‘You have to stop to evolve? That’s so unromantic!’

‘Well, I’m sorry, but it looks like that skeleton had me reach my level cap. I don’t really get a choice of “when” I want to evolve.’ I could feel myself quickly blacking out. I sat down, leaning my spine against the pedestal. ‘I’ll make the contract when I wake back up. You’re going to have to be on your own for just a little bit.’

‘Haaa, alright, that’s fine.’

It’s not fine. ‘Besides, I’m a skeleton and you’re a rock so how is that supposed to be roma-‘

My consciousness cut off abruptly before I could finish that ill-advised statement. I began to float in a sea of black. It felt like I was in an MRI, like my whole self was being scanned by the universe. It was truly an odd sensation. What was even more strange was that I could see myself in my old human body.

My human body? Is this what some would call the shape of the soul? The possibility of my recent adventures being a dream crossed my mind, but fortunately, I knew it was real. The pain and the anguish were a little to real. As I walked away from the dungeon earlier, my regret, worry, and guilt were all similarly real. No dream could fake that, I think.

I had finally found a will to live, something to work for, a purpose, in this world. I’m sorry for my family, but I won’t be going back.

I did enjoy, however, the simple things that a flesh and blood body could do. I focused on breathing in and out, blinking, grinning. I touched my hair and my ears. All simple things I took for granted. I can no longer speak with just my face. I miss reacting to things.

A voice broke me out of my melancholy reminiscence with a commanding tone. “Choose, little one, your path in life. There is no reason to stand still. Move forwards.”

“Who are you?” I asked. That wasn’t like the announcement voice or the status screens. The voice was completely different.

I never got a response. Four balls of light hovered in front of me. I could tell that these were my possible evolutions. My paths to choose. Blue screens began to form in front of each path.

The leftmost path.

[Path of the Warrior]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Warrior]. Donning a sword and leather armor, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a fighter. This evolution is offered to all basic skeletons upon level cap reach.

Bonuses to physical and weaponry skill gain.

Attack and Defense have large increased growth rates. Resistance has small increased growth rate.

Magic has enormous decreased growth rate.

Rarity: Common

The second path.

[Path of the Mage]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Mage]. With billowing robes and a staff, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a magician. This evolution is offered to all basic skeletons upon level cap reach.

Bonus to magic and mana usage skill gain.

Magic and Resistance have large increased growth rates. Dexterity has small increased growth rate.

Attack and Defense have large decreased growth rates.

Warning! Attack and Defense stats will drastically decrease to increase current Magic and Resistance stats!

Rarity: Common

The third path.

[Path of the Hunter]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Hunter]. With a small cloak made of their hunt and a knife, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a hunter. This evolution is offered to skeletons who create traps, plan, and surprise their prey.

Bonus to physical and [Lightweight] weaponry skill gain.

Bonus to movement, tracking, and stealth skill gain.

Attack and Dexterity have large increased growth rates. Speed has small increased growth rate.

Defense and Resistance have small decreased growth rate.

Rarity: Rare

The final path.

[Path of Blood]: Evolve into a [Bloody Skeleton]. Their bones painted a ghastly red, these second-tier skeletons brutalize their opponents, destroying bodies. This evolution is offered to skeletons who bathe excessively in the blood of their enemies.

Bonus to physical and fist fighting-type skill gain.

Bonus to [Water] magic skill gain.

Attack, Defense, and Resistance have large increased growth rates. Magic has small increased growth rate.

Speed has large decreased growth rate.

Rarity: Rare

On the bright side, I get plenty of information to make an informed decision. On the downside, it’s a lot to take in. I also needed to consider what potential paths these may lead. Although there may be a great diversity of further evolutions if I pick one of the two common evolutions, I would rather go with something rare.

It’s rare you know, rare! That’s how one determined how cool their Pok*mon was, by its rarity. This narrowed down my options to two, both with their own drawbacks and advantages.

The [Path of the Hunter] suits my style the most right now, but I forgo the chance to get magic abilities easier. I also become squishier, because my defense and resistance won’t increase as easily. But I get a wider variety of skills getting growth bonuses.

On the other end, the [Path of Blood] has a great amount of stat increases. Secondly, I would be able to easily branch into magic as well, which gave it some versatility. It had one very large drawback, though, and I honestly didn’t want to appear as some murder lover. Actually, it’s a little insulting I even got this path! I was just panicking, not enjoying bloodshed!

Well, it’s strong either way,

I debated back and forth for a while. But in the end, it came down to what would help the dungeon more. It appears if something is killed in the dungeon’s territory, the dungeon can spawn that monster again. It’s a common feature in dungeon fiction on Earth, and some earlier comments by the core made it seem that that was the reality.

Also, I didn’t want the dungeon to stand out just yet, especially since we have no defenses in place. If my evolution stands out too much, they may find and kill my new friend. I definitely cannot let that happen.

So, I decided on the [Path of the Hunter].

I’m going to have to be more careful than if I went a tank path, but I’ve been living like that anyway, so it’s not that big of a deal.

I reached out and grabbed the orb of light for my evolution. My surroundings than began to get brighter and brighter until I could see no longer. The voice declared, “The path has been chosen. May you continue to overcome your obstacles. Good luck, and I hope to see you again.”

Evaluating stats… Complete Evaluating equipment… Complete Evaluating skills… Complete Evaluating all non-quantifiables… Complete Variance obtained.

My vision returned and I was back to the dungeon, sitting peacefully under the pedestal. I slowly adjusted my body and began to get up, when I was greeted by my dungeon partner. ‘Hello and good morning! Did you have fun?’

‘I wouldn’t call it fun, but well it wasn’t bad either. How long have I been out?’

‘Three days. I was about to start getting worried about you!’

Wait, three days? ‘Three days? How long do evolutions usually take?’

‘Usually about one day. There should only be about two options. Three if you’re lucky. Decisions shouldn't take very long.’

Ok so it’s just because I’m special. Whew, that was a close one. I guess it would be easy if you could just rule out the one option you didn’t want. Plus, I doubt most monsters even think that much in the first place. ‘Then it took so long because I had four evolutions.’

‘Four!? I knew I’d be making a good choice to partner up with you! You look much different by the way. It, uh, it suits you.’

‘Thanks,’ I automatically replied. I walked over to the pond to get a better look at myself. My bones had all turned brown. It would be easier to hide in the forest like this, but I just thought I looked dirty. I had a small cape that stopped above my pelvis. It was a much darker shade of brown, and appeared to be made from the skins of Scavenger Squirrels. The fur wrapped around my neck and was tied at the front. About halfway down the cape was a small leather belt that held a holster with a knife in it. I unsheathed the knife and examined it. It was made entirely of bone, and was probably as sharp as the iron knife I had swapped earlier. It was hard to tell because I couldn’t test it on my skin. I was also wearing a small necklace. It was a metal string that weaved through three dark red stones. The middle one was the largest, which was about the size of a thumb. Carved into the middle stone was a large letter “D”.

I was impressed! My evolution comes with gear! I guess the various descriptions of the paths did make specific mentions of what the skeletons “donned.” As such, I believe the Bloody Skeleton would come with no gear.

I felt refreshed. I checked my status to see what my stats were.

Name: None Race: Sapient Skeleton Hunter Level: 1 Variant: Earth Stats – HP: 22/22 (+7) MP: 11/11 (+3) Attack: 13 (+8) Magic Power: 6 (+4) Defense: 10 (+4) Resistance: 4 (+2) Speed: 12 (+8) Dexterity: 13 (+9) Skills -

[Hiking Lvl. 7] [Presence Detection Lvl. 4] [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 5] [Stealth Lvl. 5] [Climbing Lvl. 3] [Trap Making Lvl. 2] [Dagger Mastery Lvl. 1] [Tracking Lvl. 1] [Dismantling Lvl. 1]

Titles - [None] Equipment – [Cloak of the Hunt] [Bone Knife of the Undying] [Bloodstone Necklace]

I didn’t check my level status when I hit level 5, but I think that my stats took a small dive. Between the level reset and the new equipment, I bet some of my stats were sacrificed to get me those. The calculations at the end apparently determined that I achieved an elemental variance? Well that explains why all my bones are brown now. I wonder why I got earth, though? Is that because of my friendship with the dungeon?

But that means that I could possibly learn magic, maybe! It may only be earth magic, but who cares? I can still get to do as many new things as possible! I hope the dungeon can teach me some magic.

I have learned that I can analyze items in my status, which was how I could get a better description of my skills. I began to analyze my equipment.

[Cloak of the Hunt]: A hunter’s traditional wear. It is often given to young hunters when they manage to hunt enough to make one, so they often end up looking like patchwork. Receiving this cloak is traditionally associated with a young hunter reaching adulthood.

[Defense +4]

Rarity: Common

If it’s made from the things I’ve hunted, it makes sense why it’s exclusively Scavenger Squirrel skins.

[Bone Knife of the Undying]: A knife made out of bone, often used by skeletal knife wielders. It’s only a little sharper than a copper knife, but they regenerate when given magic power. Because of this, some say the knife is made from the skeleton itself.

[Attack +3] [Regeneration]

Rarity: Uncommon

Ooh how convenient! I’ll be able to use a tool but I won’t have to worry about maintenance! It’s still not very strong, however. And lastly,

[Bloodstone Necklace]: A necklace made with bloodstone. Bloodstone is created when certain rocks are coated with excessive amounts of blood, which often ingrain some mana into them. This new mana crystallizes, and gives the stone a unique luster as well as a red color and some special effects.

[Attack +3] [Will of Dwayne]

Rarity: Rare

Eh? Dwayne? This was created from my trusted weapon, Dwayne? I analyzed the secondary effect.

[Will of Dwayne]: Albeit just a stone, Dwayne was a trusted, named companion of an unnamed skeleton. His wish to be of use even after he was no longer useful as a weapon turned him into a necklace for his friend upon the skeleton’s evolution.

“Crush your enemies! Rule this forest! I may not be needed, but I’ll always be by your side!” – Dwayne

[Stat increase from item doubled]

What…? We didn’t even get a proper goodbye. I clutched the necklace. ‘I’ll show you Dwayne, I’ll be the strongest in this forest.’

‘Who’s Dwayne?’ The question surprised me, I almost forgot the dungeon was there.

‘A true man,’ I solemnly replied. It appeared that stat increases thanks to items did not appear in my Status page. With all my gear, my attack was 22. What an impressive jump! I turned back to the pedestal, and I could almost see the question marks floating above the core. ‘Have you been doing anything since I’ve been unconscious?’

‘I managed to capture the entire pond area. I never knew this place was completely encapsulated in walls! I also peeked a bit into the forest outside, but I decided not to go too far and get myself into trouble in case you didn’t wake up for a long time.’

‘Good work! You thought this out well. You’re not an idiot after all.’

‘OI!!!’

‘So, how exactly do I become your dungeon fairy?’

‘We have to exchange something while giving a vow. Usually my vow consists of letting you use my power. But what should we exchange.’

I thought for a while. It’s not like we could both get items to exchange, and I wanted something that would last long and represent my allegiance. I then remembered our first conversation. ‘You don’t have a name, right? How about we name each other? I don’t have a name, either.’

‘I like that idea! What should I name you?’

‘Please make it an actual name, and not something like “Bonesy,” please.’

‘Okay… Ah, I got one!’

‘I’ve thought of one as well. Vow time, correct?’ I knelt in front of the pedestal, like a knight bowing to his ruler. ‘I vow to protect you from danger, to stave off all intruders, to help you grow into someone great. This, Jenna, I promise.’

‘I vow to give you my power, a home, and a friend in this lonely world. This, Ozzy, I promise.’

Mana began to flow between us suddenly. I felt my strength fade and grow several times over. It lasted maybe a minute, but it felt like we were stuck in that exchange for an hour. When it was done, I felt a distinct connection to the rock, to Jenna, in front of me. I collapsed backwards, exhausted.

Congratulations, the contract was successful! You now have access to [Dungeon Skills] but only when touching the core of the dungeon. Lead your dungeon to greatness! Title earned! [Dungeon Fairy]

My solo adventures were done. My wandering was done. I had a home. I had a friend I could talk to. And now, I had a job to do. I will also endeavor to figure out why I was sent here.

My undead life begins here.

Title earned! [A Unique Existence]