After collecting all the precious Beast Cores from the monsters on the battlefield, Lux found out that he only had around twenty-two Beast Cores that belonged to the Golden-Eyed Crimson Mantises.
Because of this, he was forced to make an important decision.
'At the very least, I need to give Gerhart, Cethus, Laura, and Livia at least one Beast Core each,' Lux thought. 'I also need to give Diablo, Ishtar, Pazuzu, Orion, Lazarus, Zagan, Revon, and ALL-MITE, one Beast Core each.'
The Half-Elf scratched his head because there were not enough Beast Cores to go around for everybody.
Since twelve of the Beast Cores were already reserved for the others, it meant that his Master, Randolph, and Grandma Annie, could both have six Beast Cores each.
If they were lucky, they could get the Doppelganger Skill without using all six Beast Cores, allowing Lux to give the remaining cores to the others to enhance their strength further.
The only Monster on the battlefield that had the precious Doppelganger Skill was the Golden-Eyed Crimson Mantis. Even the World Boss didn't have this skill, so it made this the most important Beast Core in Lux's possession.
The power of Doppelgangers was that special.
Not only had it increased his flexibility in the battlefield, it also allowed him to stack up the effects of his skills, creating devastating attacks that consisted of three Dragon Breaths infused with the power of the Abyss.
Anyone below Lux's current rank, who were hit directly by these three breath attacks, would definitely feel a world of pain.
Since they were still traveling, Lux waited until Pietro called for a break before he gathered his party members.
"Each of you take one," Lux said as he handed over the Beast Cores of the Golden-Eyed Crimson Mantis. "This Beast Core is a bit special because it may have the skill, Doppelganger."
After hearing Lux's explanation, the eyes of his party members widened in shock. All of them had seen Lux fight with his clones, and they would be lying if they said that they didn't wish to have the same ability as him.
This was especially true for Gerhart and Cethus who wanted to become stronger.
Because of this, they eagerly received the Beast Cores that were handed to them and immediately absorbed them to increase their stats, as well as have the chance to get the Doppelganger Skill, which was the one they were aiming for.
Randolph sighed before shaking his head.
"I got Hunter's Mark," Randolph stated. "I knew that this was not going to be easy, but it's still frustrating nevertheless."
"It's fine, Master," Lux commented as he handed another Beast Core to his Master. You still have five more chances."
Randolph nodded as he once again took the Beast Core that was offered to him. However, the next skill he received was the skill, Air Steps, which made the old dwarf slap his cheeks repeatedly for failing to get the skill he needed.
"No luck here as well," Grandma Annie reported as she finished absorbing the second Beast Core.
The skills that Grandma Annie got were the skills, Intimidate, and Coup de Grace, which were amazing skills if you have a profession that specialized in offense.
However, Grandma Annie was an Alchemist. Although she had the ability to cast fireballs, and the likes, she was more of a craftsman than a battle junkie.
"No worries, Grandma Annie," Lux replied as he gave the kind old lady a third Beast Core. "You will get it eventually."
Fortunately, Grandma Annie did learn the Doppelganger Skill on her third attempt, which made her extremely happy.
"Pa!" Eiko, who was perched on top of Lux's head, felt left out by the group, so she also asked Lux to give her one Beast Core.
The Half-Elf thought that it wouldn't hurt to give the baby slime one Beast Core, so he agreed to Eiko's request, making the baby slime giggle.
To his surprise, Eiko got the Doppelganger Skill immediately, which evolved into Doppelganger [EX],
Eiko was only able to create clones of herself whenever she was with Lux due to her skill, Mimicry [EX]. Now that she could create clones on her own, it allowed her to copy more skills from her Papa, which she could use temporarily.
After using four Beast Cores, Randolph successfully gained the skill Doppelganger, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Unlike Lu and Eiko, who could summon two clones of themselves, Grandma Annie and Randolph could only summon one clone each. But, it was already a good thing because the clones would be able to help them increase the speed of their production whenever they crafted things.
To Lux's surprise, the twins, Laura, and Livia got the Doppelganger Skill on the first try, which made the two Dwarves extremely happy.
"Cora, which one is the real me?" Laura asked her Baby Slime who was looking at her and her Doppelganger with a serious expression on her face.
"Eyah!" Cora pointed at Laura, which made the latter smile.
"How did you know?" Laura picked up her Baby Slime and gave it a kiss on its cheeks.
"Know!" Cora replied, which made Laura giggle and kiss her beast companion again.
Livia had also summoned her clone and they began striking poses in front of each other.
Gerhart only learned the skill, Hunter's Mark, from his Beast Core which made him disappointed.
However, the one that was most disappointed was none other than Cethus, who didn't learn even one skill from the Beast Core!
Usually, everyone had a 25% chance to gain a skill when they consumed Beast Cores. However, all the members of Heaven's Gate had a 100% chance of learning a skill from one.
Because of this, even though they didn't get the skill they wanted, all of Lux's Guild Members learned a skill, which made Cethus feel as if he was blessed with bad luck.
The red-headed teenager also felt sorry for the Dragon Born, but there was nothing he could do about it.
As for his Named Creatures, Lux also found the Skills they acquired to be quite interesting.
Pazuzu and Orion both gained the Doppelganger Skill, which almost made the Half-Elf laugh out loud.
The two of them served as the Tanks of his Army, and having two Fortress Defenders and two Jade Golems who both had the most annoying skill, Duel [EX], was something that he was quite happy about.
Ishtar received the skill, Coup de Grace, which Lux thought to be a perfect fit for her.
< Coup De Grace >
â€" Deals 500% additional damage to any target that is in a helpless or incapacitated condition.
â€" Targets who are knocked unconscious, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, or in a crippled state, would be dealt with greater damage from this attack.
â€" Any target under a negative status buff will also receive additional damage from this attack.
Example: Fear from Intimidation.
Since Ishtar had the abilities to slow down, and freeze her opponents, she could abuse the skill Coup De Grace, dealing devastating damage to her targets.
Asmodeus, Revon, and ALL-MITE gained the skill, Intimidate, which was also very useful to the three of them.
The Archlich had the ability to tame Wild Undead, and having the Intimidate Skill would allow him to have a higher chance to tame a Monster that was a Rank higher than him.
As for ALL-MITE, he was already intimidating in the first place. Having the skill, Intimidate, would further boost his intimidating presence when facing off against enemies.
Lux found this combination quite funny because ALL-MITE had a skill that increased all of his allies' Morale by 500%, while Intimidate would lower his enemies' Morale.
Although he still hadn't seen how this would work in an actual battle, he knew how important Morale was especially during large-scale battles with massive armies fighting against each other.
Revon on the other hand was the Commander of his Animated Undead Army. Having the Intimidate Skill would definitely make his opponents more fearful of him when they met on the battlefield.
Lazarus, on the other hand, gained the skill, Razor Wind, which further increased his offensive capabilities by creating razor-sharp Wind Blades that could easily cut lower-ranked monsters in half.
But, since all of Lazarus' attacks were infused with his Unique Ability, Cold FLames, the Wind Blades would be infused by this ability as well.
Zagan, another strategist that belonged to Lux's Necromancer Covenant, gained the Berserk Ability, which Lux found to be both a blessing and a curse for his fast and furious heavy hitter.
When it came to hit and run tactics, no one in Lux's Army was better than Zagan.
The Berserk Skill would double the stats of the user for fifteen minutes, allowing him to outrun and outgun his opponents, leaving them no choice but to endure Zagan's one-sided magical bombardment, which were also empowered by Abyss Touch.
Lastly, Diablo gained the skill Quick Assault.
This skill allowed Diablo to increase his speed exponentially as he charged at his target to deliver a single strike.
If they were fighting at nearly point blank range, this would allow him to instantly teleport to one of his opponent's blind spots, and deliver a blow that was infused with the Ethereal Element, dealing true damage that ignored defenses.
Originally, Lux thought that his Death Knight got the most crappy skill among the bunch. But, after careful consideration, he thought that this skill might also increase Diablo's fighting prowess when put to the test.
'I guess I'll see how effective this skill is in the future,' Lux mused.
There were still four more Beast Cores in Lux's possession, but he decided to store them for now.
He planned to give one Beast Core to Grandma Vera and Iris because the two of them were his important family members.
He had also reserved one Beast Core for his trusted subordinate, Sid, who was nearly a Ranker.
As for the last Beast Core, he was thinking of giving it to Cadmus, who was one of his Strongest Guild Members.
Now that he was done giving his Guild Members the opportunity to grow a little stronger, the Half-Elf then shifted his attention to the most important matter at hand.
'It has been a while since I upgraded my Body Constitution,' Lux thought. 'I wonder what special abilities I will receive on my next upgrade...'
Lux had always benefited a lot whenever he upgraded his body constitution.
Because of this, he was looking forward to the new skills he would gain that would help him in facing the challenges that were waiting for him as they continued their journey to search for the elusive Transcendent Flames that would bring the strength of his Mythical Guild to the next level.
