[Kill him! Kill them all!]

[For the Empire!]

"He said he’d just kill the lord. What is this…?"

After freezing the city wall whole, Kratia climbed up and stared dumbstruck at the massacre taking place. The skeletons were hostile to everything and everyone. Level 4 Skeleton Knights and ordinary level 1 commoners alike had fallen into frenzy.

At this very moment, Kratia heard a jarring, hair-raising scream from somewhere; she recognized the voice.

"Do the undead periodically fall into madness? No, there's no way that something like this could happen so suddenly... Was it Shin-Woo? But how?"

[Captain's ordered us to annihilate them! Let us put to rest those pitiful fools of the Empire!]

[Follow the Commander!]

While Kratia stood rooted to the spot, the Pauls had already followed her into the city and charged into the fray.

Led by the reborn Paul 41, the level 4 Doom Factor, the elite squadron didn't show a lick of hesitation as they cut down any and every undead in the area. They had already finished steeling themselves.

"What could he have done to these undead? How...? Ugh."

Kratia couldn't get over it, but it felt like a waste of time to ponder such a question while doing nothing. Ultimately, she pushed her trivial concerns aside and went straight into a large-scale spell. She had developed a new technique after observing Lee Shin-Woo’s method. She wanted to test her 'catalyzed magic'!

A large quantity of mana rushed into the ice artifact hovering before her; Kratia watched as the mana grew, a smile tugging her lips.

Meanwhile, Lee Shin-Woo had finished cleaning up the area, and was using Shriek of the Dead all over the city; he gaped once he saw the spell Kratia had cast.

[Low Rank Shriek of the Dead is now Lv8. Magic has increased by 2. Your skills are affected by your mana and can persist for a longer period of time.]

"Whoa, what's that?"

No occupant of the city would fail to notice the spell; there was an absurdly large mass of ice floating in the air!

"Ooh, I’m getting cold just looking at it," Jin said.

"The cold's not the issue here."

The clump of ice floating in the air created a suction that drew in the surrounding mana, which rotated around the ice and transformed into sharp ice spears. The spears then poured down on the enemies everywhere!

Lee Shin-Woo would describe the ice advancing slowly in the air as well as the downpour of ice spears as 'horrific'. In fact, he was beginning to think that it was unnecessary for him to take out the Skeleton Commander first, given she could attack the entire city with that spell!

"What kind of spell is that?"

"Are all level 6s like her?"

"No way."

Lee Shin-Woo was speechless. Kratia hadn't been in the Empire for very long and was still a newbie hero! He hadn't expected her to wield such impressive arcane magic after observing him; he realized then he had been ignorant of how amazing his abilities were, and decided to be even more guarded against other heroes from now on. One could never be too careful.

"If you get hit by that, would you die, Shin-Woo?"

"Yep. Fortunately, it seems avoidable… And it doesn't seem like Kratia will become our enemy, so we don't need to go into hypotheticals here."

One week was more than enough time to figure out each others' tendencies. Kratia clearly had a single-mindedly focus on magic, but was also a rational thinker and a loyal companion. He believed she was a trustworthy human.

"I don't think I'll have to even lift a finger,” said Lee Shin-Woo. “Let's rest."

Deeming the battle over already, he sank down to the ground with the Limited Order Bone Core in his hand. It was the key to control the Iron Golems before them. They had some spare time now, so he decided to study the core in earnest.

"That's what you call resting?"

"We should reach level 5 if we use all of the bones we've acquired from the battle. I want to finish this quest before I level up."

"You're so stubborn it's scary."

Lee Shin-Woo could already use the Bone Core much better than its original owner, namely the lord. Considering that he had controlled three Iron Golems simultaneously to keep two of the Elder Knights busy, all the while wielding the Lightning Tooth in his other hand and attacking the other Elder Knights, Jin was shocked by his insistence to do better.

However, Lee Shin-Woo wasn't satisfied with just that.

"Arema Steelworker... No, the Empire made a huge mistake,” Lee Shin-Woo muttered. “Holding the remote control makes it obvious how the Golems' mana is created, as well as how they move, doesn't it?"

"If anyone could tell that from just analyzing the core, they wouldn't have made a remote control..."

It shouldn’t be possible for someone to just replicate a Golem’s mana no matter how deep their knowledge in magic was, or how studiously they analyzed it. At least, that was what Kratia had told them. However, Lee Shin-Woo was gripping the Bone Core and struggling against it, and he didn't hear what Jin was saying.

That's right. Mana starts out formless. It only takes shape depending on who is using it. ...In some ways, it’s similar to karma.'

Lee Shin-Woo closely examined the process within the core that converted his mana, and found himself in awe again and again. It felt like he was testing and confirming the knowledge he'd committed to memory until now, which deeply moved him. At the same time, he found his resolve further cemented; he wanted to do what the core did all by himself.

"Hoo, let's do it in order," said Lee Shin-Woo.

"That’s surprising."

For starters, Lee Shin-Woo focused on giving detailed commands to the Golems. There were basic commands recorded in the core, but he wanted to personally inject his will into the Golems by replicating the strange mana patterns.

This wasn't very difficult, as he had already received all the relevant knowledge from the Original Core.

[Following order. Running in place.]

[Following order. Sparring with I0921.]

He had succeeded, so next up was to transmit the image in his head in its entirety to the Golems. The core was now merely a medium that changed Lee Shin-Woo's mana into that of a Golem's. After analyzing the core completely, he was already able to reproduce its function.

He was even able to remove the limit on his administrative authority. In other words, he could now control any Golem below level 5 even if it wasn’t registered in the core. That was already a shocking achievement, but he wasn't satisfied with that.

[Executing pushups.]

[Executing 8 personal training exercises.]

"I'm almost there..."

Lee Shin-Woo gently closed his eyes. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the one who knew about a Golem's mana most aside from the Golems themselves. He just needed to take one more step.

He had faith in his mana's ability to change. He had absorbed a Golem's mana before, so he believed there was no reason he wouldn't be able convert his mana to that of a Golem's. Lee Shin-Woo was now able to genuinely think that way.

"Hoo..."

Lee Shin-Woo fell into deep thought and dropped the core that had been in his hand, which automatically entered his inventory. If he truly wanted to reproduce a Golem's mana, he had to discard the core.[1]

[Standing by.]

[Connection with the commander has been lost.]

The Golems, which had been diligently doing their pushups and PT exercises, returned to standby mode. Thankfully, they weren't the autonomous defense type Golems, which would automatically identify their enemies and go after them.

A Golem's mana... A Golem's mana...

How long had he been standing there? All the chaos and the terror wreakcing havoc through the city faded out of his awareness, and mana suddenly appeared at his fingertips.

"Oh... Oh?"

"Hoo..."

The concentration of mana hovered around, seemingly unable to make up its mind, but it soon morphed into flames, acid, and then lightning, evolving from a living person’s mana to that of an undead.

Then it changed into Lee Shin-Woo's mana, to something else's, and ultimately arrived at unknown territory. He realized then the distinction was extremely slim, and there wasn't any real reason to classify them as separate things.

The moment he thought that way, the mana within him surged. Mana Bone responded to his realization and further refined his mana. Its volume never changed, but his mana was reborn.

[The Element section has been added to your status. You can extract different pure elemental essence from your mana and use it as you please. Low Rank Flames of Revenge and Intermediate Acid Poison Spray are replaced. You have acquired Low Rank Fire Lv4, Intermediate Acid Lv3, and Intermediate Lightning Lv1.]

Flames of Revenge and Acid Poison Spray were nothing more than skills that changed mana for a special purpose and allowed one to manipulate the transformed mana. They paled in comparison to techniques that converted mana into a pure element.

He was now able to freely change his mana into an element and use it, be it triggering a blast, creating a persistent blaze, or shooting lightning out in a straight line. Lee Shin-Woo then realized that there was no reason to confine flames or acid into one form.

Yeah. That's what Kratia realized as well when she observed me...

The purpose of Bone Reinforcement wasn't for him to learn typical skills from absorbing the memories and abilities of countless individuals, but to make him realize that he could combine countless abilities into one, or divide one into countless others.

"Hoo..."

The black mana above his palm unraveled like a ball of yarn and formed a single pattern. The Steelworkers would’ve been shocked if they saw him. He had created a high-rank administrator’s seal that should only be accessible to level 7 Golems.

This was the result of Guillotine Steelworker's arrogance; he thought that only Golems could create the seal, so he didn't even feel the need to hide the pattern from Lee Shin-Woo.

[Recognizing high-rank authority.]

[It's a pleasure. Obeying Steelworker's orders.]

[Output limitations have been completely lifted. High-rank commander is cleared.]

The three golems quickly stood up. If they had treated his commands as though they were from a lieutenant before, now they were treating him like a 2-star general and showing their loyalty.

[Accepting Iron Golems I0919, I0920, and I0921 as subordinates. These Golems are under the effect of Command and are strengthened.]

Jin, who had watched with bated breath ever since Lee Shin-Woo created several elements with his mana, gaped in shock when he realized Lee Shin-Woo had really done it. At that moment, Lee Shin-Woo saw a message right in front of him announcing the quest’s completion!

[Quest complete! You have acquired 3 permits to Goddess’s Secret Shop. Acting is now Lv11. You have learned the Joker's innate skill, 'Disguise'.]

[Disguise Lv1 (Active)]

[A true Joker fools even himself. By fooling himself perfectly, he can ultimately fool the entire world. You can transform into someone you are familiar with, or modify a part of your body or an item you are holding. Of course, it only changes the outside appearance, so please use this skill with discretion.]

"...!?"

Lee Shin-Woo felt as if he had goosebumps all over his body. How could a skill like this exist? A skill allowing him to transform his mana would make sense, but this was beyond his imagination.

Fool yourself, so you can fool the world? It sounded way too grandiose. Even he, the possessor of the skill, couldn't understand its underlying principles. He had finally finished his homework, yet it felt like he had gotten an even more difficult assignment.

"What's wrong, Shin-Woo? Were you not able to make the seal as you wanted it?"

"No, that's not it."

Lee Shin-Woo shook his head at Jin, who was clearly concerned about him. He had thought that everything would be his for the taking after figuring out how to make the seal, and was crestfallen when he realized that wasn't true, but he couldn’t honestly relay his feeling to his companion.

He was broken out of his wallowing when he felt the death energy around him dwindle. Now that he thought about it, he had stopped hearing any screams or battle cries. That meant only one thing.

[You and your comrades have cleared the death in the city, 'Kehebe'. Although you did not eliminate the curse, you managed to lessen the energy of death here, so no more undead will appear in this area.]

They'd purified the city.

1. E/N: Not to be thought of literally. He just shouldn’t be in contact with the core for it to truly be him making the changes.