A few estimates of what the increased number could be popped into Kai's mind, but it's not like he would actually know until he activated the skill.

Then again, maybe it still only gave an extra five stats since it seemed like the upgrade was mainly focused on increasing the offensive capabilities of the skill.

Still, Kai was curious, so he could simply just use the skill to sate his curiosity.

Instantly, a magnificent multi-coloured flame engulfed Kai, a harrowing vortex of heat that had no effect on the red haired boy.

The flames wrapped around his body and spread throughout the white room, burning the padding beneath his feat.

Kai looked like a human wick that was being burned by seven vibrant flames that had all merged into one extreme inferno.

He couldn't help but be in awe as he gazed down at his hands, the flames wrapping delicately around his fingers like a fiery gauntlet.

Wanting to test something, Kai attempted to control the raging inferno that was around his body.

Slowly, Kai tried to reign in the flames so that they would be more potent in a closer area rather than more destructive but weaker in a larger area.

The flames slowly retracted and started clinging to Kai's body, their colour growing brighter and the heat getting stronger as it did. Instead of looking like a lit candle, the flames wrapped around Kai's body like someone had traced his outline with a pencil.

Soon, there was a layer of multi-coloured flames protecting Kai's body. The padding beneath his feet continued to burn, but the flames paid no attention to Kai or his robe, only offering him their protection.

Kai closed his hand and opened it again, watching the flames follow close behind. There was a bit of a delay, but nothing major, Kai definitely wouldn't be able to outrun his flames if he tried, so that was nothing to worry about.

Overall, appearance wise, Kai looked absolutely incredible. The mix of colours may have been a bit random, but when together they looked nothing short of divine. Anyone who saw him might have mistaken him for a God, but then again, Kai wasn't sure what a God was meant to look like considering The Ever-changing could change their appearance at will.

Still, while it was an added boon that Kai looked incredible while on fire, he was still more curious about the stat side of the skill.

So, slightly nervous, Kai opened his status and...

Grinned madly.

While the Common rarity Soul Flame had increased all of Kai's stats by five, equalling an extra thirty-five stats points.

The Rare version of the skill increased all of Kai's stats by thirty, equalling a whopping two hundred and ten stat points added.

An absolutely massive power up, one Kai could achieve indefinitly and instantly because of the way the skill worked.

Obviously, Kai didn't want to be on fire all the time, so he wouldn't have the skill active all the time, but that power up was able to be activated with the click of a finger. All he had to do was say flame on and there it was.

But there was another thing Kai wanted to try though, the skill did say Kai had more control over the way the flames worked after all.

Delicately, Kai attempted to shift the amount of each stat the flames were boosting.

Instantly, Kai felt the massive upgrade to his Statshifting that had come from all the added boosts and upgrades he had received so far.

While before, Statshfiting felt like cutting through a block of butter with a dull knife, now it felt like he was using a knife that wasn't incredibly sharp, but sharp enough for it to be appropriate and usable.

And not even a full minute later, Kai had managed to manipulate the stats his flames were boosting.

However, he inwardly knew that if he attempted to replicate this act on his actual stats and not his boosted ones, it would take longer. For whatever reason, the stats he gained from the boost were much easier to shift than his actual stats. It was probably because the skill mentioned that Kai had more control over the flames, so it probably also meant he could control the stats easier. But after he had finished shifting the stats...

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now, all two hundred and ten stat points were put into his Dexetrity.

The change was definitely noticeable, considering the once mutli-coloured flames that were wrapped around his body were now a light shade of blue.

But this meant that Kai was able to boost any of his stats by two hundred and ten at will.

Damn, I swear every skill I've gotten has just been way too incredible. I mean, just Soul Flame by itself is amazing. Honestly, it's probably in my top three along with Nonchalance and... um..."

While Nonchalance was undeniably in his top three considering it was the only reason that he was alive, there was also other skills that were incredibly useful in different ways.

Strong Mind had also saved his life, but that was only one time, the skill had basically been relaxing in the background after that whole ordeal.

Kai was also alive because of Contract of Artemis, but was it top three?

The value Telepathy offered was just too immense to be overlooked. Honestly, that was the skill that had the highest chance of taking the top spot.

Maybe if Statshifting was a skill it would have been in the top three, but it wasn't, so it couldn't be.

So Kai's top three skills were Soul Flame, Telepathy and Nonchalance. A pretty balanced top three, but a strong one nonetheless.

Still, Kai was happy with all of his skills. Except for Lesser Dagger Mastery, he had never used that, not even once.

Also Lesser Identify, that skill was equally as useless considering that everything was a higher level than him.

But there was another aspect of Kai's kit that was incredibly essential that had also improved in the time he was unconscious. In fact, this was probably the most shocking upgrade out of the whole lot of them.

And it all came in the form of this one little notification.

Innate ability evolving

Kai's innate ability had evolved. He remembered that Failure mentioned that this only happened after someone accomplished an incredible feat, the example he had used was drinking the blood of a mythical dragon. Was Kai surving his fusion with Failure really on par with that?

Probably not, but Kai could only guess that the Miracle Bead had to have some influence on the process. It was basically pay to win, except Kai had gotten it for free.

Still, if his innate ability had evolved for that achievement, then what the hell would he have to accomplish if he wanted to evolve it again? If he even could evolve it again, that is.

Still, Kai was more curious about what had evolved about his innate ability rather than if it could evolve again.

Innate ability: Will of the Kaiser- Impose your will onto other sentient beings below your level or up to 10 levels above you depending on your Luck stat. No one should be able to disobey your commands, not even your enemies.

Allows the user to harness otherworldly creatures temporarily in exchange for Mana. Mana expenditure rate is based on the power of the creature who's power you're borrowing. The user is able to take the form of the creature who's power they are borrowing if they choose to. If the creature the user tries to fuse with is a contracted familiar, the user will also gain the skills of their familiar. Even creatures cannot resist the tyrannical power of the Kaiser.

Honestly, there wasn't much that had changed about his innate ability. Unlike other upgrades he had received, there was no flavour text added in to spice it up. Actually, now that he read it over again, the description of his innate ability looked a little boring when compared to the later descriptions he had read. Did the system suddenly gain some creativity or something? If so, Kai was all for it as he appreciated cool words to do with cool things.

The first thing Kai had noticed had changed was the level of those in which he could impose his will upon. Instead of it being a measly five levels, it was now a measly ten levels above him.

Still, it wasn't all bad as Kai was guaranteed to be one of the highest levels across every tutorial considering he had reached the level cap. Now that he thought about it, if he was just able to impose his will on anyone that was a lower level than him... Was that not a little OP?

There had to be some hidden add on, otherwise Kai could just make anyone that as a lower level than him do his bidding and they wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him.

Quite frankly, no one should be able to have that kind of power, so there definitely had to be a hidden add on, or else Kai would be able to create an army of those lower leveled than him.

Another upgrade his innate ability received was the fact he was able to take the form of otherworldly beasts now as well as borrowing their powers. That itself seemed a little lackluster, but Kai could see the use considering he spent a while in the Dome trying to understand the essence of being a wolf by studying Umbra's soul.

If he was able to take what he had learned, fuse with Umbra and turn into an actual wolf, and apply it all in full, he might be able to see a massive leap in growth if he done it right.

And the final upgrade was that now when Kai fused with Umbra, he would also get all of her skills.

That was a nice boost, the more skills the merrier.

Kai then froze as an idea popped into his head.

That meant he would also have Minor Restoration, meaning he would be able to manipulate Soul Flame into giving all of the stats to Mana, in return making the transformation last even longer and be able to heal any injuries he would receive.

At that moment, Umbra's sleeping form shuddered, as if she could sense the masochistic thoughts going on in her master's mind.