Although it was painful, he barely managed to digest these two energies bit by bit under the devouring of the Rib Sword and his own Self-Healing.
Even so, this digestion process was incredibly painful.
“Lord Skeleton, the Firewing Beasts chasing us have decreased!”
Rorona’s voice rang in his ears.
“Destroying it is impossible. Why destroy something that can be eaten?”
Li Xiuman endured the pain racking his entire body, voicing an understanding that was thousands of years ahead of this magical world.
“...Lord Skeleton, do all skeletons eat like you do?”
Rorona asked.
As far as Li Xiuman knew, he was probably the only skeleton who “ate” like this.
“Mind your own business when it comes to skeletons.”
He triggered his wind magic, boosting himself forward aggressively and carving a beautiful arc in the air, once again widening the distance from his pursuers behind.
Perhaps it was because the magic stone inside his body was gradually being digested, causing his scent to fade.
After chasing him for some distance, the fire crocodile king wagged its tail, submerged back into the lava, and left.
Li Xiuman pulled out his map and marked the spot where the fire crocodile king had disappeared.
A man who does not seek revenge is no gentleman.
Moreover, Li Xiuman couldn't even be considered a gentleman; he was just a skeleton.
Therefore, the grudge of the fire crocodile king chasing him so far had to be settled.
And Unique Variants also dropped treasure chests.
This destined him to tread a path of hostility against all Unique Variants.
The red color on Li Xiuman's left arm bone had already faded to a light red.
The coloration on the other parts of his body also gradually receded, returning to his normal pure white.
Only the residual energy drawn out from his right arm was still rampaging within his body.
It was only a matter of time before he absorbed it.
Sure enough, after a short while, the residual energy in his right arm was slowly absorbed. His battered body finally gained a moment to breathe and began to recover bit by bit.
Pop-ups continuously emerged on his panel, with characters flickering like fireflies.
[Ding! Constitution +4, Strength +3, Spirit +2]
[Free Stat Point +2]
[Acquired skills: Vampirism lv1, Golem lv1]
[Vampirism lv1] Accelerates injury recovery by sucking blood.
[Golem lv1] Uses earth or ore as casting materials to create an artificial construct with great strength and decent defense. (The quality of the golem depends on the casting materials, Mage level, and skill level.)
His entire body was filled with energy.
This sensation almost surpassed the feeling he had when he integrated the arm bone of the Glacial Seal Sword's previous owner back in the hidden labyrinth.
The sudden influx of stat points made him unable to adapt for a moment, causing him to fly erratically.
But relying on his control over his body from the [Close Combat] skill, he quickly adjusted and adapted to his new stats.
At the same time, acquiring these two skills also had some effects on his body.
[Vampirism] caused his canine teeth to grow longer and sharper, giving him a sudden urge to bite into something.
Acquiring [Golem] gave him an urge to shape mud and learn more about golems.
He knew this feeling; acquiring unfamiliar skills always had some impact on his subconscious.
Just like when [Magic Analysis] leveled up, it had filled him with a thirst for knowledge that only subsided after he read a portion of magic books to supplement his understanding.
Li Xiuman suppressed the impulses and continued flying.
At the same time, he pondered the origins of these two skills.
The skill [Vampirism] likely came from Rorona.
After all, what he integrated wasn't just the magic stone; it also included Rorona's arm bone, which had fused with the magic stone.
And [Golem] was probably the skill granted to him by that magic stone.
He continued scrolling through the pop-ups and spotted the final one.
[Acquired new evolution path: Dragon-Blooded Skeleton]
[Dragon-Blooded Skeleton] A skeleton bathed in dragon blood. Possesses the ability to transform into a half-dragon, immense strength, and the capability to breathe dragon breath and convert thralls. Level cap lv35. (With this evolution path, a Strength Modifier is applied. With each level up, Strength gains an additional +1.)
“Dragon-Blooded Skeleton?”
Li Xiuman stared at the new evolution path, his gaze lingering heavily on the [Strength Modifier].
A Strength Modifier!
His dream of becoming a melee mage finally had hope.
If he evolved into this skeleton, he wouldn't have to worry about being left behind in Strength by Warrior-class profession holders in the future.
He suppressed his urge to evolve immediately and looked at his left arm.
His left arm bone was still pale red, not yet fully pure white.
It seemed the power inside hadn't been fully digested yet.
He estimated that just like with his right arm, a portion of the energy inside would be drawn out and digested whenever he leveled up.
It looked like he would have to digest two separate energies upon leveling up in the future.
If possible, he hoped they would come one by one. Having them hit together was simply too intense; it would break him.
At this point, Li Xiuman had digested most of the magic stone, leaving only a small amount of residual energy in his left arm.
The pursuing enemies behind him had now dwindled to almost nothing.
Li Xiuman was no longer in a hurry, letting the few remaining Firewing Beasts that stubbornly kept chasing dangle behind him.
Since these few were still following, Li Xiuman planned to simply kill them all.
Killing these few would provide enough experience for him to reach level 20.
After leveling up, he could also find a safe place to evolve.
If so, this trip to the dungeon would be considered a bountiful harvest.
“Get ready, we’re going to turn back and finish off these last few!”
Li Xiuman said to Rorona on his shoulder.
Naturally, Rorona would not say anything to oppose Li Xiuman.
And so, Li Xiuman flapped his Bone Wings, turned around, and charged toward the four Firewing Beasts still tailing him.
He drew the skeleton sword from his ribs, rushing toward the nearest Firewing Beast.
This sword grown from his own rib—Li Xiuman was just about to test how effective it was.
A Fireball shot toward him.
He didn't dodge, instead swinging his sword to slash at the Fireball.
With a smooth, buttery feeling, the Fireball was cleanly sliced in two, exploding harmlessly on either side of him.
Seeing its Fireball cleanly sliced open, the Firewing Beast lost its composure.
It let out a shrill cry, and the other Firewing Beasts spread their wings in unison, gliding toward Li Xiuman.
It seemed they wanted to use their razor-sharp wings to cleave Li Xiuman in half.
Li Xiuman waved his wand, expanding a magic circle.
“Tier 1 Magic, Water Curtain!”
A spherical Water Curtain enveloped Li Xiuman right in the center.
The Firewing Beasts charged through the Water Curtain one after another. With a loud sizzle, their high-temperature bodies whipped up a dense layer of steam against the water, obscuring their vision.
This caused them to anxiously spit out Fireballs in all directions.
“Tier 1 Magic, Gale!”
Li Xiuman hastily cast his second spell. A strong gale swept up, blowing the Fireballs into the surrounding Water Curtain.
Even more steam filled the air.
He quickly located the nearest Firewing Beast.
The Firewing Beast was just about to call out to its companions in the mist, but Li Xiuman wasn't going to give it the chance.
Rorona swiftly raised her hand, and her dark shadow extended like a giant octopus, shooting out tentacles that tightly bound the Firewing Beast.
Li Xiuman swooped down, driving the Rib Sword through the Firewing Beast's eyeball, piercing its brain.
“Water Burst!”
A waterball condensed at the tip of the Rib Sword and suddenly exploded, blowing off the Firewing Beast's skull.
[Ding! Killed Firewing Beast lv20. Experience +550+27]
The steam was dissipating quickly, and his surroundings were already clearing up.
He had to hurry and take down another one.
Flapping his wings, Li Xiuman spotted a dark shape in the steam and charged toward it without hesitation.
Rorona had already developed a tacit understanding with him. The moment the Firewing Beast appeared, she bound it with her dark shadow.
“Tier 1 Magic, Waterball!”
A magic circle expanded, shooting out several waterballs that intercepted the Firewing Beast's Fireballs, exploding into bursts of steam.
The Firewing Beast hastily broke free of the shadow bind, flying backward while spitting out a molten fireball.
However, it was met with a wand wrapped in a whirlwind. The wand pierced straight through the molten fireball and impaled its right eye with unstoppable momentum, sending blood spurting out.
“Screee!!” It let out a tragic wail.
Li Xiuman couldn't care less about whether it was tragic or not. He moved to the right side of the Firewing Beast, which was its blind spot, and then stabbed his sword into its neck, slicing it open.
Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
As the Firewing Beast thrashed wildly, Li Xiuman flapped his wings, dashed toward its right eye, and gripped his wand.
“Water Burst!”
Once again, he blew off its head.
[Ding! Killed Firewing Beast lv20. Experience +600+30]
Rate on N.U.
