Chapter 102: Collecting Traits Like a Blind Raccoon in a Beer Store?!

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Collecting Traits Like a Blind Raccoon in a Beer Store?!

Lucien flopped onto the massive bed and stared at his trait list.

It was long, ridiculous, and full of traits that did almost the same things in different ways.

’Four traits that make me harder to hit. Five that make me harder to sneak up on. Three that are just the word Keenwith different senses attached to them.’

’I’ve been collecting these like a blind raccoon in a beer store, not knowing what it was picking.’

’So what did you get?’ Carmilla’s voice sounded in his head curious what he got.

’You don’t want to know.’ He said smiling wryly over the traits ridiculous name.

’Oh, why, what’s it called?’ She asked.

’Sultry Contour.’ He said deadpan with no emotion as she burst out laughing.

’What kind of name is that, what did you even fuse?’ She asked amused.

’I only fused flexibility traits.’ He said explaining what it did.

’Hahaha, I mean it does what it is, Sultry Contour, improving flexibility.’

’Okay, okay, enough jokes master, let me get back to fusing.’ He said already tired of her laughs.

’Kicking me out already, my flexible sugar disciple is so cruel.’ She joked.

Lucien cracked his knuckles, grinning at his trait list.

"Okay, time for round two."

’You’re enjoying this far too much, may be you like what you got?’ Carmilla asked as she went back to helping Seraphina test her bloodline in the training chambers down below.

’Of course I’m enjoying it, I’ve wanted this since my traits started over lapping with each other.’ He said to no one.

He scrolled through his pile of traits, locking on to the various perception ones he had that looked like they belonged together.

Keen Smell, Keen Eyes and Keen Ears.

[Selected: Keen Ears (Uncommon, Lv.10) + Keen Eyes (Rare, Lv.3) + Keen Smell (Uncommon, Lv.5)]

[ Compatibility Analysis:

Keen Smell — Compatible

Keen Eyes — Compatible]

Keen Hearing — Compatible ]

[Fusion available.]

[Fuse?]

"Yes," he muttered, confirming.

[Trait Fusion Initiated.]

[Analyzing Characteristics...]

[Compatibility: Very High]

[Fusing Selected Traits...]

BOOM. His whole head throbbed once, hard, and then the world sharpened further, color, sound, scent, all stacking on top of each other in a way his brain hadn’t been braced for.

He groaned, pressing both palms to his temples. "Okay, that part hurt a little." He said as the pain faded to nothing.

’Must be a one time thing since my poor brain wasn’t ready for the burst of senses.’

[Fusion Complete]

[New Trait: Keen Senses (Vision, Smell, Hearing) — Rare]

[A trait formed from the fusion of exceptional smell, sight and hearing. Grants enhanced and layered sensory awareness across sight, sound, and scent simultaneously, far beyond any single enhanced sense alone. Focus on one type of Sense to improve that singular one while focused on it.]

He blinked hard, testing it by focusing on different tings. Dust motes drifting across a sunbeam put in the estates garden, a faint thud sounded three floors down. Aurelia’s irritated voice drifting up from the kitchen, clear as if she stood beside him.

"Aurelia, that’s a KNIFE, not a sword!" He heard Evelisse scream, surprising him.

"Come on Eve, I know what I’m doing, it’s not like I haven’t cooked before, knife or sword both are basically the same." He heard Aurelia replying with what sounded like a murder happening below.

"No they are not, it’s a knife not a sword!"

’I can hear the kitchen argument from a floor up.’ He thought.

’I hope we actually have anything edible for dinner.’ He thought as he heard the commotion.

Next he grabbed the stealth related traits that would go well together.

Silent Step, Shadow Sense and Introvert’s Instinct.

[Selected: Silent Step (Uncommon, Lv.10) + Shadow Sense (Rare, Lv.3) + Introvert’s Instinct (Uncommon, Lv.10)]

[ Compatibility Analysis:

Silent Step — Compatible

Shadow Sense — Compatible]

Introvert’s Instinct — Compatible ]

[Fusion available.]

[Fuse?]

’Shoukd I, I’ve only got four slots are filled, one is still left.’ He eyed Night Vision, already strong on its own, and decided to leave it for another fusion he wanted to do layer on as he got more sense related traits.

[Fuse?] ℯℯ𝑙.

He confirmed it.

[Trait Fusion Initiated.]

[Analyzing Characteristics...]

[Compatibility: High]

[Fusing Selected Traits...]

Coolness swept over his skin for a moment, like stepping under a cloud. His footsteps, when he shifted his weight on the bed, made no sound at all.

[Fusion Complete]

[New Trait: Night Phantom — Rare]

[Combines near silent movement, shadow perception, instinctive awareness while in darkness and enhanced balance and vertical surface movement into one unified stealth trait. Drastically reduces presence and sound, enhances body balance beyond prior levels, and grants improved senses and a limited precognitive awareness of ambushes in darkness or shadow with lesser effects when not in it.]

’With this, my title as Assassin’s Nightmare has definitely become more of a reality, I’m basically an assassin with this.’ He thought remembering his self proclaimed title.

"Rare rank?" He asked noticing the rank.

’Well the system description of the Trait Fusion ability did say that higher ranks don’t appear all the time and depends on luck.’

’Maybe high compatibility too with a little luck.’

He moved to the next set of traits, Squishy Resilience, Impact Resistance, Thick Skin, Chitin Plating.

[Selected: Squishy Resilience (Common, Lv.10) + Impact Resistance (Common, Lv.3) + Thick Skin (Uncommon, Lv.3) + Chitin Plating (Uncommon, Lv.10)]

[ Compatibility Analysis:

Squishy Resilience — Compatible

Impact Resistance — Compatible]

Thick Skin — Compatible

Chitin Plating — Compatible ]

[Fusion available.]

[Fuse?]

One slot left. He went to grab Iron Peeper Bones, then reconsidered and left it out of a pure durability build as it could be used for another build, choosing Shockless Frame instead bone and skin resilience paired with it felt like a natural fit.

[+ Shockless Frame (Common, Lv.10)]

[Fuse?]

He confirmed as his whole skeleton felt, briefly, like it had been dipped in something cold and then set. A dull ache rolled through every joint and faded within seconds.

[Trait Fusion Initiated.]

[Analyzing Characteristics...]

[Compatibility: High]

[Fusing Selected Traits...]

[Fusion Complete]

[New Trait: Firm Vessel — Rare]

[Combines reinforced impact absorption, improved skin and tissue durability, blunt-force resistance. The body becomes significantly harder to injure through pure impact and limited use to blades.]

"Good, at least the name isn’t that bad" he said, satisfied.

"Something thats sounds useful instead of embarrassing." He said relieved moving on.

He paused at his next traits, debating silently whether to proceed.

Dense Musculature, Iron Peeper Bones, Ursine Bulk, Brute Efficiency and Battle Endurance.

All muscle related, he reasoned ,so high compatibility, should probably be a given result.

[Selected: Dense Musculature (Rare, Lv.2) + Brute Efficiency (Uncommon, Lv.3) + Ursine Bulk (Rare, Lv.3) + Iron Peeper Bones (Rare, Lv.4)]

[ Compatibility Analysis:

Dense Musculature — Compatible

Brute Efficiency — Compatible]

Ursine Bulk — Compatible

Iron Peeper Bones — Compatible ]

[Fusion available.]

[Fuse?]

He confirmed it, and his whole body settled, like a structure finishing its final layer of reinforcement.

[Trait Fusion Initiated.]

[Analyzing Characteristics...]

[Compatibility: Very High]

[Fusing Selected Traits...]

[Fusion Complete]

[New Trait: Iron Brute Musculature — Rare]

[Combines superior muscle density, explosive power, muscle endurance and a strong structure. Grants significantly enhanced raw physical strength without excess bulk, improved force output in melee combat, and more efficient muscular stamina, endurance and recovery, Dense Anthony Bones, all without comprising flexibility.]

"Iron Brute." he said.

’That one actually sounds cool, luckily no Peeper in its name, thank the Goddess the system didn’t include it.’

"You called disciple?’ He suddenly heard Carmilla.

’No master.’

’Oh okay, so how’s the fusions going?’

’Good, I’ll tell you after rim done.’ He said as she cut the mental call.

He checked his list once more deciding it would be his last Fusion for now so he decided hunting for leftovers he think didn’t fit, and his eyes landed on thwo oddballs sitting alone with no obvious partners, Bear’s Grace, Relentless Pounding.

’This should be interesting, and could be something good.’ He thought

[Selected: Relentless Pounding (Uncommon, Lv.2) + Bear’s Grace (Rare, Lv.2) ]

[ Compatibility Analysis:

Relentless Pounding — Compatible

Bear’s Grace — Compatible] ]

[Fusion available.]

[Compatibility Analysis: Extremely High]

[Fuse?]

Two slots filled, he had room for three more and nothing obviously similar left, so he tried pairing it with Slime Gulp out of curiosity.

[+ Slim Gulp (Common, Lv.10)]

[Compatibility Analysis: High]

[Fusion Available.]

"Right, how does this even blend with the other two?" He sighed not knowing what to think.

He pulled Slime Gulp back out and confirmed the two trait fusion as is, since the compatibility was higher with just the two and he did not want some weird trait involving pounding and eating in his list.

[Trait Fusion Initiated.]

[Analyzing Characteristics...]

[Compatibility: Extemely High]

[Fusing Selected Traits...]

Warmth spread through his body from top to bottom, pleasant rather than uncomfortable, settling somewhere around his chest and lower regions.

’Please not anything weird.’ He prayed.

[Fusion Complete]

[New Trait: Hibernating Pounder (Uncommon, Lv.1)

[Description: You gain unparalleled stamina, energy efficiency, and endurance during prolonged physical activities requiring sustained, repetitive effort. The harder and more relentlessly you exert yourself, the more drastically your body accelerates its healing and recovery the moment you drop into a deep sleep or post-activity rest, letting you bounce right back for another round.]

"Seriously,"

"Its extremely useful, for various circumstances, but why does it have to sound like that?" He questioned already used to it.

He checked his status once more, running a mental tally. Four new traits and one accidentally hilarious one from earlier, dozens of duplicates gone.

"I should do this every time I pick up a new batch of traits," he said. "Instead of letting it pile up like laundry."

"Hmm, but piling them could also be good." He considered as it would give him more fusion options.

Downstairs, the smell of something actually edible had finally replaced the earlier burning scent, and Lucien’s stomach reminded him loudly that he was hungry and that fusing traits didn’t happen out of nothing.

He headed down deciding to leave fusing for later and caught Seraphina also coming up from the stairs of the underground training chamber for together with Carmilla, with what looked like Carmilla teasing Seraphina and Seraphina trying not to pay attention to what Carmilla was saying.

’Wonder what happened there?’ Lucien thought, remembering Seraphina telling him about Carmilla’s teasing.

Seraphina went to take a quick shower to wash off the training sweat, which made her clothes stick highlighting her dangerous and perfect curves.

"Don’t stare too much, disciple, or else you’ll make Sera embarrassed more than what she is now." Carmilla said grinning as Seraphina quickly escaped.

In the kitchen, Aurelia stood with arms crossed, expression a mask of long suffering patience, wearing an apron over her training gear that somehow made her look more dangerous, in a way that excited his little brother.

While Evelisse triumphantly watched what, against all odds, actually looked like food.

"I made this, by myself, maybe with a little help from Aura, a tiny bit, yes definitely a tiny bit." Evelisse announced.

"She burned the first three attempts, all while complaining about how I held a knife." Aurelia said.

"The fourth one worked and who holds a kitchen knife like they are trying to kill someone?"

Aurelia muttered something that sounded suspiciously like three attempts and a near fire, but didn’t argue the final result.

Lucien went to get Seraphina as the other two finished making dinner.

’New traits, new techniques, new Marriage bonds and a Goddess.’ He thought happily.

’Not a bad week, honestly.’