Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Spendthrift Necromancer (32)

Apprentice (2)

Amid the melee.

A Wraith Knight blocked his path.―……

Human?

The knight stared curiously at him and Cedric beside him.

Then.―Gruuuk!

Two Orc chiefs hurled themselves forward.

Second Brother Urkan and Third Brother Dekum.

The Orcs' finest warriors.

Their axes collided with the knight's sword.

Boom!

Despite the overwhelming level difference, the chiefs weren't easily pushed back.‘This is what gear does.’The knight's hands and feet became tied up.

Openings appeared everywhere.

Cedric and Kim Minwoo.

For those two, exploiting an opening was so easy it was almost boring.

Stab!―Guh!

Between the armor.

Minwoo drove his silver-plated sword into a joint near the heart, and the Wraith Knight practically died of joy.

Cedric's spear also slipped into the knight's body with vicious precision.

Under the combined assault of four opponents, the creature failed to last even a minute before its body melted away.

Then.

Ellum's eyes burned blue.

The instant he thrust his staff forward.

Whoosh!

Hundreds of undead rose from the ground.

More than two hundred Ghouls.

And nearly ten Dullahans.

“Cough, open a path!”

Ellum shouted, his face deathly pale as though that single spell had consumed all his mana.

The Ghouls and Dullahans forced open a path without caring about the arrows raining down.

The Chimeras and Wraith Knights joined them.

They showed fierce determination to break through in a single direction no matter how many attacks struck them from every side.‘Well, I figured they'd do that.’Even without the Elves, Minwoo would've held the advantage.

Nearly two thousand Orcs.

Almost half of them armed.

Ellum's side would've struggled even in a normal battle.

And now they had been ambushed on top of that.

The odds had already tilted toward Minwoo.

When trapped and collapsing like this, how many choices did they really have?

At best, they could concentrate everything into breaking through one point.‘And that's when all your soldiers melt away.’Exactly like now.

Force your way in a single direction?

That meant you were infinitely vulnerable from behind.

Every time the Orcs screamed and brought down their axes, Ellum's underlings died helplessly.‘Time to finish this.’Unlike Ellum, Minwoo's mana was still full of life.

And after seeing the message that the enemy had departed, he'd canceled the summons of the Skeletons inside the forge.

Meaning he could summon as many as he liked.

It was time to use the Skeletons he'd been saving.

White hands suddenly seized the feet of the forces desperately trying to break through.

Ellum's troops staggered.

Then more Skeletons appeared in front of them and charged.

“A N-Necromancer?”

Ellum's eyes trembled at the completely unexpected sight.

An army of Skeletons rushed into his forces as though committing suicide.

Their equipment and levels were poor.

But the real problem was simply that they wasted time.

“Damn it! Why are they getting up again!”

Enemies he'd thought were dead moved once more and clung like ticks.

He couldn't simply ignore them.

Each time, they grabbed onto his underlings' bodies and dragged them back.

The Orcs swarmed the slowed enemies.

Ellum's forces rapidly dwindled.

“Cough, break through! Break through……!”

Eventually, they barely managed to clear away the Skeletons.

“W-We made…….”

Then a despairing sight appeared.

Another thousand Skeletons stood in their path.

“Ah, ah…….”

Despair filled Ellum's eyes as he looked around.

Dullahans, Ghouls, Corpse Collectors, Wraith Knights.

Altogether, fewer than twenty remained.

Opening the path.

Taking arrows.

Getting stalled.

Everything else had died.

Behind them, the Orcs approached while drooling.‘I almost feel bad.’Highest-Grade Mana Potions were just too damn good.

At low levels, one bottle could refill his entire mana pool.

Unfortunately for Ellum, Kim Minwoo was filthy rich in potions.―Gruk! Kill everything except that human!

The Orcs faithfully followed his instructions.

Before long, only Ellum and a swarm of Orcs remained on the snowy ground.

Minwoo approached him.

“Huff. Huff.”

Ellum breathed heavily, perhaps because the arrow lodged in his chest was causing him pain.

Bloodshot eyes stared at Kim Minwoo.

“Y-You…… You were the one who gathered the Orcs……!”

“Yeah.”

“Cough! Spare me. If you kill me…… things will truly become irreversible!”

“If I don't kill you, they're reversible?”

“Y-Yes! The Apostle doesn't know about this yet. If I explain it properly, I'm certain he'll forgive you.”

“He still doesn't know?”

Nod!

Ellum nodded vigorously.

“Correct. Your undead are special. They revive! I'm certain you'd play an important role even in the fortress. Then you'd receive all sorts of rewards…….”

Minwoo cut off his head.[You have defeated Necromancer ‘Ellum’!][Level increases by 2!]‘Oh.’The experience was incredible even though he'd only taken the last hit.

Definitely fitting for a high-level named enemy.

And that wasn't his only reward.

A book was glowing beside Ellum's corpse.

The moment Kim Minwoo saw it, his expression turned serious.‘A Bound Skill Book!’Monsters occasionally dropped Skill Books.

The class of those Skill Books was random.

And their effects weren't particularly exceptional either.‘Because they only drop basic skills.’For Necromancers, things like Summon Skeleton or Summon Skeleton Mage.

For Swordsmen or Mages, things like Elemental Mastery or Swordsmanship Mastery.

These were commonly called ‘basic skills.’

Monsters dropped them constantly, so they were actively traded.

Even if you couldn't find one, repeated synthesis would usually produce it soon enough.‘Literally, skills that let you do the basics once learned.’Put differently, they only let you do ‘the basics.’

If you wanted to perform at the level of two or three people instead of merely pulling your own weight, you needed special skills beyond those.

The most representative method was Awakening Achievements.

As long as your Achievement Rank was high, you could receive skills at Level 1 that even top-tier Awakened couldn't obtain.‘That's why everyone loses their minds over Achievements.’Kim Minwoo was the same.

That was how he'd learned the monstrous skill Death Lord at Level 1.

Another method was obtaining a Bound Skill Book.

Bound.

Simply put, the item became untradeable the moment you obtained it.

In exchange, its effects were powerful.

Upon acquisition, the class and usable level adjusted to the person who obtained it.

You would never suffer the miserable situation of obtaining a Bound Skill Book only to discover you had the wrong class or insufficient level to learn it.‘And…….’Instead of basic skills, Bound Skill Books produced far superior abilities.‘Rankings can come down to how many skills like this you have.’Their drop rate was extremely low precisely because their effects were so good.

For ordinary monsters, you could practically assume they never dropped.‘As expected of a named monster.’Taking the last hit had paid off.

Minwoo happily picked up the Bound Skill Book.[You have acquired a Bound Skill Book.][You have acquired Necromancer Skill Book, Bone Replacement(B)

!]‘……

Huh?’Bone Replacement?

He examined the details.[Bone Replacement(B)][Required Level: 75 or higher][You may replace a summon's bones part by part. However, replacement beyond its capacity is impossible. Capacity is proportional to the summon's average level.][Applicable Summons][Skeleton (Capacity 0/25)][Skeleton Mage (Capacity 0/17)][Cedric (Capacity 0/75)]‘Oh.’He had a rough idea what the effect meant.

Replacing their bones with different ones would probably grant some kind of effect.‘This skill seems perfect for me.’Couldn't he just buy bones with money?[Would you like to learn this Skill Book?]

“Of course.”

The skill looked overflowing with potential at a glance.

There was no reason not to learn it.[You have learned Bone Replacement(B)

!]

Then.

Urkan approached.―Gruk! Big Brother! Those pointy-eared bastards over there said they want to see Big Brother! So I didn't kill them yet!

Just as he said.

In the distance.

Several robed figures were gathered together.

“Good. Don't randomly raise your axe at people. Except forces belonging to the Witch or Ice Dragon.”―Gruk! Urkan smart! Remember everything Big Brother says!

“I'll be back. Wait here.”―Gruk! Understood!

Minwoo approached the Elves.

One of them stepped forward as their representative.

“Greetings. My name is Elise, Forest Keeper of the Mother Tree.”

“I'm Kim Minwoo. Thank you for helping us. The battle ended much more easily because of you.”

Since he'd received their help, he politely bowed first.

Elise nodded and spoke.

“I heard rumors about you. That you're building a Resistance Army against the Witch.”

“That's correct.”

“Would you allow us Elves to join the Resistance Army as well?”

Minwoo tilted his head.

Elves were famous for being proud and isolationist.

Yet they had rushed over to help him without even being asked, and now they were asking to join his party?

There was no reason they'd behave this way unless their feet were on fire.

“Lady Elise. Before that, let me ask you something. Are the Elves also under attack by the Witch?”

“……

Yes.”

“I assume things aren't going well.”

“……

That's also correct.”

“I'm sorry. It's true that you helped us, but I don't think that's enough by itself for me to decide to accept you.”

“……

Are you refusing?”

“No. I'm saying we need to talk a little more before I decide.”

“Please go ahead.”

“The Dwarves supply weapons and armor to the Orcs. In return, we guarantee their safety. I assume the Elves want something similar?”

“Correct.”

“Then in exchange for the Resistance Army guaranteeing your safety, what can the Elves offer us?”

“We can provide troops and a map of the surrounding terrain.”

“How many troops?”

“About as many as you see here…….”

“Not enough. Not remotely.”

Minwoo shook his head.

The Elves had helped, sure.

But all they'd done was send around thirty people and fire some arrows.

If Minwoo helped the Elves in return?

Judging by how desperate their situation seemed, hundreds of Orcs would probably die.

Trade that for a single map and thirty Elf soldiers?

Both were useful.‘Still nowhere near worth it.’It was the worst deal imaginable.

The help they'd received today was worth, at best, handing over some Dwarf-made equipment and parting on warm terms.

Not spilling blood all over the place for them.

“……

Then we could also provide fruit and medicinal herbs…….”

“Lady Elise. Does the blood of our Resistance Army look that cheap to you? Cheap enough that this amount of help should make hundreds of Orcs die for you?”

Her words caught in her throat.

“You helped us, so we'll repay you. We'll give you Dwarf-made equipment. Take it and return home.”

Trying to freeload off me?

Minwoo turned away without hesitation.

Then.

“……

Wait!”

Elise hurried after him and grabbed his shoulder.

“Tell me what you want.”

“The Divine Fruit of the Mother Tree. And a large supply of potions. That's the minimum.”

Divine Fruit was an extremely effective fruit that only very rarely grew on the Mother Tree.

And Elves were a race famous for alchemy.

Meaning they were excellent at mass-producing things like potions.

Both were classic goods worth obtaining from Elves.‘I'm not even gouging them.’Honestly, this was around what Minwoo believed he needed to receive before risking lives to protect them.

Otherwise, the Dwarves would have every right to feel cheated.

“……!”

Her ears trembled.

The Elves behind her reacted just as strongly.

“Divine Fruit! We can't, Lady Elise!”

“We don't even have enough potions for ourselves! And he wants a large supply?”

The Elves protested in horror.

Minwoo looked toward Elise.

“If you don't like it, refuse.”

“……

Divine Fruit is an extraordinarily precious treasure.”

“Our lives are just as precious.”

“……

Aren't you…… fighting against the Witch?”

Minwoo snorted.

This Elf seemed to be misunderstanding something.

“So? We are an organization fighting the Witch. But we're not the Elves' babysitters.”

“But if we fall, the Resistance Army will also……!”

Fall.

The fact that she'd even said something like that meant the Elves' situation was probably extremely urgent.

And despite that, she'd still offered him such garbage terms?

So racial traits really didn't disappear.

Proud Elves indeed.

“Is that so? Then you should buy us plenty of time before you collapse. We'll make good use of it.”

The Elves murmured.

He's seriously not going to help us?

That seems to be the mood?

Then what are we supposed to do?

Their thoughts seemed completely transparent.

If the teeth disappear, the gums suffer too.

They seemed to be trying to cling to him with logic along those lines.‘What is this, hostage diplomacy?’Elves?

Of course they would be useful.

But he wouldn't die without them.

That was even more true now that the Orcs had gathered and his own value had risen dramatically.

Apparently realizing the seriousness of the situation, Elise spoke with a stiff expression.

“……

Please, give us some time to think. We need time to make a decision too.”

“You have five minutes. After that, I'll reject any proposal. You'll take the equipment and leave.”

Elise and the Elves nodded and moved away to discuss it.

Raised voices echoed over, suggesting a fierce argument.

Exactly four minutes and fifty-five seconds later.

Elise returned.

“……

We accept. However…… supplying potions in large quantities is realistically difficult. We don't have enough alchemists to make them.”

“Then make more.”

“……

Make what?”

“Alchemists. We have plenty of promising young talents on our side.”

More than a thousand of them.