Chapter 374: Skill Overload
Alexander retreated to one of the private quarters of the residence to closely examine his status panel. Upon expanding the full list of his capabilities, a look of surprise crossed his face as he noticed a detail he had never seen before on his interface:
[Current Skills:]
― [Regeneration Lvl 8]
― [Life-Stealing Fangs]
― [Shadow Bats]
― [Vampire Transformation]
― [Steel Claws Lvl 6]
― [Eternal Youth]
― [Moon’s Blessing, Sun’s Hatred]
― [Wind Claws]
― [Shockwave Lvl 1]
― [Regeneration Lvl 2]
― [Shadow Lunge]
― [Silent Step Lvl 2]
― [Thermal Perception]
― [Echo]
― [Charm]
― [Mimic]
[Skill Storage: 16/10]
[Time remaining until collapse: 3:01:58]
A crimson countdown timer flashed steadily in the bottom corner. Apparently, his body could absorb skills beyond his natural limit, but the system could not sustain such an overload for long; he had to discard or fuse the excess before the counter hit zero.
"So that was the trick..." said Alexander in a quiet whisper, letting out a short laugh. "Good thing I caught it in time."
Without wasting a second, Alexander selected the secondary skills and brought up the main fusion interface to purge his storage.
Alexander began selecting the skill pairs on the fusion interface, testing the most logical combinations to free up space.
[Combining: [Life-Stealing Fangs] + [Steel Claws Lvl 6]]
[Proceed?]
Alexander hit the affirmative option. A scarlet glow engulfed both entries before merging them into a new slot.
[Fusion successful: Life-Stealing Blood Claws Lvl 6]
"Well now..." said Alexander, looking at the screen with a raised eyebrow. "Fusing skills retains the level of the strongest component. That makes things much easier."
Encouraged by the discovery, he moved to the next pair:
[Combining: [Vampire Transformation] + [Moon’s Blessing, Sun’s Hatred]]
[Proceed?]
[Fusion successful: Vampire King Body]
[Description: Grants the user the ability to transform into a true Vampire King during the night, bestowing a massive surge in strength, speed, and overall regeneration. Warning: The sun’s curse amplifies severely, multiplying solar burn damage by 10 under direct sunlight.]
"High risk, but the power output at night makes it worth it," said Alexander with a cold smirk.
Without pausing, he selected the third pair to clear the countdown timer further.
[Combining: [Shadow Bats] + [Wind Claws]]
[Fusion successful: Shadow Claw Bats]
[Description: Manifests a domain where surrounding shadows reshape into vampiric bats armed with razor-sharp talons. These summons can perform melee strikes or launch ranged shadow claw projectiles at targets.]
Alexander fixed his eyes on the two most important passive skills on his list and selected the next pair on the panel:
[Combining: [Regeneration Lvl 8] + [Eternal Youth]]
[Proceed?]
A golden flash mingled with crimson sparks illuminated the room as the system processed the integration of both capabilities.
[Fusion successful: Immortal Body Lvl 8]
[Description: Grants a near-immortal physical structure. The user’s body cannot be destroyed by conventional means unless their brain and heart are destroyed simultaneously. Additional passive effect: The user can freely shift the physical location of their heart within their chest cavity to avoid fatal blows.]
Alexander let out a low laugh, running a hand over his chest as he felt his internal organs respond to his command.
"A mobile heart..." said Alexander with a cold smirk. "Unless they obliterate my head and chest at the exact same time, killing me is impossible."
Alexander glanced at the remaining options on his panel:
― [Shockwave Lvl 1]
― [Regeneration Lvl 2]
― [Shadow Lunge]
― [Silent Step Lvl 2]
― [Charm]
― [Mimic]
He began testing different pairs within the fusion interface, but every attempt returned concerning numbers. The success rate between those capacities didn’t exceed 6%.
"Tch... too risky," said Alexander, canceling the selections. "If compatibility isn’t high, the success rate plummets and I could lose them. They need to share affinity to combine safely."
After discarding those attempts, his storage counter remained at eleven skills, exceeding his body’s limit of ten by one. He needed to offload at least one skill immediately.
Remembering Amy was still lying beside him, still connected to his cock, Alexander selected the transfer option on the translucent screen. However, a red notification blocked the command:
[Error: Cannot transfer a skill to an unconscious target.]
"Tch, who will I give it to then...?" muttered Alexander, turning toward the door. "Lyssandra, come here. Since you’re coming to fight with me, you’d better take this."
Lyssandra stepped into the room. Seeing Amy lying spent on the sheets, a submissive smile formed on her lips.
"Of course, Master. I am on board," said Lyssandra without a second of hesitation.
Lyssandra shed her mayor robes with elegance, bent over the edge of the bed, and spread her ass cheeks open with both hands, offering herself entirely. Alexander aligned his cock and slid inside her with a firm thrust, activating the transfer interface to send the selected skill into her while gripping her hips.
Lyssandra grit her teeth as a wave of heat and mystic energy surged through her body. Her hips spasmed as she let out a sharp groan upon reaching a crushing orgasm. Just a few seconds after the transfer flash faded, her eyes rolled back and she passed out on the bed alongside Amy.
Alexander pulled out, adjusted his trousers, and left the room toward the main hall.
Upon stepping downstairs, all the girls were waiting for him in silence. His aunt Helen stepped forward, her face pale with concern and her arms tightly crossed.
"Alexander, please rethink this," said Helen in a firm yet distressed tone. "Don’t be reckless. Throwing yourself into the middle of a civil war between queens and whole guilds isn’t sensible. We have no reason to get involved in this madness."
"I’m not going to let them hurt a friend," said Alexander, locking eyes with his aunt in absolute composure. "Liora helped me when I needed it, and I won’t sit idly by while they hunt her down."
"It’s absolute madness!" insisted Helen, taking another step toward him. "Those armies and high enforcers possess powers we can’t even comprehend."
"My abilities go far beyond anything any of you could ever imagine," said Alexander with a confident, cold smirk. "Right at this moment, I am virtually immortal."