Improvement

The behavior of entrusting one's life to skill, where a single mistake could lead to serious injury, was something Rhode would never choose if his stats weren't so abysmal.

After all, this wasn't a game anymore. In the game, one could pursue the thrill of a split-second kill. Now, the only approach was to play it safe. However, the outcome was good; he had killed the Skeleton Soldier without taking any damage.

Leaning against the wall to rest for a moment, Rhode began to check his system log once his stamina recovered.

"You dealt 2 damage to Skeleton Soldier, Skeleton Soldier has you as the primary hate target..."

"You successfully dodged Skeleton Soldier's attack..."

"You dealt 25 weak point damage to Skeleton Soldier, triggering instant kill effect, damage correction..."

"You dealt 43 instant kill damage to Skeleton Soldier, Skeleton Soldier is dead..."

"Glorious Victory! You gained 10 Experience Points!"

Seeing this, Rhode knew he could gain Experience Points through the methods from the original game. He thought the system log had ended there, but Rhode discovered another line below.

"You comprehended the combat skill [Burst] during your focused battle!"

"You learned a skill related to Stamina, Stamina unlocked!"

"[Burst Lv1]: Your next attack will consume half of your current Stamina, increasing damage dealt by 30%. Experience Points required to level up: 10."

Rhode glanced at his status panel and found a new attribute, Stamina, below Health and Mana, currently displayed as 27/80.

"I didn't expect to learn skills automatically. I remember in the game, combat skills like this required finding a special tutor. I wonder if this skill was obtained based on completion, or if it can only be acquired in life-or-death battles," Rhode mused.

Looking at the 10 Experience Points on his character panel, Rhode chose to increase his Class Level.

"Consumed 10 Experience Points, remaining Experience Points: 0. Class Level increased to Tier 1 Militiaman Level 2..."

"Received 1 Free Attribute Point, received 1 Skill Point..."

Currently, when facing Undead Creatures, Rhode could rely on his combat instincts from his past life and his existing Speed attribute to deal with their movements. However, the damage he dealt might be too low, especially against slow but high-health Ghouls. With that in mind, Rhode allocated his attribute point to Strength, bringing his Strength to 8.

Skill Points could be used to learn various special skills. If attributes were the foundation, then special skills determined a character's role. Since there were no restrictions on special skills in the game, any special skill could be obtained with Skill Points, making the use of Skill Points particularly important.

Seeing he had gained a Skill Point and thinking about the battles he might face next, Rhode immediately used it to learn Basic Swordsmanship.

(Basic Swordsmanship: Years of sword experience have allowed you to summarize how to use a sword. You can skillfully use conventional swords. Your mastery speed of general swordsmanship increases, and damage dealt with conventional swords increases by 10%.)

Rhode felt a series of sword-related techniques surface in his mind, then transfer to his body. First, his sword-holding posture adjusted itself, as if he had found the optimal way to hold a sword through countless hours of practice. Other sword-drawing stances also integrated into his body's instincts. Holding the weapon in his hand, Rhode felt a sense of peace.

After organizing the spoils from this battle, Rhode prepared to move on once his Stamina recovered to over half.

The passage remained as deep and dark as ever, the faint glow unable to illuminate the hidden darkness. The skull lying by his feet seemed to tell a tale of a battle that had once taken place here.

Walking forward a few dozen meters, Rhode used the dim light of the passage to spot two Undead Creatures not far ahead: a Ghoul and a Skeleton Soldier.

The Ghoul was the first to notice Rhode, letting out an unintelligible roar. The Skeleton Soldier also noticed Rhode and charged towards him, with the Ghoul following slowly behind.

Rhode, with his slightly improved stats, didn't want to risk a split-second kill like last time. Seeing the Skeleton Soldier swing its sword at him, Rhode retreated two steps to evade its slash. Seizing the opening left by the Skeleton Soldier's missed attack, Rhode swung his sword at its body.

Since the Skeleton Soldier lacked flesh and blood, this slash didn't have much effect. Rhode knew this and followed up with a powerful kick to the Skeleton Soldier's waist. Rhode used the skill [Burst] for this kick, causing the Skeleton Soldier to lose its balance and stumble back two or three steps before stabilizing. An opening appeared before him, and Rhode pressed his advantage, delivering a Heavy Slash that decapitated the Skeleton Soldier!

Just as Rhode was finishing off the Skeleton Soldier, the Ghoul behind him reached Rhode and swiped at him with its greenish claws. Rhode, having just unleashed his full power to instantly kill the Skeleton Soldier, couldn't dodge this claw attack in time and could only block with his arm to avoid taking critical damage.

Instantly, four bloody marks appeared on Rhode's arm, the pain accompanied by a tingling numbness. Rhode knew he had been poisoned by Corpse Poison.

"I was careless..." Rhode knew he couldn't afford to drag this out. Ghouls inherently had more than double the Health of Skeleton Soldiers, around 100. He could have worn down the Ghoul with his speed advantage, but now that he was injured, he had to be careful not to be worn down himself. There was no other option but to end the fight quickly and deal with his injuries.

With that thought, the Ghoul's next attack arrived, another single-claw strike. Rhode retreated to evade this attack, and while the Ghoul was recovering its stance, he thrust his sword towards its throat, simultaneously activating the [Burst] skill.

Just as the sword pierced the Ghoul's throat, something unexpected happened. The durability of the sword Rhode was holding had reached zero. Rhode had intended to pierce the throat and instantly kill the Ghoul, but to his surprise, the sword broke before penetrating deeply into the Ghoul's throat.

The Ghoul lunged again with its claw. Rhode quickly dodged backward, simultaneously bending down to pick up the Iron Sword previously held by the Skeleton Soldier. Before the Ghoul's next claw attack landed, he delivered a Heavy Slash, severing its head.

"Only low-tier Undead Creatures like Ghouls and Skeleton Soldiers can be decapitated for an instant kill. Wraiths can float, making decapitation difficult. Vampires don't die immediately after decapitation. Death Knights have Soul Fire in their chests, and can continue fighting as headless knights after decapitation..." Rhode mused.

Rhode checked the system log at the bottom.

"Glorious Victory! You gained 25 Experience Points!"

"You comprehended the combat skill [Heavy Slash] during the fierce battle."

"[Heavy Slash Lv1]: Consumes 10 Stamina. Your next slash will deal 120% of your base attack power. Damage increases to 160% when attacking weak points. Experience Points required to level up: 5."

The pain in his arm reminded Rhode that he needed to find a way to recover his Health.

Rhode checked his status panel: half Health, bleeding, Corpse Poison... His current Experience Points were 25, and 20 were needed to level up. Rhode chose to increase his Class Level.

"Consumed 20 Experience Points, remaining Experience Points: 5. Class Level increased to Tier 1 Militiaman Level 3..."

"Received 1 Free Attribute Point, received 1 Skill Point..."

In the game, allocating Free Attribute Points to Constitution not only increased the maximum Health and Stamina but also restored a significant amount of Health and Stamina, bringing them to about two-thirds of their maximum.

Rhode wasn't sure if this effect still applied, but based on his previous experiences, if the status panel and Experience Points existed, this effect likely remained.

Rhode allocated his Free Attribute Point to Constitution and saw his Health and Stamina recover to more than half, realizing this effect was still valid. For Rhode, who currently lacked means to recover Health, this was undoubtedly good news.

At the same time, Rhode noticed the Corpse Poison status on his attribute panel. While the Corpse Poison status didn't deduct much Health, it made one prone to fatigue, causing Stamina consumption to increase abnormally, potentially leaving him powerless mid-fight.

"I originally planned to save my Skill Points for learning the four elemental magic specializations later, but it seems I should use one now."

To avoid running out of stamina during combat, Rhode chose to spend a Skill Point to learn Basic Resistance.

(Basic Resistance: You have developed a certain resistance to abnormal status effects, including but not limited to stun, faint, poison, paralysis, burn, frostbite, and charm. You gain a certain reduction in any magical damage taken, approximately 5% of the damage. There is a very small chance to directly immunize against a magical attack.)

At this moment, the Corpse Poison and bleeding icons on his status panel had disappeared. Rhode felt a tingling sensation on his arm, and the wounds inflicted by the Ghoul had scabbed over.