Chapter 537: Soft Moon Stone
"Cat’s Grace!"
Jade activated the skill the moment she spoke.
The Twin-Winged Water Demon Cat, which had just bounded toward her, shimmered with dark-blue light before shrinking down to the size of an ordinary housecat. Jade bent down and scooped it into her arms in one smooth motion, cradling it comfortably against her chest. The little demon cat immediately let out a satisfied purr, curling up as if it had found the most comfortable place in the world.
Marcus watched the tiny creature nuzzle happily against Jade, then his gaze drifted to her flawless, jade-white face. She looked breathtaking without needing a trace of makeup, and with the adorable cat nestled in her arms, the two of them looked like they belonged in the same picture. It was almost unfair how perfect they looked together.
He suddenly wanted to reach over and stroke the cat’s soft little head, and while he was at it... maybe steal a few kisses from Jade’s smiling cheeks. A mischievous girl and her demon cat really were the perfect pair: cute, beautiful, and completely irresistible.
His thoughts wandered a little farther than they should have, and he quickly cleared his throat, not with everyone watching.
Suppressing those dangerous thoughts, Marcus shifted his attention to the cat’s updated status window instead.
Just as he expected, its newly awakened ability was a transformation skill.
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Cat’s Grace (Active Skill): The lazy Twin-Winged Water Demon Cat normally remains in a small, adorable form. This harmless appearance lowers the guard of nearby creatures, preventing ordinary monsters up to ten levels higher from attacking first. However, while in this form, all attributes are reduced to 80% of their full value.
Once combat begins, the cat instantly returns to its true form, restoring 100% of its strength. In addition, three times a day, it can consume stored spirit energy to temporarily enlarge itself further, increasing Attack and Defense by 10% for ten minutes.
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Marcus couldn’t help smiling. ’So this little rascal deliberately acts cute to fool people. That’s surprisingly crafty.’
He continued reading. There was another active skill.
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Dark Energy Veil (Active Skill): Releases a cloud of shadow energy that conceals both the cat and its owner while out of combat. The effect immediately ends if either attacks or is attacked. Duration: 3 minutes. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
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Then came its newly awakened passive talent.
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Pure Essence Body (Passive Skill): The Soul-Mist Water Demon Cat’s egg absorbed pure water-element energy for a thousand years within the Spring of Purity, giving it extraordinary water affinity. After evolving in the deep sea, it absorbed an immense amount of additional water-element energy, unlocking this talent.
Effect: The cat can move freely underwater. Neither it nor its owner suffers any reduction in combat ability while fighting beneath the sea, always maintaining 100% of their combat effectiveness.
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Just as he thought, because of its connection to the Spring of Purity, the cat had become perfectly adapted to the ocean. A true three-terrain companion: it could fight on land, soar through the air, and dominate the sea.
Even Blackie, Marcus’s Super Divine Mount, would lose more than ten percent of his combat strength underwater unless Marcus used his Fish-Walk skill.
Compared to that, this cat was ridiculously powerful.
The remaining offensive skills were exactly what Marcus had expected, hybrid techniques that fused water-element energy with the Soul-Mist Water Demon Cat’s dark magic: one was the single-target Black Ice Arrow, while the other was the area attack Black Ice Shower, both carrying powerful freezing effects.
Then he noticed one final skill.
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Cat’s Grace (Mount) (Passive Skill): While in its true form, the Twin-Winged Water Demon Cat can carry its owner across land, through the skies, and beneath the sea.
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Marcus raised an eyebrow. So it could even be used as a mount.
"Marcus!"
Jade suddenly spun around, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Kitty can be a mount when she’s big! She’s such a good girl!"
She set the cat gently on the ground before hurrying over and grabbing his arm with both hands, looking up at him with a smile that was impossible to fake.
"You gave me the best pet ever. I’m so happy."
Before Marcus could answer, she leaned in and lightly brushed her soft lips against his.
It was only a quick kiss, but it was enough to leave him momentarily frozen, especially with everyone else standing right there.
By the time he recovered, Jade had already skipped away, turning toward the cat with a bright laugh.
"Cat’s Grace!"
Dark-blue light flashed once more as the little cat rapidly expanded back to its full tiger-sized form. Jade effortlessly climbed onto its back, sitting gracefully as though she’d ridden it for years.
"Kitty, let’s go!"
With a powerful beat of its wings, the enormous cat glided effortlessly through the deep sea, carrying Jade in a wide circle. Her cheerful laughter echoed through the water as the pair disappeared into the distance.
Marcus watched them for a moment, smiling despite himself, before finally turning toward the shimmering blue teleportation gate beneath the ancient carved inscription.
That was their next destination.
As he walked over, he took out the items he had collected from the Sea Lion King’s corpse: several Soft Moon Stones and the Blue-Eyed Pearl. It was time to see what they actually did.
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Soft Moon Stone (Special Gem): A unique treasure found only on Crescent Island. When moonlight bathes the island, the stone slowly absorbs its gentle lunar energy. After accumulating enough moonlight over many years, it eventually transforms into the exceptionally rare Soft Moon Stone.
There are only two ways to obtain one: mine it from Crescent Island’s Soft Moon Mine with Advanced Mining or higher, or gather it from high-level monsters around the island using Advanced Gathering or higher. No other acquisition method exists.
Effect: The Soft Moon Stone contains an exceptionally pure form of lunar energy. With Intermediate Forging or higher, it can be used to soften weapons or equipment long enough to create gem sockets without altering any of the item’s existing attributes.
Limitation: Each Soft Moon Stone creates one socket. The maximum number of sockets an item can possess depends on the item’s quality, the blacksmith’s forging skill, and a measure of luck.
Every additional socket added to the same item becomes progressively harder to create. If an attempt fails, there is a chance the item will suffer one of three outcomes: Damage, Shatter, or Destruction, with the risk increasing as more sockets are attempted.
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