Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Essential Stat Allocation for a Slice-of-Life Player
THUD...
As if to confirm Zelir’s thoughts, the ground began to tremble anew.
THUD...
The bone fragments in the soil were shaken loose.
THUD!!!
An arm as large as a leg bone burst from the center of the graveyard, slapping hard against the ground.
A colossal skeleton clawed its way out of the earth bit by bit, dirt cascading from its form. Within seconds, a monster forcibly twisted together from several corpses appeared under the moonlight!
Adventurer’s Association Universal Monster Atlas
[Tier 29]: Evil Remains
Individual Threat Rating: [Difficulty]
Appearance:
A skeletal amalgam much larger than a normal Skeleton Soldier. Its basic form resembles an enlarged human skeleton.
When other Skeleton Soldiers are present, the Evil Remains will forcibly pull them in, assembling them onto its body to form a new shape.
Habits:
Identical to Skeleton Soldiers.
Special Ability:
Possesses greater Power compared to ordinary Skeleton Soldiers.
Core Weakness:
For a solitary Evil Remains, one need only shatter its skull. However, if it is an Evil Remains pieced together from multiple Skeleton Soldiers, every one of its skulls must be destroyed.
Association Notes:
Like Skeleton Soldiers, the Evil Remains feels no pain. Do not waste time on its body. Destroy every skull on it as quickly as possible.
"So it finally appeared... an Evil Remains!" Marcus said slowly.
The four members of the party slowly backed away, regrouping.
The three-meter-tall skeletal amalgam suddenly spread its arms and roared at the night sky.
As if drawn by some irresistible force, the surrounding Skeleton Soldiers all fell apart.
Their bones, including the skulls still burning with ghastly green Flame, were all forcibly pulled toward the Evil Remains.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH...
Like building blocks, each bone was fitted anew onto the body of the Evil Remains, making its form even more bloated and monstrous.
In the end, what stood before the party was a deformed monster with eight arms, ten legs, and seven skulls!
"Holy shit..."
Gray sighed, though it was hard to tell if from shock or terror. "What the hell is that... a skeleton crab?"
This was also the first time Zelir had seen a Demon of this nature. Not even Fog Demons could assemble themselves like this.
Marcus lowered his stance slightly, placing his Shield in front of him, his expression grim.
"Ignore the rest of its body. Just aim for its skulls."
As they spoke, the topmost skull of the Evil Remains twisted. The ghastly green flames in its empty eye sockets flared, and then, its ten legs went CLATTER CLATTER as it charged toward the party!
"Engage!"
Marcus roared and immediately surged forward to meet it!
Just like a Skeleton Soldier, the Evil Remains broke off its own sharp ribs to use as weapons. It swung its eight arms menacingly, an intimidating sight.
But Marcus was undaunted. He raised his Shield and directly blocked the enormous Bone Blade cleaving down at him!
CLANG!
As it turned out, iron was indeed harder than bone.
After a crisp ring, the Ribs Saber actually chipped!
But the tremendous force still knocked Marcus back two steps.
He didn’t retreat, however. Seizing the moment while the Evil Remains was pulling off another rib, he raised his Shield and charged, aiming straight for a skull near its lower body.
Shield Strike!
The heavy Composite Shield smashed into the skull on the Evil Remains’ chest. With a BANG, it shattered the skull and the ghastly green fire within!
The first skull.
At almost the same instant, Gray’s figure flashed out from the flank. Taking advantage of the opening while the Evil Remains attacked Marcus, he circled around to its back.
He stepped forward, putting power into his waist—a Vortex Slash!
Moonlight flowed along the edge of his blade, directly shattering the skull at the Evil Remains’ waist.
The second skull!
The Evil Remains seemed to grow enraged. Its body trembled, twisting and changing.
Its arms reassembled and extended, forcibly jutting out to a much greater length, making the entire Evil Remains look even more ferocious.
It chopped down at Gray. The Bone Blade practically skimmed his scalp—an extremely close call!
As Gray retreated, he swung his sword again, severing one of the Evil Remains’ arms and slightly easing the pressure on Marcus’s defense.
The remaining five skulls were all located above the Evil Remains’ shoulders, out of reach for both Marcus and Gray.
But by now, Zelir’s Magic had finished charging.
A sharp blue light flared!
Zelir had found an excellent angle. This Arcane Missile whistled out, blasting in through the right shoulder, piercing through the neck region, and exiting from the very top!
Empowered by immense Magic Power, the Arcane Missile met no resistance, tearing through everything in its path. The bones of the Evil Remains were completely unable to stop the assault.
BANG!
Bone fragments flew everywhere. Zelir had destroyed three skulls at once!
Valles’s Thunder Arrow arrived right on cue. He drew his bowstring, violently infusing the Arrow with the Fighting Qi in his body, guiding it to a perfect balance.
Sparks of lightning leaped as the Arrow shot forth!
"Loose!"
A blinding flash of lightning tore through the night sky and directly blew another skull to pieces!
Furthermore, the aftershock of the Fighting Qi destroyed a good portion of the Evil Remains’ shoulder, and three of its arms fell to the ground.
This all happened in a matter of seconds. The Evil Remains’ final skull was still turning in a daze, as if stunned by the successive attacks.
The last thing it saw was Zelir holding the White Wax Wood aloft.
A biting chill condensed once more, and Zelir’s robes stirred slightly.
"Rest in peace..."
Ice Cone Skill, charge complete.
The Ice Cone, trailing a white plume of frost, shot precisely into the Evil Remains’ mouth and stabbed up into its skull from below!
BANG...!
With a muffled explosion, the Ice Cone detonated. The surface of the Evil Remains’ skull was instantly covered in a spiderweb of cracks before shattering into pieces!
Countless Ice Crystals mixed with bone fragments drifted down like a light snowfall.
With the last skull destroyed, the body of the Evil Remains could no longer maintain its grotesque form. Bone shards fell away as it began to disintegrate.
A moment later, the entire Evil Remains had crumbled into a pile of withered white bones.
Subjugation successful!
Level 6 (102/225) -> Level 7 (40/250)
The pile of Skeleton Soldiers plus the Evil Remains had given Zelir a total of 163 experience points.
Level up!
Hmm...
Zelir frowned and thought for a moment.
’Should I keep adding points to Intelligence? Mindful of the bucket effect, I’m tempted to raise my Spirit Attribute. But on second thought... nah, I’ll just stick with Intelligence. Otherwise, who knows how long it’ll take to break through to Junior Mage. Embrace of the Mist Veil, Healing Skill, Extraction Skill... I need to be a Junior Mage to unlock all of them. With the boost from these powerful Magic Skills, my combat power and utility will jump to a whole new level.’
Power: 65
Agility: 61
Constitution: 68
Spirit: 71
Intelligence: 82 -> 86
Perception: 30
Charm: 49 -> 50
Luck: 41
Talent Skills:
Technique Celestial Calculation.
With this increase, his Charm had also reached 50.
Zelir knew very well that his way with women had been pretty good so far, and it had helped him out a lot.
His outstanding Charm score definitely played a huge role in that.
’A must-have stat for a slice-of-life player, as expected.’
