Skeleton Master - Chapter 006

[Skeleton Summon 1 Lv(0%)]

You can summon 1 skeleton. As the skill level increases, the number of summonable skeletons and MP consumed every 10 seconds increases.

- MP consumed every 10 seconds: 1 mana per summon

[Zombie Summon 1 Lv(0%)]

You can summon 1 zombie. As the skill level increases, the number of summonable zombies and MP consumed every 10 seconds increases.

- MP consumed every 10 seconds: 1 mana per summon

His brow furrowed the moment he saw the MP consumed every 10 seconds.

He already knew, but when faced with the reality, only a deep sigh escaped.

Summoning just ten would consume 10 mana every 10 seconds.

No, by that time, it would consume even more.

Anyway, assuming 10 mana is consumed, even with a total mana of 2,000, it would only last about 33 minutes.

He couldn't help but sigh.

It's okay. When I become a Thug Necro, the burden will be reduced.

And there are plenty of other ways to cover it.

Just keep using hidden information to raise stats like now.

If that's too hard, drastically increasing MP recovery rate per minute with items is also an option.

"I'll be going now."

"Alright, take care."

Moo-hyeok exchanged greetings with the skill vendor and left the Black Mage Guild.

What time is it now?

It was 9:20.

Hmm, should I rest a bit?

First, he checked his status.

Intelligence and Wisdom were both at 9.

Whew, not bad.

Intelligence increases magic attack power and absolute MP amount.

The problem is that no matter how much you increase magic attack power, it doesn't make skeletons stronger.

Since skeletons are affected by the main character's stats, you need to increase Strength, Agility, and Vitality.

But you can't give up on intelligence either.

When you advance to Thug Necro later, you'll be able to summon Skeleton Mages, and then the mage's damage will be affected by the main character's intelligence.

Moreover, higher intelligence increases the absolute amount of MP, so you absolutely can't use the word 'give up' when it comes to this stat.

Then should you give up on Wisdom?

That's not a good method either.

As Wisdom increases, MP recovery rate per minute increases, which is essential for maintaining summons.

In extreme cases of high recovery rate, the MP regeneration could exceed the MP consumption.

For this reason alone, Wisdom was essential.

It's absolutely impossible to achieve that with item power alone.

Early game options might increase MP recovery rate by absolute values, but that's only useful in the very beginning.

Really good items come with percentage increases.

For example, 20% increase in MP recovery rate per minute.

Like that.

So it was important to raise Wisdom to build a solid foundation.

The importance of Wisdom doesn't end there.

Wisdom also affects the cognitive abilities of summons.

As cognitive ability increases, they start thinking for themselves, which directly translates to combat power.

Stupidly taking a hit and hitting back repeatedly versus dodging while attacking.

Which do you think has higher combat power?

Obviously the latter. Wisdom was a stat that greatly influenced such aspects.

In the end, he couldn't give up on any of them.

"In the end, it's either fail or succeed."

It's one or the other.

If you maximize the use of information, that is, if everything goes according to plan, you can definitely succeed.

But if you slip up at any moment, you'll fail.

So you can't rest even for a moment.

You can't let your guard down either.

So you have to keep moving.

Because Necromancer is truly the ultimate grind character.

Haah, alright.

Rest postponed.

He headed back to the hunting grounds.

*

Kang Moo-hyeok woke up and sluggishly made his way to the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator door, took out a water bottle, and unscrewed the cap.

Without hesitation, he put the mouth of the bottle to his lips.

Gulp, gulp.

The coolness flowed down his throat.

"Ahh."

After that, he quickly changed his clothes and went outside.

He worked out at the gym for about an hour and a half, took a shower, and bought breakfast on his way home.

By the time he arrived home, it was already past 1 PM.

After thorough preparation, he logged into Illusion.

He appeared in the forest, but fortunately, there were no monsters around.

Status window check.

Moo-hyeok's expression wasn't very pleased as he checked his level.

He had been hunting wolves for a full three days.

Yet the result was only level 13.

It was truly a game that boasted an extremely slow leveling speed after the first job advancement.

Of course, there was no reason to be disappointed.

Although his level was low, his physical attack power reached 60, and his HP exceeded 450.

His attack speed and movement speed were also at a considerable level.

On top of that.

"Summon Skeleton."

One skeleton and.

"Summon Zombie."

One zombie formed a team, creating a force that felt no tension against monsters of the same level.

With just the main character's stats alone, he was capable of hunting monsters in the late 10s levels.

With the skeleton and zombie as well, he judged it was time to move to a more challenging hunting ground.

"Let's go."

As Moo-hyeok moved forward, the skeleton and zombie followed behind.

Crick, crick.

Grrrr.

Making their distinctive sounds.

A while later.

They arrived at the habitat of giant bears.

Users had already taken up positions.

"Hmm......"

Fortunately, there seemed to be more bears than users.

"Hey, block it!"

"Heal first!"

"Cast attack magic!"

Moo-hyeok wandered around for 30 minutes before stopping at a relatively quiet spot.

Just then, a bear respawned in front of Moo-hyeok.

When these creatures stand up, they easily exceed 3.5 meters in height.

3.5 meters might not sound like much, but seeing that height in person would be incredibly intimidating.

That's exactly how Moo-hyeok felt right now.

"Damn, it's huge......"

The creature facing him exuded an aura just by its mere presence.

In reality, encountering such a being would instantly make one think, 'I'm dead.'

Even though it was a game, the virtual 'reality' filled his entire body with a strange sense of fear.

But because he was also fully aware that it was a virtual 'game,' he could remain calm.

Right now, the most important thing was to loosen up his stiff body.

"Whew."

As he took a deep breath, vitality slowly began to course through his body.

Just as the tension was easing away.

Grooooowl!

The level 18 giant bear charged at him.

"Skeleton, defend!"

The skeleton, understanding the simple command, threw itself at the charging bear.

With a single hit, several bone fragments that made up its body scattered in all directions.

Crick!

Thanks to this, the giant bear's charge was blocked.

"Zombie, grab it!"

The zombie hugged one of the bear's legs.

Grrrr.

Although slow-moving, it was strong enough to significantly hinder the giant bear's movement.

In that moment, Moo-hyeok rushed in swiftly, swinging his sword downward.

Slash.

With a chilling sensation, a wound appeared on the bear's shoulder.

Grooooowl!

Writhing in pain, the bear's thrashing sent the zombie that was holding its leg flying to the side.

Witnessing this overwhelming sight, Moo-hyeok furrowed his brow and quickly retreated behind the skeleton.

The bear, charging recklessly, struck the skeleton hard with its front paw.

Crunch.

As its shoulder blade shattered, the skeleton rolled to the side just like the zombie had.

Seizing that opportunity, Moo-hyeok thrust his sword into the bear's abdomen.

Feeling an immense gust of wind, he lowered his upper body, and the bear's front paw brushed past above his head.

It was truly a hair-raising moment.

This is intense......

He was amazed once again that he could feel such urgent tension despite it being a game.

But he would win.

He was confident.

After rolling to the side to evade, he raised his shield.

He engaged in a contest of strength with the bear as it charged at him, shoulder-first.

Although his body shook greatly, Moo-hyeok didn't yield easily.

His strength, which had surpassed 15 points, was demonstrating its capability.

Good, it's possible.

The impact is less than I thought.

As he applied force to his shield, the bear's balance became oddly distorted.

Aiming for that moment, he swung his sword once again.

Wounds appeared all over the creature's body, and after about seven successful attacks, the bear sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

"Whew."

For the finishing blow, he slashed at its neck.

Slash.

A silver flash cut through the air, and the creature turned gray.

Confirming a significant increase in experience points, Moo-hyeok picked up the hide dropped by the creature and put it in his inventory.

Afterwards, he took a rest to replenish his mana.

As he looked around, his eyes met with some of the other users.

But they quickly turned away, as if not paying much attention.

Many users had given up, and since it wasn't a class well-suited for forming parties, most Necromancers hunted alone.

To do so, they had to roam areas much lower than their level.

They probably thought Moo-hyeok was one of those as well.

Well, it's fine by me.

I don't care about others' opinions anyway.

But the truth was, he couldn't completely ignore it either.

Fortunately, now that he had reached the bear habitat, it seemed he was free from such gazes.

Still, I should definitely get a helmet later.

With these idle thoughts, Moo-hyeok got up again.

The hunt continued until the next day.

Through his hunting experience, he had roughly figured out the giant bear's health, defense, and attack power.

Health was around 400.

Defense was estimated at 30, and attack power was about 95.

Considering that a wolf's attack power was around 35, it was a huge difference.

Even taking into account that wolves were numerous while bears were solitary, it was still considerable attack power.

Each hit drops about 85 HP.

If it's a critical hit, that's 170.

With Moo-hyeok's current HP in the high 400s, he would die after just a few hits.

If it weren't for the skeleton and zombie, facing these creatures might have been impossible.

Honestly, he had narrowly escaped death a few times.

Despite this, Moo-hyeok's expression was very bright.

You could say he was smiling.

Although he was receiving help from his summons, he was prowling this area alone.

An area where other users would have needed at least a 4-person party.

This is fun.

And the thrill was incredible.

Even knowing he wouldn't actually die, he felt the threat of death.

The chilling sensation he felt there. And the extreme elation when he overcame that chill and defeated the creature.

"Whew......"

He steadied his breathing and wiped the smile off his face.

He moved forward again.

I want to hunt more, even more.

Currently level 14.

Just one more level and he'd learn a new skill.

With the goal right in front of him, he couldn't help but feel motivated.

Grrrr.

Just then, another giant bear appeared.

"Zombie, Skeleton, attack!"

The zombie and skeleton approached the bear. As the three creatures engaged, Moo-hyeok also leapt towards the bear.