A Sparring Match You Chose? Why Did You Wet Yourself?

Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao walked side by side, with nine skeletons clearing the way for them.

Not far away, waves of angry curses and fighting sounds came from the bushes.

"Damn it! Why won't this thing die already?!"

"Brother Hao, watch out for its Wooden Club!"

"Get them! Don't let it escape!"

Lin Mu's gaze sharpened, and he raised a hand to signal Su Xiaoxiao to stop.

He frowned slightly and looked ahead.

In a clearing up ahead.

Wang Hao and four lackeys were locked in battle with a Goblin Scout.

A Goblin corpse lay on the ground nearby, its blood still fresh.

Wang Hao was panting heavily, his school uniform soaked with sweat, and a long, thin cut marked his face.

His four subordinates were all injured as well.

One of them had blood pouring nonstop from his right arm, his face twisted in pain.

Wang Hao repeatedly activated his novice skill, Fire Fist.

Flames flashed through the woods.

One punch, two punches, three punches... Finally, under another Fire Fist.

The Goblin Scout let out a shrill scream and collapsed to the ground.

"Huff... huff... finally... dead..."

Wang Hao braced his hands on his knees and gasped for breath.

Just then.

A sharp-eyed lackey beside him pointed toward Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao.

"Brother Hao, look over there!"

Wang Hao wiped the sweat from his face and looked up.

Lin Mu reacted quickly and swiftly adjusted his position.

He had the nine skeletons line up tightly behind himself and Su Xiaoxiao, like the formation for a Thousand-Hand Guanyin performance.

Using the tree shadows and the angle to conceal them, Wang Hao and the others only saw the two of them.

They did not notice the Skeleton Squad behind them.

The exhaustion on Wang Hao's face was instantly replaced with mockery.

He put on his trademark grin and walked over.

"Well, well, the top student Lin and the campus belle Su are still alive! You two are pretty lucky!"

Wang Hao straightened his back and put on an exaggerated expression, deliberately hiding his fatigue.

"We've already killed three Goblins. You two... don't tell me you haven't even run into a single monster?"

He looked the two of them up and down.

Seeing that their clothes were neat and spotless.

He became even more certain of his guess.

The four lackeys immediately caught on and chimed in.

"Exactly! Don't tell me top student Lin is too embarrassed to summon that Trash Skeleton of his in front of the campus belle?"

A tall, skinny boy with glasses pointed at Lin Mu, his tone exaggerated.

"Su Xiaoxiao, don't follow this loser around. Why not come with us? We may not be able to form a party anymore, but Brother Hao can still protect you."

Another fat guy said with a grin, though his eyes swept over Su Xiaoxiao with ill intent.

The shame and anger they had expected never appeared.

Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao stood where they were, their expressions calm.

Su Xiaoxiao even leisurely raised her head to look at the patches of light filtering through the trees.

A faint trace of pity hung on her face.

That complete disregard made the fire in Wang Hao's chest blaze.

He felt as though he had suffered the greatest humiliation.

The sense of superiority he had finally found was forcibly shoved back down his throat.

"Fuck!"

Wang Hao took a step forward and glared viciously at Lin Mu.

"Lin Mu, if you've got the guts, summon your Trash Skeleton and let me show you what a real combat class looks like!"

Lin Mu finally withdrew his dismissive gaze.

He looked at Wang Hao, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"As you wish."

"Crack."

Behind him, a Sturdy Skeleton stepped forward slowly with steady strides.

It stood in front of him and Su Xiaoxiao.

Pale blue Soul Fire flickered within its empty eye sockets.

Adding a few more eerie touches to the dim forest.

"Let my 'Trash Skeleton' see whether your fists are really that tough."

Lin Mu clasped his hands behind his back and deliberately emphasized the words "Trash Skeleton."

Wang Hao froze for a moment before letting out a sneer.

"Putting on airs! You think a pile of bones can scare anyone?"

However, Zhang Xin, the bespectacled boy behind Wang Hao, had a slight change in expression.

He had awakened the Hunter class, and his senses were somewhat sharper than the others'. He seemed to have noticed something.

He tugged at Wang Hao's sleeve and whispered.

"Brother Hao, this skeleton... something seems off. Look at its bones..."

"Get lost!"

Wang Hao flung Zhang Xin's hand away and sneered repeatedly.

"What's off about it? Isn't it just a few bones?"

He flexed his fists, which were covered by the Coarse Cloth Gauntlets issued by the school.

Then he threw a vicious punch at the skeleton's ribcage.

"Clang!"

A dull sound rang out, like a wooden hammer striking stone.

The skeleton did not budge, and a bright red "-1" floated above its head.

Wang Hao felt sharp pain shoot through his fist, as though his knuckles had struck steel.

He grunted, and a flicker of disbelief crossed his face.

"Impossible!"

Wang Hao roared, his lips twisting with rage.

"A Necromancer's skeleton is the weakest kind!"

Refusing to believe it, he took a deep breath and activated his class skill, Fire Fist.

Scarlet flames ignited around his fist as he slammed it into the skeleton again.

"Break!"

The flames burst with a muffled boom.

Yet when the smoke cleared, the skeleton was still standing there as firm as a mountain.

"-1."

Wang Hao's face instantly turned deathly pale.

His class, Flame Warrior, was supposed to have bonus damage and a natural advantage against undead creatures.

Yet it was completely ineffective now!

"This... this is impossible..."

Wang Hao stood frozen in place, his voice trembling. "You... what did you do?"

A bad feeling rose in his heart.

This skeleton's defense was absurdly high!

Putting on a fierce front to hide his fear, he roared at his four lackeys.

"What the hell are you standing around for?! Get in there together! Tear this pile of bones apart!"

The four were shocked as well. After all, even Wang Hao had not looked this ridiculous when fighting Goblins.

But they could only grit their teeth, raising their novice weapons—Short Swords, Daggers, and Wooden Clubs.

They rushed forward together and launched a frenzied barrage against the skeleton.

Clang! Clang! Bang! Bang!

The sounds of weapons striking bone rang out without end.

"-1," "-1," and "-1" repeatedly floated above the skeleton, forced damage indicators.

The five of them were exhausted, drenched in sweat.

Their arms ached terribly, and even their weapons had begun to chip.

Yet not even a single crack appeared on the skeleton.

"This... how is this possible..."

Wang Hao looked utterly defeated, while cold sweat streamed down the foreheads of the four lackeys.

Their eyes were filled with terrified disbelief.

What the fuck was this monster?!

Lin Mu watched their futile attacks and sneered.

"Since you all enjoy ganging up on people so much, I won't hold back either."

Before his words had even faded.

A chorus of cracking sounds rose behind him.

More pale blue Soul Fire lit up amid the tree shadows.

Under the terrified gazes of Wang Hao and the other four, eight identical skeletons marched out in perfect formation.

Their Soul Fire connected into a sea of blue flames in the dim forest, radiating suffocating pressure.

They slowly surrounded Wang Hao's group of five, forming a perfect cage of bone.

"N-Nine?!"

Wang Hao's eyes nearly popped from their sockets, and even his voice cracked.

"That's impossible! Isn't a novice Necromancer limited to only one summon?!"

Wang Hao and the others completely panicked, their mental defenses collapsing outright.

"Brother Hao, save me!"

"They're going to kill me!"

The five attacked wildly like headless flies, trying to break out of the encirclement.

But every attack vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.

All they gained were mocking "-1" damage indicators.

"Run! Run now!"

Wang Hao was the first to react.

He screamed and tried to escape through a gap between the skeletons.

But the nine skeletons worked in perfect coordination and instantly tightened the encirclement.

They trapped the five so thoroughly that not even water could pass through.

There was no hope of escape!

Wang Hao's legs gave out.

He dropped to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face.

He desperately kowtowed toward Lin Mu and begged.

"Lin Mu! Brother Lin! I was wrong! I failed to recognize your greatness! I shouldn't have mocked you! Please, spare us!"

The other four lackeys hurriedly threw down their weapons.

Following Wang Hao's example, they dropped to their knees and begged, their cries rising one after another.

"Brother Lin! We were blind fools!"

"Spare us! We'll never dare again!"

"My mom is still waiting for me to go home and deliver her baby! Don't kill me!"

Lin Mu slowly walked to the outside of the encirclement and looked down at the five kneeling figures.

"Weren't you acting pretty impressive just now?"

His voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Didn't you enjoy humiliating others and savoring the thrill of ganging up on them?"

"Why aren't you so arrogant now?"

Wang Hao's face was pale as a sheet, and he kowtowed frantically.

"B-Brother Lin, I know I was wrong! I really know! I'll never dare do it again!"

Zhang Xin cried out as well.

"Brother Lin! I offended a genius like you because I was blind and ignorant! It was all Wang Hao's fucking fault for being such an asshole! Please be merciful and let us go..."

"You people really know how to change faces."

Lin Mu smiled coldly, without a trace of warmth in his eyes.

"This world never lacked hypocrites; it only lacked genuine villains."

He turned to Su Xiaoxiao beside him.

"Classmate Su, things might get a little bloody next. Do you want to avoid it for now?"

Su Xiaoxiao bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"No... I can handle it."

Lin Mu nodded and gave the order expressionlessly. "Clean them up."

The Bone Blades in the hands of the nine skeletons flashed with a cold gleam.

"No! Don't! Lin Mu, you can't—"

"Spare me! I was wrong! I really was wrong!"

"You lunatic! You'll go to hell!"

Amid Wang Hao and the others' terrified pleas, desperate cries, and furious curses,

the nine skeletons moved in perfect coordination.

Screams rang out one after another.

Wang Hao's four lackeys could not even put up a proper fight.

Each was dispatched cleanly by a single slash from a skeleton.

Of the four, only one Novice White Weapon dropped.

Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao each gained 10 experience points.

Wang Hao's eyes widened.

He watched his companions fall one by one into pools of blood.

The expression on his face twisted beyond recognition.

He trembled uncontrollably, so frightened that he wet his pants.

A pungent stench spread through the woods.

The nine skeletons formed a circle again, trapping him tightly inside.

Lin Mu walked up to Wang Hao, a teasing smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Classmate Wang Hao, you seem a little overheated... ah, pfft! I mean, now we can have a proper 'spar.'"

He picked up the Short Sword dropped by the four men.

He pressed it against Wang Hao's thigh, his voice gentle.

"Didn't you say you wanted to show me what despair was?"

Squelch!—the sound of the blade piercing flesh.

"Ah!"

"Desperate enough now?"

Squelch!

"Ah!"

"Still want to run your mouth?"

Squelch!

Su Xiaoxiao stood to one side, her little face somewhat pale from the bloody scene just now.

The way she looked at Lin Mu was filled with shock and Fear.

In the dim woods,

the Soul Fire in the nine skeletons flickered faintly.

It illuminated Wang Hao's utterly pale face, drained white from excessive blood loss.

After a long while, Experience +3, Coarse Cloth Gauntlets +1.