- A reference guide and manual in Russian for Heroes 3.

So, I'm asking, why does "it" (the skill) "burn out"? Wouldn't it, for example, just go to where it's 0?

This is a question for Van Caneghem, not for me. :) The game's programmers decided this, and logic isn't involved here. Two rules embedded in the game simply coincided: the random increase of a primary skill and the fact that skills cannot be higher than 99. Accordingly, when the check for the maximum shows that this limit has been reached, the bonus "burns out." It's just a fact, one of many.