Crack!
Crack!
The faint yet orderly sound of footsteps echoed through the inner layer of the Land of Buried Bones.
In this desolate and lifeless land, a group of skeletons was on the move.
There were over a dozen skeletons in this group.
The one at the front had thick, sturdy bones, standing at 1.8 meters tall, with a peculiar, nearly two-meter-long blade tilted toward the ground. Behind it, the dozen or so slightly more slender skeletons wielded greatswords, sword-and-shield combinations, or hand axes.
Without exception.
All the weapons were made of bone, pale and gleaming.
This was Lucas.
Since taming his first Skeleton Soldier, he had spent three days in the inner layer of the Land of Buried Bones.
During these three days, Lucas had hunted countless skeletons, further increasing his level and attributes. Whenever he encountered a Skeleton Soldier, he and his underlings would swarm it, crippling it.
Then...
Enslave and recruit!
With the first Skeleton Soldier under his control, recruiting the second became much easier. With the second, the third was even simpler.
It was a virtuous cycle.
As time passed, the number of Skeleton Soldiers under Lucas's command grew, and his strength increased exponentially.
Later, whenever a Skeleton Soldier was spotted, Lucas didn't even need to lift a finger. His underlings would charge forward, crippling it in no time and handing it over to Lucas for enslavement and recruitment.
After three days of accumulation, the number of Skeleton Soldiers under his command had reached over a dozen!
A dozen Skeleton Soldiers spread out, forming a formidable force.
Every skeleton within their hunting range—whether ordinary skeletons or Skeleton Soldiers with basic class templates—became their prey!
Countless skeletons were torn apart, their essence converted into experience points that flowed into the experience bars of these Skeleton Soldiers and Lucas.
Many Skeleton Soldiers were crippled, either enslaved and added to Lucas's ranks or killed, becoming experience points and attribute boosts for Lucas.
By the end of the three days,
Not only had the number of Skeleton Soldiers under Lucas's command grown to over a dozen, but his own strength had also increased several times over!
[Name]: Lucas
[Race]: Undead - Skeleton
[Template]: Basic Class Template - Skeleton Soldier
[Level]: Level 11 (234/1000)
[Status]: Health 230, Mana 25
[Attributes]: Strength 13, Agility 15, Constitution 17, Spirit 2.5
[Talent]: Erosion (Unique Talent)
[Skills]: None
...
Lucas's four core attributes were now twice as high as those of his underlings, who averaged Level 15!
With over a dozen Skeleton Soldiers and his own strength far surpassing theirs, Lucas was more than capable of sweeping through the entire inner layer of the Land of Buried Bones.
After recruiting two more Skeleton Soldiers, bringing his total underlings to 16, Lucas led his burgeoning Bone Army toward the central region of the Land of Buried Bones.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The central region of the Land of Buried Bones was the largest area and had the densest concentration of death energy.
The outer and inner layers combined might not even cover a corner of the central region.
This was also the most dangerous part of the Land of Buried Bones!
Skeletons in the outer layer were muddled and unaware; Skeleton Soldiers in the inner layer actively hunted to improve their strength, eventually moving into the central region.
In the central region...
All skeletons, or rather, all undead, would fight!
They sought experience points to level up and class advancement information to progress from basic classes to advanced classes, elite classes, and even heroic classes.
Even the high-tier undead with lord-class templates at the top of the Land of Buried Bones constantly fought among themselves, striving to advance further!
Outer layer.
Inner layer.
Central region.
These three areas formed a perfect cycle.
In the players' perception, this was just a massive leveling zone. The endless skeletons and various undead were enough to carry them through the early stages of the game.
But in Lucas's world, this was a massive battlefield!
As one of the most brutal races in The Second World, Lucas, as a skeleton, had never had the luxury of choice.
Either he could be like the muddled skeletons in the outer and inner layers, passively nourished by the death energy, becoming fodder to be harvested by other skeletons or Skeleton Soldiers once he reached a certain level.
Or, like the high-tier undead in the depths of the Land of Buried Bones had done countless years ago, he could constantly level up, advance, rise against the odds, and eventually become a monster lord ruling over a territory!
In other words, what players called a BOSS!
There was no other path.
Lucas didn't want to die.
He didn't want to be fodder waiting to be harvested.
The only thing he could do was improve his strength and expand his forces as quickly as possible. Until... he could conquer the entire Land of Buried Bones!
...
...
Seventeen Skeleton Soldiers marched in formation into the central region of the Land of Buried Bones.
The thick death energy permeated the air, making Lucas feel as though he was growing stronger with every passing moment.
Of course.
Passively absorbing the death energy couldn't compare to actively leveling up. Lucas estimated that, at his current level, it would take months of survival in this region for him to gain a single level.
The dense death energy naturally nurtured even stronger Skeleton Soldiers.
In the central region of the Land of Buried Bones, skeletons below Level 15 were extremely rare. Even if such skeletons ventured into this area, they would be quickly killed, becoming nourishment for other skeletons.
Only Skeleton Soldiers of at least Level 15 had the right to survive in this region.
The central region was vast.
Skeleton Soldiers were also relatively sparse.
Half an hour after entering the central region, Lucas encountered the first Skeleton Soldier in this area.
"LV17. Skeleton Soldier!"
