Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Spendthrift Necromancer (145)

Bloodwater Prison OrbSpecial guests came to the family estate. The Sword Immortal and the other three old men.

“You needed Dragon blood, didn't you?”

“Yes, I do, but…….”

“We figured as much, so we gathered some ahead of time. We'll give it to you while we're here.”

“You gathered it?”

At those words, the Sword Immortal nodded.

“Hoho. Of course. Did you think we'd wipe our mouths clean after giving you a single Dragon corpse?”

“I never expected anything like this…….”

“If you need anything else in the future, tell us anytime. We'll get whatever we can.”

The other three old men nodded.

After receiving such a tremendous favor from Kim Minwoo.

All four had personally given him their numbers, yet Kim Minwoo hadn't asked them for so much as a single favor. If anything, he merely checked in from time to time and sent donations.

It wasn't as though he'd never had anything he needed help with. He'd probably just endured it silently on his own.

His growth rate alone made that obvious.

And that only made the four old men even more restless.

The Sword Immortal most of all.

Not only he himself, but even his granddaughter had ended up receiving Kim Minwoo's help. A debt of gratitude so great he could never repay it.

Without Kim Minwoo, he and his granddaughter would probably still be awkward around each other.

That was the kind of problem even a man called the Sword Immortal couldn't solve.

He needed to give the young man something.

How could someone so young be so thoughtful?

If Minwoo never asked for anything, how were they supposed to help him?

That was why he and his brothers had steadily accumulated Dragon corpses.

“We've got around forty of them piled up. Where should we put them?”……Forty?

Kim Minwoo exclaimed inwardly. Every Dragon was at least a sub-boss-class creature, if not a full Boss Monster. And there weren't one or two of them, but forty.

What kind of windfall was this?

And no part of a Dragon corpse went to waste. The blood could go into the Bloodwater Prison Orb, the bones to Cedric and the other undead, and the rest of the materials could be used for crafting later.

Naturally, they were expensive.

Of course, the real problem wasn't the money but obtaining them in the first place.‘I struck oil.’Forty would be enough to strengthen Merhen and Cedric, with plenty left for the other undead too.

“I'll gratefully accept them. That area over there happens to be empty. Could you put them there?”

“Certainly.”

Dragon corpses began pouring endlessly from the four men's inventories. They weren't as enormous as Ancient Dragons, but each corpse was still impressively large.

If he'd tried to buy all this with money, it might easily have cost him at least twenty trillion won.

He took out the Bloodwater Prison Orb.

The round orb immediately began humming. Red energy rose over the fallen Dragon corpses.[Would you like to absorb the blood?]

The moment he nodded.

Swoosh!

Blood surged up from every direction and was sucked into the orb like an ebbing tide.

“What a fascinating artifact. Is that why you needed blood?”

“Yes. If I absorb blood into this, I can use it to strengthen my undead. Like I did with bones.”

The orb continued drinking blood even as they spoke. Soon, every Dragon corpse had shriveled dry.[All nearby blood has been absorbed! Sufficient blood has been accumulated!][Dragon Blood: 100% Charged.][The structure can be changed into a Blood Prison. Would you like to proceed?]

Dragon Blood.

It could easily be called the finest of all blood.

Naturally, he already knew which undead would receive it first.

Merhen and Cedric.

The two Legion Commanders appeared.

“Oh, are those your lackeys, Minwoo?”

Fist King asked with obvious curiosity as he looked at them.

“That's right. These elders care a lot about me. Say hello.”

Cedric looked at the four men, then nodded as though he understood.―Are these the ones who replaced my head?

“Yeah. They're replacing your blood too.”―Blood?

He showed Cedric the Bloodwater Prison Orb. Merhen also slipped closer to examine it.―Wow, are we getting stronger with Dragon blood?

“Yeah. See all those Dragon corpses? These elders went to the trouble of gathering them.”―Thank you! You all worked so hard helping Minwoo!

Merhen bounced over to the four men and took each of their hands in turn.

“Ahem. Miss, your age is…….”

Poison Demon asked cautiously.

Merhen tilted her head.―Are you single?

“I have children…….”―Huh? Then you should know how rude it is to ask a woman her age.

Poison Demon sank in a single blow.

Cedric added.―There's no need to feel awkward. We're both fairly old ourselves. We simply don't age.―Minwoo! That's all a lie. Merhen doesn't age. You know that, right?

“Of course. I know.”

He didn't actually know.

But what did that matter?

The important thing was keeping the four elders from feeling uncomfortable.

He slipped closer and whispered.

“Elders. Please understand. My summons are a little unusual…….”

“Haha, of course we understand. Third Brother, undead are usually older than they look. They don't age. How can even I, a man living in the mountains, know more basic facts than you?”

“……

There are undead who aren't as old as they look too. I merely asked just in case. Ahem.”

New information about Poison Demon acquired.

Sensitive about age.

Minwoo smoothly changed the subject.

“I'm planning to strengthen my Legion Commanders. Would you like to watch?”

“May we?”

“Of course.”

They'd given him forty Dragon corpses.

How could he refuse to show them this much?

He activated the Bloodwater Prison Orb.

That was when.[Blood Prison opens!]

Along with the message, a room that looked quite literally like a crimson prison appeared.

It was large enough for two or three people.[Place target undead inside the Blood Prison to begin strengthening.][The Blood Prison expands as more undead are placed inside. However, the strengthening effect may be distributed more thinly as the number increases.][Blood consumption varies according to the undead's level and abilities.]―It's a prison?

“It looks a little ominous, but the effect should be incredible. Go in.”

Of course.

It had absorbed every drop of blood from forty Dragons. How could the effect not be incredible?

Good girl Merhen opened the prison door and stepped inside first.

Cedric followed.

The moment both entered.[Both undead possess potential powerful enough to accept Dragon Blood!][Estimated Dragon Blood Consumption: 50%][Would you like to strengthen them?]

“Do it?”―Yeah.―By all means.[Strengthening begins.]

Along with the message.

A crimson mist began gathering around the two undead.

Cedric's bones gradually turned red. Merhen's skin began reddening too.

“Does it hurt or anything?”―No. It just feels like soaking in hot water? Makes me sleepy.―An apt comparison.[Dragon Blood is being absorbed into the bodies of both undead.][Estimated Time: 10 hours.]Ten hours.

The strengthening process took quite a while.‘Because they're absorbing so much blood?’Well.

They were absorbing half the blood extracted from forty Dragon corpses, meaning the equivalent of twenty Dragons' worth.

That much ought to take time.

“It says it'll take around ten hours. Would you like to wait here, or…….”

“No need. We've seen the general idea. I think I understand.”

At the Sword Immortal's words, the other three nodded.

They'd seen something interesting. That was enough.

They weren't so curious that they'd wait ten whole hours just to see the result.

They were absorbing Dragon blood. They would get stronger somehow. However the process worked, as long as it helped Kim Minwoo, that was enough.

Now that they knew it would work, their business was finished.

“Then we'll be going.”

“You could stay and rest for a while…….”

“No. One must always devote oneself to training, lest one fall behind.”

“Eldest Brother is right. If we want to keep helping you even with small things like this, Minwoo, we need to keep training hard ourselves.”

Divine Spear joined the Sword Immortal.

All of them were burning with enthusiasm for training.

“At least we won't be bored. That Isabella girl has quite the fighting spirit. She's perfect as a sparring partner.”

Fist King spoke while snorting through his nose.

His muscles were already twitching all over as though itching for a fight.

“Is she still at Sword Sea Pavilion?”

“I saw her on the way out today. Doesn't look like she plans to leave anytime soon. You can tell just by looking. Her eyes are glued here. Completely glued.”

“Please keep this secret from her for now.”

“Hm? We weren't planning to tell her anyway. She's a good person, sure, but this is separate from that. Right, brothers?”

“Of course. Public and private matters must remain separate. We only plan to help her polish her fundamentals. That alone should make staying here worthwhile for her.”

Poison Demon answered decisively.

Truly dependable elders.

The four men returned home.10 hours later.[Strengthening complete!]

The prison door opened with the message. Merhen emerged with a limp, melted expression.[Dragon Blood has been infused into Merhen's body!][Demonic Dragon Heart created!][Dragon Authority Stage 1 unlocked!][‘Rampage’ function unlocked!]

Those messages appeared for Merhen.

And for Cedric.[Dragon Blood has been infused into Cedric's body!][Blood Dragon Heart created!][Dragon Authority Stage 1 unlocked!][He is a Dragon Knight!][Additional adjustments are granted!][‘Manifestation’ function activated!][Additional effect of title ‘Master of the Dragon Knight’ unlocked!]

Even more messages appeared. He'd wondered if being a Dragon Knight might earn Cedric some kind of bonus.‘Did I hit a home run?’He looked at both summons.

Merhen first.

“What changed?”―First, this![Merhen uses Dragon Authority Stage 1, Hatchling Dragon Wings.]

Flutter!

A pair of adorable wings sprouted from Merhen's back. They looked exactly like tiny Dragon wings.

“Can you fly too?”―Yeah. I think I can. Hold on.

Flap flap!

The little wings fluttered, and Merhen rose into the air.

“Oh, pretty fast.”―Yeah. I can move even faster if I use Wind magic. Like this.

Whoosh!

Merhen shot away at high speed together with the wind.

Kim Minwoo's eyes gleamed.‘Nice.’A Mage's weakness.

First and foremost, mobility.

Merhen herself had never been particularly fast. She simply used magic to move from place to place.

But with those wings?‘Her mobility should at least double.’Her survivability had improved dramatically.

And Merhen's changes didn't stop there.―Minwoo, I have this too![Merhen uses Dragon Authority Stage 1, Hatchling Dragon Hide.]

Merhen's skin transformed into something resembling Dragon hide.

“Let me test it. I need to know how tough it is.”―Okay. But it's really tough. I don't think even Minwoo's sword can pierce it?

Just as Merhen said, the durability was impressive. Even against his full-strength attack.

Clang!

It blocked the blow hard enough to scatter sparks.‘I'll need several stacked strikes to pierce it.’And she wasn't even using defensive magic yet. Add magic on top of this, and it would become monstrous. Finally, Rampage…….[Rampage activates!][For 10 minutes, the power of all magic increases by 30%!][Magic can be stacked up to five times!]

A small image of a Dragon appeared above Merhen's body. The amplified damage afterward was vicious.[Merhen stacks Flame's Wrath(SS)

!]

The fire gathered over her hand grew redder and redder until.

BOOOOM!

An entire section of the training-ground wall vanished without a trace.

“Damn.”

Kim Minwoo exclaimed.

Magic compressed and stacked five full times dealt damage beyond imagination.It wasn't merely five times stronger.

The resulting damage was closer to eight times normal. The only drawback was that the casting took a little longer.‘Jackpot.’This was seriously good.

And that was just Merhen.

Cedric had received additional adjustments for being a Dragon Knight.

First, the title.[Master of the Dragon Knight][You have become the master of Dragon Knight Cedric.][Effect 1. Learning ability of all Skeleton-type summons greatly increases.][Effect 2. Skeletons can reach the stage of Dragon Tooth Soldiers.][Effect 3. Exerts powerful intimidation against Dragon-related monsters.]

Effects 1 through 3 were unchanged.

But Effect 4 had unlocked a new function.[Effect 4. You can create Cedric's comrade, Divine Dragon Gleipnir.][Effect 5. Locked.]‘Divine Dragon Gleipnir?’Was that the Bone Dragon he'd seen during the First Arrangement?

When he examined the effect in detail, more information appeared.[Create Divine Dragon Gleipnir][Material List][1. Corpse of an Ancient Dragon over ten thousand years old][2. Sorsalon's Flower][3. Bloodline of an Abyss Lord][4. 500L of Balrog Blood][5. 3 Threads of the Eastern Witch Society][6. A Handful of Mimir's Sigh]

Some materials were familiar, while others were completely unknown.

“Cedric. Do you know what Sorsalon's Flower, the Threads of the Eastern Witch Society, or Mimir's Sigh are?”―Gleipnir's creation has been unlocked?

“Yeah.”―I wouldn't recommend trying to craft him immediately. Every one of those materials is connected to an organization.

“Organizations?”―Sorsalon's Flower is connected to the Dragon Legion, the Threads to the Eastern Witch Society, and Mimir's Sigh to the Titan Race.

He got the general idea.‘Thinking about it now will only give me a headache.’They'd probably come together one by one when the time was right.

Shrugging, he looked at Cedric.

“So what did you get?”―This.

Immediately afterward.

Cedric's appearance changed.[Dragon energy manifests!]

Not only did his bones turn completely red, but his body nearly doubled in size.

His bones grew much thicker, and his already Dragon-like skull transformed until it looked almost perfectly identical to a Dragon's.

Flutter!

Red skeletal wings erupted from his back.[‘Manifestation’ state active.][Duration: 30 minutes.][Strength, Agility, and Stamina increase by 50%.][Dragonblood Slash

is available.]

Cedric began flying freely with his wings.

When he used Dragonblood Slash, a massive crescent-shaped crimson blade tore through everything in a straight line. Its power was just as vicious.

It wasn't as strong as Merhen's five-stack magic, but in exchange, its casting time was extremely short.‘Amazing.’Both Legion Commanders had effectively gained transformation trump cards.

Their combat power?

It had exploded.

And…….‘Half the Dragon blood is still left.’This could be applied to every ordinary summon too.

Dolsoe obviously had to go in first.

Then the Dullahans, Specters, Skeletons, and more.

There were more than enough summons to infuse with Dragon Blood.