Just in case, Li Xiuman tried stabbing the zombie goblin with the Rib Sword once.
As expected, it did not work.
One had to kill the target with the Rib Sword while they were still alive, then reanimate them, to receive the blessing of the Power of Death.
“Come here. Bend down.”
Li Xiuman waved at the zombie Goblin King.
The Goblin King obediently walked over to Li Xiuman.
“Give me the club and the crown.”
Li Xiuman stretched out his hand.
The Goblin King paused for a moment before placing the broken half of the bone spiked club and the crown from its head into Li Xiuman's hands.
[Goblin King's Crown] The crown of the Flame Goblin King. A crude iron hoop made from smelted iron ore. It grants the powers of fire and command over low-tier goblins. Wearer's Constitution +2.
Quality: Green
[Goblin King's Bone Club - Broken] A spiked bone club held and polished by the Flame Goblin King. It slightly boosts Strength and inflicts blunt damage.
Quality: Green
“Are they really magic items as expected?”
“My eye is as sharp as always.”
It was just that their appearance was a bit too poor.
The Goblin King's crown looked like a hoop of raw iron ore smelted by an apprentice blacksmith.
The bone club was even more primitive, looking like it had only undergone the simplest of polishes.
Yet, they were indeed magic items.
“...Though they look a bit crude, a useful item is a good magic item.”
Li Xiuman pulled back his cloak and placed the Goblin King's crown onto his head.
Sitting atop his pale white skull, the rugged and primitive iron crown made Li Xiuman look somewhat comical and out of place.
He tried condensing a Fireball in his hand and found that its temperature and power had indeed increased to some degree.
“Now, let's take a look at this bone club.”
Li Xiuman looked at the bone club in his hand.
“Number Zero.”
Li Xiuman called out. Number Zero understood instantly and went to pick up the other half of the bone club that had been broken and sent flying during the fight, bringing it back to him.
Aligning the two broken pieces, Li Xiuman removed his glove, snapped off a piece of his own finger bone, crushed it into powder, and sprinkled it over the fracture.
Then, he activated Bone Manipulation.
Like glue, the crushed bone powder seeped into the fractured surfaces, bonding the broken club back together.
Slowly, the gaps along the surface of the fracture grew and repaired themselves.
The entire spiked bone club was restored to a pristine state.
Only a pure white ring pattern remained around the site of the former fracture.
[Goblin King's Bone Club - Modified] A spiked bone club held and polished by the Flame Goblin King. It slightly boosts Strength and inflicts blunt damage. Repaired by the mage Xiuman Pound Li, it now harbors a trace of mana, allowing for minor self-repair.
Quality: Green
“...”
“...Could I be a genius blacksmith?”
Li Xiuman looked at his hands in disbelief.
Could his own bones actually enchant bone weapons?
Looking at the bone club in front of him, he felt a strange sense of affinity. He wondered if it was just his imagination.
It felt as though they were connected by blood.
Not that he actually had blood anymore, of course.
But this feeling...
“This is my own flesh and blood.”
Li Xiuman gazed lovingly at the bone club before tossing it back into the Goblin King's hands.
My child, I am sorry you were born into a royal family.
Since ancient times, rulers have been the most ruthless. If you must blame someone, blame your own lack of ability.
The Crown Prince, my Rib Sword, will no longer allow anyone to threaten his status.
My child, I am doing this for your own good.
Exiling you to the borders is my way of protecting you.
Besides, once we leave this dungeon, a new princess, the Princess Blade, will be born. There is no longer any room for you in this vast imperial palace.
Li Xiuman turned away without a shred of emotion, refusing to spare another glance at the bone club held by the zombie Goblin King.
A skeleton possessed by drama.
With the Goblin King dealt with, Li Xiuman didn't even need to lift a finger to handle the remaining, scattered goblins.
The zombie goblins and golems were more than enough to clean them up.
“Number Zero, take the sword. Stab every one of them before they die.”
“Focus on the high-level ones.”
Li Xiuman handed the Rib Sword to Number Zero.
He was too lazy to do it himself, so he let Number Zero do the physical labor.
He also wanted to test if the EXP boost would trigger if Number Zero held his Rib Sword.
Grasping the Rib Sword, Number Zero's combat strength instantly skyrocketed.
After all, the Crown Prince Rib Sword was a genuine Purple Quality magic item.
While Number Zero was better suited to wielding a greatsword, its mastery with a rapier was by no means lacking.
Before long, Number Zero deftly ran the Rib Sword through the heart of a Flame Goblin.
Li Xiuman quickly scanned the flood of notifications to find the one matching Number Zero.
[Ding! Killed Flame Goblin (Lv. 22). EXP +1,200 + 120.]
The Rib Sword's boost had been triggered.
So the conditions weren't too strict after all.
Unfortunately, the Rib Sword was his only weapon that granted an EXP boost.
If he could equip his entire golem and zombie army with EXP-boosting weapons, his leveling speed would soar through the roof.
As his level got higher and the EXP required to level up grew, Li Xiuman couldn't help but look for shortcuts.
Now that the situation had stabilized, Li Xiuman turned his attention to the Treasure Chest (Blue Quality) stored in his inventory.
The Goblin King had been exceptionally generous this time.
Not only had it dropped a Blue Quality chest, but it also yielded two Green Quality magic items.
He even got its physical body and a massive, precious magic stone.
With loot this good, who cared if he had to sell his body?
The body was meant to be sold anyway! (Not really.)
Unfortunately, he didn't even have one.
“Open the treasure chest.”
He retrieved the chest and opened it.
A blue light spilled out from the opening gap. Li Xiuman eagerly leaned in to peek inside.
Resting quietly inside was a shield.
“A shield?”
Li Xiuman lifted the shield out, and only once it was fully out did he gasp in awe.
“It's huge!”
The massive shield was nearly half his size.
Its surface was smooth and oval, with a squared top that formed two distinct corners.
The entire shield was dark silver, with a border of black alloy.
On the inner side, leather straps and a prominent metal handle were provided for gripping and equipping.
[Shield of the King] A heavy, hard shield held by kings. Only those with royal strength can wield it with agility. It can project a magic shield on its surface, and the shield itself can deflect and reduce damage. The King's Strength: Holder's Strength +10. Heavy: Holder's defense is strengthened, but Agility is reduced.
Quality: Blue
Li Xiuman looked at the shield, then back at his wand.
My dear wand, look at it. You both are Blue Quality!
The shield has all kinds of flashy attributes and buffs, yet all you have is 'hardness'?
The wand, which had attained Blue Quality purely by virtue of being indestructible, silently countered that absolute hardness could overcome all things.
“But it reduces Agility...”
Li Xiuman tried holding the Shield of the King.
The massive shield covered the entire left half of his body, and a heavy sensation spread throughout him.
He could feel a strange force field enveloping him. His bones grew harder, as if he were wearing a transparent layer of armor.
Yet, this heavy feeling also weighed his skeletal frame down. Was his Agility reduced by roughly twenty percent?
That was by no means a negligible amount.
As an agile mage, Li Xiuman simply could not ignore such a debuff.
“Number Zero, take it.”
In the end, Li Xiuman tossed the Shield of the King to Number Zero.
Number Zero caught the shield, equipped it, and swung it around with what seemed to be great satisfaction.
Rate on N.U.
