Chapter 18

Become a Legendary Necromancer - Chapter 018

Normally, I would have escorted Ryu Jun-hwi's group back to the entrance.

Then, instead of leaving the Gate, I would have set out to find the Hidden Route.

But there was no need for that now.

'If anything, this works out better. If I head all the way to the destination and hunt around there, I'll be able to kill far more Rat Knights.'

The Hidden Route concealed within this Gate.

Its conditions were similar to those of the previous Hidden Route.

Even if four people had entered together, only one person could remain.

To be precise...

'I have to kill a certain number of monsters by myself.'

In truth, fulfilling these conditions was extremely difficult because of this Gate's structure.

1. First, the Gate required four people to enter together.

That meant its very structure made it impossible to avoid receiving help from someone.

2. The experience points awarded by Rat Knights were extremely low.

Just like the previous Gate, clearing this Gate awarded far more experience points.

Much more than killing Rat Knights.

In other words, rather than hunting endlessly here...

You could gain far more experience by hunting in another Gate.

'You could say this Hidden Route was discovered through an extraordinary series of coincidences.'

-Was it around the halfway point? The people who entered with me suddenly attacked me. Fortunately, it wasn't a problem.

-Actually... Hyun-do is my older brother by blood. So I've received quite a bit of support from him, directly and indirectly. Anyway.

-I headed toward the destination after that. Along the way, one of my skills happened to level up.

-But it turned out I needed some proficiency with it. So I started killing Rat Knights until I got used to the skill.

-Rest, kill, rest, kill... After a little over ten hours of that, I suddenly received a message saying I'd discovered a Hidden Route...

That was the interview he'd given after discovering the Hidden Route here before my regression.

In effect, that interview could be considered his final words.

'Because afterward, he was kidnapped and killed by his older brother, Lee Hyun-do.'

Lee Hyun-do's younger brother publicly revealed his relationship with Lee Hyun-do here.

Whether he did it for publicity or for some other reason... I didn't know.

Why he had revealed a fact he'd kept hidden until then.

What mattered was that Lee Hyun-do killed his younger brother and stole his skill.

The public believed he'd done it out of greed for the skill...

Anyway.

The important point was that discovering this Hidden Route required killing that many Rat Knights.

Afterward, I began moving toward the destination.

The number of Rat Knights continued to increase as I advanced, but that wasn't a problem.

[Activating Triple Release (D).]

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three arrows pierced the torsos of three different Rat Knights.

Because I could now fire three arrows simultaneously.

Having someone hold the front line certainly made fighting monsters incredibly easy.

All I had to do was aim accurately.

How much time had passed like that?

Before long, I spotted a translucent blue barrier at the end of the corridor.

'That must be the destination.'

I immediately turned around and retraced my steps.

I was once again killing Rat Knights when it happened.

A System message suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[The level of your Necromancy (EX) skill has increased.]

“Huh?”

I didn't even have time to be surprised.

Because the System messages didn't stop there.

[The level of your Necromancer's Authority (EX) skill has increased.]

Two of my skills had leveled up at once. And both were EX-grade skills.

___________

Thud! Thud! Thud!

[Congratulations, Honored Master!]

Yulias spoke while clapping his hands.

[From now on, you'll be able to summon a new type of undead!]

“A new type of undead?”

His words startled me.

And for good reason.

Normally, Necromancy had to reach at least Level 4 before a new type of undead could be summoned.

And that was for S-grade Necromancy. Lower-grade versions couldn't do it until Level 5.

In terms of character levels, you'd have to be at least Level 40.

Yet I could summon a new type of undead with Necromancy at only Level 2?

I looked at Yulias, my expression demanding an explanation.

Swoosh—

Yulias politely extended both hands, palms facing upward.

He was gesturing for me to check for myself.

I immediately opened my Skill Window.

[Necromancy (EX)]

-Level: 2

-Effect: Uses the bones of a dead target to revive a Skeleton Bruiser.

-Maximum Summonable Skeleton Bruisers: 6

-Additional Effect: Increases the power of all undead-related skills by 50%.

I could now summon Skeleton Bruisers instead of Skeletons.

The number I could summon had also doubled, from three to six.

And the additional effect had increased by another 30%.

“Holy shit...”

The curse escaped my lips naturally.

In truth, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a Necromancer's true potential began when they could summon Skeleton Bruisers.

The reason was simple.

The fatal weakness of Necromancers.

Their undead couldn't surpass the capabilities of the corpses they were raised from.

'Because this is the point where that weakness starts to be overcome.'

Starting with Skeleton Bruisers, their bone density was inherently higher than that of the original corpses.

Simply put, they were sturdier.

In terms of basic capabilities alone, a Skeleton Bruiser was stronger than the corpse it came from.

That alone was astonishing.

But the important thing was...

'It doesn't end there.'

There was still something else I needed to check.

After all, Necromancy wasn't the only skill that had leveled up.

Shing—

A new holographic window appeared before my eyes.

[Necromancer's Authority (EX)]

-Level: 2

-Effects:

1) Increases the bone density of summoned undead by 30%.

2) Allows the use of 'Curse of Weakness.' (Reduces all stats by 30%)

3) Summoned undead immediately revive once upon death.

-Additional Effects:

1) Undead buff skill effects +50%

2) Undead debuff skill power +50%

3) Recovers 50% of the mana consumed when a revived undead dies.

A new effect increasing bone density by 30% had been applied.

Curse of Weakness had also increased by 10%, now reducing all stats by 30%.

All the additional effects had increased by another 20 percentage points as well.

'Just how much stronger does this make them?'

It was difficult to estimate.

Well, I'd find out the details once I summoned one.

'Even so, they probably won't be as strong as the Skeletons I've already summoned. The difference in stats is too great.'

[Activating the Necromancy skill.]

[You have summoned a Skeleton Bruiser.]

[The effect of Luana's Bracelet has been applied.]

[20% of the mana consumed by Necromancy has been refunded.]

Crack! Crunch!

Leaving the three existing Skeletons as they were.

I summoned three additional Skeleton Bruisers.

“Oh.”

Skeleton Bruisers certainly looked different.

It was almost as though the Skeletons were wearing armor made of bone.

Their bones were larger and thicker, and there were more of them making up their bodies.

If ordinary Skeletons had bones the size of chicken bones, Skeleton Bruisers had bones more like those of dogs.

Even at a glance, they looked sturdier than ordinary Skeletons.

“I'll try controlling the Skeleton Bruisers myself.”

[Yes, Honored Master!]

Afterward, I deliberately arranged a one-on-one fight between a Skeleton Bruiser and a Rat Knight.

I wanted to test the Skeleton Bruiser's basic capabilities.

Crunch!

Before long, the Skeleton Bruiser twisted the Rat Knight's neck.

'Three is the limit.'

In consecutive one-on-one deathmatches, the Skeleton Bruiser could defeat up to three Rat Knights.

It was destroyed while fighting the fourth.

'It's already sturdier than the original corpse, and the increased bone density probably makes this possible.'

After all, its bone density had increased by another 30% thanks to Necromancer's Authority leveling up.

[The Skeleton Bruiser revives once.]

Crack! Crunch!

The Skeleton Bruiser revived once more.

This time, I made it fight two Rat Knights simultaneously.

'It can't do it.'

The Skeleton Bruiser couldn't handle two Rat Knights at the same time.

By the time it killed one Rat Knight, the Skeleton Bruiser had also been destroyed.

But considering its one-time resurrection...

'In practice, it should be able to handle two of them.'

Of course, that was based purely on its basic capabilities.

Because I was the one controlling the Skeleton Bruiser right now.

All I'd done was give it a simple command to fight the Rat Knights.

Afterward, I asked Yulias to try controlling the Skeleton Bruiser.

And once Yulias took control of it.

[Oh, really?!]

Crunch!

Just as expected, it was able to fight two Rat Knights at once.

I could naturally picture the possibilities in my mind.

I could control a total of six Skeleton Bruisers.

By controlling all six simultaneously, Yulias would be able to fight far more efficiently.

Because he could move them strategically.

[Hmm. I think twenty would be easy enough... But thirty might be too much. Of course, if you helped, Honored Master, we could fight even more than that.]

That made sense. I began mentally recording everything I'd learned about the Skeleton Bruisers.

At that moment.

[Ah! Of course, that's assuming we don't use anything else!]

Yulias spoke as though he'd just remembered something he'd forgotten.

I nodded.

'He means that's their strength without using any extracted skills, based purely on their physical capabilities.'

If they used skills, they could fight far more monsters. That was what Yulias wanted to emphasize.

'Even using Curse of Weakness alone would make an enormous difference.'

What had previously been only a vague sense of how much stronger I'd become...

Was gradually taking a clearer shape.

I could plainly feel that I was incomparably stronger than I'd been just a few minutes earlier.

'And I haven't even obtained the hidden reward here yet.'

Once I obtained 'that' from this place, I could increase my capabilities dramatically.

Because it would be an enormous help when using a bow.

Just how much stronger would I become then?

Simply thinking about it made me happy.

It was a pleasant thought.

A smile formed on my lips.

By now, I'd learned everything I needed to know about the Skeleton Bruisers.

There was no reason to waste time killing Rat Knights.

Creeeeak...

I drew my bowstring to begin hunting Rat Knights in earnest.

But then.

[Honored Master.]

Yulias flew in front of me.

Then the corners of his mouth curled into a wide grin.

[There's still one special ability you don't know about, Honored Master.]

“A special ability?”

[Yes! Over there!]

Immediately afterward, Yulias pointed toward the Skeleton Bruiser.

At the same time.

The Skeleton Bruiser extended its hand toward a Rat Knight's corpse.

Crack!

Something sprang up and flew toward the Skeleton Bruiser.

It was none other than a 'bone.'

A thick bone that looked to be about fifty centimeters long.

The flames in Yulias's eyes blazed fiercely.

[Ta-da! Allow me to introduce you to my new friend, Honored Master! This is Bonebug Number One!]

Wait. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I gave Yulias a questioning look.

“Bonebug... Number One?”

[Yes! Starting with Skeleton Bruisers, they possess a little bit of 'intelligence,' you see. So I gave them their own names! This Skeleton Bruiser is Bonebug Number One!]

After listening to Yulias's explanation, I shifted my gaze from him to Bonebug Number One(?).

[Oh, right! The bone he's holding has a name, too, you know? Its name is...]

Yulias extended his hand.

[Bone Clubby!]

At the same time, Bonebug Number One raised the club in its hand—or rather, Bone Clubby—high into the air.

And then.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It began mercilessly beating a Rat Knight with it.

As though hammering it into the ground.

__________

Undead could equip items just like humans.

However, that was normally only possible starting with Skeleton Warriors.

But apparently, my Skeleton Bruisers could use bones as weapons.

Of course, this was only possible because Yulias could communicate with Bonebug Number One.

Anyway.

It made a definite difference in combat power.

After all, even a human was more dangerous holding a club than fighting with bare fists.

A club gave its wielder greater reach, and naturally, being struck with a club hurt more than being punched.

That was roughly the extent of the difference.

In any case, it meant they had become stronger.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

With Bone Clubby, the Rat Knights' heads burst apart like watermelons.

And while we were busy slaughtering Rat Knights.

[You have eliminated 200 Rat Knights on your own.]

[All conditions have been fulfilled.]

[The Hidden Route has been unlocked.]

At last, the message I'd been waiting for appeared.

It was time to become stronger once again.