[Low Rank Sprint is now Lv3.]

[Beginner Acid Resistance has evolved to a low rank skill. You can resist acid more effectively, and acid resistance is also applied to your equipment.]

How much longer would he have to roll around in the clearing filled with dirty water? Lee Shin-Woo honestly felt thankful that he was a skeleton with unlimited stamina. Even with the same stats, he would've run out of energy already and gotten squashed if he were human.

"Tch, you're still going?"

[Gureureureu...!]

As a result of its self-destructive attempts to shake off the Flames of Revenge, the Great Slime had reduced to the size of a normal Slime. Although its speed had increased significantly, the accuracy of its charge attacks had dropped as it wasn’t used to its smaller size.

[Gureureureuk!]

"Umph, let’s see."

Now used to its movement, Lee Shin-Woo avoided its attack easily. It slammed into the opposite wall and destroyed it completely. Its charge had certainly become tremendously powerful, but Lee Shin-Woo could now dodge its attack even in his sleep.

"I’m running out of mana. Let's finish this."

[Gureuk...!]

He wouldn’t have been able to persevere until now without his stockpile of bones. He had exhausted all the bones in his inventory and used the last of his mana for Regeneration in order to keep fighting. What's worse, he hadn't been able to repair a portion of his rib bones, and they remained damaged even now. His armor was also worse for wear. The damage had been done before his Acid Resistance reached low rank, and its protection extended to his armor. Nevertheless, what mattered was that he was still alive.

Flames of Revenge.

He thought about pouring all of his mana into the flames, but he hurriedly tamped down the urge and used only half instead. He had left enough for either Regeneration or another attack with Flames of Revenge. If two attacks weren’t enough to take the Great Slime down, he would have to die and come back to life.

[Low Rank Magic Affinity is now Lv3. Magic has increased by 2. Your use of mana is now more efficient.]

The skill level of Magic Affinity had increased a lot, but more importantly, as he fought his way through the dungeon, he found himself entering the realm of fine mana control that was beyond the measure of levels. In fact, his control over mana had exceeded a majority of his seniors, which was truly an amazing feat, but Lee Shin-Woo wasn’t aware of the fact yet.

[Gureureureureureureu!]

The Great Slime roared. It had come to the realization that the flames Lee Shin-Woo used weren’t ordinary, and it would die the next time any of the flames touched it. Therefore, it started to bounce around in unpredictable directions at the top of its speed, which would give anyone motion sickness if they tried to track its movement.

"Ha!"

However, Lee Shin-Woo launched Flames of Revenge without even trying to aim at the Slime. Since it had gotten significantly smaller, the Slime seemed to assume that it would be able to avoid the flames, but Flames of Revenge had never been a skill that could be dodged!

[Ggureureureuk!]

As expected, the Flames of Revenge proceeded to hit the Great Slime with incredible precision at a speed that was neither quick nor slow. With the wind on Lee Shin-Woo’s side, the Slime went up in flames. The Slime had burned slowly when it was huge, but now, its entire body was engulfed instantly.

[Kik... Kihik...]

At that moment, he heard a sound that he hadn't heard before from the Slime. Lee Shin-Woo curled up to brace for its self-destruction, but the explosion never came. Instead, a message popped up.

[You have defeated a Lv3 Great Slime.]

[You have achieved the feat of defeating an elite monster that was at a higher level than you by only using fire. Magic has increased by 5. You have acquired the 'Four Elements: Fire' token. Beginner Flames of Revenge has reached level 10 and evolved into a low rank skill. You can now create stronger flames with less mana, and you can imbue not only your weapons, but also your body with fire.]

His eyes would’ve popped out of the sockets in shock if he weren’t a skeleton. It was astonishing enough that he had acquired his second token in the same dungeon. What was even more shocking was the implication of the message… Lee Shin-Woo looked up carefully. There was no explosion, nor was there a charging attack incoming. He noted that several parts of the room had collapsed due to the Great Slime’s earlier rampages. That was when Lee Shin-Woo spotted the shining sphere in the center of the room. It was a Slime’s Core!

"Ha..."

A prolonged sigh escaped his mouth. It was such a lengthy and intense battle that he had trouble wrapping his head around its conclusion even though all signs pointed to the battle being over. It kind of felt like the day he was discharged from the army. That was how long the battle felt to him.

"But I won."

He wouldn’t say he had defeated the Great Slime because of his battle prowess or anything to that effect. He had been running away and shooting flames rather than making use of his polished combat skills. If this were a novel, the readers would criticize the development for its absurdity. Still, Lee Shin-Woo had won. Regardless of the means necessary, he won. He won without dying. That was enough for him. He was as happy as he could be.

And now was the time for loot! Lee Shin-Woo moved his creaking body and walked over to where the Great Slime lay dead. It had dropped four items: Perium, the Great Slime's core, someone's deteriorated bone, and finally, a large shield.

[You have acquired 11,210 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Great Slime's Bone Core.]

[You have acquired a Skeleton Shielder's deteriorated shoulder bone.]

[You have acquired a Lv2 Bone Tower Shield (+5).]

If this goes well, I won't even need to go to the shop to level up...

Due to his achievement, his stats had risen to a total of 396. He didn't have a way to tell the Skeleton Shielder’s level, but he had a feeling that he would be able to increase his stats by at least 4 with both the piece of bone and the Great Slime’s Bone Core.

"Hoo..."

He started with collecting the Perium. With this deposit, he had collected a total of 71,130 Perium so far. He was truly deeply moved. It seemed like yesterday that he was pondering which 3,000 Perium bone he should buy at the shop, but his total amount of Perium had now skyrocketed over 70,000! He nodded at his inventory with approval before moving on to his next task, which was to put all his equipment into his inventory.

Bone Reinforcement had absorbed all of my equipment when I reached level 2. Since there's a good chance that would happen again...

Of course, Bone Reinforcement was an amazing skill that would not only retain the bonuses granted by the weapons, but enhance the bonuses further during absorption. Still, the defensive and offensive power would be lost in the process. Since the Bone of Thunder Lasting and the Dire Wolf Bone Armor were outstanding in that regard, it would be a waste to sacrifice them in exchange for stat points. Therefore, Lee Shin-Woo had to make some preparations before leveling up.

And…

He removed all the other items from his inventory save for the Bone of Thunder Lasting and the Dire Wolf Armor; the shield he had just acquired included. They were all level 1 or level 2 equipment he received as rewards from the dungeons he had cleared. He had kept them in his inventory since both Bone of Thunder Lasting and Dire Wolf Armor were level 3 equipment, and reinforcing the two with these lower level items was likely to fail. If he were to use them to reinforce himself instead, he believed now was the right time: when he leveled up. He was starting to grasp how things work in this world.

"Hoo, shall we start?"

After putting all the lower level equipment in a pile beside him, he inspected them with delight in his eyes and picked up the Skeleton Shielder’s deteriorated shoulder bone.

"Bone Reinforcement."

[You have reinforced your shoulder bone. Endurance has increased by 3. Absorbing a portion of the Skeleton Shielder's memories and experiences.]

[Gah, this warped, cursed body will ultimately be buried here... General, please forgive me for not being able to return to your side... - Hiles Keller] 

Who the hell are you!? Why the hell are you saying something so profound!? Wait, general? Is it Seagald or Leofield? Or is it a different general I haven’t heard about!? Why are all the generals here so popular!?

"Damn it, guess I’ll remember the name 'Hiles Keller' as well..."

He had only been trying to grow stronger, why must the subplot get in the way in his mindless grinding? He couldn’t help but become curious, but he pushed it aside for now. What was important was his stats had now reached a total of 399 through Bone Reinforcement.

"I'm so scared that I'm shaking."

Lee Shin-Woo checked once again that his equipment was safely stored inside his inventory before he cautiously grabbed the Great Slime's Bone Core. With a sigh, he tightened his grip around the core and initiated Bone Reinforcement.

[The Great Slime's Bone Core reinforces your entire body. Magic has increased by 17. Acquiring a portion of the Great Slime's memories and experiences.]

[Guoooooooooh! Kugeugeugeugeugagagagagaga! - Great Slime]

"..."

The memory rushing into his mind was extremely vivid. It was the last moment of its life, when its entire body burned up, and it self-destructed with its mind completely lost.

"Surely that’s not gonna be the skill I get, right...?"

He had been worried that the Rat Queen would grant him the ability to give birth, but instead, he had acquired Regeneration. It should be the same this time. It had to be. Lee Shin-Woo’s attempt to convince himself was interrupted by the ball of magic hovering above him, seemingly having waited for this moment for a while.

[It is time for you to receive the karma you were endowed.]

[The Lv2 Bone Tower Shield (+5), as well as the other 13 bone equipment, were consumed all at the same time, and Bone Reinforcement has been executed. The effectiveness of reinforcement is halved for equipment a level lower than you.]

"Ugh...!"

It went as expected. He didn't know how, but the moment he leveled up, all the bone equipment in his periphery were drawn to him, and Bone Reinforcement was initiated! Perhaps this was why Bone Reinforcement possessed the power to transform; it was for such a scenario! The equipment flew and changed into small particles. The instant those particles were absorbed, he felt a strong power rising throughout his body, as well as a sense that something was changing.

Perhaps, Lee Shin-Woo thought suddenly, the ultimate goal of Bone Reinforcement is to integrate the strength of bones and bone equipment into my body as one.

It was impossible to come to a conclusion yet. Should he reinforce bone equipment with other bone equipment, or use them all to reinforce himself? It was a question he had yet found the answer to. He couldn’t say for sure which was more effective. He would have to look into it from now on, which might take a long time.

One thing was for certain, though: Lee Shin-Woo still needed the help of powerful equipment at the moment.

[Strength has increased by 11, Agility by 9, Endurance by 13, and Magic by 12. You have learned the active skill, Low Rank Harden Lv1.]

[Bone Reinforcement is now Lv4. You can now target others and use Bone Reinforcement on them.]

Change happened quickly even though he was still pondering the nature of Bone Reinforcement and the optimal direction of its development. All the potential strength within the equipment was extracted, and as a result, his stats increased beyond his wildest imagination; in the process of leveling up, his bones thickened once again and became even more durable. He had grown considerably as well until he was almost 1.9m tall. His bones were even more saturated with darkness now, and anyone would say his bones were black if they saw him. Last but not least, the memories and experiences he had acquired bore fruit after they were sorted and organized.

[Low Rank Sprint has evolved into Combat Sprint. The level remains the same. In exchange for the skill duration shortening, it can be used in tandem with an attack skill to amplify it. Agility has increased by 5.]

[You have acquired the active skill, Low Rank Self-Destruct Lv1. By detonating a part or the entirety of your body, you inflict tremendous damage to all your enemies in the surrounding area. You also take a significant amount of damage. Endurance and Magic have increased by 3.]

Combat Sprint probably came from the shielder. The skill had changed in a way that better suited him, so he couldn’t be more pleased with its evolution. Unfortunately, he had gained Self-Destruct rather than something useful like Regeneration… Lee Shin-Woo decided to put that aside for now. After all, there was something much more important that he had to do right now. A change much greater than any skill... a level up.

[You have become level 3. The effectiveness of your stats increases. Your proficiency in combat related skills, with the addition of a bonus attribute, increases. The number of boxes in your inventory increases by 20.]

[Due to the feats you have achieved, your species changes. You have become a Dark Skeleton. You are more aggressive and handle magic superbly, but you are extremely vulnerable to divine power. However, you have been blessed by God, so this weakness is nullified.]

[Resistances that lay dormant have been revealed.]

Now that his level-up was complete according to the message, Lee Shin-Woo calmed himself down and checked his body.

"A Dark Skeleton, huh?" he muttered.

A Skeleton Avenger and a Skeleton Warrior were similar to the different classes in video games. This time, however, it was his species that had changed. His bones were now all black, and there was a stronger air of menace around him. He could tell that his strength and magic had grown exponentially as well. With his current strength, he had a feeling that he might be able to face the Great Slime head-on.

However, my bones have turned black. Will I be able to properly fool the other skeletons from now on...?

Truly a concern befitting a hero. Lee Shin-Woo smiled slightly. He could keenly feel how much more powerful his body had become, so it wasn’t difficult for him to push his uneasiness and concern completely aside for the moment.

"Hoo... then."

There was something he needed to check first. Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t help but shake even though he knew what to expect. He didn’t really understand why. With a wry smile, he called up his status.