"Took you long enough."

Kehebe was quiet while Lee Shin-Woo visited the shop. Jin must've gotten bored being stuck in the city on his own, and he welcomed Lee Shin-Woo’s return.

With a grin, Lee Shin-Woo said, "That's because we were setting the price of each and every barrel of wine."

"So? How did it go?"

"I took all of the level 6 elite bones they had,” Lee Shin-Woo said simply. “It seems that there aren't a lot of people killing level 6 elites."

"..."

"I still have a barrel of wine left."

"Why didn't you just sell it and buy a weapon or something?"

The only thing Lee Shin-Woo didn't sell was the first wooden barrel he'd discovered in the winery containing 52 liters of the Kerr Century Dellocus 395. While he could obtain all the bones without selling it, there was another important reason he had kept the wine.

"I'll probably have a use for it later on."

"It doesn't seem like that would happen, but... Oh well, do what you want."

Jin was clearly trying to be considerate even though he wasn’t very convincing. Lee Shin-Woo chuckled and changed the subject.

"Shall we get on with reinforcing?"

"Oh no. Don't."

Lee Shin-Woo had had 120 million Perium in total, which he had gotten from selling the wine as well as from his earlier battle with the undead corps. He ended up buying something that cost as much as 30 million—the bone of a level 7 elite, Fenno!

With the remaining 90 million, he bought all of the level 6 elite bones, which ranged from 1.5 million to 7 million Perium. As a result, there were now 24 glowing bones on the ground, 23 of which were level 6 bones, and one was a level 7 bone.

"Life is all about luck," Lee Shin-Woo said.

"It's scary looking at all of it like this..."

What they'd acquired from selling the wine trumped everything that Lee Shin-Woo and Jin had acquired thus far through blood, sweat, and tears!

That was how life was, though, and Lee Shin-Woo knew it. Luck was the most important thing in life. Lee Shin-Woo was counting his blessings that luck seemed to be on his side right now.

"What matters the most to you now is magic. Let's set aside bones that would give you points in magic for you."

"Level 6 bones... Absorbing the level 5 bones hurts like crazy. Do you really think I can absorb level 6 ones?"

"I'll help you. You should be able to endure it."

"Ugh..."

Jin mentally prepared himself. He had to overcome this hurdle, for both his own sake and Lee Shin-Woo’s. He wanted to be helpful to his partner.

Once he knew that Jin was ready, Lee Shin-Woo picked up a level 6 bone, which radiated a deep blue; it was quite obvious that in terms of pure magic, the original owner of this bone was more powerful than even Vitas, who had led a corps of 10,000 strong.

"We're connected, so it shouldn't be that hard."

"Hoo... I got it. Let's do it."

“Alright."

As Bone Reinforcement leveled up, Lee Shin-Woo was able to share almost all the memories within the bone when he reinforced another person, so it was certainly an important moment for Lee Shin-Woo as well.

Jin had closed his eyes in concentration. Lee Shin-Woo gently placed the bone on his head and activated Bone Reinforcement. At that moment, the arcane knowledge and the immense magic within the bone flooded into Jin's mind, filling it to the brim.

[Executing Bone Reinforcement on Jin Taylor with the skull of Lv6 Skeleton High Wizard, Punetra.]

"Urgh...!"

"You can take it,” Lee Shin-Woo said in encouragement. “It'll end soon."

"What about you!? Ugh!"

Lee Shin-Woo calmly sorted through the countless confusing memories entering his mind and organized them one by one. He took the information that wouldn't be beneficial to Jin and helped him absorb the knowledge on mana use.

If it weren't for his joint study with Kratia, Lee Shin-Woo would’ve found the task difficult. While he wasn’t a proper mage per se, he had become familiar with the method with which they accumulated their knowledge and skills.

[The Empire's magic is too outdated.]

[Why didn't my teacher tell me his plans but instead leave on his own?]

[A Royal Mage? They're just worms without a speck of talent.]

There were some fragmented memories that came along with the experiences that he judged to be ineffectual and unimportant; he was absolutely sure that the original owner of this bone was short-tempered and quite arrogant. He sure talked big for someone who'd died when he was only level 6.

However, the magic patterns could be useful one day, so Lee Shin-Woo decided to memorize all of them at least. After all, a Joker was able to mix what he’d absorbed together to create something new!

[Jin Taylor is reinforced through Bone Reinforcement. A significant amount of memories and experiences are divided and shared. Magic has increased by 3. Low Rank Fire is now Lv7.]

Bone Reinforcement was successful. Because the bone's original owner used fire magic, Lee Shin-Woo's fire element had leveled up.

It was the first element he'd acquired, and embarrassingly also the lowest level one. It was only a few levels short of the intermediate rank, though, and once it ranked up, his fire would exhibit a similar level of power as his acid and lightning!

"How about you?” Lee Shin-Woo asked. “He seemed to be a mage specialized in Fire Rain. Did you get a skill similar to that?"

"Nope. How sad. I'd rather be the falling rain."

Jin was prickly with the awful deluge of magic and knowledge rushing into his brain. Although Lee Shin-Woo had picked and organized only the parts that would be helpful, it was still a level 6 bone, and the original owner’s experiences and power were on another level...

"It’s too difficult for me to absorb a mage’s bone, Shin-Woo. I’ve got plenty of knowledge already. Can’t you give me a stupid warrior’s bone instead…?"

"I guess it can't be helped. Let's go with a monster without intellect next."

Lee Shin-Woo only had two elite mages’ bones anyway since they were so rare, but he did have several monster bones with a tremendous amount of mana that Jin couldn't refuse.

[Jin Taylor is reinforced through Bone Reinforcement. A large portion of memories and experiences are divided and absorbed. Magic has increased by 2. Proficiency in Intermediate Mana Bone has increased by 9%.]

[Jin Taylor is reinforced through Bone Reinforcement. A large portion of memories and experiences are divided and absorbed. Magic has increased by 1, and Strength by 2. Proficiency in Intermediate Mana Bone has increased by 4%.]

[Jin Taylor is reinforced through Bone Reinforcement. A large portion of memories and experiences are divided and absorbed. Magic has increased by 4...]

Jin looked half-dead after absorbing 10 bones in a row. Not only were they all level 6 bones, they were bones from individuals that specialized in magic, which was an area Jin was lacking in. His magic ended up increasing by almost 200!

Lee Shin-Woo had gotten a portion of those stats, and his own magic increased by 30. Moreover, his fire element had increased by another level, pushing it to low rank level 8. Lee Shin-Woo trembled at the power of money.

"Oh, what a thrilling and rejuvenating feeling,” Lee Shin-Woo crowed. “Money truly is the best!"

"I'd rather die! Kill me!"

"I'm done with your share, so you’re free to keep rolling around here."

While Lee Shin-Woo's fire element was the only thing that leveled up for him, Jin had gained a handful of skills. Most of them were skills that supplemented his magic, so they should help him use Steel Heart better from now on; Jin would have to develop and evolve those skills in a direction that suited his growth.

"Now’s my turn..."

Lee Shin-Woo examined each of the 14 bones in order. The level 7 bone was the main dish, so he had set it aside for now, and the other 13 bones were placed in the order of the amount of mana they emitted.

If he had any complaint, though, it would be that the level 6 bones seemed much weaker than the level 6 bone he'd gotten in the past, the Weapon Trickster's bone.

I suppose that's only natural. Weapon Trickster seems to be an extremely rare karma... And the bone was the reward of an important quest.

He decided not to dwell on it. The bone he’d acquired as a quest reward was just particularly good.

Carefully, Lee Shin-Woo reached out to pick up a bone. It was a red one, which would likely increase his endurance significantly.

"Bone Reinforcement!"

[Executing Bone Reinforcement with the Lv6 Big Mino Fighter, Eldur's head horns. Endurance has increased by 14, and Strength by 3. You have learned the active skill, Lv8 Low Rank Twin Horn Charge.]

[Grr... Nothing will stop my charge until it breaks either you or me. - Mino Charge Commander, Eldur]

"Huh?"

With the scope of his skills becoming wider and wider, Lee Shin-Woo had thought it would be near impossible for him to learn new skills as he and his skills leveled up, but that was just his arrogance talking. He’d been relying on Jin’s charging up to this point, but now he had his own charge skill.

"Twin Horn Charge," Lee Shin-Woo muttered softly, and two tough horns created out of mana popped into existence on top of his bone helmet. At the same time, he felt something forcefully pushing him from behind.

If he let the skill take over, he would dash forward and strike his opponent with the twin horns.

"You're really like a monster," Jin said once he stopped rolling on the ground for long enough to give Lee Shin-Woo an honest assessment.

"Nothing new," Lee Shin-Woo responded curtly and deactivated the skill.

It was definitely a good skill that would increase the power of his charges, but it wasn't really his style. He had a chance to refine it, though.

Fortunately, the mana pattern that manifests this skill isn't very complicated. It allows you to charge quickly while focusing your strength in the twin horns. That was what Minos had in mind when he created the skill. If I change that part a little, I might be able to...

Lee Shin-Woo didn’t dwell on it for too long. He was eager to work on the skill, but it wasn’t an easy task to complete. It was more important to absorb the rest of the bones for now.

[Executing Bone Reinforcement with the Lv6 Great Hornet's reinforced exoskeleton. Agility has increased by 8, and Magic by 4. Proficiency in Intermediate Acid has increased by 27%. Proficiency in Intermediate Bursting Thunder has increased by 11%.]

[Executing Bone Reinforcement with the Lv6 Corpse Eater's jawbone. Strength has increased by 5, and Endurance by 11. Proficiency in Rule of Bone has increased by 16%. Proficiency in Bone Reinforcement has increased by ??%.]

[The Lv6 Dotorus' toe bone...]

Level 6 elite monsters differed in nature and the direction of their growth. In the process of absorbing their various skills, Lee Shin-Woo's skills advanced more than he'd thought they would. Amongst them, the most important progress he’d made was the following.

[Executing Bone Reinforcement with the Lv6 Bewitcher's rib bone. Endurance has increased by 7, and Magic by 9. Proficiency in Acting, Disguise, and Instigate have increased by 19%.]

Mm.

A Bewitcher was a rare monster that used their own mana to captivate and control their enemies. The property of their mana was extremely dangerous. Once he absorbed its bone, the proficiency of all three of his Joker's innate skills improved. Lee Shin-Woo learned quite a bit from that.

A Bewitcher's mana... If I can master this mana, I should be able to grow significantly as a Joker.

Of course, it wasn't that easy. If it was possible for him to master a Bewitcher's mana by absorbing one bone, Lee Shin-Woo wouldn't have spent so much time studying a Golem’s mana.

But I have gotten the basics. If I meet another one of these later, then...

Lee Shin-Woo engraved the Bewitcher's pattern that both manifested and controlled their mana deep within his mind. He promised he would practice replicating the Bewitcher's mana pattern the next time he used Joker’s innate skills.

Now there was only one bone left for him to absorb other than the level 7 bone. It was the level 6 mage’s finger bone Jin had turned down earlier.

"You haven’t changed your mind, have you?" Lee Shin-Woo asked.

"Don't come this way with that thing!"

"Alright, alright."

Jin continued to roll on the floor, panicked. Lee Shin-Woo snickered and activated Bone Reinforcement.

[Executing Bone Reinforcement with the Lv6 Royal Mage, Celon Von Betadorn’s finger bone. You have exceptional compatibility with the target, so the skill is a resounding success! Magic has increased by 14. Absorbing Celon Von Betadorn's experiences and memories more deeply.]

He got a message he had only gotten once before, and suddenly, his existing mana surged! When was it? He wondered. When did I last get the message? Right. It was when he'd absorbed the Anti-Skull collaborator, Gerrit's bone!

Lee Shin-Woo had successfully preserved the royal mage’s memory. As soon as his lips turned into a joyous smile, though, his consciousness faded.