Chapter 1497 – Well Now

Just as monsters experience exponential growth as they evolve and reach higher tiers, so too do Skills become stronger and stronger as they reach higher ranks.

A tier seven Skill isn’t necessarily twice as strong as a tier six; exactly how much a particular Skill will progress in a single rank-up can vary from Skill to Skill. Mana Affinity Skills are a perfect example, sometimes only improving efficiency and ability, which is certainly welcome, but other ranks will provide new spells, which can be extremely powerful.

Passive Skills scale greatly as they increase in rank, but active Skills certainly benefit the most from the increase. Naturally, the higher in rank the Skills go, the greater the improvement. Rank nine and ten Skills are considered almost legendary, so rarely are they seen, but should they be achieved, they would doubtlessly be strong enough to shake the world.

– Excerpt from ‘On Monsters’ by Granin

Well… that certainly was a thing. The scene of the bite is absolutely devastated, a smoking blast zone with no sign of the hapless snail monster left. I knew the bite would be powerful, but I certainly didn’t expect this! Once I realised just how much stamina was drained out of me for the attack, I had a feeling it was going to be devastating, but the final result is surprising even for me.

Unempowered, the bite was still enough to quite literally blow me away. Knowing what I know now, I could better brace myself and hold my ground, but if I actually infused the ability with the Altar? Looking at the wisps of smoke rising from the crater, I’m not sure I’d even survive my own Skill.

Still, it’s nice to have it in the back of the carapace in case of an emergency. If I really need to, I can use it to ensure mutual destruction. Although… with my Altar mutation that increases my defences, I might be able to live? If I use barrier magic as well… maybe?

It’s probably not worth testing.

As fun as it is to test the Starcrusher, I still have a job to do while I’m out here, so I pick myself up and get to fighting. With so many ants around, my stamina refills at an absurd rate, so I run around chomping (without using my new Skill) and blasting monsters with fire while I ponder what to do next. It’s way too early to try using my new spell in combat, that’ll take a long time to decode, but in the meantime, I can get used to my new dash Skill. Minimising those embarrassing circumstances where I buried myself in solid rock would certainly be welcome.

Just to be safe, I push out a little farther from the safe-zone to make it a little more difficult to see what I’m doing. There’s no need to make a spectacle of myself, after all.

Once I judge I’m too far away to see, I brace my legs, face a direction with plenty of spare room, and let it rip.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

By ‘it,’ I mean Unseen Dash.

Once again a copious amount of stamina is drained away as the Skill is used, and the next moment, I’m in another place.

Holy moly! That was fast. However… that’s not all there was to the Skill. There’s something else….

Unsure as to what I just experienced, I flex my legs and try again. The use of the Skill is so fast, it really is just a blink of an eye, for a creature with eyelids. One moment I’m on the verge of dashing, and the next I’ve already dashed, as if the time between didn’t occur… and yet… there’s this strange feeling, a certainty that I’m not using the Skill right.