Chapter 11 · Volume 1

A Skeleton on the Run

He snapped off another rib and grew it into a bone sword.
Without hesitation, he charged toward the two tanks.
Less than half a minute had passed since the battle began, yet only the two tanks remained of the five-man party.
From the moment the skeleton appeared until now, everything had happened too quickly.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, their teammates were all dead.
This was the price of underestimating the enemy, though they would never have the chance to learn from it.
The two tanks could only watch as the horrifying face of the skeleton rapidly grew larger before them.
Under the onslaught of alternating magic spells, the two tanks soon felt a cold sensation at their throats, their lives slipping away completely.
[Ding, killed Heavy Warrior Lv12, Experience Points +200]
With the last tank taken care of, Li Xiuman pulled his bone sword from the Swordsman's neck, reverted it to its rib shape, and fused it back onto his chest. He then stripped off the Swordsman's light leather armor and cloak, threw them onto himself, plunged into the forest ahead, and ran for his life.
Freedom. Glorious freedom.
Grasping his bone sword in his pale bony hand, Li Xiuman greedily used his skull to feel the forest air.
Even without a sense of smell, he felt as though he could almost scent the earthy fragrance in the air.
He kept running, running without stop.
Activating [Swiftness] to its limit, it seemed that the increase in his Constitution had given his stamina a decent boost.
Though he wasn't sure if a skeleton's physical energy could even be called stamina, or if it should be called bone-amina?
As he ran, Li Xiuman noticed a crater in the woods.
It looked like a miniature meteor crater, with freshly turned-up soil.
Right in the center of the crater lay a massive white rock.
The rock looked a bit familiar...
Wait, that wasn't a rock—it was the chunk of Pound's horn that had been sliced off by the purple-armored Warrior!
He had to get out of here quickly. God knew if that guy Pound had some weird hobby of collecting his own "baby teeth" and would come back to reclaim this broken horn.
But wait. This horn...
Could he attach it to himself?
Pound's horn was infinitely better than the limbs of these Low-Tier Skeletons.
Li Xiuman couldn't help but think as he stared at the horn before him.
However, whether considering the system or its actual size, this horn shouldn't be compatible with him at all.
But what if?
Even if he could only attach a tiny piece, it would be a huge gain.
The more Li Xiuman thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. If he actually put this on, how exciting would that be?
Having made up his mind, Li Xiuman did not hesitate. He quickly walked over to the horn and pressed his skull against it.
Activating [Bone Manipulation].
His skull and the horn fused together bit by bit, growing into a single entity.
[Ding, obtained skill: Wind Magic Lv1]
[Obtained skill: Bone Hyperplasia Lv1]
[Obtained skill: Bone Wings Lv1]
[Obtained new evolution path: Low-Tier Half-Dragon Skeleton]
[Low-Tier Half-Dragon Skeleton] A special skeleton converted from a deceased half-dragon. Possesses the strength of a dragon, a natural warrior, and can use a tiny fraction of dragon magic. Level cap: Lv30.
[Wind Magic Lv1, Fire Magic Lv1, Earth Magic Lv1, and Water Magic Lv1 have been integrated into Elemental Magic Lv1]
He had obtained three skills and a new evolution path all at once.
But even though it was connected, he couldn't carry it away!
This horn was several times larger than his entire body.
As for cutting off a piece, that was even more impossible.
The hardness of this thing came from a bone dragon of over Lv70. There was no way he could cut through it.
He had to think of another way.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Li Xiuman's mind.
Since his head was fused with this thing, if he evolved now, would it count as a part of him? Would it evolve alongside him?
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
Was he perhaps a legendary genius?
With his head still attached to the horn, Li Xiuman began searching for the evolution tab on his status screen.
Damn, he had collected quite a few evolution paths, making it a bit difficult to choose.
In truth, he really wanted to evolve into an Elemental Skeleton.
With full compatibility with all elemental magic, he could cast elemental spells without chanting.
Anyway, skeletons couldn't learn Faith Magic, leaving them only able to learn elemental magic and Necromancy.
An Elemental Skeleton was simply the skeleton of his dreams.
[Mastered Wind Magic Lv1, obtained new evolution path: Low-Tier Sky Skeleton]
[Low-Tier Sky Skeleton] A skeleton that roams the sky, mastering the secrets of the heavens and the power of wind. A dangerous aerial predator.
[Within the evolution paths, Low-Tier Fire Skeleton, Low-Tier Ocean Skeleton, Low-Tier Earth Skeleton, and Low-Tier Sky Skeleton have integrated into Low-Tier Elemental Skeleton]
[Low-Tier Elemental Skeleton] A skeleton that masters four elements, possessing elemental adaptability and chanting-free casting of elemental magic. A dangerous magical skeleton. Level cap: Lv20.
Lines of small text kept flashing across the status screen. They had been scrolling for a while, and only now did Li Xiuman notice.
“I can actually evolve into an Elemental Skeleton?”
The level cap wasn't very high, though.
But it didn't matter. With the glorious ability of instant-casting, who cared if the level cap was low?
No longer hesitating, he selected the Elemental Skeleton evolution path.
In an instant, a four-colored flame erupted from his soul fire, sweeping through his entire skeletal frame.
Colors seemed to bloom from the deepest depths of his bones.
The gaps where his limbs connected to his body fused together completely. Any minor discrepancies in size and color were gradually assimilated and blended into a pure, pristine white.
Meanwhile, the massive protrusion on his head that was connected to Pound's horn began to shrink rapidly—a sight that completely defied common sense.
It shrank until it completely swallowed the massive horn, and only then did the light and flames enveloping Li Xiuman gradually fade away.
On his status screen, the grayed-out Class option finally lit up.
As an Elemental Skeleton, Li Xiuman naturally chose Elementalist as his class. Otherwise, it would be a total waste.
He decisively selected Elementalist.
With the Elementalist class, each level-up provided an extra Free Stat Point, along with Spirit +1 and Constitution +1.
The moment he selected the class, all the data on the status screen began to fluctuate wildly. His level and experience bar changed at a dizzying pace as his accumulated experience surged, driving his level up.
[Name] Li Xiuman Pound
[Race] Low-Tier Elemental Skeleton
[Level] Lv13/Lv20 (Low-Tier Elemental Skeleton level cap is Lv20)
[Class] Elementalist
[Strength] 11/30
[Constitution] 15/30
[Spirit] 13/30
[Free Stat Points] 3
[Evolution Requirement] Race evolution can be achieved once Strength, Constitution, and Spirit are maxed out
[Skills] Bone Manipulation Lv2, Appraisal Lv2, Elemental Magic Lv2, Elemental Resistance Lv1, Swiftness Lv1, Quiet Steps Lv1, Great Strength Lv1, Swordsmanship Lv1, Bone Wings Lv1, Bone Hyperplasia Lv1
[Status] bone decay
[Experience Points] 200/2500
[Description] A dangerous and cunning skeleton. Versatile and skilled in disguise and elemental magic. Underestimating him will cost you your life; never believe a single thing about this skeleton.
The description on this status screen seemed to update based on his actions...

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