Devouring Dragon Heir-Chapter 56: Ch new skills -1

Klaus sat in his new, luxurious room within William’s mansion, the echoes of the recent interrogation and William’s revelations still fresh in his mind.

The immense power he had displayed and the horrifying truths he had uncovered had solidified his purpose.

He had to grow stronger, faster, and more efficiently.

He decided that since his "Gate-Eater" identity didn’t need a revision of skills,

he would save his Earth and Shadow elemental skills for later.

His immediate focus would be on improving his Fire and Ice elemental skills for now, as these were the ones he would reveal during his entrance and other places.

He needed to ensure his visible arsenal was as formidable as possible.

He started with Fire. He opened his mental skill panel and reviewed his current Fire-elemental S-rank skills:

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1. Skill: Infernal Monarch’s Decree (S)

This skill channels the boss’s inherent dominion over fire, transforming the battlefield into a searing inferno that obeys its will.

Effects:

World Ablaze: The entire battle arena erupts in roaring flames, dealing continuous, immense fire damage to all enemies. This fire ignores conventional resistances and actively seeks out targets, making escape nearly impossible.

Phoenix’s Revival: When the host’s health drops below a critical threshold (e.g., 25%), it can choose to sacrifice a portion of the "World Ablaze" energy to instantly restore a significant percentage of its health and cleanse all negative status effects. This also grants a temporary invulnerability frame.

Ashfall Annihilation: Upon deactivation or significant damage, the active flames condense into superheated ash, which then explodes outward in a concussive blast, inflicting heavy blunt force damage and applying a stacking "Ash Scorch" debuff that reduces enemy healing received and movement speed.

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2. Skill: Cunning Conflagration (S)

This skill unleashes the Fiery Goblin King’s twisted genius, weaponizing chaotic fire and overwhelming numbers with surprising tactical depth.

Effects:

Volatile Swarm Summon: Summons a relentless horde of Explosive Goblins (A-rank minions) that aggressively charge enemies. Each goblin detonates upon contact or death, dealing substantial AoE fire damage and leaving behind lingering pools of scorching naphtha that slow movement.

Inferno Trap Network: The boss can instantly create a hidden, intricate network of flame geysers and tripwires across the arena. These traps activate unpredictably, launching jets of superheated plasma or ensnaring targets in flaming nets, inflicting continuous burns and rooting effects.

Arcane Immolation: Targets affected by "Volatile Swarm" or "Inferno Trap Network" accumulate stacks of "Immolation." Upon reaching a critical number of stacks, the boss can activate "Arcane Immolation," causing all affected enemies to spontaneously combust, taking massive burst fire damage that bypasses armor and spreads to nearby allies.

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3. Skill: Molten Earth Devourer (S)

This skill transforms the Lava Hound boss into a living geological catastrophe, consuming the very ground to empower itself and unleash devastating, seismic assaults.

Effects:

Magma Infusion: The boss merges with the surrounding molten earth, becoming temporarily unstoppable and gaining a massive boost to damage resistance. During this state, it constantly radiates intense heat, melting enemy armor and dealing passive fire damage to all within proximity.

Churning Maw Collapse: The boss can cause sections of the arena floor to become unstable and collapse into a churning pit of magma, instantly incapacitating and dealing extreme fire damage to anyone caught within. This also creates impassable terrain, altering the battlefield dynamic.

Thermal Shockwave: After exiting "Magma Infusion" or by violently slamming its body, the boss generates a radial thermal shockwave. This wave not only deals immense burst fire damage but also applies a "Congeal" debuff, freezing enemies in place briefly and making them highly vulnerable to subsequent physical attacks.

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Klaus decided to fuse the skills together.

He initiated the fusion process, selecting Infernal Monarch’s Decree (S) and Molten Earth Devourer (S). The System immediately calculated their compatibility.

Surprisingly, the compatibility came out to be 65%, a relatively high percentage for two distinct S-rank skills, indicating a strong potential for a powerful combined product at SSS-rank.

The fusion process began as Klaus waited in anticipation.

When it was completed, a new skill materialized on his panel:

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SSS-Rank Skill: Flaming God’s Fury

This ultimate skill allows the hero to channel the primordial essence of fire, becoming a temporary avatar of a blazing elemental sovereign. The hero commands not just flames, but the very concept of inferno, turning the battlefield into their scorching dominion.

Effects:

Primordial Flame Incarnation: The host transforms into a being of pure, solidified flame. They gain absolute immunity to all fire damage and a massive boost to all other elemental resistances. Every attack they unleash, regardless of its original type, is now imbued with overwhelming Fire damage, piercing through most defenses. This transformation consumes a significant amount of mana but grants unparalleled offensive and defensive capabilities.

Infernal Nova: The host unleashes a massive, outward-spreading wave of pure hellfire. This nova deals catastrophic Fire damage to all enemies in a huge area, incinerating obstacles and leaving behind lingering zones of superheated ash that continue to burn and hinder foes. The range and intensity of this nova are directly proportional to the mana invested.

Phoenix’s Heartbeat: When the host’s health drops below a critical threshold (e.g., 30%) while this skill is active, they ignite in a brilliant flash of restorative flame. This instantly restores a significant portion of their health, cleanses all negative status effects, and grants a brief period of invulnerability. This also amplifies the intensity of their damaging aura for a short duration, turning them into a temporary, unstoppable force.

Living Cinder Manifestation: The host can briefly summon unstable pillars of condensed flame from the ground, or cause eruptions of molten fire at targeted locations. These manifestations deal burst AoE Fire damage, can imprison single targets in searing bonds, or create temporary walls of flame to control the battlefield, altering the terrain to their advantage.

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Klaus was immensely satisfied seeing the effects of the newly fused skill.

Flaming God’s Fury (SSS) was a true powerhouse, a comprehensive offensive and crowd control skill that would make him a terrifying force on any battlefield.

It was exactly the kind of overwhelming power he sought.

Unfortunately, Cunning Conflagration (S) was not compatible with the new SSS-rank skill.

Its unique, tactical nature and reliance on summoning minions didn’t blend well with the raw, destructive power of Flaming God’s Fury.

So, it had to wait. Klaus decided to keep it for now, as it still offered valuable utility, especially its trap-setting and debuff capabilities.

He then looked towards his Ice skills.

He had Crystal Garden (S) and Blizzard (S), both powerful AOE and control skills.

However, upon checking their compatibility, no two Ice skills he possessed were compatible enough to fuse into a higher-ranked skill.

This was a minor setback, but not unexpected.

He then noticed his lower-ranked Ice skills: the D-ranked Ice Spike and Frost Action. These were basic, almost rudimentary abilities compared to his S and SSS-rank arsenal.

"System, earlier you made me avoid sacrificing these lower-ranked skills," Klaus mused, recalling the System’s previous intervention.

"What use will they be now? They seem completely outclassed."

[At a certain level of affinity, Host, you will have a very good use for these skills.

That is why Host is advised to hoard as many skills as he can, regardless of their current rank. Although it is completely upon the Host’s will to do so, the System will still advise the Host to retain them. The System’s voice was firm, emphasizing its recommendation.

"Fine, System, I guess I will do that," Klaus conceded.

He trusted the System’s judgment, especially given its track record of guiding him to immense power.

If it said these seemingly useless skills would eventually have a purpose, he would keep them.

"Let’s just create more Ice skills, I guess," he decided.

His Ice Affinity was at 1.9%, firmly within the 1% to 10% tier, which meant he could synthesize new ice-related skills up to S-rank.

He had a vast mana pool and an enhanced understanding of the ice element from his recent absorption spree.

He decided to create several new S-rank ice skills, focusing on versatility and direct combat applications.

He locked himself up in the room.

The thick, soundproof walls of William’s mansion provided the perfect environment for uninterrupted concentration.

He sat in a meditative posture, closing his eyes, and transported his consciousness back into the pristine, white Manifestation Plane. He began his skill-making process.

Klaus focused his mind, recalling the principles of ice manipulation he had learned and the raw essence of the ice element itself. He began to etch.

First, he decided to create a powerful single-target ice attack. He envisioned a meteor of pure, condensed ice, capable of widespread devastation. He named it Glacial meteor (S)

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Skill: Glacial meteor (S)

This skill calls down a massive, hyper-condensed meteor of pure ice, delivering a devastating impact that chills all to the bone.

Effects:

Mana Condensation: Gathers a colossal amount of ice mana from the atmosphere, rapidly forming it into a meteoric projectile of immense size and density, visible to all.

Devastating Impact: The ice meteor slams into the targeted area with incredible force, dealing immense AoE Ice and Physical damage to all enemies caught in its wide blast radius. This impact can shatter defenses and even destroy terrain.

Flash Freeze Cascade: The sheer cold radiating from the impact flash-freezes the immediate area, causing all affected enemies to become frozen solid for a short duration, leaving them completely vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

Lingering Cryo-Crater: The impact leaves behind a persistent crater of supernaturally cold ice, which continuously inflicts Ice damage over time and applies a powerful, stacking "Frostbite" debuff to anyone standing within it, slowing their movement and attack speed significantly.

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Klaus smirked as he looked at the skill. He could summon natural disasters on an area, but the high mana cost of the skill could be countered by his ice affinity. So he could virtually summon hundreds of meteors at his current mana capacity.

Next, he needed a defensive skill, something beyond mere armor. He thought of a shield, but one that could also be offensive. He named it Ice Aegis (S).

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