8: Upgrade skills

Looking at the items dropped by this Elite Monster, Lin Ye clearly lost interest in ordinary Zombies.

He had to speed up, delving deeper near the rift to find Elite Monsters, acquire more Skill Book and Special Material. Equipment wasn't urgently needed, as Level 5 was still a long way off.

Having made up his mind, Lin Ye stopped slowly advancing through the Outer Perimeter. Controlling his five m-1 type miniature floating cannon, he consciously began moving closer to the Void Rifts that emitted ominous energy.

The closer he got to the rift, the denser the Void Energy became, and naturally, the higher the chance of High-Level Monster and Elite Monsters appearing.

While efficiently clearing the Level 3 Healthy Zombie he encountered along the way, he maximized his Perception, keeping an eye out for the unique aura and traces of Elite Monsters.

The variety of monsters in this area gradually increased. Besides the Agile Zombie he had seen before, he also encountered several Corpulent Zombie, which were bloated and slow but had extremely high defense, as well as Fast Claw Zombie, which were fast and possessed an extremely strong desire to attack.

Without exception, these Elite Monsters quickly met their demise under the focused fire of Lin Ye's five fully operational floating cannon.

He didn't even need to activate Tactical Command - Alpha Band for burst enhancement; the terrifying attack power of the floating cannon, strengthened by Infinite Empowerment, was enough to crush the elites at this stage.

Time flew by during the efficient hunting. "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" As another Level 5 Elite Fast Claw Zombie was torn to shreds by the focused fire of the floating cannon, Lin Ye's experience bar finally filled up amidst a golden flash.

[Congratulations! Level upgraded to LV3! All attributes have been enhanced! Health and Mana fully restored!]

[Level: 3 (0/10000)]

Lin Ye let out a long breath and opened his Attribute Panel to check.

Sure enough, just as he expected, the attribute points gained from each upgrade were the same: Strength, Agility, and Constitution each increased by 3 points, while Intelligence increased by 15 points, and Spirit by 10 points.

"Very good, my Basic Attributes have risen another step." Lin Ye nodded in satisfaction.

What made him even happier were the abundant Spoils of War accumulated during this time.

He made a rough estimate: from the moment he consciously started hunting elites until he reached Level 3, he had killed over 10 Level 5 Elite Zombie and over 40 Level 3 Healthy Zombie, totaling exactly 5,000 experience points needed for the upgrade.

Thanks to the heaven-defying effect of Miracle Law, the drops from these 15 Elite Zombie were luxurious:

13 primary skill book!

7 pieces of Bronze-tier Equipment! This included Weapon, Armor, Greaves, Helmet, and Gauntlets for various body parts. Although he was currently under-leveled or they weren't entirely suitable, they were undoubtedly a huge fortune.

11 pieces of Bronze-tier Materials! Besides charge crystal, there were various other materials such as Hardened Bone Shard, void essence, and demonized tendon, numerous in type and considerable in quantity.

Furthermore, there was a significant amount of Copper Coin.

"I'm rich!" Lin Ye was in high Spirits looking at the dazzling array of loot in his Personal Storage Space.

Without hesitation, he immediately took out the 13 primary skill book.

"Perfect, all four of my active skills are still Level 1." Lin Ye sequentially selected m-1 type miniature floating cannon, Integrated Polarization Shield, Tactical Command - Alpha Band, and Extraordinary Modification.

[System Notification: Do you wish to consume 2 primary skill book to upgrade the skill m-1 type miniature floating cannon to LV3?]

"Yes!"

...[System Notification: Do you wish to consume 2 primary skill book to upgrade the skill Integrated Polarization Shield to LV3?]

"Yes!"

...[System Notification: Do you wish to consume 2 primary skill book to upgrade the skill Tactical Command - Alpha Band to LV3?]

"Yes!"

...[System Notification: Do you wish to consume 2 primary skill book to upgrade the skill Extraordinary Modification to LV3?]

"Yes!"

Consuming 8 Skill Book in one go, Lin Ye successfully upgraded all four of his core active skills to LV3!

He temporarily kept the remaining 5 Skill Book, saving them for upgrading new skills he might learn in the future.

The changes brought about by the increase in skill level were immediate.

Naturally, he was most concerned about the changes to his core output skill, m-1 type miniature floating cannon. He immediately checked the floating cannon's stats after upgrading to LV3:

[m-1 type miniature floating cannon]

Type: Mechanical Construct (black iron)

Health: 2000

Attack Power: 1000

Agility: 100

Attack Speed: 0.05S

Physical Defense: 300

Skill: [Energy Overload]

[Energy Overload]: The floating cannon can perform an overloaded shot in a short time, dealing 1500% damage, but followed by a brief cooldown (1 second).

"Holy cow! All the Basic Attributes doubled, and I even gained a small burst skill, Energy Overload!" A sharp light flashed in Lin Ye's eyes.

Enhanced by his Talent, Energy Overload reached a terrifying frequency of once per second, and the damage dealt reached 15 times the base amount.

He couldn't imagine what a full volley would look like when the number of floating cannon increased.

As for the other two active skills, their enhancements were also significant.

[Integrated Polarization Shield]

Type: Active (E)

Skill Level: 3

Cooldown: 45S

Effect: Consumes 100 Mana to instantly generate an energy shield for the user and all Friendly Unit within a 600-meter radius. The shield absorbs damage of any type equivalent to 10000 + Spirit * 150, lasting for 150 seconds or until the shield energy is depleted.

[Tactical Command - Alpha Band]

Type: Active (D)

Skill Level: 3

Cooldown: 45S

Effect: Consumes 150 Mana to send an "Alpha Band" overload command to all summoned mechanical units within a designated 1000-meter radius. Over the next 150 seconds, the Attack Power of these mechanical units increases by 1000%, and their Attack Speed increases by 1000%.

With these two skills, Lin Ye had even less reason to worry about his defensive capabilities or his output capabilities—they were simply too strong!

Next was the most important skill, Extraordinary Modification. The reason Lin Ye was reluctant to use the charge crystal when he first obtained it was that he wanted to wait until this skill was upgraded.

[Extraordinary Modification]

Type: Active (S)

Skill Level: 3

Cooldown: None

Effect: Consumes Special Material to modify the mechanical summon. The modification effect and intensity depend on the resource tier. Each mechanical unit can be upgraded 3 times. Each upgrade grants special effects and additional attribute points.

As expected of an S-tier skill, it changed from only being able to modify a unit once to three times, and each modification grants extra attributes. Under the 10x amplification of his Talent, the enhancement is terrifying!

Looking at his powerful, refreshed skills, Lin Ye felt boundless ambition.

He could already visualize countless Elite Monsters wailing before his Steel Legion, while massive amounts of experience and top-tier equipment beckoned to him.

"Then, the next goal is to test the effect of Extraordinary Modification!" Lin Ye's gaze fell upon the Bronze-tier Special Materials, and a preliminary plan formed in his mind.