- Forbidden Skills

After reading the description of [Repressed Evil] a couple of times, Zex finally concluded that in comparison to this passive, his wish for the system to be overpowered was unanswered. Aside from it being extremely detailed, it was just a character sheet.

With that said, it was undeniable that if this was a game, this broken passive would need to be nerfed every patch until his character would be unplayable [1].

Anyway, he just needed to gather forbidden skills.

*Sigh* "Am I also destined to be hunted down by heroes?" Zex was beginning to be depressed after overthinking it.

"Since I am not yet dead, I think, it must mean that when I am in this Mind Space or something, time in the real world is slowing down or stopping entirely. Another theory is that the flow of time here is sped up. In any case, I shouldn't take much longer here and just investigate further when I am sure my body is safe." Zex thought out loud before continuing to check on the interface.

Debuffs:

[Unfamiliar Body LVL 5 (unknown duration)] - You have possessed a body that is not your own. Resonance reduced to 10. All Primary Attributes - 50%. The effect will be reduced as Resonance recovers. Effect disappears at Full Resonance.

[Demon Lord Suppression LVL 10] - A demon lord has unleashed his aura around you. Due to the vast difference in total attributes, your Damage Outputs and Defenses - 10000 points, Resistances reduced to 0%, Attack Speed, Casting Speed, and Projectile Speed reduced by 1000, Recovery Rates reduced by 100, Stats under [Odds] reduced by 500%.

After looking at the debuffs, Zex's face was grave and his previous excitement went up in smoke, finally realizing what the zeroes inside the ()s meant. He realized how dire his current situation was.

'Not enough to formulate a plan. It seems I need to rely on my nonexistent luck for a bit' He mused to himself as he scrolled back to the 'Repressed Evil Fragments' area on the interface.

Learn!

System: Repressed Evil Fragment shattered.

Randomizing choices.

Randomization complete! Please choose one out of the five. The choice is permanent and will remove it from the [Source pool].

As soon as he pressed the [Learn] button, a system notification sounded, followed by 5 panels with thick walls of texts popping up and surrounding him.

[River of Poison (Forbidden Spell)] - conjure a literal river made up of a plethora of poisons with varying effects and degrees. Even the miasma generated can cause undesirable effects to those who come in contact with it. No target limit. Can be enhanced.

Effect: Varied. expand +

Backlash: Also affects the caster

Duration: (User Int*100) seconds

Range: maximum of 50 meters + Int*1meter radius

Cost: 5 mana per 1-meter radius

Cast Completion: 2 points per 1-meter radius

Cooldown: 1 day

[Hellfire: Soulflame (Forbidden Spell)] - summon a type of hellfire that burns away souls. The stronger the target, the longer it takes to burn the soul away.

Effect: (50,000 - Target Spi*10) Fire Element Infused Soul Damage per day at continuous damage per second. Minimum 500 damage per day. Ignore Spiritual Defense.

Backlash: 10% of the dealt damage is applied to the user. This backlash piles up when the effect is active on multiple targets.

Duration: Until either the user or the target's soul burns completely or the target's effect is removed or the user cancels the effect.

Range: 100 meters.

Cost: 100 mana per meter

Cast Completion: 30 points

Cooldown: 6 months

[Soul Swap (Forbidden Spell)] - Switches souls with the target. The success rate is based on the level difference between the user and the target. 100% chance on lower leveled targets.

Effect: Control over the user's and the target's bodies is swapped permanently. [Subclass Pool], Primary Attributes, Passive Skills, and authority to spatial storages of the possessed body will be retained while the user's level is reduced to 0; Spent attribute points from the user's original body will be converted to free attribute points. The user's skills, as well as the authority to spatial storage, will be retained. Failure will still start the cooldown while applying the backlash and cost.

Backlash: Resonance reduces to 10, Exp gain temporarily decreased by 500% while on cooldown.

Range: 50 meters

Cost: 100% remaining mana and stamina (Original Body)

Cast Completion: 100 points

Cooldown: 1 year

[Mind Control (Forbidden Spell)] - Takes control of the target's mind. The success rate is based on the difference between the user's and the target's Intelligence attributes.

Duration is based on the difference between the user's and the target's Spirit and Wisdom attributes. Success rate and Maximum Duration are increased with each level the user is above the target's level.

Effect: You split your mind into both your body and the target's body. While the spell is active, the target's mind will be imprisoned and you will be able to make the target do anything except using their active skills. The target's passive skills will still take effect. Can be canceled anytime.

Backlash: User's Intelligence Attribute will be halved and will only revert after twice the duration the spell was active for elapsed, starting from when the spell was canceled. If the mind-controlled target suffers damage, the user will experience it himself. If the mind-controlled target dies before the spell is canceled, the user's Intelligence will be halved permanently.

Range: 50 meters

Cost: 10 mana per target Int. (Insufficient Mana will cause the spell to fail). Canceling the spell costs double the amount used when it was activated.

Cast Completion: 25 points

Cooldown: 1 week.

[Undying Warrior, Unbreakable Body (Forbidden Technique)] - Be invulnerable to death as long as the user remains in combat while being immune to all crippling effects.

Effect: Becomes immune to death, decapitation, or any negative deformation of the body, while stamina remains at maximum. Can only be activated during combat. Leaving combat (not dealing or taking damage, exclusive of self-inflicted damage) for more than 30 seconds will end the effect and start the backlash and cooldown.

Backlash - Restraining Effects Success Chance + 200%. Once out of combat, Maximum Health is reduced to 1% of the original and will regain 1% every day.

Cost: 30% of maximum Health

Cooldown: 99 days.

Looking at the choices, Zex was dumbfounded. 'These are godli---demonlike skills!' He thought. Out of the five, two are made for massacres, while the other three are menacingly insidious. As they are all forbidden skills, they each have a 'Backlash' in their description seemingly to balance the scales. However, with [Repressed Evil]'s 'Ignore backlash effects', it is no longer necessary to even read them.

"I need to think about this carefully. They are all very good abilities in my opinion. Any one of them could set me for life if used properly… " Zex examined each ability and tested scenarios in his mind.

"[River of poison] is a massacre type ability but is too random and using it once will label me as a superweapon. News of my ability will spread eventually and I will be either feared or respected… However, that would also place a target on my back, allies and foes alike. So that's a NO.

[Hellfire: Soulflame] is an insidious skill but takes too long to kill a target. It can be useful when I am strong enough and my stats are higher… But I don't think it is good for me at my current power level or any power level I would be able to reach soon. Also, at higher levels, I doubt strong targets don't have recovery abilities or do not know of ways to cleanse such a debuff.

[Soul Swap] is another insidious skill… and the effects are amazing. The only problem is that it is based on level difference. With [Repressed Evil]'s bonus 50% special effect success chance, however, my level only needs to be at least half of my target's. That takes time and it is a huge gamble since I need to survive without using it for a long time.

[Mind Control] seems to be the best early on. However, the target being unable to use their skills is troublesome. I can think of many ways to use this to my advantage… but the effects aren't very useful in the long run. There is also a danger of strong people having ways of guarding against mind-related abilities.

[Undying Warrior, Unbreakable Body] is like Tryndamere's ultimate [2]. This is good… but if I don't have any offensive skills, it is useless. I will be restrained in no time at all."

After eliminating one plan after another in his mind, he decided to go for a gamble.

System: You have learned [Soul Swap], + 50,000 Exp.

Checking attributes.

Adjusting attributes to fulfill requirements for the usage of the spell.

Requirement: Spirit Attribute = 100.

Adjustment: Spirit Attribute + 100 points.

You have learned a Forbidden Spell.

Considered an Evil Action. Additional 50,000 Exp from [Repressed Evil].

Additional Class Option Available: (Advanced Class)[Soul Manipulator].

Subclass Unlocked: (Advanced Subclass)[Soul Art Dabbler].

System: Class Tutorial Triggered!

Class Options will be based on your attributes at the time of choosing a class. For every 10 levels, you can change classes. Special Triggers also grant you Special Class Options. Please discover these triggers yourself.

Every Class has a default subclass and choosing a class will have their subclass be permanently included in your [Subclass Pool]. Leveling up requires investing experience points on Subclasses. When subclasses are maxed out and certain conditions are met, Subclasses can upgrade to a higher tier and can continue to receive experience points.

Each Subclass Tier will grant you additional attributes as well as specific abilities and skills. Some subclasses have similar skills with other subclasses and when learning similar skills, they may be combined into an improved version of the skills.

"Another wall of text… It is a good thing I have a high intelligence stat. I'm just worried about the readers." Zex took a moment of silence for his fallen brethren.

"The system adjusts my stats to fit the requirement for learning skills. Is this effect only for the skills from [Repressed Evil]? Then if I chose [River of Poison] or [Mind Control], I would probably have not gained any bonus stats. Lucky!" He rejoiced in his heart learning this mechanic. It would seem he needs to put this into consideration when he chooses the next skills.

"So learning a forbidden technique without even using it yet is considered an 'Evil Action', huh?"

Looking at the system being a chatterbox, he could only sigh at his fate. He went back to his character page and saw that there was a plus button next to his subclass 'Farmer'.

He was tempted to put all his experience into leveling up and changing classes but he reluctantly stopped himself from doing so because it might be noticed by the demon lord.

"I should head back soon."

[1] In some games, especially competitive ones, some players will discover imbalances between characters or classes. These imbalances bring out the Meta or the motif of the game until balancing actions are imposed by the developers. Sometimes, these balancing actions cause characters or classes to no longer be viable or playable and will need future adjustments to appeal to the players once again.

[2] Tryndamere, the Barbarian King, is a Champion in the game, League of Legends, he has a skill that allows him to be unkillable for a few seconds.