Will stared at his level 5 Dark Magic and fell into thought.
Partly, he was deciding which Bonus Ability to choose. But he was also thinking about how Dark Magic's Bonus Abilities were almost always brutally straightforward.
Compared with the level 5 abilities for Charms and Transfiguration, these were more like raw stat boosts, steadily raising the numbers.
Level 5 Charms involved constructing spell mechanisms, while level 5 Transfiguration had given Will the absurdly powerful Formless Chaos.
The level 5 Charisma Bonus Ability, True Mask, was another ability built around a unique mechanic.
Will wondered whether Bonus Abilities depended on how he had developed each field.
His levels in Charms and Transfiguration had risen as he studied their fundamental nature.
As for Charisma, he used that ability practically everywhere.
But he had raised his Dark Magic through plain old reading and study, piling up progress with sheer volumes of learning material.
Was that why those other level 5 Bonus Abilities had such outrageous mechanics?
While Dark Magic had outrageous numbers instead?
Will thought that was probably it. He had assumed his cheat was a rigid system that rewarded grinding.
Now, it seemed remarkably flexible—almost like a "study-note compiler and limit breaker."
With that settled, Will returned to choosing his level 5 Dark Magic Bonus Ability.
None of the options were weak. It was just that Evil Soul's "soul tending toward evil" bothered him.
His soul was now Formless Chaos, and he had no idea whether a tendency toward evil would have any harmful effects.
Soul Annihilation and Evil Burning were both plenty powerful.
But Soul Annihilation clearly added a special mechanic.
The ability to add soul damage to Dark Magic would exponentially increase the power of a whole range of spells.
Sectumsempra being able to cut souls was already absurd