Healing System
Chapter 64: Skill Merge

Remember, while you can combine skills of the same rarities, you can't combine offensive and defensive skills together, it would make a jumbled up mess.

'I understand' Michael nodded to himself and began combining.

The first skills he wanted to combine were Shield of Nourishment and Shield of Light as he believed his defenses were currently a bit lacking.

[Skills merged, generating new skill]

Aegis of Light [Intermediate] [Active]

# Create a protective barrier around yourself or others, absorbing 40% HP damage until broken. Alternate to healing mode to heal 30% of total HP. Able to cast an outer shield which can be used to parry attacks.

*Shielding Mode Cost: 5% MP

*Healing Mode Cost: 3% MP

*Outer Shield Mode: 1% MP, Refunded if parried or blocked successfully

'No ding? But still.. what a good skill..' Michael was in awe at the options of the skill, it really did combine both of his skills and upgrade them greatly while also keeping most of the options intact.

However, the longer he looked at the skill, a sudden question arose 'Say.. the 40% absorption, is it their HP?'

No, the Shield absorbs damage equal to 40% of your total HP which is many times higher than normal, basically, if you were to cast a Shield on anyone under level 200, they would receive a very high HP shield that wouldn't break even if you hit it a few times.

'Huh? Just how high is my HP?' He wondered, was 40% of his total HP really that much compared to others?

Remember the 1:5, 1:6 scaling to your HP and MP? It is still happening but it's not exactly written in your status, just like before, it will increase the stronger you get, specifically, every single time you increase in Tier.

'Well, shit.. I guess my skills are a little better than I had thought' Michael chuckled and was prepared to combine Purify and his new skill, but noticed he couldn't.

It required 3 skills instead of the usual 2, he still could not combine passive skills with active skills, so he had to hold off on this for now.

There was also the Veil of Detection skill which was in another category of its own, so he couldn't combine it with anything either.

'Hey, the skill I used to kill those inmates, why isn't it up here?' Michael wondered as he kept scrolling around his status interface, not seeing anything new pop up.

He remembered the system saying that one must comprehend how to use an ability first before it turns into a skill.

And that was exactly what he did earlier, he condensed the mana into a small sword, reducing its detectability but greatly increasing penetrative power.

Hm.. You are right, give me a moment to check it out.

After a few minutes of complete silence, a familiar sound resounded in his ears, one he was supposed to hear earlier but didn't.

-Ding

[New Skill Generated]

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Piercing Light [Intermediate] [Active]

A miniature sword that condenses and masks its mana. Has high defense penetration with considerable killing power.

*Cost: 5% MP

A smile appeared on his face for just a moment before his gaze landed on the rank of the skill.

'I can't combine it..' Michael attempted to drag the skills in there and it did not work.

He also tried combining with the other intermediate skills he obtained, however, it was also to no avail.

'Well fuck.. at least the skill appeared' He sighed and got comfortable on the bed, though no matter how much he rolled around, he couldn't fall asleep.

'Hey, why is my spear ability not recognized as a skill?' Michael absentmindedly asked the system.

They are the same as your Swords of Light, meaning they don't count as an individual skill.

'I see, then can you tell me a bit about my stats? Some of them increased after the battle.'

You overexerted your mana as well as dodged most of their attacks, even if your arm got cut off at the end, you still pushed yourself to the limits.

Michael's expression turned into a frown, it was good that it managed to heal before they entered the city, but losing an arm did not feel comfortable in the slightest.

'So the best way to increase your stats is to just fight stronger opponents?'

Pretty much.

'Pretty straightforward eh.. say, can you tell me what kind of system abilities you unlocked by sacrificing my hard earned skills?'

I will once you go back to the city, this place is not really the best for that.

'Stingy as always' Michael grumbled and stood up, going out of his room and leaving the hotel, contrary to his earlier battle, he was not sleepy at all.

Yet it was already night time and he had nothing else to do except walk around aimlessly.

Despite it being nighttime, people were still actively running around with smiles on their faces.

It looked peaceful.. just like the city in his trials did.

He felt a bit paranoid, the previous Michael's memories were pretty emotional as he had some attachments with the people of that city.

However, he would not succumb to these memories, even if they were technically his, he only viewed them from a third person point of view.

The same went with that Fallen who had slaughtered his entire city.

While he did feel the emotion of rage and regret from the Fallen, it was not to a point where it would influence him, maybe that's just because of the low synchronization, Michael did not know.

'I should have just tried falling asleep..' He sighed and continued walking around, trying to tire himself out.

But that seemed to not work as he eventually ended up in front of the Association's building which was still open.

Going inside, Michael noticed that it was pretty lively, when they had first got here it was pretty empty but now it felt like a true Adventurer's Guild.

However, the moment his thoughts finished, he suddenly halted, a frown appearing on his face.

'System? What the fuck was that?'

What do you mean?

'You know exactly what I mean, why are his emotions bleeding into mine?' He asked and turned around from the people, hiding his frustrated look.

Don't worry about it, the memories are just slowly being assimilated within you, the Association brought back memories, hence why the assimilation quickened.

'So what? When it finally assimilates, what happens?'

Nothing bad if that's what you are worried about, you will simply remember their memories, their battle styles and all other stuff that only benefits you.

Just as Michael prepared to ask another question, the system interrupted him.

No, you will remain who you are, you will not lose sight of who you are either.

Michael was silent, finally removing the frown from his face, albeit his worries did not disappear, after all, he remembered what happened at the end of both of those memories.

And that was, the number of people that came before him, The coward was 812th and the Fallen was 6411th.

That raises the question, will he remember all those thousands of memories? It seemed like it could negatively impact him.

You will remember eventually, once your synchronization completes, however, until then, worry about yourself first, the past stays in the past, it won't bite you or hurt you, the same goes for the memories, once you get stronger, I will be able to filter the bad ones out.

'I see.. Thanks for the reassurance I guess' Michael thanked the system while still harboring some doubt.

He walked up to the hologram and began scrolling through all the requests, before his eyes finally landed on one in particular, making a small smile appear on his face.

'Ooh.. a replace the cat request for 6 dollars, this one might be a bit special.'