The moment he used Bone Reinforcement, the skeleton's arm bone flickered with a weak flame and oxidized in the air, leaving a stinging sensation in his left arm.

[You have reinforced your arm bone. Strength has increased by 1. Absorbing a portion of the Skeleton Soldier's memories and experiences.]

[That spear isn't meant to be swung like that. Look. It may seem simple at first glance, but it was actually a technique taught to me by the strongest general of the Empire, General Leofield.]

And that was it.

"..."

Um, alright. Lee Shin-Woo didn't have high expectations from the get-go. At the end of the day, he should be happy that his strength had permanently increased by 1. He didn't know how long it would take for him to gain another stat point, but if he put in the effort and grew stronger one stat at a time, he should be able to at least win against a Skeleton Soldier easily. Lee Shin-Woo did his very best to appease his disappointment. Then he grabbed the spear and stood up. That was when he realized that something was different.

"Mm...?"

Did something happen to the spear? No, that wasn't it. He was the one who had changed. He had grabbed the spear the same way he had done thus far, but he was suddenly overcome with the thought that this wasn't the proper way of wielding a spear. If I continue to hold the spear the way I did, it would only be as effective as a club. I’ll have to adjust my grip to make the most out of the weapon. He followed his instincts and changed his grip, which bore some similarity to the way the Skeleton Soldier held it.

[Passive Skill, Beginner Spearmanship Lv1 has been learned.]

"...!"

If Lee Shin-Woo had eyes, they would be widening in surprise. He had learned spearmanship simply by absorbing the Skeleton Soldier's memories! Wouldn’t he then be able to learn more skills if he obtained someone else’s bones? Bone Reinforcement was a drastically better skill than he had thought.

Good, I can work with this...

If he had a normal human body, he wouldn't even be able to dream of reinforcing his body with bones. The same was true of his ability to resurrect, made possible by Invisible Heart. These two skills were so powerful that he had no choice but to accept his skeletal body. If he had been cursing the goddess and calling her a necromancer bitch for turning him into a skeleton before, he had now come to terms with the fact. Oh well, when life gives you lemon… I might as well become the strongest skeleton in the world! Lee Shin-Woo swung the spear a few times and nodded in satisfaction.

My spearmanship is still lousy, but I can at least stab decently now.

He hadn't learned any martial arts before, but he could tell if his movements were proper. After swinging the spear in a desperate attempt to defeat the Skeleton Soldier earlier, Lee Shin-Woo was certain that his swings were now considerably more powerful.

[Over there... Newbie...?]

"Yeah, newbie here! Good morning!"

Of course, Lee Shin-Woo didn’t think that he'd be able to overpower a Skeleton Soldier if he attacked it head-on, so he acted like a merry skeleton when a new patrolling guard appeared and slowly approached it. The Skeleton Soldiers in this area seemed to really like newbies, as they all greeted him without any suspicions. He was quite thankful for that.

"Nice to meet you, Paul!"

[That’s not my name, but... it's nice to meet you...!]

The quest comes later. For now, let's stay here and get stronger.

He greeted the Skeleton Soldier and swung. The tip of his spear flashed as it made a diagonal line in the air. And thus, the Antlion of the external passageway was born.[1]

[T-Traitor...]

"It's unfortunate that you couldn't remember your past life, Paul. We were the best of friends..."

[Keuhak!]

Lee Shin-Woo stabbed the 138th Paul in the skull with his bone spear as hard as he could. As the thickness and strength of his spear was far superior than normal bone spears, it smashed through the skeleton’s skull in a clean shot. Just like the other Pauls, all that was left behind were a bone, a spear, and 10 Perium.

"Oh, this time it's a leg bone."

Not all Skeleton Soldiers left arm bones behind. After experimenting over 100 times, Lee Shin-Woo realized that they either dropped an arm bone, a leg bone, or mixed bones—the description provided said they were bones of unknown origin— From there, he devised his conclusion – amongst the three, the mixed bones was a dud that didn't increase stats, nor did it contain any skills, while the arm bone increased his proficiency in spearmanship. As for the leg bone...

[You have reinforced your leg bone. You have acquired 5% proficiency in Beginner Sprint.]

[No, I said now's not the time to be swinging a spear! Goodness, there's really an epidemic coming, I tell you! I'm getting out of here first! Unlike you guys, I’ll be running faster than anyone! - A nameless soldier]

[The Beginner Sprint skill is now Lv3. Your sprinting speed has become slightly faster.]

"Nice."

Sprint was the sole movement skill of Skeleton Soldiers. It grants the user proficiency in sprinting. The skill allowed for a momentary, lightning-fast sprint, and was a skill that consumed a large amount of stamina. However, "never-ending stamina" was a characteristic of the undead. As such, it was a great skill he'd be able to use again immediately after the skill cooldown.

Anyway, my stats didn't increase this time, either. Should I get going now?

In the beginning, arm bones and leg bones would increase his strength and agility stats by 1 respectively when used for reinforcement, but at some point, the growth stopped happening every time and gradually decreased in frequency until it completely stopped even after absorbing 10 bones in a row. Lee Shin-Woo had wanted to get on with the quest only after raising both his strength and agility to 100, but it looked like this wasn’t going to happen anytime soon... Lee Shin-Woo clicked his nonexistent tongue and checked his status.

[Lee Shin-Woo]

[Normal Skeleton Blessed by God]

[Lv - 1][Strength - 57 Agility - 46 Endurance - 34 Magic - 6]

[Passive skills - Invisible Heart Lv2, Beginner Spearmanship Lv3]

[Active skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv1, Beginner Sprint Lv3]

My stats are better now. They're definitely better, but...

There were three things he wasn't satisfied with. First off, mixed bones weren't effective in improving his stats, which resulted in his endurance being lower than his strength and agility. He also hadn't found a way to increase his magic, nor did he know how to use it. Lastly, he was still level 1, despite having defeated so many Skeleton Soldiers.

At this point, I might not be able to increase my level through regular combats.

Certainly, the Skeleton Soldiers he had killed up until now had been stronger than any level 1 enemy had any right to be, and each Skeleton Soldier was different from the last. The fact that they were all level 1 was evidence that it wasn't easy to level up in this world.

"All the more reason to level up at least once before moving forward, but... I suppose it can't be helped. Let's move on to the next step."

Since he had moved around the passageway while hunting down patrols, he knew the approximate location of the hideout. He had felt a discernibly different energy leaking from a crack in the corner of the passageway. He was sure it was the hideout he was looking for since the skeletons had been unconsciously avoiding it due to the divine power within.

Ah, first thing first.

Before he got going, he wanted to upgrade his bone spear

[Would you like to sacrifice the Lv1 Bone Spear to reinforce the Lv1 Bone Spear (+9)?]

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin-Woo sucked in a deep breath as he stared at the message. His hands trembled despite himself, recalling the process of creating the Bone Spear (+9), as well as the many bone spears that went into making it. That was right. Unlike normal reinforcement, bone equipment reinforcement had a chance to fail. Of course, the equipment wouldn’t be weakened by a failed reinforcement, nor would it be damaged, but his heart ached whenever he saw a bone spear disappear after a failed reinforcement. Not that he had a heart, obviously.

"Ugh, reinforce...!"

What could he do about it? Even though he understood that it'd be more profitable to reinforce his bones rather than the spear at this point, he still couldn't give up! Since he wasn’t going to kill another Skeleton Soldier in the passageway, he would make this spear his last gamble and burn it along with his lingering attachment!

[The reinforcement has succeeded. The Bone Spear has become Lv2.]

...That was what he was thinking when the reinforcement succeeded. Moreover, the Bone Spear had leveled up as a result! He might have to call it Lord Bone Spear rather than Bone Spear now.

"Ooooooh!"

Lee Shin-Woo was so overjoyed that he would cry if it was physically possible for him to do so. Upon closer inspection of the reborn Lv2 Lord Bone Spear, he realized that the shaft had increased about thirty centimeters in length, and the impressive blade gleamed with a menacing light.

[Bone Spear Lv2]

[Durability: 500/500]

[Attack Power: 25 - 45]

"Oooooooh."

The maximum attack power of the Lv1 Bone Spear (+9) had been 30, but a single reinforcement had increased its stat to 1.5 times its original, not to mention the increase in durability. As expected, investing in his weapon had paid off. Satisfied, Lee Shin-Woo rubbed his skull against the Lv2 Bone Spear's sleek handle, making a squeaky sound. Now that he possessed the Lv2 Lord Bone Spear, he had nothing to fear anymore!

[An unforeseen quest has occurred!]

At that very moment, a quest was generated. Lee Shin-Woo quickly began to resent Lord Bone Spear.

[Ambush of the Treasure Eater]

[Among the undead inhabiting the underground empire is a race called the Treasure Eaters, which eat objects with magical energy within them. Normally, there isn't anything that piques their interest in the external passageways, but the Lv2 item that you have created triggered one of the Treasure Eaters' senses. It's much stronger than a normal Skeleton Soldier, so much so that it wouldn’t make sense to compare the two. But if you defeat it, you may gain the treasure it has eaten.]

[Quest Reward: The Treasure Eater's treasure?]

[Guoooooooooh!]

The moment that quest notification popped up, Lee Shin-Woo heard a shriek from far beyond the passageways. At the same time, he heard something collapsing, mixed with the screams of Skeleton Soldiers.

[Kuaooooooh!]

The sound was getting closer by the second. A human... no, a skeleton... had just adapted to the situation he was in, yet a new trial emerged as if to undermine his progress. Perhaps the Treasure Eater hadn’t appeared naturally, but was instead sent by the goddess herself to torment him. All sorts of suspicions momentarily rushed through his mind, but the most important thing right now was deciding his next course of action. Lee Shin-Woo double-checked the location of the hideout and quickly moved. He planned to get a good look at the Treasure Eater first and only fight if it seemed doable.

[Treasure Eater - Lv2]

[Kuwoooooh!]

"Nope, I gotta run."

When he saw the bug that had broken through the passageway floor, Lee Shin-Woo bolted without hesitation. That thing's the same level as Lord Bone Spear! He activated Sprint and immediately ran towards the hideout. However, at that very moment, he got a notification out of the blue.

[Quest failed! However, the minimap has been added as a reward for the unforeseen quest.]

"What...?"

The warm light that leaked through the cracks in the passageway immediately vanished. The implication was so clear that he wanted to cry. Hideouts can disappear!? Lee Shin-Woo abruptly stopped and grit his teeth, and soon, the Treasure Eater was upon him, greeting him with its maw wide open.

[Kuhaaahk...!] 

"Hi, Steve...?"

[Kuheeehk!]

He did his best to greet it like a cheerful skeleton, but it didn’t seem to like the name Steve. Lee Shin-Woo shrugged and gripped Lord Bone Spear. Here comes another fight!