NSE-Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Apprentice

The Dwarves gathered in the Forge stared blankly at the Skeletons.

“Chieftain. Are you telling us to use these guys as apprentices? Even if we’re short on hands, still…….”

Obern, the village’s Chief Blacksmith.

Turon scratched his head at the words he brought up as their representative.

“I know it’s absurd. But it’s what that human asked for personally. He boasted they’re better workers than Orcs.”

The blacksmiths looked at the Skeletons. The sound of wind passing through the bones riddled with holes could be heard.

Skeletons were stupid Summons.

Their Stats were pitiful too.

And yet better than Orcs?

The human who said so, and the Chieftain who took it at face value and brought the Skeletons, were both equally out of their minds.

‘Damn it. The Chieftain’s lost it. Orcs would be better. At least they’re stronger…….’

The faces of the blacksmiths, Obern included, turned sullen.

“……I’m asking this favor of you.”

“Phew.”

Obern let out a sigh and nodded.

Still, he was the Chieftain in name at least, so they had to save his face.

“……We’ll do so. But…… you know, don’t you, Chieftain? That clumsy help is worse than none.”

“I know. Of course I know. Just work together for one day. If you still don’t like it, I’ll tell that human myself. To refuse, we need some sort of justification, don’t we?”

“……Understood.”

At those words, the Chieftain, whose face brightened, left the spot as if fleeing.

Obern looked at the Skeletons left standing alone, but only for a moment.

He gave instructions.

“Hey! You Skeletons over there! Split into groups of twenty and stick to a blacksmith each!”

Clatter!

The Skeletons split up, and.

“Bring that steel and the molds over there! Watch the floor when you carry them!”

“That thing, move it over there and set it up! At exactly this height!”

Clatter!

A peculiar light settled in his eyes at the sight of the Skeletons carrying out the instructions precisely.

“Ahem. At least they understand what’s said.”

Even so, twenty of them combined would barely put out the strength of one or two Orcs.

Obern and the blacksmiths kept giving instructions.

“That one, take it out, cool it in cold water, and stomp on it firmly. With your weight…… about ten of you moving together should do. Once per second. Step here, here, and here.”

Clatter!

“Melt the steel here and pour it into the mold. 30 seconds. Take it out when this stopwatch turns like this.”

Clatter!

“Yes! Like that! These guys, they’re smarter than I thought? Then try this too. Pour the liquid into this mold to about this much, cool it for 20 seconds, and then…….”

The blacksmiths, who had been entrusting them with slightly harder tasks little by little, like climbing stairs one step at a time, had their eyes gleam.

“Sir Obern. These really don’t seem to be ordinary Skeletons?”

“……Well, the Chieftain’s words weren’t entirely empty boasts.”

The sound of hammers loud enough to burst eardrums.

The hot, stuffy air, and on top of that the temper the blacksmiths threw.

Even a fairly strapping grown man, when first taking on apprentice work, was bound to collapse within two or three hours.

But the Skeletons were different.

Like truly silent workers, they were carrying out instructions without a single complaint. And quite perfectly, at that.

A situation where the Skeletons’ performance far exceeded imagination.

‘At this level, we could subdivide the division of labor even further, couldn’t we?’

What if the Skeletons handled not just the basic crafting steps but somewhat more advanced ones as well?

They could raise production efficiency overwhelmingly.

“……Shall I try teaching them properly?”

Had the continent stayed peaceful as before, it would have been unthinkable. Because no matter how talented someone was, they didn’t hand down their Arts carelessly.

There was even a joke that to learn Dwarven crafting Arts, you had to work as an apprentice for ten years.

But now was different.

The world had half gone to ruin.

What good was hoarding Arts tightly? It wasn’t as if they could enjoy wealth and glory with them.

It had become an age where efficiency mattered most. Without it, survival was no longer possible.

“You, try gripping the hammer here.”

Six hours since the Skeletons had arrived. That was the reason they were picking up hammers after a mere six hours.

“Listen carefully. When you bring the mold out from over there, hit here, here, and here…… and this seam…….”

* * *

[Skeleton 1 receives Dwarven crafting Arts from ‘Obern’…….]

[Skeleton 343 receives Dwarven crafting Arts from ‘Malcolm’…….]

[Skeleton 1,102 receives Dwarven crafting Arts from ‘Pudal’…….]

Three days had passed since he sent the Skeletons off.

Now, beyond simple crafting, they were soaking up the very essence of Dwarven Arts. Thanks to that, armament output had also increased explosively.

The output expected on the premise of plenty of apprentices had been 200 sets a day. And yet now, they were turning out 300 sets a day in no time.

Because the Skeletons had gone beyond a simple apprentice role, and their share in the production was steadily growing.

The stockpiled steel was rapidly hitting bottom, to the point that newly arrived Orc recruits were being sent off to mine.

Far off, Turon and a few Orcs approached pulling a cart.

―Snort! Brought armaments again today!

“Today it’s 320 sets in total!”

Turon spoke, eyes gleaming as if thrilled.

“You seem quite cheerful.”

“Of course! It’s been so long since I saw the blacksmiths work with such fervor! We Dwarves are the race of crafting, after all! Thanks to that, the village is brimming with vitality!”

Then again.

With their numbers so much reduced from the past, how many situations had there been for the Dwarves to work busily?

Thanks to the Orcs flocking in, the Dwarves, too, had in effect been thrilled.

“My kids are doing well, right?”

“Needless to say! Can’t you tell from the output growing every day? That picky fellow Obern even poured out his secret Arts to teach them. He seems to have taken quite a liking to your Summons.”

It was nothing short of a rave review.

“But are you all right? You’ve practically sent all your Summons to us…….”

The maximum number of Summons a Necromancer could summon was proportional to maximum Mana.

After summoning to the full extent of his Mana pool.

‘Even if I drink Potions, no more summoning is possible.’

Every summoning-type Class was like that.

Currently, all the Skeletons except Cedric had become the Dwarves’ star pupils.

Even so, it didn’t matter.

“I just need to command the Orcs.”

Kim Min-woo was a very unusual Necromancer who could level up even without utilizing Summons. If he had none, he could just go around swinging his sword as he was.

Leveling up went smoothly even without the Skeletons. Because he had a sturdy shield called the Orcs. He raised 10 Levels in just 3 days.

‘The gap with the Skeletons has widened a bit, but…….’

Their Levels could be raised anytime.

But Dwarven Arts were different.

‘If I miss this chance, no telling when I’ll be able to learn them again.’

The setting of this Gate was good.

The fantasy type.

On top of that, the Gate’s scale was vast.

Meeting the Dwarves was a stroke of luck.

On top of that, since the world was going to ruin, they readily handed down even Arts that they’d normally keep tightly hidden no matter how many years he knocked around.

‘Once I just learn them…….’

Kim Min-woo, picturing the future, grinned. If he ran grinding labor with the Skeletons, he might be able to be self-sufficient with goods better than the ordinary items at the Auction House.

For him, who would have to keep using many summoned creatures going forward, crafting Skills were like rain after a drought.

“I see. You’re going through a lot. Thanks to you, I ate my fill for the first time in a long while.”

“There were quite a lot of monsters. There’s still plenty to hunt for now, but…….”

“It won’t stay plentiful forever. In the end, it’s a battle against time.”

“Yes. We’ll have to take the Fortress.”

Nodding at those words, Turon looked at the Orc horde.

“The Orcs’ numbers are truly enormous. To think so many survived in this harsh climate…….”

It was just as Turon said.

The speed at which wanderers flocked in was growing faster and faster.

Because he had sent Orcs in all directions to spread the word.

Join the Resistance Army and you can eat your fill. You can even take revenge on the Apostle and the Witch.

The slogan was a resounding success, quite literally.

The number of Orcs had already broken through 2,000. What’s more, the count was on an even steeper upward trend.

Just then.

[Warning!]

[The Enemy Alert Level changes!]

[0 -> 5 (They recognize that something is wrong)]

‘They noticed.’

The guys they sent aren’t coming back.

Naturally, it would seem suspicious.

Soon…….

[The first scouting party is formed!]

[The Apostle’s subordinate, Necromancer ‘Elrum,’ is on the move!]

[Fifty Wraith Knights follow Elrum!]

[One hundred Corpse Hunters follow Elrum!]

A message appeared saying that the guys had begun to move.

‘Fortunately, they’re still only at the level of sending a scouting party.’

If the main force came, it’d be another matter, but if they came in fragments, it was well worth a shot.

He looked at the 2,000 Orcs.

It was time to prepare for battle.

* * *

Necromancer Elrum.

He was in an extremely sour mood right now.

He had sent forces under his command for the disposal.

But there was no word at all.

He had thought it was possible that the Corpse Collectors sent to the Orc tribe hadn’t returned.

After all, he had only sent five.

With bad luck, they could have gotten caught up in an accident.

Losing them wasn’t a painful blow.

But the force that moved to hit the Dwarf group was different.

The scale was different to begin with.

A force that shouldn’t have run into an accident.

‘No report, huh…….’

Most likely, they’d been wiped out.

―……Shall I send word to the Fortress?

At the Wraith Knight’s question, he shook his head and said calmly.

“No. I’ll handle it myself. There’s no need to trouble the Apostle with something like this. Assemble all forces in this district.”

―……Understood.

The Wraith Knight withdrew.

‘Damn it. I have to deal with this quickly.’

Elrum chewed on his lip.

Other guys were cleaning up their jurisdictions without a hitch, and trouble had come up only in the district he was in charge of?

Getting branded as incompetent by the Apostle would happen in an instant.

Lost forces could be replenished somehow.

But trust, once collapsed, was extremely hard to restore.

He had blocked word from going up, but it wouldn’t last long. He had to quell it quickly before the spark grew.

And so Elrum and the forces under him moved. The destination was precisely the Black Rock Tribe.

Because contact had been cut since the last report that they would head there.

As they approached the region where the Black Rock Tribe was, a strange sight appeared.

―……Sir Elrum. Something is strange. These are definitely Orc footprints…… and they keep converging on where we are headed.

There were far too many footprints pressed into the snow. On top of that, Orc excrement and bodily secretions could be found without difficulty throughout the terrain.

‘Don’t tell me the Orcs have stirred?’

The Orcs struck the Dwarves.

If, afterward, the force had been sucked into the region the guys had occupied…….

‘Being wiped out makes sense too.’

Once Orcs stirred, their force was at least a thousand or more. By contrast, the force he’d sent was at most ten Wraith Knights and about twenty Corpse Collectors.

It wouldn’t be strange for the force to have been wrapped up and devoured.

“Damn it…….”

Elrum’s face darkened.

The Witch gnashed her teeth at the mention of Orcs.

If that was the situation, he couldn’t hide it at his own level.

Reporting was the top priority.

“You, you, go back to the Fortress right now and…….”

Just then.

Whoosh!

The snow covering the ground shot up, and Orcs burst out from all sides.

―Snort! Kill!

―Orc! Orc!

An unexpected ambush!

The Wraith Knights barely responded, but the lower-grade Corpse Collectors were different.

Splat!

With one fierce swing of an axe, a torso split in half.

The bad news didn’t end here.

Because soon Orcs began to burst out from all sides.

―Damn, an ambush!

―You vermin bastards……!

“Don’t panic! Form ranks!”

Elrum, who hurriedly gave orders, gathered the Mana inside his body.

A spell took shape above his hand.

Corpse Explosion.

If it were cast, it was an Art that could wipe out the Orcs now bursting out in swarms.

Right then.

Zing!

With a chilling sound, an arrow pierced his chest.

“Gah!”

―Damn, protect Sir Elrum!

Soon a barrage of arrows began to pour down. Arrows aimed at the heads of the Corpse Collectors and Wraith Knights!

Artistic archery that hit the targets amid the Orcs engaged in a melee.

Only one kind of guy could pull off such a feat of skill.

‘Elves?!’

Elrum’s eyes widened.

Orcs wearing Dwarven gear.

And on top of that, sniper Elves who showed their best strength in a melee situation.

The situation was the worst.

* * *

To win by the straightforward approach would mean heavy losses. That was why he’d chosen precisely an ambush. He’d set some of the Orcs in ambush in the direction where those guys were likely to come.

All of them guys with sturdy builds and robust stamina.

The result was a great success.

“Don’t let a single one escape alive!”

―Snooort!

When he gave the Orcs the order to charge.

A strange sight appeared.

Arrows flew in from somewhere, one after another, and began assassinating the enemy group. Kim Min-woo, too, thought of the same word as Elrum.

‘Elves?’

Did they witness the fighting while wandering around?

Since the Witch’s forces were the continent’s public enemy, it wasn’t strange for Elves to lend support.

‘No harm in it.’

It was a situation where he’d borrow even a cat’s paw.

Never mind when it was sniper support from Elves.

‘A Necromancer, right.’

He looked at the human staggering with an arrow lodged in his chest.

‘Judging by the fact that he’s the commander, he’s surely a Named.’

Named.

A monster that wasn’t a boss but had a name of its own. Guys like this tended to spit out decent items. The Experience being honey-sweet was a bonus.

‘I’ll take the last hit.’

Amid the melee, he began to approach Elrum.