Chapter 31
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : What is the Evil Eye?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : It's a general term for all abilities manifested through the eyes.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : …If you awakened that sensation on your own, learning Engrave (刻)-based black magic should be easy. The Second Circle skill you need to learn will be much faster to acquire if you learn the Evil Eye first.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(546F) : Can't you go straight to the Third Circle?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : No no no no no
.
There were suggestions that I make a Third Circle right away, but they were quashed by opposition from Floor 710, a member of the Reaper race.
I couldn't break their insistence that I spend the safe period reading a post about the basics of instant-death-skill-based black magic.
“I guess the Third Circle comes after this…”
After thinking that, I read the post uploaded by Floor 710.
______
Title: Training Method for [Death Sentence - Engrave (刻)]'s Derivative Black Magic [Death Mark].
Author: ㅇㅇ(710F)
You already made a Second Circle right away… and you still have a long way to go before reaching the Stage 4 instant-death skill See (視), so I'll skip Stage 1 and teach you the Stage 2 derivative first.
Its name is [Death Mark].
It's curse-type black magic created by degrading the principles of Engrave (刻). By placing a Death Mark every cooldown and building up stacks, you can make the target die.
The number of stacks needed to kill varies wildly depending on the target. They might not die at all if they have resistance, or they might die instantly at one stack if your Magic Power is high enough.
So how do you learn it?
First, you have to stare intently at a corpse…
...
..
.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(324F) : You post insanely fast lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(349F) : Guess you had a backlog built up since you got the chance lol
ㅇㅇ(248F) : Where did the registered user go, and why is a 700-something teaching him?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(556F) : I heard that old man's mental state collapsed~
______
I read the entire thing.
To summarize the training method in one sentence, it was this:
‘You have to look at lots of corpses.’
Apparently, all I had to do was take out the remains of the female mages I'd killed from my inventory and stare at them all day.
“Everything seems to demand something pretty gory…”
I supposed all black magic was like this.
It was still much better than necromancy, which involved putting blood into corpses and pulling it back out.
…Thanks to the Blood Spirit Tea Ceremony, my tolerance for gore had improved considerably.
Just as I was about to try it,
“Hmm…”
an idea crossed my mind.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F): Senior, according to what you said, wouldn't it be more efficient to look at a wide variety of corpses?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(657F) : Where are you going to find multiple corpses?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(421F) : Are you saying we should turn Tower monsters into corpses?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : If there aren't any, just make some ㅇㅇ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(438F) : His mindset is fucking twisted.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : There isn't even a possibility of him losing the promotion match in his head;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(641F) : The Tower = a corpse refill station lol
At that, Floor 710 gave his permission, though he sounded somewhat displeased.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F)(Author) : Sigh… I knew you'd say that. Don't push yourself too hard. If it starts to feel too strenuous, stop immediately.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F) : Thank you!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(435F) : He got vacation and is still trying to do promotion matches lololololololol
“It's vacation in name only…”
This wasn't actually time off.
During the period when my safety was guaranteed, I had to become as strong as possible.
That was why I had been in such a hurry to choose a Circle, too.
I had to complete one more sleep cycle within ten hours.
I couldn't miss the chance to gain experience without using a fatigue recovery potion.
If I rushed through to around Floor 80 like this, then used the rest of my vacation time to sleep, it would be the ultimate in efficiency.
“Blood Knight, get ready.”
<…Acknowledged…>
I pressed the button for the promotion match to Floor 62.
Kkirikirik-
I opened the door.
What appeared was
[Defender: Elite Venom Lizardman (62F)]
a gigantic bipedal reptilian monster, its entire body glistening with venom.
It was flicking its tongue.
Shiiik-
“Blood Knight, attack.”
The Blood Knight kicked off the floor and charged.
Kwaaang-!
At the same time, the lizardman spat out venom.
Just as the venom was about to pour over its armor,
Sssslash-!
the greatsword, cloaked in blood mist, split the lizardman's scales before it could do so.
[Elite Venom Lizardman of Floor 62 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 6,100G acquired!]
[Experience acquired.]
My earring sparkled.
“Clean.”
I stared intently at the fallen lizardman's corpse.
Following Floor 710's advice, I concentrated mana in my eyes. My vision warped strangely, and red and black lines like heat haze began appearing over the monster's corpse.
‘So those are the lines of death.’
I rotated the Second Circle in my dantian and imagined driving my mana into the weakest point where the lines overlapped.
“Hmm…”
But I could only see them faintly.
Nothing happened before the corpse disappeared.
Floor 63. Floor 64. Floor 65.
I cleared them rapidly.
The pattern continued: I opened the door, and the Blood Knight sliced the monster apart.
And each time, I trained Death Mark by taking in the sight of the fallen monsters' corpses.
Just before the corpse of the Floor 66 monster disappeared,
Flash-!
a faint red mark appeared for the briefest instant on the corpse's chest armor, then vanished.
“It feels like something is happening, at least…”
I headed for the next floor.
[Defender: Four-Sword Automaton (67F)]
It was an automaton holding a curved sword in each of its four arms.
“Oho.”
I was secretly looking forward to finally seeing some proper swordplay.
“Blood Knight, show me your swordsmanship.”
The Blood Knight charged.
The automaton also crossed its four curved swords as it moved to meet the Blood Knight.
Kaaaang-!
The greatsword and four curved swords collided head-on.
A single exchange.
Crack!
Clang!
“Ah…”
Contrary to my expectations, two of the four curved swords shattered under the Blood Knight's overwhelming strength.
The Four-Sword Automaton backpedaled in confusion.
“Hmm… I want to test it a little more.”
It felt like a waste to end things here.
I wanted to accurately determine the Blood Knight's physical stats, especially its Agility.
It was also a good opportunity to gauge whether I could move like that after pouring my remaining stat points into Agility and raising it to 50.
“Blood Knight, don't use your sword. Just try dodging.”
Still gripping the greatsword, the Blood Knight relaxed its attack stance and stepped backward.
The Four-Sword Automaton soon rushed in.
Ssswish! Clang! Thud!
The automaton's rapid series of attacks continued.
But with minimal movement, the Blood Knight effortlessly let every attack slide past.
A slight twist of its upper body and a half-step backward were enough to keep the enemy's blade tips from even grazing its breastplate.
‘Fast. And precise.’
I narrowed my eyes and followed the Blood Knight's footwork.
“I still can't do that…”
Although reaching Agility 50 had made my body lighter, such smooth movement still seemed beyond me.
Once I reached that conclusion, there was no reason to delay any longer.
I nodded.
“Now kill it.”
Using the momentum from deflecting the attack, the Blood Knight spun its body.
Sssslash-!
The greatsword cut through the air and cleanly severed the automaton's torso.
[Four-Sword Automaton of Floor 67 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 6,600G acquired!]
[Experience acquired!]
I slowly approached the fallen automaton's corpse.
“Even a lifeless thing like this counts as a corpse, right…?”
Then I drew mana into my eyes and stared intently at the dark red lines rising like heat haze over the corpse.
Flash-!
When I drove my mana into the point where the lines overlapped, a red mark was engraved there.
“Oh.”
I was finally making some progress.
But the corpse soon disappeared.
I lifted my gaze from the floor and headed toward the next floor.
Floor 68.
Kwaaang!
[Undead Tree of Floor 68 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 6,700G acquired!]
[Level up! 72Lv -> 73Lv]
[3 stat points acquired!]
It was only after clearing Floor 68 that I leveled up for the first time.
I allocated the three stat points to Strength and Agility, two and one respectively.
The next floor.
Boom-!
“Oh dear…”
On Floor 69, the monster attacked first from over there, and the situation ended in an instant.
Vwoom-
As before, I finished training Death Mark and headed for Floor 70.
[Defender: Stone Gargoyle Veteran (70F)]
The gatekeeper of Floor 70 was a gargoyle that flew through the air and fired chunks of stone.
As if being automatically replenished from somewhere, stones formed at its feet one after another.
“Blood Knight. Attack.”
The Blood Knight gripped its greatsword and leaped, but the gargoyle annoyingly gained altitude and moved outside the Blood Knight's attack range.
Thud!
Whoosh-!
It continued like that.
There was no sign of the battle reaching a conclusion.
The gargoyle didn't attack me, either, even though I was standing still in the back.
“Should I make some command words…?”
I wondered what would happen if I controlled it directly.
Until now, I'd refrained from giving it any commands besides attacking in case I got in the way, but this frustrating situation seemed to call for specific instructions.
“Blood Knight, hold.”
I stopped the Blood Knight, which had been chasing the gargoyle beneath its flying feet.
Then I added another command.
“Taunt.”
The Blood Knight tilted its head.
It seemed unable to understand commands that were too abstract.
“When I say ‘taunt,’ pound your chest hard.”
In response, it pounded its breastplate repeatedly with the flat of its greatsword.
Kieeeek!
As though the taunt had worked, the gargoyle soon attempted another attack.
The moment the gargoyle was about to fire a stone,
“Hold your sword in a reverse grip!!”
After giving that command,
“Dodge!”
I had it evade the incoming stone.
Then, timing it with the next attack,
“Throw it in that grip and hit it!!!”
I said that,
and the Blood Knight threw the greatsword in the motion of an Olympic athlete, following my command.
Swoooosh-!!!
Kwaaang!
It hit.
The gargoyle's wings shattered, and it fell to the floor.
Thud!!!
“Finish it!”
The Blood Knight crushed the fallen gargoyle's face with its greatsword.
[Stone Gargoyle Veteran of Floor 70 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 6,900G acquired!]
[Experience acquired.]
“Good. That's more like it.”
It seemed capable of carrying out detailed commands tailored to the situation, too.
It was fun, like I was controlling a game character myself.
“Necromancy… might suit me pretty well.”
From then on, the climb went smoothly.
Floor 71. Floor 72. Floor 75.
I refined my tactics by combining various commands for the Blood Knight, while steadily training Death Mark by staring intently at the corpses.
“Spin after breaking through!”
“Knock it back!”
“Two backsteps!”
Each time I gave an order, the Blood Knight carried out my intent perfectly.
It got to the point where I wondered if it was directly connected to my mind.
“Is this the power of the Blood Spirit Tea Ceremony…”
It was probably something like that.
All the blood composing the Blood Knight had once entered my body and come back out.
I'd infused it with my mana, one bit at a time, inside me, then expelled it myself. It was no wonder we had become one.
Bang!
Since this was our first time, I didn't mind if the timing was occasionally off and the Blood Knight got injured.
“Blood Command.”
Mana-infused blood flowed from my fingertips and immediately repaired the Blood Knight's damaged armor and skeletal frame.
I had several roles.
I was a healer and a commander, as well as a damage dealer capable of personally finishing things with an instant-death skill in a crisis.
I was still far from mastering everything, but it felt like I was getting an early taste of the appeal of the hexagonal build.
And then.
[Promotion Match Application]
Kkirikirik-
The door to Floor 80 opened.
[Defender: Magneta Iron Golem (80F)]
It was a monster I felt I'd seen around Floor 20.
“Last time, it was a stone golem.”
This time, its material was different.
It was a golem made of massive chunks of iron.
A blue magnetic field crackled around its body, throwing off sparks.
“This reeks of a gimmick mob.”
The instant I saw the monster's name and appearance,
I could identify the weakness of ‘both sides.’
“Blood Knight, break through!”
I sent it charging in without any subtlety.
The Blood Knight raised its greatsword and kicked off the floor.
Kwaaang-!
The golem swung its massive metal arm at the same time.
Kagagagang-!!!
The deafening roar of metal striking metal.
That was when.
Vroooom-!
The blue magnetic field radiating from the golem's body expanded.
The Blood Knight tried to pull back its greatsword, but
Clack!
the greatsword stuck fast to the golem's leg armor and wouldn't come free.
“Blood Knight! Disengage!”
I gave the command, but
Clank-!
even the Blood Knight's steel armor was drawn in by the magnetic field and ended up clinging completely to the golem's torso.
“Oh… just as I expected.”
Though I hadn't expected it to end up in such a ridiculous pose.
“This is kind of like an emergency exit…”
In any case, this was the weakness on ‘my side.’
After that, I stepped forward to exploit its weakness.