Skill Enhancement

After all that trouble, Xiao Yang finally returned to the gloomy, oppressive Skeleton Dungeon.

To be honest, after a trip like that, he actually found himself missing the Skeleton Dungeon a little.

He'd seen plenty of things at the Myriad Market, and the surroundings were much nicer, but for some reason, he preferred the silent, empty Skeleton Dungeon. Perhaps it was because he was still a greenhorn, and those high-level old hands had been difficult to deal with.

Of course, if you asked whether he'd go back to the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, the answer was definitely yes. He still needed to rely on it for the resources to improve his attributes and make his way through the Skeleton Dungeon.

Xiao Yang had scraped together enough for the ten-thousand-coin entrance fee. He also had a visiting dragonkin to thank: she'd been delighted to snap up all the gold coins he'd put out on a whim, and had paid a good price for them.

The dragonkin had inherited dragons' love of treasure and added her own tastes to it. She liked jewelry with a history, and the coins Xiao Yang had found in the Skeleton Dungeon had just about met her standards.

In any case, there was no need to panic now. After a day of rest, Xiao Yang was back in fine form, appearing in the open doorway of the prison cell.

No Prisoner Zombies had invaded the cell. Xiao Yang stuffed a piece of smoked sausage into his mouth and chewed heartily. It had been a long time since he'd tasted meat.

"Delicious!"

He couldn't help exclaiming. With food and drink taken care of, it was time to begin the second round of clearing the hidden area on the Skeleton Dungeon's first floor.

His first priority was to clear the prison corridor, where a large number of Prisoner Zombies had gathered.

His secondary objectives were to collect more coins and antiques, and to farm materials in preparation for his next visit to the trading area in seven days—and to stock up on plenty of potions.

That was more or less the plan.

Xiao Yang was raring to go.

On the third day after returning from the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, after three days spent almost without stopping to lure out and hunt the Prisoner Zombies along the corridor, their corpses had piled up enough to fill an entire cell.

By then, the corridor that had once been packed with zombies had finally begun to thin out.

Only four zombies remained. There was hardly any need to lure them out anymore. Even if Xiao Yang charged straight at the Prisoner Zombies and fought them head-on, he could probably kill them with ease.

Still, to be on the safe side, Xiao Yang decided to draw out their aggro a little longer.

Another Prisoner Zombie fell. Unexpectedly, it dropped a Zombie Killer. The effects of these accessories couldn't stack, unfortunately, but it should still be worth a few Spirit Coins if he sold it.

Only one zombie remained in the Zombie Corridor. Xiao Yang glanced over and, to his surprise, noticed that this one seemed a little different.

Prisoner Zombie

Race: Undead

Rank: Common

Level: 12

Health: 120

Attack: 16

Defense: 2

Agility: 2

Traits: Undead Body, Undead Toxin, Sturdy Body.

Description: A powerful prisoner who became a mindless zombie after an accident.

Its health and attack were both much higher than those of an ordinary Prisoner Zombie, and it had one extra trait, too. Of course, with Xiao Yang's current attributes and status, he shouldn't have any trouble dealing with this slightly different Prisoner Zombie.

But if the thing had been mixed in with the others and suddenly hit Xiao Yang, it could have caused some trouble.

Playing it safe was the smart choice.

Now that Xiao Yang had cleared out all the other Prisoner Zombies, there wasn't much of a problem with only this one left.

Before long, the exceptionally strong Prisoner Zombie crashed to the ground under the fierce swings of Xiao Yang's Wilderness Hatchet. A ball of white light burst from its body, and Xiao Yang caught it.

He'd gotten something good: a skill he already had, Heavy Strike.

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

This skill was a hot seller. It was only a white-grade skill, but Heavy Strike was quite versatile. A single yellowed scroll like this could probably fetch as much as five thousand Spirit Coins at the Myriad Worlds Trading Area.

That was a good haul. A smile spread across Xiao Yang's face. But more importantly, he'd finished clearing the corridor, and the next section of the Skeleton Dungeon's first-floor hidden map was finally about to open up to him.

Without much hesitation, Xiao Yang chose to use the Heavy Strike Skill Scroll again.

Skills could be enhanced, and there were several ways to do it. First, you could hone them through practice. Second, you could learn from people and players with more experience in the skill. Third—and simplest—you could use another scroll for the same skill.

Of course, that was a bit of a waste, but it was also the easiest and most straightforward method. Heavy Strike was useful to Xiao Yang, and he was already comfortable using it. Since he could enhance the skill, he naturally wouldn't hesitate.

He could have traded it for plenty of Spirit Coins at the Myriad Worlds Trading Area, but what Xiao Yang needed more right now was combat power.

After using the Heavy Strike Skill Scroll once again, an inexplicable insight surfaced in Xiao Yang's mind.

The power of Heavy Strike hadn't increased; it was still twice as strong. But Xiao Yang's technique and skill in using it had improved dramatically.

Now, Xiao Yang's attacks were much more seasoned, and he could avoid the stiffness Heavy Strike caused far more effectively.

The improvement was quite useful, and Xiao Yang was very satisfied.

The battle was over. Little Bone poked its head out from a huge bundle, bringing Xiao Yang a large haul of extra loot.

Little Bone's thorough scavenging of monster corpses didn't count against Xiao Yang's kill-drop quota. That meant each monster could yield two rounds of drops.

The second round was essentially free loot for Xiao Yang.

Most of the time, Little Bone could only dig up a few extra monster materials, but sometimes it found something valuable.

Just like now. As Xiao Yang watched, Little Bone rummaged through the corpse of the burly Prisoner Zombie—one Xiao Yang had already searched—and pulled out a pair of boots that glimmered a lustrous green.

Zombie Flesh Boots

Quality: Fine

Type: Light Armor, Boots

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

Negative Effect: The wearer is permanently afflicted with Undead Plague.

Description: Oh! It's a pair of boots—a pair made from zombie flesh and skin. Be careful, they're sucking your blood!

The Zombie Flesh Boots had excellent stats, and even came with two effects Xiao Yang had never encountered before: Health Regeneration and Life Drain. It was a shame, though, that they didn't seem suitable for the living.