Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

157  Hunt in the Hole I.

'System, upgrade the Corrosion skill like this!'

Felix gave a command as he imagined the power and the way the Corrosion skill should change into.

[Affirmative.]

[Processing the skill's power scale....modifying the skill....estimating the possible points required..... skill successfully modified.]

[Ding!]

[Skill Name: Corrosion (Upgraded)

Description:

•User can create a 30-meter field of baleful corrosive energy which corrodes and degrades the bodies, minds and defenses of anything that comes into contact with it.

•The user can direct the energy in all directions to induce a gradual corrosion, or can also target at a single point to unleash all of its power.

•The targets slowly lose their minds and start going berserk if they have weak wills.

•The skill duration and strength depends on the host's mental power. Effective only on beings under Rank 4.

Cost: +600 skill points.]

Looking at the new description of the Corrosion skill, Felix nodded with a bright smile on his face, but the cost of upgrading it made him hesitate.

'600 sp? That seems a lot costly than most of my other skills....'

He pondered about it and realised why the cost may have been so high.

'This skill is kind of hands free.... Like I don't even have to do anything other than targeting my enemies and they'll start falling. It does seem powerful.... and cool too.'

Hearing the echoing shouts of the trapped enemies, Felix decided it was worth it to spend the skill points in upgrading the skill.

'Do it, system. Upgrade the Corrosion skill.', he commanded.

[Ding!]

[Successfully upgraded the skill 'Corrosion'. Does the host wish to change the skill's name?]

'Hmm, name? Well it has changed, and just Corrosion sounds lacking...', Felix thought for a few seconds before he replied back.

'Cursed Domain.... Yeah, change the name into that. It sounds better.'

[Ding!]

[The skill 'Corrosion' has been renamed as 'Cursed Domain'.]

Turning his attention back to his targets, Felix couldn't wait to test out the power of his upgrade skill.

He used Earth Swimming and submerged into the ground before making his way towards one of the sinkhole.

Arriving right in the center of the hole below the ground, he unleashed his skill.

'Cursed Domain!'

As soon as Felix activated the skill, a wave of energy spread from his body, and the air around him shifted.

A strange sensation of decay and corrosion filled the space, as if everything was slowly starting to rot and wither.

Felix could feel the change, his unfocused and loose command over the domain deteriorating the earth and air around him.

'There!'

He controlled the baleful energy of the field and moved it upwards where the members of the six guilds started to notice the change in the atmosphere.

"Hmm?! Why am I suddenly feeling weird."

"Me too. Its like my insides are growing weak."

"M-Magic! This must be some evil magic!!"

"Noo! We have to get out of here!"

Panic ensued in one of the four holes as the enemy guilds members started to feel their strength seep away slowly.

"Stop it everyone! Don't panic!", the only Rank 3 who was trapped among them ordered in worry as everybody else turned to him.

"We have to work together and get ourselves out of this hole first. Whoever is casting this magic wants to slowly kill us and we must resist before we die here!"

His words made them nod as they asked him for his next instructions.

"How should we do it, Sir?"

"Yes, how are we going to escape from this deep hole?!"

The Rank 3 member smiled seeing that everyone were back to normal and started to think about a way to escape the hole.

"Let's see... There should be some Mages among us, we'll have to rely on them and- AAAGHHH!!!"

The Rank 3 member suddenly screamed vehemently in pain as the others felt the decaying energy lessen on them.

"GHHAAGHH!!"

Everyone turned their attention to the Rank 3 member who started to spasm and tremble all over the place in madness with a twisted face.

"H-HELP ME!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"

A greyish aura surrounded him which was decaying the man's skin and body slowly as he stumbled around in agony.

"W-What is happening to him?!"

"Aaaghh I don't want to die!!"

"Get out here!! Let me get out of here!!!"

Seeing the disgusting and painful state of the Rank 3 member, the others felt horrified as they became scared of going through the same.

Felix who was swimming underground smirked, while inwardly counting the time it was taking for the man to die.

'You wanted to escape? Well, I can't let you do that... my sweet skill points...'

At the moment, Felix couldn't move while using the Cursed Domain skill. It was taking him all his focus and concentration to manipulate the baleful energy to attack them.

'This is fine for now..... I was not planning to attack them head on anyway. But can I use the other skills simultaneously?'

He moved his attention to the ground above and thought of using his other skills.

With a thought, Felix felt his consciousness expand and the space around him felt familiar as he understood the positions and movements of every existence, particle and matter.

'Holy fuck.....This makes the Cursed Domain skill more terrifying! Let's add more...', he suddenly felt it was more easier to control the baleful energy and attack his targets precisely.

Felix focused his mind and the corrosive energy pierced into the Rank 3 member's brain, which dealt him heavy damage as the man cletched his head and shrieked in agony which terrified the others to their limits.

"Ughh what the fuck is happening to him!!?"

"Oh god!! Save meeee!!"

"Fuck this shit! Why did I come here!!?"

After giving the Rank 3 member a taste of hell, Felix decided to make a few more moves.

'Earth Spikes!'

Some of the enemy members who were trying to climb out of the hole were met with a sharp spike piercing into their bodies as they fell down helplessly with several injuries.

"Ah shit! What now!?"

Seeing that even climbing the walls of the hole was not possible, the enemy members were left with no options to get out.

"AAAAAGHHHGHH!!!!"

The Rank 3 member was reaching his mental limits as he couldn't control his senses anymore as the corrosive energy started to weaken his will over himself.

"NO!! GET OUUTTT!!! AAAAAAGGHHHH!!!"

After giving a last scream, the Rank 3 member fell on his knees as the nerves on his face and body enlarged and turned reddish purple in color.

"Grrrr...."

A low beastly sound escaped from the man's mouth as he slowly stood up under the shocked gazes of his companions.

"He...Is he alright now?"

"Ch..Check up on him... He should be alright... He's a Rank 3 you know..."

Noticing that their Rank 3 member was not screaming anymore, the others felt he was back to normal as they approached him with small steps.

A terrifying houl left his mouth as the Rank 3 man jumped onto the nearest person with a thick bloodlust oozing out of him.

"Aaaghh!!! What are you doing!"

"Shit! Why the hell is he attacking him!?"

A chaotic scene took place as the Rank 3 man attacked and jumped onto the people around him without any care, punching them and thrashing around with no sense of intelligence.

Felix who had now let go of his control on the Cursed Domain surveyed the fight above him through the use of Battlefield Awareness as he understood something new.

'So completely corroding their mind turns them into wild beasts, huh. This continues until they lose consciousness or are knocked out...'

Giving another glance at the battlefield, he smiled at the carnage he had started.

'Well, time to take out the weeds then.... I can't have him kill the others, they're all mine precious skill points after all.'

Felix slowly moved towards the battle, his figure emerging out from the ground as he eyed the scene more carefully from a corner.

'There! Earth Spikes!'

Using the information he was getting through the Battlefield Awareness skill, he conjured Earth Spikes at an accurate precision of timing and locations, striking the Rank 2 enemy members in their blindspots.

As for the other Rank 1 members? They didn't give Felix any skill points so he didn't even bother targeting them.

Under the effects of the Cursed Domain skill, the defenses and bodies of the enemy guild's members were already weakened, resulting in critical damage being dealt to them by the sharp spikes in their weak points.

As he realized the perilous state his enemies were in through the Battlefield Awareness skill, Felix grinned wildly as he emerged out from the ground and let himself loose in the sinkhole.

"Dustblast! Quicksand!"

The sudden appearance of a silver-haired man shocked the already terrified men who were holding their own against the Rank 3 member.

"Fuck- He's the one who's attacking us!!"

"Guys! We have to attack him!"

"Waaahhhh!!!"

Before they could start their counterattack on Felix, a wind of dust and sand blew into them with the ground under them turning soft.

"Aah shit! What the hell is happening now!?"

"NO!! We're gonna lose at this rate!"

With their sight blocked and their movements tied, the enemy members found themselves in quite a pinch with no way out, and that is when Felix rushed towards them.

"Earth Spikes! Black Horizon Sword Arts!"

Felix stepped onto the earth spikes he created and jumped into the enemies' fray as he avoided the quicksand area and rushed directly into their midst.

"Second Technique: Striking Blades!"

He gripped his sword tightly in his hand and unleashed a series of quick swings to parry away the attacks of the Rank 1 fighters as he rushed ahead in a flash with the help of another skill. @@novelbin@@

'Agility Burst!'

Felix appeared in the middle of the battle taking place between the three Rank 2 fighters and the corrupted Rank 3 fighter who were trapped in this sinkhole.

To handle things quickly, he decided to use most of his skills and end the battle as soon as possible.

'Silent Steps. Ratio Technique. Parabolic Hearing.....and lastly....Singular Slash!'

Felix launched a sneak attack on one of the Rank 2 men who was blocking the attacks of the Rank 3 man, slashing his sword through the man's neck as blood splattered out of his now headless body who didn't even realise there was an enemy behind him.

[You have killed a being higher than your own rank.]

[You have gained 100 skill points.]