While he didn’t intend to do that, Lee Shin-Woo had killed the undead hero. He wasn’t going to not pick up the loot just because it was an accident. Before he could do that, Rem quickly flew over and did it for him.

As expected, the undead hero hadn't dropped any artifacts and left behind only a tailbone. Lee Shin-Woo assumed the undead hero had received a skill from the goddess based on that.

[Lv6 Selleil Von Basti's tailbone]

"But why is it a tailbone?" Jin asked.

Lee Shin-Woo shrugged. "The body deteriorated, but the tailbone remained intact; it should give me an ability."

"So each bone differs based on the part...!"

"Yeah, I was lying."

"You rascal!"

[Consuming Lv6 Selleil Von Basti's tailbone to execute Bone Reinforcement. Magic has increased by 8. Intermediate Fire is now Lv8, and Magic has increased by 15. Intermediate Fire Resistance is now Lv7, and Magic has increased by 20. You have acquired the special passive skill, Mana Acceleration Lv1. Magic has increased by 20.]

[High Speed Casting and Chantless Casting... With these abilities, I may be able to reach the pinnacle of magic! - Selleil Von Basti]

But once he'd actually absorbed the bone, the hypothesis he’d proposed in jest turned out to be correct. Originally, the bone held two abilities: High Speed Casting, which sped up the activation of his spells, and Chantless Casting, which either reduced the incantation or removed it completely!

And the two abilities are fused into Mana Acceleration to suit me.

The way Mana Acceleration worked was simple: It allowed the individual to manipulate mana far faster than what was originally possible for them. What happened when mana moved quickly? Everything created with mana accelerated, of course. If the quick and powerful lightning element were to be accelerated by Mana Acceleration, it would be like giving wings to a tiger.

It was a ridiculous skill born out of the fusion of two skills: High Speed Casting and Chantless Casting. Lee Shin-Woo had hit the jackpot in an unexpected place.

The higher leveled Mana Bone is, the faster the mana I control becomes. That's why I thought I should focus on developing Mana Bone rather than gaining a new skill.

The fact that Mana Acceleration didn't fuse with Mana Bone and instead became an innate skill should prove its greatness. Having Mana Bone level up once or twice wouldn’t have impart such a unique power.

"Shin-Woo, it feels like your mana circulation has sped up. It used to feel like you had a gentle breeze around you, but now the breeze seems faster."

"Mana Acceleration improves my mana circulation, recovery rate, and activation speed. With this skill, I may make some headway in combining Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint. It'd be easy to fuse Shadow Horn with other skills as well...!"

Lee Shin-Woo was conflicted. To think he'd gain such a great skill. Wouldn't it be better if he just killed any undead hero he came across?

However, he soon stopped himself from following that train of thought with a wry smile. It had nothing to do with Shino Rendu's heartfelt thanks. Absolutely nothing!

"Anyway, I'll hit the next one as weakly as I can and try to persuade it."

"I knew you killed this one by accident!"

Jin sighed like he was no longer surprised by anything that happened with Lee Shin-Woo and got into an even faster gallop to avoid Ethan Cruz’s party—and any unnecessary fight for that matter. They were just going to put the nearest undead heroes to rest and give them salvation.

Aside from the eight undead heroes under Ethan Cruz's control, there were five left in the level 3 danger zone and four in the level 4 danger zone. That made a total of nine.

"It'd be great if we could get half of them," Lee Shin-Woo said.

"That undead mage might've been waiting for you to initiate a conversation."

"Hey, stop making me feel even guiltier."

Lee Shin-Woo paid a silent tribute to the undead mage from atop Jin's back. He hoped that his senior's liberated soul would be happy in his next life!

Of course, persuading an undead hero wouldn't become any easier just because one was determined.

[Kurwaaaaaaah!]

"What kind of human makes that kind of sound...!?"

[Kuhaaaah!]

Lee Shin-Woo had shown he wasn't hostile from a distance so that he could convince the next undead hero, but once the undead hero noticed them approach, it charged, and Lee Shin-Woo could tell that it clearly had no intellect left.

"Keut... Listen to me! You're forgetting who you are! You're a hero, aren't you!?"

[Kurwaaaaaa!]

Despite Lee Shin-Woo ardently shouting at the undead hero—with Acting and Instigate activated—it opened its mouth wide and shot an icy breath at them, expressing its clear refusal. Seeing that, Jin gritted his teeth.

"Keuk, he has a skill like mine..."

"Don't get competitive over useless stuff like this."

Kratia would be ecstatic if she could see this guy shooting cold air, Lee Shin-Woo thought as he gripped the Bifurcated Snake Spine in one hand. Not only did it help with his magical calculations, its Elemental Reversal was also great for blocking his opponent's elemental attack!

The whip had been updated continuously in the Bone Armory, and compared to when it was first absorbed, its attack power was more than 100 points higher. Its Elemental Reversal had gotten even stronger as well.

[Kurwaaah!?]

He raised the staff to absorb the freezing breath before unleashing it as fire! The part that the staff couldn't absorb was negated by the fire, while the fire was reinforced by the staff. The undead hero was swept up by the flames. Finally, it revealed its true form in its suffering!

[Kuhaaaaaaah!]

"H-Huh...?"

It shed the rotten human skin and threw it aside. Out came a rotten lizard's head, covered in pale blue scales and attached to a human body. Of course, it was still undead!

[Kurwaah!]

Once it discarded its skin, it wrapped its fists in cold air and attacked. Jin dodged out of the way, and at that moment, it shot out an even more powerful frost breath. Lee Shin-Woo hurriedly turned to absorb the cold air with the staff and grumbled as he shot out fire.

"Damn it. I don't know if that senior was a Lizardman or a Draconian. How should I remind it of its species’ pride?"

"Is that really important right now? Just say something!"

[Kurwararara!]

Lee Shin-Woo had persuaded several undead and made several monsters go crazy, but he'd never convinced an undead hero outside of Shino Rendu, which was a task that lay in the middle of the spectrum!

Lee Shin-Woo accepted that his Acting was still not up to par. He should've studied other species beforehand, starting with the elves!

"Remember your pride. Who's your enemy!? Why did you become a hero!?"

Lee Shin-Woo threw lines after lines that should work for several species, intoning his words strongly as the undead hero attacked him.

By his estimation, his opponent was level 6; the fight would meet a premature end if he so much as put a little more force into his attacks. As long as it was possible, he would keep probing the undead hero while holding back so as to not kill it…

[Kuhaahk! Kurwararararararararara!]

"Man, I'm so screwed."

Again, Lee Shin-Woo hadn't properly controlled his strength. The undead hero couldn't withstand the Bifurcated Snake Spine's flames and once again shed its skin.

It was then Lee Shin-Woo became certain that the undead hero was a member of the Freiza race. Once it had completed its final transformation, it would become much smaller and more destructive!

[Kii... Kihiiaaaaaaaah!]

It shed its skin once more, and out came a four-meter-tall lizard. The pale blue scales covering its body were now only half rotten.

Did its insides not completely rot as it had so much skin on the outside? If that's the case, there might still be a chance that it hasn't transformed into an undead...!

[Kihiii! Kuooooh!]

"It's just a monster now. Shin-Woo... There's nothing you can do. You have to kill it."

"Keuk..."

Attacking first didn't work, neither did counterattacking. What should he do? Did he just scream and take its attacks? That would obviously be dangerous for him even if he was level 7.

"Tch."

Lee Shin-Woo clicked his tongue and activated Bone Armory's new function. The staff that had once been in his hand changed into a sword. He shifted his gaze to the undead before him.

[Kururarara!]

It covered its body in ice armor and charged. It was so much stronger than it was at the beginning. Judging by the way the path it tread froze over, its mana seemed to have gotten stronger as well.

"Sorry!"

[Kahk!]

Lee Shin-Woo forcefully swung his sword, and a small streak of lightning followed. It passed through its head, down its back, and all the way to its tail. The undead hero split into two and fell to the ground. If Lee Shin-Woo had just reached level 6, the victory would've been a great achievement, but not now.

[You have acquired two Secret Shop permits and 11,432,860 Perium.]

[You have given peace to a comrade who walked a path he could not return from. You have partially cleared the quest objectives, and you have acquired 1 Secret Shop permit. The maximum level of Invisible Heart has increased by 1.]

"This ain't easy."

Lee Shin-Woo withdrew his sword and smiled bitterly. He may have become too confident after he'd made Shino Rendu his subordinate. There were so many variables that came into play when dealing with undead, and he had been careless...

[You have acquired Lv6 Suita In Pisek's skull.]

[You have acquired Lv6 Suita In Pisek's Ice Skin.]

[You have acquired the Lv4 Ancient Lizard Leather Clothes. Bone Reinforcement has transformed it into the Lv4 Glacier Lizard Skin Armor (+5).]

"Oh, it dropped two bones!" Lee Shin-Woo crowed.

"Be remorseful or happy. Choose one."

Lee Shin-Woo’s remorse was quickly replaced by excitement. He then absorbed the skull to acquire the information held within. As expected, his Ice Element and Ice Resistance leveled up sharply, and because of that, his magic and endurance increased as well.

"You absorb the Ice Skin," Lee Shin-Woo said.

"I know what you're thinking, but that won’t make me grow any skin."

"Don’t you understand my pure wish of wanting my partner to grow..."

"You can't fool me anymore."

Lee Shin-Woo reinforced Jin, allowing him to absorb the Ice Skin. Just like he'd wanted, Jin gained Intermediate Ice Resistance. That wasn't all; it seemed like he gained some proficiency in Steel Heart as well. Finally, Lee Shin-Woo absorbed the Skin Armor himself, which turned out to be the real jackpot.

[The Lv4 Glacier Lizard Skin Armor (+5) is being absorbed through Bone Reinforcement. Endurance has increased by 7, and Magic by 8. Intermediate Ice Resistance is now Lv7, and Magic has increased by an additional 5.]

[The data of the Lv4 Glacier Lizard Skin Armor (+5) is being recorded in the Bone Armory. Your armor can now be changed into scale armor, and additionally, the Lv4 Ice Element can be applied to all equipment in the Bone Armory! The data stored in the Bone Armory is being extensively updated.]

He'd gotten one step closer to collecting all elements for his equipment, which was something he'd forgotten about until now! Lee Shin-Woo imagined himself changing the elements of his equipment as he swapped them, and a grin split his skull open. Seeing that, Jin's goblin fire blazed coldly as he muttered.

"This guy is going to kill all of them, isn't he...?"