My Own Skillbook – Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Before coming to the dungeon, I had created a skill called [Refinement] using the Word
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Created Skill: [Refinement] (Rare)
Tool: Staff
Mana Consumption: 8(11-3)pt
Description: Extracts metal of higher purity from ore and metal.
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When I first obtained a magic stone and used [Refinement], a voice said, “Insufficient materials.”
So five Clouded Wild Magic Stones are worth one higher-grade magic stone?
I checked the magic stone I had obtained through Refinement once more.
The “Wild Magic Stone” increased Strength by 1.5, Vitality by 0.7, and decreased Mental Strength by 0.1.
Not only did it grant more Strength and Vitality than simply absorbing five lower-grade stones, but the Mental Strength penalty had also decreased.
If I refined this magic stone even further, wouldn’t the penalty decrease even more?
I decided to experiment a bit more rather than absorbing it right away. Even if it was just 0.1, I wanted to avoid having my stats decrease.
The problem was the time it took to gather magic stones.
It had taken three days to make one higher-quality magic stone, so by simple math, making one another grade higher would take about half a month.
Besides, since I was only killing bosses and elites and leaving, I was only bleeding entry fees.
I should show my face at the guild too…
While pondering, I summoned the book and looked through my list of Words.
Was there no way? To reach the boss faster, or to Refine with fewer materials, or perhaps…
Then, one Action Word I had classified under “Daily Life” caught my eye.
Remain, leave behind, cause to remain…
I opened an empty page and grasped the quill pen.
And I wrote down the Words.
Having written that far, I fell into thought for a moment.
Then, with a prayerful heart, I wrote the remaining four Words.
The Words began to emit light and mix together.
[A total of 1,500 Exp will be used.]
It consumed 500 more experience points than a typical 6-Word skill would.
It was a sign that a higher-grade skill would be created.
[Skill created.]
I read over the details of the newly created skill.
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Created Skill: [Drop Enhancement] (Rare)
Tool: Staff
Mana Consumption: 16(20-4)pt
Description: Select one item the target drops and massively increase the probability of it appearing.
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I did it!
I inwardly cheered and immediately entered the dungeon where centaurs appeared.
***
Ten minutes later, having found the centaur herd faster than usual, I used the [Flame Spear] skill and ran toward the boss.
“Kah!”
The boss spotted me and charged, swinging its halberd.
Whirl.
I evaded its attack with ease. I had hunted it so many times that I had completely memorized the boss’s attack pattern.
Thanks to that, I didn’t need to use [Lightning Resistance], saving mana.
[Drop Enhancement]!
I cast the skill on the boss while dodging its attacks.
Images of a spear and magic stones appeared in my head. When I selected the magic stone among them, a faint light enveloped the boss’s body.
I leaped up and used a skill.
“Fatal Strike!”
The Flame Spear shot out and pierced the centaur squarely between the eyebrows.
Thud.
After confirming the boss had fallen to the ground, I finished off the stunned elites.
Now come out!
With a pounding heart, I watched the boss’s corpse disappear.
Soon, where the corpse had completely vanished, a red stone lay on the ground.
“All right!”
The description of [Drop Enhancement] said it “massively increased the probability,” not that it “guaranteed” the drop.
So even though I chose the magic stone, there were times it didn’t drop, roughly once every three attempts.
However, compared to the three days it took to gather five Clouded Wild Magic Stones, this was more than enough—it was overflowing.
Having gathered twenty Clouded Magic Stones in a single day, I laid them out on the dungeon floor and looked at them with satisfaction.
If I sold them on the market, even at a low price, this amount could fetch 500 million won.
I turned the Clouded Magic Stones into four regular magic stones, combined them with the one I had made first, and Refined them once more.
After the light enveloping the magic stones faded, what remained was a brilliantly red crystal emitting light on its own.
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[ Brilliant Wild Magic Stone ]
The core of a half-man, half-beast. Its purity is high.
Strength ▲ 10
Vitality ▲ 5
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A thrill ran through my body.
The penalty had vanished, and my Strength and Vitality had increased dramatically.
The average stats of an A-Rank Hunter are 4, so with just this one magic stone, my Vitality reached A-Rank level, and my Strength reached more than double that.
Unable to hold back any longer, I absorbed the magic stone in my hand.
[Vitality increases by 5.]
[Strength increases by 10.]
The moment I absorbed the magic stone, vitality welled up within my body to an unbelievable degree.
My body felt so light that I wondered if I might float into the sky if I ran like this.
I immediately summoned the book and checked my status.
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-Status-
Ihwajin
HP: 200/200 MP: 30/30
Vitality: 10(5+5) Strength: 13(3+10) Mana: 3 Mental Strength: 4 Senses: 3
Unique Skill: [Edit Lv.2]
Exp: 6780
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I was moved seeing the Vitality and Strength stats reaching two digits.
I had thought that exceeding 10 in a stat was only possible for Hunters of S-Rank or higher…
After dismissing the book, I took out the short spear I usually used from my inventory.
It’s light.
The spear was so light that it felt like I was holding a dry wooden stick.
To test the effects of my increased stats, I decided to make another round through the dungeon.
Shortly after, having cleared the dungeon, I couldn’t help but laugh in astonishment.
The floor was littered with the torn corpses of bosses and elites.
My attack power has gone up tremendously.
Without even using [Flame Spear] or [Fatal Strike], simply swinging the spear normally split the monsters in two.
And the speed of [Charge] had changed dimensionally. Before, it felt like running fast; now, it felt like kicking off the ground and flying.
It was the first time I learned that rising stats could also affect skills.
Moreover, no matter how frantically I moved, my body didn’t tire. It seemed my Vitality stat had risen, accelerating my stamina recovery.
“So this is the power of a stat exceeding 10.”
A Strength stat of 13 turned even ordinary attacks into skill-level strikes.
Thanks to that, with only [Invisibility] and [Charge], I could clear a 4-Star dungeon alone.
***
Vroom.
As soon as I exited the dungeon, my phone rang. It was the guild messenger.
[Hyeri: Hwajin, are you busy tomorrow?]
[Me: What is it?]
[Hyeri: There’s a small-scale raid this time. We’re gathering about ten people with the Vice Guild Leader as our leader. Gangil and I are participating. I thought it would be reassuring if you came along too.]
[Me: Understood. I’ll participate too.]
I checked the assembly time Hyeri had told me about and closed the guild messenger.
I had been pouring all my money into entry fees to gather magic stones, so the money I’d earned from the previous Magic Tower quest had all flown away.
I should start showing my face at the guild again anyway.
The next day, I headed to Guro Station with the guild members.
Our guild’s members consisted of 2 Tanks, 3 Melee Dealers, 2 Ranged Dealers, 1 Healer, and 1 Buffer/Debuffer.
I was the only all-rounder.
“As I mentioned before we came, I’ll explain once more before the raid begins.”
The Vice Guild Leader, clad in purple armor, spoke while planting a massive tower shield that covered his entire body into the ground. The Vice Guild Leader’s role was Tank.
“At 11:20, Field Monsters are predicted to appear within a 2km radius of Guro Station.”
Field Monsters referred to those that appeared suddenly in our world, unlike the monsters born in dungeons.
Monsters in dungeons would emerge outside when the overflow value exceeded its limit, but Field Monsters appeared in the world suddenly, unrelated to any dungeon.
The fortunate thing was that the appearance of Field Monsters could be predicted to some extent.
Even though no one knew what technology they used, the government could predict Field Monster appearances like forecasting the weather.
“The monster count is around 300. Their strength is between 4-Star and 5-Star. When the raid begins, we will first take care of the normal monsters before moving on to the boss.”
Field Monsters also had bosses.
Field Bosses had several things in common, one of them being their enormous size.
The smallest Field Boss that had appeared so far was said to be 5 meters in body length, so the size of the others must be terrifying.
Another common point was that Field Bosses possessed a core.
If the core was destroyed, the Field Boss would vanish. Thus, the established tactic when facing a Field Boss was for Hunters to swarm it in large numbers and destroy the core inside its body.
And the last common point: a large-scale drop of rare materials and magic stones.
Not only from Field Monsters but also from Field Bosses, valuable materials and magic stones that didn’t appear in dungeons would drop.
One reason guilds tried so hard to participate in raids was because of these materials. Of course, another reason was that the government offered substantial rewards for participating.
“Absolutely no solo actions. If your HP falls below 30%, immediately withdraw from the front lines and receive treatment. Prioritize protecting comrades with non-combat skills. Finally, follow the leader’s orders. That is all. Any questions?”
Gangil raised his hand.
“How will the recovery and distribution of dropped materials and magic stones proceed?”
That was something I had been curious about as well.
“Basically, drops from normal monsters belong to the Hunter and guild that felled them. Our guild uses a method where non-combat Hunters collect them in their inventories first, then distribute them afterward.”
“What about the Field Boss?”
“Items dropped by the Field Boss are left as-is for the time being, then distributed after the leaders discuss it.”
“What if someone grabs them and runs?”
The guild members laughed as Gangil spoke jokingly.
“Such Hunters and guilds are barred from future raids and become immediate enemies. Since I’ve never seen such a guild since I started participating in raids, it’ll be fine.”
The Vice Guild Leader said with a hint of a smile.
“Please prepare and wait until the Field Monsters appear. I’ll go have a final meeting with the other guild leaders.”
After the Vice Guild Leader left, Gangil and Hyeri approached me.
“Hwajin, you haven’t been coming to the guild these past few days. What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been doing some hunting.”
“You could have gone with us for that… I was worried you might have been disappointed with the guild, Hwajin.”
“Disappointed? Not at all. I even received a gift like this. Though I had to procure the materials myself.”
I said, showing them my staff.
I felt a bit sorry, but I decided to keep my ability to refine magic stones a secret for now.
If people found out I could make high-grade magic stones from low-grade ones, everyone would ask me to refine them.
Actually, that would be the cute outcome. They could capture me and keep me alive as a magic stone-making machine.
Hunters are ultimately all about money and power, to varying degrees.
I was thinking that I’d have to make some decent magic stones for the two of them as gifts later, when—
the clear sky suddenly turned dark.
“They appeared! Field Monsters!”
Someone shouted.