Mustrano’s Evolution - The Absolute Limit of LUK

"This!! Incredible!" Alex checks out his new Conjuration skill that just evolved. Not only did it gain a new effect, but it also rose in level! "Great—I can't upgrade it inside a world, but now it leveled up as well! This is helpful!"

Mustrano's Malice Mauler lvl 1:

Effect: Conjures Mustrano's Malice Mauler—a demonic, black claw capable of tearing opponents apart with an extremely high chance to cause bleeding that inflicts increased damage. Additionally, it can empower its next attack with a corroding poison that deals heavy damage over time, bypassing poison resistance.

Effect2: Passively Increases Poison Resistance by 50% + 5% per level (even without conjuring the claw)

Level Cap: Genius Conjurer. Requires 1000 Paradise Coins + 500 per level to upgrade.

MP Cost: 5 MP to conjure; consumes 1 MP per minute to maintain manifestation.

Duration: Unlimited

Damage: 30 + 5 per level

Durability: 5 + 1 per level, restores 1 durability per minute synchronized with MP cost.

Increased Bleeding Chance: 100% + 10% per level

Increased Bleeding Damage: 50% + 5% per level

Subskill: Toxic Breakthrough

Poison Activation Cost: 5 MP

Poison Damage: 20 damage per minute + 2 per level

Poison Duration: 5 minutes + 1 per level

Poison Penetration: Ignores 20% of enemy's poison resistance + 2% per level

Max Poison Stacks: 3 + 1 for every 2 levels

Note: This ability conjures a claw unique to the Tribaio Tribe. This claw in particular contains a terrifying malice belonging to its former owner Mustrano.

Note 2: [ERROR] SSSSSEEE HUMAN? POISSSSON?? YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR WITH ME ON YOUR SSSSIDE!!

Alex stares at the description in disbelief. The skill didn't just evolve—it absorbed the poison resistance effect from the skillbook and made it part of its own abilities. Best of all, it's a passive effect, giving him poison resistance at all times, not only when the claw is conjured.

Elated by this unexpected upgrade, Alex immediately realizes the opportunity in front of him. He goes back to the sales stand and buys the item which was previously useless to him, since it would probably kill him, [Tribaio Sacred Poison]. Alex decides to just buy it without hesitation.

"HUMAN—Have you learned the poisssson resssist ssskill? You earned our resssspect. Without it, even a human much sssstronger than you, can't ssssurvive!" The seller warns him.

"Thanks for the warning. Just hand it over," Alex replies, eager to push forward with his plan.

You lost 300 Tribaio Village Tokens

Alex spends the remaining 300 Tokens the navigator paid him as an apology. He now holds it in his hands:

[Tribaio Sacred Poison]

World: Hunter x Hunter

Quality: Deep Purple

Effect: STR +1, AGI + 1, PHY +1, SPR + 1

Effect: Must be consumed immediately; loses potency if not consumed within 60 seconds

Warning: Inflicts severe poison damage that can kill any player without a strong PHY, SPR, and high Poison Resistance!

Without a hint of fear, Alex downs it in one big gulp.

You have gained 1 STR

You have gained 1 AGI

You have gained 1 PHY

You have gained 1 SPR

ERROR: Current stats not aligned with Statistical OCD lvl MAX

You have lost 1 STR

You have lost 1 AGI

You have lost 1 PHY

You have lost 1 SPR

You have gained 4 free stat points

"Nice… now comes the pain I fear…" Alex quickly realizes.

You are taking 1000 Poison damage

Checking PHY - PHY over 8 - reducing damage by 100

Checking PHY - PHY over 10 - reducing damage by 100

Checking PHY - PHY over 12 - reducing damage by 100

Maximum PHY reduction in dmg

Checking SPR - SPR over 8 - reducing damage by 100

Checking SPR - SPR over 10 - reducing damage by 100

Checking SPR - SPR over 12 reducing damage by 100

Maximum SPR reduction in dmg

You are taking 400 Poison damage

Poison resistance - Your Poison damage is reduced by 55%

You are taking 180 poison damage over 10 seconds

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

"UUUGGHHH!!!"

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

"FUCK THIS!"

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

"SHIT THIS HURTS"

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

You have been poisoned - Taking 18 HP damage

Alex collapses from the pain, overwhelmed but alive, the poison's effects receding after what feels like an eternity of agony.

Alex Kerber: Lvl 3

HP: 27/207, MP: 114/167

Available Stat Points: 4

"Fuck, this hurts!" Alex groans, deciding not to take any risks despite being in a safe spot. He quickly boosts his HP by eating one of his last two pieces of [Navalia Wolf Jerky].

He's in shock. "What the fuck? I nearly died even with my poison resistance? What kind of scam is this?" If he weren't wearing his "Spirit of Pluto" set pieces that raise his max HP, he'd be dead by now.

"Well… no use dwelling on it, I guess! It's time to use my stat points!" He grins widely, unable to contain his excitement. Four available stat points? For Alex, that's the best possible outcome! He activates Statistical OCD lvl MAX and increases every single stat by 1.

Alex Kerber: Lvl 3

Available Stat Points: 0

STR: 12, AGI: 12, PHY: 12, SNS: 12, CHA: 12, MNA: 12, INT: 12, SPR: 12, LUK: 12

Again, he feels his entire body undergoing rapid growth. Despite the lingering poison pain, he never wants this feeling to end! His entire existence feels like it's leveling up, rising by nearly 10%. "This is so addicting…" Alex mutters as the rush finally fades.

Setting up his tent quickly, he enters it and takes out his two chests. With his LUK stat now boosted even higher, he's even more confident and eager to open them!

[Chest]

World: Hunter x Hunter

Quality: Green

Level: 3

Note: Dropped by Cave Spider - Can't be traded

[Chest]

World: Hunter x Hunter

Quality: Blue

Level: 3

Note: Dropped by Mustrano - Can't be traded

Alex opens the green-quality chest from the Cave Spider first.

You received Cave Spider's Essence Ring

[Cave Spider's Essence Ring]

World: Hunter x Hunter

Quality: Light Blue

Type: Ring

Required Stats: AGI - 7, SNS - 7

Effect 1: Increases AGI by 1 (Flat boost, not increased by skills)

Effect 2: Increases SNS by 1 (Flat boost, not increased by skills)

Note: The essence of a cave spider, forcefully raised to its absolute limits and condensed into a ring.

"Oh wow! I needed a second ring." He slides it on, appreciating the simple design and the basic but useful effects. But he's intrigued by the note on it, it's a bit strange. The item doesn't require any specific skills, just the base stats, and those stats are exactly what it boosts. "It's like the system is secretly praising my LUK… almost as if it's saying this is as good as it gets. The spider couldn't have dropped anything better." He shakes his head, still amazed. "I mean, my LUK is so high, even with 100 LUK I might not have gotten anything better. Considering the enemy was a weak cave spider that died to a single "Fire" spell, a green-quality chest was already a miracle. Hoping for anything better than this Light Blue ring would've been insane."

Alex decides to open the blue chest as well, his expectations sky-high, given it came from the mighty Mustrano. Honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if it had dropped a purple chest, Mustrano was just that powerful at this point in Alex's journey.

But as he opens the chest, something feels… off. The chest itself seems smaller than usual, and the blue color looks dim. "What is this?" Alex wonders, confused. He opens it, expecting the usual light, but nothing happens.

You received Skillbook: Claw Proficiency

"That's it?" He frowns. "Maybe forcefully absorbing Mustrano didn't just take part of his body—it must have absorbed part of his loot too. It's like the chest itself is the essence of a slain foe, their life force condensed into an item the system recognizes. But since I already took so much from Mustrano… this is all that's left."

Still, he inspects the skill book:

[Skillbook: Claw Proficiency]

Quality: Light Blue

Effect: Teaches the skill "Claw Proficiency"

Note: Claws are a rare and primitive weapon type. This skill teaches the absolute limits of such weapons.

Claw Proficiency (Level 0 Base):

Requirements: 6 STR, 6 AGI +1 per level

Requirements: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 0, Basic Footwork lvl 0 +1 per level

Leveling Requirements: 1500 Fantasy Coins + 500 per level

Effects: +10% damage, accuracy, and attack speed with any claw weapon, +5% per level

Effects: +5% chance to parry and block with claws, +1% per level

Note: This skill includes all possible uses of claws, from clawed feet to punching, blocking, parrying, stabbing, cutting, gouging, and basic claw attacks. These techniques can also be used with your bare hands and feet.

"Claws really are seen as weak and primitive weapons," Alex muses. "Makes sense, I guess. In most fantasy worlds, magic and swords rule the stage. Claws are used by beastmen, barbarians, side characters, never the so-called 'heroes.' Because of that, the system is classifying claws as weak, meaning this skill is already the absolute limit of the type. There might be something rarer or a higher path out there, but it'd probably be rare as hell and tied to specific characters. Still, if I had a free skill slot, this would be useful with my new ability." He sighs, feeling a bit let down. The chest felt nearly drained and hadn't delivered the dream drop he'd hoped for, unlike the green chest.

Just then, he feels a strange energy surge in his tattoo on his left wrist. "Wait… Mustrano?" he mutters. "Don't tell me…"

Alex activates Mustrano's Malice Mauler lvl 1, watching as Mustrano's eye appears on the inner side of the claw, staring at him intently. "Human… I felt sssomething dissssappear when you killed me," Mustrano's voice hisses. "It looksss like that'sss it. I ssstill know how to ussse a claw, but sssince you are now controlling me, it looksss like you need it more than I do. I can feel thisss item calling to me, just like that other thing before. Feed it to me! Your performance againssst that wolf wasss pathetic! You must raisssse your ssskill to properly dessstroy your prey."

Alex holds back his eagerness to power up immediately, deciding to get a solid understanding with his new "friend" before diving in. If he kept feeding Mustrano skills without knowing more, it could backfire. What if Mustrano became too strong, started rebelling, or even turned against him? "I can't have that," he thinks, determined.

"Let's talk, Mustrano," he says firmly. "Looks like you've picked up on the essentials. But let me fill you in completely. Since you're part of me now, I think the system's restrictions on information don't apply. I'll tell you everything."

With that, Alex opens up, describing his experiences in the other worlds, the nature of the Realm, and his sense of the relentless battles that lie ahead.

"Sssssooo, human…" Mustrano hisses slowly, seeming to savor every word. "You will continue to fight othersss like yoursssseelf, conssstantly forced into deadly worldssss, fighting for your life? What more could I want? Thisss sssoundsss like heaven! Thisss isss what I alwaysss wanted… FREEDOM!"

"Yeah, Mustrano. Let's cut to the chase. What I need is a tool, a weapon—something I can rely on. I realize… you're more than just that now. You're basically a comrade, so I'll treat you like one. But understand this: I'm the one in control, and my life's on the line. Sometimes, violence isn't the answer, and when that happens, I need you to stay calm. If you can promise me that, I'll make a promise in return."

Alex looks at the claw with intensity. "When the chance comes, I'll let you feast. And since I'm treating you as a comrade, I'll include you in my decisions. This is my offer. I swear on my life that I'm not deceiving you. Now, do you accept?"

"I would have followed your ordersss anyway… but to be a comrade? That'sss different. It feelsss sstrange, being comrade to a human… but then again, nothing about thiss isss normal." Mustrano's voice shifts, a hint of acceptance in his tone. "Fine. I accept, human. I'll follow your lead and ssssupport you, not jusssst obey. After our fight, I've ssseen enough to know what you are, sssomeone driven by violence and sssurvival. Your inssstinctsss… your ssskillsss… you've killed and will do it again. I know I won't regret thisss choice."

Alex senses a shift in his tattoo—it feels lighter, less like a foreign force. "Seems like he's more reasonable than I thought. Maybe this partnership will work out," Alex thinks, pleased.

"Alright, then. Time to feed my friend," Alex says with a grin, holding out the [Skillbook: Claw Proficiency].

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