Chapter 93: Skill Configuration

“So what you mean is that the total skill value for skills of the same tier is exactly the same, regardless of whether it’s a custom talent skill tree or a class’s inherent skill, is that right?” Luo Feng looked at Old Hu and asked in a low voice.

“Yes, that’s correct. So ‘Cool Night’ has reached the absolute limit required for string-type skills. Even if the final evaluation exceeds the limit by just 0.1, the skill creation would be deemed a failure,” Old Hu nodded and replied.

“So that means all of us have the same total skill value as Old Third? I can hardly believe it. Old Third actually managed to achieve this. Truly a brain made for calculations—he can work it all out and make a skill so flawless.” Qu Zheng looked up at the sky, a little crazed and slightly dejected, exclaiming, “Why is there such a huge gap? It’s a world apart!”

His near-hysterical shout left Qu Zheng’s voice hoarse.

“All right, we’ve cleared it,” Night Feather said as he turned toward the group, strolling over with a gentle smile on his lips that gave off a warm and pleasant feeling. However, when everyone saw the points of light around Night Feather completely dissipate, they noticed his mana had actually recovered to 10%.

“How can there be mana left? It was clearly depleted just now! How did this happen?” Tan Cong stared at Night Feather’s mana bar in surprise.

“Oh! Now that you mention it, I only just noticed—I still have 10% mana. Did it recover to 10%?” Night Feather feigned surprise at Tan Cong’s question, then rolled his eyes helplessly and shrugged with a laugh.

As Night Feather tried to move forward, he found that no matter how he walked, he was unable to move his body. Suddenly, from below came a deliberately exaggerated imitation of a girl's voice.

“My idol, my one and only idol! Please teach me how to design a custom talent skill at the very limit of my class’s capabilities! Idol, I worship you to the point of prostration!”

“Qu Zheng, you rascal, can’t you be serious for once!” Night Feather looked at Qu Zheng, who was clinging stubbornly to his leg, and spoke with a helpless smile.

“‘Cool Night,’ your custom talent skill design is truly impressive,” Old Hu said. “I’ve played ‘Divine Desolation’ for a long time, and I can assure you, even among the veteran masters on the old servers, very few could achieve such perfection in early-stage custom skill design as you have.”

Hearing Old Hu’s praise, Night Feather looked a little embarrassed. “It’s nothing special. I don’t have any real talent, just a knack for calculations. No extraordinary intelligence or luck—just some careful tinkering and a bit of luck.”

“But your skill is set at an early stage—are you sure that’s wise?” Luo Feng asked from the side. “I saw on the forums that when creating custom talent trees, it’s best to design signature skills at higher tiers, since the base damage is much higher. That’s why I haven’t set up a signature skill yet.”

Old Hu shook his head. “Medic, don’t go daydreaming. That’s foolish. If you can’t level up, what’s the point? Don’t forget, later on, unless it’s a special PK, death means losing levels. And do you really think ‘Cool Night’ has no backup plan?”

“Old Hu, it seems you’ve deduced quite a lot about me, haven’t you? Your guesses are probably right seven or eight times out of ten,” Night Feather replied with a smile, though a faint vein appeared on his forehead.

Old Hu wasn’t wrong. Night Feather had already set up a signature skill in the early game, and later on, he would continue to design signature skills at every stage. These would, like “Purple Extreme String Path,” trigger passive effects that unleash a second signature skill. Of course, he could also directly cast the second skill, but it would lack some of the damage stacking.

Moreover, mana consumption is always present. Using a skill naturally drains mana, and when mana runs out, the phantom behind Night Feather would vanish. If Night Feather actively dismissed the phantom, the skill’s condition would return 10% mana to him.

To maintain the passive mark of “Purple Extreme String Path,” Night Feather had tried every method. With stacked buffs, he could cut mana consumption for instant skills by 50%, and each time he switched skills, the damage effect increased by 20%. With buffs, skill damage increased by 20%, 25%, and 30%, while also reducing his own consumption.

Originally, this signature skill wasn’t very powerful, and the summoned burly phantom was, without prior setup, just an ordinary skill. Most importantly, though the skill looked spectacular when cast, Night Feather’s true intention was otherwise. When designing his custom talent, he spent much time deducing the string class’s limits—official data was scarce, so he calculated it all himself.

In the early stages, Night Feather also designed the skill to lower the chance of enemies hitting him. When casting this signature skill, he could enter a defensive state that directly boosted his defensive attributes, not just a simple defense stance. Facing “Ink Soul” in this state would be dangerous, and he could easily suffer devastating attacks.

After this direct test, Night Feather grew even more certain of his direction for custom talents. This design method was clearly his own invention—probably no one else would ever design skills this way. The reason was simple: his setup was tailored purely for ranged output, and among ranged classes, only the string series suited it perfectly.

Still, Night Feather hadn’t expected Old Hu to deduce so much about his custom talent. He likely guessed that Night Feather’s skill needed certain preconditions to unleash high damage, but he didn’t know the exact setup.

Besides, no one else would dare use this method to design skills.

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