Usage Refresh, Steel Skeleton!

The instant Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao stepped out of the Light Gate.

Every discussion in the plaza came to an abrupt halt.

It was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Then—

A tidal wave of shocked cries and disbelief erupted!

"Holy crap! It really is SSS-Rank!"

"Two people? A Necromancer and a Priest? What kind of joke is this?!"

Principal Qu Qingfeng and Director Liu moved almost simultaneously.

They dashed to the Light Gate's Information Board in a single stride.

Their eyes were wide as saucers as they checked it again and again.

The shock on their faces was beyond description.

Wu Dafan, the homeroom teacher of Class Two, and Zhang Yu beside her had their smug smiles freeze instantly.

Then their faces turned ashen.

Wu Dafan remembered the sarcastic remarks she had just made to Feng Yumei.

She wished she could immediately crawl into a crack in the ground!

Feng Yumei was stunned at first, then overwhelming joy surged into her heart.

Tears of excitement filled her eyes.

She suddenly straightened her back and shot Wu Dafan a fierce glare.

That look was full of vindication!

But then—

She thought of Wang Hao and the other four from her class, who had yet to return, and her heart sank sharply.

She looked at Lin Mu with mixed emotions. Her lips moved, but she ultimately did not ask.

Principal Qu Qingfeng and Director Liu Minghui exchanged a glance.

Their expressions changed several times before they quickly walked toward Lin Mu.

Principal Qu's face was piled with a chrysanthemum-like smile.

His voice even trembled noticeably.

"Student Lin Mu, Student Su Xiaoxiao, how... how did you do it?"

Lin Mu remained calm.

"We got lucky. There was infighting in the Goblin Tribe, so we picked off quite a few wounded Goblins and the final Boss."

Su Xiaoxiao was not good at lying.

Under Qu Qingfeng's piercing gaze, she grew a little nervous.

But she still nodded and softly chimed in.

"Yes, that's right. They started fighting among themselves."

Her family background was extraordinary, so Qu Qingfeng could not press her too hard.

He did not believe that explanation one bit.

But since they did not want to say more, there was nothing he could do.

After all, it was an SSS-Rank rating!

For the Second Vocational Academy, this was glory fallen from the heavens!

Seeing that he could get nothing more out of them, Principal Qu signaled Director Liu with his eyes.

Liu Minghui cleared his throat and announced loudly.

"In light of the outstanding achievements Student Lin Mu and Student Su Xiaoxiao have brought to our school, the school has decided to grant both students the highest-standard rewards we can offer!"

"Each of you will receive one hundred thousand Nova Coins, as well as the right to choose any one Fine Grade, blue-rarity piece of equipment from the school inventory!"

"Furthermore, the school will immediately report this matter to the higher authorities and apply for even better official rewards for the two of you!"

As soon as the words fell—

The surrounding students erupted in envious cries.

Blue equipment was already a rare treasure to these newly awakened class users.

Not to mention the even better official rewards!

Anyone would be jealous.

As the last batch of students was teleported out—

The Dungeon entrance's Light Gate slowly faded away.

This trial—

Had claimed the lives of over thirty students, including Wang Hao's team.

Although many people knew about the "sparring agreement" between Lin Mu and Wang Hao—

Everyone wisely kept silent at this moment.

None of them believed that Wang Hao's group of five had been killed by Lin Mu and Su Xiaoxiao.

Amid the stunned discussions of teachers and students, the Class Awakening Ceremony finally came to an end.

Director Liu reminded all students who had completed the Apprentice Dungeon mission to come to school on time tomorrow.

They would attend the Application Guidance Meeting for Advanced Vocational Academies.

After briefly saying goodbye to Su Xiaoxiao—

Lin Mu returned to the somewhat old house left behind by his parents.

He locked his bedroom door.

The first thing he did was examine the rewards for clearing the Dungeon with an SSS-Rank rating.

[Resurrection Scroll]: Automatically activates upon death, immediately resurrecting its holder at full status.

[Genius Is Just My Threshold] (Unique Title): When equipped, ignores all negative effects caused by other class users' talents.

A full-status resurrection!

It was equivalent to giving Lin Mu two lives!

And immunity to negative talents meant that when facing talent-class users, he would seize the initiative from the start.

These two rewards were absolutely worthy of being called god-tier. Their value was immeasurable!

In the original owner's memories, he had never heard of similar items.

Lin Mu was overjoyed, though he suppressed his excitement.

He opened his Class Panel.

The experience gained from killing the Boss and large numbers of minor monsters in the Dungeon—

Had sent him soaring straight to Level 4!

He had gained 20 free attribute points and 4 skill points.

Lin Mu prioritized allocating 10 attribute points to Constitution.

He put the remaining 10 into Intelligence.

He was simply too fragile. His health and spell damage—

Both needed to be improved, and both needed to be strong!

[Name: Lin Mu]

[Class: Necromancer]

[Level: LV.4, Experience: 286/500]

[Health: 130/130]

[Mana: 160/160]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 4]

[Intelligence: 16]

[Constitution: 13]

[Free Attribute Points: 0]

[Skill Points: 4]

With 130 health, at least he would not die in two strikes anymore.

Then, he took out the yellowed skill book.

[Ding! Do you wish to learn the skill "Bone Tooth"?]

"Learn it!"

[Bone Tooth] (Level 1): Consumes 5 mana to summon 2 Bone Teeth from the ground, which stab into a cone-shaped area ahead, each dealing 2–4 physical damage.

Lin Mu immediately activated his talent, Description Tamperer.

He checked the detailed description.

[Bone Tooth] (Level 1): Consumes 5 mana, guides Death Energy, and summons 2 sharp teeth from Dead Remains buried deep underground. They rapidly stab into a cone-shaped area ahead, each dealing 2–4 physical damage.

Lin Mu had wanted to change it into something like "Bone Arrow" or "bone spear," but all of those attempts failed.

He guessed it was because they did not make sense when paired with the quantifier "teeth."

After thinking for a moment, Lin Mu decided it would be more practical to change the quantity first.

"Change '2 teeth' to '9 teeth'!"

The skill description blurred for a moment before reshaping itself.

[Bone Tooth] (Level 1): Consumes 5 mana to summon 9 Bone Teeth from the ground, which stab into a cone-shaped area ahead, each dealing 2–4 physical damage.

While Lin Mu was modifying his skill—

The news that he and Su Xiaoxiao had cleared the Trial Dungeon with an SSS-Rank rating—

Rapidly spread throughout West Forest City No. 2 Vocational Academy and even the entire class-user circle of Xilin City.

It caused a huge uproar.

Night gradually deepened.

Wang Hao's family waited and waited for him to return, growing increasingly anxious.

Finally, in the evening, they received the school's death notice.

Through several students close to Wang Hao—

They vaguely learned of the "sparring agreement" between Wang Hao and Lin Mu before entering the Dungeon.

Lin Mu knew nothing about this.

At that moment, he was lying in bed, tossing and turning in excitement, completely unable to sleep.

He was waiting.

Waiting for midnight to arrive.

Waiting for his talent's usage count to refresh!

"Tick-tock, tick-tock."

The old wall clock finally pointed to midnight.

Lin Mu sprang out of bed.

A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

He immediately checked the detailed description of his starting skill, Resurrect Skeleton.

[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Consumes 10 mana and guides faint Death Aura to summon 1 skeleton assembled from Inferior Bone out of the void to fight for you. It moves slowly, has a loose structure, and is easily damaged. Maximum quantity: 9.

Lin Mu was so excited that he could not suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

He hurriedly tested his new idea.

"Change 'Inferior Bone' to 'Steel Bone'!"

The modification took effect!

This way—

Every skeleton he summoned in the future would directly be a stronger version!

[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Consumes 10 mana and guides faint Death Aura to summon 1 skeleton assembled from Steel Bone out of the void to fight for you. It moves somewhat slowly, has a sturdy structure, and is extremely difficult to damage. Maximum quantity: 9.

The description on the panel changed accordingly.

[Resurrect Skeleton] (Level 1): Consumes 10 mana to summon 1 Steel Skeleton to fight for you. Maximum quantity: 9.

Suppressing his excitement, Lin Mu continued modifying Bone Tooth.

"Change 'rapidly stab into a cone-shaped area ahead' to 'rapidly stab into a linear area ahead'!"

[Bone Tooth] (Level 1): Consumes 5 mana to summon 9 Bone Teeth from the ground, which stab into a linear area ahead, each dealing 2–4 physical damage.

Area damage had become single-target burst damage.

The shotgun had directly upgraded into a sniper rifle!

The skeletons could tank and fight on the front line while he picked off targets from the back line!

Then came the Withered Wood Staff.

[Withered Wood Staff] (LV.0, White) Attack: 1–3. Special Effect: Reduces mana consumption when casting skills by 99%.

Practically a hundred percent reduction in mana cost!

Paired with Bone Tooth, he would become an infinitely firing sniper!

Finally, there was the Rapid Healing Ring dropped by the Goblin Shaman.

After modification:

[Rapid Healing Ring] (LV.5, Blue)

Defense: 1–2.

Special Effect: Restores 90 health per second.

After finishing all this—

Lin Mu let out a long breath and lay back down on the bed.

The excitement in his heart was beyond words.

His mind was filled with scenes of his future self summoning Bone Dragons, Liches, and Abominations, sweeping away everything in his path.

Only very late did he finally fall into a deep sleep.