BOOOOOOM!
Gravity swallowed the Crown Stone Golem, and a tremendous crash reverberated upward from the distant bottom of the pit.
The entire shaft trembled. The impact threw my body away from the wall I had been standing on.
Clatter!
Hanging from the edge of the pit with one hand, I peered down.
Far below, within the immeasurable darkness, a faint light flickered precariously.
Then it went out.
[You have defeated Crown Stone Golem (Lv. 24)!]
[A large amount of experience has been acquired!]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have become Hybrid Skeleton Soldier (Lv. 5).]
System messages poured down like a torrential rain.
‘...I did it.’
I tightened my grip on the edge and somehow dragged myself back onto the cavern floor.
Then I collapsed spread-eagle on the spot.
Clatter.
My skeletal body struck the cold granite floor with a dry rattle.
[Remaining operating time: 3 minutes.]
‘That was close.’
If I didn’t hurry, I would collapse right here.
I rose and looked into the pit.
I needed to retrieve the core from the bottom. A rope would have been useful, but I didn’t have one.
‘I’ll have to climb down myself, won’t I?’
I examined the pit’s inner wall, recalling how it had felt beneath my feet earlier.
The wall wasn’t completely vertical. Its uneven surface provided enough footholds that I should be able to climb back up after descending.
‘It’s deep, but I can do it.’
I jumped into the pit.
[Skill: Beast’s Leap (Lv. 3) activated!]
Descending in a zigzag pattern along the wall proved manageable. I slipped a few times after stepping on moss, but I continued making my way down.
When my feet finally touched the bottom, the scattered remains of the Crown Stone Golem immediately caught my eye.
And at their center was—
[Guardian Golem’s Mana Core]
[A semipermanent power source containing concentrated ancient mana.]
It was roughly the size of my fist.
It was a deep, transparent shade of navy blue, and a faint light shimmered within it like residual heat.
‘I did it!’
I no longer had to live on borrowed time while worrying about the Necromancer!
With trembling hands, I brought the core toward my chest.
My empty rib cage.
The place where my heart should have been.
Whirrr!
The moment I pushed the core between my ribs, my mana circuits latched onto it as though they had been waiting.
A skeleton was also a monster that operated on mana.
Naturally, my body welcomed its new power source.
[An independent mana-generation organ has been secured.]
[You are now a free being.]
Freedom.
Before I could even savor that wonderful word, an enthusiastic cry echoed down from somewhere high above the pit.
“Amaaaazing!”
“...!”
I hurriedly raised my longsword and pointed it toward the source of the voice.
Who was that?
A human?
Had the Necromancer Malak followed me here?
A figure leaped into the pit and landed lightly at the bottom.
She wore a black robe, but a braid of silver hair hung outside it.
More importantly—
“Wow. A pile of bones stealing a golem’s core? You’re quite the audacious little thing.”
Her clear, melodious voice.
The staff in her hand, glowing with purple light.
‘...A woman?’
No, she wasn’t an ordinary woman.
A skull-shaped pendant hung from the tip of her staff.
It was the symbol of the Necromancer class.
She pulled back her hood.
Her skin was deathly pale, and her eyes were crimson.
A mischievous smile played across her lips.
“Hello, little skeleton. Did you run away from home while your master wasn’t looking?”
This situation was taking a strange turn.
Talk about one disaster after another.
I had escaped the tiger’s den only to encounter a fox.
Instinctively, I adjusted my grip on the longsword.
This miserable lump of scrap metal probably didn’t look remotely intimidating, but it was all I had.
‘I can’t see her status window.’
Even Precision Observation Eye showed nothing but question marks.
It seemed that information remained hidden when the difference in strength was too great.
She glanced over the enormous fragments of granite scattered across the ground—the remains of the Crown Stone Golem.
“Oh? You really did smash it to pieces.”
She lightly tapped the ground with her staff.
Cr-cr-cr-crack!
The enormous rock fragments began floating into the air with an eerie grinding sound.
The shattered pieces of granite rapidly fused together, moving as though they intended to reconstruct the terrifying five-meter-tall Crown Stone Golem I had fought only minutes ago.
‘Are you insane? Is this some kind of joke?!’
I recoiled in horror.
I had only just transplanted the Mana Core and earned myself a moment of relief, yet now I was supposed to fight that physically immune monster a second time?
My longsword was also little more than a battered piece of scrap metal, its edge completely ruined.
I raised the longsword with trembling hands and desperately assumed a defensive stance.
But then—
“Pfft.”
The woman looked at my terrified posture, and her shoulders began shaking as though she could no longer hold back her laughter.
“I’m joking. It was only a joke. Look at you being so cautious. How adorable.”
Adorable?
I was a grotesque Hybrid Skeleton wearing Black Hound legs, a Goblin Captain’s arm, and even a horned helmet.
It seemed a Necromancer’s aesthetic standards truly existed on an entirely different plane from those of an ordinary person.
She casually snapped her fingers.
The floating golem fragments crashed back to the ground, raising clouds of dust.
“Ahahahaha! Hahahaha!”
She clutched her stomach and burst into breathless laughter.
“Did I scare you? You’re just a pile of bones, but I can still see you trembling! Oh, that’s hilarious!”
I was so dumbfounded that my jaw nearly fell off.
Wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, she spoke again.
“Relax. I have no intention of hurting you. I was originally searching for something called the Tower of White Bones when I caught the musty scent of that old geezer Malak’s mana and came to investigate... But I suppose you’re merely one of his lost skeletons. Still, finding you probably means he’s somewhere nearby.”
The woman rested her staff against her shoulder and glanced at the shattered remains of the Crown Stone Golem.
“Still, that was impressive. A low-level skeleton actually thought of stealing a golem’s core. That was a remarkably clever hunt against such a massive chunk of stone.”
She laughed as though she were genuinely delighted.
I couldn’t sense any hostility from her.
If anything, her expression resembled that of a child who had discovered a fascinating new toy.
The woman rummaged inside her robe before casually tossing something toward me.
Whoosh—catch!
I extended my goblin arm and snatched it out of the air.
Its weight felt satisfying in my hand.
It was a proper sword, carefully housed inside a leather scabbard.
[Steel Bastard Sword (Grade: Common)]
[A standard-issue sword with excellent sharpness and durability.]
My eyes lit up.
This weapon was incomparable to my battered old longsword.
“I took it from a human mercenary who annoyed me on the way here, but it’s a little too heavy for me to carry around. You look like you’ll make good use of it. Consider it payment for the entertaining show.”
The woman winked at me.
“Well then, take care, my adorable little skeleton. Your old master doesn’t seem to be nearby, so I’ll be on my way.”
Flash!
As soon as she finished speaking, a violet magic circle unfolded beneath her feet.
Her figure dispersed into the air like a mirage.
Teleportation magic.
Chantless teleportation, at that.
‘She must be a highly experienced mage.’
Heavy silence returned to the cavern.
I stared blankly at the empty air before fastening the bastard sword to my waist.
I was confused, but there was no reason to reject such an unexpected windfall.
‘What was that? Is she a good person... No, a good Necromancer?’
Whatever the case, the threat was gone.
I released a sigh of relief and looked down at the Guardian Golem’s Mana Core embedded in my chest, which I hadn’t properly examined earlier.
Using Precision Observation Eye, I inspected the inside of my rib cage.
‘Oh?’
I had assumed it was merely a glowing stone, but after connecting to my mana circuits, the core began operating through a remarkable structure.
It was a dual-core system in which two independent mana sources operated alternately.
[Core 1: Mana remaining 75% — Approximately 9 hours of activity]
[Core 2: Mana remaining 100% — Approximately 12 hours of activity]
While one core consumed mana, the other rested and absorbed trace amounts of mana from the atmosphere to recharge itself.
Naturally, I should also be able to accelerate the charging process by forcibly injecting mana from an external source.
In other words, as long as I didn’t spend every hour of the day engaged in intense combat, I would never run out of mana during ordinary activities.
[Warning window deactivated.]
The crimson timer that had been flashing in the corner of my vision and tightening around my neck disappeared completely.
My field of vision felt wider, and the pressure suffocating me finally lifted.
‘All right. I suppose it’s time to leave.’
I was just about to rise and savor my victory when—
Thump.
Something pulsed inside my rib cage.
It was the core.
The Guardian Golem’s Mana Core transplanted into my body was beating at a steady rhythm.
At first, I assumed it was merely the sensation of the power source operating.
Thump. Thump.
No.
This was something different.
It had a direction.
I turned my head.
The pulsing intensified, seemingly pulling me toward the area behind the Crown Stone Golem’s enormous remains.
‘What is that?’
A fragment sent flying when the Stone Golem shattered appeared to have struck the cavern wall and broken through a thin false wall layered over it.
Behind the false wall was an unnaturally smooth, artificial surface.
The wall was densely engraved with geometric patterns.
‘Was there always a place like this inside the mine?’
I had reviewed the dungeon’s strategy guides hundreds of times, yet I had never heard of such an area inside the Nest of the Forgotten Golems.
Was it a hidden area?
It seemed to be either an undiscovered zone that no one had ever found or a space that opened only after fulfilling certain conditions.
[Precision Observation Eye (EX) activated.]
As I analyzed the patterns’ structure, I recognized the complex design.
‘They’re identical to the markings engraved on the Crown Stone Golem’s body.’
Thump.
The core’s pulsing intensified until the vibrations resonated throughout my rib cage.
I slowly placed my hand against the wall.
At that moment, all the patterns reacted simultaneously.
The engraved lines began to glow.
The entire pattern connected like a single circuit, and the light converged upon the deepest symbol carved into its center.
[Qualification verified.]
Rrrrrumble!
The wall split apart in a cloud of accumulated dust and began opening with a heavy grinding sound.