The Tower's Fourth Floor Fell Overnight
We had set our goal.
Five skeleton warriors that had been guarding me took the arrows for me.
They blocked the arrows with their swords and shields.
While protecting me, they didn't protect themselves.
“Guys….”
One with an arrow stuck in his ribcage.
Another with an arrow through his eye socket.
“You guys….”
They just flicked the arrows off.
“You guys are fine even after getting hit by arrows?”
I thought about it.
An arrow pierces leather, causes bleeding, and damages muscles and organs.
These guys…. They took some arrows and it only punched holes in their bones?
I scanned the battlefield.
A goblin's rusty spear jabbed at the skeleton shield.
It didn't even dent.
Sometimes the goblins' spears slipped between the gaps in the shields.
But with the goblins' weak strength, even those spears didn't break bones.
“……”
Unless we smashed them to pieces with sharp blades, a goblin general's club would have been way scarier.
Our enemies took no damage.
Our attacks just grazed them and caused critical hits.
The balance of this small-scale war started tilting heavily to our side.
Undead armies that didn't get hurt and didn't get tired.
Just more numbers.
It took a while, but the fourth floor ended in a crushing victory.
“The fifth floor is an orc fortress?”
Shuuuwwuukk.
The tower didn't answer.
It just pushed me out.
“Did you make it back?”
“Yeah. This is kinda….”
I scratched my head.
Just a few days ago, my life was in danger.
I had dived into filth and barely survived.
I had become an utter weakling in front of a strong guy.
But in the tower, I was the overwhelming one.
The mind-bending gap was messing with my head.
“Master! You leveled up, right? I'll make you shields!”
“Huh? Yeah… status window!”
Ding!
[Name: Lee Jiha]
[Class: Necromancer (S)]
[Level: 41]
[HP: 110]
[MP: 500]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 2]
[Bonus Points: 4]
Four levels up.
“Make five, and the rest I'll use for summoning skeletons?”
“Umm… no. How about we save them and buy a skill book first to think about how to use it?”
“Kya~! My wife is so awesome!”
“Hehe.”
“Eh? Hehe? Hiiii~ Hii?”
I couldn't hold back.
I had been squeezing her on the bed a lot lately.
YouTube stuff about “soft” things kept popping up, but I didn't need any of that.
When my hand started hurting, I got up and summoned a shield.
I called the Sky Guild staff on my smartphone.
Trouble trouble trouble….
“Hello? Yes, I have ten shields completed.”
“Really? Okay~.”
Click.
“Yeongwon, they're buying all of them at the Sky Guild?”
“Waa! Really?”
“Yeah. They said they have a skill book ready.”
“Hmmm… the Sky Hunter is being really kind.”
“Exactly. When we go visit later, we'll make them spoil us more. The Sky Hunter seems to like you a lot.”
“Me?!”
“Yeah. So don't pick on them then!”
While saying that, I changed my clothes.
Normally when climbing the tower, I wore the tower's white short-sleeve suit.
But outside, I put on a hoodie.
“I'll be back.”
“Yes, Master!”
***
Du-du-du-du-du!
“Heh…. Cold?”
“Yes!”
I finished my trade with the Sky Guild and came back.
My inventory now held three skill books.
I pulled one out and took a deep breath.
“Please be a good skill!!”
Ding!
[Skill: Post-Mortem Care (C)]
Summoning a funeral director and a grave keeper to manage corpses.
- MP 50
[Summon: Funeral Director (C)]
Manages corpses.
[Summon: Grave Keeper (C)]
Manages graves.
“…… Post-Mortem Care…? What's a funeral director and grave keeper….”
It was a lame skill.
“Funeral director and grave keeper?!”
But Yeongwon was happy about it.
“Yeah, you know them?”
“Of course. They're great residents of the Necropolis. The funeral director summons zombies, and the grave keeper summons skeletons.”
“Summoning zombies and skeletons?”
“Yes! If we just leave them in the Necropolis, zombies and skeletons will pop up!”
“Oh!”
Not a bad skill.
So with fifty MP, I could summon them and keep them around, and soldiers would just keep piling up?
“Use the next skill book!”
“Got it!”
The first one was plain attack.
And the second…!
Ding!
[Skill: Area Proclamation (A)]
The Necromancer creates an area equal to the MP spent as their own domain for a certain time.
- MP 100
“…… An A-rank skill with this explanation…?”
Area Proclamation… I looked at Yeongwon for more details.
“……”
No words.
Another lame skill?
I quickly pulled out the next skill book.
Ding!
[Skill: Death Knight (A)]
Summoning a death knight, the knight of death.
- MP 500
- Current skill grade is A.
- The Death Knight's grade is Low Swordmaster.
There it was. Death Knight!
How's that, Yeongwon?
“……!!!”
Yeongwon covered her mouth.
“Hehe.”
I smiled coolly at her.
She rushed over.
“Masterrrrrr!!”
Waaah! A passionate hug!
“Yeongwon…. Our suffering is finally over, right?”
“Master!!! We won the ultimate skill book jackpot!!!”
“But Area Proclamation appeared. Isn't that a bad skill?”
“It's a completely good skill! Because your domain is the Necropolis!”
“Eh…?”
I tried to make sense of her words and my head spun.
Uuung…. I didn't want to think…. But I tried.
“So if I use Area Proclamation inside the tower, it turns that place into the Necropolis?”
“Yes!!! But the Necropolis created by Area Proclamation is a different one from ours.”
“Uuung….”
“Because it's A-rank. Probably just a buff will be applied!”
“So it's a Necropolis without Yeongwon?”
“Yes! Still, it's great!”
That much?
I opened the skill window and read the Necropolis skill description again.
[Skill: Necropolis (EX)]
The ultimate area skill for expanding the Necromancer's territory.
Summoning the soul empress who rules the Necropolis (EX).
- Blesses subordinates inside the area. Grade increases by one.
- Curses enemies inside the area. Grade decreases by one.
- Subordinates inside the area are immortal. Instant recovery from damage.
- Enemies inside the area are erased. Their souls are bound to the soul empress upon death.
“Ugh.”
This is insane?
Until now I had thought Necropolis equaled Yeongwon.
But now I saw there was huge buffing power inside it.
“If I use Area Proclamation, our team gets strong and the enemies get weak…?”
“Yes! That way we get two levels higher than our same-rank opponents!”
“Holy…. They don't die?”
“As long as it's not instant, recovery is possible! Even if only the tailbone of a skeleton soldier remains, it can recover!”
“Enemies are said to be erased!”
“Ah…. I don't know how that works. The ownership of souls has to transfer to me, but since there's no Necropolis here….”
“Well, it might not matter either way.”
We held hands and danced for a bit.
“Let's gather MP and summon a Death Knight?”
Current MP is 250.
In about five days, summoning the Death Knight will be possible.
“May I give you a recommendation?”
“Of course!”
“Use Post-Mortem Care five times to summon a funeral director and a grave keeper, then clear the next tower.
Then use the MP from leveling up to summon a Death Knight!”
“As expected…. I'll make Yeongwon my wife and military commander of the underworld.”
“Kya~!”
“I obey the military commander's orders! Post-Mortem Care!”
I used the Post-Mortem Care skill.
The funeral director and grave keeper appeared.
I used it four more times without changing them.
“Yeongwon, these guys….”
“Yes.”
The funeral director and grave keeper disappeared.
“Um… the funeral director should be placed in a corner somewhere….”
“Of course. I understand what you mean. It's because of the zombies, right?”
“Yeah. Make sure they don't smell.”
Yeongwon nodded.
Even if she didn't say it, she would have handled it herself.
We pulled three skill books.
Completely amazing.
We got the high-grade subordinate we wanted? Summoning the Death Knight would solve it.
Plus, we had Area Proclamation to make soldiers stronger, and skeletons that kept growing just by staying put.
We didn't have to discard any skill.
“Yeongwon.”
“Yes.”
I took out the grudge I had been carrying.
“Can the Death Knight beat Okrim?”
“One-on-one?”
“Yeah.”
“Just by raw strength, Okrim is stronger.”
“This….”
“But the Death Knight will win that.”
“Eh?”
“Let me explain. Umm…. It's not that I look down on Master….”
“It's fine. Say it casually. I know Yeongwon isn't saying it that way.”
“Thank you. Then I'll speak casually.”
“Yeah.”
Yeongwon started explaining.
“People in this world lack experience. The kind of experience I mean is combat experience.”
“Even the little combat experience they have is mostly against monsters.”
“They don't train skills on their own. It's a reward from the system. They learn skills in the form of skills.”
“But the other world connected to this one is different.”
“Every day they fight monsters, people, and even their own lives. Combat is familiar to them.”
“To get a skill, they have to train their technique. Study and practice to obtain the skill.”
“An A-rank Death Knight. Low Swordmaster. To reach that level, many swordsmen grind their technique their whole lives. But few become Swordmasters.”
“After all that effort, they become Low Swordmasters and can no longer grow stronger before passing away.”
“Ordinary Swordmasters can't cross that big wall and eventually pass away. That resentment turns them into Death Knights.”
Yeongwon smiled slyly.
“So when a strong Okrim and a Death Knight who has spent his life honing his sword fight, who wins?”
“Of course the Death Knight wins.”
“That's it.”
Clap clap. I clapped.
Okrim, you're finished now.
Yeongwon read my thoughts and spoke again.
“Master. Two Death Knights….”
“Okrim would just be floating on the surface.”
Our goal had been set.
Two Death Knights.
And Okrim's head.