Evolution, Not Advancement
The shotgun slammed down onto the executive desk with a thunderous crash. The man wielding it suddenly remembered that the subordinate delivering his report was still standing at attention. He cleared his throat.
"Ahem— So, what's the conclusion?"
"...The priest's 'arrangement' left no traceable clues that could identify our organization. This is an internal document extracted by our operative embedded in the Management Bureau."
"Hmm— So the underground chamber was cleaned out completely?"
"Yes, Elder."
The man known as the Elder interlaced his fingers on the table and fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then he spoke again.
"Then I suppose we still haven't identified who interfered with us?"
"......At present, it's difficult to determine."
"At present? If given time, can you find them?"
"......"
"Haa— The priest of that district was definitely there until the offerings were presented. Which means this happened afterward... The list?"
"It's on the very last page of the materials I provided."
The man flipped through the pages, scanned the list, then pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. He waved his hand dismissively at the messenger.
"Dismissed—"
Once the subordinate had left the office, the man exhaled again while staring at the nearly one thousand names on the list. He muttered under his breath.
"You will all pay the price... without fail."
His hand, gently stroking the shattered desk, still trembled violently with barely contained rage.
"But we didn't even do anything wrong. Was it really necessary to hide it?"
Yeonhee asked while idly shaking Wangwang, who was sprawled on the floor like a glutinous rice cake.
No matter how bad they were, killing eleven of them would've left them exhausted in some way. Besides, there's no need to let Jo Giman know about this kind of achievement.
I shrugged. Yeonhee stroked her chin with a serious expression for a moment.
"Hmm... Ah, whatever! I don't know anymore!"
Lying flat on her back, Yeonhee pulled out two of the brownish-gray summoning scrolls.
"When you're stressed, you pull! Let's use two and keep one!!"
She had three spare scrolls in total. She used two, and as expected, two more Lizardmen were added to her roster. That brought the current total to seven Lizardmen.
"You're Lizard No. 6, and you're Lizard No. 7. Got it?"
Slurp— Slurp—
The two Lizardmen flicked their tongues, signaling their understanding.
"The probability is ninety percent, so you'd think at least one different summon would appear eventually, but it's still just these guys. Well, I'm not complaining."
It seemed the ninety percent chance referred to the probability of the summoning scroll producing a fixed type of summon.
At that rate, getting a decent one early on when the scroll's grade is still low is crucial.
This time, they had luckily drawn the strongest among the lower-tier options—the Lizardman—right at the beginning, allowing them to build a Lizardman squad. If only mediocre ones had kept appearing, concentrating their power would have been much harder.
"The summons each have slightly different wavelengths, so throwing too many different types into battle makes them difficult to maintain."
I see... So that's why she committed to Lizardmen from the start. Still, maintaining that many summons during combat while keeping a firm grip on her mental strength is impressive enough. And she performs quite well as an archer on top of that... It's truly remarkable. No wonder they call her a genius.
It wasn't simply a matter of having more or less mana. Anyone who handled mana would understand without explanation just how delicate and high-level the act of controlling it truly was. Yet here was Yeonhee, juggling ten when others were struggling with three. It was no wonder she stood out.
Yeonhee summoned Lizard No. 1 as well and ordered it to train the new arrivals. I wasn't sure if that guy could even understand such a command, but Lizard No. 1 took the two freshly summoned Lizardmen into a corner and began whispering something to them.
Whoa... It actually works?
I couldn't tell if they were really receiving combat-related instruction, but seeing No. 6 and No. 7 nod their heads seriously, it looked like they were faithfully carrying out Yeonhee's orders.
Come to think of it, they did move with surprising coordination during the fight. So does that mean No. 1 is acting as their leader?
I observed No. 1 more closely. He was noticeably larger than the newcomers, and his scales had a deeper, richer green hue. He must have leveled up significantly through repeated battles.
Hmm— I wonder if these guys will get some kind of advancement someday...
If that happened, it would be something to celebrate. Even now, the Lizardmen were performing far beyond my expectations.
"First... let's move to the two-room and, um..."
With the lease expiration approaching, Yeonhee had been searching for a new place to move to for several days. The next day, we lightly cleared the Ent Forest once more. Using the money Yeonhee had saved from her hunter activities, we found a new home not far from the original one-room apartment.
I'd thought there wouldn't be much to move, but Yeonhee couldn't bear to throw away the household items that carried her mother's touch. In the end, it turned into a proper move.
"There's more than I expected..."
She scratched her head in mild distress, but when I stored all the luggage into my inventory in the blink of an eye, she stuck her tongue out playfully.
Once we arrived at the new home, I was summoned again. I took out everything I'd stored in my subspace and arranged it neatly.
It's a bit more spacious... but it's still cramped.
The original place had been a one-room that was practically a two-room studio, but this new apartment actually had a proper living room.
"The contract is for one year. We can move again within that time, right?"
I nodded.
"Good. We've been working way too hard lately, so today let's do absolutely nothing and just rest."
Rest, huh... What exactly are we supposed to do while resting?
There wasn't even a TV in the place, so nothing immediately came to mind. But Yeonhee really meant it—she spent the entire day rolling around on the floor doing nothing at all. Watching her laze about while cuddling a noticeably chubbier Wangwang and fiddling with her smartphone, I realized I sometimes forgot that this girl had only just turned twenty.
Hmm— Then I should...
It was time to make a choice.
Skeleton Bomber
A class recognized as the most alien among undead lineages that specialize in close-quarters combat. A battlefield slaughterer who leads battles primarily through magic bombs. It possesses extremely high offensive power and receives strong positive corrections to all mana-related abilities. However, strength growth is restricted.
Special Benefit: +30% damage when attacks hit an enemy.
If I want to double my stealth capabilities, this is definitely the right choice. Plus, there should be some synergy once I obtain that ability later.
Would you like to advance to Skeleton Bomber?
My finger bones trembled so hard it felt like they might rattle apart. This was an incredibly tense moment.
Hoo... I choose to advance.
Crack— Crunch—!
The moment I selected the advancement, thin lines began descending from my skull, piercing through bone and rapidly spreading throughout my entire body. They looked like tiny blood vessels, or perhaps like the circuitry I'd seen inside some knight's components. Starting from a single line, they branched out continuously, splitting again and again. By the time they reached my feet, there were so many it was impossible to count them all.
Would you like to fuse the newly acquired trait with an existing one?
Would you like to fuse the newly acquired skill with an existing one?
Adapting to my elevated physical state was already overwhelming, but the messages kept pressing me for an answer without mercy.
You should at least explain what fusion does first, you bastards...
Even while grumbling internally, the word "fusion" sounded incredibly positive, so I immediately agreed.
The newly acquired trait has fused with Obez's Blessing, greatly enhancing its effect.
Obez's Blessing
A minor blessing bestowed by Obez, the progenitor of the flame monkey tribe.
Fire attribute attacks now deal an additional +120% (+100%) damage.
What the—?! It went up by a full 100%?
The trait gained from the class change must have been similar to Obez's Blessing, because the original trait's value had skyrocketed.
Lower Flame Bullet has fused with the newly acquired skill. Storage capacity and damage have increased dramatically.
Skeleton Bomb
Process the bones of personally slain monsters into magic bombs for storage. When thrown, they deal damage equal to 300% of magic attack power.
Higher-grade processed bones grant additional damage.
Currently stored: 0/50
Three... three hundred percent... And I can stockpile up to fifty of them. But does this really require bones? That might be a bit inconvenient... Still, I have quite a few goblin, Big Bore, and flame monkey bones saved up...
At any rate, the massive increase in my main skill's damage made this an incredibly successful evolution.
This isn't just a class change. This feels more like true evolution.
Nodding to myself, I checked my updated stats.
Traits: Cold Reason, Protection, Thievery, 98 Lives, Adhesion, Pain Resistance, Obez's Blessing
Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Basic Conversion, Reckless Charge, Contaminated Breath, Skeleton Bomb
Equipment: Sage Arhen's Self-Defense Dagger, Big Bore Leather Armor
Huh? The Intelligence stat changed to Wisdom? So Skeleton Bomber is a magic-oriented class after all?
Stats usually labeled as Intelligence do influence magic attacks, but with terrible efficiency. For example, before my class change, I could use the fire attribute skill Lower Flame Bullet. If I had poured every single point into Intelligence hoping to strengthen that skill, I probably would have been disappointed. That's because Intelligence has a very low coefficient when it comes to increasing magic attack power. It does, however, improve cognitive, thinking, and reactive abilities when encountering situations or phenomena.
On the other hand, the Wisdom stat that magic-oriented classes possess has a high coefficient for increasing the power of mana-based attacks. The downside is that if a class with Wisdom invests level-up stats into Strength, it only increases by 1 per point. Even the special benefit that normally grants +5 every 5 levels doesn't apply properly, resulting in only +3. In short, even if you want to invest in Strength, your body won't let you.
The description for Skeleton Bomber had mentioned a restriction on Strength growth. This must have been what it referred to.
Just from the name "Skeleton Bomber," I'd assumed it wasn't magic-oriented and had given up hope. But an unexpected jackpot had exploded in my face.
Wisdom increased by a whopping 30... Mana by 20, Resistance by 5, Recovery by 10... This is practically on the level of a second awakening.