Her intelligence remained the same, but her sense stat plummeted.
Even so, there probably aren’t many possessing a sense of 15 right from the start, even among monsters and humans.
Recalling her past, she used to meticulously jot down information about her summoned creatures, and some of those notes became a hot topic after her death.
Although she didn’t memorize every detail of the released summoned creature information, one thing was certain: the intelligence stat of the skeleton soldier wasn’t this high.
It seemed that under the influence of the changed intelligence stat, her magic power also increased slightly.
“The sense stat must naturally be an ability that a skeleton soldier lacks, so I guess my original stats have been moderately mixed with the skeleton soldier’s stats.”
The sense stat is useful for perceiving the invisible, such as traps, poisonous mists, stealth, and hidden locations, and for finding the way down to lower floors in dungeons.
Since very few possess this ability, they tend to receive favorable treatment wherever they go. And those hunters with this stat usually live as guides.
“I used to be one too.”
Since I had no urgent matters, I was reading through the stats one by one when suddenly she approached close enough to wrap herself around me, causing my thoughts to stall for a moment.
“Il-wol? Is it really you that I summoned? You have four traits in the [Sense] stat! Even [Stealth]?”
She seemed unable to contain her excitement, clutching my ribs as if using them as a handle and shaking me back and forth. I was momentarily flustered as she could see my information so clearly.
“Sharing summoned creature information with the master is only natural…”
Nodding, I resumed my chain of thought that had briefly stopped.
The traits [Thievery] and [100] were abilities I had since my awakening in my previous life.
Looking at the current status window, it seemed those abilities were added to the existing traits of the skeleton soldier.
Among them, the trait [100] was one that even the system itself provided no explanation for.
“This trait [100], is there any way to know what kind of ability it is before I die?”
I always grumbled about it, but I only learned about it after I died.
“99 lives… so I guess losing one when I died makes sense? Then what happens if I die in this state?”
Will I be reborn as a completely different summoned creature, or will I continue to live as a skeleton? Even contemplating that felt quite bizarre.
A skeleton… the bones left behind when a living being dies. Something that can never move again.
For me, who was defying that natural order, to ponder what would happen if I die… was a bit strange.
Anyway, what’s interesting is that the target of the trait [Thievery] has changed.
=====
[Thievery Lv.1]
– Randomly steal a skill when defeating a monster for the first time.
– When repeatedly defeating a monster, there is a 10% chance to randomly steal a trait.
=====
“It used to be a 20% chance to steal a skill when defeating an Awakened One…”
The first monster killed is random but has been upgraded to allow for guaranteed [Skill] theft, and even when killing monsters, there’s a low chance to steal traits… Isn’t that overpowered?
…
“No… considering that my stats are trash, this might not be enough of a buff.”
When I was human, the probability was low at 20%, and since the ability only activated when defeating an Awakened One, I never dared to use it.
If it had been a 100% chance to steal like now, I could have lived as one of the ultimate villains using my stealth ability.
But despite these overpowered abilities, what excites me the most is the existence of the attack skill I could never use during my hunter days.
Slam Lv.1
– Deals 250% of attack power with a strong strike.
“Finally, I can use an attack skill!”
As I rose through the ranks as a hunter, I was bound to acquire new skills and traits. But I was unbelievably unlucky and didn’t even get a single attack skill.
As keywords popped up in my head, forgotten memories began to resurface.
In the early days of my awakening, having only the stealth skill while exploring dungeons was truly a torment, even as a guide.
Striking with 250% attack power. It’s a simple ability, but…
“Not bad. Among the skills of the same type, it’s one of the more usable ones.”
Attack power is a composite result influenced by strength, agility, health condition, magic power, etc.
Since I had no attack skills, I had to face monsters only with regular attacks, which meant while others could finish them off in two hits, I had to swing seven times with all my might to defeat them.
“How nostalgic… those tough times in the goblin dungeon…”
“It’s amazing. Really, he…”
“Is it really that great…?”
Her purple eyes illuminated softly like fireflies in the early dawn, gazing up at me with a bright smile.
While she seemed so blissfully happy…
“Right now must be the toughest time for her…”
She wasn’t originally a summoner.
Like most hunters, she awakened with only one attack skill and struggled for about six months in the low-grade dungeon.
“Her mother passed away. She was sick and languishing in the hospital…”
With the dungeons opening, the mana density in the waiting area gradually rose, causing non-awakened ones to die from mysterious illnesses sometimes. Her mother was one of them.
The only support she had, her mom, died, and in shock, she experienced a ‘second awakening.’
So she ended up as a summoner while also being proficient at using a bow, as was known.
“Her first skill was… the Blessing of Danti, wasn’t it? It gave +20% bow attack power and increased penetration, if I recall correctly?”
As I immersed in those past memories, she snapped me back to reality.
“Tomorrow we’re going to the goblin dungeon! Actually, I’ve only been there for the past few months, hehe.”
She scratched the back of her head, looking a tad bashful.
But there was no reason for her to feel embarrassed. While I opposed being overly cautious in dungeons, reckless challenges should also be avoided.
“Yeah. No need to rush at this level.”
“Now that you’re here, I still want to go to a familiar place to adapt to the changes.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
I clicked my canines together as a sign of agreement with her thoughts.
“Was it this dungeon? The one where I got attacked in the face with slime’s acidic liquid?”
Now she had skin as pure as white jade, but in her past life, after her second awakening, in the dungeon where she first synchronized with her summoned creature, she had a big scar on her face from being hit by slime’s acidic liquid.
“This time, I won’t let that happen.”
The goblin dungeon is a low-level dungeon inhabited by goblins, slimes, and herbivore monsters known as earth puppies.
Dungeon names are usually based on the strongest monster in that dungeon. So, the strongest in this dungeon is the goblin.
“For starters, I’d like to hunt an earth puppy and level up.”
Excluding intelligence and sense stats, my abilities were under half of an F-class hunter, the lowest level.
My combat power was so pathetic that I couldn’t guarantee victory even in a one-on-one fight against a goblin.
“Strength isn’t the issue, but agility is trash. A 2? I’m not a damn maggot…”
“Il-wol, don’t worry. I’m stronger than I look, you know? Hehe.”
“…”
“… Why aren’t you answering? Do you not believe in me? Seriously! I’ll have to show you something tomorrow!”
Yap! Yap!
She awkwardly demonstrated some punches and kicks, trying to flaunt her clumsiness.
“Phew…”
After her awkward flailing, she held her palm out and took a deep breath, which looked rather amusing.
“So she had such a bright personality…”
We had done quite a few dungeons together in the same guild, but I had rarely seen her smile, so I was taken aback.
“The problem is me. I should think of it as starting from zero.”
Anyway, judging by her current appearance, she seemed to have completely shaken off the loss of her mother.
“… It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve talked like this…”
“…”
Just then, trailing off, she stood still for a moment looking into the air before continuing.
“Let’s check how commands work.”
For the next hour, she had me walking around, jumping, lifting objects, and even rubbing her shoulders, repeating whatever came to her mind.
Although the house was too cramped to jump around, it seemed rather serious as she was testing this and that.
“Hmmm… Il-wol, you’re unbelievably weak?!”
“…”
It was a fact, so I had nothing to say. Made of hard bone material, it wasn’t easy to grasp objects accurately. Hence my already low strength couldn’t come into play.
“It’s fine! Il-wol has stealth. Considering intelligence and magic power, your attack strength should be around goblin level… so while I shoot first with my bow, sneak in and bash with the club!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
I summoned my only weapon from the inventory.
—–
An old, worn-out wooden club
– Attack Power +1
– Durability 10/20
—–
Look at that, it has an attack power of 1.
Damn it…
As I stared blankly at the club, Yeon-hee tilted her head for a moment before placing her hand on my club.
“Wow… this attack power is so low, what is this?”
Somehow, it felt like an evaluation of my very existence, making me shrink back a bit.
“Hehe, it’s okay. I’ve always done it alone. Just having you around will definitely help distract the enemies, I’m sure it’ll be a big help.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
That was a correct judgment. Just having someone to trust my back to would completely change the dynamics of the battle.
On the other hand, her words struck a nerve. Even though the goblin dungeon is rated as the lowest-level dungeon, it’s not common for someone to enter the dungeon alone.
Due to her outstanding appearance, filthy bugs would have stuck to her, contributing to the distrust among humans.
“Phew… I think I’ll go to bed now. Tomorrow’s Friday, so there will be a lot of people. I should sleep early.”
She looked at me for a moment with a blank stare and then continued with a somewhat apologetic expression.
“So, you rest too. Got it?”
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