Moreover, the perk beneath it was a crazy one that allowed me to share one stat with a companion.
‘If I share my health with Yeon-hee… she’ll just catch up with my stats, right?’
Hoping for a merging of my stats with her original ones seemed too greedy. But then again, who knows, maybe it would work.
Also, I received a perk from Irmana that keeps the blessing unaffected by the environment. No longer would I need to splash water all over myself like a fool.
‘This was necessary for maintaining my dignity. Thank you.’
However, just as my excitement was peaking, a cold splash of water hit me in the face.
– Job Change Quest
– Eliminate a designated Residue of Chaos. You have only 3 chances.
‘…… Damn!’
The “Residue of Chaos” that had been bothering me from the very first line.
That was what I had to eliminate for my job change quest.
‘Still, isn’t this way better than the 30,000 monster quest? I just need to kill one, right?’
I can’t believe it… if it turns out that there are thousands of those residues, I’d actually get mad.
‘Hey—do I need to eliminate one or multiple of them?’
– …… Would you like to proceed with the job change?
It’s not a good habit to respond only when you want…
‘Is there even another option?’
– ……
‘If there isn’t, I’m changing jobs right away!’
As soon as I shouted that, my body began to undergo changes I had already experienced multiple times, but this time it was much faster.
The mana circuitry descending from my skull began to expand along the already established path, spreading like lightning.
‘Phew…’
No words or thoughts could intrude.
I could only calmly observe myself transforming into another existence.
– Crafting armor suitable for your rank using all combinable materials.
– Infuse with mana with all your might.
‘So, the Bone Armor is being upgraded to Flame Armor.’
– Infuse with Irmana’s energies.
– Insert one of your body parts.
– Infuse with Flame Energy with all your might.
Having been through this once, I was no longer flustered.
Again, I tore off a rib and threw it into the air.
At the same time, the monster corpses and the stripped orc leather in my inventory quickly began to vanish.
[Fireball]
Fwoosh!
Then, I heard a sound from afar as if something was being ground.
– Crafting complete: Flame Armor (Tier 3)!
====
Flame Armor (Tier 3)
– Meticulously mixed with reasonably good materials from a Tier 4 Bone Armor.
– The Flame Energy infused by the supreme being feels faintly present.
– Defense +205
– Agility +50
– Transmutation of bones becomes much easier.
– This armor has no concept of durability.
====
‘……’
Slowly disseminating my senses, I inspected the changed armor.
‘There’s no fire?’
Even though it was called Flame Armor, it wasn’t an armor that was burning.
It just had a dimly glowing red spot within, indicating that it was ready to ignite flames at any moment.
‘Will the form change when it turns into a combat type?’
Crack-!
‘Ugh…!’
The reconstructed armor began to merge back with my main body.
The pain was far less than last time, but it still made me grit my teeth.
[Pain Resistance]
Crackle-crackle!
‘Argh… stop…!’
Regardless of the intense pain continuing, the armor kept increasing in bulk.
If the previous armor had leather filling around half, this time most of my body, except for the joints of my arms and neck, was solidly covered in armor.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-! Thud─!
As I entered the finishing stage, several spikes were aggressively embedded in the armor, and the surface was much more neatly finished.
Rather, now it would look more like an overly sharpened full-body armor rather than a bone-made one.
The overall color darkened compared to the Bone Armor, giving it a silver sheen, and the “Military Cloak of the Forgotten Kingdom” fluttered on my shoulders like wings.
Ultimately, the horrifying jaw that had covered half my face was smoothly refined. Now I could feel more confident when seeing Yeon-hee.
‘Whew—’
Aside from that joy, I quietly contemplated the changes in my body, regulating my breath.
Focusing on several bony blades poking out of my head, when I directed them to move, they quickly reinforced my shoulder armor.
‘The movement of bones has become much faster. With this, I can respond swiftly even in combat.’
I could now control my bones at a level where I could exchange attacks several times per second.
How long has it been since then?
– You have acquired skills: [Wall of Fire], [Chain of Flame], [Lightning Step].
– The achievement [Pioneer] has activated, raising all your stats by 3.
Once I had adapted to my evolved body, I checked the changed status window.
====
[Infernal Boneblade Pyromancer – Lv. 60]
Strength: 256 Agility: 318
Health: 349 Wisdom: 291
Magic Power: 538 Resistance: 72
Sense: 126 Recovery: 82
====
‘Wow… is this C-rank stats? Is this really suitable for me?’
With my current stats and the skills I received, it felt like I could suppress the “Tarantula” without using [Flame Explosion].
‘They said the Flame Armor can transform into a combat type, right?’
I manifested my will to enter combat mode, and soon a sinister crimson flame began to rise from within, ready to engulf everything.
Though not the ominous black flame of [Flame Explosion], it looked sufficiently threatening.
Fwoosh—
‘Phew─’
Startled by my suddenly transformed appearance, I scanned my entire body.
‘Is this a bit… excessive? Yeon-hee might get scared.’
Unlike my evolved form, my combat mode looked terrifyingly similar to a bone creature post-2nd job change.
No, rather, it was the closest I had ever looked to a monster.
I thought I was finally smoothened out, but… hmm.
‘If monsters see this, they might get scared and flee. This might be a problem.’
I desperately needed [Provocation].
But among the monsters with [Provocation], the only ones worth meeting at C-rank were the Screaming Mushroom and the Iron Beetle.
However, those guys were monsters that couldn’t be easily found in dungeons, so I had no choice but to hope for good luck.
‘Nothing I can do. This is it then.’
After finishing my job change, I sat down in meditation for a while.
For some reason, I felt a destructive urge boiling inside me. I wondered if it was because I transformed into combat mode, but it persisted even after I reverted.
‘They said few remained who didn’t lose themselves on the path to becoming the King of the Undead…’
When I first saw the message, I couldn’t understand what it meant, but now I felt I grasped it a little.
‘This is… something I have to unleash completely.’
Including the skills I just acquired, I unleashed all my powers haphazardly.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang! Fwoosh—
Lights blinked hundreds of times in the dark space as crimson flames surged everywhere, exuding my presence.
‘Phew…’
Only after draining all my mana and experiencing mana exhaustion did I escape from the darkness that had been dyeing my mind black.
‘I felt like I was drifting far from being human.’
To be more precise, it felt like I was becoming a monster that had lost its reason.
‘I should come here occasionally to vent. I could ask Yeon-hee to release the summon.’
Yeon-hee might feel hurt, but if I explain well, she would understand.
Now the remaining tasks were to find the mysterious grandfather and think about the questions I got from the job change process.
With that, I started walking in the direction that felt right, lost in thought.
‘Channel to Another Dimension, huh… hmm…’
Something was about to come to mind, but it didn’t easily surface. For now, I threw my body forward with all my might.
Swooosh—
‘Wow, my speed is insane.’
As my mana recovered and I began to move with [High-speed Flight], the sensation was immense.
‘At this level, I can easily shake off any ordinary hunters.’
While moving, I pondered for a bit.
Finally, I could conjure something regarding the ‘Channel to Another Dimension.’
‘Could it be that swirling vortex that looks like a black hole?’
The place where the Lizard Champion was in the ‘Lizard Swamp.’
The hidden space where I obtained the ‘Military Cloak’ and the ‘Forgotten Ancient Water Jug’ beneath the swamp.
The swirling something I saw at the starting point.
‘Hmm… but I can’t enter there now, can I?’
But that was an E-rank dungeon, and I had just finished my job change and was now at C-rank. My stats even far surpassed that.
Although I overheard my party members talking about how recent dungeons had become unstable, making those restrictions lighter, there was no way they’d let me in with a two-rank difference.
‘Channel to another dimension…’
As I pondered this internally, an absurd message popped into my head.
– Your job change has been completed.
– You are now entering the job change quest.
‘W-What?! I didn’t say I was going to challenge it!’
– You will be transported to the quest location in 1 minute.
– All abilities related to “sacrifice” will be sealed during the quest.
– Even if you break during the quest, it won’t lead to death.
‘Hey! Can you hear me?! I didn’t say I was going to challenge it!’
In a situation where I was about to waste one of my three chances, I felt a surge of anger.
Furthermore, not being able to use [Blast of Madness]? So I have to break through solely with my abilities?
If it were any consolation, at least it seemed like I wouldn’t lose any of my 94 lives in case of failure.
I tried talking to the system a few more times, but it didn’t respond again, and time was quickly running out.
‘Damn…’
I wanted to accumulate my strength and tackle the challenge more stably up to level 79, but curse it all.
‘Three chances… Fine. Let’s think of one as a preliminary exploration.’
I tried to switch to a positive mindset.
Who knows? Since I had gotten immensely stronger during the job change, I might clear the quest right away.
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