Inside the room.
Chen Ming sat quietly on the bed, his eyes half-closed.
The strange redness that had covered his body was gone now. He no longer steamed like a furnace.
However, Chen Ming's breathing was extremely faint, with no visible rise or fall.
It was as if he had entered a state of deep meditation.
Inside his mental space...
[Mental Strength +40!]
Chen Ming finished another round of absorption.
His consciousness returned from its focused state, and he instinctively checked his progress.
By his estimate, he was already at 90%!
So far, he had gained mental strength solely by absorbing Azure Flame Molten Fire.
He had gained a whopping 490 points!
That was an incredible amount.
By comparison, a normal Class Changer would need to gain five levels to receive that much of a boost.
It was important to understand that mental strength, as a special attribute, mattered not only to classes like mages and warlocks.
The endurance needed for long battles, the cost of using skills, and the power of skill bursts were all tied to mental strength.
And there was something else that no one could ignore that was also affected by mental strength...
Lifespan!
"Just a little more. I hope I can reach perfection."
Chen Ming could feel that the process of "absorbing attributes" was nearing its limit.
In other words, he was about to perfect this stage of awakening a mental skill at 20% mental potential.
Class Changers also had a limit to how much they could absorb from rare resources, and that limit varied from person to person.
Most people simply never had to consider it, because they couldn't come close to reaching it.
"I wonder what skill I'll awaken once I hit the limit."
A mental attack?
Or a mental domain, like the ones only high-level Class Changers could awaken?
But Chen Ming was sure it wouldn't be weak.
And there was a good chance it would come with the noble attribute of armor piercing!
[Mental Strength +1!]
Progress: 91%
[Mental Strength +1!]
Progress: 92%!
At last.
[Mental Strength +1!]
Progress: 100%!
The moment he absorbed the last trace of attribute energy, Chen Ming felt completely refreshed!
An intense wave of comfort surged through his mind.
His consciousness returned to his body. He abruptly opened his eyes, which gleamed brightly.
Before he could even open his class panel to check, a notification popped up.
[Mental potential reached 20%--] [Mental resource absorption reached its limit--] [Would you like to awaken a "mental skill" now?]
Seeing the notification appear as if it couldn't wait to show itself, Chen Ming didn't hesitate. He chose "Awaken"!
The next moment...
Pfft—
A sound like dry wood catching fire rang out in the quiet room.
Chen Ming was "ignited."
In the literal sense.
On the bed, Chen Ming stared at his body in shock.
Real flames began to pour from his mouth and nose, and from every pore in his body.
The azure-blue flames were semi-transparent, seeming to be both real and unreal.
[You have successfully awakened an SSS-rank skill: Mental · Annihilation!]
Chen Ming's eyes widened, and his breathing grew rapid.
SSS-rank?!
After reaching the limit, he had awakened an SSS-rank mental skill outright!
He hurriedly opened his panel.
[Mental · Annihilation (Lv. 0)]
A passive basic-attack ability—
Permanently elevates the form of attacks to "Annihilation Attacks," applying three effects: Enchantment · Armor Break · Stacking Attack!
"Elevates the form of attacks? What kind of ability is this?"
Chen Ming raised an eyebrow. The wording made him feel that this ability was no ordinary thing.
He looked at the three effects listed below, each with a detailed description.
[Annihilation · Enchantment]: After any form of attack hits a target, it deals an additional 1% mental strength damage to that target!
"Mm, an enchanted attack."
Chen Ming narrowed his eyes in thought.
This was a very useful ability.
He didn't need to deliberately use a mental attack to deal mental damage.
That meant all of Chen Ming's attacks would deal both physical and mental damage from now on.
This kind of dual damage was the biggest headache for enemies!
There was no way to guard against it.
And Chen Ming's mental strength was extremely high.
After absorbing the mental resources, his mental strength had already surpassed 1,500 points!
Against enemies with weak mental strength...
Their minds might die before the physical battle was even over.
"Not bad."
Chen Ming moved on to the next effect.
[Annihilation · Armor Break]: After any form of attack hits a target, your armor-piercing attribute against that target increases by 100%. The armor-breaking effect is permanent!
"100% armor break?"
Chen Ming's eyes lit up, and he perked right up.
He had thought that the 20% armor-piercing attribute from before was already powerful, and that it was part of the skill's preview.
But this was a pleasant surprise.
He soon understood why.
That 20% armor-piercing attribute had come from absorbing Azure Flame Flowing Fire. If he hadn't obtained and absorbed the final Azure Flame Molten Fire, then his armor-piercing attribute might have remained at 20% after awakening his mental skill.
Still, Chen Ming hadn't expected the boost to be this enormous.
With 100% armor break, wouldn't his attacks ignore defense outright from now on?!
He wouldn't even need to search for weak points in battle.
After all, a weak-point attack was essentially an armor-breaking attack.
What? You say you don't have a weak point?
Then I'll create one for you!
One strike, and your defense is broken.
"Mm, now this feels worthy of an SSS-rank skill."
Chen Ming nodded in satisfaction.
With 100% armor break, he'd be able to take on enemies above his level across a much wider range.
Then he checked the final effect.
[Annihilation · Stacking Attack]: After dealing damage to any target with a single attack, your attack damage increases by 100%, up to a maximum of 10,000%! (Duration: one hour)
"How much?!"
Chen Ming shot upright.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure he hadn't read it wrong.
"Yikes... a 10,000% maximum increase to attack damage?!"
Chen Ming knew about skills that stacked attack damage.
Some warriors and assassins had abilities like that.
But the ones he knew of stacked by 30% or 50%, with 100% attack damage as the absolute limit.
And even then, they could only reach that limit under specific conditions.
But now, his Annihilation Attack's stacking mechanic added 100% in a single hit!
What kind of terrifying, explosive growth was that?
"Right, there's also the armor-piercing attribute!"
Chen Ming suddenly remembered that this ability could also combine with 100% armor break.
If the damage was calculated as double thanks to the armor break...
Then the actual maximum damage of [Annihilation · Stacking Attack] should be twice as high.
Chen Ming's mouth twitched. He swallowed instinctively.
"No wonder it says it elevates the form of attacks."
"It turns basic attacks into skills!"
There was no doubt about it...
This Annihilation Attack was the god of one-on-one combat!
Once the stacks were maxed out, even Chen Ming didn't dare imagine how terrifying his combat power would be.
One hit, dealing 20,000% attack damage.
Could anyone take that?
Before you continue