Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 193: Upgrade Begins
The next skill in line was [Aegis Arcane].
A translucent blue screen flickered before Alex, displaying the skill’s details:
[Arcane Aegis]: Blocks all powerful attacks, with a 30% chance to reflect damage back at the attacker, amplified by 50%. Great for defense and turning the tide of battle. The barrier slows your movement by 20%. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Alex’s eyes narrowed.
This skill had saved his ass more times than he could count—blocking devastating attacks, buying him time, turning the tables when things looked grim.
Yet somehow, it was only C-rank?
A skill this good was certainly worthy of being the second skill he upgraded to rank S.
And that’s exactly what he was about to do.
To boost [Aegis Arcane] to S-rank, he needed three upgrade stones.
That meant sacrificing 150 stat points.
Alex didn’t hesitate.
He navigated the attribute converter, selecting the 150-point deduction, confirming it, and—
FLASH!
Three glowing upgrade stones materialized in his inventory, each shimmering with a faint golden light.
"Alright, let’s do this."
He pulled them out, gripping them firmly in his palm.
A notification popped up.
[Would you like to use an upgrade stone on a skill?]
"Yes."
[Select Skill]
"Aegis Arcane."
[Would you like to use 3 upgrade stones on Aegis Arcane?]
"Yes."
[Upgrading...]
Alex stared at the screen, holding his breath.
His fingers tightened into fists.
"Please don’t fail... please don’t fail."
He knew, logically, that it shouldn’t fail. The skill was only C-rank, so the upgrade was guaranteed.
But after the disaster with [Exploding Touch], he couldn’t help but feel a tiny knot of anxiety in his chest.
What if something else went wrong?
What if the Oracle—his biggest hater— messed with the system again?
His heartbeat thumped in his ears.
Then—
Ding!
[Upgrade Successful]
Alex blinked.
It worked?
The system continued.
[Aegis Arcane is now B-rank: [Arcane Bastion]
[Arcane Bastion] :
Effect: Creates a reinforced barrier that blocks most powerful attacks. 40% chance to reflect damage back at the attacker, amplified by 75%.
Drawback: The barrier slows movement by 15%.
Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Alex let out a deep sigh of relief, tension leaving his body.
He quickly pulled up the new skill description, scanning over the changes.
It was definitely stronger, but he wasn’t done yet.
He still had two more upgrade stones, and he wasn’t about to stop now.
He used the second upgrade stone.
[Upgrading...]
[Upgrade successful]
[Aegis Bastion is now A-rank: [Arcane Bulwark]]
A-rank: [Arcane Bulwark]
Effect: Generates a nearly unbreakable barrier that nullifies powerful attacks. 50% chance to reflect damage back at the attacker, amplified by 100%.
Bonus: Reduces incoming status effects by 50% while active.
Drawback: The barrier slows movement by 10%.
Cooldown: 20 seconds.
Alex’s lips curled into a smirk.
Not bad.
But he was aiming higher.
So he pulled out the third upgrade stone and used it, making Aegis Arcane his fourth S-rank skill.
[Upgrading...]
[Upgrade successful]
[Aegis Bastion is now S-rank: [Arcane Dominion]
S-rank: [Arcane Dominion]
Effect: Summons an absolute defense that negates all forms of damage, including magical, physical, and soul-based attacks. Guaranteed to reflect 150% of the damage back at the attacker.
Bonus: Grants temporary invincibility for 1 second upon activation.
Drawback: The barrier no longer slows movement. However, after deactivating, the user experiences a 3-second vulnerability window, where defenses are weakened by 30%. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Limitations: The barrier can endure overwhelming force but cracks under attacks from beings vastly stronger than the user. If the difference in power is extreme, it will break after one or two hits.
Alex’s lips curled into a grin.
An absolute defense—a shield that negated all forms of damage.
This… this was exactly what he needed.
Unless he went up against some ridiculously overpowered being, this shield would hold strong.
And then, there was the parry.
He could reflect 150% of all incoming damage back at his attacker.
Now, this was OP.
Alex flexed his fingers, feeling the raw power surging through him.
[Aegis Dominion] wasn’t just an upgrade—it was a weapon in itself.
A barrier that could tank insane amounts of damage… and return it even harder.
If this had been available earlier, some of the beast lords he fought wouldn’t have stood a chance.
But…
Beast Lords weren’t his main target anymore.
His real enemies weren’t mindless monsters.
They were the gods—the ones who would no doubt become his enemies.
And Oracle.
Just thinking about them made Alex’s eyes darken.
If he wanted to stand a chance against divine beings, this power alone wouldn’t be enough.
He needed more.
Alex took a deep breath, steadying his resolve.
He wasn’t done.
Not even close.
He pulled up his skill list and moved on to the next skill.
[Sonic Howl]
Just like [Aegis Arcane], it would take three upgrade stones to push [Sonic Howl] to S-rank.
Alex didn’t hesitate.
He assigned 150 points, splitting them between strength, agility, and vitality.
His body responded instantly.
Muscles tightened. Reflexes sharpened. His stamina surged, making him feel unstoppable.
But he wasn’t here to admire the boost.
He pulled up the attribute converter, selecting the three stats as his sacrifice for the exchange.
A second later…
Three glowing upgrade stones materialized in his inventory.
Without wasting time, Alex grabbed them and activated the upgrade sequence.
Ding!
[Upgrade Successful!]
[Sonic Rank (C) is now S-rank: [Echo of Annihilation]
[Echo of Annihilation]:
Effect: Unleash a cataclysmic howl that paralyzes enemies and reduces their stats by 60%. The shockwave tears through defenses, bypassing weaker barriers and magical protections. The sheer force can rupture eardrums and cause momentary blindness.
Bonus: The howl leaves behind a lingering sound field that continuously weakens foes for 5 seconds.
Limitations: Powerful beings can resist full paralysis but will still suffer stat reduction and disorientation.
Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Alex’s heartbeat began to race on seeing the power of his newly evolved skill.
He was going to stop.
So he pulled up his skill list and moved on to the next skill.
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
[Slipstream {D}]
It was one of the skills with the lowest ranks out of the number of skills he possessed.
But even if it was getting an upgrade.
