Li Xiuman had not forgotten to pry for information from the low-tier succubi during the day.
Knowing what Lucia's next experiment would be about was highly important to him.
Last time, because he had caught wind that the experiment would involve fire and had collected the corresponding skills, he had managed to survive that demon's torment.
Thanks to his active inquiries, he finally managed to find out information about the next experiment.
This time, it wasn't fire, but earth.
[Resilience], [Hard Bone], and [Self-Healing] could all be kept for continued use. What he needed to find now was [Earth Resistance].
Finally, he found a level 6 cutie.
It possessed [Earth Resistance] and [Great Strength].
Having two skills was quite rare among Low-Tier Skeletons.
He was in no hurry to harvest them, as he still needed to use [Quiet Steps] for a few more nights to collect enough experience to level up.
Last time he survived, it was ultimately thanks to allocating a Free Stat Point in the nick of time.
Thus, it would be safer to level up once more and acquire another Free Stat Point before Lucia returned.
Last time, his Constitution was 5, and this time, it was 7. Perhaps he might not even need to use that Free Stat Point.
In any case, he had to guard against accidents and prepare for any potential risks.
In the dark of night, he familiarly slipped over to the skeleton he had scouted out beforehand, blasting flames into its eye sockets and chest, burning it furiously.
[Ding! Slain Low-Tier Skeleton, EXP +60]
Then, he dismantled it, burning it piece by piece, grinding its bones to dust and scattering them to the wind.
“That bone dragon has been asleep recently, Master.”
Startled, Li Xiuman shivered, hurriedly threw the last handful of bone ash aside, and pretended to wander around aimlessly.
He even stuffed the last finger bone into a gap in his arm bone.
“Who's there!”
A suppressed feminine voice barked out. He had indeed been noticed after all.
Soon, around the corner ahead, a succubus walked out. Crouching by her feet was a slime-like black shadow.
“Just a Low-Tier Skeleton?”
The succubus quietly let out a sigh of relief when she saw Li Xiuman.
After all, who would worry about their conversation being overheard by a skeleton that acted solely on basic instinct?
Li Xiuman realized that he had seemingly overheard something extraordinary.
“Master, it is getting late today. If there are any movements from Pound, I will notify you again.”
“If there is no news, please proceed with the planned crusade against Pound in a month's time, Master.”
The succubus bowed respectfully to the slime-like black shadow at her feet.
Li Xiuman felt a jolt of excitement.
A crusade against Pound!
What a stroke of luck! Wasn't this exactly the opportunity he had been desperately waiting for?
When the time came, he could fish in troubled waters. With the power he had spent so long accumulating, he might actually stand a chance of breaking free from this quagmire.
Meanwhile, the black slime at the succubus's feet wriggled for a moment before melting back into the shadows.
From beginning to end, it did not utter a single word.
Perhaps due to some restriction between them, the succubus could only relay messages one-way and could not receive responses.
Even though the black mud had vanished, the succubus remained in her respectful posture, frozen in place.
Li Xiuman pretended to casually turn around and wander off into the distance.
Just as the succubus was about to look over, he even performed a clumsy trip onto the flat ground. After scrambling back up, he changed directions and continued to wander.
He played the part of a foolish, harmless Low-Tier Skeleton to perfection.
After all, Li Xiuman lived among Low-Tier Skeletons, acting like one day and night.
At this moment, he was a Low-Tier Skeleton.
The succubus withdrew her gaze from Li Xiuman.
She had originally intended to dispose of him. After all, with so many skeletons around, Lucia wouldn't care if one or two went missing.
However, Li Xiuman was the only skeleton to have survived the first round of experiments. No one knew how deep of an impression he had left on Lucia, so she ultimately chose not to act.
After burning the last piece of finger bone stuck in his arm to ash, Li Xiuman began to rest.
Lucia was expected to return the day after tomorrow, which meant tomorrow night he had to make his move on the colleague possessing [Earth Resistance], while also leveling up to Lv.4.
The next night, he familiarly dealt with a skeleton first and burned it to ash.
Without taking a break, he slipped over to the skeleton possessing [Earth Resistance].
And burned it all over again.
[Ding! Level increased to Lv.4]
[Free Stat Point +1]
Feeling the pleasant sensation of his soul fire flaring up after leveling up, his mental exhaustion eased slightly.
He detached its left leg and attached it in place of his own.
It was a failure; he had harvested [Great Strength] from the skeleton's two skills instead.
“Damn it, I hate multi-skilled guys.” Li Xiuman ripped off the skeleton's right leg, detached his own right leg, and snapped it in.
[Ding! Acquired skill: Earth Resistance Lv.1]
However, the [Resilience] skill attached to his right leg was now gone.
To be safe, he now had to find a guy with [Resilience], rip off its leg, and attach it to his own body.
He destroyed the remains before him as a deep wave of exhaustion washed over him.
Forcing himself to stay awake, he searched through the piles of skeletons. Every time he used [Appraisal], his mind grew a fraction more exhausted.
“Finally found one!”
When he finally found a guy with the [Resilience] skill, Li Xiuman actually let out a soft rattle.
Creeping over silently, he grabbed its head.
“Incinerate!”
[Ding! Slain Low-Tier Skeleton, EXP +50]
His Mind was practically drained dry.
After swapping the leg bone, he no longer had the energy to clean up the remains.
He could only give the skeleton a low-temperature singe with his flames to simulate a death from bone decay.
[Ding! Mind +1]
Slumping to the ground in a corner, he passed out. Before losing consciousness, he faintly heard a notification chime.
By the time he woke up, everything around him was normal.
The skeleton's remains had vanished, likely having been treated as a case of bone decay and cleared away by the succubi.
Lucia had not returned yet, so it seemed he still had plenty of time.
Li Xiuman looked at his status panel. His Mind had already increased to 9 points.
At this moment, [Hard Bone], [Resilience], [Self-Healing], and [Earth Resistance] were all active. His Constitution was as high as 7 points, and he still had one Free Stat Point.
Li Xiuman felt incredibly confident. He even wanted to roar at the top of his non-existent lungs: “Who can kill me?!”
He was actually starting to look forward to Sister Lucia coming over to torture him.
If she gave him some Earth Magic too, once he became powerful and came back for revenge, he would definitely give lovely Sister Lucia a swift and painless death.
Sure enough, when noon arrived, a few rays of sunlight filtered down into the depths of the canyon.
Sister Lucia fluttered her beautiful bat wings and descended to the canyon floor.
Her beautiful, deep-purple eyes swept across the crowd of skeletons, ready to deliver the Earth Magic he had been anticipating so eagerly.
With a wave of her fair hand, two cute succubus girls hoisted a skeleton. Ah, that skeleton was him.
It seemed Sister Lucia still remembered him, grabbing him first thing upon arrival.
Staring at the skeleton before her, Lucia actually thought she saw a flicker of anticipation in its soul fire.
She shook her head. It was probably just her imagination.
“I hope you can survive this time as well,” Lucia said.
And then—
“Wind of Aeolus.”
A raging gale swallowed Li Xiuman like a vortex.
Every inch of his bones felt as if it were being sliced by countless knives.
“This damn demon bitch! Why is it wind?!”
Li Xiuman cursed Lucia and every single succubus present to the depths of hell.
He felt as though his very soul was about to be blown right out of his skeleton.
The [Earth Resistance] he had prepared now looked like an absolute joke.
Rate on N.U.
