A Level 17 Skeleton Soldier was stronger than any of the Skeleton Soldiers under Lucas's command.

  Only by personally intervening could Lucas ensure it was killed without suffering any damage.

  But...

  Why aim for no damage at all?

  When Lucas spotted the Skeleton Soldier, he focused his mind, and the sixteen Skeleton Soldiers under his command swarmed out, charging toward the Level 17 Skeleton Soldier.

  At the cost of one Skeleton Soldier losing an arm and another suffering a fracture, the Level 17 Skeleton Soldier was decapitated, its intact skull delivered to Lucas by Number One.

  [Erosion] talent activated!

  Enslave the skeleton!

  In just a minute, the Level 17 Skeleton Soldier was enslaved, becoming one of the many Skeleton Soldiers under Lucas's command.

  Then.

  The Bone Army, now numbering eighteen, moved deeper into the central region.

  Half an hour later.

  A second Skeleton Soldier appeared before Lucas.

  Seventeen Skeleton Soldiers swarmed out, quickly crippling the Skeleton Soldier and handing it over to Lucas for enslavement.

  Skeleton Soldier count +1.

  An hour later.

  A third Skeleton Soldier appeared before Lucas.

  Count +1.

  Two hours later.

  A fifth Skeleton Soldier appeared before Lucas.

  Count +1.

  Three hours later...

  ...

  The [Erosion] talent was like a cheat code.

  Not only did it give Lucas four core attributes far beyond his tier and level, but it also allowed his forces to snowball rapidly.

  In less than a day in the central region, the number of Skeleton Soldiers under Lucas's command had reached thirty!

  When the number of Skeleton Soldiers reached thirty, Lucas stopped blindly pursuing quantity and instead focused on leveling up himself and his Skeleton Soldiers.

  The thirty Skeleton Soldiers were divided into ten squads, beginning their hunt in the area.

  With three Skeleton Soldiers per squad, even if they encountered higher-level Skeleton Soldiers, they could still kill them efficiently, turning the encountered Skeleton Soldiers into nourishment for their leveling.

  With Lucas and ten squads spread out, they could expand their hunting range and hunt Skeleton Soldiers in the area with high efficiency.

  In this hunting mode, Lucas's status panel refreshed with new system notifications almost every few minutes, increasing his efficiency by more than ten times compared to hunting alone!

  One hour!

  Two hours!

  Five hours!

  Ten hours!

  After a day, Lucas's level had skyrocketed from Level 11 to Level 16.

  His Strength, Agility, and Constitution attributes had all gained 5 points of growth.

  Adding the attribute points Lucas had stolen from the bones of Skeleton Soldiers he personally killed... now, all four of his core attributes except Spirit had broken through the 20-point mark!

  Strength, 23 points!

  Agility, 21 points!

  Constitution, 25 points!

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  Spirit, 4.5 points!

  Such attributes were comparable to a Level 30 Skeleton Soldier!

  In theory, the lower a monster's level and the higher its class template, the greater its future potential. After all, class advancements didn't compensate for attributes gained at lower levels.

  Suppressing levels was the way to maximize potential.

  However.

  This didn't apply to Lucas.

  With the [Erosion] talent, he could first stack his level, using the attribute growth from leveling up to strengthen himself. Once his level was high enough and his four core attributes were strong enough, he could then hunt higher-tier beings with overwhelming force, obtaining higher-tier class templates.

  The lost attributes could be fully compensated for by the [Erosion] talent!

  Or even... stacked higher!

  If possible, he would have loved to immediately level up to the max level of 100 and then slowly pursue higher-tier classes to make up for the lost attributes.

  A Level 100 Skeleton Soldier might not be a match for a Level 70 Legendary Sword Saint.

  But conquering the Land of Buried Bones would be a breeze!

  Unfortunately.

  This was just a fantasy.

  Even with the existence of Skeleton Soldiers, which increased his leveling speed tenfold, he still had to hunt step by step to improve his level and strength.

  Time passed.

  Just as Lucas killed a Level 18 Skeleton Soldier and prepared to absorb its bone essence, a message suddenly appeared in his mind.

  "Your servant 'Number Twenty-Five' has died."

  Before Lucas could even process this, a second message followed.

  "Your servant 'Number Twenty-Seven' has died."

  Skeleton Soldiers dying was normal.

  This was the central region of the Land of Buried Bones. It wasn't just Skeleton Soldiers—even higher-tier skeletons dying was a common occurrence.

  But...

  When Lucas sent these Skeleton Soldiers out to hunt, he had specifically ordered them not to venture deeper into the Land of Buried Bones.

  He was afraid that deeper regions might house higher-tier skeletons.

  After more than a day, "Number Twenty-Five" and "Number Twenty-Seven" had already leveled up to Level 17. With three Skeleton Soldiers per squad working together, "Number Twenty-Five" and "Number Twenty-Seven" were killed within two seconds of each other!

  "Could it be that a high-tier skeleton has appeared in this area?"

  No time to think.

  Lucas immediately took control of "Number Twenty-Six."

  Vision shifted.

  When Lucas's own vision was replaced by "Number Twenty-Six's," he saw over a dozen Skeleton Soldiers surrounding an exceptionally large and sturdy skeleton.

  And that skeleton, even taller and stronger than Lucas... was raising a greatsword, about to strike "Number Twenty-Six"!

  A pale flash.

  When Lucas's vision returned to his own, a third message appeared in his mind.

  "Your servant 'Number Twenty-Six' has died."