Damn Necromancer - Chapter 149
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Chapter 149: Job Change
[Skeleton Mage Summon (E)+9 will be significantly changed!]
[Apprentice Mage Summon (E)+9]
[Consume 20 mana to summon 2 (1+1) desired apprentice mages of LV101.]
[* Currently summonable list (5/10)]
[1. Apprentice Death Mage]
[A mage who specializes a little more in death magic.]
[* Receives a bonus to usable death magic.]
[2. Apprentice Fire Mage]
[* Receives a bonus to usable fire magic….]
[3. Apprentice Wind Mage]
[4. Apprentice Earth Mage]
[5. Apprentice Water Mage]
.
.
.
Water, fire, wind, earth.
These were the four representative elements and the list of magic that Merhen had been taught. In addition to that, she had also been taught death magic.
‘This is specialization too.’
Kim Minwoo nodded satisfactorily. Such a structure wasn’t much different just because they were human mages.
‘Everyone has an element that suits their body.’
Even if they all learn and use the same spellbooks recklessly, fire magic may have a higher temperature or greater firepower, and so on.
Such differences were bound to exist.
So, if one is highly affinity to fire?
Usually, the opposite attribute, water, was considered a weak link. So, one might just keep learning fire magic spellbooks tirelessly and introduce themselves as fire mages.
‘Merhen is the unusual one.’
Handling all elemental attributes?
This is quite, very rare.
This opened up the possibility for Skeleton Mages to handle all four elements through job changes.
Just as skeletons are summoned as warriors in battle and blacksmiths or alchemists in crafting, mages can also be summoned to match the elements of the monster composition.
‘Nice.’
Attacking with a weak attribute doubles the damage. It was akin to gaining a powerful advantage.
At that moment,
Merhen flew over and landed.
—Minwoo! I took care of everything!
“Well done. Merhen is the best as always. The mages are changing jobs too. Did you teach them well?”
—Job change? Like those skeletons?
“Yeah. Let me show you.”
After canceling Myra’s summon.
He summoned her as an Apprentice Fire Mage.
Myra appeared with a slightly reddish hue all over her body.
—Wow! A fire element specialist?
Swish!
Myra nodded vigorously.
—Then try to follow this.
Merhen conjured a flame in her hand.
Seeing that, Myra began to concentrate, staring at her hand.
After a while of grumbling, Myra managed to produce a small flame.
—Hmm…
Merhen squinted her eyes and stared at it intently.
“How’s that?”
—The bones themselves seem to have changed to manifest fire magic well. But even with that trick, she’s still a fool.
T_T.
—Don’t be so dramatic. I know you’re not crying over something like this. Stand up properly, okay?
Hurriedly, Myra snapped to attention. Kim Minwoo whispered to Merhen’s ear.
“Is she really the same fool as before? Nothing changed except for the bones?”
Merhen, rolling his eyes at the remark, turned around and quietly replied.
—I guess she is a little less of an idiot when she uses fire. But Minwoo, you can’t praise her. Okay?
“Why?”
—It’ll just make her complacent. She still have a long way to go.
Merhen is quite a stern teacher.
Magic education is her domain, and expertise must be respected.
He nodded in agreement.
Merhen turned around and cleared her throat.
—You still have to work harder. You have a long way to go before you can be of any help to Minwoo. Understand??”
Myra nodded glumly. She looked so pathetic that even Kim Minwoo winced for a moment.
“…Well. At least you’ve improved a little, so there’s room for growth.”
Suddenly.
Flare!
!_!
Exclamation marks lit up in Myra’s eyes as she dragged her wand across the ground.
〈Really?〉
“Yep. Just a little. Nothing to get too excited about.”
Clank!
Myra saluted as if to say she understood. Her face had already changed into a ^_^ shape.
[TL/N: If this ever gets a manhwa this scene will be golden xD]
‘That’s the most amazing thing she has taught her.’
How did she get her to express her emotions like that with her pupils?
He was once again reminded of the greatness of education.
Anyway.
The skeletons have finished growing.
‘Time to loot.’
The Spectral Knights.
They’re the kind of beings that can’t help but give something up.
As expected.
Amidst the fragments swept away by the whirlpool, all sorts of equipment were sparkling.
A rare soul bound skill book appeared as a bonus.
‘Lucky.’
He picked up the skill book first.
[You have acquired a soul bound skill book.]
[You have learned the Necromancer skill book, Curse of Weakness (S)!]
‘Oh, it’s S-rank?’
Perhaps because the Spectral Knights’ level was so high, the soul bound skill book’s rank was also high.
And it was even a curse skill.
It would be a perfect match for the Plague Monarch Gloves, which spread curses.
But is that all?
Thanks to the Ring of Ascension, all curses are amplified by 50%.
He immediately checked the contents.
[Curse of Weakness (S)]
[Level Restriction: 293 or higher]
[Consumes 200 mana to curse the target. The cursed target’s maximum health is reduced by 20%.]
‘Oh.’
Reading the description, he couldn’t help but marvel.
A 20% reduction in maximum health.
When combined with Ring of Ascension, it becomes 30%.
Of course, that number would only apply to normal monsters. If they were large, had high resistance, or were bosses, the reduction would be less. But even considering that, it was still very good.
‘It’s almost like starting with an arm or a leg cut off.’
There were so many times when he narrowly missed killing a monster and ended up dying.
There were countless Awakened who died just one hit short.
The Curse of Weakness could greatly reduce that worry.
Normal monsters would start with at least 1/3 of their health gone.
Even high-level monsters would have at least 10% applied.
‘It would be good for mob hunting.’
The monsters would love it if he would cast both Curse of Aging and Curse of Weakness on their gathering spot.
After roughly finishing his plan.
He turned around to see a group of Orcs and Elves staring at him with wide eyes. Urkan, clearly bewildered by what just happened, rubbed his eyes and asked,
—Chwiik… Big Brother, is this right?
“This is it. Just trust me and follow.”
―Got it!
A straightforward orc-like response followed. Whatever the case, the enemies who blocked their path were not dead yet. Though there might be regret for not engaging in battle, it wasn’t a bad situation.
―Chwiik! Let’s kill the witch!
―Let’s kill her!
The courageous resistance continued to advance.
Then.
Kim Minwoo, who was walking ahead, smirked.
Taking out the dice that had been carefully stored in his inventory, not only did he roll a 1, but suddenly,
A message appeared before him.
[You have entered the scope of the Maelstrom of Fate.]
[Your ‘greatest adversity’ bestowed upon you begins!]
Immediately, he and his summoned creatures vanished in an instant.
―Chwiik?
At the sudden disappearance of the group, the orc party exchanged perplexed glances.
* * *
The apprentice witch, Iris, furrowed her brow. The Spectral Knights, who had served as her loyal subordinates for a long time, all of a sudden had their energy signatures extinguished. There was only one explanation for this.
‘…Did they get defeated?’
And all at once, with a single attack?
Who could have done this?
Numerous questions arose in her mind.
The last task given to the Spectral Knights was to observe the Northern Resistance forces.
‘There’s no way they could have been defeated by the likes of the Northern Resistance.’
A mere 20,000 Orcs.
With a force of 500 Spectral Knights, they could sweep them away in less than two hours.
Even if there were a hundred thousand Orcs, it would be the same. It’s impossible for them to be annihilated like this in one fell swoop.
The intervention of an overwhelming force. It was the only possible explanation.
She moved towards the top of the tower. The throne room.
Originally a space for Iris, but the roles had long since reversed.
Knock knock.
Iris knocked carefully and said,
“Lord Leluya, may I have a word….”
At that moment.
The door creaked open.
Three heads.
A total of six eyeballs staring at her. It was a sight she couldn’t get used to, no matter how hard she tried.
There was even a pair of crow’s eyeballs sitting on Leluya’s shoulder, making a total of eight eyeballs moving around.
Then.
Leluya spoke.
“Inexperienced witch.”
“I know what you’re going to say.”
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Where…?”
With a firm grip on her hand, Leluya’s summoned creature soared into the sky.
In an instant, two witches began flying southward at high speed.
As Iris, who was being dragged along helplessly, began to speak.
“Why are we suddenly….”
At that moment, the crow perched on Leluya’s shoulder cried out.
―Caw. Calamity approaches! An unavoidable disaster!
Calamity is approaching?
Iris, who was tilting her head, looked at Leluya.
“Um, is it because of the omen? Last time, the omen…”
“I said it’s all about interpretation.”
“But this time, it’s clearly a Calamity, isn’t it?”
“We can’t handle this kind of thing. Not on our own.”
Leluya’s three heads replied with stern faces. Interpreting the omens of crows was up to personal discretion.
Usually, they only spoke vague phrases hinting at the future fate.
But now it was different.
It was just plainly stated that a disaster was imminent.
That meant it was a very definite and serious omen, one that their power alone couldn’t handle.
But if it couldn’t be avoided?
Then there was only one thing to do.
They had to unite their strength and prepare.
Whatever it took, everything.
So, they swiftly left their places.
“We have to do.”
“We have to try everything.”
“So, we’ll make contact with the Dragon Legion.”
Iris rolled her eyes.
Honestly, she thought everything would be fine with a full-fledged witch by her side.
She had sought out Leluya because she was told to report any variables, not because she felt a sense of imminent crisis.
A powerful being like Leluya could wipe out the entire Spectral Knight army in no time.
But…
‘Is it that serious of a crisis?’
Then it was a really big deal.
Now she understood why Leluya had moved so urgently.
It meant that the situation was so dire that they had to join forces with the Dragon Legion, with whom they didn’t have the best relationship!
‘What’s going on?’
Was there a being in this continent strong enough to instill this much fear in a full-fledged witch?
That was impossible from the start.
If there was such a powerful being, she would have been defeated long ago. Then it must be a new variable.
At that moment.
Flutter!
A massive flock of dragons was seen flying from the south.
Iris narrowed her eyes.
Like her, the Ice Dragon had also brought a superior being.
Its body was azure, a huge blue dragon.
The blue dragon stopped in the middle and spoke.
―Witch. Do you feel it?
“I have. We’ve been caught in a nasty fate. I don’t know who summoned us, but…”
―There’s no need for a lengthy explanation. Let’s cooperate. Even if it’s just for a while.
“Agreed.”
Leluya nodded readily.
‘That’s a relief.’
The intuition of a true dragon is sharper than anything else. Especially if it’s a 3,000-year-old ancient dragon like the one in front of her, there was no doubt about the authenticity of its senses.
Thanks to that, the conversation went smoothly.
‘Just endure for a month.’
Then they could gather enough power to move out of this dimension again.
After that, they could report the anomalies and observe.
As long as they survived….
Then.
As if a knot was naturally untying, something interfered with the magic.
Leluya and Iris fell to the ground. The dragons, too, were momentarily unable to move their bodies.
[The title ‘ Master of the Dragon Knight’ has been activated!]
[You have encountered a dragon!]
[You exude an intense aura of intimidation towards the dragon!]
Soon, the gaze of everyone in the vicinity turned towards the human on the ground.
One insignificant human.
And one woman.
And a skeleton.
It was impossible to tell when they appeared. It was as if they had naturally rooted themselves in that spot.
The three of them were positioned like that.
‘Wow.’
Kim Minwoo exclaimed quietly.
So this was the ‘greatest adversity.’
‘You’re delivering me directly to where all the bosses are gathered?’
He had some idea of what the dice was for.
It was clear that as soon as it landed on a 1, it would push him straight into danger.
And he realized why he had rolled a 1 despite his Super Lucky Guy skill activating.
Witches and dragons.
They looked too good to pass up.
And it even delivered him right to their doorstep?
Kim Minwoo smirked.
In the midst of the suffocating silence.
―Caw. Roll, tumble, plop.
The crow spoke up abruptly.
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