Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Hero's Bridge is one of the must-visit spots in Orario, attracting many tourists and travelers.

To prevent Alfia from uttering any more childish pronouncements like "At the end of the demonic path, who stands at the peak? Upon seeing Ciel, all paths are in vain," he quickly grabbed the woman and ran away.

……

The festive atmosphere dissipated, and the adventurers returned to their daily routines of venturing into the dungeons.

As time went by, Phil Weiss came to see Charles many times this month, and most of the time, Lily dealt with her in his place.

Only occasionally, when the Dionysian Familia organized expeditions to the lower realms, would Shire personally accompany them.

The small-scale attacks by the Dark Faction continued, and although they consisted mainly of believers and henchmen, they tied down most of Finn's time.

Perhaps due to the onset of winter, the pace of life in the city has gradually slowed down, entering a relatively peaceful period.

But clearly, this is just the calm before the storm.

According to the intelligence provided by Tina, the Dark Faction has used mass-produced [Collar] technology to capture a large number of monsters, including many deep-level monsters, waiting for an opportunity to strike Orario hard.

Charles was also making preparations.

Since preparing the [Devour] ability for Rimuru, nearly 140 days have passed, and Ciel's refresh count has accumulated to 20 times.

During this month, Sharl officially named Pochi, making it his fourth "named creature" after Alpha, Rimuru, and Sage.

Therefore, Pochi also gained four empty ability slots that could be allocated.

Today, as usual, Charles attempted to refresh some of the abilities he could assign to his subordinates.

"I wonder if it's because I didn't experience the same pressure as during the Great Struggle, but almost none of the abilities I've acquired have grown rapidly," Charles said with a worried expression.

"Is my obsession with becoming stronger really that weak?"

Alfia sipped her coffee and said, "You've grown fast enough. There's still a long time before the end comes; you can take it one step at a time."

In Alfia's view, Shire has the chance to randomly acquire five new abilities every seven days, and can refresh 52 times a year, for a total of 260 skills and magic. Over seven years, there will always be a few new abilities that accelerate growth.

As long as you don't give up halfway and steadily progress to level 7 or 8, with your amazing skill combinations, you'll already be able to fight the Black Dragon.

Charles, however, was dissatisfied with this.

“Since ability values ​​can break through limitations, it’s naturally better to accumulate more potential abilities.” Xia Er puffed out his cheeks and activated the ability refresh once again.

With the addition of the choice effect, the refresh of abilities is no longer a blind box with no choice.

The vortex of chaos once again spun around the Grace behind Ciel, and five new ability cards appeared in phantom form.

This is the fifth time that the Charles has refreshed its ranking.

Ciel opened them one by one...

Magic: [Big Blast] [Nether Guardian]

Skills: [Brilliant Aura], [Old but Mighty], [Thorn Aura]

Below each ability card is a small refresh symbol. You can use the refresh function once to randomly remove unwanted abilities. Finally, you can confirm and keep the changes.

"Huh? A halo?"

Ciel tried to refresh the seemingly problematic abilities [Big Explosion] and [Old but Strong], and a new ability appeared.

Magic: [Blade Soul - Kazan] [Netherworld Guardian]

Skills: [Brilliance Aura], [Energy Aura], [Thorn Aura]

Charles blinked, and after anchoring his ability, he held a skeletal wand in his hand, while five circles of blue, purple, gray, green, and red rippled beneath his feet...

"Oh no! A ring?"

Chapter 314 Skill Allocation

"This is... a magic circle?"

Alfia curiously circled around Charles, feeling the effects of the halo beneath her feet.

"This is a domain!" Xia Er retorted, absolutely refusing to admit that he had become a fifth-ring powerhouse.

"Hmm, a group buff?" Alfia's expression changed. "It can have such a valuable ability? Five at once?"

In the world of DanMachi, there aren't many group buffs or debuffs; most are magic, and skills are even rarer.

She had only seen one such person among the Ganesha Families. That was a "resonance of artifact power" that could only be achieved through divine blood.

The Sharl is a bit disgusting; it can attach itself to any Sharl, whether it's friend or foe, and the range can be as large as several thousand meters.

Any one of these abilities would be incredibly powerful in a large-scale battle, let alone five of them at once.

"Indeed, if you live long enough, you'll see everything."

Alfia sensed her own condition and discerned the assistance offered by Charles.

The red [Blade Soul Kazan] can moderately increase strength and magic power.

• The [Radiant Aura] adds a fixed [Healing H] effect; if [Healing] is already active, it will increase by two levels.

• [Thorn Aura] Converts a small portion of the power of melee attacks into magic damage and reflects it back to the opponent.

• When a nearby allied hero uses magic, there is a chance to recover a small amount (10%) of mana. It also increases the hero's maximum mana by a moderate amount.

• [Wraith Guardian] Summons a Wraith Guardian (staff), reducing the mana regeneration speed of enemy units within range. It can also unleash a magical flash, dealing damage equal to the mana cost to nearby spellcasting units.

Alfia tested the added abilities one by one, and was slightly surprised:

"These skill effects are incredibly helpful to mages."

The [Radiant Aura] and [Energy Aura] allow mages to unleash their magical power without reservation, without worrying about mental exhaustion.

The [Guardian of the Underworld] can also counter enemy mages. It is also very effective against vanguards with low magic power and weak mental strength. In severe cases, it may force them to suffer mental exhaustion, leading to mental fatigue and coma.

Even more terrifying is the [Thorn Aura]. She can imagine how much the damage reflection effect would boost the legion during the Black Dragon battle.

Its effect is to reflect a portion of the damage from enemy melee attacks. In other words, if the Black Dragon launches a tail sweep at a thousand-strong army standing on the [Thorns Aura], it may very well suffer the damage from ten or even a hundred tail sweeps.

At that time, if we risk our lives to fill the Black Dragon's lair, wouldn't we be guaranteed a win?

But Charles poured cold water on Alfia's hopes:

"Sister, it's converting magic damage, not true damage. Putting aside whether the black dragon would be injured if you hit it ten times, even if each unit reflects 10% of the power, it won't be much after being weakened by magic resistance."

However, speaking of fighting the Black Dragon, Xia Er remembers an incredibly overpowered aura in Dota:

The effect of [Heartbreaker Aura] is: Deal damage per second to nearby enemies based on their maximum health, ignoring magic immunity.

If the black dragon's self-regeneration can be suppressed first, and with this aura, Sharl only needs to stand next to the black dragon for a few minutes to burn it alive.

There's also the Centaur Chieftain's Counterattack Aura, which is similar to the Thorns Aura. It also reflects damage and ignores magic immunity and melee/ranged attacks, but the aura effect only applies to the user.

Alfia said nonchalantly, "That's pretty good too."

Charles sighed deeply: "What I regret most is this [Soul Blade Kazan]."

"What's wrong? The increase in strength and magic power isn't weak." Alfia asked, puzzled.

Charles sighed in frustration: "Kazan is the God of Destruction. If it were his true form, I might be able to create a batch of swordsmen with ghost hands. However, the [Sword Soul Kazan] that Charles summoned is clearly just a showpiece that provides an amplification."

Alfia, though bewildered, exclaimed, "Although I don't know what a Ghost Swordsman is, I'm not bad as I am now."

Charles shook his head, clearing his mind of complicated thoughts, and focused his attention on the allocation of abilities.

These kinds of amplification abilities are very suitable for Xia Er. Rather than finding subordinates with special abilities to enhance themselves, it's better to let subordinates amplify themselves under the halo.

Ciel naturally set his sights on Pochi, who served as the mascot.

Pochi has six equipment slots, and if four auras are added, it can become an invincible support with ten-ring abilities.

In the future, as the [Godslayer] skill or the [Food Chain] ability improves, Pochi's ability gauge will increase further.

Without a second thought, Charles immediately assigned [Thorn Aura] and [Kazan's Blade Soul] to Pochi. His ability stats immediately went gray, indicating they were unusable.

Of the remaining three abilities..., Charles asked Fels if he wanted the [Netherworld Guardian] spell.

But Fels refused: "Unlike these monsters, the magic bestowed upon me will occupy my magic gauge. Although I still have some spare, I don't want to waste it on this magic."

"Oh? You're confident you can awaken an ability even stronger than [Netherworld Guardian]?" Charles asked in surprise.

Even in various MOBA games with complex skill mechanics, the [Guardian of the Underworld] is still one of the best, or even the most overpowered, skills.

Unexpectedly, he was disliked by Fels.

"I've tried to awaken a third spell using a grimoire before, but I always failed. Therefore, I deduce that this spell requires absorbing a specific amount of 'experience points' to unlock. I believe the required 'experience points' will be my obsession, the 'Philosopher's Stone.'"

Charles understood. No wonder Fels knew so much about how the fox had eaten 32 magic books but still couldn't awaken his powers. It turned out he had done it himself and had experience.

For Fels, nothing could compare to her Philosopher's Stone, and Ciel didn't insist.

Fels observed the [Netherworld Guardian] and said, "If there isn't a suitable candidate, I can try to turn it into a magical artifact."

"Is that alright?" Charles asked in surprise.

Fels hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "If there is a physical object, all I need to do is add a magic stone-powered device to extend its lifespan."

"That's wonderful!" Charles exclaimed with delight.

To be honest, the [Guardian of the Underworld] is not suitable for Pochi. Even if you want to configure all abilities with an aura, it should be one that can increase physical combat power by a percentage, so that Pochi himself will not become a mascot.

As long as you switch to a powerful output system, the damage output will be significantly reduced.

Ultimately, the ownership of the [Netherworld Guardian] still fell to Pochi, but instead of being equipped, it was stored in the equipment slot as a magical item.

The remaining [Energy Aura] and [Brilliance Aura] were directly assigned by Sharl to Alpha, who had been itching to make a move.

Her innate magic, [Ball Lightning], while possessing mobility and explosive power far exceeding her level, comes with an extremely high mental energy consumption.

Each time you initiate a Blink Charge, it consumes approximately 10% of your base mental energy.

As Alpha is infused with more magic, the effect is that "Thunder" becomes faster, travels farther, and is naturally more powerful.

The extremely high mana consumption results in an explosive power that is at least 2-3 levels higher, but its endurance is far inferior to Ais's Wind Spirit Swiftness.

In a typical battle, Alpha can only blink rapidly 10 times, which is enough to sustain a high-intensity battle for about ten seconds.

With the dual mana regeneration effects of [Energy Aura] and [Brilliance Aura], Alpha's actual combat power will also increase significantly.

Chapter 315 Pochi, can your Nine Rings transform into human form?