“I can’t believe it! It’s really an awakened crystalized heart!” I exclaimed, staring in awe at the item in my hand.

I had always expected to acquire such an invaluable item eventually, but not this early.

The awakened crystalized heart was the number one item to grind for in [Dungeon End].

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this item is what every character fervently grinds to fully grow their character to the utmost.

"Every RPG has that one item." I muttered to myself, "that one drop with insane stats or a hidden ability that everyone needs to farm for. This is it."

In [Dungeon End], crystalized hearts weren't particularly special on their own. They were mainly used as credits, similar to gold coins in other games. But their true value lay in being the core of a monster’s life essence.

"So, what makes the awakened crystalized heart so special?"

Every monster in [Dungeon End] possesses a crystalized heart, but only a very few have what we call their awakened version. This is what sets them apart.

Skills have levels but no proficiency metrics or experience points.

They don’t level up the traditional way. You don’t just use them repeatedly or feed them experience points to increase their level. Instead, you need something like this.

The awakened crystalized heart is special because of its contents.

A character can consume this heart to gain one of two outcomes of their choice.

They can either receive a new skill based on the monster from which the heart came from or level up an existing skill, granting it a new ability that matches both the monster's properties and the skill's current set.

"This is huge," I whispered, my mind racing with possibilities. "I could level up my weak slime skill or gain an entirely new ability."

The realization of what I held in my hand was overwhelming.

The power to grow stronger was now within my grasp, all thanks to a series of unexpected and ‘fortunate’ coincidences.

"Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I said, taking a deep breath to calm down.

Not only that, but this was an awakened crystalized heart from a boss monster, not a regular one. This meant its value was astronomical.

The thing with these hearts is that you could get them from any monster, whether it’s a floor’s guardian, a hidden special or elite monster, or even a normal mob.

But their value obviously differs based on where they come from but their rarity was of the same value, extremely hard to procure.

"Alright, let's think this through," I muttered, trying to keep my excitement in check.

"This world isn’t as simple and forgiving as it might seem. I need to be smart about this."

Using this item would provide an ability based on the monster it originated from.

This reminded me of one of my characters I had played. It wasn’t the best character I ever had, but it did pretty well regardless.

"That guy... he died because of my lack of knowledge," I reminisced.

"It was my first time acquiring an awakened crystalized heart, and I used it without thinking much."

Most players would think that using the item immediately was the correct approach, but it wasn’t.

"If I remember correctly, the character was from the slums with the ability [Mark]." I recalled.

"This ability lets me mark down a target, making it easy to track them. Nothing special, really."

I ended up picking the Ranger class with that character as a synergizing class.

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The Ranger class had the talent [Far Shot], Which increases ranged damage based on the distance between me and the target.

With it, I could safely and easily farm and kill monsters from afar while sniping them using my [Mark] skill.

I decided to name this character's class Marksman. Not as tempting sounding as my Bloodzerker or Weaponmancer, but it worked.

I chuckled at the memory.

I didn’t care much about this character back then. I figured he would eventually die in some ditch somewhere.

Now, understanding that it was all real, I feel bad about how I treated him.

Anyway, with that character, I was farming the third floor. It was a swamp-like area where many poisonous creatures roamed.

One of its inhabitants was a creature known as the [Venomous Snake]. Not a particularly intriguing name like the Viscous Fiend, but it gave a clear understanding of its ability: a snake that dealt poison damage.

Eventually, I was farming them for crystals and killed over a thousand of them.

Until I came across my very first awakened crystalized heart.

I remembered the excitement and the sense of achievement.

"An awakened crystalized heart from a Venomous Snake." I said, shaking my head at the memory.

I thought that the Venomous Snake was the perfect monster to get an ability from for my Marksman.

I figured there was no point in leveling up my [Mark] skill; what I really needed was some sort of offensive skill.

My mind raced with the possibilities—an ability that could cloak my arrows with poison, or something along those lines.

But oh, was I far mistaken.

"I can't believe how naive I was." I muttered, recalling the moment. "I really thought I was going to get something game-changing."

Instead, the skill I received was [Venomous Blood]. It sounded cool, but it was far from useful for my character.

"This was when I understood what it meant by 'an ability used by the owner of the crystalized heart.'" I muttered.

"It meant it literally, not in a way that would adapt to my character. It truly added what it said."

The thing with the Venomous Snake was that its blood was entirely made of poison.

This property allowed it to cloak its sharp fangs with poison.

And this is exactly what I got—the ability to convert my red blood into purple venomous blood.

"What do you think happens when a human being, without any organs to filter and handle such properties, gets venomous blood?" I asked rhetorically. "They quickly end up dying from the poison status."

And that's how my character died.

"It was then that I realized the importance of compatibility," I reflected. "Just because a skill comes from a powerful monster doesn't mean it's the right fit for your character."

I stood there, holding the awakened crystalized heart of the Overfiend, pondering my next move.

"I can't afford to make the same mistake," I said firmly. "This time, I need to make sure the skill or boost I get is something I can actually use."

"What properties did the Viscous Overfiend have?" I pondered aloud, trying to recall every detail I knew about it.

"It had the acidic property, meaning if I used the Awakened Crystalized Heart to acquire a new skill, the chances of me turning my blood into acid were very real."

I shuddered at the thought. Within seconds, acidic blood would melt my veins, my flesh, and bones. The pain would be unimaginable, slow, and torturous, driving me insane long before it finished its work.

This made it crystal clear that acquiring a new skill from this heart was not an option.

"Even further," I continued, "the Overfiend had a gelatinous property. What if my bones turned to gelatin? I'd be paralyzed, unable to move at all. What if my blood turned to jelly? It would no longer travel through my heart, causing blockages in my respiratory system."

Those thoughts sent shivers down my spine.

"This is insane," I muttered, clutching the crystalized heart tighter. "I can't afford to take such a reckless gamble."

Should I use the heart to enhance an existing skill instead? My current skills were limited to only my [Summon Slime], but it was the safer bet.

"Both are of the slime family tree." I reasoned. "I can’t see an outcome where my slime acquiring the acidic property isn’t a plus as I lacked any offensive capability.

They’re already gelatinous creatures, so they wouldn’t get that ability, which removes one option from the pool of skills they could acquire from the Overfiend’s crystalized heart."

"Alright, let's do this," I said, taking a deep breath.

Would you like to level up you [Summon Slime] Skill to [Level 2]?

"All or Nothing! Yes!"

*Ding!*

[Summon Slime] Level Has increased from 1 => 2

My heart pounded with anticipation and curiosity. What kind of new ability had I unlocked?

I couldn't help but open my skill information, only to be left speechless.

https://i.imgur.com/OFOI6Uv.jpeg [https://i.imgur.com/OFOI6Uv.jpeg]

[Summon Slime] Lv.1

[Summon Slime] has been upgraded to [Summon Slime of ........

https://i.imgur.com/0sS2bTR.png [https://i.imgur.com/0sS2bTR.png]

[Summon Slime of ...........] Lv.2

"What!"