Episode 18: Sentiments Differ

I sorted through my thoughts, and the system organized the relevant details.

But there was no time to leisurely review it.

"Lena, arrows!"

I took an arrow from Lena and immediately dipped it in the holy water.

Then I wrapped it in the Curtain of Defense.

'If I do it like this...'

Clack-clack-clack-clack-

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Rattle-rattle-

The Commander Black Skeleton charged at me, its bones rattling.

At the same time, its black greatsword flashed.

"Lena, now!"

Twang-twang-

The holy water arrow, protected by magic, pierced the Commander Black Skeleton's black armor.

The barrier shattered on impact, and the fake holy water seeped inside.

Then, a dark blue light leaked from the gaps in its armor.

Sizzle-

"As expected, it's reacting to the magic stone."

Just as I'd predicted.

The purifying power of the fake holy water made unstable contact with the magic stone inside.

But it wasn't over yet.

The thing was trying to repair the damage.

'Throw the ring here!'

Instead of fake holy water, I grabbed the whole Ring of Purification and hurled it.

And when the ring reached near its magic stone—

Twang-twang-

I fired another arrow wrapped in holy water.

A trick shot to hit the flying ring.

I trusted Sunogi's accuracy.

And Sunogi didn't betray me.

Crack-crack-

Pop!

A crisp sound rang out.

One Sunogi arrow struck the magic stone dead-on, along with the ring.

The ring burst, and its purifying shards embedded themselves into every bone.

Along with that came another crisp sound.

The exact same one I'd heard when I took down the Ogre Skeleton.

Clang-

Like a puppet with its strings cut, the Commander Black Skeleton collapsed limply.

I checked again.

The commander was down.

But the battle wasn't over.

"Lena, let's help over there!"

"Yes! I'll cover Jacob!"

As Lena and I joined the fray, the fight between the skeleton soldiers and the mercenaries began tipping in our favor.

After the battle ended, I rummaged through the Commander Black Skeleton's remains.

Unlike the mine, no one could claim these spoils—they were mine, no question.

So I searched thoroughly.

"Damn undead..."

We'd won the battle, but it left a bitter taste.

I'd felt it with the Ogre Skeleton too—Sunogi just wasn't cutting it.

The overwhelming power it had when I first made it wasn't coming through anymore.

I was falling back on hunter-era tricks because Sunogi kept falling short.

This wasn't good.

'I need to upgrade Sunogi... or get a different weapon. It's just not efficient against undead.'

Weapons weighed on my mind.

But I pushed those thoughts aside for now.

The loot from taking it down was solid.

These unique materials gave me plenty to ponder.

"That's commander-grade, right? You took it down solo? That's insane."

Jacob approached me while cleaning up the area.

He'd seen the remnants of the Commander Black Skeleton.

Jacob knew about it.

He'd probably faced one before with other mercenaries.

The memory made him shudder.

So he stared at me in disbelief.

"They said you're a 1st-class mage... Be honest. Are you really 1st-class? How does a 1st-class mage solo a commander-grade?"

"I'm 2nd-class now... but I haven't learned any spells yet. And it wasn't just me—Lena helped."

"Even so. When that thing showed up, I was thinking of bolting. Never thought you'd drop it..."

Jacob was a veteran with plenty of experience.

Even he had despaired when the commander-grade undead appeared.

We were outnumbered, and a mid-tier undead was pure hopelessness.

But I'd saved them.

"Anyway, thanks. You saved our skins. If only the other mages were half as good as you, Theo Mage..."

A smile crept onto Jacob's face.

Then voices from the other mercenaries rang out.

"Mage! Thanks to you, we're alive!"

"Commander Black Skeleton... Why the hell is this thing here? Shouldn't we take a break from jobs for a bit?"

"With stuff like this crawling out nonstop, maybe some crazy mage is experimenting... Lord should send a subjugation force."

"What, you wanna join one?"

"Well, if Theo Mage is in... might be worth it?"

"Huh, yeah, maybe."

Expectancy filled the mercenaries' eyes.

Even dragging their exhausted bodies, they kept smiling.

We'd won.

Hell, we'd survived.

That's why they laughed after the grueling fight.

"Jacob! Get everyone ready to move. This place gives me the creeps—I wanna get out."

"Oops, the employer's calling. Well, Theo Mage, I'll head out first."

"Sure, go ahead."

Jacob bustled off.

Even so, the mercenaries kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stealing glances at me.

At the start of the march, their looks were just curiosity about the mage title.

But now, those eyes had changed.

They gazed with a kind of awe.

And it wasn't typical mage combat.

A style they'd never seen, so they were stunned.

Some who'd chatted with me before even asked if I sold Sunogi separately.

'Maybe sell Sunogi later?'

I hadn't due to Baron Sellevan's watchful ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eye, but it was worth considering.

'Lena's getting respect now too.'

At first, the mercenaries hadn't looked kindly on her.

She stuck to me, barely talking to anyone else—it irked them.

Some even leered at her sticky-style.

I'd debated blasting them with a few Sunogi shots but held back.

No need now.

No one eyed Lena weirdly anymore.

She'd proven better than the amateur mercs.

Some even shot her respectful glances or envy for partnering with a mage.

A huge leap forward.

On the wagon heading to the count's territory, I glared at the system messages with a grim expression.

Among the materials from the Commander Black Skeleton, one stood out as unusual.

'Undead essence, huh...'

'This is a material?'

A type I'd never seen before.

Not even in my hunter days.

And it reeked of something forbidden.

The word "necromantic" screamed bad news.

'Making something with this won't put a bounty on my head, right? It's just loot from an undead kill.'

Unlike my worries, the unbiased system seemed hard at work.

'Applied blueprints... intriguing.'

First-time material, but Inventor's Insight had spun up new blueprints from it.

True to its name.

'Base it on the info-gathering magic doll and incorporate this essence?'

The necromantic mana amplifier was craftable too, but it held no appeal.

Looked shady as hell.

And I had no interest in necromantic mana anyway.

'No thanks to forbidden mana getting me bountied.'

Mess with undead stuff wrong, and bounties follow.

Forbidden experiments and magic aren't banned for nothing.

Working under the slave trader, it didn't matter—total chaos anyway.

I lacked the guts or talent for that magic.

But things were different now.

I had to stay cautious.

So, that left the Soul-Tracking Doll.

Right on cue, Jacob's call came.

"We'll camp here. Everyone, prep!"

All agreed with the mercenary captain's suggestion.

After a day's fighting, everyone was beat.

Perfect timing.

"Time to experiment."

I set up a simple workbench at the edge of camp.

Pulled tools from my spatial pouch and prepped crafting.

Lena scanned the area, keeping prying eyes away.

Lena watched with curious eyes.

But she didn't interrupt.

She'd seen it plenty in the workshop—knew it demanded focus.

As I began, blue light bloomed.

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The black iron from the undead armor detached and auto-refined.

The mid-grade undead essence reacted with the mid-grade magic stone.

'Mana fusion? Better than expected.'

The mana from the mid-grade magic stone and undead essence blended, seeping into the doll.

Then the message popped.

I checked the info right away—the erupting light looked ominous.

'Unique? Unique!'

I wanted to shout at the finished item.

But with eyes around, I just cheered silently.

A Unique item, no less.

I'd crafted something beyond mere magic items with my own hands.

Sure, in my hunter days, I'd made better.

But the sentiment was different.

Here, I did it solo.

From sourcing materials to crafting.

Purely my own power.

It meant everything.

As if celebrating, the messages were generous with proficiency rewards.

A quick test showed movements far more precise than the basic info-gathering doll.

More functions too.

The mana fusion had exceeded expectations.

Maybe thanks to the undead essence.