Chapter 7 – Guardian of the Mansion (3)

The skeletons that rose from the coffins were wearing old but luxurious clothes. As Hayden had said, this stone chamber seemed to be the family tomb of the mansion. The skeletons appeared to be past lords and their families.

Most skeletons were barehanded, but several skeletons were holding sharp rapiers like awls.

The skeletons immediately pounced on the group. The barehanded skeletons weren’t much different from the skeletons outside the stone chamber, but the skeletons with swords had exceptional skills.

Bang! Bang!

Michael shot at the heads of the charging skeletons. He wanted to save bullets if possible, but he couldn’t survive in this chaotic battle without shooting. Fortunately, the skeletons with shattered skulls couldn’t move properly.

Hayden was dealing with the stone coffin lids floating in the air. He kept shooting marble blocks from the floor upward to prevent the lids from attacking the group.

Finally, Nan-seol and Sun-woo took charge of the skeletons with swords.

Nan-seol struggled a bit with the unfamiliar weapons and swordsmanship at first, but adapted not long after. She began moving forward while smashing the skeletons.

The broken skeletons reassembled and blocked Nan-seol, but she overcame the interference and steadily advanced toward the necklace.

However, Sun-woo was continuously being pushed back.

This was a stone chamber made of thick marble blocks. Earth sorcery was sealed. Moreover, the opponent was a skeleton using proper swordsmanship.

Although he was somehow blocking the skeleton’s attacks using qigong, it wasn’t easy for Sun-woo, who had never learned proper swordsmanship, to keep holding out.

Sun-woo kicked the opponent away and stepped back, hurriedly touching his phone. He needed to escape danger first. He shouted to Nan-seol.

“Miss Nan-seol, please consent!”

[Min Sun-woo has requested the secrets of the Three Talents Sword Method. If you permit, the Three Talents Sword Method insights gained so far will be transmitted. Will you permit this?]

“I’ll permit it!”

Nan-seol immediately gave permission. She seemed to have intended to do so from the beginning.

<Three Talents Sword Method: Basic sword technique consisting of the most fundamental movements>

Information poured into his mind. Sun-woo’s mind was busy learning the new sword technique secrets, and his hands began to gradually find their flow.

If someone who practiced martial arts saw this, it would be incomprehensible, but Sun-woo’s mind and body, having learned the Three Talents Qigong, adapted to the sword technique in an instant.

Fortunately, since it was a technique consisting of basic sword forms, there was no major problem using it with a sword.

Clang! Clang!

The tide of battle reversed in an instant. Feeling his body move naturally according to the secrets, Sun-woo swung his sword vigorously.

Crack!

The skeleton was completely dismantled by the sword. The bones scattered everywhere would soon gather again, but now Sun-woo was sufficiently confident.

Sun-woo ignored the bones gathering at his feet and ran toward Nan-seol.

That’s when it happened.

“Sun-woo! Watch out!”

Hayden shouted.

At the same time, Sun-woo’s Three Talents Qigong detected a huge marble falling from the sky. Hayden, whose ability was running low, had missed a stone slab lid attacking the group.

Sun-woo’s eyes widened as he looked up. A giant marble was falling toward him.

It was too late to dodge.

Sun-woo gritted his teeth. It was like throwing an egg at a rock, but he couldn’t die like this. He drew up his qigong to the fullest and swung his sword.

He drew the Three Talents Qigong in his body to its limit and poured it toward the sword.

Whoosh!

The qigong flowed into the sword without obstruction. The sword that the bandit had possessed began to glow faintly.

But Sun-woo didn’t know the sword was glowing. His mind was filled with the secrets of the Three Talents Sword Method that Nan-seol had transmitted.

Slash!

The glowing sword cut the flying stone slab in half. The split stone slab fell in two pieces on either side of Sun-woo, smashing the skeletons that had barely gathered.

The stone chamber became quiet. The group looked at Sun-woo with bewildered faces, and even the enemies seemed surprised as the skeletons’ movements stopped.

Sun-woo looked at his sword with a surprised face. The faintly glowing sword was returning to its original state.

Soon Sun-woo felt his head spinning. Not only his internal energy but all the strength in his body felt like it was disappearing. It felt like all his internal energy had been sucked out through the sword.

“It’s an excellent sword.”

Nan-seol said, looking at Sun-woo’s sword. Swords that could accept qigong so smoothly like that were not common.

It was quite high-quality for a bandit’s sword, so it was probably either stolen from a master’s item or obtained with points.

Seeing Sun-woo’s condition, Nan-seol gripped her sword tightly and charged forward.

No matter how much he had heard the secrets, to show such skill with the basic Three Talents Mind Method and Three Talents Sword Method, she didn’t want to lose either.

Her advance, which was even more aggressive than before, confused the skeletons that had been blocking her, and she was able to push past the skeletons and approach the skeleton wearing the necklace.

But that was as far as she could go. She couldn’t approach any further. The marble lids that had been floating in the air descended around the skeleton. The lids rippled as if they were about to shoot toward her.

At the same time, skeletons rushed toward her from behind. Nan-seol was instantly surrounded.

But she didn’t stop walking. She began drawing up her qigong while advancing toward the marble.

Her sword wasn’t as good as Sun-woo’s sword. She would quickly run out of internal energy if she cut through one or two pieces of marble, but now she had no intention of stopping.

Sun-woo had touched her pride as a warrior.

But her seemingly reckless action produced an unexpected result.

As she approached, the skeleton wearing the necklace smoothly retreated backward. The stone slabs that had been blocking her fell to the floor, and all the skeletons staggered.

“Keep sticking close! If you get close, the opponent can’t use their power!”

Seeing this, Sun-woo shouted toward Nan-seol. He seemed to have realized something.

Nan-seol was bewildered by the sudden situation, but at Sun-woo’s shout, she began pursuing the skeleton.

As Nan-seol approached, various objects flew at her. Floor stone slabs, statues, even vases. But unlike before, the objects flying powerlessly couldn’t stop her.

The stone chamber wasn’t wide enough to continue fleeing. Nan-seol was eventually able to reach the skeleton wearing the necklace.

As she approached right in front of it, the skeleton froze as if terrified, and at that moment, her sword flashed like lightning.

Slash!

The skeleton’s neck bone was severed and the necklace shot up into the sky.

The necklace stopped abruptly in the sky. At the same time, a scream was heard in everyone’s ears.

[I must protect this place. This is my land, our souls. No one can invade it!]

The jewel blazed red and the stone chamber began to shake. No, the entire mansion was trembling.

Bang!

That was the moment. A gunshot crossed the stone chamber. And the jewel shattered.

“Got it!”

Michael cheered loudly.

When the skeletons’ movements slowed, he had retreated and waited for an opportunity. And now he had used the last bullet he hadn’t used until the end. It was done for points, but thanks to that, they were able to destroy the amplification stone.

Thud, thud.

The stone slabs floating in the sky fell down, and the skeletons collapsed in their places.

And everyone sat down with exhausted expressions.

Daniel, who had physically blocked countless skeletons, just lay down, and Hayden, who had scraped his ability to the bottom, also collapsed and sat on the floor. Sun-woo was also at the point where he couldn’t even lift his hands.

Nan-seol was also very tired, but there was something she couldn’t understand to just let it pass. Nan-seol asked Sun-woo a question.

“Could you tell me what happened?”

Nan-seol couldn’t understand why the skeleton wearing the necklace had avoided her. At Nan-seol’s question, the others also looked at Sun-woo.

Sun-woo was a bit troubled. He knew what had happened, but it was somewhat difficult to tell her.

But seeing her deepening gaze, Sun-woo had no choice but to speak.

“Well, it’s because of the talisman Miss Nan-seol has.”

“What?”

“The corpses and armor that attacked us were caused by the telekinesis of a jewel called an amplification stone.”

“Amplification stones are valuable items, but they don’t have any special abilities other than amplifying abilities, do they?”

At Sun-woo’s words, Hayden tilted his head.

Sun-woo recalled the description of the amplification stone he had seen on his phone.

<Contamination Source Level 2. Possessed Amplification Stone>

He had been skeptical about the amplification stone’s description, but he could be certain from the cry heard when the jewel was destroyed.

It seemed that the wishes and spirits of the noble wearing the necklace, or all the ability users of this territory, had gathered in that amplification stone through their abilities.

And when that amplification stone became contaminated, the abilities became materialized, causing the armor, taxidermy, and corpses in the mansion to move. This was what Sun-woo had deduced.

Other skeletons and corpses were moved by telekinesis so the talisman was useless, but the amplification stone possessed by intense wishes and spirits had no choice but to flee from the talisman.

At Sun-woo’s explanation, Nan-seol froze. Her mind was half gone at the story that ghosts had been right in front of her.

[Thank you all for your hard work. Despite the emergency summons, you completed the mission without any casualties. We will now calculate rewards.]

“Yeah!”

Michael shouted excitedly.

Sun-woo chuckled at Michael’s appearance. Although he had missed the finishing blow, he wasn’t too disappointed. His three skill slots were already full.

[Party member Min Sun-woo was considerably helpful in eliminating the contamination source. Due to the emergency summons, 160 points including additional points are awarded.]

Fortunately, it seemed they gave more points for emergency summons.

“170 points! Awesome!”

Unexpectedly, the point difference between Sun-woo and Michael wasn’t large. Point calculation seemed to be distributed based on actual contributions.

“That means they’re continuously watching us.”

Sun-woo shook his head. It wasn’t time yet to dig into those who were summoning them.

Following that, windows unfolded before each person’s eyes. And Sun-woo’s eyes widened slightly.

[Congratulations. Your grade has increased.]

[Point items have been added.]

[Items are awarded.]

[Min Sun-woo: 2 Star. Achievement Rate 4%]

[Additional Inventory 500p]

[Additional Skill Slot 500p]

[Additional Basic Recovery Potion 100p]

[Additional Basic Water 1p]

[Item Enhancement Stone 100p] – Added

[100,000 won per point]

[Types increase as character level rises.]

[Current Points: 205p]

His grade had increased. And something called an item enhancement stone had been added.

Sun-woo quickly checked his phone. There was one additional item in the previously empty 4th inventory slot. It was a jewel glowing yellow.

[Item Enhancement Stone: Enhances armor, weapons, and other items.]

“Are they kidding me?”

It was ridiculous. It wasn’t like they were telling him to enhance his phone. Moreover, it was even showing off its commercial nature by giving one as a sample item in advance.

Sun-woo looked at the sword in his hand with a regretful expression. Since it was a sword summoned to another world, it would definitely be enhanceable.

But since he couldn’t take it with him anyway, it was useless. He had experimented several times to see if other objects could be transported. But the inventory wouldn’t accept any objects from his studio apartment or even stones lying around in fields.

“If only it would go in with a tap like this, how nice would that be.”

Swoosh!

Sun-woo’s mouth fell open. The sword he had brought to the phone was sucked into the phone.

“Huh? It definitely didn’t go in before. Ordinary objects don’t work, right? Definitely this sword is…”

It certainly wasn’t an ordinary sword.

[Point Item: Famous Sword Refined by a Master: Enhancement Possible]

It was the sword that the bandit warrior had obtained with points.

The corner of Sun-woo’s mouth slightly rose. The inventory looked really useful.