Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 30. Hero Hunter - 2>

Although he hadn't killed him intentionally, he still ended up killing him, so he couldn't not pick up the loot. Rem flew quickly, picking up the loot for him.

He had roughly expected this. The undead hero hadn't dropped any artifacts and only left behind a tailbone. Lee Shin Woo assumed the undead hero had received a skill from God, rather than an artifact.

[Lv6 Selleil Von Basti's tailbone]

"But why is it a tailbone?"

"The body deteriorated, but the tailbone remained intact, so 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 has become Lv8 and Magic has increased by 15. Intermediate Fire Resistance has become 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, his hypothesis (which he'd said as a joke) had 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 fused into Mana Acceleration to suit me.'

Mana Acceleration was a truly simple skill. It allowed the individual to manipulate mana far faster than what was originally possible for them. What happens when mana moves quickly? Everything created with mana accelerates. If the quick and powerful lightning element were to be accelerated by Mana Acceleration, then it would be like giving wings to a tiger.

It was a ridiculous skill that was born from the fusion of the two skills: High Speed Casting and Chantless Casting. It felt like he'd found a treasure in an unexpected place.

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

The fact that Mana Acceleration didn't fuse with Mana Bone and became an innate skill meant that this skill was incredibly powerful. With 1 or 2 level ups, the Mana Bone skill would impart an inexplicably large amount of 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 it feels like that breeze is even faster."

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

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

However, he soon smiled bitterly and stopped that train of thought. It wasn't because of Shino Rendu's heartfelt thanks. It really wasn't!

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

"As I thought, you killed it by accident."

Jin was like 'of course that's what happened', sighed, and ran even faster, so that they would avoid Ethan Cruz's party, or get in a random fight, or to just 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 undead heroes left in the level 3 danger zone, and four in the level 4 danger zone. There were a total of nine undead heroes left.

"It'd be great if we could get half of them."

"That undead magician 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 magician 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 afar, 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 as soon as he saw it (with Acting and Instigate activated), it opened its mouth wide open and shot a icy breath at them, expressing its clear refusal. Seeing that, Jin grit his teeth.

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

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

While thinking that Kratia would be ecstatic if she could see this guy shooting cold air, he gripped the Bifurcated Snake Spine in one hand. It not only helped with his magical calculations, but it also possessed the Elemental Reversal ability, which was great for blocking his opponent's elemental attack!

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

[Kurwaaah!?]

He raised the staff, sucked in the freezing breath, and spewed out fire! The breath 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 and suffered, but finally revealed its true form!

[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, on top of 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 its strike, and at that moment it shot out an even more powerful frost breath. Lee Shin Woo hurriedly turned his staff, absorbed the cold air, and grumbled as he shot out fire.

"Damn it. I don't know if that senior was a Lizardman or a Draconian, but if I want it to remember its species' pride, then what direction should I go in?"

"Is that really important right now? Say anything!"

[Kurwararara!]

He'd persuaded several undead and made several monsters go crazy, but he'd never convinced an undead hero, who was in the middle of the two!

Lee Shin Woo accepted that his Acting skill 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 consecutively recited lines that would work on several species and spoke strongly as the undead hero attacked him.

He estimated that his opponent was level 6, so if he used too much strength, the fight would end instantly. So long as it were possible, he would continue to stimulate it while holding back so he wouldn't kill it...

[Kuhaahk! Kurwararararararararara!]

"Man, I'm so screwed."

As expected, he hadn't properly controlled his strength. The undead hero couldn't withstand the Bifurcated Snake Spine's flames and once again shed its skin.

Around that time, Lee Shin Woo became sure that it was part of the "Freiza race". Once it had completed its final transformation, then it would become much smaller and would have much greater destructive force!

[Kii... Kihiiaaaaaaaah!]

It shed its skin once more, and out came a four meter tall lizard. However, the pale blue scales covering its body were only halfway rotten.

Did its insides not completely rot as it had so much skin on the outside? If that's the case, then 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, and counterattacking didn't work either, so what should he do? Did he just have to 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 option. The staff that had once been in his hand changed into a sword, and then he gazed forward.

[Kururarara!]

It covered its body in ice armor and charged. It was so much stronger than it was at the beginning. It seemed as though its mana had strengthened as well, as the path it tread froze.

"Sorry!"

[Kahk!]

However, 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. Then, the undead hero split into two pieces and fell to the floor. If Lee Shin Woo had just reached level 6, then it would've been a great victory, 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 the Invisible Heart skill 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 the 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!"

"Be remorseful or happy. Choose one."

Lee Shin Woo was briefly remorseful, but after that, he absorbed the skull to acquire the information held within. As he'd roughly expected, his Ice Element and Ice Resistance leveled up sharply, and because of that, his magic and health increased as well.

"You absorb the Ice Skin."

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

"To think you can't understand my pure wishes 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, which was the jackpot.

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

[The information for 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 Bone Armory's information is being extensively updated.]

He'd gotten one step closer to collecting all of the various elements for his equipment (which he'd forgotten about)! Lee Shin Woo imagined himself changing the elements of his equipment as he swapped out his equipment, and grinned. Seeing that, Jin's goblin fire blazed coldly, and he muttered.

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