Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society
chapter-182

That day, I finished grinding the Twin-headed Ogre.

[You consumed Ogre’s Tattoo Invigoration Elixir to the limit. The Twin-headed Ogre’s Tattoo became invigorated to its peak. Your strength increases by 6%. Your constitution increases by 6.]

[You equipped the Twin-headed Ogre Set. Your constitution increases by 27. When the Twin-headed Ogre Set is equipped, you can use ‘Ogre Power’ once per day.]

[Ogre Power doubles your strength for 5 minutes.]

Though extremely simple, seeing Ogre Power’s description put a smile on my face. I immediately extracted Ogre Power from the set and inscribed it into the pocket watch’s 11 o’clock position. I clenched my fists. With this, I would be able to freely use Gigantic!

There was also only one skill left to put into the Collector’s Pocket Watch. Without having to grind the 60th floor, I could simply extract Crimson Dragon Scale Armor’s skill and put it in the watch. When Lin makes me a new armor, I would have to say goodbye to this armor. However, Crimson Roar was too strong of a skill to throw away. It was wise to put it in the pocket watch.

“Alright… let’s do it.”

Once I made up my mind, I acted quickly. I immediately extracted the skill from the armor and put it in the pocket watch. After a red gem was inscribed in the pocket watch’s 12 o’clock position, the watch shined.

[Collector’s Pocket Watch has been completed! The power hidden in the watch is released!]

[You became a ‘Skill Mixer’. Your magic increases by 10.]

[You obtained the skill, ‘Skill Synthesis.’ When used, you can choose one skill to act as a base and one or more skills to act as supplements. The base skill and the supplement skills will then become one. Skill Synthesis cannot fail, but the newly created skill may be weaker than the base skill. The pocket watch’s skills may also be synthesized, but they cannot be synthesized with the other skills you have learned. Skill Synthesis has no skill level.]

[You obtained the skill, ‘Spirit of the Mixer.’ Spirit of the Mixer increases the chance that Skill Synthesis produces a skill you desire. It has no skill level.]

“Eh…”

The mixer in my kitchen flashed in my head, which I quickly shook off my mind. Skill Mixer… It seemed it was the natural result since the pocket watch could only contain 12 skills. Still, combining skills together… As I had never even thought of the possibility, I looked at the skills in the pocket watch.

[Collector’s Pocket Watch:

1 o’clock: Orc Lord’s Warcry

2 o’clock: Vengeful Spirit’s Wail

3 o’clock: Dark Thunder Explosion

4 o’clock: Dragon Skin

5 o’clock: Diehard

6 o’clock: Undead Roar

7 o’clock: Outburst

8 o’clock: Shadow Blink

9 o’clock: Gigantic

10 o’clock: Ice Touch

11 o’clock: Ogre Power

12 o’clock: Crimson Roar]

“Hmm, now that I think about it…”

There were many skills I normally didn’t use. I rarely used Vengeful Spirit’s Wail or Undead Roar, and now that I wasn’t lacking in attack power, I wasn’t using Dark Thunder Explosion or Outburst. On the other hand, skills like Ogre Power and Gigantic were better used together.

There were also perfect skills that I couldn’t synthesize no matter what. The first was Orc Lord’s Warcry, and the second was Dragon Skin. They were both amazing defensive skills that saved me numerous times before. Although I didn’t use Diehard that much, it was the last lifeline I could rely on. As for Crimson Roar, it was slightly annoying that I could only use it when I was alone, but since I couldn’t even begin to think about what skill to fuse it with, it was hard to touch it.

“This Skill Synthesis skill is quite a gamble…”

I checked my luck stat. It was unprecedentedly high. Plus, if I continued without doing anything, I wouldn’t have the space to put the new skill I’d get on the 60th floor. Sometimes, one had to be bold.

“Alright.”

Once I made up my mind, I immediately activated Skill Synthesis. A large stone slab appeared in the air. It was divided into two sides, one having a large cavity and the other having several smaller cavities. It was clear that the larger cavity was for the base skill and that the smaller cavities were for the additional skills. Just like skill description said, it seemed I could use more than one skill as additional inputs.

“Vengeful Spirit’s Wail and Undead Roar. Which one do I use as the supplement?”

What was more useless…? Objectively speaking, it was Vengeful Spirit’s Wail. Although I didn’t use Undead Roar, it was quite useful since it decreased all living beings’ speed by 95%. Although I was also affected by the skill, I could always use Orc Lord’s Warcry to dispel the effect for me and my allies.

It was just that I never met an opponent that forced me to use it. If I did, I was afraid that it would have a method to block the skill somehow. This skill… could it really be more useless than Vengeful Spirit’s… Kuhum.

“On the other hand, Plene can more or less do the same thing Vengeful Spirit’s Wail does.”

They were both trash. Though I felt like I was being a bit too rude to the skills, I was too lazy to change my mind.

“Actually, if I use both of them as supplements, what base skill would they go well with?”

Of the other 10 skills in the pocket watch, I thought hard about which one needed the two skills effects. Orc Lord’s Warcry? If it turned out as I hoped, Orc Lord’s Warcry would also stupefy others.

Interesting. I liked it.

“Kuk, but I’m not confident…”

At times like this, one needed to experiment. I decided to synthesize skills I didn’t really need before I attempted to synthesize any skill with Orc Lord’s Warcry.

“Outburst and Dark Thunder Explosion!”

Like a certain robotic cat pulling magical gadgets out of his 4D pocket, I placed the two skills and placed them on the base and supplement spots respectively.

[7 o’clock skill, Outburst, is embedded in the Skill Synthesis’ base skill position.]

[3 o’clock skill, Dark Thunder Explosion, is embedded in the Skill Synthesis’ supplement skill position.]

Outburst was more practical than Dark Thunder Explosion, and more importantly, it was less embarrassing to yell Outburst than Dark Thunder Explosion.

“Skill Synthesis!”

The stone slab began to spin in place. Seeing the stone slab glow as it accelerated, I was worried that it would explode like in manhwa. Thankfully, no explosions happened. The stone slab eventually began to decelerate until it came to a stop. The line that divided the slab was no longer there. Instead, a symbol letting out a mystical light was engraved in the center.

I put my hand on the symbol.

[You obtained the skill, ‘Gaia Buster.’ When used, the power of black lightning surges through your weapon and shatters the earth. Countless shards of rocks holding the power of black lightning hurl towards your target, dealing massive physical damage, lightning damage, and curse damage. The more your target is hit by the shards, the more exponential the damage becomes. The target hit by the attack will become paralyzed and stunned. These effects cannot be resisted. Gaia Buster can only be used once per day.]

“Why!? Why!?”

Why did another embarrassing skill name appear!? Even though the skill itself is so good! I swallowed my rage and stored the skill in the 3 o’clock position.

In any case, I was certain about one thing. It was that the base skill’s effects were properly maintained. In that case, now was the time. A man had to be bold when necessary.

“… But before that, let me try with Gigantic and Ogre Power.”

I wasn’t timid. I just liked safety!

[You obtained the skill, ‘Gigant Time.’ For 5 minutes, you can enlarge your weapon or a part of your body. The enlarged target will be imbued with the divine power of a Giant and give off a terrifying destructive power. When a weapon is enlarged, you will not be affected by the weapon’s weight. Gigant Time can only be used once per day.]

“Yes, this is it!”

Perfect! The skill effect was exactly what I wanted, and more importantly, the name was normal! I smacked my lips. This was… fun!

“Now, let’s get to the fun part, uhehehe.”

Letting out a strange laughing noise, I activated Skill Synthesis again. I decisively put Orc Lord’s Warcry in the base skill position and threw Vengeful Spirit’s Wail and Undead Roar in the supplemental skill positions. Then, I suddenly thought that it might be too boring if I only included sound based skills.

“I should put in the pretty useless… I mean, although it’s good, it’s more fun… I mean interesting to see what would happen.”

I was talking about Ice Touch. I had Sharana who could tie someone down and I had the ice elemental Ruyue, who was getting stronger by the day. To be honest, Ice Touch really wasn’t all that usef… uh, it was slightly less effective!

In any case, I threw the skill into the supplement skill position. Three supplement skills! Seeing the stone slab shining radiantly, my heart began to bounce.

“Huhu, good… Skill Synthesis!”

The stone slab spun violently. As I watched full of expectation, the stone slab accelerated, then began to decelerate. In the end, a radiant white symbol appeared in front of me. I felt like it would blind me.

[You obtained the unique skill, ‘Frozen Roar.’]

Ice Touch, you put in too much effort! Why are you so self-assertive!

[When used, all existence, other than you and those you acknowledged as your allies, will be frozen cold. Even if they resist the freezing effect, they will receive a critical status effect that threatens their ability to move. This skill targets all existence, whether they are living or dead. Immediately after the skill is used, you and your allies will be cleansed of all status effects and will regenerate all wounds. For 5 minutes, you and your allies become super-armored, while all abilities are increased by 50%. Furthermore, when facing those affected by Frozen Roar, your chance of landing critical hits doubles. Frozen Roar can only be used once per day.]

[You created a unique skill! Unique skills are skills that possess strength on par with God’s powers without receiving the breath of a god! This grand achievement causes all gods to focus on you. Gods related to winter become especially interested. You obtained 3 skill points. Current skill points: 23]

“Wow…”

Something completely unexpected happened…! Ice Touch perfectly combined the other three skills together. I meant to add a little more effect to the skill but ended up making some ultimate skill. Although I was the one who did it, I became touched. I put Frozen Roar in the 1 o’clock position. The gem letting out a white silver glow seemed to be giving off a chill. It seemed not all gems were the same.

However, with some gems missing, it didn’t look that good. I organized the gems in the pocket watch. Although I only filled up the 12 o’clock position today, 8 o’clock through 12 o’clock positions were empty again. However, I was more than happy seeing the aura the newly acquired gems were emitting.

[Collector’s Pocket Watch

1 o’clock: Frozen Roar (Orc Lord’s Warcry + Vengeful Spirit’s Wail + Undead Roar + Ice Touch)

2 o’clock: Gaia Buster (Outburst + Dark Thunder Explosion)

3 o’clock: Dragon Skin

4 o’clock: Diehard

5 o’clock: Shadow Blink

6 o’clock: Gigant Time (Gigantic + Ogre Power)

7 o’clock: Crimson Roar]

“Should I synthesize the other skills too…? No.”

Perhaps, I might get better skills later. It wouldn’t be too late to synthesize them later. Although I could also synthesize skills other than the ones in the pocket watch, I decided to think about that later.

Right now, I had to go to Beyond.

“Shin-nim, why did you come out so late! I was worried that vitality hit zero!”

“Sorry, Loretta. I had to do something.”

When I left the Floor Master room, Loretta pouted. However, when I explained what happened with the Collector’s Pocket Watch, she widened her eyes and nodded.

“I didn’t know that there was a stage after. After all, that watch has never been completed before.”

“Why?”

“Shin-nim, do you think it’s common to collect all the Floor Master sets?”

“True.”

I nodded in agreement. Then, I told Loretta.

“I’m sorry to tell you this when I just saw you again, but I have to go Beyond’s 5th floor.”

“I hate Shin-nim.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Well, that’s true. I doubt even Shin-nim will be able to beat him on the first try.”

“Eh? Him?”

“… Huh? You didn’t know?”

Loretta tilted her head and asked. To me, who was fully prepared to break through an ocean of Orc Lords and Wraith Queens, her following words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

“Just like the other dungeons, Beyond also has Floor Masters every 5 floors…”

“Why is that the only part that’s the same!”

No matter how much I nitpicked, there wasn’t anyone to give me answers. Just like that, I received a chance to test my newly acquired strength.

… This is unreasonable!

Author’s note:

There was someone who predicted this when the Collector’s Pocket Watch first came out… I can’t remember his username though…

Skill Synthesis! It creates new skills out of usele… less effective skills! As I thought, it’s more fun to lessen the number of skills and increase their power!

PS – The contest result will come out tomorrow.

In the RAW, “Skill Mixer” was actually “Skill Mix Actor” for some reason (like it was literally Romanized in that form). I changed it to Skill Mixer because 1) that sounds better 2) ‘mix actor’ sounds horrible.

Also, I thought the author changed Gigantic to Gigant, but it looks like that was a typo by the author lol. It doesn’t matter since the skill is gone now!