Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Necromancer of the Sword Clan
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"Huh."
Shin Yu-hyun nodded as he checked the system message floating before his eyes.
Pop!
In an instant, a dark light burst forth, enveloping the skeleton goblins before forming into spheres.
And moments later, a legionized skeleton emerged from each pitch-black sphere.
"Their appearance has changed?"
The skeletons, which had previously resembled goblins, now looked far more humanoid.
They had transformed into skeletons roughly 180 cm tall.
'Is this what legionization is like?'
Shin Yu-hyun gazed at the legionized skeletons before him.
These skeletons were made of pristine white bone.
Glowing blue lights shone from their empty eye sockets, while dark energy swirled fiercely around and between their bones.
Twenty skeletons, all armed with bone swords and clad in bone armor, now shared identical, standardized forms.
The sight of these heavily armored skeletons standing in disciplined ranks, their blue eye-lights gleaming, exuded an overwhelming presence.
And that wasn't all.
Soul Points could now be used to strengthen them as well.
'I'll strengthen the skeletons after I hit 4-star.'
For now, he needed to focus on getting stronger himself first.
As his own rank rose, his undead would grow stronger too—not to mention unlocking new skills still locked away.
Some of those, like Repair, would prove especially useful for his undead.
And he needed to raise his Dominance too.
"Alright, let's get going?"
Kyuu!
With that, Shin Yu-hyun set off into the dungeon, accompanied by his cute little Ka-mang-i and his newly legionized skeletons.
Kieek!
Kieeek!
The legionized skeletons swept through the goblins with even greater unstoppable momentum than the day before.
Shin Yu-hyun, too, unleashed Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship against the dungeon's goblins, charging through them freely.
He could have torched the forest with Dark Flame to take them out quickly, but today's goal was to operate the skeletons and develop tactics and strategies.
'I need to build up experience this time around.'
The skeletons' movements were simple and straightforward when carrying out orders. That meant he had to issue additional commands based on the situation.
This was yet another reason why necromancers were so looked down upon.
But...
'The Immortal King's skeletons can learn.'
Legionized skeletons could accumulate combat experience.
That was why he was hunting goblins alongside them on purpose.
'And while I'm at it, I can raise my skill proficiencies too.'
Skills naturally gained proficiency with use.
Especially his SSS-grade Dominance Enhancement, which ticked up proficiency just by having undead summoned.
And so, Shin Yu-hyun conquered the 2-star Goblin Forest dungeon while honing his skeleton command skills.
On the third and final day of the conquest.
Shin Yu-hyun sensed something unusual.
'What the...?'
He had been hunting goblins while commanding his skeletons, just like the day before.
But the skeletons' movements felt off somehow.
'No way... are these guys imitating me?'
To his astonishment, at some point, the skeletons had begun mimicking his movements, imitating the swordsmanship of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan.
'This could be...'
Shin Yu-hyun's eyes sparkled.
A way to strengthen his skeletons without spending Soul Points had just occurred to him.
Grinning, he turned to the skeletons and spoke.
"Want to learn some swordsmanship?"
Soon after, the sound of the skeletons' joints straining to their limits began echoing through the dungeon.
The final day of renting the dungeon.
Unlike the previous days, conquering it took much longer this time.
He hadn't rushed straight into the assault; instead, he'd spent time teaching the skeletons his clan's swordsmanship.
'But who would've thought we'd take down the boss with just fifteen of them.'
Shin Yu-hyun smiled in satisfaction.
With little time to spare, he hadn't been able to teach them much variety.
Just the first form of Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship: Nameless.
That was the only thing he could fit into a single day.
But the results were tremendous.
At first, it'd taken thirty skeletons plus Repair to barely defeat it. Now, just fifteen who'd learned the sword form had sufficed.
And all the Soul Points earned from the three days of goblin hunting had gone straight into Chakra.
The result?
Flash!
Suddenly, an orange light unique to the Second Gate Chakra, Swadhisthana, erupted from Shin Yu-hyun's body.
'Mm.'
As the second gate opened, he felt a chilling sensation from his tailbone, followed by a thrilling shiver racing up his spine.
And in his lower abdomen, he sensed an amount of mana that dwarfed anything before.
'Is this the mana capacity of a 3-star?'
It was incomparable to when he'd reached 3-star in his previous life. Both the quality and quantity felt at least double, subjectively speaking.
Part of it was that he lacked mana talent back then, but the real difference lay in his vitality and the hidden stat Chakra.
He had finally reached 3-star.
'Neutral attribute?'
Shin Yu-hyun frowned.
His aura attribute had been Neutral in his previous life as well. He hadn't expected it to come out neutral again this time.
'But right now, neutral isn't so bad.'
He quickly erased his disappointed expression and smiled.
Neutral aura excelled in cutting power above all—a fundamentally solid ability.
Its drawback was higher mana consumption compared to other attributes.
In his previous life, when mana had been scarce, it was like a pearl necklace on a pig.
But,
'This time, mana isn't an issue.'
Thanks to his hidden stat Chakra, he now wielded far more mana than before.
On top of that, the Immortal King's Blessing skill: Dark Soul Blaze.
And neutral aura had another key trait.
It was highly compatible with other aura attributes—and could even enhance them.
'Who knew even Dark Flame could be enhanced.'
Testing it out by activating neutral aura alongside Dark Flame, Shin Yu-hyun smiled in satisfaction.
He could operate them simultaneously—and even enhance them together.
'I'll save the new undead skill for later.'
The new Undead Mastery skill unlocked at 3-star required a hefty chunk of Soul Points, so it wasn't ready yet.
After reaching 3-star and confirming his aura attribute and skills, Shin Yu-hyun finally checked his stats.
'Hm.'
Running the dungeon with his skeletons over the past three days had bumped Strength and Stamina by 1 each, and Dominance by 2.
"Too bad the first-clear reward is only once."
The first-clear reward for the 2-star Fallen Goblin Forest had been +1 Chakra.
Thanks to that, plus 100 Soul Points' worth and killing the boss magic beast, Goblin Champion, three times for 60 more, he'd held onto some reserves.
'The rest of the Soul Points need to go into Dominance, though.'
The requirement to summon the Dark Saintess: 3-star rank and Dominance 41.
Just 4 points to go.
'50 Soul Points, huh.'
Currently, Dominance cost half as much per point as Chakra.
But after hitting 41, it'd demand 100 per point, just like Chakra.
Either way, he needed to raise it, so Shin Yu-hyun dumped all his remaining Soul Points into Dominance.
'Just 1 point left now.'
One more point of Dominance until he could summon the Dark Saintess.
All he needed was 40 Soul Points.
Kyu-wek!
At that moment, Ka-mang-i let out a cute little burp beside him.
Hearing it, Shin Yu-hyun smiled warmly and looked down at Ka-mang-i.
"Feeling full now?"
Maybe it was thanks to feeding it magic stones nonstop for three days.
Ka-mang-i had reached 2-star rank, with its skill proficiency rising from F to E.
Its Shadow Storage capacity had jumped to a whopping 50.
Surpassing the Dominance goal he'd set.
With this, he'd accomplished everything possible in this dungeon. And with Ka-mang-i's unexpected rank-up to boot, he'd maximized efficiency.
"Alright, time to head out?"
Kyuu!
Ka-mang-i replied energetically to Shin Yu-hyun's words.
Having finished conquering the dungeon, Shin Yu-hyun stored Ka-mang-i in his shadow as usual and headed back to Black Tortoise Hall.
The 2-star Fallen Goblin Forest was quite far from the main house. It was in one of the more remote areas under clan management.
Plus, most of the route was mountain paths, making it inconvenient for vehicles unless hauling heavy cargo. Lightness skill was faster otherwise.
Even that took nearly an hour, though.
'I'm pretty late today. Starving. Gotta get dinner quick.'
Teaching the skeletons swordsmanship had delayed him past usual, and dusk was falling.
Thinking of Mother's home-cooked dinner, he quickened his pace.
That was when.
"Hey, you finally showed up."
"Ah, shit. Why'd you take so damn long?"
"This is pissing me off."
A group appeared in front of Shin Yu-hyun.
Men in their early twenties, around his own age.
They glared at him with hostile eyes and auras.
"And who might you be...?"
Shin Yu-hyun eyed them sharply.
He could feel their burning enmity.
He even recognized one of the three.
Blazing Sword, Jeong Tae-seong.
A mid 3-star swordsman who'd recently made a name in Vermilion Bird Hall.
And a follower of Shin Cheol-jin.
"What business do Vermilion Bird Hall guys have with me?"
Realizing who they were, Shin Yu-hyun's face hardened. They surely weren't here for anything good in this remote spot.
"Ah, nothing much. Just wanted a word."
Jeong Tae-seong, the apparent leader of the trio, smirked cockily before suddenly turning serious.
"Shin Yu-hyun, don't get cocky. You'll end up dead for real."
Just as expected—they'd come to pick a fight. No doubt because of what happened at the Clan Leader Hall a few days ago.
Their boss, Shin Cheol-jin, had gotten chewed out by Clan Leader Shin Sung-il over Shin Yu-hyun.
But at Jeong Tae-seong's words, Shin Yu-hyun replied coldly.
"Get lost. Unless you want to get beat."