Mixed Blessing System

After some time of Lothur sitting in a lotus position near the end of the fifth corridor, the absorption of that Soul Bone finally came to an end.

[Fibula Soul Bone successfully fused with the host.]

Lothur saw the system message as he opened his eyes, feeling a little dizzy after the painful experience of fusing with the Soul Bone.

But as had happened before, the moment it was all over, he felt great relief as his Super Regeneration skill helped him recover. Still, he would need to meditate for a while to regain his energy since, unlike the last time he absorbed a Soul Bone, he did not advance in level this time.

But Lothur was delighted with his gains, which were soon in his status.

[Name: Lothur Ritter]

[Physique: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger]

[Bloodline: Life Devourer]

[Cultivation: level 13]

[STR: 97.7] [CON: 326] [DEX: 94.6] [AGI: 103.4]

[INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 115]

[EVF: 320]

Lothur did not pay much attention to his status and immediately tried to check the skill he had gained from that Monarch demon's Soul Bone.

[Black Flames] [Rank: Bronze]

[Characteristics: Black Flames is a mental ability capable of showing itself in physical form through dark flames. They can erode mental structures and diminish the reasoning of the victim. It also has soul manipulation abilities. Ultimately, it can be used for mind control.]

[Progress: 0%]

He looked at the system's message boxes, remembering that such a demon's ability seemed like the Black Flames. Such an ability showed itself through a dark aura. It was able to manipulate beings, as it had done with the beasts and animals near that farm.

Lothur then tried to control such a thing, following his feelings to activate the ability of his new Soul Bone for the first time.

'Unlike my Skull Soul Bone, which presents its powers through my eyes, this other one shows itself through my hands...' He felt an icy sensation in his hands and a flame-like black mist slowly emerging from his fingers.

"Hmmm, so that's how it is," Lothur muttered after successfully activating such a thing and holding it for a few seconds.

He felt the thing could not cause material damage, even though it looked like ordinary flames. But if such a thing came in contact with the body of someone with less mental powers than his, it would do great damage.

It would not kill if the difference were not ridiculously large. But it would damage the victim's intelligence and make them more susceptible to the orders of the user of the ability.

In short, this was a way to enslave weaker opponents!

'But that must have a time and distance limit...' He sensed this. 'If I get too far away from the one under the influence of the skill, my victim may get out of my control. That should also be true if I go too long without infusing more black flames into that body.

'Hmm, that's not bad. Considering that this Soul Bone is only ranked Bronze grade, it should improve when it reaches the quality of the other one..." He muttered as he compared his two Soul Bones.

[General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Grade: Gold]

[Progress: 0%]

...

[Monarch Demon Fibula Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

[Progress: 0%]

The quality of a Soul Bone depended mainly on the lineage quality of the demon that generated it. That determined how powerful and significant the benefits such an item would bring to the one who absorbed it.

But the bone's rank depended on the cultivation level when that demon was killed. That is, a higher-level demon would generate higher-ranked bones, which would unlock more power already in the immediate post-absorption moment.

However, that did not mean that these higher-ranked bones would be better. That was because their quality depended on the lineage of those demons that generated it. And a low-ranking demon would naturally not generate good-quality bones, regardless of its cultivation level.

That could easily be seen in the case of Lothur's bones. One of them, when he absorbed it, was in the Silver grade, and the other in the Bronze grade. But even so, while the latter bone already gave him a mind control ability, the former only gave him a vision ability.

As useful as it was, the ability to see through things and see auras and spiritual energy could not compare to controlling an opponent of even the same level!

That was the qualitative difference related to the hierarchy of the demon who generated the Soul Bone!

As such, Lothur was not disappointed. On the contrary, he was pleased that he could have the Soul Bone of a Monarch demon that was only Bronze-grade.

This bone could develop with him and one day reach a high rank, unlocking other abilities for him!

On the other hand, as he stopped to think about what had happened at that end of the fifth corridor of the labyrinth, Lothur could not help but sigh after learning a new fact about himself.

"Sigh..."

'I can't believe I could do that the whole time...' He regretted that he had wasted countless chances to absorb more than just the Constitution points of his opponents who died to his bloodline.

As had happened earlier, when he was in direct contact with his opponents' bodies, Lothur could stimulate their affinities and resistances to get in sync with his bloodline. From this, these characteristics of his could also be strengthened when the bloodline ability was active!

He did not know this before because he had never tried it. But now he had learned, and he could not help but wonder how much he had lost through his ignorance and lack of curiosity.

'But it doesn't matter...'

'If I had taken another path, I might not have reached this point where all these opportunities came my way.' He thought about this before preparing to meditate for a while to continue with the labyrinth challenge.

But before he closed his eyes to meditate, he picked up the item that the maze-generated enemy had left behind and the heavenly gem.

The demon was gone, but the tiny dark gem, which looked like a universe, was left behind since it was not a part of that being.

Lothur had left it to get the demon's energy, so he quickly picked it up and used the system to absorb that form of energy.

As expected, he did not suffer an adverse reaction, and it soon helped him improve the progress bar of his new Soul Bone from 0% to 15%.

Then he saw what the enemy generated by the maze had left him.

[Dragon's Tooth] [Rank: Gold]

[Characteristics: tooth capable of raising physical attributes between 40% and 80%.]

[Detail: this tooth can be used by beasts of any race to strengthen themselves by consuming the item. Beings of other races can also use it, but only those of at least 4th stage can use it.]

[Reminder: consumption of this item by someone who is not a beast and is below level 18 leads to death.]

...