“……”
The place where the ceiling should be, or used to be, was blue. Today, a particularly clear sky covered the smithy like a blanket. Were they intentionally messing with him?
Grid seriously doubted it as he stood in the collapsing smithy. It was a natural flow of thought. Why did the smithy fall apart? He was worried that Rabbit would be in an extreme state of collapse.
[Overgeared Skeleton One’s evolution has been completed.]
The notification window woke him up from his thoughts. The reason for the blue sky was gradually descending.
A purple light that flashed between dark magic power. The emitted heat that evaporated clouds was unusual.
[Allegiance to Your Majesty…]
The appearance of Overgeared Skeleton One kneeling in front of Grid was surprisingly unfamiliar. He looked like Zik, but different. Perhaps it was because the skin and hair were discolored white or because the eyes were emitting a red light. Or perhaps it was due to the dark magic power that was like armor. The biggest reason was that his body had grown in size. It seemed to be a natural change in the process of combining and reconstructing the bones of Overgeared Skeleton One and Zikfrector.
A tall knight who gave off a cold, frost-like impression—Grid confirmed the details of Overgeared Skeleton One, who was proud of the change.
[Name: Overgeared Skeleton One
Level: 430]
First of all, the level was normal. He rose to the same level as Overgeared Skeleton Two did when it became a lich.
‘For the time being, Overgeared Skeleton Two will have the upper hand.’
Overgeared Skeleton Two was currently level 461. It was because it reached the fourth class advancement first and played a big role in the war.
‘In any case, the important thing is the class name.’
Grid would be a bit upset if Overgeared Skeleton One was a dancing knight. The incident in which Overgeared Skeleton Two became a dancing lich remained a trauma.
[Class: Dancing Death Knight Who Speaks Ancient Languages]
“……”
Grid confirmed the class name of Overgeared Skeleton One and closed his eyes with a sorrowful feeling. He took a deep breath again and again to control his mind.
‘Really… do whatever you want.’
No matter whether it was tap dancing, waltzing, acrobatics, or strip dancing, it was all part time…
Currently, the most important thing was skills. If this guy could play an active role like Overgeared Skeleton Two, that was enough.
Grid consoled himself and opened the list of stats and skills. A smile naturally appeared.
First of all, the strength and agility had increased significantly. With 4,000 strength and 4,500 agility, it was a stats ratio suitable for swordsmanship. The ratio of stamina was low for a knight, but this was only when discussing the ratio. At 3,500 stamina, even this was superior to knights of the same level. It was a shocking level considering that a death knight’s shortcoming was usually its weak defense.
Besides that, there was also the insight stat, like Overgeared Skeleton Two. The figure was even 2,000. Combined with the high agility, it would be sublimated into a powerful weapon. Overgeared Skeleton One would be able to respond to most attacks with his unstoppable dynamic vision. Unless it was a legend or a transcendent, it would be difficult to inflict a fatal injury on Overgeared Skeleton One.
‘Even his intelligence has increased tremendously.’
3,000 intelligence—it was obtained by absorbing the body of Zikfrector, who could use the ‘rune language,’ but it was safe to say that Overgeared Skeleton One was more like a magician than a death knight.
‘He overwhelms Overwhelming Two just based on the total of stats.’
A death knight was also a knight. A knight represented a balanced class, and the biggest strength of a balanced class lay in the total stats. Unlike other classes with distinct strengths and weaknesses, they showed equal strength. The disadvantage was that there was no obvious advantage. However, Overgeared Skeleton One could use the rune language, so this disadvantage disappeared.
[Understanding and Utilization of Ancient Languages Lv. 5 (Unable to accumulate proficiency)]
[Understand and utilize seven runes.
It can be combined into a total of 19 words. The meaning of each word becomes a phenomenon.
Skill Mana Cost: 6,500 for each rune. It is 23,000 per word. The consumption will double every time the number of words increases.
Skill Cooldown Time: 10 minutes per rune.
* Sentences can’t be implemented at this stage.]
‘…I will need to use items to raise his mana.’
Grid had thought this amount of intelligence was high, but it wasn’t necessarily the case. The mana requirement for the skill was too large.
‘It is okay.’
The biggest weakness of a death knight was its low intelligence and susceptibility to divine power. However, this didn’t apply to Overgeared Skeleton One. The basic intelligence was high and divine power resistance could be raised by items. It was impossible to point out that it was a weakness just because a large amount of resources was consumed when using the runes.
‘Basically, it is correct to interpret it as a death knight with no weaknesses, who even has a weapon called the rune language.’
Above all, there was the most important fact. The rune language wasn’t all that Overgeared Skeleton One obtained by taking Zikfrector’s body. It was a time when Zik was Zikfrector. He used to be called the grandmaster. In addition to the runes, it had the strength of being versatile.
[All Mastery (Mastered)]
[Passive
Deals with all weapons in the realm of a master.
Based on the knowledge accumulated through various studies, you can speak all existing languages and easily learn anything.
★There is a probability of learning the skills you have experienced. It is up to 10 times. Give priority to acquiring high rated skills first. If the skill slot is full, throw away skills that are less frequently used.]
This was a strength that Zikfrector hadn’t shown. There was no chance for him to use it due to the Curse of Sloth. Meanwhile, Overgeared Skeleton One didn’t have the curse. Overgeared Skeleton One had inherited the abilities, not the curse, from Zikfrector.
‘One thing is for certain.’
The potential of Overgeared Skeleton One was endless. All Mastery was a skill comparable to Overgeared Skeleton Two’s Space Distortion. It wasn’t exaggerated to describe it as a power.
Clack clack clack!
Overgeared Skeleton Two had been free since becoming a lich. The potential of Overgeared Skeleton One was proven by the fact that the existence who had the right to freely enter and exit Latina’s Necklace emerged and knocked on the back of Overgeared Skeleton One’s head. Overgeared Skeleton Two felt a sense of crisis…
[This is a place where the king is watching… keep your dignity.] Overgeared Skeleton One spoke in a heavy voice.
There was a greater sense of weight because he had the appearance of a person, not a skeleton. That’s right. Looking at the appearance, it was impossible to tell if Overgeared Skeleton One was undead or human.
Clack! Clack clack clack!
Overgeared Skeleton Two danced with its chin colliding. It shook its waist from side to side in a manner that went beyond cuteness to being frivolous. It could speak the human language, but the reason it didn’t speak to Overgeared Skeleton One was to let it know they were dead.
Overgeared Skeleton One snorted.
[Communication doesn’t work. It is worthy of the being whose brain has become rotten and disappeared.]
[……]
Overgeared Skeleton Two stiffened like a stone statue. Seeing the dark eyeballs shaking, it seemed like it was going to shed tears.
[Haksen is watching the competition between the undead with interest. It is testament to the fact that intelligence is the cause of all conflicts. He hopes that foolish pacifists will witness this scene.]
[Filewolf is dreaming of becoming one with a magic machine.]
“…Let’s go.”
It was a world with few normal people. In particular, the higher the status, the more twisted people became. Coincidentally, it was the same for the souls of the ancient legends. It was because they had the experience of living in the world as they pleased. There was nothing rough, so their personality was bound to be wayward.
‘Please, let the last apostle be…’
A normal person like me.
Grid left the smithy while eagerly praying. The destination was Grenier. It was a mountainous region that was the home to the recluse, and was one of Satisfy’s most prohibited areas. Countless legends and myths were buried there. It was also the place where Tzudan wrote the ‘Legend of Five Steps’ and met his end.
***
The strong had iron rules to follow.
Don’t lose.
The reputation of winning over and over again was the evidence of the strong.
White and Black realized this fact somewhat late. They experienced consecutive victories, only to encounter a wall called Grid as an enemy. Every time they suffered a defeat, the reputation of the Black and White sisters plummeted. The small fries they never even heard of criticized them and challenged them. At that time, there was still a lack of awareness that Grid was the supreme one.
In any case, after that—
“Are you crazy…?”
Black and White—the sisters avoided defeat as much as possible. For example, they didn’t challenge relatively strong people like the Overgeared members. It meant they had grasped who they were up against. Therefore—
Tremble tremble.
The sisters had enough insight to recognize the strong. It was a type of survival instinct accumulated in the process of trying to maintain their reputation. At this moment, this instinct went crazy. The cause was the Overgeared Skeletons on Grid’s left and right sides.
Overgeared Skeleton One and Overgeared Skeleton Two—they were those with names that didn’t harmonize with their forceful appearance. Overgeared Skeleton Two was very familiar due to its active appearance in the Behen Archipelago. Wasn’t this the monstrous lich who tied up Beleth’s feet?
However, Overgeared Skeleton One was unfamiliar. He was a skeleton when they saw him on TV in the past, but now he had become a handsome man. He had shining red eyes and a frosty expression. Additionally, the black magic power covering his body… overall, the energy of death provoked great fear. It was truly terrifying.
It was crazy from the perspective of the sisters.
Items…
They wanted to ask when they would receive their items, but they didn’t have the confidence to talk at all. The moment they got closer to Grid, it felt like their heads were going to be cut off. It was such a huge terror.
“What is it?” Grid wondered as he came out of the smithy and found the White and Black sisters. “You should still be taking part in the war.”
The White and Black sisters were a very important combat force on the battlefield. They were classified as named rankers. Infamy could only be accumulated when they had the skill.
They had a strength that belonged to the high rankers, apart from the Overgeared members.
“T…that…” Black lowered her gaze and spoke with a white face. She tried to express the reason for their visit. This was a reflexive response. She was crushed by Grid’s dignity and was forced to be honest.
White covered Black’s mouth. Unlike her sister, White was a person with a flexible side. “W-We came back briefly because we needed supplies! We will go back to the battlefield soon!”
“There are enough supplies on the field,” Grid answered. He had no intention of questioning the sisters. The sisters might’ve cooperated for the sake of items, but in the end, they were all comrades. Rather, their intention was explicit, so he trusted them. They were also a great help. He didn’t want to treat them badly.
Meanwhile, the sisters didn’t know Grid’s heart. They only paid attention to his low voice and sharp eyes that looked like a bird of prey.
“Hihihik! I-Item! An item is about to be destroyed…”
White quickly thought of an excuse. She exclaimed as she recalled that the durability of her secondary weapon, which she had not used often these days, was low.
‘All the blacksmiths on the battlefield are players.’
Except for a few people, their level wasn’t very high. Rankers on the level of White would be reluctant to entrust valuable items to them. Grid was convinced and approached with goodwill. “Give it to me.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll repair it.”
“Ah, y-yes…”
White pulled out the item. It was a pair of unique rated gauntlets. The level restriction was only 350, so it had been a long time since she used it. It was just ambiguous to sell it because there was a limit to the number of uses of the skills attached to it. The performance was excellent compared to items of the same level, but after consuming all the item’s attached skills, it became meaningless.
“Hmm…” Grid checked the details of the gauntlets before standing in front of the furnace. It was the super large furnace that had regained its smooth appearance thanks to the recent repairs made by Ke ong and the architects. The Overgeared Skeletons used their blacksmithing skills and the temperature of the furnace soared sharply. In the meantime, Grid was learning how to make the gauntlets by disassembling them.
“……??”
The Black and White sisters were in turmoil. It was strange to see Overgeared Skeleton One and Overgeared Skeleton Two using the bellows. Why were these ignorant monsters using the bellows? Additionally, why was Grid breaking down the gauntlets?
‘As expected, he is angry! It is a warning to us! A warning!’
They wouldn’t leave the battlefield again…
As the sisters watched, Grid threw the gauntlets into the furnace. The scene of the gauntlets melting in the flames and being pulled out as molten liquid seemed to hint at the future of the sisters.
The pale-faced sisters’ thoughts came to a stop.
“Here.” Grid handed White the remade gauntlets. It was made in just a few minutes through auto production. Nevertheless, it was better than the original. It was an inevitable result. The Overgeared God’s Techniques delivered an item with performance that was better than the design.
“E-Eh…?”
“It is impossible to recharge the number of uses for the attached skills with just repairing. This is why the other blacksmiths couldn’t come forward rashly. Come to me later if you need it again.”
“……”
“I’m going. Work hard.”
“Good… goodbye!”
The sisters stared blankly at the back of the distant Grid and belatedly said goodbye to him. Their smiles were very awkward. It was because they were giving a rare grin with pure intentions.
“…This is better than my main weapon.”
“O-Our graduation photos… it has been widely circulated on the Internet… the bad things we’ve done… Grid knows it all… we were even enemies… I can’t help smiling…”
“Yes… that’s right…”
The sisters who resented the world due to suffering all sorts of discrimination and hardships for being fat and ugly—they became uncontrollably crooked, but today, for the first time in their lives, they liked someone. It was close to respect. The world looked quite different.
