Spear Formation

The two books were placed before him, and the prompt gave a brief introduction.

Both spells appeared to be support-oriented.

One altered the terrain, while the other changed the environment to create smoke.

It had to be said that Blackstone Town truly had very few skills for mages.

No wonder a Necromancer like him, who had only just changed professions, could join as a Specialized Profession.

He thought it over.

The Fog Cloud Spell was not particularly useful—or rather, it was not very effective against Zombies, and Poison Smoke Grenades could completely replace it.

On the other hand, the Grease Spell mentioned Difficult Terrain. To a certain extent, it might actually be useful.

After making up his mind, he said directly, "I'll take this one."

The staff member nodded, recorded it, and completed the paperwork.

Wu Heng put away the Skill Book and turned to leave.

Back at his residence.

After eating something simple, he took out the Grease Spell he had exchanged for that morning.

Judging by the skill tiers, the Grease Spell ranked above Acid Splash.

Hopefully, it would bring him a decent result.

But Blackstone Town really did not have many skills, and the Skill Books available for exchange were obviously quite old.

Blackstone Town was still too remote.

He had heard that Field Emissaries could be transferred to other cities. Should he apply for a transfer somewhere bigger?

The thought only flashed through his mind before he immediately dismissed it.

Skills were only a supplementary issue. Once his level rose, converting more Skeletons would be better than anything else.

If he really transferred out, the new environment might bring entirely different problems.

Changing to a new environment just to learn a few more skills did not seem worthwhile.

He could not be too hasty.

He steadied himself and refocused on the Grease Spell Skill Book.

Then he began reading.

Time passed bit by bit.

When he finished the final page, a System Prompt sounded by his ear.

Unlocked Skill: Grease Spell

Having successfully unlocked the skill, he closed the spellbook.

This exchange did not seem very worthwhile.

He only needed to read it once to unlock it.

He wondered if he could return the book now and say he had chosen the wrong one.

He would ask Ortluk when he got the chance.

After unlocking the skill, he checked the time.

He still brought Bartholomew with him and opened the Portal to the Zombie World.

When they reached the rooftop, rows of Skeleton Warriors stood in formation.

The Skeletons with Souls sat nearby on the square tiles.

After confirming that there were no problems, he said, "Follow me downstairs."

The Skeletons followed him down and stopped at the stairwell door on the first floor.

"You five, stand by the doorway. Spears forward."

Standing on the stairs, Wu Heng gave orders to the five Skeletons holding spears.

The five Skeletons moved stiffly into position at the doorway. Three stood in front and two behind, their spears pointed forward, sealing off the narrow corridor.

Once everything was nearly ready, he said to Skeleton Bartholomew beside him, "Open the Main Gate and lure some nearby Zombies inside. Don't leave the residential complex."

The Zombies downstairs had already been cleared out once, but there were still quite a few beneath the neighboring buildings within the complex.

Bartholomew nodded, opened the Main Gate, and walked out.

Before long, hurried footsteps and Zombie roars sounded from outside.

Wu Heng poked his head out for a look. Bartholomew was sprinting back, with at least twenty or thirty crazed Zombies chasing after him.

They bared their claws and fangs, their faces twisted in ferocity.

The commotion and roars also drew the attention of the Zombies in the other buildings.

The Zombies trapped inside rooms smashed through the windows and leaped down from above amid a shower of shattered glass.

They hit the ground with heavy thuds.

The number of Zombies was rapidly increasing.

Bartholomew was fast and always maintained a certain distance from the Zombies.

After running downstairs, he plunged straight into the corridor and squeezed in behind the Skeleton Squad.

The Zombies roared as they followed after him, flooding into the corridor like swallows returning to their nest.

Pfft!

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out as the first Zombie to rush in slammed directly into the forward-pointing spear.

Then more and more Zombies charged inside.

The five spear-wielding Skeletons began attacking.

Their spears stabbed forward again and again, piercing through the Zombies' bodies.

The Zombies, with little intelligence and no fear of pain, continued crowding forward.

The narrow corridor restricted the Zombies' movements.

Meanwhile, the spears kept thrusting forward, piercing the Zombies at the front.

Experience gained +6.

Summoned Creature—Skeleton Warrior, experience +5.

Summoned Creature—Skeleton Warrior, experience +5.

Summoned Creature...

Summoned Creature—Skeleton Warrior, level increased to 2. Strength +1.

Summoned Creature—Skeleton Warrior, level increased to 2. Constitution +1.

The results were better than expected.

All the experience had been concentrated on the five spear-wielding Skeletons.

Their levels rose to level 2 one after another.

They had killed quite a lot of Zombies before, but the experience had been scattered among many Skeletons. Those at the front who killed the most enemies were also the most likely to die.

So after several busy days, only the Sword-Wielding Skeletons had reached level 2.

Now it seemed that when there were not many enemies and no danger, he could use this method to cultivate some higher-level Skeletons first.

Numbers were important, but levels were equally important.

Soon, the battle drew to a close, and all five Skeletons had reached level 2.

The small doorway was piled full of corpses.

Wu Heng stepped out from the rear and began using the Bone Manipulation Technique. Skeleton Warriors rose from the ground one after another and squeezed into the Skeleton Squad.

The work that followed was somewhat tedious.

He converted corpses while recovering his mental energy.

Only late at night did he return to Blackstone Town to rest.

The next day, Wu Heng arrived at the Zombie World early.

After converting all the remaining Zombie corpses from yesterday, he counted the Skeletons.

Five level 2 Skeletons and 172 level 1 Skeletons.

Among the Skeletons with Souls were Bartholomew, a level 7 Skeleton Rogue; Skeleton Sword One, level 6; Skeleton Sword Two, level 5; Crossbow One and Crossbow Two; and Teddy, the level 5 Skeleton Dog.

The numbers did not sound like much, but gathered on the rooftop, they looked like quite a sizable force.

Still, they were completely incomparable to the Zombie Horde that had chased the bus.

Especially since the Zombie Horde contained all kinds of Mutated Zombies.

The prerequisite for steady development was not taking reckless risks.

After counting the Skeletons, he said, "Downstairs."

Clatter, clatter!

The Skeleton Horde began moving, following him downstairs.

Once they exited the stairwell, the area below was somewhat empty.

"Forward!"

Tap, tap, tap!

The Skeleton Squad marched with scattered yet dense footsteps toward the neighboring building.

They arrived at the first apartment door.

Whoosh!

The moment it opened, two Zombies lunged at them.

Wu Heng sidestepped, and the Skeleton Warriors behind him swung their cleavers, killing them.

"You few, follow Sword One upstairs and clear out the Zombies in the corridor."

Sword One nodded and led five Skeleton Warriors into the stairwell, heading upstairs.

Wu Heng continued to the second unit. After opening the door, he said, "You follow Sword Two and clear the Zombies in the corridor."

One stairwell after another was opened. The Skeletons entered in groups and cleared out the Zombies inside.

Everything went relatively smoothly, and they did not encounter any Mutated Zombies.

Before long, one building had been cleared. Corpses were carried one after another to the open space outside.

Wu Heng did not convert them immediately. Instead, he continued clearing the second building.

The procedure was the same. Corpses were piled outside, while the looted supplies were carried directly back to their original residence.

Back in Blackstone Town.

Wu Heng had Bartholomew carry the Backpack, and the two headed toward the market in the east of town.

The market remained lively, with vendors' cries ringing throughout the area.

As they passed several stalls, he heard more than one vendor shouting, "The boss ran off with his sister-in-law! Everything must go!"

Wu Heng found an empty spot with Bartholomew, spread a patterned cloth on the ground, then took out glass cups one after another.

Sunlight poured down, refracting beautiful glimmers from the glass cups.

Before he could even call out, quite a few people had gathered around.

"New stock?"

"Same price as before?"

The crowd surrounded him and began asking questions.

Wu Heng had not expected so many people to gather the moment he arrived. He said, "Same price as before. Fifty copper each. To prevent anyone from buying them all up, each person can buy a maximum of three."

"I'll take one."

"Me too..."

The crowd immediately surged forward, pulling out money to buy the glass cups, which were cheaper than those in the shops.

Whether they recognized him or had merely noticed the gathering crowd and come to see what was happening, people quickly packed around the stall.

It was a chaotic mess.

Although they were not sold out in an instant like the first time, business was still quite good.

With so many people, and the items genuinely inexpensive, the stock was soon completely sold out.

"Sorry, wait until next time," Wu Heng said as he packed up and stood.

Those who had failed to buy any sighed softly. After saying they would come earlier next time, they also gradually dispersed.

Wu Heng packed up his things.

He still took a lap around the stalls.

He did not see anyone selling spears, which was a bit disappointing.

The goods at the market were much cheaper than those at the blacksmith's shop.

After walking around, Wu Heng asked a fur seller about the prices, then headed back with the Skeleton.

Raw hides and leather were still somewhat different.

The furs being sold were completely different from the leather armor at the Armor Shop. There were probably several processing steps in between.

He did not understand it very well, and buying raw hides would not be of much use to him. After looking around and asking about the prices, he left.

But just after he departed, two men came to the stall.

They asked, "What did that man want to buy from you just now?"

Seeing that the two men looked unfriendly, the stall owner hesitated before answering, "He asked about the price of fur. I think he thought it was too expensive and left."

"He didn't say anything else?"

"Look at my stall. What else is there?" the stall owner replied.

The two men gave the stall owner another look, then got up and walked away.

Once they reached a place with few people, one of them asked, "He's the one who killed Bartholomew. The goods must be in his hands too."

"Bartholomew, that piece of trash." The other man cursed first, then continued, "Who's the person beside him?"

"Don't know, but he lives alone."

"The guards have been purging the Wolf Head Mercenary Group these past few days. Let's find a time to go over there, avenge Bartholomew, and take our stuff back while we're at it."

"Alright."

Thanks to Little Bundle Bearer for the 10,000-coin donation.