Strengthened Blades
Mu-hyuk's hands moved busily.
He yanked a bone right out of the skeleton.
Skeleton Warrior 1's Stamina decreases.
Due to Dexterity influence, a drop of 0.07 occurs.
Then he jammed a Goblin Warrior's bone into the spot.
Skeleton Warrior 1's Strength increases.
Due to Dexterity influence, a rise of 0.23 occurs.
His current Dexterity was 34.
This was the point where the correction value kicked in at 3.
Thanks to it, what should have been a 0.1 drop became just 0.07 with the Dexterity bonus. And what should have been a 0.2 rise turned into a solid 0.23.
Skeleton Warrior 1's Strength decreases.
Due to Dexterity influence, a drop of 0.17 occurs.
Skeleton Warrior's Strength increases.
Due to Dexterity influence, a rise of 0.08 occurs.
Even failures carried less risk now.
What would have been a 0.15 loss was cut down to just 0.09 thanks to Dexterity.
Of course, raising Dexterity from here on out would be incredibly tough.
Items couldn't boost it either.
Only learning Dexterity-related skills or leveling them up would do the trick.
Or completing special quests tied to it.
Why not just pick up some auxiliary skills?
That was tough too.
Take Tailoring, for example. It was related to Dexterity, but since it fell under crafting broadly, it wouldn't give extra Dexterity even if learned.
Level up the skill then?
No dice—Tailoring wouldn't boost Dexterity until it surpassed the main crafting skills.
In other words, pointless.
Arts-related skills were still an option.
But that was a problem for later.
He cleared his thoughts and resumed Bone Assembly.
The Goblin Warrior and Orc bones from the NPC hunt proved more helpful than expected.
After over an hour of focused work, the results appeared before his eyes.
(Skeleton Warrior 1)
(Skeleton Warrior 2)
Skeleton Warrior 1 gained 1 Strength and 2 Stamina. Warrior 2 got a whopping 3 Stamina.
Mu-hyuk's own Strength was 27.
With the Gangster Necromancer's 30% bonus, the skeletons' effective Strength was 11.4.
That 0.6 fractional gap made it easy to push over to a full point.
Stamina worked the same: Mu-hyuk's was 16, plus 30% made 10.8 for the skeletons. Just 0.2 more filled it to 11, snowballing into 2 or 3 points.
The Goblin Warrior bones' natural Stamina affinity helped too, of course.
Other stats crept up fractionally but hadn't hit whole numbers yet.
He'd held off on the rest due to bone shortages.
Satisfied, Mu-hyuk placed his hand on Skeleton Warrior 1.
A message popped up.
Would you like to change the name?
[Yes/No]
He selected Yes.
Please enter a name.
Golgolil or Golgoli would just get confusing.
Warriors and archers needed distinction.
Hmm.
The decision came quick.
"Bone Sword 1."
Next in line? Obviously Bone Sword 2, 3, and 4.
He renamed the archers too.
"Bone Bow 1, Bone Bow 2."
Childish names by any measure, but Mu-hyuk nodded in satisfaction, quite pleased.
Good. Real good.
But were the summoned skeletons displeased?
Kirrik, kirirrik...
They let out their signature pitiful clatters.
*
The target was set: level 32 Steel Ants.
Hunting them would rocket him to 30 fast.
He knew their weaknesses too.
The blacksmith could wait.
Hunting time now.
He hit the nearby market for food ingredients—essential for long hunts.
Then the auction system.
To check prices on his listings and scout good items.
◈ Starting Bid: 10 Gold
◈ Current Bid: 27 Gold
◈ Time Left: 3h 28m 11s
The Cold Iron Sword and Iron Sword of Vigor—both Strength boosters—were already over 25 gold.
Light Iron Sword, for Agility, sat just past 20 gold.
Agility scaled exponentially the more you stacked it.
But for immediate feel, Strength or Stamina won out.
Still, solid prices.
The three swords would fetch a nice sum.
More than satisfying.
Next up: Hallucination Poison and Slow Poison.
"Whoa..."
A sigh of admiration slipped out.
Swords were good, sure—but the poisons brought even greater joy.
◈ A new poison born from Molli, Creas, and Vir compounds with special additives. Causes hallucinations and continuous damage on contact. Ineffective below a certain HP threshold.
◈ Starting Bid: 20 Silver (x10)
◈ Current Bid: 78 Silver (x10)
◈ Time Left: 4h 5m 47s
Hallucination Poison at 78 silver.
Slow Poison hit 95 silver.
What a markup.
He checked his remaining stock: made 100 each, used 5, auctioned 10. 85 left.
Keep 35 for himself, auction the rest—50 more.
6-hour timer, starting bid 80 silver.
Time to go.
He closed the auction system and headed to the warp gate.
"Where to, sir?"
"Arsen Kingdom."
Back to the starting spot.
Straight out the east gate.
*
Midway between the Orc village and Steel Ant colony.
The Lizardman lair.
How far had he gone?
Kuruk, kururuk!
He came face-to-face with a Lizardman hidden by trees.
Both flinched.
Pabat!
He hurriedly leaped back.
Calming his excitement, he summoned skeletons.
"Skeleton Warrior Summon. Skeleton Archer Summon."
Six skeletons appeared.
"To positions."
Kiririk!
They clacked jaws energetically, taking formation.
"Bone Swords forward. Shield mode."
The four Bone Swords stepped up, shields out.
The two Bone Bows hung back, then yanked out rib bones for bowstrings.
"Bone Bow 1, 2. Arrow attack."
The Bone Bows loosed.
Bone arrows sliced air, striking the Lizardman's chest and gut.
Kwaaaar!
It howled and charged.
"Bone Sword 1, 2 forward."
The pair advanced.
"Shields defend."
Shields blocked the thrusting spear.
The other two Bone Swords stabbed through the gap.
"Attack again."
Mu-hyuk commanded mentally; the skeletons obeyed flawlessly.
Damage piled smoothly, silver sheen covering the Lizardman.
Kwaaaar!
But level 27 monster—it wouldn't drop easy.
Its massive frame unleashed power the skeletons struggled against.
After three shield blocks, Bone Sword 1 buckled, flung back.
Bone shards flew, but no despawn.
It rose instantly, charging again.
Might as well sacrifice it—pile on more damage.
The enraged Lizardman fixated on Bone Sword 1 anyway.
"Concentrated fire."
Two arrows slammed its torso as it stomped Bone Sword 1.
Three swords followed into thigh and flank.
The Lizardman kicked Bone Sword 1 away, writhing in pain.
Then a wild spear swing clipped Bone Sword 3's right arm, crippling it.
Painless, Bone Sword 3 ditched the shield, grabbed its fallen sword with the left, and swung.
"Bone Sword 2, 4 back."
"Bone Bows rapid fire."
"Bone Sword 2, 4 defense mode."
They closed in shielded.
"Bone Sword 4 behind Bone Sword 2."
"Bone Sword 4 attack."
Smooth maneuvers.
The wounded Lizardman moved awkwardly.
Mu-hyuk pressed the attack.
As Bone Swords 2, 3, 4 neared breaking under the frenzy...
You gain experience.
It finally collapsed.
Skeletons alone took down a level 27 Lizardman.
No poisons. Smoothly too.
Grinning, Mu-hyuk approached for Corpse Dissection.
Scored massive bones and tough hide.
Corpse Dissection complete.
He eyed the battered Bone Swords.
If I joined the fight?
Two Lizardmen doable.
Level 20, but ahead of peers.
"Reverse Summon."
Still not enough.
Ranker gap loomed large.
Over 30 levels apart—obvious.
Top 100 rankers likely knew of the dungeon already, guild or not.
Might have cleared it once, twice, even thrice.
Mu-hyuk felt the urgency to hurry.
First, hit 30.
Onward.
Toward the Steel Ant colony.