Zane read the skills he got from the slab and he was getting somewhere when the system asked him if he wanted to merge the skills.
To that, Zane replied:
"No. Answer some questions first."
The system remained silent.
Zane took it as a yes.
"This second skill, Threshold Piler, sounds similar to what I felt with the Enforcer. Did you perhaps use it when you took over me?"
[ Negative. I took over Host's body and this Skill activated on its own. The host's body sensed distress when I took over and the Enforcer was attacking. So the Skill activated to protect the Host and when I stopped the penalty because of low synchronization, host's body returned to normal. ]
"But you said it was you who fought with the guard?"
[ I still stand by it. I was inside the Host's body so it was me who faught. ]
Zane held his head.
"So you took over me, the skill activated, the Enforcer attacked me, I retaliated, you stopped the penalty, the skill ended. You couldn't kill the guard because the synchronization was too low. If you were inside my body for one more second, nevermind my strength, would I have killed him because of my skill?"
[ Positive. ]
Zane ran his finger on his chest, tracing the scar and his eyes lit up.
"What about this scar? Is it because of you that its shape changed?"
[ Positive. ]
"Why? How is this possible? Why did my body react with that brick?"
Silence.
Zane clenched his hair.
Silence meant the system won't answer. Zane understood it by now.
"Wait.." Zane remembered something. "My first skill, the one with the intent, it's passive, right? So when that madman who held my hand turned angry and smiled right after, I felt scared. Was it because I sensed his intent of some kind?"
[ Positive. ]
Zane went silent.
"These skills are good. If I merge them, will they vanish?"
[ Positive. Instead of two skills, host will only have one. ]
Zane nodded.
He imagined what could be the result and made up his mind.
"Go ahead. Merge them."
[ Command Accepted! ]
[ 1 Merge Point Consumed! ]
[ Merging the Skills… ]
Zane waited and then two windows appeared in front of his eyes.
The windows carried the details of the two skills he got from the slab and before he could question them, both windows collided against each other.
Golden graffiti appeared as the windows joined and then…
[ Ding! ]
The familiar sound rang and Zane smiled.
[ Skills Merged Successfully! ]
"Show me."
[ Merged Skill(s): 1 ]
[ Survival Threshold (Convergence Tier) (Passive/ Triggered Body-State): Host will sense immediate threat vectors and hostile intent traces and for his survival, the Conflux will temporarily align host's body and perception towards continuation of life. Host's body movement efficiency will increase. Pain response will be suppressed. Reaction timing will be tightened. Wasteful motion will be reduced. ]
[ Limits: This state cannot be manually activated. Activation requires real danger, not staged behavior. Duration scales with Synchronization level. Repeated activation reduces bodily integrity, causes neural and muscular degradation. Host control may be partially overridden. ]
[ Warning: Host's survival is prioritized over Host's preference. ]
Zane blinked.
"That's… too much information."
Pressing his forehead, Zane read everything anyway.
One minute passed and Zane finally finished reading. He had lost attention midway and ended up reading the same line over and over until he finally pulled through the whole thing.
"So my body will move on its own whenever I have a chance of death. The skills really merged in one."
[ Positive. ]
"Just use yes and no. What's with this positive and negative?"
[ Synchronization too low to follow the command. ]
Zane rolled his eyes.
"Forget it. Now that I merged the two skills I had, I have nothing else. I won't get more skills from the brick. Can I merge the merged skill with something else further?"
[ Host can merge anything. ]
"But only the things I own, right? For now, at least."
[ Positive. ]
"I see."
Zane stayed under the tree in silence, thinking about things he had.
Then he chuckled.
"Does humiliation count?"
[ Not at the moment. ]
He raised his brows.
"Emotions count too?"
[ Host can merge anything. ]
Zane scratched his chin.
"This is too powerful. I shouldn't be getting this for free. What do you want from me?"
Zane waited for a while.
No windows showed up.
"I really need an answer here. I will rip out my heart before you could satisfy your intentions with me."
[ Host is free to do that if he senses any malice from Conflux. ]
Zane nodded slowly.
"How can I get more merge points?"
If Zane could merge anything, then he would want to merge whatever he could.
[ Primary source is from finishing Quests. ]
"Primary, huh? What's the other source?"
[ Killing. ]
Zane exhaled a mouthful of air.
"So it won't be easy then."
Zane stopped talking and finally got up.
"The hard part comes from tomorrow. I hope I survive."
He patted his hands and wiped the spots of blood from his tunic and from around his nose.
"She will be worried. How would I convince her?"
Zane shook his head and walked.
Not only the Citadel, the area around the Citadel was pristine. Zane felt he was staining the clean path by walking on it.
Soon, he emerged from the forest area and walked in the bustling roads of Veyndral.
This was the capital city of the Eldros continent mostly because it contains the golden slab. And one look was enough to tell this city rolled in money.
Large shops decorated the side of the roads.
Some are selling books depicting the legacy of the three Crowns, the mystery of the golden slab, the emergence of the rifts and the birth of the riftborns.
There were some other things which Zane couldn't even understand. Lumen bath potions, relics from the Xavros continent and forbidden zones.
The fat merchants or shopkeepers yelled for customers as people walked by but no one yelled for Zane. The brat wasn't of any use to them other than scurrying the customers away.
Zane wasn't interested in any of them either as he only knew vendors with carts around his home.
The carriage drivers ran with their carriages asking the walking people if they wanted to go somewhere. But just like the shopkeepers, no one asked Zane.
Is my poverty that clear?
Zane looked at himself.
Alright. It's clear.
He looked around as he couldn't be the only Gutterborn coming back from the Citadel.
Like he thought, many others like Zane were also walking on the sides of the street. Their heads hung low, carefully taking each step so as to not bump into someone and spoil their polished clothes.
He shook his head at their condition and walked normally unlike the other Gutterborns.
But then, he slowed his steps.
A frown appeared on his face along with a slight shiver.
Something is wrong.
He surveyed his surroundings while taking slow steps, not making it obvious.
But he couldn't find anything strange. No footsteps. No voices. No shouting.
Nothing obvious.
But then his skin tightened.
His chest felt cold.
He stopped walking.
The world didn't change.
The road didn't change.
The people didn't change.
But something else did.
His vision blurred for a split second.
Not emotion.
Not fear.
Intent.
Not aimed at him.
Not yet.
But close.
Very close.
Zane swallowed.
"... So that's how this works."
As if to support his feelings, a window appeared before his eyes.
[ Merged Skill: Survival Threshold Is Acting! ]
Zane's fingers curled slowly.
He didn't know what it could be, but his best guess…
Someone from the Citadel had followed him.