Chapter 36
A week had passed.
I had been moving diligently in that time.
“Huff, huff.”
Now, the training ground felt more familiar than home.
I wiped the sweat dripping down my forehead.
My whole body ached.
Thanks to the old man’s great technique, all the impurities inside me had been cleanly burned away.
‘Damn it, when will this blasted training ever end?’
I sat down cross-legged right away.
The Supreme Azure Mind Method.
Through the posture the old man had taught me, I focused on trying to sense ‘Qi.’
[‘Bone One’s’ strength increases by 1!]
[‘Bone Five’s’ mana increases by 1!]
“……”
Even when I trained alone in silence, the skeletons’ stats continued to rise.
Just as the old man had instructed, they were training on their own initiative.
‘Undead that study on their own… if necromancers around the world found out, they’d be horrified—and jealous.’
[‘Sunny’s’ strength increases by 1!]
[‘Sunny’s’ agility increases by 1!]
Especially Sunny.
His training ability was outstanding.
Flash! Flash!
Every time his spear cut through the air, it gave off light, leaving perfectly round holes in the falling leaves.
Even without a training curriculum from the old man, he seemed to dig into his past memories on his own to train.
[Name: Sunny]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Awakened Skeleton]
[Class: Spearman]
[Rank: D]
[Strength: 38] [Agility: 38] [Stamina: 36] [Mana: 30] [Skill: 38]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Intermediate Thrust’ (Lv.3)
– ‘Solar Strike’ (Lv.2)
– ‘Raging Desert’ (Lv.2)
– ‘Soulflare’ (Lv.2)
“Nice.”
His skill levels had gone up considerably.
Especially since ‘Basic Thrust’ had maxed out and evolved into ‘Intermediate Thrust.’
The same was true for Bone One and the others.
[Name: Bone One]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Awakened Skeleton]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Rank: D]
[Strength: 30] [Agility: 27] [Stamina: 28] [Mana: 20] [Skill: 30]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Intermediate Slash’ (Lv.3)
Bone One.
He had been focusing solely on mastering ‘Intermediate Slash.’
[Name: Bone Three]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Awakened Skeleton]
[Class: Archer]
[Rank: D]
[Strength: 27] [Agility: 30] [Stamina: 25] [Mana: 20] [Skill: 30]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Intermediate Barrage’ (Lv.3)
– ‘Vision Acquisition’ (Lv.9)
– ‘Poison Arrow’ (Lv.9)
Next was Bone Three.
He had already maxed out ‘Vision Acquisition’ and ‘Poison Arrow,’ and had evolved ‘Basic Barrage’ into ‘Intermediate Barrage.’
[Name: Bone Four]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Awakened Skeleton]
[Class: Shielder]
[Rank: D]
[Strength: 24] [Agility: 21] [Stamina: 24] [Mana: 23] [Skill: 20]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Intermediate Block’ (Lv.3)
– ‘Intermediate Taunt’ (Lv.3)
Bone Four had ‘Intermediate Block’ and ‘Intermediate Taunt.’
[Name: Bone Five]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Awakened Skeleton]
[Class: Magician]
[Rank: D]
[Strength: 22] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 20] [Mana: 28] [Skill: 22]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Fireball’ (Lv.MAX)
– ‘Fire Field’ (Lv.2)
– ‘Air Shield’ (Lv.MAX)
– ‘Haste’ (Lv.2)
Finally, Bone Five.
His skills were unusual.
It seemed that once he mastered a skill, derivative skills would be unlocked.
When he mastered ‘Fireball,’ he gained ‘Fire Field.’
When he mastered ‘Air Shield,’ he gained ‘Haste.’
If this continued, wouldn’t he eventually become a true magician wielding hundreds of spells?
That was my guess.
“At least they’re fire spells. That’s a relief.”
Bone Five was currently wielding the S-rank item, the Dragonfire Staff.
Since it doubled the power of fire-based skills, having ‘Fire Field’ was more than satisfactory.
“Hoo.”
Now it was my turn.
I closed my eyes and concentrated.
In the void of nothingness, I tried to grasp a formless energy.
‘C-rank…’
The journey toward advancing another rank.
Honestly, I had no idea what conditions I needed to meet.
Did I just have to keep getting beaten by the old man?
Or did I need to master the rhythm of the Supreme Azure Mind Method?
Or perhaps find some other opportunity in a dungeon?
‘But.’
Not knowing didn’t bother me.
What mattered was that I was still getting stronger every moment.
‘Don’t overthink it. Just do as I’m told.’
I slowly erased my thoughts.
The mnemonic chants the old man had taught me, the scenery around me, my stray thoughts.
I cleared them all away.
A state of true emptiness.
No thoughts, no distractions.
Hoo, thump, hoo, thump!
All I could hear was my breath and heartbeat.
Soon, even those faded from my awareness.
How long had it been?
Minutes? Hours?
Ssst!
‘Hm?’
My consciousness stirred.
Though my eyes stayed closed, a strange sensation came over me.
Not sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. A new sense.
Gentle yet warm. Rough yet refreshing.
‘Feels good.’
Like drifting across calm waters, I wandered within it.
I touched it, felt it, drank it in.
Like a child playing with a new toy.
[Congratulations!]
[You have sensed the Source of All, ‘Qi.’]
[You have acquired the skill, ‘Supreme Azure Mind Method’ (S-rank).]
‘What?!’
It was like cold water had been dumped over my head.
‘Qi… sensing Qi? An S-rank skill?’
Oh right, I was in the middle of training.
That meant I had finally sensed the Qi the old man had spoken of.
My whole body shivered.
For the first time, I had discovered the foundation of the Legacy of the Ten Thousand Arts.
‘So this… this was Qi.’
I examined myself.
I could feel streams flowing smoothly through me.
It was wondrous.
Qi truly was what made up the world.
I slowly expanded my senses.
Sunny’s overwhelming aura, Bone Five’s fireball.
All of it was Qi.
Even Soyul analyzing Sunny’s movements in the distance.
The sunlight, the damp soil, the lush grass.
All Qi.
“Don’t just recite. Focus. Feel how the formless energy moves.”
“Qi is the basis of all power, no, the foundation of the entire world.”
“If you can control Qi, you can shape every skill that exists.”
The old man’s words, which I had only vaguely understood, now resonated through me.
‘Of course.’
Sensing it and controlling it were two different things.
[Ding!]
A voice rang in my head.
[You have achieved a hidden condition!]
“Gasp!”
I shot up and opened my eyes.
“At last…?”
There was no mistaking it.
‘Awakening.’
Back when I met the Strong Orc here in this training ground, a similar message had appeared as I advanced from E-rank to D-rank.
[Condition: Source of All]
– To raise the rank of your innate ability, tremendous effort is required!
– Qi is the source of all things, the foundation of life itself.
– The closer you draw to the Source, the clearer your existence will become.
– Sense Qi!
“Wow…”
I was overwhelmed.
So the condition for awakening was sensing Qi!
Of course, it might just be one of many conditions.
‘What matters is—’
According to the system, sensing Qi was an accomplishment worthy of advancing my ability.
[Congratulations!]
[Your rank has advanced to C-rank!]
“Ahhh…”
I trembled all over.
All my efforts, all my struggle to grow stronger.
Day and night of relentless training had finally borne fruit.
[Rewards for rank advancement have arrived!]
[Energy has been restored!]
[Energy: 120/120]
“Yes, yes.”
If I leveled up, then I deserved a reward.
I awaited it eagerly.
[The skill, ‘Summon Awakened Skeletons’ (D-rank), has been upgraded!]
[The skill has evolved into ‘Summon Balanced Skeletons’ (C-rank)!]
“Perfect.”
As expected, my signature skill—summoning—had advanced in rank.
[Skill: Summon Balanced Skeletons]
[Rank: C]
[Effect 1: Consumes 10 Energy to summon an Advanced Skeleton. You may summon up to 10.]
[Effect 2: You may now assign names to each skeleton.]
The prefix had changed from “Awakened” to “Balanced.”
And instead of summoning Intermediate Skeletons, I could now summon Advanced Skeletons.
And there was more.
[A new skeleton’s main weapon has been designated!]
[Summoned Skeleton: Bone Six]
[This skeleton will now answer to your commands!]
“Whoa.”
At last, Bone Six’s seal was lifted.
“You’ve grown another layer stronger.”
Noticing the change in my aura, Soyul approached.
“You’ve even gained an extra energy signature.”
“Oh, impressive. You could tell right away?”
“That’s thanks to my skill, Detection. It allows me to accurately gauge the level of an assassination target.”
“…Wait.”
I flinched.
So right now, I was an assassination target?
“It’s just a term of convenience.”
“R-right.”
“Anyway, I’m curious. What will your new skeleton look like? So far you’ve had sword, spear, bow, shield, and magic, right?”
Her eyes sparkled.
True to form, she wanted to observe and evaluate my next summon.
“Personally, I hope its weapon is a dagger or throwing knife.”
“……”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have at least one assassin?”
An assassin, huh.
So she did have ulterior motives after all.
Whoosh!
I swung my staff.
I was just as curious, so I wanted to see quickly.
[You activate the skill, ‘Summon Balanced Skeletons’ (C-rank).]
[Consumes 10 Energy.]
[Bone Six has appeared.]
Rumble…
Dark energy welled up from the ground, forming a skeleton.
Unlike the others, Bone Six was shorter in stature.
And the weapon in his hand…
“A hammer?”
It was a hammer.
“Ugh, a hammer… what is he, some kind of paladin?”
Soyul’s face was filled with disappointment.
“Hold on.”
I pulled up his status window.
[Name: Bone Six]
[Energy: 100/100]
[Innate Ability: Balanced Skeleton]
[Class: Blacksmith]
[Rank: C]
[Strength: 15] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 15] [Mana: 15] [Skill: 15]
[Acquired Skills]
– ‘Intermediate Forging’ (Lv.1)
– ‘Intermediate Weaving’ (Lv.1)
– ‘Intermediate Item Crafting’ (Lv.1)
– ‘Intermediate Alchemy’ (Lv.1)
“What… the hell.”
My jaw dropped.
A blacksmith?
And short one to boot—was he a dwarf?
‘Unbelievable.’
A production-class skeleton actually existed?
(T/N: Now, this is getting interesting. I never even imagine a summon could be a production type lol.)