He was resting. Not that he needed to physically but he did so anyway. He was nearly out of mana and his health was slowly recovering. Losing an arm and a leg reduced his health points by quite the margin. With a few scratches and blunt hits, his health was reduced to less than half. He didn't know what would happen if his health dropped to zero. He wouldn't die would he? As he entered meditation to recover, he focused on a few level ups he didn't have time to go through during a combat.

Combat experience gained

*

*

Level up!

Congratulation, you are now level 6

Level up!

Congratulation, class Bonemancer is now lvl 2

Level up!

Congratulation, class Bonemancer is now lvl 3

Level up!

Congratulation, you are now level 7

*

*

Level up!

Congratulation, class Bonemancer is now lvl 4

It was exhausting, mentally, but he was pleased. Two in race and three levels in class in two hours? Who wouldn’t be? He was also feeling angst. What could have happened if there was a pack of lvl 6 direwolves? This time, the direwolves were leaders of the packs and not every pack at that. Next time? Who knows what he could stumble upon. It crossed his mind that he could have used trees to his advantage. Something he should take into consideration in the future battles.

Unless wolves could climb trees now?! “Hope not…”

Status

Status

Attributes

Name: Bones

Race: Undead Skeleton lvl 7

Class: Bonemancer lvl 4

Profession: ???

Hp - 83/170

Mp - 37/210

Sta - ∞

STR: 11

AGI: 5

END: 5

VIT: 17

INT: 21

WIS: 5

Free points:

As before, he placed his point in INT as planned. Within a minute he was back to full mana. While he was waiting for his hp to top off, he contemplated an alternative to carrying a bunch of bones with him at all times. He already dropped the ones he made while being chased by the wolves. It didn’t seem practical to carry bones with all the time.

It would be silly if I could have used my bones as spears. *chuckles*

Couldn’t I!?

He tried to separate one of the bones connecting his hand and an elbow but it didn't budge. He felt a strain on the bone but couldn't move it.

Maybe I should just use a skill without bones. Damage is reduced, sure, but not by a lot and casting bone spear is actually faster.

Having regenerated his health and mana back to full, he used a tree again as a spot to relax. While he felt the urge to know more about the world he was in, he didn't feel rushed. He brought up a screen showing the other notifications he missed during a battle and continue reading through them.

He leveled up his mana sense, mana vision and mana manipulation and it was showing. His senses did pick up scouts enclosing in on a camp and his manipulation felt much smoother and faster. Mana sense and mana vision were used non stop so it was given they would level up. Meditation actually leveling the slowest, each level up, slightly increasing the regeneration. Most pleasing were levels he gained in Bone Manipulation and Bone Spear. Bone spear actually reaching [basic lvl 5/20] and adding additional spear with increase to mana cost respectively. Bone manipulation was catching up at [basic lvl 4/20], leveling slightly slower.

Overall he found his leveling speed to be fast, both race and class wise. He didn't have anyone to compare himself to but considering only two days have passed, it felt fast.

It was getting late and the sounds of beasts sent a chill down his spine. Nights bring out different sorts of beasts. When dark truly descended, he spotted a few beasts encompassing the area where slain wolves lay. He couldn't tell what they were but he heard the crunching sounds of bones, snarling and growling. He walked along the branches of trees, thick enough he didn't have to worry about slipping and falling. He jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree, observing creatures of the night. There were more active beasts during the night than day and all different sorts. He recognised some while some looked completely new to him.

At some point he saw a silhouette of a feline moving silently throughout the night. As he observed it move, he felt the mana from within and it was bursting with power. He knew he couldn't take it on. It was faster and more powerful. He was even more surprised when the panther looked in his general direction, sniffing the air.

Mana sense. He concluded.

A few creatures he saw were more sensitive to mana and mana swirling through him was a dead giveaway. He did his best to try and suppress the mana within him by slowing down the flow. As he did so, a panther stopped sniffing when it didn't sense anything anymore and continued prowling through the night.

Suppressing mana, it feels like regulating my breathing. Slowing the beat of my heart and calming the mana flow. Something I should get used to.

He continued his path throughout the night and approaching dawn, he reached a clearing where he saw something new, someone geared up and fighting a huge boar. He had encountered what looked like his first adventuring party.

In front of a Steel Tusk boar lvl 8, stood a young man in full body armor, shield in front of him and a mace pointing forward. Behind him, from his left, stood a mage charging what looked like a fireball the size of a fist and from his right, stood a female archer knocking and firing arrow after arrow. At the back of the party was another mage, support type maybe, dawning a pristine white attire with golden decorated edges.

Boar was as tall as a frontline adventurer, a defender of sorts, occupying its attention. Singed fur could be seen on the boar's head from its left side and a few arrows sticking out from its right. Non penetrating flesh deeply.

Defender was using a skill to taunt the boar, drawing attention to himself while others dealt damage. Party was rather inexperienced which was seen when a boar charged, knocking defender to the side and reaching the mage. Mage tried to dodge but was too slow to respond. He was hit by a charging boar and sent flying. Boar turned his attention to the 4th party member at the back but before it could charge again, the defender managed to draw its attention to himself again. Mage was left bleeding and with broken bones a few meters away. He tried to stand up but the 4th party member ran up to him, placed her hands on his shoulders and enveloped him in green light.

Bones watched all of it happening from a safe distance on a tree. Not safe from the battle but from being noticed. He particularly focused his attention on a girl healing the mage. He has seen healing done before but never with such immediate effect. Sickening crunch of bones being fixed could be heard and wounds started closing at visible rate, bleeding stopping shortly after.

Girl, a healer, was left panting, drops of sweat covering her face. Healing took quite a toll on her body. Mage was healed but still took his time to stand up, injuries received being too much of a shock perhaps to immediately join the fight. Duo fighting, was doing their job with better proficiency. Archer was doing a good job getting boar's attention and dodging its charges, relieving some of the tension from the defender.

Fight went on for a while, the healer needing to step up again when the defender made a mistake and was impaled by the husks. In the end, the boar succumbed to bleeding from numerous injuries inflicted. Party looked exhausted but pleased. Since Bones came and started observing, mere 10 minutes have passed but 10 minutes of constant fighting wasn't anything to scoff at. His battle in a camp lasted a minute or two but felt much longer.

As the party was now recuperating, he decided to try and approach them. Party wasn't in top shape and him being a skeleton, he didn't want to risk getting attacked out of the blue. This was the best chance to get some answers and information he so desperately needed. He dropped down from a tree and casually but slowly walked out of the cover of the forest with his hands up into a clearing the party was at.

“Greetings adventurers! I don't mean to startle you but could I ask you a few questions?”

“MONSTER!!” Screamed defender as he sprang up into defensive position, drawing his mace and a shield.

“Woah woah hold on a min...“

“EVERYONE BATTLE FORMATION!!”

“Now wait here see i'm not..” before Bones could finish his sentence, the defender charged.

“Why you little shit...”

Bones dodged to the side, avoiding the defender’s charge and yelled at them to stop but it wasn't reaching them. They were still riled up from the fight with the boar to be thinking straight. Him being a skeleton didn't help either. He saw the rest of the party hesitating for a second but they, too, got caught up in a moment.

Seeing as this wasn’t going anywhere, he charged towards the young man, startling him into raising his shield, preparing to take a hit. The hit never came, Bones side stepped him and ran straight at the healer behind. Mage was fumbling his spells but the archer was quick to respond and used a quick draw to shoot at and intercept incoming threat, that was Bones.

Unfortunately for her, as quick as he was to run, so was he quick to stop and Bones stopped right in front of the arrow, missing him by inches. At the same time he sent two spears, one from each side, towards the healer. She moved by reflex and avoided the left one but the right one pierced her head, killing her instantly.

Shit' He didn't want the situation to escalate to this but since it did, he wouldn't hold back.

“NOOooo..” screamed the young man, losing all sense of self. He might have taken a fancy to a girl.

Mage was even in more disarray than before, not making heads or tails of the situation. His casting interrupted and failed.

Archer was the only one disciplined enough to keep attacking her target, while throwing profanities his way. What a wonderful language...thought Bones.

Bones didn't stop after killing the girl. He kept moving even after an arrow found its way to his back. It went through, chipping bones off and nicking his ribcage.

He circled around the dead healer, parting body a glance and continuing towards the archer, a defender chasing after him. Archer kept attacking and he kept avoiding her attacks, throwing an occasional spear to interrupt the mage casting. Chase went on for what felt like minutes but lasted only dozens of seconds.

Mage finally created his fireball, aimed and waited for an opportunity. Which came a second later.

Bones, leading on a defender, suddenly changed direction and found himself in direct line with the mage, who saw it as an opportunity and fired his spell. Seeing a spell flying his direction he jumped backwards, still in line with the flying fireball. The defender didn't see it, too consumed with what's in front of him. He dismissed his surroundings, and ran straight for Bones and in front of a fireball. It struck true, sending the guardian thumbling forward where Bones was waiting with an empowered spear. He aimed at his sternum, the spear piercing through armor and through flesh. Wound, unlikely to impede a more experienced and higher leveled warrior, sent the young man on the ground and out of the fight. Spent, exhausted and now humiliated, all he could was stare daggers at the skeleton.

Another arrow, empowered this time, found itself hitting the skeleton, this time striking true and taking an arm off. Unlike a young man seething with hatred, Bones was experienced in combat. He didn't stop but moved towards the archer, missing an attack and sending another in the opposite direction, embedding a spear in a mage guts. Spell dismissed and a mage collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach. With the healer gone, it was only a matter of time before the mage bled out. Archer was now vividly disturbed, leaving only her to deal with the skeleton who was now standing and watching her. For a brief moment, stopping here crossed his mind, but he didn't see the scenario in which he wouldn't be hunted down for this. So he sent the spear flying, feinting a miss by a few centimeters and right after, motioned his extended arm back to himself.

For the tiniest moment, the archer understood the hand gesture, but was too slow to react. The miss was on purpose and with bone manipulation, Bones strained and pulled the spear back to him, piercing the archer’s back and through the heart. She collapsed, bow still held tightly in her hand and stayed still.

Seeing the squirming defender still on the ground, he turned to the mage and put him out of his misery.

*sigh* escaped his mouth as he slowly walked over to the young man and whispered “Sorry lad.”