Bone Blades Unleashed

Implementing bone as a sword. 'Good thing I've been steadily investing in agility. Whew...' I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Right now, the creature and I were locked in a contest of pure physical ability. Thanks to my high agility stat, I was dodging with more ease than expected, but even a single glancing blow from this enemy could reduce me to hundreds of fragments. Its destructive power was that overwhelming. I couldn't afford to relax for a second.

'Stealth would be nice right about now.' This was an opponent risky to fight without the variable of hiding my body. Even so, I wasn't using Stealth because the other hunters were watching my every move even in the middle of their own fierce battles. 'The difference in performance with and without Stealth is too huge. Isn't that the biggest flaw in my fighting style?' The thought crossed my mind. Stealth had worked well so far, but I couldn't keep relying on it forever. I needed to cultivate absolute power that didn't depend on tricky movements.

Many thoughts swirled in my head, but my body moved honestly. I ran up the giant skeleton soldier's arm, across its shoulder, and lightly climbed all the way to the top of its skull where the bone was exposed. It kept attacking me throughout, but the senses I'd concentrated in a circle around my body refused to allow any hits. 'Huu──'

Crack- Crack-! Crack! ...... 'Whoa... this thing's ridiculously tough. Aagh! Break already!' I'd worked hard to claim the high ground, but the final finishing attacks left me frustrated. The sound of dagger and bone scraping together rang out repeatedly, yet I still couldn't pierce its skull in one go. I knew it was an unnaturally large specimen with exceptionally high defense, but still... what a shame.

'Still, the damage from Flame Slash has gone up, so it shouldn't take as long as I thought.' Flame Slash's power had clearly increased. It wasn't as visually obvious as Fireball, but I could feel it. Thirty percent? Maybe even more. Whoosh- Smack! I'd focused and swung the slash, but I still had to strike dozens of times. Size really was king. Damn it.

But there was one positive. I alternated between striking with my dagger and the bone spikes protruding from the back of my left hand.

The effect of the newly fused ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trait, Savage Claws, kept paralyzing the creature and preventing it from landing proper attacks. I couldn't inflict Bleeding, but the constant short bursts of Paralysis drastically reduced its attack frequency. 'The paralysis chance is fifty percent, so the difference is night and day. This is really good.'

Crack-! Crack! Someone once said that if you keep knocking, the door will open. After about three minutes of dodging its attacks while repeatedly striking the same spot, I managed to drill a neat circular hole into its skull like ice fishing. Inside that hole, I could see something round radiating intense magical power. 'Its core looks different from mine...' Mine was just a simple orb, but this one's core writhed like a living heart. 'Whatever. Eat this.'

I dropped five bombs through the split parietal bone and leaped into the air.

"Aaaagh! Shit!" "Damn it! Ping before you blow stuff up!" Several hunters hit by the flying skull fragments glared at me and shouted. '...... How am I supposed to ping? Should I set off fireworks or something?' Being unable to speak, I felt a bit wronged. Then I noticed one hunter who'd taken a serious injury from a flying bone shard. She was clutching her thigh, which now had a coin-sized hole in it, rolling on the ground in obvious agony. Yeah, that was my fault...

But in the distance, I saw Yeonhee glaring murderously at the people who'd been yelling at me. Her eyes were terrifying, Yeonhee... The moment our gazes met, I was reminded of the time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she'd sent me to that terrifying being called Iriscas, and a chill ran down my spine. Just as I instinctively wrapped my arms around my shoulders—

Thud—! The headless, massive body of the giant skeleton slowly tilted like it was in slow motion before crashing to the ground. 'Even in death, this thing's dramatic.'

'This is a style of message I haven't seen before...' Since I couldn't steal any skills or traits, it felt like it was giving me other rewards instead. I should be grateful it was trying to compensate somehow. 'Bone manipulation ability...? Did that thing have that? I didn't notice anything like it.' All it had done was throw punches relying on raw physical power. Maybe it had other talents. Stupid thing.

Following the message, I focused my senses on the spikes embedded in my body and tried moving them with my left arm. Ssssssk- The spikes began moving to where I wanted them at a much faster speed than usual. 'Whew... so this is how much faster they've gotten. Still, I've come a long way.' Compared to right after my class change, this was tremendous progress, but the speed was still a bit awkward for transforming and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠responding in urgent combat. 'Hmm...'

I looked at the spikes clustered on my arm and manifested my will again. 'Extend...!' Crackle- The clustered spikes burrowed into the bone, and soon a single spike stretched out long from the back of my hand like Wolverine's claws. 'Huk... what?' The length was about thirty centimeters. Considering I'd pulled half the spikes from my body to make it, the length was quite short. Why? Was the strength higher to compensate for the shorter length? It didn't seem like it... I didn't know. Maybe it was just because my control was still immature? If so, it would get longer with practice.

In the meantime, the surface of the now-enormous spike had become glossy and smooth, strangely drawing my gaze. I found myself staring at it in a daze for a moment. Beautiful... 'Huk...?! Get it together!' I shook my head vigorously and immediately began spamming Fireballs to burn through my replenished mana.

Whoosh- Boom boom boom boom boom—! Despite Fireball not being very efficient against skeletons, the skulls of the skeleton soldiers exploded one after another from the tremendous heat and destructive power. The hunters who'd been fighting fiercely looked up at me with startled expressions as they watched the skulls burst like fireworks. 'Hmm... maybe I should hold back a little...' Avoiding the hunters' gazes, I threw myself into a crowd of monsters, diverted their attention, and entered Stealth. While finishing off the monsters afterward, I kept glancing at the still-enormous spike.

'...... At this point, doesn't it look roughly like a greatsword?' That thought occurred to me. So, just in case, I stabbed the spike into the skull of a skeleton that was hopping around on one foot after losing the other. Thud-!

'... No good.' I'd hoped, but the greatsword quest counter didn't go up. 'If I just refine this a bit, it could look like a greatsword... Can't the system just count it for the quest?' ...... Apparently not. ....... I waited a bit longer, but the system remained silent. Taciturn bastard... Just as I was about to give up—

'Huh...? Implement? Wait... so if I make something similar, it'll count as a greatsword? Is that it?' ...... '... I'll take that as a yes.' It definitely said "implement" rather than "use"... Hold on, wasn't the quest designed that way from the beginning? 'Tsk, whatever. In a few days the greatsword I commissioned will arrive anyway... Still, I should start practicing now.' It wouldn't surpass a weapon crafted by a skilled professional, but becoming proficient at freely changing its form would give me an enormous advantage in battle.

With that information in mind, I charged back into the battlefield with a dagger in my right hand and spikes in my left. The rapidly rising quest counter was exciting. Even knowing I shouldn't show off, it was hard to hold back. In my past life, killing a single monster required so much caution, but now I could just cut them down as I pleased. It felt like nonexistent endorphins were exploding in my head. While barely controlling my instincts and cutting down enemies, I caught sight of Arin dancing with her sword amidst a group of skeleton soldiers. 'She's amazing... so fluid, like flowing water. Hmm, is that the stance?'

Arin occasionally took a drawing stance and stylishly cleaved through skulls. Efficiency aside, the visual impact was excellent. I tried mimicking the swordsmanship instructor's movements like a decalcomania. But I quickly realized that a short-bladed dagger made the action meaningless. '... Let's just stick to what I was doing.' After resigning myself to not showing off, I swung my spike at a skeleton trying to attack me. Since it had no edge yet, it functioned more like a blunt weapon. Thud—! 'Haha, this is fun too.' The sight of skulls bursting apart so satisfyingly stirred a refreshing feeling. Hmm... but the dagger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still seemed better for now. Arhen's dagger had low attack power at 24, but the option to increase defense by 10 made it superior overall. I was also more accustomed to it.

Anyway, while checking on my party members' safety with my senses and prioritizing the most threatening enemies, I noticed that Yeonhee, Arin, and even Eunyeong had light rippling around their bodies. At this scale of battle, they'd probably level up more easily than usual. I'd also gained a huge amount of experience from taking down that big one earlier, so I might level up again too. "Ilwol......!" Bae Jua, who hadn't leveled up yet in this battle, urgently waved from the back and called out to me. After calling my name, the way her lips moved suggested she needed a mana buff. We'd definitely put too much distance between us and the party. With my expanded senses, I could respond from farther away, so I'd unconsciously drifted off.

I closed the distance so all my allies could fit within the range of the Supreme Mana Circuit.

This was the new buff effect I'd discovered after No Hayun and Yeom Tae-seok joined. I could even choose whether to apply the buff or not. Maybe the option appeared because I didn't yet consider them allies? Either way, the mana circuit buff grew stronger the more allies were connected. With ten or more, I'd receive even greater effects. Of course, it didn't benefit me directly, but it was incredibly sweet for my teammates. I had no intention of deliberately increasing the number of allies, but I was curious how many this effect would apply to. When the buff reactivated, Bae Jua, who had the smallest mana pool and fastest mana consumption, reacted first. The sudden flush on her face made it obvious.

"Uung... haa..." Hot breath escaped her lips—she seemed quite heated. That was dangerous in the middle of combat... In the end, I had no choice but to deal with the monsters crowding around her until she calmed down.