Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 19. Clean Up - 1>

Bone Armory's potential was as limitless as Rule of Bone. Even if the level of the equipment was low, he could use the information from other pieces of equipment to reinforce the low leveled ones. Like what happened to his level 3 armor, which leveled up due to the Acid Skull Helm.

"In other words, the diversity of the equipment is as important as the level. Since I can combine that countless information and create something that fits the situation."

"You're an alchemist..."

"As I thought, the one thing my bone skills have in common is that they're all fraudulent skills!"

Most level 3 equipment had stats attached to them. Of course, absorbing bone equipment was like absorbing bones; the more bone equipment of a similar type he absorbed, the less effective it would be. However, that wasn't the case right now.

He watched the reborn level 4 Pauls examine themselves and decided to visit the buffet... start his own Bone Reinforcement. First up was the bone staff, the Bifurcated Snake Spine which helped him impersonate the Corps Commander.

Kratia's eyes lit up at the sight, but Lee Shin Woo calmly ignored her. In any case, she wasn't the one who took him down! If she asked for it as part of her share, then he was prepared to pay for it with Perium. Since he wasn't a thief.

"Then... Bone Reinforcement."

[Absorbing the Lv4 Bifurcated Snake Spine. Magic has increased by 40. The absorbed Bifurcated Snake Spine is affected by the other equipment in the Bone Armory and is buffed.]

The information of the other absorbed equipment in the Bone Armory was applied, and the absorbed information was analyzed and buffed, transforming into a completely new piece of equipment! Lee Shin Woo didn't wait for the result and absorbed the next piece of equipment. This time, it was a level 3 helmet that completely covered his face.

[Absorbing the level 3 Full Skull Helm. Health has increased by 7. The absorbed Full Skull Helm reinforces the Acid Skull Helm's information. You can now summon the Acid Full Skull Helm.]

This time, there wasn't any need for analysis; it immediately transformed. Since the information update only applied to a specific piece of equipment! Moreover, Lee Shin Woo was even more pleased, as it was the outcome he'd expected.

The options weren't updated, but he was now able to summon a helmet that better covered his face and its defense naturally increased. Just this made it worth it to absorb the helmet.

"Is level 3 equipment normally this common?"

"If undead corps of at least 10,000 strong are common in this world, then yeah, they're common."

"Bone Reinforcement! Bone Reinforcement!"

Lee Shin Woo ignored Kratia and Jin, who were watching from behind and talking nonsense, and continued to absorb the weapons.

While some equipment only raised his stats by like 1 health and 1 strength, which was nothing to write home about, other equipment raised his stats by so much that it made him wonder 'is this really ok for a level 3 weapon?', as the stat gain was shocking.

"Bone Reinforcement! ...Hmm, this."

Especially if there was a piece of equipment that was already stored within the Bone Armory that shared a great affinity with the absorbed equipment; in cases like that, the item would change dramatically, becoming greater than he expected. A gold mine amongst these was...

[Absorbing the Lv3 Spine Whip. Strength and Agility have increased by 7. The absorbed Spine Whip is affected by the other equipment in the Bone Armory and is buffed. You can now summon the Lv5 Bifurcated Spine Whip.]

"To think the information of level 3 equipment and level 4 equipment could combine to make a level 5 weapon..."

"You're really rubbing salt in the wound. Since I can't even equip armor, I'm not jealous one bit."

"Show me! Show me the level 5 equipment!"

While Jin seemed uninterested, Kratia's eyes brightened like a little kid. Rather than the effect of the item, she was likely interested in how the two's information mingled together to create a new piece of equipment.

"Fine. Then..."

"Oooh...!"

Lee Shin Woo summoned the Bifurcated Spine Whip for Kratia.

The level 3 Spine Whip possessed a flat grip, and above it, was a 2 meter long, unpleasant human shaped spine. On the other hand, the level 5 Bifurcated Spine Whip had a different grip feel, and the menacing spine split into two, stretching up to three meters with thorns protruding from it; the overall feel was completely different.

"As I thought, a level 5 weapon looks a lot different."

"I-It's really pretty..."

'Perhaps Kratia's feeling really disappointed right now...' Kratia's eyes brightened even more when she looked upon the Bifurcated Spine Whip, causing Lee Shin Woo to inwardly mutter.

[You have 2 level 5 weapons stored inside of the Bone Armory. The Bone Armory skill has become Lv4. Health and Magic have increased by 10. The number of equipment you can summon and maintain at one time has increased to 4.]

"Yes!"

Bone Armory had leveled up, so he could finally summon upper and lower body armor, a helmet, and a weapon as well! He'd suffered for quite a long time since first attaining the Bone Armory skill, but now he finally recovered his fully armed state!

However, this wasn't the end of his happiness. He had alternated between absorbing weapons and armor, and while the pieces of equipment's information he'd lacked was slowly being filled, he apparently fulfilled some sort of condition he wasn't aware of and this message appeared:

[You have completed the Lv4 Acid Bone Full Armor. You can summon the pieces separately, or you can summon it as a single, complete set.]

"Wait, does this mean..."

The moment that message appeared, Lee Shin Woo de-equipped all his equipment, even while he was in disbelief. Jin was shocked and whether or not he yelled wasn't his concern; he immediately summoned the armor again. Seeing that, Jin tilted his head and spoke.

"Huh? Maybe it's because the equipment information was updated, but it feels like the armor has a greater sense of unity than before."

"Your high agility makes you quite sharp. You're right. This has been unified."

The Acid Bone Full Armor was one set. In other words, the three pieces: the helm, the upper body armor, and the lower body armor, were considered one piece and could be summoned as a whole! Naturally, the mana consumption was reduced, and the armor's joints became tougher. To think he would achieve a unification here, when he couldn't do so in his own homeland...!

Lee Shin Woo was deeply moved and examined his body. He'd absorbed dozens of equipment and because the strong points of the armor and weapons were applied, his armor was both refined and functional.

Above all, there weren't any chinks in the armor and it covered his entire body. From an outsider's perspective, one wouldn't be able to tell whether he was living or undead!

'I can mimic a living person's mana, so if I'm in a jam, I'll act while wearing the armor, and when I take it off, I'll disguise myself. It's perfect...!'

Of course, if the situation necessitated it and he needed to play a different role, he would need to change the appearance of his armor a bit, but because he'd absorbed so much equipment, he wasn't worried about changing his armor.

"Nice. As I thought, it was an excellent decision."

After that, Lee Shin Woo, who had become more flexible, absorbed a few more pieces of equipment. Around the time no more meaningful changes occurred, he stopped his outstretched hand.

Seeing Kratia's eyes brighten up, Lee Shin Woo firmly shook his head and explained.

"Since they were similar types of soldiers, the weapons they use don't have much variety to them. I think this is enough. Any more is meaningless."

He'd absorbed around forty pieces of equipment, and obtained at least 200 stats. That meant his stats increased by 160 if he excluded the 40 magic he'd gained from the Bifurcated Snake Spine. In many ways, the suddenly appearing undead corps had helped Lee Shin Woo. It was to the point that Lee Shin Woo wanted to kowtow before one of the 12 generals, the Mercenary King Metafel.

"Then what about what's left...?"

"You guys. Whoever doesn't have a level 3 weapon come over here and pick whatever you like."

[Captain!]

[Thank you, Captain!]

Lee Shin Woo was offering them the leftover weapons and acted as though he was doing this out of the generosity of his heart, but even so, the Pauls couldn't help but be touched by his actions.

Honestly, he was only doing this because they'd defeated a force of 10,000. Normally, level 3 equipment wasn't easy to find. If one wanted to buy this kind of equipment from the secret shop, they would need to possess considerable funds.

"If it's that expensive, why don't you just sell it at the shop?"

"I thought about that too, but the sales charge pisses me off. In terms of cost performance, giving these guys the equipment to increase their strength is probably better."

"..."

Originally, Lee Shin Woo hadn't had any consideration for the Pauls. However, as he realized that he could make them into his subordinates, as well as use Bone Reinforcement on them to transform them into level 4 elites, he began to have a small hope for them.

If the numbers kept increasing like this and he increased their levels, he might be able to create an independent force!

"The more variables there are, the better. Investing this much into them doesn't feel like a waste."

"You... you're really amazing."

"Lately, I've been thinking that a bit too."

Lee Shin Woo replied honestly, and went to the last thing on his agenda. Naturally, it was to reinforce himself and Jin with the level 4 and 5 bones.

"That wouldn't work on me, right?"

"Come back when you're only bones."

"No thanks."

If he were to exclude Vitas, the Corps Commander, the other remaining bones didn't really have any exceptional options. The level 4 knights' and magicians' memories and experiences was useful, and the stats and skill proficiency from the level 5 Elder Knights and Wizards was tremendous.

[The Intermediate Bursting Thunder skill has become Lv2. Strength and Magic have increased by 5. You can better incorporate lighting into your weapon and, using that lightning, you may swing your weapon faster.]

[The Intermediate Shadow Sprint skill has become Lv2. Agility has increased by 10. Your running form looks a bit more like a shadow.]

Lee Shin Woo's total stats were now 2,272 due to the stat gain from the bones, as well as the experiences that further improved his skills. He needed 928 more stats to reach level 6.

Though he'd obtained hundreds of stats from one battle, Lee Shin Woo wasn't satisfied. That's because he knew that he still had a long way to go.

"Uuuuuuugh."

"Don't be so dramatic. You didn't even absorb half of what I did."

"U-Ugh."

In order for Jin to more effectively absorb the undeads' experiences and memories, he twitched on the floor while Lee Shin Woo calmly sorted through the experiences and memories.

This was his time to organize the combat and magic techniques he'd acquire from the knights and magicians; it was simultaneously a time for him to organize his information on one of the twelve generals, the Mercenary King Metafel, as well as the corps he led using the Corps Commander Vitas' memories.

'Their past... and if it's possible, their present as well.'

Lee Shin Woo calmly organized the memories and at some point, he opened his eyes wide open. His waning goblin fire looked as though it had suddenly burst out.

"W-What's wrong?"

Seeing that, Kratia was slightly scared and asked. Lee Shin Woo replied extremely calmly.

"It's nothing."

"Liar."

"Yeah, I'm lying."

"..."

Kratia pouted at Lee Shin Woo's extremely confident attitude, while Lee Shin Woo just grinned. Then, he spoke amicably.

"Let's do our best for the remainder of our contract."

He spoke as if he had drawn the line there, and he would never tell her no matter what. Realizing that, Kratia felt the urge to increase the contract duration, but unfortunately, she had no way of doing so, so she ultimately disappointedly nodded her head.