The Madness of Job Advancement

The combat form was far too ferocious.

And the special trait listed beneath it was an absolutely insane ability that shared one of my stats with an ally.

'If I share my health with Yeonhee... would it follow my stat value?'

Hoping that it would add my stats on top of her original values felt like asking for too much. Still, you never know. Maybe it would combine them.

I also received a trait that made Irmana's Blessing permanent, no longer dependent on the environment. No more shamefully splashing myself with water.

'This was necessary to preserve my dignity. Thank you.'

But something came along and dumped a bucket of ice water over my heated mind.

'...... Damn it!'

The Chaos Residue that had unsettled me from the very first line.

Defeating that thing was the job advancement quest.

'Still, isn't this way better than the thirty-thousand-monster quest? I only have to kill one, right?'

Don't tell me... when I actually get there, the so-called "residue" turns out to be tens of thousands of them? If that's the case, I'm really going to lose it.

'Hey— the thing I have to defeat. Is it one or many?'

It wasn't a good habit to only answer what I wanted to hear...

'Is there any other option?'

'If not, I'll proceed with the job change right now!'

The moment I shouted, the familiar bodily transformation began far faster than before.

The circuits of mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flowing down from my skull expanded along already opened paths and spread like lightning.

'Hoo...'

No words, no thoughts could intrude.

I simply watched myself changing into something else with calm detachment.

'So the bone armor is being upgraded into flame armor.'

Having gone through it once before, I no longer panicked.

Once again, I tore off a rib and tossed it into the air.

At the same time, the orc hides and monster corpses and bones I had stored in my inventory began disappearing rapidly.

[Fireball]

Whoosh—!

A distant grinding sound echoed for a moment.

'......'

I slowly spread my senses and examined the transformed armor.

'There's no fire?'

Despite the name Flame Armor, it wasn't burning like actual flames. However, faint red points of light glowed warmly from within the armor, signaling that it was ready to ignite flames at any moment.

'Will the shape change when I switch to combat form?'

Crack—!

'Ugh...!'

The reconstructed armor began fusing with my main body once more.

The pain was far less than last time, yet it was still enough to make me clench my teeth.

[Pain Resistance]

Crunch— Crack!

'Khh... Stop...!'

Paying no heed to the continuing agony, the armor kept expanding in volume.

If the previous armor had covered about half its surface with leather, this time nearly everything except the arm joints and neck area was solidly encased in armor.

Clang— Clang— Clang— Clang—!

As it entered the final stage, several studs were hammered roughly into the armor. The much cleaner finish on the surface was quite satisfying.

No, at this point it no longer looked like bone armor. It was simply an excessively sharp full-plate armor.

The overall color had darkened from the bone armor, taking on a silvery hue, while the Military Cloak of the Forgotten Kingdom fluttered from my shoulders like wings.

Most importantly, the hideous lower jaw that had covered half my face had been smoothly refined. Now I could face Yeonhee with a little more confidence.

'Hoo— Hoo—'

Separate from that joy, I quietly observed the changes in my body and steadied my breathing.

When I focused on the several sharp bone blades protruding from my head and ordered them to move, they instantly shifted to reinforce the shoulder armor.

'The movement of bones has become much faster. At this level, I should be able to respond quickly even during combat.'

I could now control the bones well enough to use them in situations where several attacks and defenses were exchanged per second.

Some time passed like that.

After adapting to my evolved body, I checked my changed status window.

'Whoa... These are C-grade stats? Do these numbers really belong to me?'

With my current stats and the skills I'd gained, I felt like I could suppress Tarantara even without using Flame Explosion.

'The flame armor can transform into combat form, right?'

I expressed my will to enter combat mode, and soon a ferocious crimson flame that seemed to devour everything began rising from within.

It wasn't the ominous black flame of Flame Explosion, but it was still a wild blaze that looked plenty threatening.

Whoosh—

I jumped in surprise at the instantly transformed appearance and scanned my entire body.

'This is... a bit much, isn't it? Yeonhee might get scared.'

Unlike the sleek evolved form, entering combat mode gave me an appearance that matched the ferocious bone form I'd taken after my second job change.

No, it was actually the most monstrous I'd ever looked.

I'd thought I'd finally smoothed things out, but... hmm.

'If the monsters see this, they might scream and run away. This is problematic.'

I desperately needed Taunt.

But among the monsters that possessed Taunt, the only ones I could reasonably expect to encounter at C-grade were the Screaming Mushroom and the ironclad beetle.

Unfortunately, those were monsters that weren't easily found in dungeons, so I could only hope for luck.

'No choice then. Anyway, is this the end?'

After finishing the job change, I sat down for a while and meditated.

For some reason, a destructive urge was boiling up from inside me. Even after releasing the combat form, thinking that might be the cause, it persisted.

'They said that few who walk the path toward becoming the King of the Undying avoid losing themselves...'

When I'd first seen the message, I hadn't understood what it meant. Now I was starting to get it.

'This... I'll just have to let it all out.'

Including the newly acquired skills, I unleashed every ability I had in all directions, expending my power.

Boomboomboomboom— Whoosh—

Hundreds of flashes of light burst within the Dark Space, and crimson flames bloomed everywhere, asserting their presence throughout the void.

'Hoo...'

Only after emptying all my mana and experiencing mana exhaustion was I able to escape the darkness that had stained my mind pitch black.

'It felt like I was moving very far away from being human.'

More ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠precisely, it felt like I was becoming closer to a monster that had lost its reason.

'I'll have to come in here occasionally to vent. I can just ask Yeonhee to cancel my summoning.'

Yeonhee would probably feel disappointed, but if I explained it well, she would understand.

What remained now was finding the mysterious old man and pondering the questions that had arisen during the job change process.

I began walking in the direction that felt right and fell into thought.

'Interdimensional channel... hmm...'

It felt like something was on the tip of my tongue, but it wouldn't come to me. For now, I hurled my body forward with all my strength.

Shweeeeee—

'Wow— the speed is insane.'

As my mana recovered and I began moving with High-Speed Flight, the sense of velocity was tremendous.

'At this speed, I should be able to shake off most hunters with ease.'

I pondered as I traveled for some time.

Finally, something about the interdimensional channel came to mind.

'Could it be that black-hole-like vortex?'

The place where the Lizard Champion had been in the Lizardman Swamp.

The hidden space beneath that swamp where I'd obtained the Military Cloak and the Water Pitcher of the Forgotten Ancients.

The unknown swirling something I'd seen at the starting point.

'Hmm... but I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠probably can't enter there right now, can I?'

That was an E-grade dungeon, and I had just completed my job change to C-grade. Moreover, my stats far exceeded that level, so there was no way the dungeon would accept me.

I'd overheard my party members saying that the recent instability of dungeons had weakened such restrictions quite a bit, but it probably wasn't enough to accept someone two full grades above it.

'Interdimensional channel...'

As I mulled it over, an absurd message appeared.

'Wh-what?! I never said I wanted to challenge it!'

'Hey! Listen to me! I never said I was going to challenge it!'

The fact that one of my three chances was about to be wasted made me furious for a moment.

Moreover, I couldn't use Madness Exploding Bullet. Was it telling me to break through with pure skill alone?

The only consolation was that even if I failed the challenge, it seemed 94 Lives wouldn't be deducted.

I tried speaking a few more times, but the system gave no further response, and the timer continued to tick down rapidly.

'Damn it...'

I'd wanted to build up as much power as possible until level 79 and challenge it safely. What a disaster.

'Three chances... Fine. I'll treat this first one as reconnaissance.'

I forced myself to think positively.

You never know. Since I'd become incredibly strong after the job change, I might clear the quest right away.