Bakémon Trainer

White bone growing atop my skin. Watching it gave me a truly strange feeling.

It didn’t feel like putting on armor—more like gaining a second layer of skin. Yes, if I had to articulate it, it was as if an insect’s exoskeleton had formed over my body.

‘An insect, huh.’

Come to think of it, that’s kind of a weird thought. I’ve never been an insect before, nor do I even like them.

Well, whatever.

Once I realized that the supposedly useless power of “Necromancer” was actually turning out to be useful, my mood improved.

With this, I’ve secured at least some degree of defense.

‘I wonder what about strength.’

Take helmet bugs or rhinoceros beetles, for example—they’re famous for exerting an incredible amount of strength relative to their size.

It’s said the secret lies in their exoskeletons. Could I gain that kind of power too?

Out of curiosity, I looked around and spotted a boulder about the size of a human body.

If that had fallen on me, it would’ve been a disaster.

“Uch-cha.”

Without high hopes, I tried lifting the boulder—and, surprisingly, it came up easily.

Was the Necromancer’s skeleton always this strong? At this level, it wouldn’t be strange to think I’d inherited a Barbarian’s strength.

No, that’s not it.

Right now, I’m a Barbarian undergoing the coming-of-age ceremony.

And I’ve made a deal with Thrag. The deal is that I’ll prove myself a ‘warrior’ by passing the coming-of-age ceremony.

If I fail, he’ll send all sorts of apostles after me to kill me.

Then, a newborn who’s just set foot in this world won’t even be able to resist before being reduced to a pulp.

“Hmmm…”

A sigh slipped from my lips. But really, what’s worrying going to solve?

Right now, the priority is figuring out the Dungeon Master’s location. I need to know where that guy is, whether to kill him or to come up with a plan.

“I have high expectations for you, son. I’m counting on you.”

I tapped the body of my new son, ‘Skeleton #2’, as I said this. The exoskeleton made a “prduk” sound in response, as if he was answering me.

‘Where would be the best place to survey this dungeon?’

There’s one place. The cliff I fell from.

If I look down from up there, I’d be able to get a good view of the surroundings.

Funny, coming back to the place I first woke up. Is this what they call a homing instinct?

I climbed the cliff I’d fallen from when I first opened my eyes.

At first, I wondered if my foot had just slipped back then, but once I reached the top, I could instantly see what had happened.

〈Dungeon Master〉

Scar Claw

At the top of the cliff was a lion large enough to swallow a person in a single bite. And, over its head, the phrase “Dungeon Master” was clearly visible.

Judging by that, it looks like ‘I’ challenged the Dungeon Master, got my ass handed to me, and was knocked down the cliff.

No, more likely, I fell while being chased.

― Grrr…”

It was eating.

I couldn’t tell what, exactly, but judging from the blood smeared around its mouth, it certainly wasn’t eating mugwort and garlic.

Getting a bit closer, I could see what it was devouring.

A Barbarian’s corpse.

‘It killed a Barbarian of that build, and without a scratch?’

On the Dungeon Master’s body, aside from a few old closed wounds, there weren’t any fresh injuries. Meaning, it killed the Barbarian with ease.

As expected, challenging it alone was suicide.

Honestly, after donning the ‘bone armor’ and being able to fully use its power, my confidence had started creeping up.

If things went well, I even thought maybe I could beat the Dungeon Master single-handedly.

But etiquette injection brought my humility back.

* * *

Now that I knew where the Dungeon Master was, but realized solo victory was impossible—

The next task was clear: I needed to rescue the Barbarians who would fight with me as Bakemon.

‘After all, they want the Dungeon Master’s heart, too, so they’ll surely agree.’

The real problem was what would happen after we killed the Dungeon Master.

To pass the coming-of-age ceremony, you need the Dungeon Master’s heart.

There is only one Dungeon Master, and only one heart to obtain.

Which means, only a single Barbarian can pass the coming-of-age ceremony.

‘Once the Dungeon Master is dead, it’s obvious that a free-for-all for the heart will break out.’

So, what should I do? With a bit of thought, I came up with a good strategy.

‘Barbarians value loyalty above all.’

To put it nicely, they live and die by honor. To put it cynically… well, no need to be cynical.

Anyway, it’s said Barbarians would even give their own lives to someone who’s done them a favor. So, if I help out some Barbarians and then take down the Dungeon Master together, wouldn’t they yield the heart to me out of gratitude?

Once I’d reasoned that far, I came up with a plan.

“Uwaaaah! Die, goblins!”

Descending from the cliff where the Dungeon Master was, I suddenly heard a beastly yell while looking around.

Even without seeing the owner of the voice, I could tell it belonged to a Barbarian, so I dashed towards it.

When I arrived at the source, I hid myself.

In my field of vision was a Barbarian swinging an axe wildly, killing small green humanoid monsters that had gathered.

‘… Are those goblins?’

― Kyaaah!”

One of the lowest-tier monsters in Dungeon God. But that’s just for individual goblins; you’d be a fool to call the whole race “low-tier.”

Why?

Because there are just so damn many of them.

With howls, the countless goblins swarmed the Barbarian.

With claws and knives, they scratched at the Barbarian’s body, but not enough to call it a crisis.

See how, swatting goblins like mosquitoes, he tore them apart.

‘If I helped right now, I doubt he’d be all that grateful.’

If you help someone at a truly dire moment, that breeds gratitude—and with that, sympathy sufficient to give up the Dungeon Master’s heart.

So, I decided to let things become even more desperate.

* 【Using Skeleton Summon.】

As I used Skeleton Summon, the “exoskeleton” attached to my body began to recede.

Looks like I can only control a single skeleton at my current proficiency. Not that it matters, since managing multiple would be hard with Thrag watching anyway.

* 〈Thrag is watching you.〉

As soon as I used “Skeleton Summon,”

Thrag seemed to take an interest.

Now that I think about it, should I have checked if using it this way was okay?

* 〈Thrag finds this very interesting.〉

No need to ask, apparently. Then, let’s begin.

As the Barbarian flexed his muscles and swung his axe, a goblin’s head splattered like tofu. At that moment, I sent the summoned skeleton forward.

“… Thrag, my god!”

Upon seeing it, the Barbarian reacted fiercely. He glared at the skeleton with seething hatred, then promptly tore apart another nearby goblin.

Still, the goblin attacks didn’t abate. Sensing that if the ‘skeleton’ joined the goblins’ onslaught, even he’d be in trouble, an uneasy expression crossed his face.

“Oh Thrag, with this battle, I come to your side!”

Apparently convinced this would be a life-or-death struggle, he grasped his axe in both hands and invoked the god’s name.

Now.

“Brother!!!!!!!”

I burst out of hiding.

“… Dmihtan!”

At the sight of my face, color returned to the Barbarian’s own.

Seems he recognized me, but I don’t know his name. His face looks like a Geodude, so Geodude it is.

“Brother, let me join the fight!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

At my offer, the Barbarian shouted with gusto. At his beastly roar, even the goblins began to tremble.

“Dmihtan, my brother! Let’s overcome this danger together!”

“I’ll get rid of that disgusting magical remnant!”

“Brother! That skeleton is strong! Fall back!”

“Return to nature!”

Ignoring his words, I swung my right-hand dagger at the skeleton.

Clatter──!

My dagger stabbed into the skeleton’s left arm, its joint twisted, and its arm went flying off into the distance.

At the sight, geodude’s mouth fell wide open.

“Dmihtan! I thought you were a weakling this whole time, but I was wrong!”

As I thrashed the skeleton, the Barbarian looked startled.

Of course I win. You know whose minion that is?

* 【You attacked your own summoned creature.】

“Wahahahaha!”

So elated, a smile never left Geodude’s face.

“Brother, I’ll leave the rest to you!”

“Leave it to me, brother!”

* 〈Thrag is impressed by your performance.〉

“For Thrag!!”

* 〈Thrag laughs loudly.〉

* * *

The Bakémon capture operation, via my little act, progressed smoothly.

Starting with Geodude, then Squirtle and Bulbasaur—I earned the trust of all kinds of Bakémon.

“Wise Dmihtan! I cannot find the Dungeon Master!”

On my way to the gathering, I even ran into the first apostle Thrag sent me: Barkal.

“I found the Dungeon Master. Now, the brothers are gathering for a discussion.”

“A discussion? What’s that?”

“A way to get even smarter.”

“I want to join too!!”

And so Barkal got swept up into the Bakémon team. Though every inch of his body was soaked in monster blood, not a scratch could be seen on the bone helmet on his head.

Alright, you’ll be Shieldon.

“Everyone, thank you for gathering like this!”

Once everyone had assembled, I shouted out to my Bakémon. I could feel all their attention focused on me, their ears pricked sharp to listen.

Ahem.

I cleared my throat.

“We came here for the coming-of-age ceremony!”

“Yes!”

“We know!”

In affirmation, the Barbarians answered.

“To pass, we must kill the Dungeon Master! Right?!”

“Yes!”

“We know!”

Like an auto-responder, the same answers came back. I let it slide.

“I’ve seen the Dungeon Master.”

“Is that true?!”

“Dmihtan, amazing!”

“Where is he?!”

One of them was eager to know where the Dungeon Master was, but I pressed on for now.

“He’s strong. Alone, we cannot defeat him! That’s why we must cooperate!”

I clenched my right hand into a fist. The dagger’s grip pressed against my fingertips.

“Cooperation is for cowards!”

At that, Barkal slammed his axe into the earth and barked gruffly.

“I do not cooperate! I will pass the coming-of-age ceremony alone!”

Barkal clearly wasn’t thrilled. To that, I recounted what I’d seen atop the cliff.

“One of our brothers fell to him.”

“What?!”

“Thrag, my god!”

When I said a brother had fallen, all the Barbarians’ faces grew somber.

“This is both a coming-of-age ceremony and revenge. We must have blood vengeance!”

Right now, Barkal was the only Barbarian not wanting to cooperate. I shouted at him fiercely.

“Follow me, Barkal!”

I knew that if you invoke “revenge” in this way, barbarians have no choice but to follow.

I could say this much only thanks to my memories of playing Dungeon God.

“Was it a worthy battle? Then I’ll join you all!”

Barkal nodded bravely.

“Well said, Barkal.”

“But Dmihtan! Did you really see the Dungeon Master?”

The first Bakémon I’d caught, geodude, asked me.

“I saw him. And I know his weakness.”

“I know his weakness, too!”

Barkal interjected loudly.

I figured his ‘weakness’ might differ from mine, so I listened intently.

“His weakness!”

What is it?

“If you separate his body and head, he dies!”

“Ohhh…!”

“As expected of Barkal!”

These damn meatheads.

“Barkal! Not even a god would survive if body and head are separated!”

“… My god!”

Once I grounded him in reality, Barkal’s pupils went huge inside his bone helmet.

He seemed genuinely surprised.

“Wise Dmihtan! You taught me how to kill a god!”

“Wise Dmihtan!”

“Uwaaaaaah!”

With cheers and admiration, these lovable fools followed. I realized there was a long road ahead.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Barbarian + Kemon = Bakemon…

Also, barbarian’s int is set to 1….

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep