New skill: Fusion of Life and Death… something like assimilation…?
Lukas thought with narrowed eyes, his heartbeat accelerating. If it was even a tiny bit as useful as assimilation, then... Before the excitement could get to his head, he shook his head; there was no point in thinking about useless things.
With that thought in mind, he summoned the Astral Bone Vanguard's status window to check its stats.
[Evolving Skeleton - Astral Bone Vanguard]
[Grade - Rare]
[Bloodline - None]
[Star Energy Potential - Two Stars]
[Innate Skills - Assimilation, Fusion]
[Acquired Skills: Star Energy Strike, Stellar Reinforcements]
Just like Assimilation, no matter how many times he clicked on Fusion, no window explaining the skill effect appeared in his vision.
Lukas felt slightly disappointed. Even though his summon had gone up by grade, Star Energy Potential remained the same.
It appeared the theory about Star Energy Potential being related to awakeners themselves was true... the fact that he only got two stars energy potential was his own fault; he could not blame this on anyone else.
Still, he was happy that at least the skeleton had evolved and was not useless as before. After all, the skill Star Energy Strike seemed like a direct offensive skill; for better understanding, he would need to test out the effect.
While thinking, his thoughts couldn't help but wander back to the first window: Evolutionary conditions met. What were these conditions?
If he knew about them in advance, he might be able to evolve the skeleton faster. With that thought in mind, he tried several ways to call out the evolutionary window.
"Evolution window."
"Evolution guide."
"Evolution pathway..."
He called out every word that he could think of that would magically summon the evolution window. But his attempts seemed futile as no matter what he tried, there were no signs of any window appearing. So, after a couple of useless attempts, he stopped thinking about it; maybe it was not the time just yet.
With that, his focus finally returned to the skeleton's new skill. It was time to test it out.
Some distance away, the Astral Bone Vanguard also stood silently. In the grim silence of the cave, the multiple runes engraved on its bones pulsed with starry light.
Hmm, how does this work... Assimilation activated on its own...
Lukas's thoughts wandered. In the end, he decided to take the initiative on his own. Taking a deep breath, he muttered in a low voice, "Fusion."
"....."
"....."
Pin-drop silence descended in the cave.
Lukas didn't know what he was waiting for, but surely it was not this. Moments passed; he was about to try again when something finally happened.
The Astral Bone Vanguard's figure suddenly let out a bright golden light, every single bone present in its skeleton flying toward Lukas. For a moment, in horror, his heart leapt to his throat... thinking he was about to be impaled by the bones.
He tried to move away and dodge, but his attempt seemed futile.
Before he could even blink, the bones stuck to his figure one by one like exoskeleton armor, the rune-engraved bones slowly locking together to form a suit.
Only his eyes, ears, and mouth remained exposed. A look of amazement filled his eyes. Even though he seemed to be covered in bone from head to toe, a sense of lightness enveloped his entire body; he felt extremely agile.
The next moment, he willed himself to move. Swish! A golden light flickered in the cave and he instantly appeared in the other corner of the cave.
My speed seems to have been doubled... He muttered in pure awe. Not just his speed but his strength seemed to have been doubled as well.
With that thought in mind, he punched the grim, grainy wall of the cave. Bang! Spiderweb-like cracks instantly snapped on the wall, rapidly spreading outward. Although after awakening his strength had increased, breaking a solid rock wall like this was still something impossible and was bound to hurt a lot, but now he felt nothing.
This is amazing… Lukas couldn't help but look at his hand in surprise.
With that, he performed all sorts of high-speed movements, everyone flowing smoothly as if the strength belonged to him, with full precision.
However, suddenly his vision started to grow blurry and a sense of nausea hit him. The constellation-engraved bones loosened and Lukas's body fell to the ground.
Damn, my head hurts so bad... Lukas rubbed his head while trying to stand up on his feet.
His gaze moved to the two dull-looking stars on the back of his hand. The fusion skill seemed to be using his own Star Energy reserves, and without even realizing it, he had exhausted all of his Star Energy, resulting in this current state of Star Energy deprivation.
It seems I went too far... Lukas made a note of this in his head. Thankfully he was in a safe environment; if he were in the middle of a battlefield, such a situation would have resulted in his death.
It appears energy from one star can help me stay in the fused state for one minute...
A general idea developed in Lukas's mind. Now he knew what to do: he must keep the second star in reserve for emergency situations, so that left with one star reserve to spare.
Lukas wanted to complain. While everyone other than him had three stars or even four, he had just one star energy reserve. This was not fair.
But complaining was not going to solve anything; he had to make use of the limited resources to ensure his survival.
Once his situation returned to normal, Lukas sat down cross-legged and decided to learn the Star Energy gathering method that he had gotten from Nimo. This was the perfect opportunity to check the energy efficiency.
Slowly, with utmost care, he browsed through the pages of the leather book. Compared to how thick the book was, the useful content was only just three or four pages; the rest were all Nimo's notes and some other previous owners of the book.
Night Dipper: Low-grade Star Energy Technique.
Lukas started memorizing everything, reading passages again and again, taking the help of notes.
He was not a genius by any means, but for some reason, he was able to grasp the technique in half an hour.
[Ding! You have learned the Night Dipper Star Energy Breathing Technique.]
He did not pay attention to this prompt. Lukas completely focused on visualizing the Night Dipper constellation twinkling deep in the starry sky. A faint connection formed with it. The next moment, a thread of red current appeared directly above Lukas, slowly making its way toward the stars on the back of his hand.
Slowly, bit by bit, the Star Energy was getting replenished.
Time continued to pass without him even realizing. More than six hours had gone by. After six hours of continuous meditation, one of the stars was fully filled with bright red Star Energy.
Lukas opened his eyes, a refreshed look in them. He couldn't help but be surprised. Even though he had not slept during these six hours, his body felt full of energy and deeply invigorated as if he just had the best sleep of his lifetime.
However, when he saw only one star flashing red, a frown appeared on his face.
As expected from a low-tier Star Energy absorption technique. Even after meditating for six hours, only one of my stars is filled. If I want to return to my peak state, I need to meditate for six hours more...
The difference among the Star Energy absorbing techniques was just too much. While if I was meditating using a mid-grade technique, I could have filled both of my stars in just six hours, cutting the time in half...
However, getting one's hands on a mid-grade technique was more difficult than scaling the Heavens.
Only big powers like the Roaring Dragon Guild had their hands on such techniques, and their distribution was tightly regulated.
Thinking of all these things, he shook his head and was about to start meditating again when he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer, followed by voices coming from outside.
"Boss, that rascal Nimo's trail ends here..."
Outside, a group of three masked individuals dressed in black robes with their faces covered looked searching the surroundings, their eyes narrowed as if they were searching for someone.
Lukas heard their voices and suddenly his face turned solemn.
Trouble was here!