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Chapter 247: Path of Growth
〈Next is the Group 2.〉
〈I will decide the event for the mid-rank ranking battle...〉
Rumble...!
A dark blue light, presumed to be the form of the Demon God, trembled greatly.
〈Oh my. We have an unexpected guest...〉
〈We will discuss the event later.〉
—...Demon God?
〈For now, let's proceed with the Group 3's trial.〉
〈The time is one month from now.〉
The Demon God's form blurred.
—Huh?"
—Demon God?"
The Demon Lords were bewildered.
Originally, they were supposed to hear about the events for the first, second, and third groups now.
Except for Group 3, the other groups didn't even know the event!
—What's going on?
—An unexpected guest?
At that moment, Baal, who had been looking around at everyone, spoke.
—It can't be helped. It seems the Demon God has something to attend to, so let's end the banquet here.
From the looks of it, Baal didn't know the details either.
The Demon Lords left the banquet hall one by one. Kim Minwoo, Mr. Ahn, and Vulcan did the same.
"Is this unusual?"
—It's the first time ever. To only announce the Group 3's trial event... The other groups are in quite a predicament. They need to know the events to prepare in advance and select suitable representatives.
"In other words, it's not disadvantageous for us?"
—That's right. If we move up to Group 2, we'll hear about the events together. So, what are you thinking?
"One month... If I go back to Earth, can I come back?"
—You have the invitation, right? Show it to me.
He handed the masquerade ball invitation to Mr. Ahn.
[The item 'Masquerade Ball Invitation' will be changed to 'Demon realm Pass'!]
[Demon realm Pass]
[Rank: Special]
[A certificate that allows the creation of a gateway connecting the Demon realm and the user Kim Minwoo's Earth. Andromalius has guaranteed the identity.]
[Cooldown: 15 days]
"A pass?"
—Originally, the Demon realm is inaccessible to non-demons. Unless they have a pass like this.
"Then did other representatives also receive passes like this?"
—Probably something similar.
"Thanks."
—You're welcome.
"But wait a minute. Can someone else come with me?"
—It's possible. You can open the gateway and enter together.
"Okay, for now."
—Ah, before you go.
Andromalius handed him a booklet.
—This booklet contains information about the Demon Lords' rankings and their representatives. Read it when you get back.
He nodded.
He used the pass to open the gate.
A blue portal appeared before his eyes.
"See you in a month."
The moment he stepped into the gateway with Vulcan.
〈So you're the child who took my 'eye'.〉
〈But your utilization of it is extremely meager, which is quite regrettable.〉
〈I shall assist you a little.〉
The Demon God?
Along with the familiar voice, a message appeared before his eyes.
[One of the hidden functions of the Demon Eye has been unlocked!]
[You can now see the 'Path of Growth'!]
* * *
'Path of Growth?'
Kim Minwoo, back in his room, tilted his head. The sudden voice he heard right before returning.
It was definitely the Demon God's.
'Did he speak to me because I have the Demon Eye?'
But if that's the case, he could have spoken to him while he was in the Demon realm. Why leave a few words right before he left and then abruptly end it?
"...What's his purpose?"
‘Unlocking the hidden function called Path of Growth seems like he wants to help me.’
But why?
He shook his head as he pondered.
'Forget it.'
Let's think about the complicated stuff later.
The important thing is what exactly this Path of Growth ability is.
He opened the Demon Eye's skill window.
[Demon Eye]
[Rank: EX]
[Type: Passive]
[Effect 1. Observe and analyze the target. The amount of analysis varies depending on the target's strength.]
[Effect 2. If analysis is blocked, consume mana to penetrate deeper. The amount consumed varies depending on the target's strength.]
[Effect 3. 'Moment of Insight' can be activated. See everything. Evading is up to you. However, with your current body, you can only activate it for a very short time.]
[(New!) Effect 4. You can now observe yourself to see the 'Path of Growth'.]
‘Observe yourself to see the Path of Growth?’
The explanation was vague.
"Then I'll have to try it myself."
He stood in front of the mirror.
His face and then his whole body were reflected.
Honestly, when it comes to growth, he's quite confident even in this rotten world.
'Surely...'
‘It's not going to be something that just lists things I already know, right?’
[Demon Eye activated!]
[Observing yourself in the mirror!]
[Analyzing...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Path of Growth]
[1. Fill all Skeleton Summoning job slots with half combat and half production jobs.]
[2. Use the 'Dragon and Witch's Gem' to enter the gate.]
[3. Hunt 8 more dragons.]
[4. ???]
.
.
"Huh?"
Kim Minwoo tilted his head as he saw a few items listed.
"This is... the way to grow?"
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Fill all the Skeleton Summoning job slots.
This definitely seemed plausible.
'I had half-forgotten about it.'
A normal Skeleton can have a total of ten jobs.
Out of those, he had only filled five.
Warrior, Blacksmith, Alchemist, Rune Crafter, and Tattoo Artist.
Of course, it wasn't that he intentionally didn't fill them.
The reason for leaving five slots empty.
It was because he thought production jobs were more advantageous than combat jobs. Combat was an area where various undead like Legion Commanders, Bone Dragons, and Dullahans could excel, but production was an area that only Skeletons could handle.
'And I was waiting to fill them with rare jobs.'
The Warrior job was something he had from the beginning, so there was nothing he could do about it.
The Blacksmith and Alchemist jobs, although ordinary, had inherited special skills from the Dwarf and Elf races.
Rune Crafter and Tattoo Artist.
These were extremely rare jobs.
That's why he was thinking of filling the remaining five slots with rare production jobs.
"Is it saying there's no need for that?"
The Path of Growth demanded the opposite.
Fill half with combat and half with production.
'Then it's saying to fill four combat jobs and one more production job.'
Why?
Would there be a problem later if he filled nine with production jobs and one with combat?
"This is a headache."
For a very brief moment, he wondered if it was some kind of trap set by the Demon God.
But there was no reason for the Demon God to do that.
'It's my skill in the first place.'
Even if the Demon God intervened, the Demon Eye was ultimately Kim Minwoo's skill.
He had never heard of a skill hindering its owner.
Then he had to trust it.
It was an EX-rank skill, after all.
Conclusion.
"Four combat, one production, that's what I need to fill."
But what jobs should he fill?
He hadn't thought about combat jobs before, so it was a headache.
First, the Skeleton Warrior.
Its balanced offense and defense were its strengths.
The downside was that it had no ranged attacks at all. Until now, he had been compensating for ranged attacks through Skeleton Mages or Merhen's abilities.
"Come to think of it, we're definitely weak in ranged combat."
Recently, with the addition of flying summons like the Bone Dragon, the means to close the distance had increased considerably.
But looking at the list of summons, they were fundamentally lacking in ranged attack summons.
'Dolsoe is a good example. He's a complete tank.'
Even if the Dullahan rode a horse, it was still slow, and although the Specters could fly, their attacks were basically limited to claws or melee weapons.
Vulcan and Cedric were the same. They could fly, but they were fundamentally melee attackers.
Until now, he hadn't felt any shortcomings because he had overpowered them with stats.
'Thinking about it, I need to reinforce it.'
In terms of the balance between melee and ranged, it felt like melee was at 8 and ranged was at 2.
It seemed like the Skeletons' combat jobs should be filled in a way that complements this.
'Magic is already covered by the Mages, so that's done.'
The most important things when filling the Skeletons' jobs.
1. Is there a good teacher?
2. Can the fact that the skeletons are learning something be kept secret?
These two things were crucial.
Just look at the Blacksmith and Alchemist. They learned inside the gate, so there were no worries about keeping it secret, and because they received special racial buffs from Elves and Dwarves, they were able to learn special crafting skills.
Thinking about that...
"One combat job is decided."
A job that satisfies both of these conditions.
'Archer.'
It was the Archer.
They had Seo Yerim as a teacher, who was more than qualified.
And since she was a guild member, there was no chance of her spreading rumors even if she taught the skeletons.
Of course, unlike in the past, now that they had grown, secrecy wasn't absolutely necessary, but it wouldn't hurt to keep the skeletons' learning ability a secret.
'Maybe a special skill related to archery will appear?'
Dwarven crafting method.
Elven alchemy.
Like these, maybe something like Seo Yerim's archery style could appear.
"...But wait a minute."
Speaking of guild members, something came to mind.
Park Siwoo was a swordsman, so he was similar to a warrior, so he was a pass for now.
But what about Han Siah?
Han Siah's job is that of a Priest.
And she’s an SSS-rank Priest at that.
'Can skeletons become priests?'
Priest was also a very good job. First of all, there was healing.
And there were also several ranged attack options.
From the perspective of wanting to strengthen ranged combat, Priest?
It was a pretty good job.
And the theme of the Group 3's trial was survival, wasn't it?
"This is tempting."
The only concern was that the skeletons were undead. Undead and Priest were not a very compatible combination.
But thinking about it carefully, it wasn't impossible.
"Does a priest necessarily have to believe in a god to be one?"
No.
‘It's just that if you receive a Priest related achievement during your awakening, you become a Priest.’
And look at the monsters.
Even guys like giants and whatnot are using healing while saying, "I'm a Giant Priest," so there's no rule that skeletons can't be priests, right?
'If it succeeds, it'll be a jackpot.'
Skeleton priests pouring healing onto Legion Commanders with depleted health?
‘Just imagining it makes my heart swell.’
On the other hand, if it fails, it's a disaster.
What if healing an undead actually decreases their health, or if using blessings causes the skeleton priests to crumble?
Many possibilities came to his mind.
'I don't know. I'm the first one to try this anyway.'
Skeletons are inherently jobless.
Job changes were also an element that Kim Minwoo discovered first on Earth.
Naturally, he had never seen anything like a Skeleton Priest in the game.
So how could he know if it would succeed or not? Even when he called the Legion Commanders and asked, the answer was the same.
—Skeleton Priest? What's that, some kind of mint chocolate? It's a strange combination. I've never seen it before.
—Idiot. Mint chocolate is delicious.
"I don't know about that."
Those were the answers from Cedric, Merhen, and Vulcan, in that order.
The conclusion was that none of them knew.
"I'll have to experiment myself."
—Are you sure? If you mess up, you'll waste a job.
"It's just one out of ten failing, right?"
–That's true.
Cedric shrugged.
He had grown attached to the skeletons while training them, but except for Hail, they were all just soldiers to him. So he wasn't about to stop his master, whose eyes were currently burning with the desire for research.
He opened the guild group chat.
The most recent conversation was with Park Siwoo and Han Siah.
'Yerim hasn't come back yet.'
He had given her a diamond sponsorship certificate and sent her to the Heavenly City, but it seemed she hadn't returned yet.
Kim Minwoo sent a message.
[Kim Minwoo]
— Siah, are you there?
[Han Siah]
— Yes! What's up?
[Kim Minwoo]
— I'd like you to make my skeleton a priest.
[Han Siah]
— ...Huh?
[Park Siwoo]
— ...?
[Kim Minwoo]
— I'll be right there.
The Skeleton Job Change Project begins.
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