Skeleton General - White Bone Armor

"You're from the Stonefield Family?" The old man's face darkened as he shot back.

"Well, not exactly. I just signed an agreement with them, so I own the rights to Fargodeep Mine." Seeing the old man's sour expression, Li Shaolin quickly explained.

"Ownership of Fargodeep Mine?" The old man's face lit up with agitation, and he reached out to grab him, only to be jolted by a sharp pain from his broken leg, letting out an "Ouch!" The young woman beside him hurriedly steadied him, causing another flurry of fuss.

After a long pause, the old man finally recovered and asked, "Young man, is this true? Could you let me see the agreement?" His face was etched with disbelief.

Seeing his persistence, Li Shaolin couldn't refuse the old man. He pulled the agreement from his storage space and handed it over. He wasn't worried about the old man not returning it or tearing it up, since the document was protected by contractual power and had already been registered in Stormwind City.

Holding the agreement, the old man read it several times before seeming to accept the reality. He looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant, shaking his head and saying, "Forget it, forget it!"

Li Shaolin was puzzled by the old man's reaction. It seemed the conflict between the Makrolen Family and the Stonemason Family was tied to Fargodeep Mine. But as an outsider, he didn't feel it was his place to pry into such gossip. Just then, the people who had gone back returned, carrying a stretcher lined with bearskin.

The old man turned to Li Shaolin and said, "Young man—or should I call you Chief Li or Lord Li? How about this: come rest at my Makrolen Farm and have some wine? I'll tell you the whole story of Fargodeep Mine."

Li Shaolin had no choice but to nod. After all, this was why he had come. If he could resolve things perfectly and without bad blood, that would be ideal.

So the group made their way to a large wooden manor. From a distance, the aroma of the nearby brewery wafted into their noses, sweet and refreshing.

They sat down by the fireplace, which seemed to be a custom of theirs. Every living room had a fireplace, even though the weather wasn't cold. It was just a habit, and there was no helping it.

The old man had the young woman fetch wine for Li Shaolin, then said with some emotion, "The truth is, the feud between the Makrolen Family and the Stonemason Family has been going on for generations, all because of Fargodeep Mine. I don't know how many years ago, the mine still belonged to the Makrolen Family. Then I heard that one of our patriarchs was a gambler. One night, dead drunk, he mortgaged Fargodeep Mine to the Stonemason Family. Even though he lost it fair and square, our family isn't so petty as to try to take it back. But later, rumors spread that the gambling match was rigged, that the Stonemason Family had set it up. We never found solid proof, but they were definitely involved. So for all these years, our families have been at odds. Later, when the mine was taken over by Kobolds, things quieted down for a while. Who would've thought that a few days ago, the Kobolds and the professionals inside would vanish without a trace? The Stonemason Family's farm mostly grows watermelons and other crops, not grapes for wine like ours, so their harvests aren't great. I figured they couldn't afford to work the mine and thought we'd compete for it. But now it turns out the ownership has fallen into your hands, young man." The old man finished his tale with a heavy sigh.

Just then, the young woman brought over the wine and gestured for Li Shaolin to drink.

"So that's how it is. I never knew it was so complicated." Still, the mine was his now, and he wasn't about to let go of a fat prize that had landed in his lap.

"Young man, how about we make a deal?" The old man shifted his tone.

"Go ahead. I'll see if I can accept it," Li Shaolin replied.

"Here's the thing. On the east side, near the river bordering Duskwood, there's a place called Jerod's Dock. It used to be Makrolen Family property. We've always used that dock to ship wine to Lakeshire and Westfall. But in the last few years, the Defias Brotherhood took it over. It's far from Goldshire, the woods are thick, and the sheriff is too busy to send help to reclaim it. As things stand, our wine transport has to take a huge detour, wasting a lot of manpower."

"You mean... you want me to help you reclaim Jerod's Dock?" That was the gist of the old man's words. After all, the Defias Brotherhood had already occupied a good chunk of Elwynn Forest. Relying on the town guards alone clearly wouldn't cut it. Adventurers could handle small skirmishes, but a large-scale operation was beyond them.

"Heh, Lord Li, you're young and capable. Your profession level must be pretty high, right? If you help out, and I pull a few guards from the family, it shouldn't be too hard. There are only six or seven people at the dock. Their leader is a level 10 guy, a bit tricky, but probably no match for you, Lord Li." The old man immediately started buttering him up.

"Well, how about this? I'll borrow some people from the Stonemason Family, and we'll join forces?" Though Li Shaolin didn't think it would be too difficult, it was better to play it safe. Plus, suggesting this was also a way to ease the tension between the two families.

"That could work. If you really help me solve the Jerod's Dock problem, our family won't meddle in Fargodeep Mine affairs anymore. But the feud with the Stonemason Family won't be resolved overnight."

Li Shaolin thought it over. "Alright, I'll head to the Stonemason Family now. I'll come back tonight to discuss dealing with the Defias."

"Fine. Maybell, see our guest out. And have the steward bring a horse for Lord Li." The old man gestured to his injured leg with an apologetic look.

The young woman followed Li Shaolin out to the door, where she looked at him as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Um... Lord Li... could you do me a favor?" The young woman's face flushed with shyness as she twisted the hem of her clothes, her voice barely a whisper.

Damn, am I just too handsome? Is this girl into me? Ah, being good-looking is a curse—everywhere I go, I'm the center of attention. Oh well, I've got a soft spot for the ladies. I'll just have to make the sacrifice and go along with it. Her dad's a family patriarch, after all.

Li Shaolin was lost in his own smug fantasies, a lecherous grin spreading across his face, when the young woman moved her wrist and pulled out a letter. Damn, that's direct! A love letter already?

"Um... Lord Li, could you please deliver this letter to Tommy Joe at Stonefield Farm? Lord Li? Lord Li?" Maybell called out twice before snapping him out of his daydream.

"Uh, what? Oh, a letter?" He finally realized the girl wasn't interested in him.

He mounted the black horse the steward had brought, tucked the letter into his storage space, and rode off slowly along the path. Damn, am I really that ugly? No way. There's no reason she wouldn't like me. And so, in confusion and frustration, he rode off into the distance.

Fortunately, the Makrolen Farm's wine transport route passed by Stonefield Farm, so a small road connected the two. Following it, he made good time.

Bored on the horse, he pulled out the Book of the Dead. He had just leveled up and still had a skill point to use, so he decided to study it. Flipping to the summoning page, he reviewed it carefully. After the past few days of fighting, he felt the Skeleton Warriors were quite powerful, especially when enhanced with the Venomous Dagger. Should I put another point in? Then he remembered the first skill in Diablo II: Skeleton Mastery. In that game, you usually maxed it out to upgrade your skeletons. But his skeletons didn't need leveling—they scaled with his own level. He wondered what effect it would have. Raise Skeleton seemed different too. Originally, after level 3, you needed two points to summon an extra skeleton. But now, the skill description read: "Next level: Number of skeletons summonable: 4." That meant he only needed one more point in Raise Skeleton to have four Skeleton Warriors.

After some hesitation, he figured Skeleton Mastery couldn't be useless. It was just one skill point—why not try it? With three Skeleton Warriors and a Clay Golem, he felt he had enough. One more wouldn't make much difference, especially since he couldn't summon skeletons during the day anyway.

Biting the bullet, he tapped Skeleton Mastery. Black mist rose, and the skill icon turned red, but the extra skill point vanished with no visible change. Li Shaolin was disappointed.

He flipped to his character stats page, about to check his strength and agility, when a change caught his eye.

Name: Li Shaolin Race: Human (Eastern Warlock) Gender: Male Class: Necromancer (Owner of Fargodeep Mine) Health: 134/134 Mana: 134/134 Level: 10 Remaining Skill Points: 0 Equipment: Book of the Dead, 8-Slot Space Belt Skills: Detection Lv.2, Raise Skeleton Lv.2, Fangs Lv.1, Clay Golem Lv.1, Skeleton Mastery Lv.2 (Passive), Venomous Dagger Lv.1, Bone Shield Lv.1, Bone Armor Conversion Summons: First-Tier Skeleton Warrior (1), Second-Tier Skeleton Warrior (2, upgradeable to Third-Tier Skeleton General), First-Tier Clay Golem (1), Fourth-Tier Clay Golem (1).

Skeleton General? What's that? And what's Bone Armor Conversion? He looked closer and found a small line of text under Bone Shield: "Bone Armor Conversion: Equips your Skeleton Warrior with bone armor. Duration: 1 hour. Mana cost: 50. Requires bone material as a medium." Is it armor?