Chapter 153 ….
Do-hyeon froze for a moment at the unexpected skill name.
Then he immediately checked the skill information.
[Frost Current ]
Grade: Heroic
Restriction: Ice-element Mage class
Description:
It is said that an exceptional cryomancer can freeze even the flow of the surrounding air.Around them, the air is cold, piercing—and beautiful.
But do not be deceived by that beauty.
If you remain captivated for too long… you will freeze solid.Effect:
Lowers the temperature of the air currents within a certain radius around the caster.Enemies nearby feel the cold, and the longer they remain within the area, the worse their status condition becomes.
Additionally, while Frost Current is active, attacking frozen enemies deals additional damage.
Cooldown: 40 seconds after deactivation.
“Jackpot. I didn’t expect to get a magic skill.”
Maybe because the previous one had been a rogue skill.
He felt incredibly grateful that a magic skill had appeared.
The performance of the skill was on a completely different level from Ignition Fuse. Simply activating it applied crowd control to multiple nearby enemies—a completely broken ability.
To actually freeze enemies required keeping them within range for a long time, so realistically he would have to be satisfied with slowing them.
But even that alone was more than enough.
‘It lets me control positioning more easily.’
Even just slowing enemies was troublesome enough that it gave him an advantage against melee players.
And even against ranged opponents, slowing their movement was an enormous effect.
Not only that, it also made fighting multiple monsters far easier.
The reason fighting many enemies was difficult was because there wasn’t time to think—and once you got surrounded, there was no turning back.
‘In that sense, there’s no better skill than Frost Current.’
If enemies were slowed, he would have more time to think.
And with more time to think, the chances of making better decisions increased.
And this wasn’t just Do-hyeon’s opinion.
‘The strongest cryomancer, Repias.’
Repias—the strongest cryomancer who, despite being a player, had become the disciple of the master of the Empire’s Blue Magic Tower.
The skill that made her famous was Frost Current.
Everyone who had fought her said the same thing—that they never wanted to fight her again. And one of the reasons they gave was precisely this skill.
Ice mages were already troublesome opponents, but this skill made them so irritating it drove people insane.
‘Well, fighting a mage is all about controlling distance.’
Just when someone finally managed to close the gap, they would become slowed—while the mage became even faster. It must have been maddening.
Of course, that didn’t mean ice magic was inherently overpowered.
Ice spells tended to be tricky and difficult to deal with, but their raw power wasn’t particularly high.
But Do-hyeon?
‘For me, it’s a different story.’
The corners of Do-hyeon’s lips curled upward.
After all, he was the only All-Master in God of the New Age. He could simply take the advantages of the ice element and combine them with other powerful skills.
Thinking that way made him curious about Repias.
She had reached the top ranks using only ice-element skills.
‘They’re not one of the top ten guilds, but their reputation rivals them.’
Although the top ten guilds dominated the game, there were still players whose individual combat power rivaled them.
For example, the Seven Strong of the Empire—or the disciples of high-ranking NPCs equivalent to them.
Like Repias, the disciple of the Blue Magic Tower’s master.
‘If I get the chance, I’d like to fight her.’
Repias hadn’t been present in Demrock.
While many top-ranked players from Demrock were performing well in God of the New Age, not every one of the billion players came from there.
Some of them were even more skilled than the Demrock veterans.
That was why, no matter how impressive Melsal was, he was never called the number one player.
‘I wonder what they’re like.’
Back in the Demrock days, Do-hyeon’s playstyle had been anything but peaceful.
His life had been a constant chain of battles against countless powerful enemies.
Only near the end—after forming a party with companions, and after the game had effectively become a dead game—did that stop.
Maybe that was why the existence of new strong players stirred his competitive spirit.
‘Not something to think about right now.’
He hadn’t even reached the Empire yet.
Even if Kaiser was currently the talk of the town for his achievements, he had only just graduated from Sargis.
To those people, he was simply someone mildly worth keeping an eye on.
Swish.
Smiling faintly, Do-hyeon closed the skill window.
The moment when he might face them was exciting—but still far away.
Right now, focusing on growing stronger as quickly as possible was the correct choice.
‘Anyway, I got a good skill.’
And Do-hyeon wasn’t the only one growing.
[Guardian ‘Jihad Black’ has reached Level 20.]
[Would you like to use the Random Guardian Skill Draw Ticket?]
After defeating the outlaws and completing quests, it wasn’t just Do-hyeon who leveled up.
Jihad and Charlie had also gained a lot of levels.
[Jihad Black: LV 21]
[Charlie: LV 17]
Maybe it was because of the high experience gained at lower levels?
Charlie was catching up to Jihad much faster than expected, which felt strange—but that wasn’t important right now.
‘There’s still one more shot.’
Jihad had passed level 20 and earned a skill draw ticket.
And in a place with such incredible luck, this meant two chances to pull cards.
“Looks like it’s over—…nope. His nostrils are flaring again. Let’s wait.”
“Hmm! Your perception is always impressive. I should learn from you.”
“Riza-riza!”
“No. Eliza, please don’t learn that.”
Seeing Do-hyeon unable to hide his excitement, the others who had begun standing up sat down again.
Despite pretending otherwise, Jihad’s eyes sparkled slightly. He clearly had expectations about what skill he might receive.
Since Legion Control had already been extremely useful, they were curious about what would come next.
‘Here we go!’
As if answering those expectations, Do-hyeon decisively tore open the ticket.
Flash!
Seven cards appeared.
“…!”
Do-hyeon’s eyes widened, and without hesitation he reached out.
Of course he did.
Among the four silver cards and two dull brown ones surrounding it, one card stood out distinctly.
It was glowing yellow.
[You have obtained the Hero Skill: “Legion Commander Creation.”]
[Legion Commander Creation]
Grade: Heroic
Restriction: Necromancer class
Description:
A commander leads a legion. And every legion needs a legion commander.Create a legion commander and complete a magnificent legion!
Effect:
Allows the creation of an undead of higher rank than ordinary undead—one suitable to become a legion commander.A vessel of higher rank than the caster cannot be turned into undead.
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Seeing the brilliant skill window appear, Do-hyeon shouted without restraint.
“Jackpot!”
“W-why!? Did something good come out, Master??”
“…You?”
Jihad, who had been pretending not to care, jumped to his feet.
Charlie and Eliza looked exasperated at his excited reaction—but neither of them mattered right now.
Jihad was too busy feeling the new power flowing through his body after gaining the skill.
“Ah… This is…! This is Zeke?”
It was a sensation he had never felt before.
The nature of the power was different, but the shock felt similar to when he had gained Corpse Explosion.
And that made sense.
If Corpse Explosion was the flower of Pokke, then Legion Commander Creation was the flower of Zeke.
And a legion commander in Zeke wasn’t merely someone who acted as the leader.
‘The nature of the entire legion changes depending on what undead becomes the commander.’
If you appoint a loyal-type commander, the legion becomes disciplined and loyal.
But if the commander is treacherous, the legion becomes cunning and underhanded.
‘And that’s not all.’
Not only the legion’s personality—its stats and traits also become influenced by the commander, within the limits of the race’s natural abilities.
The commander literally represented the entire legion.
That was what a Legion Commander was.
Because of this, Zeke was known as one of the most unique and varied classes in the entire game.
Everything depended on:
how powerful the vessel chosen as commander was
what personality and characteristics the undead possessed
Those factors caused enormous differences in strength and style.
There was even a saying: a Zeke without Legion Commander Creation isn’t a real Zeke.
‘I can’t believe it appeared. This was a must-have skill… Is this the power of a legendary farming spot?’
In that sense, the first legion commander was extremely important.
Usually, a Command-type Necromancer could only build a second legion after level 50.
So the type of the first commander practically defined the identity of the Zeke player.
‘Jihad might reach it earlier… but still, being careful won’t hurt.’
“Master.”
Jihad nodded as if thinking the same.
First things were always important.
Jihad also wanted to think carefully before choosing someone he truly liked as the commander.
‘I should investigate in Fratel.’
Just as he was about to postpone that glorious moment—
[Eye of Truth activates.]
“Huh?”
The sudden activation startled him.
He hurriedly looked around, but nothing seemed different.
The only change was that the cheers had died down—perhaps because Jay Ruddel’s speech had ended.
‘Wait…’
Thinking of something, he checked his own body.
Nothing.
Then a thought flashed through his mind.
He opened his inventory.
“…Huh?”
Do-hyeon couldn’t help but be confused.
In one inventory slot sat a small black substance.
Or rather—something that should have been black was now glowing red.
‘Why is this…?’
He couldn’t understand, but curiosity had already moved his hand.
As he carefully took it out, a message window appeared.
[Hidden condition fulfilled.]
[The Soul of Pain reacts to Guardian ‘Jihad Black.’]
‘Condition? Reacts?’
There was only one time such messages appeared.
When a Hidden Piece had been triggered.
He had seen the message countless times while playing God of the New Age. There was no way he could mistake it.
“Jihad! Use Legion Commander Creation! Hurry!”
“H-huh? O-okay!”
At Do-hyeon’s excited shout, Jihad quickly gathered mana.
When he extended his hand, black mana flowed out.
The creeping black mana moved as if following a predetermined path and seeped into the Soul of Pain.
Gulp.
After a moment—
When all the mana had fully entered—
Ding—
A cheerful notification sounded.
And when Do-hyeon checked it, his expression went flat.
[The vessel’s rank is too high.]
[It cannot be used as a Legion Commander vessel.]
“Ah…”
“Ah…”
The attempt failed because the vessel’s rank was too high.
Well, if their guess was correct, the Soul of Pain was likely the soul of the outlaw king “Pain.”
Turning such a being into undead wouldn’t be easy.
If it were, Zeke would have been the strongest class in the game.
‘Still… now we know it can be used as a vessel.’
Even if it wasn’t possible yet, someday they might be able to try again.
Later in the game, Zeke players could obtain special materials used to create higher-grade undead.
Though disappointed, Do-hyeon was about to store the Soul of Pain away—
Ding—
Another notification rang.
‘Huh? At this timing?’
He glanced at the message without thinking.
Then his eyes widened.
[Guardian ‘Jihad Black’ has a high rank.]
[The guardian’s owner is confirmed to be the possessor of the ‘Soul of Pain.’]
[The rank of Pain is temporarily reduced by two levels.]
[Conditions fulfilled.]
“…What the hell.”
