The Genius Necromancer of the Barbarian Race

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This is not for my honor. So I want a reward.

At those words, the chief of the Red Wolf tribe nodded.

"Of course, Dmihtan! What do you want!"

I thought he would accuse me of being greedy, but the chief let it go quite breezily.

Well, it's only natural since they are the ones asking for a favor.

'What do I want?'

First, I'd need to prepare for the journey. Money is nice, but I need equipment that can armor myself.

I acquired a 'divine-grade' weapon, so that's fine, but I have no means to protect my body.

I need new gear.

Partly because of the 'Journey of Proof' and also because I need to explore dungeons and collect Runes of the Abyss.

"No, wait, I already know what you want!"

Suddenly remembering something, the chief of the Red Wolf tribe hastily ran out of my house.

It seemed he thought of something suitable for me. Treasure, perhaps? It would be great if it's something I could turn into cash.

"Is this what you wanted! I've been saving it, but you have a good eye!"

The chief returned. What he brought was a gigantic glass jar, easily over a meter tall.

Inside was—

'... A snake?'

A snake's head.
A huge one at that... and its eyes were still moving.

"This is liquor with a Hydra's head in it! Try it! It'll kill you!"

It actually felt like it might kill me.

* * *

I never expected I'd come to sense the kind of scent from my hometown, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, here in the world of 《Dungeon God》.

Anyway, I refused the hydra snake liquor and asked for a clear reward. The chief gladly granted my request.

"If there's something you want, you can take it!"

I was guided to the chief's warehouse. Inside, it was packed full of trophies he had gathered.

After briefly browsing through them, I spoke to Barkal, too.

"Barkal, choose something for yourself."

"Me?"

"Yes. You'll need equipment for the journey as well."

The stronger you get, the easier things will be for me too.

Barkal looked at his father, the chief. The chief nodded with gentle eyes.

Leaving them behind, I headed inside.

I stopped in front of where the armors were displayed.

'Plate armor, huh.'

In my view was a set of plate armor. It looked comfy at a glance. If I wore it, it seemed it could block most attacks.

Crude Plate Armor
Grade: Common

【Durability】 3
【Heaviness】 2
【Tetanus】 1

Out of curiosity, I checked the details—what is this.

As expected, loot is just loot. What a shame. It looked sturdy too.

'No.'

The way I was thinking was wrong from the start. The weapon I'm using now is the dagger Thrag bestowed upon me.

To use this dagger effectively, I should favor mobility even at the cost of a bit of defense.

Red Wolf Leather Armor
Grade: Rare

【Durability】 1
【Lightweight】 2
【Waterproof】 1
【Shock Absorption】 1

Yeah, this should do. I lifted the leather armor off its rack and grinned at how light it was.

Aside from that, I gathered various other items from the warehouse.

A pouch of jerky, a pouch of herbs, and a canteen—just a few of the things I'd need for daily life.

This should be enough. I thought so, and looked over at Barkal.

I wondered what he would pick up.

"Graaaaaaargh..."

"Barkal, take more! I didn't raise you to be a weakling who can only carry that much!"

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

Before my eyes, Barkal was being loaded with axes, armors, and food by the chief as his whole body was packed full.

"Chief! No, father! This is the limit!"

"If you say it's impossible, you can do one more. That's a warrior of Thrag!"

"I... haven't even passed my coming-of-age yet!"

"You weakling!"

Looking at the scene, I thought we'd better have a pack inspection before we set off tomorrow.

* * *

Evening before departure. Back at 'Dmihtan's house', I recalled something Thrag had said.

'The promise of a new power.'

I had no idea how to accept this.

In 《Dungeon God》, when you receive a power from your god, you get sucked into a place called the 'Imaginary World'.

And there, you choose one of three powers offered by the god, and learn it.

'The problem is how to enter that imaginary world.'

In the game, you just had to click a button. Because it's a game.

But this isn't a game.

'Should I try meditating?'

It sounded fancy, but 'imaginary world' is just your imagination, right? There was nothing to lose, so I sat cross-legged on my bed and closed my eyes.

The martial arts protagonists I read about practiced 'imaginary training' like this.

'Hmm.'

Nothing seemed to change.
What is this, all those martial arts novels were a complete lie.
Feeling let down, I opened my eyes.

"Oh my."

I saw, not my bleak wooden cabin, but a pure white space.

The imaginary world.
It was the place to talk to the gods in 《Dungeon God》.

As expected, there was a statue before me. A blood-soaked sword lodged in a crude vessel—the statue symbolizing the God of Blood and Revelry, 'Thrag'.

At the familiar scenery and familiar figure, I naturally stepped up to the statue. Then, from below, a marble pillar rose.

'Yeah, yeah.'

A promise is a promise.

The new power Thrag had promised me—a book representing it was placed atop the pillar.

Let's check it out for now.

【 Thrag's Roar 】

- Unleashes a thunderous roar at the cost of health.

- Lowers the attack power of enemies.

- Those weaker than yourself are thrown into terror.

'Thrag's Roar', huh.

'It's been a while.'

This power, to be precise, is one of the reasons that melee classes such as barbarians worshipped Thrag.

It weakens enemies and terrifies those weaker than yourself, allowing you to excel in fights against multiple foes at once.

It's tempting.

Even though I'm not a 'barbarian', it's a tempting power.

But.

This is not what I'm after right now.

"I want a different power!"

I shouted into the air. When players receive a power from a deity, they are allowed to swap it out up to once.

It's the so-called 'reroll'.

In the game, you usually clicked a button to switch—let's see if this works here.

* 〈The power has been changed.〉

Oh, it works.

【 Reckless Blow 】

- Imbues your weapon with Thrag's power.

- One attack ignores the opponent's defense.

- Cannot be used while wearing armor.

Reckless Blow.

This is also a power that melee classes would worship Thrag just to obtain.

It's a power that guarantees overwhelming performance in certain situations.

'Damn.'

But even as I muttered curses, I had to admit—they are both good skills.

'They are not powers a necromancer can make use of.'

In fact, a necromancer shouldn't find themselves in the kind of situations where these would be useful.

But I had used all my chances to change powers. Normally, in 《Dungeon God》, I would have been forced to use 'Reckless Blow' without complaint.

"Thrag!"

But this world is reality, not a game. I can negotiate with the god!

* 〈Thrag is watching you.〉

"I want a different power!"

* 〈Thrag denies you.〉

No denial, my ass.

"I can't use these! Those are powers suited for physically gifted classes!"

Even with skeleton exoskeletons to supplement my stats, my basic physical abilities are those of a necromancer.

The 'powers' Thrag presented guarantee overwhelming performance, but come with steep penalties.

As it is, if a glass-cannon necromancer sacrifices defense or burns health to use these powers, he'll drop dead in no time.

"Thrag, I want the 'Curse of Boiling Blood!'"

* 〈Thrag scoffs at you.〉

Oh, really?

* 〈Thrag urges you to make a selection.〉

"I won't!"

* 〈Thrag gives you the cold shoulder.〉

Is this god for real? If I have to go around with the tag 'apostle' and a useless power, I'm losing out!

"I will not choose any power!"

This time, there was no response.

With arms crossed, I sat in proper posture and glared at Thrag's statue. Still, no reply.

'This bastard.'

Did he really leave?

'Damn you.'

Am I really going to have to pick that useless power?

I approached the pillar with the 'Reckless Blow'. As I reached out my hand—

* 〈Thrag mocks your choice.〉

Heh.

"Thrag, so you were watching all this time."

To be honest, I never intended to choose any power. I just wanted to see if Thrag was watching me.

God of Blood and Revelry.

Normally, this god loses all interest the moment he finds things boring, so why is he staying here with such persistence?

"If I don't choose a power, you can't leave either, can you?"

No answer. It didn't matter.

"I still refuse! Give me what I want!"

I flopped down on the spot.

Ten minutes passed.
No answer.

Twenty minutes passed.
No answer.

Finally, an hour passed.

* 〈Thrag is enraged.〉

Not picking, you bastard.

* 〈Thrag is enraged by your impertinence.〉

* 〈Thrag curses you.〉

Two hours passed.

* 〈Thrag is unsettled by your silence.〉

* 〈Thrag is waiting for your reaction.〉

Two more hours passed.

* 〈Thrag hopes for a conversation with you.〉

* 〈Thrag accepts your request.〉

I watched the constant stream of system messages, and I realized—

'Thrag, you bastard.'

He wants something from me.

Frankly, considering his personality, he would have just made me an apostle and chopped my head off right here.

And yet, the way he tried to keep talking to me—it told me. There's something he wants from me.

'But that's that.'

I got up as if waking from sleep. On the pillar was now a red book.

【 Curse of Boiling Blood 】

- Places a curse upon your own blood.

- While active, enter a state of excitement and greatly enhance your physical abilities.

- After your blood cools, you fall into a period of 'fatigue'.

He could have just done this from the start.

Still, Thrag's actions make a certain sense.

The god of melee combat.

Thrag is one of the deities who represents that very epithet.

But imagine that, without even realizing, a 'necromancer' had become his follower.

That would certainly put a crack in the faith of a 'god of melee combat'.

Well, that's that.

"Thanks for the meal."

As I reached out to the pillar, the book began to vanish like dust.

* 【You have learned the Curse of Boiling Blood.】

* * *

"Haah!"

When I opened my eyes, my familiar wooden cabin came into view. My body was still sitting cross-legged, which left my legs tingling a bit.

Looking outside, the edge of the sky was faintly tinged with light. The sun hadn't risen yet, but night was definitely ending.

"Ugh...!"

Stretching, I got up from my spot.

It was too late to go back to sleep. Thanks to this petty god, nothing ever goes right.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
MC got the Curse Proficiency, so the Curse of Boiling Blood will probably be strengthened by it.
Will MC use other curses as well, and pretend they are barbarian shouts?
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】