‘It’s a quest, it just takes time. Achieving it isn’t that difficult. If we consider it as a guaranteed reward in the end, this seems like the best option…’
······
‘Looking at other choices one by one, they’re all good in their own way.’
Ultimately, it was my direction and criteria that mattered.
Back when I first changed jobs, I thought I needed a powerful firepower concentrated in one point, so I chose Bombardier, and that still holds true.
Looking back, I kept thinking about the skill I wanted to get from Nargul’s dungeon, which was a D-grade dungeon, so perhaps that’s why the profession of Bombardier was presented to me.
Anyway, my most important mission was to defeat a powerful single opponent like this or at least prevent them from intervening on the battlefield.
While enduring against multiple enemies is important, that’s something I could rely on Yeon-hee and my surrounding companions for.
– For you, who doesn’t want to miss anything······
Yeah. I didn’t want to miss anything. Not the tactics using stealth, not the magical abilities like bombs, and not even the use of a sword.
But what I wanted was not simply greed for having various abilities.
‘If I could fuse the abilities I currently have and the ones I will steal in the future into one…’
I’ve been thinking that since I saw the [Low-Grade Flame Bomb] I gained from the Fire Monkey fusing with the [Skeleton Bomb].
How many skills and traits would increase in the future with [Thievery]? And if I could recreate them to generate explosive synergy… could it be possible to enter a new state that has never existed before?
‘For example… an explosion like a Skeleton Bomb happens where I swing my sword… Is that too imaginative? I was taught to dream big.’
For that level, I thought I could at least wrestle with Jo Gi-man, who’s living his seventh life, or the Seven-headed Dragon, who granted him such insane abilities.
Of course, I hoped that meeting a monster like the Seven-headed Dragon or a Divine Being wouldn’t even happen, but the future is an unpredictable thing.
What was certain was that by the time I died in my previous life, this world was turning into a place where common sense didn’t apply, a world where strength was everything.
So, it was a bad idea to set limits on how strong I had to become to protect Yeon-hee.
The Seven-headed Dragon, Jo Gi-man, the Blue-eyed Ashran, the Orc Legion Commander, and those insane villains.
With the goals so far away, the path felt long, but if I could grow as I thought, even if the growth is slow as the system claims, it felt like this is the right path.
Besides, I liked the part about the [Book of Akasha], the new history, and all that.
Hoo-
‘Alright. I’m going to become a Skeleton Mage!’
– Are you really going to change jobs to ‘Skeleton Mage’?
······
‘Yes!!’
I tightly closed my eyes and shouted inside my mind.
Dede-duck – Quajizijik –
Choosing the job caused the bodily changes I experienced once before to start manifesting again.
A thick line started from the crown of my head and branched off, slowly extending into countless paths.
‘So slow… it’s going to take longer than last time.’
If only it could change immediately like the transforming robots I saw when I was a kid, but the world doesn’t work that easily.
Kuddededuck-!
– Absorbing the Chainmail of the Iron Sleeper!
And an unexpected event suddenly occurred.
‘Oh?! Why is my Iron Sleeper’s armor…!!’
Suddenly, the Iron Sleeper armor I had been using got whipped off, exposing my pale ribs. It floated into the air and disappeared into some space; it happened so suddenly that I could only stare in disbelief.
– Absorbing Big Boar Leather Armor!
‘That one I could afford to throw away… No! You need to explain why!’
– Absorbing the bones of Orc Warrior!
– Absorbing the bones of Lizardman!
– Absorbing the bones of Lizardman…
‘… Why is this happening to me…?’
– Using combinable materials, we are creating armor suitable for your rank.
– Please infuse your magic power.
Whoa-
Sometimes the messages respond to my questions, which can be quite eerie, and this was one of those times.
‘… Uh… Is this how I do it?’
As I pushed my internal magic power outward, in an instant all of it was absorbed somewhere.
– Please infuse the aura of Irmana.
‘········’
Now, I decided to stop thinking and just follow the commands like a bot.
When I recalled the ancient jug, the jug that had manifested in my inventory tilted in mid-air and spouted water for several minutes.
A tremendous amount of water defied nature and soared into the sky before disappearing somewhere again.
‘…… Is that it?’
– Please insert one of your body parts.
‘Hey, what the hell! Just because you keep saying this, do you really think I’m that easygoing!?’
With a snap-
I cautiously pulled out a rib and placed it in mid-air.
Wiiiii—gakagagak—
As my rib disappeared, I could audibly hear something grinding away from somewhere far away.
‘I’m hearing hallucinations again… Have I really gone insane…?’
Just as my questioning about my identity began to deepen, a new message appeared.
– Bone Armor (Grade 4) has been completed!
– Fusion with the main body is in progress!
=====
Bone Armor (Grade 4)
– Bone armor roughly processed with divine energy from various materials.
– Defense +120
– Agility +20
– This armor has no concept of durability.
=====
········
‘If you’re going to make it, at least put some effort into it! Why make it haphazardly? Is life that tough?’
Yelling into thin air at some unknown someone was unlikely to elicit a proper response.
‘Still, the performance is truly insane. It’s more than double the sturdiness of the Chainmail of the Iron Sleeper, right?’
Given that what I was using had a defense of 51, I had obtained something incredible. Plus, it had the bizarre option of increasing agility for an armor piece. If I had this armor, I might not have gotten broken by that damned Orc High-Rank Warrior. A bitter taste filled my mouth.
Sruuulll—
As I stared blankly at the bone armor that was slowly wrapping around my body, it didn’t seem like I was merely ‘wearing’ it.
‘Uh oh- it’s covering my bones…’
Dede-deck—
A snow-white, pristine material that covered all my bones began to manifest into a somewhat plausible armor shape.
Kwa-chik-!
‘Gah!! It hurts again?’
[Pain Resistance]
Suddenly, something sharp like needles sprang from the inside of the manifesting bone armor, piercing thousands of times into my bones.
‘Ahhhhh… Just kill me already, you bastard…!’
The relentless pain made me wish for death, and my mental strength plummeted.
[Pain Resistance]
[Pain Resistance]
If it weren’t for the [Pain Resistance] trait, I would’ve likely lost at least one life point. I felt like I wanted to smack myself for complaining about what I do with this trait.
‘Hah… Hah… So this isn’t armor; it’s practically assimilation, isn’t it?’
Now I understood why it said it has no concept of durability. This wasn’t armor; it was almost like body modification. If this got destroyed, I would get destroyed too, so there could be no durability.
After the brief pain subsided, there were no difficult parts left. But while watching the slow implementation of the bone armor, I did think about how, if I had class-changed during the fight with the Orc High-Rank Warrior, I might not have been able to fight at all.
– There are skills compatible with the skills acquired from job change. Would you like to fuse them?
‘Guuuh… There’s more. U, fuse… Wait! My head… my consciousness…’
When the circuits fully spread through my body and the message asking about fusion disappeared, my mental strength hit its limit, and I finally lost consciousness.
.
.
.
When I regained consciousness, I was shocked to see how much time had passed.
<03:13:56>
‘If we consider that half of the resurrection time has been taken off… I fainted for two and a half hours? Wow…’
I thought to myself about how terrible it would have been if I had class-changed in the middle of a battle with the Orcs, and instinctively hugged my arms around my body.
– The skill [Slam] has fused with the job-acquired skill [Flame Slash]!
– The skill [Flame Slash] evolves into the advanced skill [Flame Cut]!
Flame Cut Lv.1
– Slashes the enemy carrying the aura of flame.
– Adds 400% attack damage.
– Mana cost: 7
– Enemies hit by Flame Cut will accumulate ‘Flame’ 1 stack.
– If Flame stacks exceed 5, it can trigger a Flame Explosion.
– The skill [Flame Explosion] has not been acquired yet.
– Conditions for acquiring Flame Explosion: Achieve skill [Skeleton Bomb Lv.7], Achieve skill [Fireball Lv.3]
– The more Flame stacks accumulate, the more explosion damage increases.
– Flame Explosion ignores all beneficial effects and armors except [Invincibility].
‘Phew… my Slam…’
Unexpectedly, the skill [Slam] vanished. Of course, it seemed like it evolved into [Flame Cut] by merging with the skill of the same name, but it gave me a strange feeling that my first attack skill, Slam, had disappeared from my life.
‘Hey, system, you could ask me first before merging skills… I wasn’t ready for that! Damn…’
While it sounds silly to have a special affection for one of many skills, the idea of using [Slam] to defeat enemies when I had none throughout my life was exhilarating. It felt like the heart of a boy hearing an adventure story for the first time…
‘Well… since it’s already gone, there’s no help for it. By the way, why is the explanation for [Flame Cut] so long for just one skill?’
Moreover, it consumes a whopping 7 mana for a cutting skill. Normally, advanced skills consume 5 mana… It means it’s a good skill, but…
‘Swing it twenty times, and I’m out of mana? What a joke?’
But the idea of stacking Flame to trigger a Flame Explosion was an extremely interesting concept.
Of course, the requirements to learn [Flame Explosion] are another headache, but for now, let’s tackle the tasks ahead step by step and ponder later.
My current level is an impressive 48.
‘I haven’t even tackled a D-grade dungeon, and I’m already this high…’
With level-ups, I’ve accumulated 27 stat points.
Out of those, 6 were in stats with a 5-level perk that allows for a +5 boost at once.
‘When I complete quests, I receive a reset opportunity once, but since I have no idea how long I should stay in D-grade, I need to distribute them carefully. For now, it seems like boosting my mana as much as possible would be a good idea.’
Currently, the strongest attack skill I have is [Skeleton Bomb], but looking at the description of [Flame Cut], I feel like it’s soon going to take the spot of the ultimate skill.
So, to make good use of this ability, it seems necessary to increase my mana pool.
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