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Chapter 149
Chapter 147: The Otherworld-Exclusive "Phenomenon"—Degraded Body Armament
'Totem Activation'
'Specialty Selection'
Tang Zheng felt a jolt of focus. What truly interested him about the 'Totem Imbuement' skill was its extended options.
As the totem tattoo on his arm was completed, the value for the "Physical Defense" attribute on his stat panel increased by 50 points.
"So the totem of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke increases the base Physical Defense attribute. This is indeed its area of expertise."
Tang Zheng glanced at the changes in his attribute sheet.
He had already researched this while dealing with the large number of wild beasts and monsters in Troll Gu's territory. The range of the attribute increase was between 10 and 50 points.
After all, the Forest Sage King Hamusuke was a monster over level 30, so the increase in the attribute value was to be expected.
Shaman Master was, after all, just an intermediate job class. The true focus of its skills was still on their extended options.
In Tang Zheng's opinion, the increase in base stats seemed more like a way to compensate for the drawback of its passive abilities, which offered no amplification whatsoever.
'Totem Activation' was used in the same way that Fighting Ogre Zero used it.
This was indeed Tang Zheng's initial goal. To him, whether in the early, mid, or late stages, amplification-type skills were always among the most cost-effective.
However!
When he discovered this skill actually had another option, he changed his mind.
"Specialty Selection!"
Tang Zheng's gaze focused as he recited the words silently in his mind.
*Vmm—*
Information began to rapidly appear on the stat panel, displaying the specialties possessed by the Forest Sage King Hamusuke.
'Select one of the following abilities to lock in. Once chosen, it cannot be changed. Please choose an ability that is compatible with your race, class, and traits; otherwise, a weakening or unusable phenomenon may occur:
①: Alertness
②: Agile Body
③: Night Vision
④: Blindness
⑤: Jungle Acceleration
...
⑫: Tenacity
⑬: Body Armament
Please make your choice.'
Looking at the long list of specialties, Tang Zheng was momentarily stunned. He had originally thought there would only be a few options, not this many.
This 'Specialty Acquisition' ability seemed to be far more versatile than he had imagined.
Tang Zheng pondered for a moment.
There wasn't much detailed information about the Shaman system in the game YGGDRASIL. However, based on the descriptions of Shaman systems in various games from his previous life, this job system was similar to the Druid job system, as both could utilize the abilities of certain wild beasts or monsters.
Tang Zheng scanned through the abilities one by one. When he saw the last option, 'Body Armament', his pupils dilated slightly.
"I can even choose this ability?" Tang Zheng was somewhat surprised.
Aside from its racial characteristics, the Forest Sage King Hamusuke's exaggerated defensive capabilities were also partly due to its innate 'Body Armament' passive.
In the game YGGDRASIL, this ability was classified as a skill.
Among the Floor Guardians of the Great Tomb, Cocytus's conspicuous, light-blue, armor-like exoskeleton was a form of Body Armament.
Besides Cocytus, Shalltear, Demiurge, and others also possessed the 'Body Armament' ability.
The greatest advantage of this skill was that the strength of the 'Body Armament' scaled with the user's own stats. In other words, the higher the user's level, the higher the level of the 'Body Armament'.
Since the Body Armament was part of the body itself, it could be restored with healing-type magic even if damaged.
However, the drawback was equally obvious.
The parts of the body covered by 'Body Armament' could not wear equipment. That's why individuals like Shalltear and Demiurge only applied it to parts of their bodies.
At the same time, no matter how high the strength of the 'Body Armament' was, under normal circumstances, it would only reach the level of Legendary-class equipment. Only by adding a large amount of precious materials like Data Crystals could it perhaps barely reach Divine-class strength.
"If I remember correctly, this ability should only be usable by certain demi-humans or heteromorphic races."
Tang Zheng recalled the information about the skill. "What would happen if I chose it?"
The inability to wear equipment over the armored parts was indeed a major drawback, but the problem was, he didn't have any equipment at the moment anyway.
Moreover, due to the traits of a Cursed Knight, ordinary equipment was practically useless in his hands, as it would quickly be corroded and destroyed.
He didn't mind giving it a try.
At worst, he would just waste one totem tattoo. It could also serve as a reference.
"I choose Body Armament!"
*Vmm—*
The stat panel trembled slightly.
'Body Armament' has been selected...'
'The compatibility rate between this skill and the user is low... Weakening has occurred.'
...
Skill: Body Armament → Degraded Body Armament
Cost: None (Passive) → 10% HP (Active)
Description: User can choose partial or full Body Armament. The armored parts cannot wear equipment. Defense value is equal to the user's own Defense value, stacked.
↓
Degraded Description: This skill has been changed to an active skill. After use, the user can choose partial or full Body Armament. The armored parts cannot wear equipment. The defense value is equal to half of the user's own defense value.
...
"A degraded skill... it can turn out like this." Tang Zheng's expression was a bit strange.
Could this be the unique degradation phenomenon of the otherworld?
Passive becomes active!
This was the first time Tang Zheng had ever seen such a situation. In the game, once the 'Body Armament' skill was learned, it functioned like a passive and couldn't be deactivated.
But the degraded Body Armament before him had become an active skill, which meant it could be deactivated at will.
Moreover!
The cost was also rather frightening—10% of his HP. This was a pure percentage-based cost.
"In that case, a full-body Body Armament is clearly more suitable!"
Tang Zheng's gaze turned serious, and he let out a low shout, "Body Armament!"
【HP: 233 → 209】
*Whoosh!*
From every pore on his body, a mist-like energy suddenly erupted, enveloping Tang Zheng completely.
In the blink of an eye!
This energy rapidly solidified, transforming into a suit of bright gray full-body armor, the color of a fingernail. It even encased his head in a helmet, completely concealing his figure.
The sunlight shone down from the sky.
The bright gray full-body armor faintly reflected the light, emitting a subtle metallic sheen.
*Clank! Clank!*
Tang Zheng raised his arm. The joints of the armor rubbed against each other, making a faint clanking sound.
Through the helmet's visor, Tang Zheng could clearly see the suit of bright gray armor on his body. It felt very light.
If he couldn't clearly see that he was wearing a suit of full-body armor, Tang Zheng might have mistaken it for just a set of slightly thicker clothing.
"Item Appraisal!" Tang Zheng cast.
...
Degraded Body Armament · Full Body Armor
Level: Low-Rank (11-20)
Durability: 138
Physical Defense: 84
Magic Defense: 54
Effect: None
Description: None
...
"The Physical and Magic Defense values are half of my own, respectively, and the Durability is their sum."
Looking at the armor's attributes, Tang Zheng quickly figured out what each value represented.
"Deactivate!" Tang Zheng thought.
The bright gray full-body armor flashed and transformed back into a white, misty energy that flowed back into his body.
Tang Zheng's figure reappeared. He stood pondering for a moment before activating the skill again. "Body Armament!"
This time, a layer of bright gray, bone-like material covered Tang Zheng's left arm.
He had performed a partial Body Armament this time. Seeing that the cost was still 10% HP, the corner of Tang Zheng's mouth twitched.
Using the 'Item Appraisal' magic again, Tang Zheng discovered that the attributes of the partial Body Armament were identical to those of the full suit, with no changes whatsoever.
"For the same cost, the partial version is not cost-effective at all."
He deactivated it again.
Looking at his arm, now back to normal, Tang Zheng muttered to himself with an increasingly strange expression, "Why do I feel like the degraded Body Armament is actually more useful than the original version?"
However!
The defensive capabilities of the degraded Body Armament were indeed not very high.
Regardless, the 'Totem Imbuement' skill and this world's unique degradation phenomenon had shown Tang Zheng many more possibilities.
Coming back to his senses, Tang Zheng walked over to the corpse of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke. With a touch of his hand, the massive corpse vanished, stored away in his item box.
'Flight'!
A flash of magic power.
Tang Zheng shot into the air and flew off, returning to Troll Gu's territory.
With the death of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke, and having lost the rule of this dominator, the Southern Great Forest descended into chaos. However, it wasn't long before Demon Snake Naga led a large number of subordinates into the Southern Great Forest. Under Demon Snake Naga's suppression, the chaotic jungle was brought back to order.
At the same time, large numbers of powerful wild beasts and monsters began to be transported to the Forest Rift.
In the short span of a month, the drastic changes within the Touv Great Forest had not affected its outer area at all. In fact, with the disappearance of some powerful monsters, the living conditions for ordinary wild beasts and monsters had suddenly improved.
Ten days later.
The Forest Rift.
Demon Snake Naga stood at the entrance of the cave, bowing with a reverent expression.
"Lord, the powerful wild beasts and monsters in the forest's depths have been mostly cleared out," Demon Snake Naga said in a hoarse, respectful voice.
After speaking, from the corner of his eye, Demon Snake Naga glanced in a direction outside the cave, a flicker of fear in his gaze.
That was where Troll Gu was.
However, its current appearance was completely different from before. Its once-strong body had shrunk considerably, and even its aura had weakened a great deal.
More importantly, blood was constantly flowing from its body, dripping into a wooden bucket below.
Demon Snake Naga swallowed. He felt that if it weren't for Troll Gu's powerful regeneration ability, it would have already died countless times from blood loss alone.
"In that case, let's call it a day for now."
Tang Zheng walked out of the cave, holding a wooden bucket. He smiled at Demon Snake Naga and said, "By the way, Lord Rulalusi, how about you give a little of your blood, too?"
Seeing the large wooden barrel that was half as tall as a person, Demon Snake Naga's whole body went limp, and a whimper entered his tone. "Lord, Lord, I don't have the same recovery ability as a troll!"
Tang Zheng paused, scratching his hair. "Sorry, I forgot about that. I'll get you a smaller one."
Demon Snake Naga's body stiffened.
(end of chapter)
'Totem Activation'
'Specialty Selection'
Tang Zheng felt a jolt of focus. What truly interested him about the 'Totem Imbuement' skill was its extended options.
As the totem tattoo on his arm was completed, the value for the "Physical Defense" attribute on his stat panel increased by 50 points.
"So the totem of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke increases the base Physical Defense attribute. This is indeed its area of expertise."
Tang Zheng glanced at the changes in his attribute sheet.
He had already researched this while dealing with the large number of wild beasts and monsters in Troll Gu's territory. The range of the attribute increase was between 10 and 50 points.
After all, the Forest Sage King Hamusuke was a monster over level 30, so the increase in the attribute value was to be expected.
Shaman Master was, after all, just an intermediate job class. The true focus of its skills was still on their extended options.
In Tang Zheng's opinion, the increase in base stats seemed more like a way to compensate for the drawback of its passive abilities, which offered no amplification whatsoever.
'Totem Activation' was used in the same way that Fighting Ogre Zero used it.
This was indeed Tang Zheng's initial goal. To him, whether in the early, mid, or late stages, amplification-type skills were always among the most cost-effective.
However!
When he discovered this skill actually had another option, he changed his mind.
"Specialty Selection!"
Tang Zheng's gaze focused as he recited the words silently in his mind.
*Vmm—*
Information began to rapidly appear on the stat panel, displaying the specialties possessed by the Forest Sage King Hamusuke.
'Select one of the following abilities to lock in. Once chosen, it cannot be changed. Please choose an ability that is compatible with your race, class, and traits; otherwise, a weakening or unusable phenomenon may occur:
①: Alertness
②: Agile Body
③: Night Vision
④: Blindness
⑤: Jungle Acceleration
...
⑫: Tenacity
⑬: Body Armament
Please make your choice.'
Looking at the long list of specialties, Tang Zheng was momentarily stunned. He had originally thought there would only be a few options, not this many.
This 'Specialty Acquisition' ability seemed to be far more versatile than he had imagined.
Tang Zheng pondered for a moment.
There wasn't much detailed information about the Shaman system in the game YGGDRASIL. However, based on the descriptions of Shaman systems in various games from his previous life, this job system was similar to the Druid job system, as both could utilize the abilities of certain wild beasts or monsters.
Tang Zheng scanned through the abilities one by one. When he saw the last option, 'Body Armament', his pupils dilated slightly.
"I can even choose this ability?" Tang Zheng was somewhat surprised.
Aside from its racial characteristics, the Forest Sage King Hamusuke's exaggerated defensive capabilities were also partly due to its innate 'Body Armament' passive.
In the game YGGDRASIL, this ability was classified as a skill.
Among the Floor Guardians of the Great Tomb, Cocytus's conspicuous, light-blue, armor-like exoskeleton was a form of Body Armament.
Besides Cocytus, Shalltear, Demiurge, and others also possessed the 'Body Armament' ability.
The greatest advantage of this skill was that the strength of the 'Body Armament' scaled with the user's own stats. In other words, the higher the user's level, the higher the level of the 'Body Armament'.
Since the Body Armament was part of the body itself, it could be restored with healing-type magic even if damaged.
However, the drawback was equally obvious.
The parts of the body covered by 'Body Armament' could not wear equipment. That's why individuals like Shalltear and Demiurge only applied it to parts of their bodies.
At the same time, no matter how high the strength of the 'Body Armament' was, under normal circumstances, it would only reach the level of Legendary-class equipment. Only by adding a large amount of precious materials like Data Crystals could it perhaps barely reach Divine-class strength.
"If I remember correctly, this ability should only be usable by certain demi-humans or heteromorphic races."
Tang Zheng recalled the information about the skill. "What would happen if I chose it?"
The inability to wear equipment over the armored parts was indeed a major drawback, but the problem was, he didn't have any equipment at the moment anyway.
Moreover, due to the traits of a Cursed Knight, ordinary equipment was practically useless in his hands, as it would quickly be corroded and destroyed.
He didn't mind giving it a try.
At worst, he would just waste one totem tattoo. It could also serve as a reference.
"I choose Body Armament!"
*Vmm—*
The stat panel trembled slightly.
'Body Armament' has been selected...'
'The compatibility rate between this skill and the user is low... Weakening has occurred.'
...
Skill: Body Armament → Degraded Body Armament
Cost: None (Passive) → 10% HP (Active)
Description: User can choose partial or full Body Armament. The armored parts cannot wear equipment. Defense value is equal to the user's own Defense value, stacked.
↓
Degraded Description: This skill has been changed to an active skill. After use, the user can choose partial or full Body Armament. The armored parts cannot wear equipment. The defense value is equal to half of the user's own defense value.
...
"A degraded skill... it can turn out like this." Tang Zheng's expression was a bit strange.
Could this be the unique degradation phenomenon of the otherworld?
Passive becomes active!
This was the first time Tang Zheng had ever seen such a situation. In the game, once the 'Body Armament' skill was learned, it functioned like a passive and couldn't be deactivated.
But the degraded Body Armament before him had become an active skill, which meant it could be deactivated at will.
Moreover!
The cost was also rather frightening—10% of his HP. This was a pure percentage-based cost.
"In that case, a full-body Body Armament is clearly more suitable!"
Tang Zheng's gaze turned serious, and he let out a low shout, "Body Armament!"
【HP: 233 → 209】
*Whoosh!*
From every pore on his body, a mist-like energy suddenly erupted, enveloping Tang Zheng completely.
In the blink of an eye!
This energy rapidly solidified, transforming into a suit of bright gray full-body armor, the color of a fingernail. It even encased his head in a helmet, completely concealing his figure.
The sunlight shone down from the sky.
The bright gray full-body armor faintly reflected the light, emitting a subtle metallic sheen.
*Clank! Clank!*
Tang Zheng raised his arm. The joints of the armor rubbed against each other, making a faint clanking sound.
Through the helmet's visor, Tang Zheng could clearly see the suit of bright gray armor on his body. It felt very light.
If he couldn't clearly see that he was wearing a suit of full-body armor, Tang Zheng might have mistaken it for just a set of slightly thicker clothing.
"Item Appraisal!" Tang Zheng cast.
...
Degraded Body Armament · Full Body Armor
Level: Low-Rank (11-20)
Durability: 138
Physical Defense: 84
Magic Defense: 54
Effect: None
Description: None
...
"The Physical and Magic Defense values are half of my own, respectively, and the Durability is their sum."
Looking at the armor's attributes, Tang Zheng quickly figured out what each value represented.
"Deactivate!" Tang Zheng thought.
The bright gray full-body armor flashed and transformed back into a white, misty energy that flowed back into his body.
Tang Zheng's figure reappeared. He stood pondering for a moment before activating the skill again. "Body Armament!"
This time, a layer of bright gray, bone-like material covered Tang Zheng's left arm.
He had performed a partial Body Armament this time. Seeing that the cost was still 10% HP, the corner of Tang Zheng's mouth twitched.
Using the 'Item Appraisal' magic again, Tang Zheng discovered that the attributes of the partial Body Armament were identical to those of the full suit, with no changes whatsoever.
"For the same cost, the partial version is not cost-effective at all."
He deactivated it again.
Looking at his arm, now back to normal, Tang Zheng muttered to himself with an increasingly strange expression, "Why do I feel like the degraded Body Armament is actually more useful than the original version?"
However!
The defensive capabilities of the degraded Body Armament were indeed not very high.
Regardless, the 'Totem Imbuement' skill and this world's unique degradation phenomenon had shown Tang Zheng many more possibilities.
Coming back to his senses, Tang Zheng walked over to the corpse of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke. With a touch of his hand, the massive corpse vanished, stored away in his item box.
'Flight'!
A flash of magic power.
Tang Zheng shot into the air and flew off, returning to Troll Gu's territory.
With the death of the Forest Sage King Hamusuke, and having lost the rule of this dominator, the Southern Great Forest descended into chaos. However, it wasn't long before Demon Snake Naga led a large number of subordinates into the Southern Great Forest. Under Demon Snake Naga's suppression, the chaotic jungle was brought back to order.
At the same time, large numbers of powerful wild beasts and monsters began to be transported to the Forest Rift.
In the short span of a month, the drastic changes within the Touv Great Forest had not affected its outer area at all. In fact, with the disappearance of some powerful monsters, the living conditions for ordinary wild beasts and monsters had suddenly improved.
Ten days later.
The Forest Rift.
Demon Snake Naga stood at the entrance of the cave, bowing with a reverent expression.
"Lord, the powerful wild beasts and monsters in the forest's depths have been mostly cleared out," Demon Snake Naga said in a hoarse, respectful voice.
After speaking, from the corner of his eye, Demon Snake Naga glanced in a direction outside the cave, a flicker of fear in his gaze.
That was where Troll Gu was.
However, its current appearance was completely different from before. Its once-strong body had shrunk considerably, and even its aura had weakened a great deal.
More importantly, blood was constantly flowing from its body, dripping into a wooden bucket below.
Demon Snake Naga swallowed. He felt that if it weren't for Troll Gu's powerful regeneration ability, it would have already died countless times from blood loss alone.
"In that case, let's call it a day for now."
Tang Zheng walked out of the cave, holding a wooden bucket. He smiled at Demon Snake Naga and said, "By the way, Lord Rulalusi, how about you give a little of your blood, too?"
Seeing the large wooden barrel that was half as tall as a person, Demon Snake Naga's whole body went limp, and a whimper entered his tone. "Lord, Lord, I don't have the same recovery ability as a troll!"
Tang Zheng paused, scratching his hair. "Sorry, I forgot about that. I'll get you a smaller one."
Demon Snake Naga's body stiffened.
(end of chapter)
