After that, Li Xiuman tried out some of the other skills he had recently acquired.
First up was [Golem].
Li Xiuman gripped his wand, tapped it against the ground, and cast the spell.
Immediately, the rocky ground wriggled like playdough, shaping itself into a calf-high stone doll.
It looked shoddy and lopsided.
Its two arms were abnormally thick.
[Name] Golem Li
[Level] lv1
[Class] None
[Skills] Great Strength lv1, Close Combat lv1
[Status] Decay (expected to dissipate in 24 hours)
[Description] A Golem created by Xiuman Pound Li. It is incredibly weak, like a crudely made toy. No need for caution—feel free to lower your guard.
“...”
Damn, it was weak.
Li Xiuman continued to pour more Mana into the Golem.
A yellow magic circle expanded beneath the Golem's feet as rocks flowed like water, constantly merging into its body.
The Golem's body grew larger and larger.
Before long, it stood taller than Li Xiuman. Its two arms were abnormally long and thick, dangling all the way to the ground.
It looked like a gorilla.
Its rocky fists appeared exceptionally hard.
And on its stone head, a pair of eyes glowed with blue light.
[Name] Golem Li
[Level] lv11
[Class] Warrior Golem
[Skills] Great Strength lv2, Resilience lv2, Hard Rock lv2, Close Combat lv1
[Status] Decay (expected to collapse and dissipate in three days)
[Description] A Golem created by Xiuman Pound Li. It possesses decent strength, but the crafting technique was crude. Its joints, neck, and waist are all weak points. Please treat it seriously and do not lower your guard.
Li Xiuman had consumed nearly more than half of his Mana just to create this Golem.
The skill level was too low, he lacked knowledge of the structural mechanics related to Golems, and the materials were poor.
That was probably why it took most of his Mana to make such a defective product.
Looking at the crude, asymmetrical Golem—larger on one side than the other—Li Xiuman reflected on his work.
Still, this skill had great potential and was worth investing in.
“Hey, go outside and keep watch.”
Li Xiuman patted the Golem's thick arm and gave his command.
The Golem tilted its large head, looking foolishly adorable.
After a brief delay, as if it had understood Li Xiuman's meaning, it awkwardly ambled out of the cave entrance.
Because one side of its body was larger than the other, it walked with a heavy limp, losing a fragment of rock with every step it took.
“It seems it can only barely understand simple commands.”
Li Xiuman stroked his chin and mumbled.
With the Golem keeping watch, Li Xiuman lay back down against the stone wall, curled around his wand, and went to sleep.
When he woke up, his entire body felt refreshed.
He realigned his spine, popped his pelvis, and stretched with immense satisfaction.
“Master, I've made breakfast. Would you like to eat?”
“...”
I know you're trying to curry favor so I won't kick you out, but can you read the room?
“Do I look like I need to eat?”
“I'm sorry, Master!”
“...After you're done eating, we need to head back out.”
Li Xiuman took the Lizardman King's horn that he had detached earlier and strapped it back onto his back. He then picked up his wand and walked out of the cave.
“By the way, take this Firewing Beast hide to cover yourself.”
“We can get you a change of clothes once we find a shop on the fourteenth floor.”
Li Xiuman threw the skinned Firewing Beast hide over Rorona's head.
Now that his level cap had been raised, Li Xiuman deliberately hunted lizardmen as they made their way up through the floors.
After all, the Experience he needed to level up had increased dramatically, so he had to start stockpiling it.
With Rorona's Dark Magic assisting him, the hunts went much more smoothly.
As a tool, Rorona really was an incredibly useful vampire.
Traveling and hunting all the way from the twentieth floor to the fourteenth floor took them a total of three days.
Li Xiuman's ten-thousand Experience bar was already half full.
His waist pouch was also completely stuffed with magic stones.
As a result, he had no choice but to fashion a temporary backpack out of fire crocodile skin to carry the extra magic stones.
Rorona's eyes and left arm had also fully grown back. Aside from her pale skin, she now looked no different from an ordinary young girl.
However, those blood-red eyes of hers that faintly glowed in the dark were still far too eye-catching.
Upon entering the fourteenth floor, Li Xiuman made his way to the Reby Merchant Association out of habit.
Seeing Li Xiuman walk in, Rachel's eyes instantly lit up from behind the counter.
“Mr. Skeleton, you're back! It looks like you've had quite a harvest.”
“Goddess of Light above... Good heavens, is that... the horn of a Fire Lizardman King on your back!?”
“I didn't expect you to actually hunt down the Fire Lizardman King!”
Despite Rachel's shock, however, she didn't cling to him like she usually did.
After all, Li Xiuman was draped in fire crocodile skin and covered in blood. The blood and bodily fluids of Firewing Beasts, fire crocodiles, and lizardmen had all blended together and fermented under the dungeon's high temperatures.
While he certainly looked as imposing as a god of slaughter, the smell...
As he walked down the path, any flies that dared fly too close were completely disoriented by the stench, crashing headfirst into the walls.
“Indeed. I'll sell these magic stones and materials here, but I will personally deliver the rarer magic stones to the headquarters.”
Having spoken, Li Xiuman stepped back. Rorona came forward and dumped all the magic stones from the bag.
With a series of sharp clinks and clangs, the magic stones piled high on the counter.
“It is certainly for the best if those valuable magic stones are escorted by you, Lord Skeleton.”
“Now then, let me calculate the value of these magic stones for you.”
Rachel put on a pair of gloves, measured the size and quality of each magic stone, and categorized them before tallying up the total.
“A total of 124 low-grade magic stones: twenty-two low-tier quality, sixty-eight mid-tier quality, and thirty-four high-tier quality.”
“That comes to a total of 225 silver coins.”
“Which I'll round to twenty-two gold coins and five silver coins.”
Rachel handed over a coin pouch.
“Can you exchange the silver coins for copper?”
“Of course.”
Rachel took out the five silver coins from the pouch, exchanged them for five hundred copper coins, and handed them over.
Li Xiuman took the coin pouches and tucked them into his chest cavity.
“Would you like to take a break, my lord? The hot springs on this floor are absolutely superb, and you've never experienced them, Lord Skeleton.”
“If you don't mind, we could always soak... to-ge-ther~”
“Thank you, but maybe next time.”
The standard exchange was inevitable.
Afterward, Li Xiuman walked out of the Reby Merchant Association with Rorona following closely and obediently behind him.
A hot spring? He'd scare the absolute life out of anyone there.
Besides, what was he going to do in a hot spring anyway—boil himself into bone broth?
Carrying the remaining high-grade magic stones, the two of them left the peaceful fourteenth floor and stepped into the thirteenth.
To the current Li Xiuman, the monsters in these remaining floors posed absolutely no threat whatsoever.
It took them another three days. They swept through the floors easily, and as they drew closer to the dungeon entrance, the number of adventurers began to increase.
Dressed in his imposing fire crocodile hide and carrying the Fire Lizardman King's horn on his back, Li Xiuman cut a formidable figure.
Any adventurers they encountered on these floors would lower their heads and carefully detour around them, not daring to look for too long.
Only after Li Xiuman had passed would they cautiously turn their heads, stealing sidelong glances while murmuring in quiet awe.
Then again, it was highly likely that the fermented stench was what kept the adventurers at bay...
Even the goblins held their noses as he walked by.
Perhaps it was time to give his bones a thorough scrub, lest his fine skeletal frame become permanently pickled.
It wasn't that Li Xiuman didn't want to use Cleanse.
It was simply that the basic cleaning magic couldn't wash away the stubborn, fermented stains left behind by a blend of fire crocodile blood, Firewing Beast blood, lizardman blood, and various bizarre fluids splattered from his kills.
The Tier 1 Cleanse spell practically declared a strike, refusing to cooperate.
Rate on N.U.
