He had heard the message I sent to my master that night.

  She saw me attacking other skeletons tonight.

  This succubus...

  This skeleton...

  Must die!

  In this moment, the skeleton and the succubus were in complete agreement.

  "Shadow Spike!"

  Triss raised her hand, and sharp black spikes shot up from the ground, aiming for Eric.

  Eric's legs moved like phantoms, dodging the attacks of the black spikes with agility.

  "Hmph, Shadow Bind!"

  Triss sneered, and then the rigid and sharp black spikes softened, wrapping around Eric like ropes.

  "Burn."

  Eric swung his sword, and flames covered the entire bone sword in an instant. Since the bone sword was formed from his own rib, magic flowed unimpeded through the entire blade. The bone sword burned fiercely, and with a crackling sound, it delivered a rather spectacular strike. The dark ropes were severed one by one.

  "Fire Magic! How is that possible? Aren't you a low-level skeleton?"

  Triss was shocked.

  Before a lurking skeleton reveals its fangs, no one knows its ferocity.

  Eric thrust fiercely at Triss's chest.

  Triss was caught off guard and, discarding her underestimation, she flapped her wings and flew high into the sky. So what if he could use fire magic? As long as she was in the air, she was invincible.

  She needed to bring out her true skills and quickly deal with this eerie skeleton.

  Eric wouldn't give her the chance to fly.

  The bone sword in his hand wriggled and grew again, transforming into a sharp, slender spear.

  Then, with his left arm gripping the spear, he activated [Brute Force].

  The flames in his eye sockets burned fiercely as he hurled the spear with all his might.

  The spear, covered in dark blue flames, traced an inconspicuous blue line through the air and pierced through Triss's pair of bat wings.

  The succubus hadn't even had time to react before she was sent crashing to the ground.

  "Swampify!"

  Eric was quick on the draw. He clapped his hands together and pressed them to the ground, activating both earth and water magic simultaneously.

  The ground where Triss was falling turned into a swamp in an instant, swallowing her without much noise.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Only then did Triss realize the danger. She didn't care about the consequences and opened her mouth, wanting to call out to the other succubi to draw attention.

  But as soon as she opened her mouth, the thick mixture of soil and water gushed into her open mouth.

  "Uuuuu!!"

  No sound came out.

  Eric stepped forward, grabbed the succubus by the neck, and his sharp claw, formed from the end of his finger bone, neatly sliced through her throat.

  Blood gushed out.

  Eric didn't feel any discomfort until the succubus's body stopped struggling and lost its warmth, and then he let go.

  Looking at the succubus's body, immersed in the swamp, Eric couldn't help but think, without any fear or discomfort.

  Maybe the moment he was turned into a skeleton by Pound, he had already forever lost something that made him human.

  But soon, Eric's little bout of depression was washed away by the cute numbers jumping on his status panel.

  [Ding, Killed a low-level succubus, Experience +1400]

  [Ding, Experience bar is full, level up to LV8]

  [Ding, Experience bar is full, level up to LV9]

  [Free attribute points +2]

  After grinding the succubus's body into powder, Eric activated earth magic to restore the swampy ground to its original state. Then, he cleaned up the scene. After all, succubi were intelligent creatures. The disappearance of one might not be as easy to handle as the disappearance of a skeleton.

  Then, he retrieved his rib spear, burned it with fire to remove the bloodstains, and transformed it back into the shape of a rib. He aligned it with the broken end and reattached it. You can't just leave bones lying around; you'll end up with a calcium deficiency.

  Then Eric left the scene and once again became that mindless, layabout low-level skeleton.

  He also reviewed the shortcomings of tonight's actions. After mastering magic, he had become too overconfident and careless, which is why the succubus had noticed him.

  In the past, he had always carefully followed and stalked his targets, waiting for them to fall asleep before cautiously making his move.

  After gaining the ability to easily take out his targets, he had become complacent.

  He had to change this, or it would happen again sooner or later.

  Eric wandered aimlessly, thinking about his shortcomings. Triss's disappearance seemed to have caused no waves. Perhaps a low-rank demon wasn't as important or noticeable to Pound and Lucia as he had imagined.

  Eric continued to lie low carefully and didn't go out to hunt other skeletons for several days. It wasn't until a week had passed and he was sure that Triss's disappearance had truly caused no concern that he continued to hunt.

  In fact, Eric wanted to lay low a bit longer. But time waits for no one. If Triss's agreement with her master still stood, it would only be a matter of days before her master's raiding party would come. That was the opportunity he had been waiting for. If he missed it, he didn't know when he would have another chance like that.

  So, to seize the fleeting opportunity, necessary risks were also important. But risks had to be taken with even more caution.

  Eric carefully selected and hunted skeletons, maintaining a daily kill rate of two or three skeletons. Finally, on the third day, he reached LV10.

  [Name] Eric Pound

  [Race] Low-Level Skeleton

  [Level] LV10/LV10 (The level cap for low-level skeletons is LV10)

  [Class] None

  [Strength] 10/10

  [Constitution] 13/10

  [Spirit] 10/10

  [Free Attribute Points] 0

  [Evolution Requirements] Achieve max points in Strength, Constitution, and Spirit to evolve the race.

  [Evolution Paths] Low-Rank Earth Skeleton, Skeleton Swordsman, Low-Rank Ocean Skeleton...

  [Skills] Bone Mutation LV1, Appraisal LV1, Brute Force LV1, Agility LV1, Stealth LV1, Swordsmanship LV1, Elemental Resistance LV1, Fire Magic LV1, Water Magic LV1, Earth Magic LV1

  [Status] Enslaved, Bone Deterioration

  [Experience Points] 1120/1000 (Upgrade after evolving and choosing a class)

  [Description] A low-level skeleton that wields magic, with low-level elemental resistance and basic swordsmanship. Underestimating him will come at a cost. Likely to collapse and fall apart in about 8 years.

  Eric didn't have any LV2 skills.

  From his observations, only mid-level skeletons and succubi above LV10 had LV2 skills.

  LV2 skills were on the same level as first-tier magic, something that low-level skeletons without a class below LV10 couldn't master.

  Eric wasn't in a hurry to evolve or choose a class. Who knows what kind of changes his appearance would undergo after evolving.

  If he suddenly evolved for no apparent reason, everyone would know something was up. Even if they accepted his daytime evolution, if they suddenly started paying more attention to him and increased their control and supervision, he would truly never have a chance to break free. He didn't want to work for the Bone Dragon for the rest of his life.