"I'll go bring my horse over. Stay here. I’ll be right back."

Lee Shin-Woo firmly declared after the three of them somehow cleared the twenty-first training exercise.

How hard must the training be for even Kratia to be out of breath and on her hands and knees? Meanwhile, Prince lay prone on the floor like Yamcha after he had gotten hit by Saibaman's suicide attack. It seemed like she didn’t even have the energy to keep up appearances.

"Huuu... Huh?" Yamcha... No, Prince looked up with difficulty. "Wouldn't it...be dangerous to bring your horse?"

"Kratia takes care of all the training exercise objectives, and I can't leave my horse out of battle."

"...Is it that amazing?"

"Of course." He nodded and looked up at the building in front of them. That was the twenty-second training facility. "I have a feeling this would be the last facility. I'd like to finish it with my horse."

"Really!? That's the last one!?"

"Yeah," Kratia confirmed, sitting up after finally catching her breath.

Even during their non-stop fighting over the past two days, Kratia had been busy calculating the facility’s magic composition; the effort must have dropped her blood sugar to a level that she needed replenishment. She ate an appetizing grape as she continued to explain.

"That's the last one. Once we clear it...we can figure out everything there is to know about this facility. We can also get what Shin-Woo wants."

"Hoo... Anyway, it feels like I'll reach level 7 soon,” Prince boasted. “I'll participate and be the MVP again."

"Shin-Woo, go ahead."

"Alright."

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

Ignoring all the things coming out of Prince's pretty lips, Lee Shin-Woo retraced his steps. The last thing he saw before he departed was Kratia waving at him and passing grapes to Prince.

"Hey!"

[Master.]

"Huh!?"

Surprisingly, Lee Shin-Woo didn't need to go back very far. During the ten days it had taken for Lee Shin-Woo to clear up to the twenty-first facility, Jin and Rem had reached the tenth facility. Lee Shin-Woo was quite surprised when he saw Jin, who was stretching outside a facility.

"Did you get a bit better at controlling mana?"

"I got good at dumping anything I couldn't do onto the Golem!"

[I have carried out your order, Master.]

Jin’s quip was one thing; if he hadn’t actually put in the effort, they would never have gotten this far. Jin must have gotten more out of the facility than me, Lee Shin-Woo suddenly thought.

"Jin, I brought you something to congratulate you."

"Fire me. I've done enough."

"Aren’t the bones lovely?"

"Go away. I don't want any!"

"There aren't that many elite bones, so bear with it!"

Lee Shin-Woo had prepared 50,000 level 6 bones for Jin! There were tens of thousands more where they came from, but those that were too similar to what they had absorbed wouldn't really help either Lee Shin-Woo or Jin. Therefore, he decided to save them for now, and was thinking of giving them to the Pauls later.

"Absorbing 50,000 is impossible for me. I can’t take them all. I'll die."

"You can do it. Believe in you who believe in yourself!"

Lee Shin-Woo grabbed Jin, who had gone pale and was trying to escape. Immediately, he executed Bone Reinforcement, and after absorbing ten bones and getting a single point increase to his endurance, Jin tilted his head and made a sound of confusion.

"Huh, It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Your mind's just gotten that much stronger."

"That sounds like a load of crap, but... Phew. Go ahead. I'll do it until I can't anymore, so keep going."

"Alright. Let's go a bit faster."

Since Lee Shin-Woo had used Bone Reinforcement so many times, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a master of the particular craft. He took Jin's condition into consideration and maintained an optimal speed, repeatedly consuming bones and reinforcing Jin!

Jin gritted his teeth at the unending waves of memories coming into his mind, thinking back to the arduous ten days he had spent in the training facilities to endure. In a way, Lee Shin-Woo was right. His willpower had improved thanks to the struggle he went through!

...Hoo, it reminds me of my early days as an athlete.

Back then, all Jin had was anger and tenacity; he broke into a smile without realizing as he remembered his past. His smile deepened even further when he looked over at Lee Shin-Woo, who was controlling the rate of Bone Reinforcement so that he could absorb as many bones as possible.

Three hours passed like that. Jin called it quits after he had absorbed about 30,000 bones. He said he couldn’t do more, and that he had tried really hard compared to normal.

"I really can't absorb another bone. Save it for next time. My stats have already increased by 700, you know!"

"I'm above 6,200 now. I had been wondering when I would reach level 7, but now I'm getting close."

"Already!? It hasn't been very long since you got to level 6! Hey, even after being reinforced, my stats are only a bit higher than 4,500...!"

There had been a gap between them, and that gap had become decidedly wider over the past ten days. To make Jin feel even worse, Lee Shin-Woo had just used Bone Reinforcement on him with such a large quantity of bones! So many bones that ‘a large quantity’ didn’t even seem like an apt descriptor!

Lee Shin-Woo snorted. "The amount of stats you gain from leveling up high rank skills is, apparently, no joke. Especially my mana-controlling skill; when it leveled up to high rank, it increased my magic by 200 all at once."

"200..."

Plus, the four titles Lee Shin-Woo gained after surpassing 1,000 in each stat—'One Loved by Mana' for magic, 'He Who Dreams of Giants' for strength, 'He Who Follows the Wind' for agility, and 'He Who Resembles Stone' for endurance—increased his overall stats gain.

Whenever he gained a title, his body would go through a curious transformation. Now that he had acquired all four titles, he felt like he was in a completely different class than before. That difference would likely become greater as he raised his level and stats.

Where am I heading exactly? Am I going in the right direction?

Would his Joker karma, which fooled his own nature stats-wise and allowed him to acquire all four titles, have the answer? Lee Shin-Woo thought about the subject absentmindedly. Jin softly bit his arm and pulled him out of his thoughts. Jin had removed his armor, and his glowing goblin fire blazed strongly.

"Yeah?"

"Do the rest of the bones."

"...Are you going to be okay?"

Lee Shin-Woo usually ignored Jin's feigned cries of pain, but he was well aware that Bone Reinforcement wasn't always safe.

If one was to recklessly accept another's memories and experiences, they might not lose their identity, but it was always possible that they would be damaged mentally.

"It's okay. Right now, I can take even double that number."

"Really...? I’m not gonna turn you down..."

Jin was able to absorb all of his share of bones right then and there.

His stats increased by an additional 400, pushing the total stat gain to 1,100. It was only possible because of Lee Shin-Woo's skill, Bone Reinforcement, plus all the bones the facility dropped, and Jin's own skill that tripled the growth rate of his agility.

"You don't have any more?"

"Jin, are you really okay?"

Jin couldn't be happier that Lee Shin-Woo was worried about him. However, he really was fine. It was an issue of character. Ultimately, they were just memories from the deceased, so all he needed to do was pick what he needed and learn it!

He was able to think that way now. Jin believed he needed to do at least this much to keep up with Lee Shin-Woo, and both his mind and body were strengthened in the process. It really is amazing what one’s will can do, he suddenly thought.

"I'm completely fine."

"Really? Then I have a level 7 elite bone that I thought would fit you perfectly..."

"..."

However, Lee Shin-Woo had exceeded his expectations again. How did he get hold of a level 7 elite bone when one couldn’t even be found in the Secret Shop!? Are there such monstrous bastards in the later facilities!? Jin would’ve turned ghastly pale, but he kept his knee-jerk reaction from Lee Shin-Woo.

"...It's fine. You're going to cut the burdensome parts out anyway, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Good, then c'mon."

"I'm really going to do it, okay?"

Jin had felt his mind momentarily gone all blank when he absorbed the level 7 Treasure Eater's bone, but things would be different this time. He felt like he could both endure the pain and absorb the memories and experiences better.

[Consuming the Lv7 Metal Ape Chimera's rib bone to execute Bone Reinforcement on Jin Taylor. Endurance has increased by 10. Proficiency in Rule of Bone has increased by 5%.]

[Kureureu! Kuhik, Kuiiiiiiiiiii! (Hiya~! I can turn my entire arm into steel!) - Metal Ape Chimera]

...Perhaps his confidence is misguided. Immediately, Jin dropped to the floor and rolled around, regretting his decision.

"How is it? Did Steel Heart level up?"

"Level up... It did a lot, but... Kuuuuuuuu."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm alright...!"

Jin said he was alright even while he writhed on the floor. His head seemed to be hurting really badly, but it was a relief that there weren't any serious problems. Noting Jin’s distress, Lee Shin-Woo approached him, planning to mitigate the onslaught of memories with Assimilation, but he stopped himself when Rem spoke up.

[Master, if there's any extra bone, may I have some as well?]

"Huh?"

[Can you transfer the information and magic within the bone to me with your ability, Master?]

"...Ah."

Lee Shin-Woo finally understood. In the process of becoming his subordinate, Rem had changed and gained a body that was composed fully of bone! Of course, it was somewhat concerning that Rem didn't have a complete ego of his own, but an artificial life form's ego was still an ego.

Moreover, Rem had been so heavily influenced by Lee Shin-Woo that he could share a portion of his Joker karma with it. Maybe he should've put more care into Rem earlier. It was just that he had never used Bone Reinforcement on a Golem before.

Now that I think about it, wouldn’t the Erems also...

They were called Emerald 'Bone' Golems, so Bone Reinforcement should work on them as well. With their ability to absorb a large quantity of darkness mana to facilitate growth, if Bone Reinforcement worked on them...

[Master?]

"It's nothing. I'll do it. I should probably worry about you first."

Prioritizing Rem's reinforcement was the right call, as the Erems were doing their own thing and gathering experience elsewhere, while Rem was right beside him. In particular, Lee Shin-Woo wondered how much stronger its Mana Parasite would become once it reached level 7.

[Executing Bone Reinforcement on Rem by consuming the Lv6 Jungle Mantis' outer shell.]

As expected, Rem fit within the parameters of Bone Reinforcement. As soon as the skill activated, gloomy mana radiated from Rem's entire body. The reinforcement seemed to be quite effective.

"How was it?"

[...Impressive, Master.]

Rem replied after a brief pause.

[By storing information on other organisms, I believe Mana Parasite will grow even further.]

"Ooh, really...?"

[That's correct.]

That spurred Lee Shin-Woo to think more about the potential of Mana Parasite, and he tilted his head in bemusement. As if reading his thoughts, Rem confirmed his speculation.

[If I gather enough data to completely understand an individual, then...I should be able to use Mana Parasite on something other than a Golem.]

Lee Shin-Woo would break into cold sweat if it were physically possible for him. But since the possibility hadn’t even become reality, he firmly pushed the thought aside and moved on.