Skeleton Master Chapter 041
After the long roar ended.
Moo-hyeok suddenly felt curious and opened the message window.
"Hmm..."
He had matched the grain perfectly twice.
Was that why this option appeared?
He even earned a title.
Lucky Creator?
He immediately checked the detailed description.
[Lucky Creator]
Reduces the probability of usage restrictions being applied.
His eyes widened.
This is amazing too!
When crafting items, there's usually a very high chance of usage restrictions being applied. However, this title had an option that lowered that probability.
In other words, it helps prevent usage restrictions from being applied.
The same thing happened this time. When the Lucky Creator title was applied, the probability of usage restrictions being applied decreased, and he was fortunate enough to win against those low odds.
Moo-hyeok was genuinely happy.
He had crafted so many weapons until now. He almost never missed an opportunity to craft whenever he took breaks from hunting. Those efforts were finally paying off.
No, actually luck played a bigger role here. After all, not everyone can make a sword like this just by trying hard.
Whew, let's organize things first.
He decided to use the Soul-Infused Longsword.
Though he could get an enormous amount of money if he sold it due to its excellent options, he judged that using it himself for faster growth would be more efficient right now.
Even after some time passes, there would be many users wanting to buy the Soul-Infused Longsword since it has no usage restrictions.
So the price wouldn't drop much compared to now.
There's no need to rush.
The desire to sell it right away was tickling his chest. It's natural to feel tempted when big money is right in front of you.
Though he could sell the Soul-Infused Longsword and keep using the Skull Staff, Moo-hyeok didn't give in to that temptation.
Becoming a ranker comes first.
That way he can join the major episode in time.
Once he firmed up his decision, his mind felt at ease.
He strapped the longsword to his waist and stared intently at the Skull Staff.
He used it for a long time.
It was a weapon that helped tremendously.
[Skull Staff]
A staff with a skull attached to its end. It has transformation magic embedded within.
Attack Power +55
Magic Attack Power +75
Wisdom +1
MP Recovery Rate(10) increase
Durability 200/200
Usage Restriction: Strength 25, Agility 10, Health 15
It's no longer needed now.
Currently, he wasn't particularly short on MP either.
Since he had Groion's Ring.
However, he wasn't planning to sell the Skull Staff right away. For now, he planned to keep it.
Moo-hyeok put the staff in his inventory and quickened his pace. He moved in a semicircle around the Active Volcano Zone.
Small Agni appeared again.
This time there were five of them.
Though there was one more than before, he was confident he could handle them.
Because he had obtained the new sword.
The damage that was 180 when using the Skull Staff had now become 213.
The base damage was 14 higher, plus there was additional damage of 10 and strength of 3.
Thanks to that, he could instantly increase his damage by 33.
Since even a damage increase of 10 made a noticeable difference in Illusion, he couldn't help but feel confident.
"Summon."
12 summons.
He made groups of two Sword Skeletons and one Bow Skeleton to face one Small Agni each.
He decided to handle the remaining one by himself.
Swoosh.
He closed the distance while holding his shield in his left hand.
Kyuu!
Flames burst from the Small Agni's body and roughly pounded against Moo-hyeok's shield.
Though the recoil reduced his forward momentum, it wasn't enough to push him back.
He silently closed the distance and thrust his sword at close range.
[Deals 163 damage.]
[Deals 162 damage.]
Though critical hits weren't easy to land, he didn't give up and endlessly targeted the same spot.
[Core destroyed.]
[Total HP reduced by 70 percent.]
[Recovery ability removed.]
He finally managed to destroy the core.
Thanks to breaking the core, the Small Agni's HP was greatly reduced.
With its recovery ability gone, the fallen stone fragments no longer attached to its body.
Thanks to that, he was able to finish it off shortly after.
Kyuu!
At that moment, Mini Agni burst out.
Even just one more!
He continued killing the hundreds of them to secure diamonds. However, without any attack skills, his speed was inevitably slow.
Damn, if only he had an area attack skill...
That was what he regretted the most.
Nothing he could do about it.
He just had to do what he could right now.
Slash.
A Mini Agni was split in half.
A diamond fell to the ground.
Ignoring it, he dealt with the next Mini Agni.
30 seconds passed in an instant.
Well over half of the Mini Agni simply vanished.
After a brief moment of disappointment, Moo-hyeok rushed to help his overwhelmed summons.
-
Five days had passed since he entered the dungeon.
"Ah, this is so boring."
"Yeah, how long do we have to guard this place?"
"Let's just be patient a bit longer. Once that guy comes out, we can enter."
"Tch. I know. That's the only reason I'm putting up with this."
Of course, the high-level members of the Guardian Guild and influential users in key positions had dispersed to do their own hunting, except for one person left in charge of command.
Because of that, the only ones guarding the dungeon area now were some promising level 38 players waiting to enter and mid-40s level users maintaining the perimeter.
"But how did that Necromancer survive the Guild Master's attacks twice?"
"Who knows. Must have had some special item or skill."
"You think so?"
"Has to be. It's impossible otherwise."
The nearby users nodded their heads.
"Right. I have pretty high HP, but just one of the Guild Master's instant-kill attacks would wreck me."
"That bastard must be in there racking up tons of experience killing monsters."
"Damn. If it weren't for him, we'd be the ones in there."
"The moment he comes out, let's start recording. We'll identify his appearance and station guild members in every town to follow him as soon as he shows up. We'll kill him the moment he goes to a hunting ground. If we keep doing that, he'll have to quit eventually, right?"
"In other words, he messed with the wrong people."
They couldn't hide their wicked smiles.
That's when it happened.
Someone appeared in the distance.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Wait, aren't those guys from the Phoenix Guild's scout team?"
"Eh? Those guys?"
The three scouts from the Phoenix Guild appeared alongside someone in a high position from the Guardian Guild.
"Captain!"
"Yeah."
"Those people next to you..."
"I brought them. They're going to tell us about the guild."
The Guardian Guild and Phoenix Guild were already at war.
However, the overwhelmingly superior Guardian Guild was crushing the Phoenix Guild members.
In the process, many guild members had left, including these three scouts.
Then they received an offer from the Guardian Guild, and they had agreed, satisfied with the favorable terms.
"Alright, everyone gather around!"
"Yes!"
"These people will tell us about the guild. Everyone pay attention."
With that, the three scouts began to speak.
"For your information, this is a Unique dungeon."
"...!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
"First, on the first floor..."
Their amazement grew as the story continued.
"A merchant?"
"Yes, when you kill monsters, they drop diamonds which you can use to buy items that only work inside the dungeon. From the second floor, monsters called Agni appear..."
The story was captivating.
"And..."
The dungeon information was reaching its conclusion.
"Hmm, so they're humanoid."
"They're quite stupid and don't have any special abilities, so there's nothing to worry about."
That's when the Guardian Guild captain stepped forward.
"Alright, back to your positions!"
"Yes!"
The Guardian Guild members returned to their original positions and whispered among themselves.
Learning the information had made them even more impatient.
"Just wait until that bastard comes out. Hurry up."
They were waiting eagerly for the Necromancer who had snuck in.
Meanwhile.
Moo-hyeok's eyes lit up during his monotonous hunting, thanks to meeting the merchant upon reaching level 40.
"It's been a while."
"Yes."
Moo-hyeok extended his hand as he replied.
Words were no longer necessary.
His actions alone were enough to convey what he wanted.
- Swoosh*
When the merchant took his hand, a hologram appeared.
"Let's do a dungeon upgrade."
The merchant wasn't surprised.
He nodded as if it was only natural.
[Dungeon Upgrade 11Lv]
[All damage increased by 5.5 percent.]
[Penetration effect granted.]
2Lv(21 diamonds): All damage increased by 0.5 percent.
Current diamonds: 815 total.
After calculating for a moment, he shook his head.
This is complicated.
He might as well leave it to the merchant.
"Is level 25 possible?"
"Yes, it is."
"Please upgrade it to that level then."
"Very well."
The dungeon upgrade rapidly increased.
[Dungeon upgrade rises to 12Lv]
[Dungeon upgrade rises to 13Lv...]
The diamonds quickly decreased.
21, 22, 23.
The diamonds, which had been 815, finally stopped decreasing at 430.
[Dungeon upgrade rises to 25Lv]
[Second seal is released.]
[Area Damage is applied to normal attacks.]
[Applies 10 percent of damage to all enemies within 2m radius.]
Moo-hyeok's lips twisted.
Area Damage!
He had been missing more than half of the mini Agni whenever they appeared.
But with the area damage gained from breaking the second seal, that wouldn't be necessary anymore.
He could now eliminate them almost completely.
The rate of diamond acquisition would increase too.
He was satisfied.
What should he do with the remaining diamonds?
"Would level 50 be possible?"
"No, it requires a total of 1,080 diamonds to reach level 50."
"1,080 diamonds..."
He needed to collect 650 more.
"Would you like to see other items?"
"Let's take a look."
Excluding one-time use items.
Honestly, they weren't very efficient.
Scrolling down the window revealed something unusual.
[Attack Tattoo]
Attack Power 5
Usable only in specific dungeons
[Required Diamonds: 200]
[Attack Tattoo 2]
Attack Power 10
Usable only in specific dungeons
[Required Diamonds: 380]
[Defense Tattoo]
Defense Power 5
Usable only in specific dungeons
[Required Diamonds: 180]
[Defense Tattoo 2]
Defense Power 10
Usable only in specific dungeons
[Required Diamonds: 350]
Attack Tattoo 2 required 380 diamonds to purchase.
The defense-boosting tattoo was slightly cheaper, but it was still quite costly.
Hmm.
Honestly, being able to increase attack or defense power through tattoos alone was quite good. But he couldn't use most of his current diamonds just for that.
It seemed he needed to break the third seal.
He had no idea what abilities would be granted when the seal was broken.
It was also very difficult to level up.
Getting to level 49 wouldn't mean much anyway.
Whether he could reach level 50 before reaching the third floor, no, before clearing it, was uncertain, but he still felt he needed to level up.
His instincts were screaming at him to do so.
Yes, he would wait.
Until he collected 1,080 diamonds.
"Did you find anything you like?"
"No, I won't be purchasing anything else."
The merchant nodded.
"Well then, until next time..."
"Yes."
They passed by each other briefly.
Though he didn't know when they would meet again, it was time to sweep away the Agni with his newly acquired ability.
