Chapter 12 Part3 (1/2)
<chapter 12.=”” joker=”” apprentice=”” -=”” 3=””>
[All the power of your equipment is absorbed into your body. Strength has increased by 90, Health by 62, and Magic by 45. Agility drops by 5. Through Bone Armory, all equipment has been recorded.]
[You have achieved a suitable karma for becoming a Joker. Unfortunately, because you are still too weak, you have been placed in a trial period, and you must tidy up your abilities. You have become a Lv4 Dark Skeleton Joker Apprentice.]
[You can learn the inherent skills from all other karma, and can even train them more quickly. However, you can only learn these skills up to the intermediate level. Currently, the only relevant skills are Low Rank Avenger and Low Rank Flames of Revenge. While the Sacrifice skill is an inherent ability of another karma, it is exempt as it is an extra skill.]
[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo]
[Dark Skeleton Joker Apprentice]
[He Who Conquers the Impossible; 2 other t.i.tles]
[Lv - 4 (Status effectiveness 145%)]
[Strength - 291 Agility - 218 Health - 279 Magic - 428]
[Pa.s.sive Skills - Invisible Heart Lv3, Acting Lv7, Low Rank Avenger Lv2, Low Rank Bursting Thunder Lv8, Low Rank Mana Bone Lv8, Low Rank Stealth Lv6, Low Rank Command Lv1, Low Rank Horseback Riding Lv7, Intermediate Combat Senses Lv1]
[Active Skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv5, Rule of Bone Lv3, Bone Armory Lv1, Low Rank Shriek of the Dead Lv5, Low Rank Regeneration Lv3, Low Rank Flames of Revenge Lv2, Beginner Power Slash Lv9, Sacrifice Lv1, Intermediate Acid Poison Spray Lv2]
[Resistances - Holy: MAX, Curses: MAX, Acid: Low Rank Lv8, Ice: Intermediate Lv1]
Following the waves of cascading changes, he just stood there.
Was it because he couldn't adapt to the sudden rapid growth? Or was it because he was dejected that his precious treasures were all absorbed through Bone Reinforcement? Or perhaps was it due to him finding out a weakness in the Joker karma that he hadn't even imagined? He thought he was going to become a complete Joker, yet he got a useless tag attached to it; maybe it was because of that?
Of course, that wasn't all.
'This is a really peculiar feeling... I remember all the memories regarding the absorbed equipment.'
His memory of the recently absorbed equipment was so clear that he felt like he could actually draw and see those items if he wanted. He had heard that it was important to possess a deep understanding of one's weapon, but it wasn't the level of merely handling the weapon, but actually making them.
He could presume why. Compared to before leveling up, his skills had changed the most, and of those skills, Bone Armory was the most drastic! Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't waste time and called for the information regarding Bone Armory.
[Bone Armory Lv1 (Active)]
[As a result of extracting the Weapon Trickster's memories and experiences, who had freely transformed weapons and cajoled the battlefield, a skill has formed solely for your use. You record all information on equipment made of bone, and you can summon them by using mana.]
[Your abilities are still lacking, so you can only summon the equipment in their recorded state. You can manifest and maintain two pieces of equipment at most. Maintaining the equipment does not cost any mana.]
[Recorded Equipment:
Lv3 Dire Wolf Bone Armor (Defense 110 - 125)
Lv3 Grizzly Bone Leg (Defense 105 - 115)
Lv4 Acid Skull Helm (Defense 250 - 310) - Effectiveness of Acid Type Skills +10%
Lv4 Lightning Tooth (Attack Power 450 - 480) - Lightning Lv4, Power of Bursting Thunder Skill +20%
Lv4 Melting Bone Double Axe (Attack Power 480 - 470) - Acid Lv3, Effectiveness of Acid Type Skills + 20%
Lv5 Drake Bone Lance (Attack Power 1,000 - 1,200) - Effectiveness of Charge-related Skills +40%]
[Equipment summoned through Bone Armory cannot be targeted with Bone Reinforcement.]
”As I thought...!”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was relieved that his equipment wasn't lost forever, but he also realized that this skill wasn't perfect.
There were two main problems right now. First, it was impossible to reinforce the recorded equipment any further. Second, because the level of the skill was low, he could only summon two pieces of equipment at a time. Considering that he'd need a weapon in a combat situation, he would end up only being able to equip one piece of armor.
”But it's a lot better than completely losing them, so should I just let it go...”
He felt like hanging himself when he saw the Lightning Tooth and the Drake Horn Lance being absorbed, so he felt grateful when he learned he would be able to wield them again. Especially since he was able to completely absorb all of their a.s.sociated stat bonuses.
If he leveled up the skill, he would probably be able to summon and maintain more equipment. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo decided to think about it positively. When he thought about it, he wouldn't need to worry about repairing damaged equipment from now on.
”...Wait a sec.”
”s.h.i.+n Woo? s.h.i.+n Woo, are you alright?”
The concerned Jin approached and asked, since Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had been muttering to himself since the level up process began; however, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's mind was only focused on one thing, so he didn't even hear Jin speak.
'Isn't the bone equipment summoned through the Bone Armory made of bones as well? Plus, they're bones that I've made.'
If that's the case, then... will they be affected by the Rule of Bone skill? Lee s.h.i.+n Woo went straight ahead and tried to put into practice what he just thought about. The weapon he summoned was naturally the one he was most familiar with, the Lightning Tooth!
”Oh, those weren't just absorbed?”
”Fortunately, no.”
The summoned Lightning Tooth was no different from the one he possessed before absorbing it. Aside from the stat bonuses, everything else was exactly the same.
But the Lightning Tooth retained a lot of experiences within, so perhaps that's why the mana consumption was tremendous; he would need to figure out just how long he could maintain the weapon.[2]
'...Then.'
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo naturally focused all his concentration on the Lightning Tooth in his hand. Though it wasn't made of his own bones, it was definitely composed of bone formed by his own mana. Then, couldn't this weapon be considered a part of his body?
'The conditions for using Rule of Bone shouldn't simply be that it's a bone physically attached to my body. If it's a weapon formed by my mana, then it should definitely... that's right.'
His wish had come true. The Lightning Tooth escaped his fingertips and began floating all on its own. Moving it was still a bit unstable, but that was due to the low level of Rule of Bone, and soon, even that slight shaking lessened.
”Have you gained telekinesis!?”
”In terms of bones, then yeah, maybe.”
Jin asked in astonishment and Lee s.h.i.+n Woo roughly replied whilst flying the Lightning Tooth higher into the air. In no time, the long sword flew much higher into the air than just above his head, and spun round and round according to his will; it was truly a menacing sight.
'Just moving it around doesn't cost much mana.'
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, who had learned that Rule of Bone applied to the weapons summoned through Bone Armory, brought the Lightning Tooth before him once more and reinforced the Lightning Tooth through Rule of Bone. It didn't consume much mana, and the amount of reinforcement was...
”Ooh.”
The Lightning Tooth radiated a bright blue light, and the blade emitted even more light than before; he even saw it openly begin to discharge sparks.
Contrary to the Harden skill which simply increased the degree of hardness, Rule of Bone reinforced every aspect of the weapon. As a result, its lightning element had been improved as well!
”...It's perfect.”
He muttered in awe as he saw product of the harmony between the Rule of Bone and the Bone Armory skills.
This was only the beginning. If he improved these skills from now on, how diverse would it become!? It would become a skill that wouldn't shame the name Trickster!
”Heup!”
”Whoa!”
He had retained the know-how behind the Catapult skill and launched the Lightning Tooth in the air forward. Though the Rule of Bone was still a low level, it wasn't any slower than the Catapult he'd used up until now!
- Kw.a.n.g!
It didn't stray even once from its route, and the launched long sword rammed into the hill. The mountain boomed and the impact from the sword ended up destroying a portion of the hill; however, it had lodged so deeply in that he couldn't even see the hilt.
Seeing that, Jin suddenly trembled.
”You... You're going to do it, aren't you?”
”Yep. I'm going to do it.”
”If another monstrous b.a.s.t.a.r.d comes from hearing that sound, you're on your own.”
”Right.”
Honestly, since he'd acquired the Rule of Bone from facing the Treasure Eater, wouldn't it be advantageous to prepare to face and kill another one? As he thought such idle thoughts... he activated Rule of Bone once more.
”Synapse, burst![1]”
”Synapse?”
-Kwaaaaaang!
The sword erupted in a tremendous explosion. It was a much more horrific explosion than before when he'd exploded his arm; it was obvious, considering the fact that one of the hills had been completely destroyed. It was truly impressive seeing the sparks popping out from the collapsed hill.
”Ugh, the mana consumption's tremendous...!”
But he had figured out exactly how much it cost. He had only blown up one long sword, but it had sucked up almost all of his mana! Considering the fact that its destructive force was greater than Self-Destruct's, it still felt like an advantageous skill.
”Hey, couldn't you have killed that caterpillar with one shot of that...?”
”Yeah, but if I miss, I would've died in one shot, too.”