The Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 68: Skill Acquisition (3)

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I came back to the waiting area after saying farewell to the administrators that were watching me.

「 You have entered the 10th floor waiting room.
」

But it wasn’t yet time to start combining skills.

“Contract marketplace.”

「 Contract Exclusive Marketplace 」 

「 SP – 500 」 

「 Category: Skills 」 

「 Category: Powers 」 

「 Category: Items 」 

「 Contractor: Iron-blooded Monarch 」 

「 Note: Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’s’ first contractor.
」 

I first wanted to check the details of my newly received power.

「 Category: Powers 」 

「 Listing (2/3) 」 

「 Power: Bone Reconstruction (C+) 」 

「 Power: Iron-blooded Sword (A-) 」

「 Power: Hand of Death (B-) 」 

「 Power: Wings of Steel (C+) 」 

I was able to find it after navigating to the second page.

「 Power: Wings of Steel (C+) 」 

「 Price: 1,500 SP 」 

「 Explanation: A power that allows you to create wings of steel using mana.
The steel wings give you the ability to fly at high speeds.
To sustain the wings, you need a constant supply of mana, and the wings automatically disappear if you run out of mana.
」 

“It’s cheaper than I thought.”

I thought it would be more expensive since it gave you the ability to fly…

‘I guess they didn’t give me that good of a power.’

I’m sure the abilities would work exceptionally well since it was still a power, but the fact that it needed constant mana concerned me.

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As if sword ki master wasn't already draining enough.

‘I guess fighting in the air won't be possible.’

Even if it was, I’d only be able to support it for a short period of time.

I only have so much mana and a limited number of ways to recharge it.

Of course…

“I don't even have enough SP to buy it yet.’

I had to be satisfied with just being able to see the explanation for it.

No matter the mana cost, being able to fly had its merits.

The explanation mentioned that you were able to fly at ‘high speeds.’

That could potentially help you get out of range for certain attacks.

It would definitely come in handy someday.

“I’m going to need a way to get more SP on the 11th floor.”

Or else I wouldn't be able to get any of the powers that the Iron-blooded Monarch gave to me.

‘I’ll get the wings first, then the iron-blooded sword.’

Since the sword I’d summon would get stronger as I got stronger, it would eliminate the need for me to keep buying better swords.

‘That alone makes it deserving of the A- grade.’

But that wasn’t something I could get right now.

‘And I probably won't be able to afford it even after I clear the 11th trial…’

Since that was a problem for later, I shifted my attention to something else.

***

It was time to start combining some of the skills I got from the arena.

One of the ways I chose challenges to accept was by seeing how compatible the skills were to some of my existing ones.

That way, I’d be able to combine similar skills together and actually get something I’d use.

A lot of the skills didn’t look very enticing on their own due to growth penalties or low ranks but…

“Hm…”

That wasn’t something I couldn't solve by combining them though.

I think I'll start out by combining all the defensive skills.

‘I can’t just rely on the necromancy shield forever.’

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And I didn't want to accidentally consume a soul because I couldn't block an attack. 

I needed some sort of frontline defense in case I couldn't use up all my souls.

I decided to use the shield skill I got from the Japanese challenger “Owaki Yuji’ as the core.

「 Skill – Shield of Origin (D-) 」 

「 Proficiency – N/A 」 

「 Basic effect – Upon declaring the skill name, you can summon a shield formed with mana.
」 

「 Additional effect – The size and strength of the shield depend on how much mana you put in it.
」 

The evocation and effect couldn't be simpler even if I wanted 

‘And that’s what makes it a great base.’

「 Activating the innate power ‘Skill Combination.’ 」

「 Listing the available skills.
」 

I already knew which one I wanted to start with.

「 Skill – Boulder’s Form (E) 」 

「 Proficiency – N/A 」 

「 Basic Effect – Natural tenacity of your body increases and allows you to further harden parts of your body.
」 

「 Additional Effect – The effect does not apply if your tenacity is already higher than that of a boulder.
」 

I initially liked the sound of the skill but was disappointed to find out it was a trash skill.

But it was still in the realm of defensive skills and should work well with the shields.

‘Even if it’s not necessarily a shield skill…’

And…

「 The two skills are unequal in rank.
」 

「 Skill combination will start with ‘Shield of Origin’ as the core.
」 

「 Current probability for a high tier skill is 75% 」

‘Not bad.’

「 Combination complete.
」 

「 New skill generated.
」 

“Oh.”

And I smiled at the result of the combination.

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「 Skill – Boulder Shield (D+) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Basic Effect – Evoking the skill name creates a green shield using mana.
」 

「 Additional Effect – The size and strength of the shield depend on how much mana you put in it.
After a certain amount of mana spent, the shield is strengthened by 1.25 times.
」 

There were a couple of changes, but the nature of the skill didn’t stray too far from the Shield of Origin.

And…

‘It took on the extra defensive capabilities from Boulder’s Form.’

Not just that, the proficiency was now 0%.

That meant this skill now had potential to grow.

‘I was correct to choose this as my innate power.’

There were a couple of F- rank skills that I couldn't even use to combine with this, so I had to organize my list.

Most of the F- rank skills combined into decent E rank skills. 

‘And they’re mostly defensive skills still, so I’ll just grind them into each other again.’

「 Combination complete.
」 

「 New skill generated.
」 

And the process was smoother than I expected.

「 Skill – Purity Shield  (C-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Basic Effect – Evoking the skill name creates a shield of light using mana.
」 

「 Additional Effect – The size and strength of the shield depend on how much mana you put in it.
After a certain amount of mana spent, the shield is strengthened by 1.2 times.
」 

Sometimes it was a slight change of name and proportions.

「 Skill – Mirror Shield  (C+) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Basic Effect – Evoking the skill name creates a mirror shield using mana.
」 

「 Additional Effect – The size and strength of the shield depend on how much mana you put in it.
The created shield can reflect 10% of the taken damage.
」 

Sometimes an entirely new effect replaced an existing effect.

「 Skill – Counter Shield  (B) 」 

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「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Basic Effect – Evoking the skill name creates a red shield using mana.
」 

「 Additional Effect – The size and strength of the shield depend on how much mana you put in it.
The created shield can reflect 25% of the taken damage and as long as the shield doesn't break, you can store that taken damage and release it all at once.」 

Sometimes an additional effect was strengthened. 

“This might be the best one yet.”

I stared at the explanation of the newly formed skill and thinned my eyes.

‘It doesn’t seem as efficient as Ashen Blood but…’

They were about the same rank, but Ashen Blood seemed to be much superior.

Of course, being able to reflect 25% of damage taken was a huge perk.

‘Ashen Blood can only be used defensively, but this works both ways.’

I decided to rationalize it by thinking that they both served different purposes.

「 Activating the skill ‘Counter Shield’.
」 

I focused slightly and the skill activated. 

Keeng.

“Ooh.”

The skill activated easily without me having said the name out loud.

It was like the times I activated the Eye of Truth without saying the skill name.

‘I should be able to do it with other skills with enough training too.’

It would take some time before I could use it like this in battle but…

This kind of quick casting had its merits.

I determined that the best course of action now was to start training, and I stared at the shield hovering in front of my palm.

The shield had a faint red light around it and was emitting a fluorescent red fog of mana.

‘I guess it does seem worthy of being a B rank skill.’

Toong.

I lightly tapped the shield with my right hand, and the hardness was impressive.

Like it would be able to last a couple of genuine punches from me if I put a little more mana into it?

After examining the skill, I came to a conclusion.

“I think I should be good for the 11th trial…”

——