Skeleton Mage Leader

Bai Pu checked the Skeleton Warrior's attribute panel. As its master, he could freely inspect his servant's attributes without needing any skill or paying any cost.

Skeleton Warrior / Elite Level 2

Race: Undead / Bonekin

Class: Skeleton Warrior

Attributes: Strength 21+7, Agility 12, Constitution 15, Spirit 6

Class Skill: Brutal Strike: Passive. Attacks deal additional physical damage and knock back opponents.

Combat Expertise: Advanced Weaponry (Two-Handed Swords) Level 3, Advanced Fighting Level 2.

Combat Skills: Whirlwind Strike, Weapon block, Ruthless Assault

Twenty-eight Strength! It was definitely stronger than a Level 3 strength-type elite creature.

Bai Pu checked his class experience bar again. After clearing this wave of monsters, it had risen to 59%, earning him a full 3% experience! Given the vastness of Black Mist Valley and its abundance of monsters, he would surely reach Level 2 as long as he cleared a few more waves.

Bai Pu sat cross-legged on the ground, removed the Iron Thorn Shoulder Guard, and began inscribing a Flesh Rune.

Half an hour later, the Flesh Rune had been successfully inscribed. Bai Pu stood, put on the Iron Thorn Shoulder Guard, picked up another handful of stones, and began his second wave-clearing run.

Just as Bai Pu was happily clearing monsters, the shriek of an arrow tearing through the air suddenly sounded. A flaming arrow exploded above his head.

Flames scattered in all directions. The surrounding skeleton monsters had already been low on health, and they collapsed one after another, turning into fragments of bone.

Anger rose in Bai Pu's heart.

The Spirit Realm Will distributed experience based on kill contribution, not on who landed the final blow.

But the final blow itself represented at least twenty percent of the kill contribution!

Bai Pu's Flesh Armor dealt low damage per hit and needed time to stack up damage. It was unlike that explosive arrow, which dealt tremendous damage. At least twenty percent of the experience from this wave had been stolen! "Who?" Bai Pu asked coldly.

Out of the black mist walked an Awakened with a bow on his back and a small mustache, smiling broadly.

"Brother, what should I call you? I see you're alone. Want to form a party?"

"Get lost." Bai Pu had no intention of being polite. The other man had blatantly stolen his experience. What was there left to say?

"Hey, that's where you're wrong." The mustached man sounded completely justified. "Black Mist Valley isn't yours alone. I paid Spirit Energy Points to enter too. Am I not allowed to kill monsters when I see them?"

"Are you getting lost or not?" Bai Pu raised his chin slightly, his eyes icy.

"Haha, you're just a tank. You think you can act tough because you're sturdier and have some area-of-effect magic damage?" Seeing that he could not fool Bai Pu, the mustached man stopped pretending. "I have Agility Specialization. I walk faster than you can run. What can you do to me?"

A flash of blood-red light appeared over Bai Pu's body. He suddenly leaped high into the air, and as he landed, his bone hammer lashed out through the air! He directly activated Leaping Strike and attacked the mustached man.

The mustached man drifted aside, green light flashing beneath his feet. Like he had springs attached to his shoes, he Back Jumped seven or eight meters away. He even had time to sneer, "How many gap-closing skills do you have? I'll drag this out with you all day! Every monster you lure over, I'll kill!"

Yet before the mustached man had even regained his footing, a tall figure had already charged toward him!

The hilt of a greatsword slammed into his stomach, instantly making him stagger like a lobster, his eyes bulging. He spat out a mouthful of sour fluid.

The Skeleton Warrior had activated Ruthless Assault! Bai Pu's own Attack Power was truly too low, so his Leaping Strike had only been a feint. The Skeleton Warrior was the real killing move!

While the mustached man was stunned by the impact, the Skeleton Warrior swung its greatsword. After a brief charge, it brought the blade straight down, sending blood spraying from the man's body with a single slash!

The mustached man was horrified. He had not expected Bai Pu to have a Skeleton Warrior servant, much less one so powerful. One skill and one normal attack had chopped away more than half his Health Points! When Awakened encountered danger in the Intersection Lands, they could choose to leave immediately and return to reality, since there was no Main Quest penalty binding them. But doing so meant losing this opportunity to hunt treasures and level up in the Intersection Lands! Then again, there was only one life. If someone encountered mortal danger and still refused to leave, placing their hopes on an enemy showing mercy, that would be utterly foolish. Even the law would not care if they died.

Should he leave or not?

If it had been anyone else, the mustached man might have tried to negotiate or beg for mercy.

But Bai Pu's ruthless tone and his habit of attacking at the slightest disagreement made the mustached man feel that he was dealing with a reckless madman. He feared that if he ran too slowly, Bai Pu would simply kill him without hesitation!

Thus, in a flash of white light, the mustached man's figure faded and vanished. He had decisively left the Dead Bone Mountain Range Intersection Lands.

Bai Pu's expression did not change. The mustached man's reaction had been almost entirely within his calculations.

After driving away the mustached man, Bai Pu continued his great endeavor of clearing monsters wave by wave. His class experience and Combat Expertise steadily improved with great efficiency.

Dead Bone Mountain Range, Glacier Danger Zone.

This was a Level 3 area marked on the map, and a dangerous zone where leader-level monsters appeared.

Before a frozen tomb, a slender Skeleton Mage standing two meters tall floated in place as it fought several Awakened.

The Skeleton Mage radiated cold air. It wore a black robe patterned with blue lines, while specks of blue ice crystals drifted around it. With such an extraordinary appearance, it was clearly a powerful leader-level creature.

The ones fighting the Skeleton Mage were none other than three students from the second intake of the God Strategy Army's Genius Camp—

Monk Golden Bull, serving as the tank; Mad Dog, an archer of an unknown class serving as DPS; and Word Spirit Master Qilin, serving as support.

"Hurry! The magic resistance potions are about to wear off! Keep attacking!" Qilin urged.

All three were panting heavily, clearly near their limits. The Skeleton Mage Leader they faced had half its body shattered, with several arrows lodged between its bones. It had evidently been badly wounded as well.

The Skeleton Mage Leader pointed a finger, condensing an ice crystal at its fingertip before firing it out.

Its target was Mad Dog, who had dealt the highest damage!

Mad Dog moved in advance, dodging and shifting. Yet the icy spike seemed to have its own guidance system. It curved slightly and still grazed Mad Dog's side, dealing frost damage and applying a slowing effect.

"Don't get cocky! Use your skills when it's time!" Qilin shouted. "The BOSS has high Meditation Expertise. It can correct its projectile trajectories!"

"Got it!"

Mad Dog said in a muffled voice, "Golden Bull, buy me three seconds!"

As he spoke, Mad Dog dropped to one knee. Crimson light flickered over his body, and his greatbow gleamed with gorgeous colors as though lit by the evening glow.

Mad Dog strained as he pulled open the bowstring. A bow he could normally draw with ease now felt as though it bore the weight of a thousand pounds.

As the string was slowly drawn, a somewhat illusory crimson arrow gradually took shape between Mad Dog's left thumb and fingers.

The Skeleton Mage Leader sensed the threat and immediately raised its staff, casting a layer of Frost Shield around itself before beginning to chant. An icy mental ripple spread across the battlefield. Though no one understood the chant's meaning, it still sent chills down their spines.

Golden Bull threw punch after punch. Most of the force from his attacks was weakened by the Frost Shield, and only a tiny amount reached the Skeleton Mage Leader. He could not interrupt its casting at all.

"My Jade Breaking Fist doesn't have enough priority. It can't penetrate it!" Golden Bull said grimly.

Before Golden Bull could speak, Qilin had already opened a golden tome. He chanted a true word, then suddenly pointed at the Skeleton Mage Leader. "Fire, fire, fire! Blaze!"

Three wisps of flame rose from the Frost Shield before abruptly turning into blazing fire! Using fire to counter ice, Qilin relied purely on Fire Damage to exhaust the Frost Shield's absorption under the advantage of elemental restraint.

Golden Bull stepped forward and threw a punch carrying a transparent wave of force, shaking the Skeleton Mage Leader's entire body and causing its brewing spell to fail.

"Mad Dog, it's up to you now!" Golden Bull shouted.

"Here it comes!" Mad Dog laboriously pulled the bowstring to its limit. The gorgeous crimson arrow had fully formed, as if condensed from the sunset itself!

"Sunset Arrow!" Mad Dog shouted the name of his skill to bolster his aura.

Whoosh! With a piercing shriek, the crimson arrow tore through the sky, trailing a magnificent purplish-red tail as it struck the Skeleton Mage Leader! A blazing radiance like the sun erupted from the point of impact.

The Skeleton Mage Leader had already been low on health. After taking this Sunset Arrow, it was immediately pushed into a dying state. It dropped to one knee and blankly "looked" at the several broken ribs in its chest and the large hole in its ribcage.

Crack, crack! The Skeleton Mage Leader turned into scattered bone fragments of varying lengths and fell across the ground.

"We did it!" The three were overjoyed. Killing a leader-level Skeleton Mage with an elite party of only three was absolutely something worth bragging about.

But in the next second, a sudden change occurred!

A figure silently appeared beside the panting Mad Dog and viciously slashed a blade across his throat!