Mage's Happy Bones

Clack, clack...

Shattered bones fell to the ground with wet splats. Yuanfang darted and rolled among a group of living bones, his attacks incomparably swift.

Before long, the last living bone fell, and Yuanfang finally stopped moving.

He crouched down, picked up a bone, then looked at the wooden staff in his left hand, deep in thought.

As a Top Player, Yuanfang had naturally bought the wooden staff the moment it became available.

With his talent bonuses and relatively balanced attributes, he could use a staff with ease, though its power was somewhat reduced.

But these Cave Living Bones before him seemed to possess extremely high resistance to magical attacks.

Their resistance to physical attacks, however, was very low.

"Is it because of the white airflow surrounding their bones? Some kind of resistance power?"

Yuanfang could not help but wonder.

He then continued deeper into this branch of the cave until he successfully reached its end.

This was an irregularly shaped square cave. There were traces of human habitation on the ground—carpets, furs, and the like—though only scraps remained now.

They seemed to have been left behind by the living bones before their deaths.

In one corner, an iron chest stood out conspicuously and caught Yuanfang's attention.

[Rusty Iron Chest]

[Description: An iron chest. What treasure could be hidden inside?]

Yuanfang had no key, but he had no intention of doing things the conventional way. He took out his dagger and pried at it twice. With a crack, the iron chest opened.

A smooth ore stone emitting a faint white glow appeared before his eyes.

[Obtained: Magic Resistance Jade ×1]

[Magic Resistance Jade]

[Type: Item]

[Effect: Resists a portion of damage from casters.]

[Description: The distressed people did not understand its true value and merely regarded it as a valuable treasure to be placed in a chest.]

"Magic Resistance Jade... The white airflow around the living bones must have come from this. No wonder..."

Yuanfang put it away.

There was no need to say more. This was definitely a good item.

After examining the surroundings again to make sure he had missed nothing, Yuanfang continued onward.

"Roar..."

The Howling Sea Anemone let out one final pained howl before collapsing to the ground, turning to ash and gradually fading away.

At that moment, Landfall, having finally avenged himself, rushed over. Before it could disappear completely, he viciously stomped on it several times.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... fuck!"

After cursing for quite a while, Landfall finally let out a long breath, feeling much better.

Just from his reaction, it was obvious how many times he had suffered at the hands of the Howling Sea Anemone.

If you stayed outside its attack range, it would retreat into its hole. If you entered its range but remained far away, it would spray stomach acid. If you got too close... it would swallow you whole.

If you failed to dodge, it was basically an instant kill.

It was especially torturous for a flimsy Blank Mage like Landfall.

He had to use his own body to lure it out before he could hit it with spell orbs, and he still had to dodge its stomach acid along the way...

It had nearly made Landfall throw up.

"Trash. Ptooey!"

Before leaving, Landfall even spat at the Howling Sea Anemone's spawn point.

After doing all that, Landfall felt refreshed and brimming with fighting spirit.

"That Howling Sea Anemone was definitely there to scare us off. The monsters ahead are definitely going to be much easier."

Having played plenty of games himself, Landfall was well versed in such tricks and felt that he had already figured out what came next. He continued onward.

Of course, having learned his lesson, he was smarter this time and proceeded cautiously.

When he came across a fork in the path, he made the same choice as Li Miao.

I have to visit every part of the map!

Landfall silently thought to himself as he advanced.

He remained vigilant.

But his next encounter lifted his spirits.

"Level-three Skeleton Soldiers?"

"Haha, I knew it. How could this dungeon be that difficult?"

"They're the same level as Fishmen, and they don't even look as strong as Fishmen."

Landfall laughed.

As a mage, after becoming proficient with spell orbs, he could already handle several Fishmen with ease.

In his eyes, these level-three skeletons were nothing but sitting ducks, easily destroyed with a flick of his hand!

"Let's clear these monsters out and see what's up ahead."

Having made up his mind, Landfall quickly sprang into action.

He was not stupid, of course. Rather than drawing all the living bones over at once, he lured only one.

Soon, the spell orb Landfall condensed struck the pursuing living bone.

But what happened next made Landfall's eyes widen.

The living bone struck by the spell orb merely stiffened for a moment, then continued charging at him with its blade as if nothing had happened!

"Huh?"

A Skeleton Soldier was this tanky?

Landfall was dumbfounded. He found it hard to believe that a seemingly frail Skeleton Soldier could be even tougher than the Howling Sea Anemone!

Still, he did not panic. After retreating some distance, he cast another spell.

This time, the living bone shattered and clattered to the ground in pieces.

Landfall's expression turned strange at the sight.

"This Skeleton Soldier... popped its Famous Blade?"

Landfall had clearly failed to notice the white airflow around the living bone. This was also related to how he had to concentrate when casting with the wooden staff.

"Whatever. As long as they can be killed."

Landfall did not investigate further.

He then began repeating the process, killing the living bones one by one.

But after killing around five or six, Landfall began to feel that something was off.

"That's not right. I only saw seven or eight Skeleton Soldiers at most before, didn't I? Why the fuck are there more and more the longer I fight?"

Landfall was puzzled.

But he quickly found the answer.

The reason was... these living bones respawned too.

By the time he lured one away, killed it with two spell orbs, and returned along the same route, the living bones he had killed had already almost respawned...

The timing balanced out, so naturally, the number of remaining living bones never seemed to decrease.

The place he could not get past was still impossible to pass, and the only possible gain was a few visibly numbered drops of candle wax.

"Fuck!"

Realizing he had wasted all that effort, Landfall's blood pressure immediately rose. Feeling like a donkey, he slammed a fist into the nearby stone wall.

That punch did no damage to the wall, but the noise it made successfully drew the attention of all the remaining living bones!

Clack!

The group of living bones immediately turned their skulls in Landfall's direction in perfect unison.

Then, blades in hand, they rushed toward Landfall at a rapid pace. They were pretty fast, too!

Landfall's scalp went numb. He had barely any mental energy left, so he had no way to fight back!

Unless he engaged these living bones in an intense melee brawl, going fist to bone in a one-on-one fight.

A group of blade-wielding living bones against an unarmed him...

"You motherfucking bastards!"

Landfall swallowed hard, turned around, and began sprinting for his life.

Now, he could only run toward the Spirit Candle!

However, when he turned back, he discovered that the Howling Sea Anemone had respawned as well. It poked out of the water and watched him like a tiger eyeing its prey.

Wolves ahead, tigers behind, and stone walls on either side...

Landfall instinctively stopped, drenched in sweat and at a loss for what to do.

"No!!!"

The living bones rapidly closed in with blades raised. Landfall's eyes were filled with terror and helplessness...

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