Skill Reinforcement

After a bit of a hassle, Xiao Yang finally returned to the dim and dreary Skeleton Dungeon.

To be honest, after such a journey, Xiao Yang found himself feeling a bit nostalgic for the Skeleton Dungeon.

While he had seen many things and the environment was better in the Myriad Market, he inexplicably preferred the dead, empty silence of the Skeleton Dungeon. Perhaps it was because as a novice, he struggled to deal with the high-level veterans there.

Of course, if you asked if he would go to the Myriad Worlds Trading Area again, the answer was definitely yes. The resources he needed to improve his stats and conquer the Skeleton Dungeon would come from the Myriad Worlds Trading Area.

Xiao Yang had scraped together the ten thousand gold coins for the entrance fee. He had to thank a visiting Dragonborn guest, who was so pleased that she swept up the gold coins Xiao Yang had casually placed out for trial, and gave him a good price.

This Dragonborn inherited the dragon's love for treasure and added her own interests. She liked jewelry with history, and the gold coins Xiao Yang found in the Skeleton Dungeon barely met this criterion.

In short, he wasn't as panicked anymore. After a day, Xiao Yang, completely refreshed and with his condition greatly improved, appeared in this open-doored cell.

This cell had not been invaded by Prisoner Zombies. Xiao Yang stuffed a piece of smoked sausage into his mouth and chewed vigorously; he hadn't tasted meat in a long time.

"Delicious!"

He couldn't help but exclaim. With food and drink sorted, it was time to begin the second round of conquering the hidden area of the first floor of the Skeleton Dungeon.

The immediate priority was to clear the prison corridor filled with a large number of Prisoner Zombies.

A secondary objective was to collect more gold coins, antiques, and materials to prepare for his next entry into the trading area in seven days, and to purchase a large quantity of various potions.

That was roughly the plan.

Xiao Yang was full of motivation now.

On the third day after returning from the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, after three days of almost non-stop luring and hunting the Prisoner Zombies in this corridor, to the point where the corpses of Prisoner Zombies were filling an entire prison room.

By this time, the dense zombie presence in the corridor had finally thinned out.

With only four zombies left, there was hardly any need to kite them anymore. Even if Xiao Yang charged headfirst into these Prisoner Zombies now, he could probably kill them with ease.

However, to be safe, Xiao Yang decided to draw aggro a bit more.

Another Prisoner Zombie fell. Unexpectedly, it dropped a Zombie Killer. Unfortunately, the effects of these accessories couldn't stack, but it would probably fetch some Spirit Coins if sold.

Only one zombie remained in the zombie corridor. Xiao Yang cast his gaze over and, surprisingly, this zombie seemed a little different.

[Prisoner Zombie

Race: Undead

Rank: Normal

Level: 12

Health: 120

Attack: 16

Defense: 2

Agility: 2

Traits: Undead Body, Undead Toxin, Sturdy Body.

Description: A strong prisoner who became an unintelligent zombie in an accident.]

Its Health and Attack were much higher than a typical Prisoner Zombie, and it had an extra trait. Of course, with Xiao Yang's current stats and panel, dealing with this slightly different Prisoner Zombie was not a problem.

But if this guy suddenly ambushed Xiao Yang while mixed in with a crowd of Prisoner Zombies, it would be a bit troublesome.

Playing it safe was still wise.

Now that all the other Prisoner Zombies had been cleared by Xiao Yang, with only this one left, the problem was not significant.

Not long after, under Xiao Yang's powerfully swung Wilderness Hatchet, this exceptionally strong Prisoner Zombie crashed to the ground. A ball of white light burst from the zombie's body, and Xiao Yang snatched it.

Something good dropped – a skill Xiao Yang possessed, Heavy Strike.

The materialized form of the Heavy Strike skill was a rough, yellowed scroll.

This skill was a hot commodity. Although it was only a white-quality skill, Heavy Strike was highly versatile. This yellowed scroll could probably sell for a high price of five thousand Spirit Coins in the Myriad Worlds Trading Area.

It was a good haul, and Xiao Yang's face broke into a smile. Of course, more importantly, this corridor was cleared, and the next area of the hidden map on the first floor of the Skeleton Dungeon was finally opening up to Xiao Yang.

Without much hesitation, Xiao Yang chose to use the Heavy Strike skill scroll again.

Skills could also be improved, and there were several ways to do so. First, through personal comprehension and practice. Second, by learning from experienced skill users and players. Third, and the simplest method, was to use the same skill scroll again.

Of course, this method was somewhat wasteful, but it was the simplest and most direct way. The Heavy Strike skill was quite useful for Xiao Yang and he was accustomed to using it. Since there was a way to enhance the skill, he naturally didn't hesitate.

Although it could be exchanged for a lot of Spirit Coins in the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, Xiao Yang needed combat power more right now.

After using the Heavy Strike skill scroll once more, an inexplicable realization dawned on Xiao Yang.

The power of the Heavy Strike skill didn't increase; it remained at double, but Xiao Yang's method and technique for using the Heavy Strike skill had improved by a full ten percent.

Now, Xiao Yang's attacks were more seasoned, and he could effectively avoid the stun that came with using the Heavy Strike skill.

This improvement was very useful, and Xiao Yang was very satisfied.

The battle ended. Little Bone, carrying a large bundle, poked its head out. It had brought Xiao Yang a large amount of extra loot.

Little Bone's meticulous searching of monster corpses did not count against Xiao Yang's monster drop quota, effectively allowing for two rounds of drops per monster.

The second round of drops was pure bonus for Xiao Yang.

While most of the time Little Bone could only dig up a bit more monster material, sometimes it managed to find something good.

Just like now, under Xiao Yang's gaze, Little Bone fumbled around the corpse of the sturdy Prisoner Zombie that Xiao Yang had already looted and pulled out a pair of boots emitting a soft, glowing green light.

[Zombie Flesh Boots

Quality: Fine

Type: Light Armor, Boots

Effects: Defense +2, Health Regeneration +1, Life Drain +1

Negative: Constant Undead Plague status upon wearing

Description: Oh! These are boots, boots made from zombie skin and flesh. Be careful, they're sucking your blood!]

The attributes of these Zombie Flesh Boots were very good, even coming with two effects Xiao Yang had never encountered before: Health Regeneration and Life Drain. It was just a shame they seemed unsuitable for living people to wear.