Dragon and Phoenix Gathering (1)

[The Human-Faced Spider falls!]

[Your level increases by 4!]

I clenched my fist the moment the Human-Faced Spider fell. Honestly, it had been something of a gamble. Even a genius couldn't create a skill every single time.

But she'd done it.

I looked at the Human-Faced Spider. As a mid-boss monster, it had been generous with everything from experience to loot. Among the drops was a bound skill book.

I glanced at Seo Yerim. She was still staring blankly at the bow, seemingly caught up in the afterglow.

"Ms. Seo?"

"Oh, yes?"

"What should we do with that?" I asked, pointing to the skill book.

Our contributions had been nearly fifty-fifty. Thanks to Cedric and Snowy, I'd managed to dish out quite a lot of damage myself.

'Usually, in a situation like this...'

Any party member could pick up the loot. If no one had made an outstanding contribution, the usual practice was to hold an auction on the spot. The winning bid would then be divided equally among the party members.

An auction would suit me just fine. I intended to claim it no matter how much I had to bid.

Her gaze shifted between the bow and me before she spoke.

"Just take it."

"Really?"

"Yes. You helped me discover a talent I never knew I had..."

What a fucking steal.

I had no reason to refuse. Especially since, unlike those other geniuses, I couldn't create skills just by doing things.

I immediately approached the bound skill book. The moment I picked it up...

[You obtain a bound skill book.]

[You have obtained the necromancer skill book, Summon Bone Golem (A)!]

'Oh, beautiful.'

A happy smile spread across my face as I saw the skill.

Summon Bone Golem. Didn't the name alone give you a pretty good idea of what it did?

[Summon Bone Golem (A)]

[Level Requirement: 120 or higher]

[Consumes 200 mana to summon a massive golem made entirely of bones. The golem's level matches its master's.]

A simple, straightforward description.

Seo Yerim sidled closer and asked, "What did you get?"

"This."

[Summoning Bone Golem!]

A golem made entirely of bones appeared, its massive frame nearly four meters tall.

[Bone Golem]

[Class: Warrior]

[Level: 120]

[Skills: Taunt (A), Defensive Stance (B)]

[Strength: 240 (+120)] [Agility: 120 (+60)] [Vitality: 240 (+120)] [Magic Power: 60 (+30)]

"Wow. That looks like it can take a beating."

"Yes. It's a tank."

One glance at its stats made its purpose clear: soaking up damage. They were heavily weighted toward strength and vitality. Add Death Lord's 50% bonus, and its numbers were monstrous right out of the gate.

The same went for its skills. Taunt drew enemy aggro, while Defensive Stance reduced all incoming damage by 30%.

'Finally. A tank.'

Until now, I'd been piling skeletons in front of incoming attacks to use as meat shields. Had that worked well? Honestly, not really. Skeletons weren't summons specialized in defense. I'd simply forced them to take the hits through sheer numbers.

'That approach only gets more awkward at higher levels.'

When you were slashing away from behind, having a tank up front to keep the enemy's attention firmly fixed on it made a world of difference to a fight's difficulty. The golem should be able to handle that role properly.

I'd gotten exactly the skill I needed.

'There's plenty of room to improve it, too.'

Bone Exchange.

Since the bone golem was also a summon made of bones, it had a capacity of its own—a reassuring 120.

If I picked out a few monsters that could take a beating and replaced its bones with theirs...

'It'll be much tougher.'

And that wasn't all. The golem wasn't wearing any equipment yet. Its sheer size meant I'd have to have gear made specially for it, but...

'It's worth the investment. Definitely doing that.'

Normally, I would have hired a crafting specialist to make a set. But there was no need for that now. Didn't I already have thousands of craftsmen?

The skeletons' crafting skills were still E-grade. They could reliably make equipment with level requirements from 51 to 100.

'Anything above that, and it falls apart.'

The success rate dropped, and even when they did produce something, it was shoddy.

'For now... '

I decided to get the golem fitted with some basic equipment as a stopgap. I summoned the skeletons and scattered materials before them.

"Try making something to fit that."

The skeletons looked at the golem, then began clambering all over its body. Seo Yerim tilted her head as they appeared to take its measurements.

"What are they doing?"

"I'm having them make equipment for the golem."

"... Make equipment?"

"My skeletons can do that sort of thing."

We had no facilities or equipment to speak of, but crafting skills could be used even on bare ground. Over a thousand skeletons reached for the materials. Soon, they began producing equipment far larger than ordinary pieces.

She stared in shock.

"Wait, what the... They're all Plus items? You were the one supplying Ilseong with equipment?"

"That's right."

"... There'll be an uproar if this gets out."

"Well, as long as you don't go blabbing."

"I'm not that loose-lipped."

I nodded. That was why I'd let her see the crafting.

'Well, there's another real reason.'

I'd put a bow in her hands, but my achievement points hadn't changed. Why? Probably because she had no intention of making it her main weapon just yet.

'She's still far more invested in the sword.'

It wasn't an incomprehensible response. She'd used a sword all her life, and almost all her skills were swordsman skills. At best, she probably intended to use the bow as an occasional backup.

That wouldn't do.

'I need her to make the bow her main weapon.'

Only a change that big would alter a main character's fate enough to give me a shot at achievement points. To discuss that subject with her, we needed to become a little closer.

Sharing a secret was one of the best ways to foster a sense of closeness. Why reveal a secret in the first place? Because you trusted the other person.

It was an unspoken gesture: I trust you.

As those gestures accumulated, you went from some good-for-nothing bastard to a trustworthy companion.

'Then my words will carry more weight, too.'

With my low level cap, achievement points were an irreplaceable asset. This much risk was well worth taking to get them.

And if there was one other minor reason...

"Ms. Seo. Since you're already being generous, could you go a little further?"

"...?"

"I'd like the Human-Faced Spider's corpse, too. It looks like useful crafting material. If you'd like some money for it, I'll make a bid."

"Don't bother. Just take it."

Nice.

First a bound skill book, and now a mid-boss monster's corpse, all for free.

'Time to replace the golem's bones.'

Cedric didn't have enough capacity to use them, so I planned to replace the golem's bones instead. Of course, I'd have to try it to find out whether it would work.

* * *

Inside the carriage, Seo Yerim stole a glance at Kim Minwoo. Before she'd jumped into the gate, her impression of him had been mostly negative.

["Oh, that lousy swordswoman?"]

["Hmm... Is she really that good?"]

How much humiliation had she suffered because of those belittling remarks?

Sure, she'd given him some grief about not being able to clear the gate, but honestly, she'd meant no malice. She'd only said it because she hadn't thought he could clear it.

Back then, she'd seen him as little more than a complete asshole who'd gotten good with a sword overnight.

'But maybe he isn't quite that bad...'

It had been about two weeks since she'd entered the gate. She'd learned more about him than she'd expected.

She'd realized it when he sent Jang Sam away alive. He was a more decent person than she'd thought.

'And... he's meticulous.'

How could she put it? It felt as though he planned out the whole game before making his moves. Every single thing he did had a reason.

'He's more diligent than I expected, too.'

Even in the carriage, he never spent a day idling. He replaced skeletons' bones, kept trying his hand at crafting, or summoned Cedric to discuss combat. At other times, he had them practice coordinated movements.

He never rested except to sleep. When he'd said he was serious about clearing gates, he'd meant it.

Of course, what had surprised her most was Kim Minwoo's sheer strength.

The fight against the Human-Faced Spider had truly shocked her. From the moment her sword energy struggled to penetrate it, she'd known it was no easy opponent. Yet he'd broken through its shell and poured on the damage.

Had he used a skill to do that?

'... He didn't.'

You could tell when someone used a skill. His movements had shown none of that unnatural quality. That meant he'd dealt all that damage with nothing but his sword.

She could hardly imagine the level of finesse that required. If the Human-Faced Spider hadn't fled...

'He would've killed it on his own.'

The thought gave her chills.

Now she finally understood exactly why he'd been lingering in front of the gate. It had all been calculated.

'And his potential is beyond imagination... '

Apparently, his skeletons could learn all sorts of things. On top of that, he commanded a summon as absurdly powerful as Cedric. What the public knew was only the tip of the iceberg.

S-grade?

Absolutely not. That wouldn't be enough to make undead perform at such a level.

'I'd wondered why he chose necromancer.'

She thought she understood now. Traveling with him for roughly two weeks had made one thing clear: Kim Minwoo's ceiling as a necromancer was dizzyingly high.

'Even this must be just a tiny part of it.'

He was so extraordinary that her grandfather privately regarded him as a teacher. Could someone like that really not have created a single skill? His skill window was probably teeming with swordsmanship skills by now. Simply picking up a sword and swinging it would create them.

What was even more frightening was that his talent didn't seem limited to swordsmanship.

Even her grandfather hadn't known she had a talent for archery. But Kim Minwoo? He'd brought up the bow right away. He'd recognized it.

But how had he recognized it?

There was a saying: all streams return to one source. At their highest reaches, all paths connected. Perhaps Kim Minwoo even had a talent for archery.

'He's really like an onion.'

No matter how many layers she peeled away, there was no end. Perhaps he'd only told her about the crafting because, to him, it was nothing special.

She couldn't help wondering just how many more secrets he was hiding.

"... Is there something on my face?"

Oops. Had she stared too long?

Seo Yerim hurriedly shook her head.

"No, I was just curious about something."

"About what?"

Her eyes darted about. She'd blurted that out in a panic, but suddenly asking about his secrets would be strange.

"Uh, well... Oh! Martial arts! Aren't your skeletons learning martial arts? You said they could learn all sorts of things."

"Cedric is teaching them. It isn't martial arts, but ultimately, all ways of fighting have something in common."

"R-right."

Kim Minwoo chuckled.

"We'll be arriving soon. Have you prepared yourself?"

"Prepared myself for what?"

"You'll be a star once you get those points. I imagine quite a few people will try to pick fights with you."

"Oh..."

That sounded plausible. The servant was gone, and the two of them had completed the mission alone. When you rose through the ranks, people always cropped up looking to tear you down.

The Fifth Young Master and a maid. Which of the two would be the easier target?

Surely it would be her, the maid.

"... Would they let people mess with someone who's going to do great things?"

"Well, I imagine the Alliance Leader will put in a word for me. It might be different for you, Yerim. You were more or less tacked on as an extra in the first place."

"Ah, shit. Whatever. Anyone who messes with me is getting wrecked. Just so you know."

"Suit yourself."

Kim Minwoo shrugged.

And so the carriage arrived at the Unorthodox Alliance.

"Th-that's insane!"

"They actually did it? Just the two of them?"

[Point Standings]

[1st, Baek Socheon - 15,000 points]

[2nd, Choi Aengaeng - 15,000 points]

[3rd, Baek Muhan - 11,300 points]

[4th, Baek Cheoryong - 9,700 points]

Two days before the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering, they had claimed first and second place in one fell swoop.