At the moment when [Mimicry] wore off, I thought I had heard it wrong.
Buuuum—!
[Huuk…]
‘……’
Hmm…
I swung my weapon another five hundred times, coexisting with the sporadic auditory hallucinations because my primary goal was to swing it a thousand times in the correct posture.
But throughout the training, fits of laughter like ‘Puh, Hehehe, Puhaha-‘ kept exploding in my head.
I was starting to get angry.
Even [Calmness] couldn’t stop me.
Feeling as furious as I did when Noh Ha-yoon cluelessly attacked me.
(Who the hell are you?)
I stuck my great sword into the ground like a staff and asked the mysterious being.
[……]
When I finally asked who they were, the being quietly sealed their lips, as if wondering when I had asked such a thing.
(Who the hell are you! The one who kept laughing when I was swinging my sword.)
[Don’t tell me you’re talking about me…?]
(Yes, it’s you.)
[Huh—!]
Dae-gul—
For a moment, I heard something fall and roll around, and after a brief pause, the being asked me again.
[Can you really hear me?]
(Ha… I can. I can hear you, so please stop laughing from now on. I can’t concentrate.)
It was a bit vague when they laughed, but hearing the voice made it clear that they were at least a grandfather past their sixtieth year. So, I had no choice but to correct my tone to be polite.
[…… What exactly are you?]
I wasn’t into riddles at all… And shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?
Still, it felt right to introduce myself first, so I respectfully replied.
(My name is Il-wol, and I’m a Skeleton Soldier. A summoned creature of a Summoner, you see.)
[…… I see……]
I expected them to retort, “What kind of nonsense is that?” to “I see.”
The mysterious grandfather stayed silent for a while before eventually saying in a serious tone.
[… One thing I know for sure.]
(What do you mean?)
[…… When you die, find me.]
Chills ran down my spine───
(Wh-what?!)
The grandfather’s words felt like I had been hit on the head with a hammer.
It sounded as if he knew my life had multiple chances.
(…What’s your true identity?)
[Find me, and I’ll let you know.]
(Excuse me? Excuse me! Grandpa! Hey!)
But no matter how much I called, I couldn’t hear the old man’s voice anymore.
‘What the hell is this! I’m really overloaded now.’
Although my brain wasn’t the brightest, it felt like I had way too much to manage now. Do I have to wander looking for a grandfather I’ve never even met…?
‘Is this the reason why the auditory hallucinations suddenly started again?’
– [Forgotten Ancient Swordsmanship] has been released.
‘Wow… I totally didn’t expect this at all.’
I flopped down where I was and looked up at the night sky.
‘Why am I being thrown into this?’
The [Mimicry] time had passed, and I was in skeleton form.
Even if I wanted to sigh, I couldn’t; the frustration just kept piling up.
Wouldn’t it be better if they increased the use time of [Mimicry], instead? I could transform when needed and scream out a little.
‘……’
[Summoner’s Helper]
I used the level-up voucher I received as a reward on [Forgotten Ancient Swordsmanship].
– It is already a perfected trait.
‘It’s no good? “Perfected” means Max, right?’
Then this ability only connects me with that grandfather but doesn’t enhance my swordsmanship.
‘Whoa— my head is spinning. It talks about swordsmanship… So you’re saying I should train?’
In the end, I chose [Flame Explosion] as my reward and leveled it up.
=====
【Flame Explosion Lv.2】
– Detonates all accumulated ‘Flame Marks’ at once.
– Deals 850% damage of Magical Attack Power.
– For every ‘Flame Mark’ beyond five, attack power +150%.
– Ignores all beneficial effects and armor except [Invincible].
– Permanently reduces the target’s maximum health by 150 with each explosion.
– An enemy hit by Flame Explosion five times must die.
=====
‘Wow— that’s impressive! Just leveling up once increased the damage tremendously.’
With this increase, I should be able to take down that gigantic skeleton monster before five hits.
Especially with the maximum health reduction raised from 100 to 150, it was quite appealing.
Even if a mid-to-low ranked Hunter managed to survive, they wouldn’t be able to exert their strength anymore.
“Clap, Clap, Clap…”
Thanks to the dazed state induced by the Forgotten Ancient Swordsmanship, my mind felt somewhat revitalized.
‘The Summoner’s Helper. It’s supposed to assist Yeon-hee…’
That could mean either material or spiritual assistance.
Seeing Yeon-hee look quite tired today, I planned to try again tomorrow what we did in the tent earlier and check if I get more rewards.
‘Hah… There are just too many stars out there.’
Lying down and looking up at the sky, I suddenly had that thought.
In the past, they say there weren’t that many stars visible in the night sky.
But thanks to being able to obtain energy resources like mana stones from dungeons, the Earth’s environment rapidly recovered, leading to the point where even in urban areas, one could see stars sprinkled across the night sky.
As I gazed at the falling gemstone-like starlight, I found myself able to view even the mysterious and eerie experience I just had in a slightly positive light.
‘Skills always benefit the user.’
That’s what I’d like to believe and follow.
‘……’
I stood up again and swung my sword.
‘Why was that grandpa laughing at me? Am I really that pathetic?’
Since he’s related to ancient swordsmanship, he must have laughed at my sword skills.
‘…… Jung-gil said to at least do this for now.’
For now, I found Jung-gil, who I had spent a month with, more trustworthy than that mysterious being.
Buuuum—
I quietly focused on my training until Yeon-hee stirred and called my name.
*
Yeon-hee woke up briefly to eat breakfast and ended up sleeping in until lunch.
It wasn’t until the afternoon that she started to become active, and the first schedule was visiting the blacksmith with me.
“Hey—! You’ve become quite the famed celebrity, you guests!”
The blacksmith, seeing me after a while, appeared a little chunkier and slightly shorter than the last time we met. It was a subtle change, but I could sense it.
“Still, it was brought three days earlier. Sadly it got useless because we got trapped in the dungeon.”
Since we were stuck in the dungeon for a week, I could no longer confirm whether this guy finished the great sword sooner.
So he smiled broadly, claiming it was a service, and Yeon-hee thanked him.
In the meantime, I was captivated by the completed great sword and couldn’t snap out of it.
‘Incredible… My thoughts were short-sighted. Complete defeat.’
Thinking I wouldn’t need to buy a great sword since I could make one with my bones was a delirious idea.
‘It’s beautiful… But it feels like I’m trying too hard?’
The hilt and handguard of the great sword were adorned with exquisite patterns, and the grip was sculpted with a diagonal design to allow for better handling.
The fuller running along the center of the blade had a smooth line that seemed designed for aesthetics rather than function, giving it a stunning appearance.
The edges, as ordered, were double-edged, and if I placed paper against the sharpened blade, it would surely slice through it with a satisfying sound.
=====
Unnamed Kadinite Great Sword
– A work of a blacksmith yet to gain fame. Born from rare materials and a budding talent, it boasts performance far superior to the grade of mana stones.
– Attack Power +55
– Durability: 950/950
=====
‘This is insane.’
With an attack power double that of Argen’s dagger and triple that of Ddung-i’s club, my jaw dropped.
Of course, Argen’s dagger was just for decoration, so comparing it didn’t even make sense, but still, having double the attack power of existing weapons was more than enough to be surprised.
‘Even the durability is 950…’
Consideration for the tendency of blades to wear down quickly, this durability was impressively high. It had to be thanks to the rare mineral ‘Kadinite’.
I went outside the container for a moment to swing the sword.
Whoosh— Shwoosh—
‘The sound is completely different.’
It couldn’t even compare to the bone great sword that had felt like a blunt object.
‘If I get used to using this… I can just copy it later if needed, right?’
Feeling more-than-pleased, I swung the sword without thought. The sensation of it sticking perfectly to my hand felt incredible!
I was so absorbed in the sword that I didn’t even notice Yeon-hee had come outside until the blacksmith’s cough brought me back to reality.
“Do you like it?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
“Hehe— I’m glad you came! Right? I found a good one, didn’t I?”
Nodding vigorously—
Both Yeon-hee and the blacksmith, who had been watching me swing the sword, had grinning faces that reached their ears.
“Khaha— Seeing you swing it so splendidly is a delight! Please keep using it, dear customers!”
Behind the chuckling blacksmith, a few other smiths appeared, bringing in carts full of iron shields, which were items I had ordered for the summoned creatures.
‘Wow… These are way better quality than Ddung-i’s shields.’
They had higher defense, larger size, and were lighter. I wondered how Ddung-i would react when I brought this to him.
I handed the blacksmith a few more pieces of Kadinite, along with the special large high-rank mana stone from the gigantic Giant Skeleton we faced in the previous dungeon.
“Ooooh— So this is the monster that was as big as a little mountain? I was wondering who caught it! Haha—”
Just half a day later, the gossip-loving hunters had already spilled the details about the colossal monster.
Thanks to that, I didn’t even need to explain the value; they already acknowledged it.
“Of course, it’s a sword, right?”
Nodding—
Since I already had my bone armor, making anything else wouldn’t be very helpful. I already had chain armor too.
“Hmm… I’ll need to give it a shot to gauge it… It’s going to take at least two weeks.”
Again, it seemed the production time would hover around fifteen days.
Seeing the blacksmith’s expression, that seemed like a difficult goal.
As for the mana stone from Natalan Jackman, I mentioned it was for Yeon-hee’s staff, and I also asked that the others from Nargul and the Skeleton Knight be used for weapon and shield crafting.
Since the summoned creatures had that mystical substance Yeon-hee gives them, I thought I could put off armor for now.
After parting with the blacksmith, I stopped by the association to dispense with miscellaneous runes.
In just a week, I had collected enough runes to fill up three digits.
Normally, acquiring runes is difficult, and it had consumed more time than I expected to deal with this much quantity.
While I didn’t have an exact figure yet, through this dungeon, it seemed we had earned more than 700 million.
We casually traded the runes and headed toward Helen’s shop, chatting along the way.
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