Adventurer's Armguard

Skeleton Warrior

Race: Bone Undead

Rank: Normal

Level: 5

Health: 30

Attack: 6

Defense: 6

Agility: 3

Traits: Warrior Instinct, Pierce Immunity, Undead Mind, Body Reassembly.

Introduction: A dead warrior had risen again. It still remembered some of its past battles, and clutched its Rusty Shortsword.

This Skeleton Warrior gave Xiao Yang a bit of trouble.

He had been able to bully those Normal Skeletons with ease, largely because he had an advantage in agility. Xiao Yang preferred to think of agility as a combination of reaction speed and nimbleness.

Normal Skeletons, which generally had only two points of agility, seemed a little sluggish to Xiao Yang when compared with his own three points. Their sluggish movements were easy for him to dodge.

That advantage had made him feel right at home bullying those Normal Skeletons.

But could he use the same approach to bully this Skeleton Warrior, which was stronger than ordinary skeletons?

Xiao Yang decided to give it a try. He had also leveled up during his exploration.

He had gone from level one to level two and gained an Attribute Point. He put it straight into agility, so his stats were no longer all threes.

In the early stages of exploring the dungeon, Xiao Yang felt he should focus first on the stats that could give him an edge.

It was the right strategy. That extra point of agility had proved far more useful than any other stat during his exploration of the Skeleton Dungeon.

Though Xiao Yang dodged left and right in a sorry scramble, his extra agility let him trade a few moves with the Skeleton Warrior wielding the Rusty Shortsword.

He darted around in front of the Skeleton Warrior like a monkey, occasionally sneaking in a hit.

The attacks barely hurt, though. The Wilderness Hatchet had only six attack, and the Skeleton Warrior had six defense. It could barely get through its guard, dealing a pitiful single point of damage.

The gap between Xiao Yang and the Skeleton Warrior was simply too wide. After all, he was level two while it was level five. In the real world, the difference levels made was much more pronounced than in a game.

But it wasn't hopeless. Thanks to the great adventurer Robert, whose advice had given Xiao Yang a chance at victory.

Even with its higher defense, the Skeleton Warrior apparently couldn't escape the same weakness as the Normal Skeletons.

Once again, Xiao Yang struck the joint in the Skeleton Warrior's hand. Its arm began to tremble.

That was it!

Based on what he had learned from fighting those Normal Skeletons, when the Skeleton Warrior's arm started shaking so noticeably—

It wouldn't take many more hits.

Breaking the arm holding the Rusty Shortsword was Xiao Yang's only chance of winning.

He leaned back to dodge again. In the dim dungeon room, the Skeleton Warrior's Rusty Shortsword swung past him once more.

Making such a wide dodge wasn't easy for Xiao Yang, either. He felt like his back was about to snap.

He raised his hatchet and brought it down hard on the joint of the Skeleton Warrior's sword arm. The Wilderness Hatchet dealt another pitiful point of damage.

But for now, damage wasn't what mattered.

After one more heavy blow, the arm finally gave way.

A bony arm, still gripping the shortsword, fell to the floor.

His chance had come!

The Skeleton Warrior tried to swing its sword again, but the arm holding it had already broken off and fallen to the floor.

Seizing the opening, Xiao Yang lunged forward! He slammed into the armless Skeleton Warrior with all his strength.

It stumbled. In the process, its other hand struck him hard across the face. The punch made Xiao Yang see stars and even triggered a notification.

Health -3

The blow had nearly taken half of Xiao Yang's health, but he had managed to grab the severed hand.

He rolled away awkwardly, clutching the hand and denying the Skeleton Warrior a chance to reassemble its limb.

When he finished rolling, a pale red potion was in his hand. He pulled out the stopper and tipped it into his mouth.

It was a Minor Health Potion.

Huh? It tasted strange, like sour lizard urine, but it worked. Xiao Yang's health began to recover, ticking upward second by second. About six seconds after he drank the Minor Health Potion, his health was full again.

At last, the situation had changed. Xiao Yang looked at the Skeleton Warrior, now without its weapon and one arm, and smiled warmly.

He should be able to claim victory now.

Before long, the bony skull rolled to the floor.

As Xiao Yang smiled warmly, he raised the Wilderness Hatchet high.

One blow, then another. Amid a series of grating sounds, the skull on the floor shattered completely, its Soul Flame extinguished along with it.

The Skeleton Warrior fell completely still. Xiao Yang had defeated it—and won despite the difference in levels.

He opened his status panel and checked his experience bar. The Skeleton Warrior alone had given him nearly half the experience he needed. And that wasn't all—a treasure chest in the room was waiting for him to open it.

But he would have to wait a little longer. Just a little longer. Behind him, at the entrance to the dungeon room, several skeletons swayed as they rose from the floor once again.

They were the skeletons Xiao Yang had just knocked apart. He hadn't destroyed their Soul Flames, so they had gotten back up.

After another fierce fight, Xiao Yang finally knocked down every skeleton in the room. He was left panting with exhaustion. All right, sure, defeating a skeleton with a Rusty Shortsword—one of the weakest undead creatures around—might not seem like a big deal.

But Xiao Yang had still had a rough time of it. Just a few days ago, he had been a fragile college student fresh out of university.

His experience had risen again, and he was close to leveling up.

The dead skeletons on the floor had dropped some materials that glimmered pale white.

Xiao Yang ignored them. Nothing else mattered right now. The most important thing was opening the treasure chest!

Xiao Yang hurried over to the wooden chest, excitement all over his face. Holding up the Dark Dispelling Lantern, he eagerly pushed open the chest in front of him. Inside the rotting box lay a pair of dull leather armguards.

Adventurer's Armguard

Quality: Fine

Type: Light Armor, Armguard

Effect: Increases defense by two points and agility by one point.

Introduction: Leather armguards favored by adventurers. Lightweight, with a little extra defense.

The leather armguards were perfect for Xiao Yang. He needed both defense and agility, and he eagerly slipped them onto his arms. A soft green light flashed, and they fit perfectly.

He had been fighting his way through the Skeleton Dungeon for days, and this was the first proper piece of equipment he had obtained.

His stats were now as follows.

Player: Screaming Emperor

Number: 1

Affiliation: Plane 33214

Race: Normal Human

Level: 2

Experience: 320/400

Health: 10

Strength: 3

Defense: 5

Agility: 5

Talent: Dungeon Delver.

Servant: Skeleton Rogue

Items: Wilderness Hatchet, Dark Dispelling Lantern, Adventurer's Armguard.

Evaluation: A weakling.

The stats weren't impressive, but they were enough to let Xiao Yang handle Normal Skeletons with ease. Even against Skeleton Warriors, he now had a fighting chance.