The broken plasma rifle felt deceptively light in Lucianās hand, but the micro-fusion battery humming within it was a volatile pocket of cosmic fire.
As his passive skill [Assimilation] locked onto the tech, the streams of blue digital data didn't just trickle into his skināthey roared up his arm like a tidal wave.
[Assimilating: High-Capacity Micro-Fusion Battery (Military Grade).]
[Warning: Energy influx exceeds standard Rank 1 Imp containment thresholds!]
[Host's Intelligence stat (16) is stabilizing the core data transfer... Success.]
Lucian arched his back as a completely different kind of power surged through him. If the biological energy from the Abyss Beast felt like a warm, predatory rush, this tech energy felt like liquid lightning racing through his nervous system. His vision flickered with lines of raw, glowing blue code that overlayed his demonic crimson sight.
The system notifications pinged rapidly in his mind, struggling to categorize the bizarre hybridization of flesh, steel, and demonic qi.
[Assimilation Complete!]
[Gained: 150 EXP]
[Your Demonic Energy has interacted with raw plasma data.]
[Mana converted to: Abyssal Plasma Qi.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Cyber-Hacking (Rank: F) ā Allows the host to interface with and override low-tier electronic networks using demonic mana.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Plasma Claw (Rank: F) ā Infuse your demonic talons with superheated plasma energy. Costs 15 MP per activation.]
Lucian let out a breath, and a literal puff of blue static escaped his lips. He flexed his left hand. With a thought, a brilliant, crackling aura of violet-blue plasma enveloped his fingers, humming with the exact same deadly frequency as a Federation energy blade.
"Incredible..." Lucian whispered. He didn't just have the raw power of a demon; he now possessed the lethal cutting edge of the galaxy's most advanced weaponry.
A sudden static crunch echoed from the shattered earpiece lying in the mud near Vance's abandoned gear.
"...Squad 4, respond! Vance! Lucian! Do you copy? The perimeter line is collapsing at Outpost Beta! We need immediate reinforcementā"
The transmission cut out into a harsh whine, followed by the distant, echoing booms of heavy artillery vibrating down through the ceiling of the cavern. The surface war was escalating.
Lucian looked up toward the jagged fissure he had fallen through. Vance and the rest of his squad had left him behind to be eaten alive so they could save their own skins. They thought he was a zero-resonance nobody who would rot quietly in the dark.
His eyes glowed a lethal, blinding crimson, sparks of blue plasma dancing along his horns.
"Time to show them what cannon fodder can do," Lucian muttered.
Stepping into the deepest shadows of the cavern, he activated his newly acquired movement skill.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Step.]
[Consuming 10 MP...]
The shadows wrapped around his body like a cloak, and in the blink of an eye, his physical form vanished from the altar entirely, leaving nothing behind but the empty shell of a devoured plasma rifle.