Record of a Thousand Lives c7

I’m still in India. Hmm.

Author: Flatter

The Author of this story, Flatter, has full rights over this story, and I am translating this work with his permission.

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Chapter 7. Necromancer Cla.s.s Advancement (2)

The hobgoblins were revived as skeletons.
The humans who were brutally killed by the Giant Hobgoblin were not revived as undead.
When the corpses in the whole cave began to move, a scene that resembled a small army marching appeared.

[The skill level of Ma.s.s Revival has increased.
You may revive corpses as low-cla.s.s undead.]
[The skill level of Ma.s.s Revival has increased.
You may revive corpses of large monsters.]

“Guoo……”

The inferior-cla.s.s undead, the skeletons, could only moan due to their low intelligence.
But compared to the normal revival skill used by a necromancer, the effect of the skill was astoundingly large.
The skill “Ma.s.s Revival” was Nakron’s ultimate skill that allowed one to create a powerful undead army once its skill level reached a certain point.
Kang Yoonsoo pointed at the Giant Hobgoblin.

“Kill.”
“Clack clack!”

The skeletons charged at the boss monsters.
The Giant Hobgoblin cried out in anger, and swung its machete wildly.
The skeleton army fell like leaves.
But even if they were monsters of inferior grade, they were not something one could ignore.
The skeletons swung its weapons, and injured the Giant Hobgoblin at every chance they got.
When the Boss Monster destroyed a single skeleton, Kang Yoonsoo spoke again.

“Corpse Explosion.”

Bang-!

The skeleton which just got destroyed exploded.
The power of the explosion was something that even the Giant Hobgoblin could ignore.
The Boss Monster made a face of outrage, but in the end, he kneeled in pain.
While the skill “Corpse Explosion” was immensely powerful, it consumed about ten days of the user’s life.
Using the skill made its user feel a throbbing pain at his/her heart.
But Kang Yoonsoo used the skill unreservedly.

“Corpse Explosion. Corpse Explosion. Corpse Explosion. Corpse Explosion.”

Babababang-!

The four repeated explosions swept the Giant Hobgoblin’s body.
A huge vibration enough to make someone worry struck the cave.
The Boss Monster’s flesh ripped apart to reveal the pink muscle underneath.

[The skill level of Corpse Explosion has increased.
The power of the explosion rises.]

“Kurururu-!”

The Giant Hobgoblin roared, and charged towards Kang Yoonsoo.
It destroyed all the skeletons in its way with its machete.
Kang Yoonsoo, instead of becoming surprised at all, took out his sword and spear with an emotionless face.

“Life Drain.”

A blue-white energy surrounded the tips of his weapons.
The energy extended to touch the Giant Hobgoblin’s body, then began to absorb its life force like a leech.
Due to the low skill level, the rate of absorption was quite low, but the life force that was used to use “Corpse Explosion” filled up slowly.

The Giant Hobgoblin reached Kang Yoonsoo’s position, and swung its machete ferociously.
But Kang Yoonsoo was no longer there.
He, who had predicted the monster’s move already, stepped on a skeleton’s skull, jumped, and landed on the Giant Hobgoblin’s shoulder.
He then stabbed out with his weapons.

Stab-! Slice-!

The Giant Hobgoblin, who was struck at its temple, stumbled.
Kang Yoons...o...b..nt down, and stabbed the Giant Hobgoblin’s left breast with his spear.

Stab-!

A sharp blade slid through the Giant Hobgoblin, then a sound of the heart exploding came out.
The Giant Hobgoblin fell.
The ground shook lightly.

[You have defeated the Giant Hobgoblin (Boss, Level 48).
The experience gained by the undead will not be transferred to you.
Your level rose 3 times.]

Kang Yoonsoo took the machete that was in the hands of the dead Giant Hobgoblin.
The giant monster used the machete with one hand, but to a human, the machete was a huge sword.

[Steel Machete]
Rank-Normal
Killing Strength: 14
A giant machete made out of good steel.

Kang Yoonsoo threw away his sword and spear, and equipped the machete.
He could feel the sword’s weight when he wore it on his back.
Then, he waited for the mana gained from the Life Suppression Ring to fill back up.
During this time, Kang Yoonsoo distributed his stat points.
He raised Strength by two, and Revival by one.
The stat “Revival” allowed his undead to possess more strength, and resistance to various elements.
His level was now 34.
He could feel that his mana had completely filled up.
Kang Yoonsoo stretched his hand out to the Giant Hobgoblin.

“Ma.s.s Revival.”

All the mana in his body was spent.
The Giant Hobgoblin, which had been rampaging moments ago, rose with a pale, blue complexion.
It had revived as a zombie.
While its intelligence was still low, its power helped due to its ma.s.sive size.
Kang Yoonsoo raised his hand, and moved the 90 undead in front of him.
Normally, one required a huge amount of concentration in order to control the undead, but Kang Yoonsoo accommplished this feat easily.
His leaders.h.i.+p was great enough to be able to control the skeletons while fighting, as seen before.
The skeletons moved to the end of the cave.

“Corpse Explosion.”

One of the skeletons at the cave wall exploded.
Bang-!
A shock that threatened to collapse the cave resounded, and the wall crumbled away to reveal what lay beyond.
It was a cavern filled with various ores.

“Mine it.”

Kang Yoonsoo commanded this to the skeletons as he put on Kim Minsoo’s bag.

.
.
.

After storing the undead away into the Summoning Dimension, Kang Yoonsoo walked out of the cave.
By the time the sun began to set, he arrived at a town.

Kellin, a rural fief.

It was a place that boasted desolate lands that were somehow cultivated by the humans.

The farmers finished working, and went home, and the travelers laughed amongst themselves as they walked into the taverns,
The golden wheat in the fields and the sweet smell of beer tickled one’s nose as they walked.
The dirt road was created very skillfully. It seemed that it could even hold itself even when the king came with his carriage.

It was different from the cruel reality.
There were no one who were stressed about life.
The people in the fiefdom smile even after working as much as they could.
Truly, it was a place that seemed calm and comforting, even to those who never visited before.

But Kang Yoonsoo’s face did not change at all.
The beautiful scenery, the laughters of the people, and the bright sun.
None of it could stir his emotionless heart.
Kang Yoonsoo kept walking.

“Wait!”

A man in beggar-like clothing stopped him.
The man, even with his giant body, seemed to be quite handsome.

“Are you a Traveler, as well?”

The man asked this with nervousness.
Kang Yoonsoo quietly pointed to his terminal.
The only way to distinguish Travelers from natives of this world was to see if one had a terminal or not.

“That’s good. I just arrived here a few days ago. Since there were not many Travelers in this area, I’ve been staying here alone.”

The man hesitated a bit, then opened his mouth.

“Would you like to travel together with me? After all, two is better than one, right? I don’t have money or anything, but I am quite strong.”

Kang Yoonsoo looked over the man with emotionless eyes.
He then opened his mouth.

“Listen to me carefully, Icion.”
“Eh?”

Icion made a surprised face.
He didn’t even inctroduce himself. How did the man in front of him even know his name?

“Work in the butchering company without changing your cla.s.s. No one does it because it’s dirty and disgusting, but you must do it. Do not fear touching the guts of hen and the spines of pigs. Treat a b.l.o.o.d.y knife even better than your women. Once you butcher about a hundred creatures, a man-eating beast will come for you. Do not be afraid, and strike the crown of its head. That is its only weakness, and the source of nutrients for the butcher.”
“What are you talking about?”

Kang Yoonsoo continued on without answering Icion’s question.

“Run from Kellin as soon as you kill the beast. The beasts will come find you, in order to kill you. On the first night, 1. On the third night, 3. You should be able to take care of them, as long as you are not sleeping. Be careful of your left eye. In the past, there was a case where you lost your left eye due to sleeping. Once you killed up to 5 beasts, you will be given a chance to become the Barbarian King.”
“B, Barbarian King?”
“The cla.s.s ‘Barbarian King’ was the cla.s.s you liked the most in your life. Your strength and stamina increases whenever you drink blood, and you may earn much from butchering animals. Become the Barbarian King, and head North. You will be able to meet me again, at that point.”

Before Icion could even say anything, Kang Yoonsoo walked away after saying this:

“Become a part of my force when we meet again.”

Icion looked at the man’s back for a bit, then turned around.
He was a bit hesitant.
This was an advice from a man he never saw.
But he knew too little about this world, and had nothing to do anyway.
Icion headed for the butchering company.

Kang Yoonsoo was walking silently, but in his head, he was thinking of the man from a while ago.

Icion.
The man who trusted him at any of his lives.
Kang Yoonsoo gave Icion this advice, because he trusted the man.
But he wouldn’t work with Icion at this point.
Icion was a very talented man.
It was better for him to work alone.
He was going to be a part of Kang Yoonsoo’s group in the future anyway.

Only she could be a part of his group in the start.

When he walked up the hill, he was able to find a small mansion.
A soldier, who had his helmet pressed down on his head a bit too much, stopped Kang Yoonsoo.

“Who are you? Do you have business with lord Hermia?”

The guard looked at Kang Yoonsoo with a curious gaze.
Unlike the people of the fief, the soldiers of the fief had to fight off landworms and the likes in the desolate lands, so they were quite alert, and powerful.
Because Kang Yoonsoo didn’t want to talk, he simply showed the contents of his bag to the soldier.
The bag was filled with unrefined ores.
Every single one of the ores, however, were exceedingly rare and expensive.
As long as one handled these right, it was possible for him to buy several fiefs.
While ores were quite rough compared to the refined jewels itself, some of the rarer ones allowed people to see that it was of high grade.
The soldier’s expression couldn’t be seen because of his helmet, but the soldier’s tone had gotten a little more careful.

“What do you need in our fief? It would be better to look for a bigger trading post elsewhere if you’re looking to trade those off.”
“I have business with your lord.”
“What?”

Business with the lord?
Even though the lord of Kellin was quite peculiar, there was no way the lord of a rural fief had money enough to trade for these ores.
Kang Yoonsoo spoke in a low, calm tone.

“Tell your lord that the one who can use the Pearl of The Covenant has come.”

The Pearl of The Covenant.
It was a treasure from an ancient era.
It was a hidden piece that would help him in his journey.

Kang Yoonsoo looked up at the windows of the mansion.

“She should’ve heard my voice already, though.”