Bone Armory's potential was as limitless as Rule of Bone. Even if the level of a piece of equipment was low, he could apply the properties of better equipment to it to reinforce it. That was how his level 3 armor had leveled up with the data of the Acid Skull Helm.

"In other words, the diversity of the equipment is as important as the level since I can combine properties to create what is best for the situation."

"You're an alchemist..."

"As I thought, the one thing my bone skills have in common is that they're all fraudulent skills!"

Most level 3 equipment provided stats boost. Absorbing bone equipment would reinforce him the same way bones did, and the more a particular type of equipment he absorbed, the less effective it would be. However, that wasn't the case right now.

He watched the reborn level 4 Pauls examine themselves and decided to visit the buffet as well... He used Bone Reinforcement on himself. First up was the Bifurcated Snake Spine, the bone staff that had helped him impersonate the Corps Commander.

Lee Shin-Woo calmly ignored the way Kratia’s eyes lit up. In any case, she hadn’t been the one to take the Corps Commander down! If she asked for it as part of her share, he was prepared to pay for the weapon with Perium. He wasn't a thief.

"Here we go... Bone Reinforcement."

[Absorbing the Lv4 Bifurcated Snake Spine. Magic has increased by 40. The absorbed Bifurcated Snake Spine is reinforced by the other equipment in the Bone Armory.]

The properties of the other absorbed equipment in the Bone Armory was applied to the staff after being compiled and analyzed, transforming it into a new, better piece of equipment! Rather than checking the result of the transformation, Lee Shin-Woo went on to absorb the next piece of equipment. This time, it was a level 3 helmet that completely covered his face.

[Absorbing the level 3 Full Skull Helm. Endurance has increased by 7. The absorbed Full Skull Helm reinforces the Acid Skull Helm. You can now summon the Acid Full Skull Helm.]

This time, there wasn't any need for further analysis since there were only two pieces of equipment involved, and the helmet was immediately transformed. Lee Shin-Woo was pleased to get the outcome he'd predicted.

The additional buffs of the helmet weren't updated, but he was now able to summon a helmet that better covered his face, which naturally improved its defense. That alone made it worth it for him to absorb the helmet.

"Is level 3 equipment normally this common?"

"If undead corps of at least 10,000 strong can be considered common in this world, then yeah, they're common."

"Bone Reinforcement! Bone Reinforcement!"

Lee Shin-Woo ignored Kratia and Jin as they watched him from behind while talking nonsense. He went on to absorb the other weapons he’d acquired.

While some equipment only raised his endurance, strength or other stats by 1 point, which was nothing to write home about, other equipment raised his stats by so much that it made him question if that was normal for a level 3 weapon. The stat points he had been getting were staggering.

"Bone Reinforcement! Hmm, this…"

Especially when a piece of equipment had great affinity with something already stored within Bone Armory, the item always underwent drastic transformation and became greater than he had expected. A gold mine amongst these was...

[Absorbing the Lv3 Spine Whip. Strength and Agility have increased by 7. The absorbed Spine Whip is reinforced by the other equipment in the Bone Armory. You can now summon the Lv5 Bifurcated Spine Whip.]

"To think the data of level 3 equipment and level 4 equipment could combine to create a level 5 weapon..."

"You're really rubbing it in now,” Jin grumbled with disinterest. “I’m not envious at all since I can’t even equip armor."

"Show me! Show me the level 5 equipment!” Kratia exclaimed. She was probably more interested in how the data of two pieces of equipment were combined to create something new than the resulting item itself.

"Fine..."

"Oooh...!"

Lee Shin-Woo summoned the Bifurcated Spine Whip for Kratia.

The level 3 Spine Whip had a flat grip. Attached to it was a 2-meter long, unpleasant-looking whip shaped like the human spine. On the other hand, the level 5 Bifurcated Spine Whip had a different grip, and the menacing spine branched off into two whips, each running three meters with protruding thorns; the overall feel of the weapon was completely different.

"As I thought, a level 5 weapon looks a lot different."

"I-It's really pretty..."

Seeing her eyes brighten even more as they focused on the Bifurcated Spine Whip, Lee Shin-Woo muttered inwardly, Oh, she must be disappointed that it’s not hers...

[You have two level 5 weapons stored inside Bone Armory. Bone Armory is now Lv4. Endurance and Magic have increased by 10. The number of equipment you can summon and maintain at the same time has increased to 4.]

"Yes!" Lee Shin-Woo cheered.

Bone Armory had leveled up, and he could finally summon upper and lower body armor, a helmet, and a weapon at the same time! He'd been dealing with its limit for quite a long time since attaining Bone Armory, but now he could finally be fully armed again!

That wasn’t the last of the good news, though. He had been alternating between absorbing weapons and armor, and with the accumulating data filling up what he lacked, he had apparently fulfilled some sort of condition he wasn't aware of, and another message appeared.

[You have completed the Lv4 Acid Bone Full Armor. You can summon the pieces separately or as a single complete set.]

"Wait, does this mean..."

The moment the message popped up, Lee Shin-Woo un-equipped fully in disbelief, paying no attention to Jin’s scandalized yells; immediately, he summoned the armor again as a set.

"Huh?” Jin tilted his head. “Maybe it's because the equipment has been updated, but it feels like the armor has a greater sense of unity than before."

"Your high agility makes you quite sharp. You're right. This armor set has been unified."

The Acid Bone Full Armor was a single set. In other words, the three pieces, namely the helm, the upper body armor, and the lower body armor, were considered one piece, and could be summoned as a whole! Naturally, the mana consumption was reduced compared to summoning the separate pieces, and the armor's joints were now sturdier. To think he would achieve a unification here, when he couldn't do so in his own homeland...!

Pleased, Lee Shin-Woo examined his body. He'd absorbed dozens of pieces of equipment. With the features of the different armor pieces and weapons applied, the armor set was now both refined and functionally much stronger.

Above all, there weren't any chinks on the armor, and it covered his entire body. From an outsider’s perspective, one wouldn't be able to tell whether he was living or undead!

I can mimic a living person's mana, so if I'm in a jam, I'll act while wearing the armor. When I have to take it off, I'll disguise myself with my skill. This is perfect...!

Of course, if the situation necessitated him playing a different role, he would need to change the appearance of his armor a bit, but with all the equipment he'd absorbed, he wasn't too worried about that.

"Nice,” Lee Shin-Woo congratulated himself. “As I thought, it was an excellent decision."

Lee Shin-Woo continued to absorb a few more pieces of equipment even after he’d enriched his Bone Armory, but he stopped reaching for more equipment once it stopped resulting in meaningful changes.

Meeting Kratia’s bright eyes, Lee Shin-Woo firmly shook his head and explained, "Since they were similar types of soldiers, the weapons they used didn’t have much variety to them. I think this is enough. Any more is meaningless."

He'd absorbed around forty pieces of equipment and obtained at least 200 stat points. That meant his stats had increased by 160 if he excluded the 40 points of magic he'd gained from the Bifurcated Snake Spine. In many ways, the undead corps that had suddenly shown up had helped Lee Shin-Woo grow significantly. He almost wanted to kowtow to the Mercenary King Metafel, one of the twelve generals.

"What about what's left...?" Kratia asked.

"You guys. Whoever doesn't have a level 3 weapon, come over here and pick whatever you like."

[Captain!]

[Thank you, Captain!]

Lee Shin-Woo offered the leftover weapons to the Pauls while acting like he was doing this out of the generosity of his heart. Even so, the Pauls couldn't help but be touched.

Honestly, he was only doing this because they'd defeated a force of 10,000. Level 3 equipment wasn't easy to find normally, and one would have to pay a pretty big sum to buy this kind of equipment from the Secret Shop.

"If it's that expensive, why don't you just sell it at the shop?" Jin asked.

"I’ve considered it, but it pisses me off that I would earn less than what I would have paid for. It’s probably more cost-effective to give them the equipment to increase their strength."

"..."

Lee Shin-Woo hadn't been thinking of the Pauls. However, once he realized he could make them his subordinates and transform them into level 4 elites with Bone Reinforcement, he began to have some hope for them.

If he could keep increasing their number and leveling them up like this, he might be able to create his own force!

"The more variables we introduce to the world stage, the better. Investing this much into them doesn't feel like a waste."

"You... You're really amazing."

"Lately, I've been thinking that a bit too," Lee Shin-Woo admitted before taking care of the last thing on his to-do list, which was to reinforce himself and Jin with the level 4 and 5 bones.

"That wouldn't work on me, right?" Kratia asked.

"Come back when you're all bones."

"No thanks."

Outside of the bone of Vitas, the Corps Commander, there wasn’t really any exceptional bone that stood out. The level 4 knights' and mages' memories and experiences would still be useful, though, and the stats and skill proficiency from the level 5 Elder Knights and Wizards would be tremendous.

[Intermediate Bursting Thunder is now Lv2. Strength and Magic have increased by 5. You can now better incorporate lightning into your weapon and, using that lightning, you may swing your weapon faster.]

[Intermediate Shadow Sprint is now Lv2. Agility has increased by 10. You now resemble a shadow more as you run.]

Lee Shin-Woo's total stats had reached 2,272 due to the bones, as well as the experiences that further improved his skills. He now needed 928 more stats to reach level 6.

While he'd obtained hundreds of stats from one battle, Lee Shin-Woo wasn't satisfied. He knew he still had a long way to go.

"Uuuuuuugh." Jin groaned.

"Don't be so dramatic. You didn't even absorb half of what I did."

"U-Ugh."

In order for Jin to more effectively absorb the experiences and memories of the undead, he was now twitching on the floor while Lee Shin-Woo calmly sorted through the experiences and memories.

This was his time to organize the combat and magical techniques he'd acquired from the knights and mages. Simultaneously, he was also sorting through the Corps Commander Vitas’s memories for information on the Mercenary King Metafel as well as the corps he led.

I need to know about their past... And if it's possible, their present as well.

Lee Shin-Woo calmly organized the memories and at some point, he opened his eyes wide. His waning goblin fire looked as though it had suddenly burst out.

"W-What's wrong?" Kratia asked, a little scared.

Lee Shin-Woo replied extremely calmly, "It's nothing."

"Liar."

"Yeah, I'm lying."

"..."

Kratia pouted at Lee Shin-Woo's perfect composure, while Lee Shin-Woo just grinned. Then he said amicably, "Let's do our best for the remainder of our contract."

He seemed to be drawing the line there, letting her know that he would never tell her the truth no matter what. Kratia felt the urge to prolong their contract yet again, but unfortunately, she had no way of doing so. Ultimately, she could only nod in disappointment.