Chapter 18: Poison Area

Chapter 18: Poison Area

Jack stood near the edge of the bubbling lava lake, the radiant blue light of the surrounding demonic crystals reflecting off his sweat-sheened face. In his hand, he held the newly dropped skill scroll, its heavy parchment humming with a faint, unawakened magical energy.

Focusing his gaze on the scroll, a standard blue system tooltip materialized in the air:

[Skill Scroll: Grants a random skill upon use.]

Beside the basic description, another screen projected the baseline odds of the scroll's potential rewards:

[Skill Scroll (Bronze Grade)]

[Properties: 10% chance to grant a skill connected to your current Class. Grade Chances: Trash (50%), Bronze (45%), Silver or higher (5%).]

"A ten percent chance for a class skill, and a measly five percent for anything Silver or higher?" Jack muttered, his gamer instincts immediately scoffing at the terrible odds. "Without my cheat, opening this would basically guarantee me some useless Trash-grade spell."

A confident grin spread across his face. He called upon his SSS-Rank talent, Infinite Enhancement.

"System, use 1 Enhancement Point on the scroll," Jack commanded in his mind.

A brief, warm pulse of golden energy rippled from his palm into the parchment, wiping away the rough, weathered texture and replacing it with a clean, slightly glowing weave. The system interface chimed, updating the tooltip instantly:

[Skill Scroll +1]

[Properties: 50% chance to grant a skill connected to your current Class. Grade Chances: Bronze (77.5%), Silver (17.5%), Higher Ranks (5%).]

Jack’s eyes widened slightly as he analyzed the massive jump. "An eighteen percent shot at Silver? Just one point turned complete garbage into a high-tier gamble."

But Jack wasn't the type to settle for half-measures when he had a bank of Enhancement Points to burn. He wanted to guarantee his class alignment.

"Let's push it further," Jack decided, a sharp glint in his eyes. "System, apply another 10 points."

The scroll flared with a brilliant, silver-blue light, the coarse parchment fully transforming into a pristine, metallic silver scroll wrapped in a glowing silk ribbon.

[Skill Scroll +2]

[Properties: Guaranteed to grant a skill connected to your Class. Grade Chances: Silver (85%), Gold (10%), Higher Ranks (5%).]

Jack tried to target the scroll for a third upgrade, hoping to force a guaranteed Gold outcome, but a red system notification instantly blocked his input:

[System Error: Prerequisite Unmet. Upgrading to [Skill Scroll +3] requires 100 Enhancement Points.]

"A hundred points?" Jack whistled softly, shaking his head with a dry chuckle.

Still, looking at the updated tooltip, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"Wonderful. A guaranteed class skill and a ten percent chance to pull a Gold skill. This enhancement power really is the best cheat."

Taking a deep breath, Jack gripped the edge of the silver ribbon, broke the glowing magic seal, and unrolled the scroll. He held his breath as the parchment began to dissolve into particles of light.

"Please be Gold, please be Gold, please be Gold..." Jack chanted quietly under his breath.

The magical light swirled in the air, shifting rapidly through a spectrum of colors—flickering from a deep bronze, flashing into a brilliant silver, and occasionally sparking with brief, tantalizing bursts of golden fire. Finally, the colors coalesced, stabilizing into a solid silver system window that floated before his eyes.

[Skill: Poison Area]

[Rank: Silver]

[Poison Area: A special active skill that generates a circular aura with the user at the center (1-meter radius). Deals 10 damage per second to all enemies within the circle. (Does not affect allies.)]

[Mana Required: 100 MP per minute of use.]

Jack stared at the description, his shoulders slumping as he let out a heavy, disappointed sigh.

"Agggh, Silver," Jack groaned, rubbing his sore neck in disappointment. "Why couldn't it have hit that ten percent chance for Gold? And a hundred mana per minute? With my current mana pool, I'd drain myself to empty in thirty seconds flat."

He frowned, analyzing the skill's utility. At a one-meter radius, enemies would practically have to be hugging him to take damage, which defeated the purpose of a safe, long-range Necromancer class.

"Well, a Silver skill is still a Silver skill," Jack muttered, his eyes narrowing as he looked at his remaining points. "But let's see what happens when we throw another point into it. System, enhance the skill."

He targeted the newly acquired skill in his status window and expended 1 Enhancement Point. A sudden wave of deep purple, venomous energy erupted from his hands, swirling around his body before sinking deep into his soul.

[Skill: Poison Area +1]

[Rank: Silver]

[Poison Area +1: A special active skill that generates a circular aura with the user at the center (5-meter radius). Deals 25 damage per second to all enemies within the circle. (Does not affect allies.) Enemies remaining inside the aura for longer than 10 seconds have a 10% chance to be instantly reanimated into a controlled Zombie upon death.]

[Special Effect: Zombies created by this skill that bite other creatures have a 1% chance to infect the target, turning them into your controlled zombies as well.]

[Mana Required: 10 MP per minute of use.]

Jack’s jaw slowly dropped as he read the revised attributes, his eyes scanning the numbers over and over in pure disbelief.

The restriction on his mana pool was practically gone—dropping from a heavy 100 MP down to a negligible 10 MP per minute. The radius had expanded fivefold, turning a tiny personal barrier into a massive five-meter zone of death. But it was the newly unlocked passive effects that made his heart race.

"What the heck is this skill?!" Jack burst out into a wild, ecstatic laugh, his voice echoing off the cavern's crystalline walls. "I can make zombies now? And there's a chance they can infect other creatures and spread the plague on their own? This is absolutely wonderful! At this rate, no one will ever be able to beat me, hahahahaha!"

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