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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 12: To the Border Region (2)
[Level Up!]
[Current Level: 10]
The orc collapsed to the ground.
Its muscles, which had been inflated like a balloon, deflated.
'As expected, orcs have exceptional life force.'
The amount of life force was several times greater than that of a goblin.
He immediately used the absorbed life force to strengthen his body.
Thanks to hunting non-stop for hours, he had gained a lot of experience.
'The border region has a higher monster spawn rate than Gates.'
How did monsters spawn?
Among the many hypotheses, the most credible one was mana distribution.
"It'll be evening soon, so we'll set up camp."
Kang Minho, without being asked, started preparing for camp with his team members.
〔You've got yourself a good subordinate.〕
'Right?'
Of course.
He was a 100% winning lottery ticket, secured in advance.
It was even better that he was also competent at miscellaneous tasks.
"Boss, may I know how long we'll be staying here?"
"Not too long. About three days."
"I thought we were going straight to the orc colony."
"If we did that, we'd be easy pickings for them."
At Yoojin's current level, a direct confrontation with the orc colony was impossible.
He knew the location of the colony.
He needed to periodically hunt the orcs roaming around the colony to deplete their forces before he could face them head-on.
There was another reason, but...
〔You're not going to tell me either?〕
'You'll see.'
Yoojin swallowed the rest of his words.
The Little Runts team, having finished setting up camp, suddenly started drawing lots.
Curiosity piqued, Yoojin approached them and asked,
"What are you guys doing?"
"We're deciding on the watch order."
So that's what they were doing.
Yoojin clicked his tongue as he watched Lee Seongmin declare confidently,
"What's all the fuss about?"
"I served near the border region, so I know it well. We'll take care of the watch, so you can rest, Boss."
"No need. I can leave the watch to my minions."
Twenty zombies surrounded the campsite.
Without Yoojin's permission, they wouldn't let anyone through.
Kang Minho let out a short sigh.
"There's nothing left for us to do."
He gave an awkward laugh.
"Don't worry. You're doing better than I expected."
"Thank you for your kind words."
Yoojin lightly patted Kang Minho's shoulder and settled into a camp chair.
'Status window.'
The moment he uttered the word in his mind,
Name: Cheon Yoojin
Gender: Male
Level: 10 (1-Star)
◎ Stats
* Strength: 7 → 37.3
* Agility: 6 → 30.5
* Health: 7 → 32.4
* Toughness: 5 → 25.9
* Spirit: 10 → 70.2
◎ Traits
▷ Clear Mind
▷ Midnight Sun
◎ Skills
▷ Bone Control
▷ Raise Undead
The results of two days of monster hunting were displayed before him.
Huh—
An exclamation escaped his lips involuntarily.
'No one would believe this if I said it was only my second day after Awakening.'
The stat points he gained from absorbing life force amounted to a staggering 116.
Considering the level-up bonus was 45, this was more than double, an incredible number.
The only way for ordinary Hunters to increase their stats was by hunting monsters and leveling up.
Even Yoojin in his past life couldn't strengthen his physical abilities this way.
Heh.
Laughter escaped his lips.
'Aside from not being able to freely allocate the stat increases, it's great.'
His physical abilities had risen dramatically.
On the other hand, the increase in his Spirit stat was minimal.
Except for the first hunt, where he plundered the life force of the goblin shaman, his Spirit stat had barely increased.
It seemed the increase varied depending on the monster's life force.
'Since my physical abilities have increased, I need to find ways to utilize them.'
He had learned a few techniques in his past life, but none he could utilize as a primary means of combat.
He had to use everything at his disposal.
Yoojin's lips curled into a satisfied smirk.
'Anyway, I barely managed to reach level 10 before nightfall.'
Huu—
He took a deep breath and channeled mana into the Ring of Darkness.
[Using the Library of Knowledge.]
[You can access the knowledge left by the previous Masters of Death.]
[Currently browsing knowledge in the Necromancy field.]
Reaching level 10 allowed him to imprint more knowledge into his mind.
'Right now, I can only access the Necromancy School.'
When he reached 2 Stars, he could gain knowledge from other schools as well.
The higher the rank, the more fields he could access!
[The knowledge of the Necromancy School is being engraved into your soul.]
[Your soul's rank is low. A portion of the spells will be transferred.]
"Shit..."
He knew this would happen.
Yoojin barely managed to stifle a scream by covering his mouth with both hands.
〔Indeed. The powerful energy I felt from the ring was for this.〕
Kronos nodded, seemingly intrigued.
‘Someone's dying of pain here.’
Yoojin gritted his teeth and endured the agony.
[A portion of the Necromancy School's knowledge has been transferred.]
[You can acquire the remaining knowledge when your rank increases.]
‘Thanks for reminding me, you jerk. I know that already.'
▷ Bone Armor
Classification: Magic
Rank: C
Forms armor using bones as a medium.
▷ Flesh Control
Classification: Magic
Rank: C
Controls the flesh attached to a corpse at will.
His head throbbed from the aftereffects of the knowledge transfer, but...
It was worth it.
'As soon as day breaks, I need to strengthen my minions.'
Heh.
A sneer crept across Yoojin's lips.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day.
The Little Runts team expertly packed up their camping gear.
"You seem to have some camping experience."
"Hahaha. I was recently discharged from the military, so this isn't difficult."
"Even so, this is impressive."
"Camping is my hobby."
He had learned about Lee Seongmin's hobby, which he hadn't been curious about.
No wonder.
His skill in setting up camping equipment was extraordinary.
Thanks to him, he had been able to rest comfortably.
"We'll be busier today, so be prepared."
"Yes, Boss!"
The Little Runts team members were full of energy.
With the orc zombies leading the way, they roamed the vicinity of the border region.
Their destination was the place where the soul of the 'Forgotten Hero' resided.
They had no time to rest, as they needed to deplete the forces of the orc colony located there and strengthen their minions with the newly acquired spells.
"Kurruk?"
They encountered a group of orcs patrolling in threes and fours.
"Groooaaar."
The orc zombies, their lifeless eyes moving grotesquely, lunged at their former brethren.
The orc warriors weren't fazed even after smelling the distinctive scent of corpses.
Slash—
Glaive blades pierced the arms and bodies of the orc zombies.
"Grrrr."
"Kruk? What's this? This guy is tough."
The muscles, stiffened by rigor mortis, gripped the glaives.
If they couldn't cut them down in one blow, they would be held back by the zombies.
Some orcs managed to retrieve their glaives by applying more force, but...
"Guh, uh... Eat."
The orcs that had pressed too deep were caught by the zombies and met a gruesome end.
The zombies didn't stop there.
In the initial clash, they used their stiff bodies to restrain the orcs, and some took advantage of the opening to circle around and completely surround the orc warriors.
Awe flickered in Kang Minho's eyes.
'Boss is perfectly reading the flow of battle.'
The orc zombies, with their increased muscle mass, were slower than the undead created from goblins.
They were more destructive, but they couldn't wield weapons, so their combat power was lower than that of living orcs.
Even with increased production efficiency to compensate for their shortcomings, their lack of mobility couldn't be completely overcome.
'To restrain the orcs in the initial engagement and even establish an encirclement...'
The tactics perfectly controlled the battlefield.
Kang Minho repeatedly swallowed his exclamations of admiration.
"Kur..."
Yoojin used Life Drain on the orc corpses.
The Little Runts team collected mana stones from the drained corpses.
The process flowed smoothly.
"Boss, we've finished the work."
"Good job."
"Shall we move immediately?"
"Ah, I have something to do, so rest for a bit."
Yoojin approached the scattered orc corpses.
The number he could control was 20.
Creating more undead was impossible.
'Then I'll just have to enhance the abilities of each individual.'
[Using Flesh Control.]
Crackle!
With an eerie sound, five orc corpses twitched violently.
The flesh of the deceased separated from the bones.
Originally, it was an auxiliary spell used to hinder opponents in chaotic battles, but Yoojin used it differently.
'I need bones to use Bone Armor.'
Who had time to separate the bones and flesh of corpses one by one?
With [Flesh Control], he could cleanly debone them in an instant.
The muscles and skin were stripped away, clumping together like slime.
Soon, only bare bones remained of the orc corpses.
'And all this flesh is useful too.'
Yoojin waved his hand, and some of the dark red flesh clump attached itself to a zombie.
The already bulky orc zombie grew about 1.3 times larger thanks to the added flesh.
[Using Bone Armor.]
White bones clung to the flesh.
'Weaving the bones and the zombie's body together with the flesh.'
Clank! Clank!
The attached orc flesh became a magic circuit connecting the zombie and the bones.
It filled the gaps, leaving no weak points.
The white bones synchronized and turned jet black.
Woooong—!
The spirit power imbued in the Bone Armor reacted to the zombie's core, causing a chain reaction.
"Groooaaar!!"
The zombie, fully armed with bone armor, let out a monstrous roar.
[The subject has perfectly fused with the bone armor, giving birth to a new undead: Armored Zombie.]
[Armored Zombie creation has been added as a sub-skill of Raise Undead.]
Blue light flickered in the pupils that had turned from gray.
The flesh was haphazardly attached.
Originally, it was merely stuck on like glue with [Flesh Control], but it resonated with the zombie, amplifying its power.
'Yes. This is how modification should be done.'
Yoojin expressed his satisfaction.
[Armored Zombie]
Race: Undead
Rank: ★★
◎ Stats
Strength: 127 (+50) / Agility: 85 (-15) / Health: 120 (+35) / Toughness: 132 (+100) / Mana: 50 (+22)
◎ Traits
▷ Undying Existence [C+] / Courage [C+]
◎ Skills
▷ Raging Charge [D] / Iron Wall [D] / Bash [D]
Stats nearly three times higher than the original orc.
He had increased its size with flesh, and by resonating the mana of the bones and the zombie, he had strengthened its physical abilities and even its intelligence.
It could no longer use its poisonous attacks due to the bone armor covering its entire body, but...
Its overwhelmingly enhanced stats completely compensated for that flaw.
'So, it takes three orc corpses to upgrade one zombie.'
It involved covering the enlarged orc corpse entirely with bones.
Since the area to be covered with armor was larger, it would require more bones as a medium.
The number of zombies Yoojin could control at once was 20.
There were plenty of orcs patrolling around the colony, so...
He could transform all his minions into Armored Zombies within the target timeframe.
"Um, Boss, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Do you only control zombies?"
"Ah, you're asking if I don't create skeletons or anything like that."
Skeletons.
Along with zombies, they were representative monsters of the undead.
"Who's stronger, a bodybuilder or a skinny person?"
"Of course, the bodybuilder."
"It's the same. Skeletons are agile and fast, and they have resistance to arrows. But they're weak."
Mass = Strength.
The addition of mana complicated the equation, but that level of calculation wasn't necessary for low-ranking undead.
Unless he was planning for a long hunt, there was no need to put that much effort into each individual.
"It's not difficult to create them, but there's no need."
Creating skeletons was simple.
Just use Raise Undead on the bones after removing all the flesh, as he had done earlier.
The [Raise Undead] spell created zombies or skeletons depending on the state of the corpse, so he could create undead from a fleshless body.
"Then there doesn't seem to be any advantage to creating skeletons."
"Skeletons are better for long-term maintenance."
"Why is that?"
"The flesh rots, you know. And we haven't properly preserved it."
"Ah, I see."
Kang Minho nodded in understanding.
Yoojin chuckled and had the Armored Zombies lead the way.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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