NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 35
Chapter 35: The Power of Decay (6)
[You have defeated the dungeon boss, ‘Zombie Knight’!]
[Level increased by 6 stages!]
[A large amount of experience points has been acquired and converted into some stats.]
[You have overcome an insurmountable difference in strength and achieved an extraordinary victory! Your fame increases significantly.]
Clang!
After delivering the final blow to the Zombie Knight, Yeonwol collapsed to the ground, as if falling.
“Phew…”
He looked around with tired eyes.
The Spectrals he had painstakingly transmuted lay shattered into pieces, scattered everywhere.
Mad and Eltis were in such poor condition they needed complete re-transmutation.
“Still, it’s thanks to you all that we succeeded. Good work.”
—For Master’s sake…
Yeonwol dismissed all the Spectrals and stood up.
He was exhausted, but first, he needed to check the rewards.
The rewards were better than expected.
Although most of the level-130 restricted equipment items were damaged, they looked repairable if entrusted to a blacksmith.
For equipment, when broken during combat with a boss monster, it drops in its broken state, so one must exercise great caution.
But he hadn’t had the luxury to worry about such things.
‘A torn banner, huh.’
When Yeonwol activated the skill [All-Seeing Eye], its true value was revealed.
“…Elaon Kingdom?”
Yeonwol’s eyes widened.
The Kingdom of Elaon, known to have existed before the millennium, was shrouded in mystery.
However, in the future, whenever a dungeon or altar related to it was discovered, rankers would flock to it with burning interest.
‘This is… a jackpot. I’ll definitely find a use for this someday.’
Yeonwol carefully folded the torn banner and placed it in his wooden storage case.
The rest were mostly junk items.
Zombie corpses didn’t leave much behind, as they were already decomposed and unsuitable as materials for Spectral transmutation.
‘I’ll repair the armor and give it to Eltis once he reaches the level requirement. As for the greatsword and swordsmanship manual, I’ll sell them.’
But those were just the boss rewards—the real treasure lay elsewhere.
From the moment he entered the boss room, his attention had been drawn to something.
Atop the altar the Zombie Knight had been guarding with its life was a rotting, decayed arm.
Yeonwol slowly approached it and activated [All-Seeing Eye], displaying a string of information.
*Description: The severed right arm of Maier, the Lord of Decay. It holds the terrifying power of decay that can destroy life.
*Effect: When used by a Necromancer class, the skills ‘Domain of Decay’ and ‘Vitality Drain’ can be learned.
※The item disappears after acquiring the skills.
※Currently, the item’s effects have been transferred to ‘Duke Dilen of Deimos,’ but a Necromancer class user can suppress and reclaim it.
As expected, this decayed arm was the problem.
Duke Dilen’s act of keeping this arm in a museum had spread the effects of decay across his entire Dukedom.
It needed to be removed immediately.
However, to Yeonwol, this was a ‘skill book.’
A hidden skill book for rare classes like Necromancers or Summoners, who struggle to obtain skills!
Naturally, such an item was extraordinarily rare.
A skill book as a reward?
News like that would cause high-rankers hiding in remote corners of the world to come running, drooling with envy.
‘I figured the zombie situation might be tied to death, and it was spot-on.’
Ever since transitioning to Necromaster, one question had constantly plagued Yeonwol.
‘Where do I even get skills for this class?’
For common E-rank classes, skills could easily be acquired by reaching a certain level and meeting with instructors or completing tests in major cities.
Hidden classes were different.
Most hidden classes required completing hidden quests or high-difficulty ‘job quests’ to acquire skills.
The difficulty was so high that some A-rank class players had reached level 200 without acquiring additional skills.
Necromaster, being a hidden class, offered some hints about the next skill.
‘Emerald Tablet.’
It was the item Deathcalibon had instructed him to find in its final moments.
However, from what Yeonwol knew, the tablet’s features seemed more suited for an Alchemist than a Necromancer.
In other words, Necromancer skills had to be found and acquired entirely through personal effort.
Combining two professions had created such a headache.
Still, this discovery provided a slight relief to his concerns.
Crunch!
When Yeonwol gripped Maier’s right arm, it crumbled into dust, releasing a pale green energy.
The energy flowed into his outstretched hand and was absorbed.
[A-rank skills ‘Domain of Decay’ and ‘Vitality Drain’ acquired.]
[Due to the Necromaster trait, A-rank ‘Domain of Decay’ is converted to the job-specific skill ‘Domain of Death.’]
[Due to the Necromaster trait, A-rank ‘Vitality Drain’ is converted to the job-specific skill ‘Spirit Drain.’]
[New job-specific skill ‘Spirit Possession’ created by combining acquired skills with job traits.]
The moment of gaining a skill was always thrilling—especially when it was a hidden skill befitting the class!
The pale green energy swirled around Yeonwol, gradually shifting to a faint violet.
When it was fully absorbed, he opened his eyes, glowing brightly.
“This feels amazing.”
Acquiring two skills and even creating a new one was an exceptional gain.
In his past life, the Holy Knights of the Helios Order had defeated Duke Dilen, and Maier’s right arm had been purified after being transported to the church.
Dark magicians must have shed bitter tears when they later learned this skill book for Necromancer-related abilities had been here all along.
This time, things were different.
Yeonwol had arrived before the purification by the Order or Duke Dilen’s corruption, securing the skill without a major battle.
‘As expected, skills like this adapt to the class traits.’
Even if skills were acquired, some would be incompatible with the user’s class and would transform into a different skill.
Such occurrences were rare and only happened in specific circumstances.
*Proficiency: 1%
*Description: Spreads the aura of death within a certain range, casting a terrifying curse upon the living and bestowing blessings upon the dead.
*Effect: Creates a 15-meter-radius domain centered on the caster for 10 minutes, absorbing the vitality of the living.
└Curses the living, reducing their defense and causing continuous HP loss.
└Blesses the dead, increasing their defense and continuously restoring their HP.
*MP Consumption: 3,000
*Cooldown: 24 hours
※The more living beings cursed within the domain, the faster and greater the absorption of death.
※ The fewer the undead receiving the buff, the more concentrated the aura of death becomes, increasing its potency.
Yeonwol’s eyes sparkled.
‘A curse and summon buff skill.’
As a half-baked Necromancer, he couldn’t learn curses that weaken opponents.
However, obtaining hidden skills like this could easily offset such penalties.
The downside was that the skill had a 24-hour cooldown.
‘The fewer Spectrals receiving the buff, the stronger the effect… This is a skill tailored just for my class.’
If a Necromancer controlling many summons had obtained this skill, they wouldn’t have been too pleased, as the aura of death would have to be distributed among numerous Spectrals.
However, Yeonwol’s few summons meant his buffs became incredibly powerful.
Additionally, the more enemies included in the domain, the stronger the debuff effects became, making it highly effective for combating large groups with a small force.
*Proficiency: 1%
*Description: Reclaims the ‘death’ of enemies directly killed and stores it as energy.
The stored spirit energy can be released as powerful energy once it exceeds a certain threshold.
*Effect: Stores spirit energy beyond 250 units to enhance magical performance.
*Stored Spirit Energy: 0/500
※ Using the skill ‘Domain of Death’ to absorb death from the living allows it to be stored as spirit energy.
“Hm…”
It was a skill to enhance magic.
Yeonwol couldn’t learn magic.
While Necromancers and Summoners could use basic magic, the Necromaster couldn’t learn magic at all.
He could potentially integrate it into the curse-related “Death’s Awakening,” but the effect seemed underwhelming.
‘Is this a skill I can’t use?’
However, his thoughts changed when he saw the next skill.
*Proficiency: 1%
*Description: A magic created to compensate for the inherent weakness of the caster’s physical body, despite commanding numerous legions.
Consumes all absorbed ‘spirit energy’ to enhance physical capabilities.
However, as a mage’s body remains frail, the skill was ultimately abandoned.
*Effect: Activates when spirit energy is stored to its maximum using the Spirit Drain skill.
While activated, the caster enters a ‘Spectral’ state and converts 50% of the consumed spirit energy into physical stats for three minutes.
The caster imbues their entire body with spirit energy, dealing an additional 24% damage to living beings.
Absorbs the aura of summoned Spectrals to further enhance stats.
*Penalty: Consumes 1% HP every three seconds and, upon expiration, reduces all stats by half for 15 minutes.
Yeonwol’s eyes lit up at the skill.
Absorbing the aura of death and converting it into combat stats?
‘This is definitely a skill useless to ordinary Summoner-type mages.’
No summoner-type profession would want a skill that strengthened the caster themselves.
Most summoners chose this path because they disliked direct combat or had no personal abilities.
But for Yeonwol, this was an unparalleled skill.
Though the duration was only three minutes, and it inflicted a severe HP-draining debuff, the ability to enter a ‘Spectral’ state was its true allure.
Even in the Spectral state, he could activate ‘Domain of Death’ on himself to suppress the HP-drain debuff.
In other words, with skillful combinations, the penalties could be almost entirely negated.
While stats would be halved for 15 minutes after the buff ended, as long as he finished the battle before that, it could serve as a powerful trump card for turning the tide.
Just as Yeonwol finished confirming the skills and rewards, a message appeared.
[This dungeon will disappear shortly.]
Unlike instance dungeons, this was a “generated-type” dungeon that vanished upon the boss monster’s death.
Most story-based dungeons followed this format.
Only the first challenger could monopolize all rewards and experience.
Thus, in the future, players roaming dangerous zones tended to have much higher levels than those playing it safe.
“Well, I’ve done all I needed to, so it’s time to leave.”
Feeling much lighter, Yeonwol walked toward the portal that had appeared at the center of the boss room.
[You are exiting the dungeon ‘Source of Decay.’]