn't know.
But did it matter? Sterl had the Fate Token in his possession!
As long as the probability wasn't zero, he could instantly turn that small chance into a certainty!
However, amidst his excitement, Sterl felt even more certain that the great catastrophe terrifying Gloria and the other gods likely originated from the Devourer of All Things!
The skill Sterl had acquired was just a weakened version. The full-strength Devourer of All Things would definitely extract Law Power and Divine Power upon killing gods or demigods!
This was why even an entity like the Hall of Valor, during extreme trials, hoped players would be prepared to anticipate and counter such a fearsome being.
Bad news: The Devourer of All Things descends, causing gods to fall en masse.
Good news: Sterl declared, "I'm one of them!"
"Of course, to obtain more Fate Tokens, I must keep a close eye on gods with Trade divine authority..." he calculated in his mind.