aircannonsinc Chapter 9 Strengthening
Chapter 9 Strengthening
By the dim light of the flickering candlelight beside him, Luo Lan extended his skeletal left hand from inside the shell, circled it around his side, and used the back of his hand and his single eye to carefully examine the "new shell" on his body.
The dark rust color gleamed coldly in the candlelight. The surface was not smooth, and in some places, the solidified patterns from the flowing molten iron remained, like rough scales.
Then, Luo Lan raised the several regrowth appendages on his left side and tapped himself a few times.
"Clang. Clang."
The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed, carrying the unique resonance of metal.
Judging from the sound and feel, the current carapace is many times harder than the previous fragile original one, and it certainly won't be so fragile that it would shatter at the slightest touch from the giant armored spider.
[The hardness has indeed increased; spending twenty points of Chaos Essence wasn't a waste.]
The experiment was a success. Luo Lan scanned the corridor, hoping to find "materials" that could still be used, and once again set his sights on the iron candlestick that he had knocked down earlier.
The candle wax that had splashed out when the candlestick was knocked over was scattered all over the floor, and a small flame was still burning in the middle of the wax block.
Even though it had been removed from the candlestick and the wax was almost completely burned off, the fire still burned, flickering and continuing to emit light, which was clearly illogical.
A candle flame that burns tenaciously must possess extraordinary power.
[If even a rusty candlestick can be used, then what about this candle flame?]
Without hesitation, Luo Lan crawled towards the candlelight, supporting herself on her forearms as she moved forward. She stretched out her bony hand and grasped the flame, not getting too close for fear of damaging the newly plated iron shell.
[Condensation Casting - Melting Casting]
[This action is expected to consume 18 Chaos Essence. Confirm?]
Luo Lan silently agreed.
[Already forged: An extremely dim eternal flame]
[Consumed Chaos Essence: 18]
[Current Chaotic Essence: 47]
The ever-burning flame instantly disintegrated under the influence of some inexplicable force, dispersing into wisps of grayish-white smoke that seeped into the gaps between the finger joints.
A slightly warm, itchy sensation roamed through my arm, like something alive crawling through my bone marrow.
Luo Lan gritted her teeth and endured the strange sensation. The smoke accumulated, eventually converging on the single eye in the center of her hand, where a faint halo appeared on the surface of the eyeball before slowly dimming.
[Acquired: Burning Gaze lv.0.1 (Skill)]
Rank: None
[Burning Gaze: Consumes mental energy, continuously focusing your gaze. There is a very small chance that a small, eternal flame will rise at the point of focus. Prolonged use of this skill will cause a burning sensation in the visual organs.]
Luo Lan paused for two seconds after hearing the prompt in her mind.
[No? lv.0.1? This can even have a decimal point?]
A sense of foreboding instantly arose within me.
Luo Lan decided to test this new skill on the spot to see what it was all about. He focused his gaze on the candle wax that was gradually cooling after the flame was absorbed and activated [Burning Gaze lv.0.1].
He stared at the ball of candle wax with his one eye for about ten seconds.
The mental energy that had just been partially restored was being continuously drained.
Then--
And then nothing happened. Nothing occurred, but my spiritual energy was flowing out in a rush.
Luo Lan, refusing to believe it, gritted her teeth and continued staring. Until finally, a few sparks burst forth from the candle.
Just a few faint sparks, before they even touched the candle wax, went out with a couple of puffs, without even a wisp of smoke.
On the contrary, a sharp, burning pain emanated from the depths of the stitched corpse's single eye, which was already sensitive to light. Everything in its field of vision was severely distorted by this burning pain.
[……？？]
Luo Lan was completely numb.
[OK.]
[I spent eighteen points of Source Essence to acquire a skill that requires me to stare intently at a target for an extended period of time for a "very low probability" of igniting it. The activation process continuously drains my mental energy, and my eyes get burned. Isn't this just forcing myself into control?]
[With that kind of mental energy, wouldn't it be better to use another instant-cast [Terror]?]
Helplessly, Luo Lan withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes for a while to calm herself down.
The burning sensation in his single eye slowly subsided, leaving behind a faint warmth.
However, it wasn't a complete loss.
Quickly adjusting her mindset, Luo Lan suppressed her frustration over the failed experiment.
At least this time he understood one thing: [Condensation] can indeed use all things as materials, but whether the materials are suitable is another matter.
Luo Lan probably guessed where the problem lay.
My current [Crawling Stitched Corpse One-Eyed Eye] is a monster organ that is afraid of light. Now, if I force a fire attribute skill into it, the compatibility is bad, and the effect is naturally poor.
It's like pouring gasoline into a diesel engine; it would be a miracle if it ran.
[Once bitten, twice shy. Fortunately, this time we only wasted 18 points of Source Essence and figured out the mechanism.]
On the bright side, Luo Lan has managed to avoid even greater unnecessary losses in the future.
[I've tried assembly and fusion, so what about reinforcement?]
Once you open your mind, the materials you can use are no longer limited to external things.
The monster's organs, which it already possesses, are naturally considered part of "all things".
Luo Lan focused her attention on the single eye on the back of her hand.
[Condensation - Enhancement]
[This action is expected to consume 17 Chaos Essence. Confirm?]
acquiescence.
An invisible force began to converge in the single eye, and blood vessels gradually filled the pupil.
A blood-red light began to emanate from his vertical pupils, initially faint, but gradually growing stronger until his entire eye looked as if it had been soaked in blood.
An increasingly intense red light burst forth from his eyes, lasting for about five or six seconds, before slowly receding.
The appearance of the single eye hasn't changed much, but the fierce glint deep in its pupil has become even deeper and more intense, giving off a sense of oppression when it stares at people.
[Enhanced: Creeping Stitching Corpse with One Eye]
[Consumed Chaos Essence: 17]
[Current Chaotic Essence: 30]
[Crawling and stitching the corpse's one eye → Wandering and stitching the corpse's one eye]
[Rank: Black Iron → Black Iron+]
[Fear level 2 → Fear level 3]
The enhanced single eye blinked a few times, and the orange-red filter in its vision became even darker than before.
After recovering his mental strength for a period of time, Luo Lan tried to activate [Terror Lv.3].
Previously, due to the burning sensation from the [Burning Gaze], the area around the vertical pupil, which had been somewhat listless, suddenly exploded with an extremely dazzling dark red blood light.
The already scarlet pupils were completely filled with countless bulging red blood vessels, and blood could almost drip from the dark red pupils.
A strong sense of mental pressure surged forth from his gaze, and even the air in the underground palace corridor seemed to grow colder.
As the skill's effects are enhanced, the sharp, stabbing mental burden is also fed back to the nerves exponentially.
Dizzy and disoriented, Luo Lan carefully considered the differences between the enhanced skill and the previous one:
[The terrifying mental shock emanating from the depths of his vision was more than twice as strong as before.]
[But the cost is also significant; the mental energy consumption has increased noticeably. At most, it can only be used twice in a row; any more and it will cause unbearable headaches.]
With this significantly upgraded [Terror Lv.3], Luo Lan can currently only sustain two consecutive releases at most.
However, its strength is comparable to the previous four or five [Terror Lv.2].
By exchanging the number of times the skill can be used, its power is increased. In most cases, this greatly boosts Luo Lan's current combat strength.