The Unsettling Gift from the Knight
Isra’s smile had twisted awkwardly. The half-melted skin on her face rippled like something alive, making her look even more grotesque.
“On the Enras Continent, there were necromancers too. However, your lord’s mana level wasn’t enough to repair undead with such precision.”
I blinked. Past tense. “They existed.”
“I crushed them.”
“Ah.”
So that was it.
Worlds away, I had hired the spawn of a necromancer as my subordinate. My nape prickled with chill.
“Hehe. Do not worry, my lord.”
“You’re staring at my neck like it’s delicious, knight-nim?”
“It was Her Majesty’s order. There is no need for suspicion; feel at ease.”
Isra raised the bone she had been gripping high. The tip pointed straight at me.
Was I imagining things?
Whoosh!
The bone sliced through the air and halted inches above my forehead.
A split second later.
“Hiiik!”
A shriek burst from my throat.
“As you can see, my will alone cannot harm my lord.”
“Why don’t you just say it out loud instead of showing off?!”
“I thought direct demonstration would be more effective.”
Great. I almost thought I was going to die.
Actions like that were way too harsh for a guy like me with my terrible coordination.
“It seems you haven’t mastered the skill yet.”
Mastery?
“Isra’s talent is now applying to the user as well.”
“Heavenly Martial Body skill has been registered.”
I went to check the message when—
“Kiiiiiiiiik!!”
Agony exploded through my entire body.
At the same time, my vision went white and my legs gave out.
“Park… hey, Park…”
Couldn’t hear what he was saying clearly.
The voices of the day-laborer hunters faded into nothing.
My consciousness vanished.
***
The first thing that dragged my consciousness back to the surface was the pain.
“Ugh!”
Every nerve in my body screamed. I thought my diced meat would feel like this and opened my eyes.
“You have finally come to your senses.”
The first thing my eyes landed on was a half-melted orc’s face. My stomach lurched.
Far away, the voices of the day-laborer hunters who had come along for cheap echoed.
“Hey. Park, you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. But why are you all standing so far away?”
“Because of the zombie Park made.”
“Hey, no. Why Isra?”
“She growled whenever we tried to approach.”
Our kid doesn’t bite.
I shot a questioning glance at Isra.
“Protecting my lord is a knight’s duty.”
“Lord?”
“Hmph. I didn’t acknowledge you as my lord.”
“Then why are you protecting me?”
“Whether you like it or not, I’m bound to you. Therefore, it is only right for a knight to fulfill his duties.”
So basically, she had acknowledged me as her subordinate.
She had a talent for stretching short words into long ones.
“You fainted earlier, right? Because of you?”
“Isra.”
“Hah. Right, Isra. What kind of nonsense did you pull to make my whole body ache?”
“It’s because your lord’s constitution has changed.”
“Ah. Now that you mention it, the status window said something about that.”
“Go ahead and check.”
Heavenly Martial Body
Category: Martial Arts
Grade: SSS
Type: Passive
“The vessel granted by the heavens. You can learn every martial and physical skill.”
“* Martial arts skill mastery speed increases by 300%.”
“* When leveling up, a number of stats equal to the bonus stats are added to close-range abilities.”
“Whoa.”
My mouth went dry. I blinked several times, but nothing changed.
Stats increase by the bonus amount?
Meaning.
Simply put, level-up stats were doubled.
My heart thumped wildly.
Why would a mage invest in close-range stats?
Only one knew the answer; the other was guessing.
Mages needed to pour a little agility into close-range to raise reaction speed.
They had to cap strength at the minimum to meet equipment weight limits.
They couldn’t just dump all bonus stats into mana.
And on top of that, my job was Necrosmith + Blacksmith, so I had to process corpses.
Even if I wasn’t as good as a mainstream smith, I had to use strength stats.
This was a one-hundred-percent win.
“The true power of Heavenly Martial Body is separate.”
“Something even greater than stat increase?”
“Hehe. Once you see it, you’ll understand.”
Isra swung the bone.
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
Something was different.
A foreign sensation I hadn’t felt before slammed into my eyes.
What the hell was this uncomfortable feeling?
It was like looking at a person wearing a padded jacket on top and shorts on the bottom.
“Do you feel it now?”
“The balance of the skill is off.”
“Because my talent is shared, you can see it.”
I finally understood why Isra had been complaining about balance. I was too late.
The orc zombie Mk. 42 had been overbuilt with defense and muscle to compensate for its weak control.
Because it was modified without considering the weight center, it was strong at grabbing, but it hindered precise movement.
“So this is what Heavenly Martial Body is.”
Once I shared Isra’s talent, my vision sharpened.
One step forward.
When I moved my arm.
The movement of every single muscle fiber felt clear enough to touch.
After a few steps, my eyes teared up.
“Don’t overdo it. Adaptation will take time.”
Isra grabbed my shoulder.
“Even after feeling that pain, you need to adapt?”
“Because your lord’s neuromuscular system is a disaster, I had no choice.”
Hah.
Enough with the facts.
“We should test it.”
“Test what?”
“Undead control.”
In the carrier sat another undead the size of one-third of Isra, smaller than a kobold. A zombie built from a goblin base.
“Combat power looks low.”
“It’s made as a backup for emergencies.”
A mini zombie enchanted with a fire-ball scroll I bought for ten million won.
I planned to detonate it if something I couldn’t handle showed up.
In the moment, it froze up, but whatever.
◈ Explosive fire magic scroll
◈ Instantly casts fireball upon activation
“Corpse Production”
“Uuuuu.”
The goblin zombie stood up.
I gulped down the tension and gave the order.
“Dance.”
“Uuuuu.”
The zombie was moving according to the ‘dance’ that popped into my head.
Even with its body stiff from rigor mortis, it danced as smoothly as a student showing off.
“The world…”
Incredible.
My undead moved so fluidly!
Heavenly Martial Body.
Truly the best!
“Incredible.”
People were moved; don’t spoil the mood.
“Isra, may I ask one thing?”
“As long as it doesn’t contradict knightly conduct, anything is fine.”
“Teach me your sword style.”
“You’re a mage. Why would you need sword style?”
“To strengthen undead.”
The undead made through corpse production synced with my combat sense.
So a mage job had to train sword style.
But.
The investment was worth it.
“It will help you too.”
“Why me?”
“Learning to wield a sword is the same as understanding one another. Your lord’s frail body will also grow stronger.”
Ah.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered hearing that understanding the undead with another-world souls would increase stats.
“Since you inherited Heavenly Martial Body, you’ll learn sword style quickly.”
“Depending on my will, right?”
“Oh? You understood well.”
She had a talent for buttering up her words.
Suddenly, a question popped into my head.
Even if she acknowledged me as master, technically I hadn’t asked for her consent before binding her as a subordinate.
Of course, undead created through corpse production couldn’t betray me.
Still, the difference between forcing loyalty and just giving orders was huge.
Why was Isra volunteering to help even with the parts I hadn’t commanded?
She tilted her head, and Isra’s face twisted.
“I didn’t ask for consent and made you my servant. How are you supposed to expect obedience?”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
When I explained the suspicion I carried, Isra went quiet for a moment.
“If you don’t want to say, then don’t.”
“It’s not like that. I just needed time to sort my feelings.”
Isra slowly conveyed her thoughts.
“I haven’t fulfilled my duty as a knight.”
“Duty?”
“I couldn’t protect the lord I swore loyalty to until the end.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be the strongest knight on the continent?”
“Hehe. You didn’t believe it, did you? Surprising.”
Yeah.
Honestly, I hadn’t believed it.
But after receiving an SSS-grade skill, my thoughts changed.
If I was the owner of an SSS-grade skill that fewer than ten people in the entire world could have, wasn’t the continent’s top knight enough?
“My wish is to fulfill the duties I couldn’t protect in life.”
“So the lord thing earlier was…”
“It wasn’t what you wanted, but I have served you. I will fulfill my duties.”
She was going to serve me as a substitute for a dead person even though she didn’t like it?
That made sense now why she kept giving advice while maintaining that skewed attitude.
Of course.
She had given me an SSS-grade skill, so it was understandable that she was a little skewed.
I understood everything, knight-nim.
“Park. Come over and settle accounts.”
“Yes, yes. Coming right away.”
“Are you leaving?”
“You get paid, you leave.”
“Good. It seems we can fix the imbalance.”
“Ah. Before that, a moment.”
I placed my hand on Isra’s chest.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Just a second.”
“Daringly placing hands on a knight’s body without permission. Impudent!”
Corpse Production
Splat!
Separated arms and legs.
The body that had no support collapsed with a thud.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“I can’t use public transportation like this.”
“Then what? If I disassemble the body, what do you expect?!”
“Rest for a bit.”
I packed the arms and legs into the carrier one by one.
I also put the body with the soul inside.
“I won’t forget this….”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk later.”
Because she was disassembled, Isra’s voice no longer reached me.
With the other-world soul and the skill transmitted through it, there had been a lot, but first I had to receive the payment for the labor.
To craft corpses, I needed money.
“Park! Hurry!”
“Coming right away!”
It wasn’t that Isra’s neck was stiff and she was trying to kill me.
There was no private grudge; you could relax!
***
“[6,000,000 won] has been deposited.”
“MW Bank – Balance: 7,210,470”
“That’s too much.”
“Exactly. Park Minho Hunter, you saved our students, didn’t you?”
The academy staff rubbed his hands vigorously.
After removing all the polite speech, it boiled down to them adding danger pay.
A single F-rank gate run averaged thirty thousand won.
Almost a month’s income in one go.
“Park Minho Hunter. Please remember our military academy.”
The staff handed me his business card.
Worlds.
The day I received a business card.
After meeting the soul from another world and unlocking the true value of corpse production, my treatment had changed.
Calm down.
I hadn’t accomplished anything yet.
“Yes. I remember.”
I kept the business card.
I might contact them again sometime.
I pulled two carriers onto the subway.
After two transfers, I finally reached Amsa-dong, where my studio was.