The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

Chapter 71: Skeleton with Divine Power

 

EP.71 Skeleton with Divine Power

Water boils in the pot.

Even the bone hand of Maru was boiling in there.

And so was my heart.

“……”

I momentarily lost words at the absurd sight.

Even Maru’s statement that it tastes good like this was shocking.

“No….”

The words wouldn’t come out.

What exactly should I say?

My thoughts became tangled.

So, until now, the secret to the deep flavor was Maru’s touch?

Did he put his hand in after washing it?

More importantly, when did he start doing that?

No, if it’s the broth made from Maru’s hand… Let’s not think about it…

There were things I was curious about and things I didn’t want to know.

But putting one’s own hand in and boiling the broth was not something we did.

Especially Maru’s race, the Skeleton Black Knight.

Their bones were black as their name suggests.

– Sigh. –

First, I decided to ask one thing at a time.

“Maru.”

I called out to Maru, whose hand was still boiling.

Maru nodded in response to my question.

“Where did you learn about this? Boiling bones, I mean.”

Maru wasn’t always good at making ramen from the start.

At first, even when I taught him, there were times when he put too much water or too little, making it too salty.

The fluctuation in taste was that severe.

He even burned the pot while making ramen, for goodness’ sake.

After going through such trial and error, the taste of Maru’s ramen gradually improved.

Now he often made completely different ramen that we enjoyed together…

That was Maru’s touch.

Truly the touch of his hand.

The problem was where he learned to boil it like that.

To my question, Maru’s answer was simple.

“Tick, Tick.”

He said he watched it on his smartphone while I was asleep.

“Tick.”

He said he clicked around here and there and watched related videos.

“Ha…”

Okay, let’s leave that aside.

But how did he use the smartphone?

Of course, Maru’s entire body is made of bones as a skeleton.

No matter how much you tap on the phone screen, it wouldn’t respond.

Maru’s answer to my question was simple.

“Tick.”

He said he used the pen built into the phone.

At this point, I became afraid.

A skeleton capable of using electronic devices.

‘How far has Maru’s growth gone?’

And Maru is not even a monster from Earth.

He was a skeleton soldier chosen from the El Dorad continent.

That Maru.

The Maru who couldn’t even boil ramen properly at first….

Now, he boils ramen by himself while making his own broth.

Not only that, but he also freely uses a smartphone as well.

A monster from the continent has fully adapted to Earth.

What should I do about this?

Even now, Maru was looking at me while boiling his own hand.

His gaze seemed profound.

“Hmm…”

I suppose he’s doing that with good intentions in his own way.

I understood Maru’s intentions well.

But I still had to say something.

“Maru, from now on, just boil it without doing that. Don’t bother yourself unnecessarily.”

I tried to sound as gentle as possible.

“Tick!”

He said it’s okay to bother himself.

I underestimated Maru’s loyalty.

Come to think of it, this was what Maru said the most.

Noble One.

Great One.

Master.

I didn’t know where he learned such words, but his loyalty was remarkable.

‘Ha, what should I say?’

How can I explain it in a way that respects Maru’s feelings while preventing him from boiling the bones with his own hands?

I pondered for a moment.

And the answer came.

Yes, that’s it.

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It was simple.

“Maru, actually, I’m not very good at eating this bone broth. So, you don’t have to go through the trouble.”

He probably understood it well by now.

Or so I thought.

“Tick!”

Maru responded as if he had realized something.

At Maru’s response, the smartphone alarm went off.

– Ding –

– Ding –

– Ding –

Since the only thing set as the alarm was the game, I immediately touched the screen.

– Maru has gained enlightenment from the battle with the Death Knight. –

– Maru has gained enlightenment from the battle with the Arch Lich. –

– Maru has gained enlightenment while understanding the master’s broth preferences. –

The alarm didn’t end there.

– Maru’s [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] has been unlocked. –

“?”

What’s going on now?

Just a moment ago, Maru was simply boiling water for ramen.

But why did the enhancement system open?

I couldn’t follow the current situation.

There was only one guess I could make.

“Enlightenment?”

Looking at the alarm, it seems Maru realized something.

After gaining this enlightenment, the enhancement system was unlocked.

But the subjects of the enlightenment were battles with the Death Knight and the Arch Lich?

‘Did he have encounters with them?’

When Maru met them, there was nothing else besides the monster waves.

Apart from that, there were no separate encounters.

“Oh.”

One memory came to mind.

Come to think of it, we did something similar to a battle.

Maru just faithfully played the role of defeating the Death Knight and the Arch Lich when he swung his sword.

‘Can that even be considered a battle?’

Moreover, the Death Knight and the Arch Lich were perfectly fine without any injuries.

But Maru gained enlightenment here?

What enlightenment could he have gained, really?

It was a mystery even after knowing about it.

“No way.”

Perhaps the reason Maru kept spacing out after the monster wave was because of that.

Whether he was meditating or something, it seemed like a posture of truly seeking enlightenment.

“I really don’t know. Where did he learn meditation?”

“Tick!”

He said he saw it on his smartphone.

Now I’m truly scared, Maru.

And what’s with understanding my broth preferences?

He seems to have realized everything.

====

***

====

After waking up from sleep.

Several things happened in a short period.

The dungeon enhancement system was unlocked, and using it, I could acquire Traits and skills.

But that’s not all.

I learned the truth about the ramen Maru makes.

I also figured out why Maru has been spacing out frequently lately, and on top of that, I felt like I discovered how the monster enhancement system is applied.

All of this happened in less than an hour.

“My head hurts…”

Too much information entered my mind in a short time.

My brain needed time to filter, but new information kept coming.

Still, I tackled each issue one by one.

First, I decided not to add the taste of Maru’s hand when he boils ramen in the future.

Moreover, considering that the enhancement system opened for Maru, I decided to utilize this point as well.

‘When you think about it, Maru’s strength is essentially my strength.’

Of course, the dungeons and monsters on the screen are also my strength.

But Maru is a monster that lives with me.

The closer he is, the stronger he becomes, making things easier for me.

As Maru becomes stronger, the number of strategies I can use also increases.

All the Traits and skills I obtained earlier can be considered as a Wizard position.

But Wizards are commonly known to be weak in close combat.

But with Maru?

That weakness could be perfectly compensated for.

So, the more I enhance Maru, the more advantageous it is for me.

I immediately clicked on the dungeon enhancement system.

[Dungeon Monster Enhancement System]

– Dungeon Master ‘Lee Kang-hyun’ (Unlocked) –

– Maru (★★★★) (Unlocked) –

– Squall (★★★) (Unlocked) –

Maru’s name appeared newly in the enhancement system list, which previously only had my name and Squall’s.

I touched Maru’s name first.

Then Maru’s status window appeared.

<Maru>

Grade: ★★★★

Race: Skeleton

[Traits]

None

[Basic Information]

Health: B-

Attack: B+ (1 level adjustment due to Demon Sword)

Defense: C

Magic: C

[Skills]

Knight’s Oath (S): Lee Kang-hyun (Activated)

“It’s probably because he’s a skeleton.”

His defense and magic power were too low.

His attack power was said to have risen by one level due to the adjustment effect of the Demon Sword.

I pondered while looking at the list of acquired abilities.

“What would suit Maru the best?”

For now, I decided to choose something simple to experiment with.

Among them, one attribute caught my eye.

Agile Movement (F+): Trait. Makes the body flexible.

“Should I try this first?”

– Would you like to enhance the trait Agile Movement (F+) for Maru (★★★★)? –

– Enhanced abilities cannot be reverted. –

I immediately pressed to enhance.

Then, after a while.

Enhancement of Maru (★★★★) was successful.

His appearance didn’t change much.

“Maru, try moving.”

But there was one thing that changed due to the effect of the trait.

‘Ah, the sound has decreased.’

Maru is a skeleton.

It was inevitable that there would be the unique sound of bones clattering every time he moved.

But by applying the ‘Agile Movement’ trait, the bone sound decreased slightly.

If it were a higher-grade trait?

I didn’t know if it could completely eliminate the bone sound.

“This is really amazing.”

The change was immediately visible with just gaining one trait.

‘If it’s like this, should I enhance Squall altogether?’

In the end, everything needs to be enhanced.

And since Squall was the first to unlock the system, there needed to be corresponding rewards for him.

I immediately bestowed abilities upon Squall.

– Would you like to enhance the trait Fierce Warrior (A) for Squall (★★★)? –

– Enhanced abilities cannot be reverted. –

– Would you like to enhance the trait Minor Regeneration (D) for Squall (★★★)? –

– Enhanced abilities cannot be reverted. –

I granted Squall the unique Fierce Warrior and Minor Regeneration.

Fierce Warrior (A): Attack power increases as health decreases. If health becomes critically low, there is a high risk of going berserk.

Minor Regeneration (D): Slightly increases efficiency in healing and regeneration of wounds.

Squall is an orc and a warrior at the same time.

Just by looking at this, those two traits seemed to complement each other well.

– Enhancement of Squall (★★★) was successful. –

– Enhancement of Squall (★★★) was successful. –

“I guess that’s enough for Squall.”

Next, I planned to continue enhancing Maru.

I already had something in mind for the next enhancement.

That would be Divine Power.

I myself had absorbed divine power through sacrifices in the past.

As a result, the divine power stat appeared on my status window.

What I was curious about was whether it would work for Maru too.

“Undead races are fundamentally opposed to it….”

I was worried it might go wrong, but judging by the alarm, it didn’t seem like there would be any problem.

– Would you like to enhance the stat Divine Power for Maru (★★★★)? –

– Enhanced abilities cannot be reverted. –

“Since there doesn’t seem to be any sanctions, it should be fine, right?”

If it wasn’t allowed, wouldn’t there be a warning when trying to enhance it?

“Let’s enhance it for now.”

I immediately touched to enhance, and soon the change began.

– Enhancement of Maru (★★★★) was successful. –

“Oh.”

For now, the enhancement was successful.

Even Maru’s condition seemed fine.

And there was a change in the status window.

<Maru>

Grade: ★★★★

Race: Skeleton

[Traits]

Agile Movement (F+)

[Basic Information]

Health: B-

Attack: B+ (1 level adjustment due to Demon Sword)

Defense: C

Magic: C

Divine Power: F

[Skills]

Knight’s Oath (S): Lee Kang-hyun (Activated)

Divine power was added to the existing information.

Of course, it was only enhanced once, so it was at the F grade, but it was a significant change.

“I wonder how far it will go if everything is enhanced.”

While I was thinking about it, I decided to concentrate all divine power on Maru.

– Would you like to enhance the stat Divine Power for Maru (★★★★)? –

I enhanced a whopping 12 divine powers additionally.

– Enhancement of Maru (★★★★) was successful. –

The F-grade divine power written in the status window changed to E-grade.

At the same time.

“Huh?”

Maru’s appearance changed slightly.

Maru’s race is a Skeleton Black Knight.

True to its name, its appearance was black.

But as the grade of divine power increased, the color changed slightly.

“Your color seems slightly lighter?”

Author’s Note (Author’s Commentary)

I organized Cecilia’s status window a bit more in Episode 3.

<Celia Ishahar>

Grade: ★★★★★★

Race: Succubus

[Traits]

Queen’s Dignity (S): Possesses an unattainable level of dignity.

Seductive Smile(S): Overflowing charm in her smile. Stimulates the hearts of men who see it.

Devil’s Whisper(S): Stimulates the opponent’s mind with sweet whispers.

[Basic Information]

Health: A

Attack: A-

Defense: A

Magic: S

[Skills]

Nightmare (S): Inflicts the worst nightmare that the opponent can’t wake up from.

Dream Manipulation (A): Manipulates the opponent’s dreams, giving them hope in exchange for absorbing their vitality.

Charm (A): Subjects exposed to charm cannot feel attraction to anyone other than the caster and enter a state of heat every hour.