Chapter 149: The Greatest Adversity
[The description of Skeleton Mage Summon (E)+9 has been greatly updated!]
[Skeleton Apprentice Mage Summon (E)+9]
[Consumes 20 mana to summon 2 (1+1) level 101 Apprentice Mages of your choice.]
[* Current summonable list (5/10)]
[1. Apprentice Death Mage]
[A mage slightly more specialized in death magic.]
[* Receives bonuses to usable death magic.]
[2. Apprentice Fire Mage]
[* Receives bonuses to usable fire magic…]
[3. Apprentice Wind Mage]
[4. Apprentice Earth Mage]
[5. Apprentice Water Mage]
Water, fire, wind, earth.
The four major elements, and also the list of spells Merhen had taught him. On top of that, he had received training in death magic as well.
‘Specialization here too, huh.’
Kim Minwoo nodded in satisfaction. This structure wasn’t all that different for human mages either.
‘Everyone has an element that suits their body best.’
Even if they learned the same skillbooks and unleashed them, fire magic might burn hotter or pack more punch.
Such differences were inevitable.
So if someone had high affinity for fire?
Usually, the opposite element, water, would be their weak point. In that case, they’d just keep learning fire magic skillbooks and introduce themselves as a fire mage.
‘Merhen’s the unusual one.’
Handling all four elements?
That was pretty rare.
Now, the skeleton mages had unlocked the potential to master all four elements through job changes as well.
Just like summoning skeletons as warriors when fighting or as blacksmiths or alchemists when crafting, he could now summon mages tailored to the monster composition by element.
‘Nice.’
Attacking with a weakness doubled the damage. It was as good as having a powerful trump card.
At that moment.
Merhen zipped over and landed.
―Minwoo! All done!
“Good job. As expected, Merhen’s the best. The other mages went through job changes too. Looks like you trained them well?”
―Job changes? Like the skeletons?
“Yeah. I’ll show you.”
He canceled Miley’s summon.
Then summoned an Apprentice Fire Mage.
Miley appeared with a faint red tint to its entire body.
―Whoa! Fire element specialist?
Clack!
Miley nodded vigorously.
―Try copying this, then.
Merhen ignited a flame in her hand.
Miley stared at its own hand and began to concentrate.
After straining for a while, Miley finally produced a tiny flame.
―Hmm…
Merhen narrowed her eyes and stared at it intently.
“How is it?”
―The bones themselves seem optimized for manifesting fire magic. But even with that trick, it’s still an idiot.
T_T
―Don’t play the victim. We all know you’re not crying over this. Stand up straight.
Miley hurriedly snapped to attention. Kim Minwoo whispered in Merhen’s ear.
“It’s really the same idiot as before? Nothing changed but the bones?”
Merhen rolled her eyes at the words, then turned away and said quietly.
―It gets just a tiny bit less idiotic when using fire. But Minwoo, don’t praise it. Got it?
“Why?”
―It’ll get spoiled. It’s still got a long way to go.
Merhen was a strict teacher.
Either way, magic education was her domain. Expert fields deserved respect. He nodded.
Merhen turned back around and cleared her throat.
―You still have a lot of work to do. To be useful to Minwoo, you’re far from ready. Got it?
Miley nodded dejectedly. It looked so pitiful that even Kim Minwoo flinched for a moment.
―… Well. At least it’s improved a tiny bit, so there’s room for growth.
Suddenly.
Whoosh!
!_!
Miley’s eyes sparked with exclamation mark flames as it pressed its wand to the ground and scribbled.
〈Really?〉
―Ahem. Just a tiny bit. Don’t get too excited.
Clack!
Miley saluted as if to say it understood. Its face had already shifted to a ^_^ shape.
‘That’s the most amazing thing she taught it.’
No, how did she make it express emotions with its pupils like that?
He felt anew the greatness of education.
Either way.
The skull squad’s growth was complete.
‘Time to loot.’
Death Knight Legion.
Beings like that had to drop something.
Sure enough.
Amid the debris from the vortex explosion, all sorts of gear glittered. As a bonus, a bound skillbook from a noble source appeared.
‘Lucky.’
He picked up the skillbook first.
[Acquired Bound Skillbook.]
[Acquired Necromancer Skillbook: Curse of Frailty (S)!]
‘Oh, S-grade?’
Probably because the Death Knight Legion’s levels were so high, the bound skillbook’s grade was elevated too.
And it was a curse type to boot.
Perfect synergy with the Plague Lord Gloves that spread curses.
Not just that?
Thanks to the Ring of Ascension, all curses got a 50% boost.
He checked the details right away.
[Curse of Frailty (S)]
[Level restriction: 293+]
[Consumes 200 mana to curse the target. Cursed target has max HP reduced by 20%.]
‘Oh.’
He let out a low exclamation upon reading the description.
Max HP reduced by 20%.
With Ascension, that became 30%.
Of course, that full value would only apply to regular monsters. Big ones, high resistance, or bosses would see it reduced. Even accounting for that, it was excellent.
‘It’s like starting with one limb chopped off.’
How many times had hunters barely failed to kill and gotten done in during hunts?
Awakeners dying by a hair’s breadth were a dime a dozen.
Curse of Frailty would greatly reduce those worries.
Regular monsters would start with over a third of their HP gone.
Even high-level ones would take at least 10%.
‘Great for mob farming.’
Hit clustered monsters with Curse of Aging and Curse of Frailty, and it’d be heavenly.
After a rough cleanup, he turned to find the orcs and elves staring at him in stunned silence. Urkan rolled his eyes in confusion and asked,
―Snort. Big Bro, is this for real?
“This is real. Just trust and follow.”
―Got it!
True to orc simplicity, a crisp reply followed. Either way, the enemies blocking the path were dead. There might be regret over not fighting, but it wasn’t a bad situation.
―Snort! Let’s kill the witch!
―Kill her!
The emboldened resistance began marching forward again.
At that moment.
Kim Minwoo, walking ahead, tilted his head.
The dice neatly stored in his inventory suddenly popped out, rolled a 1 without his input.
And a message appeared before his eyes.
[Entered the range of Destiny’s Vortex.]
[Your ‘Greatest Adversity’ begins!]
Soon, he and his summons vanished in an instant.
―S-snort?
The orc group showed bewildered looks at the party’s sudden disappearance.
* * *
Apprentice Witch Iris’s eyes narrowed. The Death Knight Legion, which she had entrusted as her limbs for so long.
Their presences had all vanished in an instant. There was only one explanation for that.
‘… They got wiped?’
All at once?
By who?
Countless questions arose.
The last mission she had given the Death Knight Legion was to observe the northern resistance forces.
‘No way they lost to those northern resistance rabble.’
Just 20,000 orcs.
500 Death Knights could sweep them in under two hours.
Even if it were 100,000 orcs, same story. Instant annihilation didn’t make sense.
Overwhelming powerhouse intervention. Nothing short of that could explain it.
She headed to the top of the tower. The throne of the tower.
Originally her space, but the host and guest roles had flipped long ago.
Knock knock.
Iris cautiously knocked and spoke.
“Lady Luruye, I have something to report…”
At that moment.
The door burst open.
Three heads.
Six eyeballs staring blankly—an unsettling sight she could never get used to.
Even the crow perched on Luruye’s shoulder added another pair, making eight eyeballs in motion.
Then.
Luruye spoke.
“Immature witch.”
“I know what you’re going to say.”
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Where to…”
Luruye grabbed her hand and shot into the sky.
The two witches began flying south at high speed in an instant.
Iris, dragged along helplessly, spoke.
“Why all of a sudden…”
At that instant, the crow on Luruye’s shoulder cried out.
―Caw! Disaster approaches! An unavoidable disaster!
… Disaster approaching?
Iris tilted her head and looked at Luruye.
“Um, is this because of the ill omen? Last time the ill omen…”
“I said it depends on interpretation.”
“But this time it’s blatantly ‘disaster,’ right?”
“Can’t handle this. Not just us.”
Luruye’s three heads replied with stern faces. The crow’s ill omens were open to interpretation.
Most were vague phrases hinting faintly at future fates.
But this was different.
A blatant disaster approaching.
A definite, sticky ill omen.
One too much even for their power.
And unavoidable?
Then there was only one thing to do.
Unite forces and prepare.
Whatever it took, all in.
That’s why they had bolted from their seats.
“We do everything.”
“We can.”
“So we’ll contact the Dragon Legion.”
Iris rolled her eyes.
Honestly, with a full-fledged witch here, she thought nothing major would happen.
She had sought Luruye to report all variables, not out of desperate crisis.
A powerhouse like Luruye could wipe the Death Knight Legion even if they all swarmed her.
But…
‘It’s that level of crisis now?’
Then it really was big trouble.
Now she understood why Luruye had moved so urgently.
To join forces with the Dragon Legion—whose relations weren’t great—it meant the situation was that dire!
‘What is it?’
Was there a powerhouse on this continent that could instill this much dread in a full-fledged witch?
Impossible from the start.
If there was, she would’ve been subjugated long ago. So a new variable.
That was when.
Flap flap!
A massive dragon flock approached from the south.
Iris narrowed her eyes.
The Ice Dragon, like her, had a superior being in tow.
A massive blue-bodied dragon.
The blue dragon halted midair and spoke.
―Witch. Felt it?
“Yeah. Caught in a nasty fate. Don’t know who called us, but…”
―No need for long talk. Cooperate. Even if just for now.
“Fine.”
Luruye nodded readily.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
A proper dragonkin’s instincts were sharper than anything. Especially a sacred dragon over 3,000 years old like the one before them—no need to doubt the authenticity.
Thanks to that, conversation flowed well.
‘Just hold out a month.’
Then they could gather power to leave this dimension.
Report anomalies to the higher-ups afterward and observe.
As long as they survived…
That was when.
As if a knot unraveled naturally, something interfered with the magic.
Luruye and Iris’s bodies plummeted to the ground. The dragons froze in place for a moment too.
[The ‘Master of the Dragon Knight’ title activates!]
[Faced a dragon!]
[Inflict intense pressure on the dragon!]
Soon, every gaze in the area turned to the human on the ground.
One unremarkable human.
One woman.
One skeleton.
No one knew when they had appeared. As if they had always been rooted there like trees.
The three stood there.
‘Whoa.’
Kim Minwoo let out a low exclamation.
Wondering what the greatest adversity was.
‘Delivering me straight to where all the bosses are gathered?’
He now half-understood what the dice item did.
Clearly, rolling a 1 shoved you straight into danger.
And he figured out why it rolled 1 despite his super luck.
Witch and dragons.
Looked too tasty to pass up.
Delivered right to his doorstep?
Kim Minwoo grinned.
Amid the suffocating silence.
―Caw. Roll thunk.