novelArt of Death (3)
| ← Ch.018 | Ch.020 → |
Merlin placed a spell on the hunting map Muyoung had.
It evolved to be an item that allowed him to move without getting lost, at least in Blue Temple.
Afterwards, Muyoung headed out on his own.
Although he could feel the lingering gaze of Merlin, he knew that if they were to stay together, they would only grow to become more attached to each other.
On his way back, Muyoung killed monsters and used his 'Art of Death' skill to increase his level of understanding.
Grr. Grrrrr.
The completed undead looked at Muyoung while flicking its tongue.
After wildly mixing the corpses of a monkey monster and a red salamander, he received an art score of 5.
'Just mixing them won't do. '
Muyoung lived the past 40 years as an assassin.
Perhaps the little artistic sense he may have had in the past had already disappeared by now.
He rubbed his chin.
'How to get a higher score. '
However, the stronger a class was, the more difficult it was to master.
If he carefully experimented, he would be able to laugh at the face of necromancers.
'I should make a skeleton by carving out the bones. '
Instead of connecting monsters' body parts to create a zombie, wouldn't it be better to create a skeleton by carving out its bones?
Muyoung first looked for materials.
If the materials were good, it would have a better compensation effect.
And it was making a soldier out of bones.
He couldn't just use the random bones of monsters.
He needed the sturdiest bones possible.
'If I remember correctly... there were cannibalistic elephants around here. '
He thought of the elephants that lived in the forest of the Blue Temple.
These elephants that had robust frames and huge ivory tusks were very hard to find as there were only a few. Cases of them being found were very rare.
Even in the case that they were found, it was difficult for someone to fight them alone.
However, Muyoung had the map Merlin had placed a spell on.
Also, Muyoung wasn't just an ordinary person. In the Underworld, he might have been a weakling, but at Blue Temple, he was one of the strongest.
Muyoung quickly moved his steps and entered the territory of the 'cannibalistic elephants'.
He was able to witness four elephants drinking water near a lake.
Unlike regular elephants, cannibalistic elephants did not normally move in groups. At most, they moved as a family.
But, they were aggressive and were known to enjoy fights.
If you approached them carelessly, you might suddenly get attacked by them.
Muyoung carefully stalked the elephant family and at the moment an elephant was by itself, he rushed in.
Tralala!
The elephant who discovered Muyoung screamed out loud.
It was because Muyoung swiftly went on top of the elephant to stab its neck with Anguish.
The elephant constantly shook its body, but it was useless as Muyoung was stuck to him like a glue.
Thump!
As soon as Anguish had sucked out all of its blood, the elephant collapsed onto the ground.
Muyoung wiped his forehead.
'I think I also need the cartilages and the tendons. '
He couldn't make a skeleton with just its ivory tusks. He needed enough cartilage and tendons to connect the bones to make a proper shape.
However, Muyoung didn't have enough time to dissect the enormous elephant by parts as the other elephants may discover and attack him.
"Remove the skin."
Scrape.
Grawl!
Muyoung wasn't alone.
The giant undead serpent and the undead salamander monkey followed Muyoung's order and started to move slowly.
The serpent swallowed a big chunk and spat it out, while the monkey used his dull sword to slice the skin off.
They were slow, but it was much faster than Muyoung doing it alone.
Muyoung started to dissect the elephant and left the useful parts aside.
When he had gathered enough bones to create a skeleton, he finished by cutting off its ivory tusks.
He wasn't done just because he had collected enough materials.
A lot of knowledge and effort was required in slicing the tusks to make a skeleton.
It was fortunate that he knew the anatomy of a human body better than anyone else, but it was hard work to carve the tusks into bones.
Scrape. Scrape.
After moving to a safe area, Muyoung started to cut the tusks inside an empty cave.
If he had a sharp chisel, it would have made the job much easier, but all he had was axe to carefully carve the tusks.
The axe was one of the items he grabbed while he was massacring the monsters with Merlin protecting him. It seemed like a waste to throw it out, but as he didn't really need it, he kept it in his Infinity Pouch.
Carving wasn't hard to do.
All he had to do was concentrate his strength and scratch along the grain.
'This is an interesting experience. '
He chuckled out loud.
Something he had never done. It wasn't a bad feeling.
It must be because you get stronger by learning things you didn't know and by overcoming them.
It wasn't bad for Muyoung to experience these things.
'It's probably better to make it a bit different than just having it shaped like a normal human. '
Didn't he just have to make it as beautiful as he could?
To Muyoung, art was beauty.
He thought that his concept wasn't bad.
Scrape! Scrape!
Muyoung's hands slowly moved faster.
As he started to shape the bones and pieced together the pieces, more than half of a day had passed.
Muyoung nodded as he was satisfied with his finished work.
A skeleton with small wings was laid out on the ground.
As Muyoung activated Art of Death, a dark aura emitted from Muyoung's hand and wrapped around the skeleton.
Rattle. Rattle.
Skeleton stood up awkwardly.
As Muyoung looked at the skeleton, he found out that the bilateral symmetry was slightly off.
It was the first time he had made anything. He couldn't be satisfied on his first try.
As if handicapped, the skeleton walked while dragging its right foot.
'A score of 15. '
It couldn't be considered as a high score, but compare to the serpent or the monkey, it was much better.
Its stats were also quite decent.
Maybe it was because he made it with the tusks of the elephant, but its strength was high.
This should be similar to a typical undead.
"Take this. It was the axe I used to make you."
Muyoung handed the axe he used to carve the tusks.
Since the skeleton had a high level of strength, it was perfect for it.
Crack!
It made weird noises as it reached out to grab the axe.
*
The temple was calm.
The survivors, including Taehwan, gulped down their saliva as they blocked the entrance of the temple.
20 days had passed since they had first arrived.
He had heard from Muyoung that there would be a boss battle every 10 days.
If that was true, then today was the day a strong boss would make an appearance.
Taehwan looked around.
15 survivors.
Almost no one had died since the 10th day.
It was due to Taehwan's leadership and his shield.
However, today, Taehwan was nervous.
Thump! Thump!
Soon after, a huge monster appeared heading towards the entrance as the ground shook.
"A goblin...?"
Everyone was puzzled after seeing it.
It was 2. 5m tall, one-eyed monster, with a small horn on its forehead, holding a large club. Whoever looked at it was reminded of a goblin.
It seemed to be a female considering her large breasts.
It was the first time they faced a human-like monster.
Gaaaaaaaah!
The goblin ran towards them while screaming out loud.
"Let's act calmly. As usual, just attack behind me!"
The very first to act was Taehwan, with his Shield of Eradication.
The only reason why there weren't many casualties was because Taehwan stood and blocked the front.
But, the conditions weren't great this time.
The Shield of Eradication's toughness buff worked when there were numerous of enemies. But, there was only one goblin.
Thump!
"Gwagh!"
It was only a single attack.
But, it felt like his arm was being shattered.
Taehwan clenched his teeth.
As if it was unexpected, the goblin tilted her head. At that moment, a rain of arrows flew towards her.
However, a fog-like shield was formed beside the goblin and all the arrows bounced off.
'Ah...!'
As expected, the boss is different. It was on a different level than normal monsters.
Even against Rellaka, it was Muyoung who killed the boss himself.
Thump! Thump! Thuuump!
Taehwan was at his limit after blocking a few more of the goblin's attacks.
Crack!
He wasn't able to handle her attack any longer and his bone snapped.
'Damn it!'
He felt like he was going to faint.
Holding his right arm, he dropped onto the ground. The goblin slowly approached him.
'If only hyungnim was here...'
Although he had made a resolution to protect the others by himself, there was a limit to his abilities.
Soon, the goblin tried to smash Taehwan's head off with her club.
Taehwan closed his eyes.
Swaaack.
He only heard a noise, his head wasn't split open.
Taehwan opened his eyes and saw an odd sight.
'A serpent?'
A huge serpent was wrapped around the goblin!
Gwaah! Gwaaah!
The enraged goblin held the serpent by its neck. She then threw the serpent on the ground and started to rip its body apart with her bare hands.
Swing-
Thump!
At that moment, a dagger flew straight towards the goblin's head and embedded itself into the back of her head.
As if the barrier didn't work properly, the goblin's body started to wobble.
And then he appeared.
Twak!
Lowering his body as low as possible, he ran at an incredible speed, then flew up and sliced the neck of the goblin.
"Hyungnim...!"
"Goblins can't produce a barrier if they can't see where an attack is coming from. Aim for her back or her neck."
"You're back!"
Taehwan lean forward and attempted to get up to greet him, but Muyoung stopped him.
"This isn't the end. A male is going to show up soon."
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!
The moment Muyoung finished his words, an enraged cry sounded out.
The ground shook from just the sound.
As they turned their heads, a completely red goblin snorted violently as he was staring deathly at them.
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