[Ding! Proficiency has met the requirement. Obtained skill: Close Combat Lv1.]
It felt as if a sudden rush of understanding had cleared a blockage inside him.
He could now easily feel and control every single bone in his body.
He gripped his wand and tried giving it a swing.
With a sharp whoosh, the air-rending sound that had previously required all his strength to produce was now unleashed with ease.
The basics of swordsmanship and close combat that Ilu had taught him welled up in his mind, deeply engraved into the depths of his soul.
“So by putting them into practice, I’ve fully integrated and mastered those combat techniques?”
Stepping on the molten crocodile’s neck, Li Xiuman pulled out his bone spear, bringing with it a splash of fresh blood.
After that, he gouged out the magic crystals from all three molten crocodiles.
He also skinned the highest-level crocodile.
Snapping off a piece of his finger bone, he grew it into a bone needle, did some simple stitching, and draped the skin over himself.
After all, his current clothes were so tattered they could barely cover his bones.
Furthermore, this molten crocodile skin possessed exceptionally high Fire Resistance, remaining perfectly fine even when soaked in lava. It could serve nicely as a piece of fire-resistant gear.
Using the skin of another molten crocodile to make a belt and greaves, Li Xiuman bound the crocodile hide tightly around his body and continued on his way.
After finding another excellent spot for an ambush, Li Xiuman took out the fire lizardman king’s magic stone, preparing to repeat his previous trick, when he heard a flurry of footsteps approaching from the distance.
Judging by the sound, it was somewhat disorganized.
It was likely an adventurer party.
Li Xiuman swiftly activated [Quiet Steps] and [Swiftness], hiding himself inside a recess in the stone wall.
After obtaining [Close Combat], his physical coordination had improved dramatically, which in turn made his skills much more proficient.
As for why he was hiding—he was, after all, raiding the dungeon entirely on his own.
When a solo traveler crossed paths with an adventurer party, they usually ended up swallowed whole.
Before long, a six-member adventurer party entered Li Xiuman’s field of vision.
It was a party led by a genuine Tier 2 classholder.
Through his inquiries during this period, Li Xiuman had clearly memorized the famous adventurers and parties in White Bear City.
He recognized this adventurer party as well.
“The Fantes Adventurer Party.”
An adventurer party under Viscount Fantes—or as ordinary adventurers commonly called them, “the noble’s pack of dogs.”
Of course, most of that was just envious slander from frustrated adventurers.
Ninety percent of the adventurers in White Bear City would squeeze their heads to become a noble’s dog even as they cursed them.
After all, noble masters had plenty of money, talked less, and provided safety and social security.
Amid the party’s excellent gear, a solitary figure stood out prominently.
Wearing tattered clothes, with a collar and iron chains locked around her neck, she looked timid and cowering. She kept her head lowered, walking barefoot on the burning rocks of the twenty-first floor.
“A slave?”
“What are they doing taking a slave to clear a dungeon?”
Li Xiuman felt rather puzzled.
He wasn't about to say anything about abolishing slavery, treating slaves equally, or respecting slave human rights.
Anyone who dared to say such things in this era would be turned to ash by King Lantes himself.
And with Li Xiuman’s fine set of bones, he couldn't afford to be turned to ash multiple times.
Besides, as a skeleton, he didn't have that kind of mental illness.
However, the slave seemed to have sensed something and lifted her head to look in Li Xiuman’s direction.
Hidden in the darkness, Li Xiuman locked eyes with her for a brief moment.
He also saw her face.
It wasn't a human face.
Her pale face was utterly bloodless, and one of her eyes had been gouged out and filled with a silver ingot.
It looked as though molten silver had been poured directly into her eye.
As for her intact eye, the flesh around the socket was unusually pink and tender, as if it had only recently healed.
Li Xiuman could even imagine both of her eyes being filled with molten silver, only for one of the silver ingots to be dug out recently, allowing her to heal.
A being that could survive such treatment was definitely not human.
He tried using Appraisal on her.
[Name] Rorona
[Race] Vampire
[Level] Lv14
[Class] Dark Mage
[Description] A dangerous vampire possessing extremely strong Self-Healing capability. She can rapidly restore her injuries and mana by sucking blood, but is weak to light and fears silver.
“Why did you stop?”
The closest adventurer saw her pause and tapped her neck with his sword.
“...”
She lowered her head, remaining silent.
“Tch, mute again.”
The adventurer paid it no mind. Aside from screaming when stabbed with a silver sword, this vampire never spoke at all.
Li Xiuman quietly watched the group disappear into the distance.
The vampire slave had not exposed his presence.
Li Xiuman was very grateful.
But not grateful enough to go rescue her.
A hero flying into a rage for a beauty?
To be honest, it was rather embarrassing, but he was more like the “beauty” in that scenario, while Ilu was the one who had flown into a rage for him.
Li Xiuman headed in the opposite direction of the adventurer party.
He continued to use the fire lizardman king’s magic stone to grind levels.
However, before long, Li Xiuman noticed an anomaly.
The molten crocodiles seemed to have all disappeared.
No matter how he used the magic stone to lure them, not a single molten crocodile crawled out from the lava.
He thought of that strange adventurer party from earlier.
As soon as he saw that party, the molten crocodiles vanished.
It was a bit strange.
Li Xiuman decided to give up on this floor and head down to the twenty-second floor.
A severed molten waterfall separated the twenty-first floor from the twenty-second floor.
To descend to the next floor along the waterfall, one had to take a specific path.
A single misstep into the lava would mean absolute death.
Following the nearest path, Li Xiuman carefully climbed down to the twenty-second floor.
Arriving on the twenty-second floor, the molten crocodiles had not vanished like they did on the floor above. They were swimming healthily in the lava.
Li Xiuman let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed the issue was only on the twenty-first floor.
However, before Li Xiuman’s delightful grinding session could even begin, all the molten crocodiles on the twenty-second floor vanished as well.
This time, Li Xiuman observed how they disappeared.
It was as if they sensed some repulsive aura; all of them dove deep into the lava.
Even the molten crocodiles resting on the banks crawled back into the lava one by one and submerged themselves.
“Just... what is going on?”
Li Xiuman smelled a conspiracy.
Then, he made his decision.
“How about I give up on this raid? In any case, the Adventurer's Association task is already complete.”
Having made up his mind, Li Xiuman did not hesitate and immediately headed back toward the twenty-first floor.
He moved at high speed.
Those who had died once often cherished their lives more.
Right now, Li Xiuman really wanted to give his past self a slap for running around blindly when he first arrived in this alternate world.
He also didn't want his future self to want to give his current self a slap for not knowing when to run.
He supposed this was what growth felt like.
He ran back at full speed.
And then, he crossed paths with the Fantes Adventurer Party again.
Dammit, does bad luck have to follow him like a shadow?
Li Xiuman instinctively wanted to hide, but ultimately held back, walking forward in plain sight.
At this distance, hiding would very likely be noticed.
In that case, it was better to just walk over, say hello, and make a quick exit from the dungeon.
The two sides met, and both grew tense.
Li Xiuman’s current appearance could be described as domineering.
He wore a crude, fiery-red lizard hide combined with leather armor and magic light armor, carried a pair of large horns on his back, and held an alloy wand stained with dried blood.
“Are you the skeleton?”
The only Tier 2 classholder in the Fantes party spoke, his voice steady.
From the looks of it, he was likely the captain.
“You know me?” Li Xiuman spoke.
“I don’t think there is any adventurer in White Bear City who doesn’t know you, Skeleton.”
“As expected, the rumors of you soloing down to the twentieth-plus floors are also true.”
The captain spoke with a smile, though he deliberately emphasized the "soloing" part...
“I am the captain of the Fantes Adventurer Party, Tero Dos. You can call me Tero.”
He extended his right hand.
“Skeleton.”
Li Xiuman also extended his hand, shaking it.
“I wonder if you would be willing to accept a temporary recruitment, Mr. Skeleton?”
Hearing Tero’s words, Li Xiuman looked at his teammates.
“It doesn’t seem like I have the option to refuse.”
“Then I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t need to fight, and your compensation won’t be lacking.”
It seemed they didn’t want him spreading word of the anomaly here.
As expected, was the anomaly with the molten crocodiles their doing?
Just what was their goal?
Rate on N.U.
