The Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 41: Radiance (2)

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「 Skill ‘Forceful Breakthrough (D)’ has been generated.
」 

My pupils widened at the glowing message.

‘Huh, this is what happens?’

I thought the skill was going to be E-rank at most, but D… 

As expected from the tower, the rewards were always amazing.

Instead of staying surprised, I opened the skill window.

「 Skill – Forceful Breakthrough (D) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – Can break through any restrictions to movement.
However, your mana level must be higher than that of your entrapper’s.
」 

This was better than what I imagined.

‘It makes sense that combining Contempt for the Weak and Sustain Battle would result in something like this.’

I can’t say I was displeased with the result, but I was more curious than happy.

‘Forceful Breakthrough… Is it closely related to Contempt for the Weak?’

The prerequisite for activation was pretty similar.

I would only be able to activate it if my mana level was higher than the caster’s.

But the effect itself was much more closely related to Sustain Battle.

“This is like a perfectly balanced mix of the two skills.”

Since Contempt for the Weak was the core, it would decide the activation prerequisites rather than the effect.

However, I couldn’t be completely sure about that yet… 

“Maybe I should try this out a couple more times.”

I needed a skill that was barely used but had some proficiency.

「 Listing the available skills.
」 

「 Please select two skills from the list.
」 

It didn’t take long to select the two least used skills.

Ranger’s Knowledge Heat Resistance

It wasn’t too hard to decide since they were both F-tier skills that weren’t used often.

Ranger’s Knowledge’s widened range of sight was pretty helpful during battle.

‘And I don’t think I’ve ever used Heat Resistance.’

The only time it could’ve been useful was in the second subtrial.

It was hard to incorporate it into my fighting style, and its proficiency couldn’t be increased easily. 

‘I wouldn’t mind throwing this away.’

「 The two skills are identical in rank.
」 

「 Please select the core skill.
」 

I had to think a bit more carefully this time. 

‘If the activation requirement and restrictions are decided by the core, I should choose Ranger’s Knowledge.’

The fewer restrictions, the better.

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And heat resistance could only be used in very specific situations. 

「 Skill combination will start with ‘Ranger’s Knowledge’ as the core.
」 

「 Current probability for a high-tier skill is 57%.
」 

「 Start the combination? 」

‘The percentage is lower than before.’

Last time, there was an 80% chance to get a high-tier skill… 

‘Does the compatibility between the two skills matter too?’

There must have been a bunch of unwritten rules that I didn’t know yet.

But there was no need to rush things.

I could just learn as I went along.

Press.

I felt the skill disappear as soon as I pressed the button.

“Ah…”

My field of vision narrowed instantly.

‘…I didn’t know that a mere F-rank skill was affecting me this much.’

This could make a big difference the next time I went on the battlefield.

‘Not a problem I expected to run into, but I’ll just have to prepare for it later.’

「 Skill combination complete.
」 

I smiled at the absence of the two old skills and looked at the new skill.

「 Skill ‘Strengthened Eyes (E-)’ has been generated.
」 

“Hmm…”

This had a much lower rank than Forceful Breakthrough.

I think I was getting a better idea of how this skill worked.

「 Skill – Strengthened Eyes (E-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – Able to see even in obscured environments.
Also strengthens eyesight.
」 

The proficiency didn’t carry over, but the result was similar to that of the previous combination.

‘The activation requirement and nature of the skill seems to be determined by the core.’

And Heat Resistance added some resilience effects to the skill.

‘I think I figured out what determines the tier upgrade rate.’

It was probably the compatibility of the two skills.

Contempt for the Weak and Sustain Battle were somewhat related to each other… 

But I could tell that Heat Resistance and Ranger’s Knowledge were not very compatible.

Looking back, I’m actually surprised that the rank didn’t decrease. 

‘I guess I should stop messing around with skills for now.’

There was one combination that might have worked well, but I didn’t want to deal with the risks. 

Worst-case scenario, I’d get a skill that was worse than either of the two I combined.

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‘Let’s look at the other rewards.’

「 Skill – Wind’s Blessing (A-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – Increases all speeds by 10% upon declaration of the skill’s name.
This effect can be stacked up to seven times.
When the maximum amount of stacks is reached, the skill receives a one-day cooldown.  」 

“So it basically increases all speeds by 70%.”

An effect that I could only dream of… 

‘I wanted something to mitigate the harsh mana costs of instant acceleration.’

Since Instant Acceleration was a D-rank skill, it took a decent amount of mana to activate.

Although it seemed like it would rank up soon, I wanted to stop being so dependent on mana.

These trial rewards were always satisfactory.

In addition… 

「 Boots of Swiftness 」 

「 Grade: C+ 」 

「 Movement Speed: +5% 」 

「 Boots decorated with tiny wings, created by magical mechanics.
」 

「 Movement accelerates for a moment after reaching a certain speed.
」 

The bonus reward was a cherry on top of this ‘agility sundae.’

“This is an easy decision.”

I took off my current shoes and put on the new boots.

The only thing left to do was to check the community.

「 You have entered the community.
」 

「 Difficulty – Hard 」 

「 Floor 8 Community (787/1121) 」 

Oh Choonsuk: Wow, we’re finally on the 8th floor… I legit thought I was gonna die on the way. MagiciansAreNobility: lmaooo I’m fuckin out of here.
4,000 points to get out of here for good. Kim Seunghoon: I’m surprised that the return stone is so cheap. CurryRice: Lol, my life is gonna be eaaaasy after I return.
Fuck man, I was an E-rank hunter before this but I think I can reach B now. Oh Choonsuk: I guess I’ll be a hunter once I go back… BoomerPatrol: What the- I thought you were some monster because you were always on the rankings.
You were a normal person? MintChocolate: lml did you just find that out? You really haven’t been looking at the community, huh. 

As expected, there was generally a very pleasant vibe in the community.

The tension eased as everyone was planning to go home.

The low price of the permanent return stone also played a big role in easing the tension.

But there wasn’t a single mention of ‘radiance’ in the chat.

I guess they wouldn’t throw around important information like that.

Anyone who had received one would know how insane the perks were.

‘Hm, there isn’t much information being exchanged here.’

I thought they would drop little nuggets of wisdom before they left.

It was a shame since I recognized a bunch of these names from the rankings.

No mentions of radiances or otherworldly beings.

“I guess everyone has their fair share of secrets.”

I pushed the community to the side and opened the store instead.

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The system mentioned that the Skill Marketplace was opening up.

I also had to look into the floor intrusion system.

「 You’ve entered the Skill Marketplace.
」 

「 Listing all available skills.
」 

Harden, D- class. Monster’s Skin, F-class. Weapon Enchant, E-class. Instant Acceleration, D-class. Mana Circuit, D-class. Mana Barrier, D- class. Strengthen Sight, F-class.

The quality of the skills wasn’t as good as I expected. 

Most of them were at the bottom of the barrel.

The only skills that mattered were at least D-class, but those were expensive and hard to find.

‘How is Instant Acceleration 8000 points…?’

I got it for free, but it was very expensive at the store.

It seemed that the skills in the store only went up to D-rank. 

Anything higher was grayed out, and nothing happened when I clicked on those skills. 

‘I probably have to meet some sort of requirement to unlock them.’

And that requirement was undoubtedly to get to a higher floor.

As the admin previously said, the higher you were, the more you had access to.

I could probably get a couple of skills to combine.

If I could combine a bunch of F-rank skills to obtain higher-tier skills, it’d be 100% worth it.

I didn’t have that many points yet, so I just picked the ones I needed.

‘I’ll need some mana-related skills too.’

I reached into the depths of my memory to recall which two skills I needed the most.

「 You have bought ‘Mana Circuit (D-).’ 」

「 15,000 points deducted.
」

「 You have bought ‘Mana Resistance (D-).’ 」

「 12,000 points deducted.
」 

I purchased a total of two skills.

「 Skill – Mana Circuit (D-) 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – The mana in your body forms a circuit and increases mana efficiency.
」 

「 Skill – Mana Resistance 」 

「 Proficiency – 0% 」 

「 Effect – Your body becomes resistant to foreign mana.
If the user does not have the Mana Circuit skill, the effect is drastically reduced.
」 

Vooom…!

My back lit up like a stove as soon as the purchase was complete. 

It was definitely because of the circuits.

‘You’re supposed to unlock the skill after you form the circuits…’

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But I guess the opposite was true for me.

The condensed mana in my body formed lines that intertwined with each other.

It was like heated steel wires twisting together. 

This type of pain was difficult to describe.

“Whoo…”

The pain was temporary, and it didn’t take long for the circuits to form.

Actually, I wasn’t even sure if the circuits had been formed. 

Kiiiing…!

“It’s working well.”
My suspicions cleared after some mana flowed through my head. 

Voom.

After the mana circulated through my body once, I felt like I was overflowing with energy.

I focused all that energy into my right leg and slammed it down.

CRASH!

‘Ooh.’

The entire area shook, and the impact even caused the surrounding air to vibrate.

All of the mana in my body could be focused to a single point.

This was an effect of having circuits, and it felt good.

It was as if I unlocked a sixth sense.

The efficiency and amount of mana I could output were crazy.

‘If this was just the circuits, I wonder what the famous Mana Resistance skill is like.’

In fact, the Mana Circuit skill was known in the hunter community to be a stepping stone for the far superior Mana Resistance skill.

But the importance of having a mana circuit couldn’t be overlooked.

‘Mana resistance is a must-have for any melee hunter.’

It was so difficult to acquire that some people would spend an entire year just to learn the skill.

Even then, there was a reason why countless hunters made the effort to learn it.

Not only did it reduce the effectiveness of skills against you, but it also made you resistant to magic.

Although it wasn’t as effective as an innate ability, I wouldn’t be so easily restricted by innate abilities or skills anymore.  

‘I don’t feel any different, but I’ll have to check later.’

The 8th floor was a checkpoint, so I had to make appropriate preparations.

I needed to reach a point where I wouldn’t almost die from whatever happened in the 7th trial.

I needed to get stronger without directly entering a trial.

And the solution to that problem was… 

「 You have bought a Return Stone (F+).
」 

“Not in the tower, but in a dungeon.”

A hunter had to be a hunter.

It was time to graduate from being just a challenger.

 

——