Chapter 24
{ The Great Treasure Room }
Another mirror fragment… Ian thought.
Ian opened the chest with the black key and found another mirror fragment… three skill runes.
He examined them and left them in the room with the rest of the loot for when he was done…
They delved deeper inside, and waves of skeletons began appearing continuously — countless numbers pouring out to meet them.
They were fragile and weak, dropped no loot, and disintegrated once killed.
But because of their large numbers, they affected Ian’s forces, and injuries began to appear among his ranks.
Fortunately, the injuries were light and minor…
Ian displayed his new power and began fighting fiercely at the front line, showing the full might of the Elemental Boxer.
The White Tiger roared and lunged at the skeletons.
The six wolves were no longer acting as scouts — they began fighting.
The archers in the back… Chris and the main forces… the soldiers… everyone was fighting…
Chris took command of the battle, organized the soldiers, and opened a path with his sword.
Liu was like a beast on the battlefield, along with Tory and… Ian.
Ian.
Training… 12%.
Damn… in such a short time, I’ve risen this much… Ian’s eyes widened completely.
The White Tiger leaped into groups of skeletons, tearing them apart with its fangs.
Raaaaaaaar!
The skeletons tried to encircle him, but one roar created a path among them.
Tiger’s Roar. Progress rate: 63%.
Skills were advancing — not only for Ian and the Tiger, but for everyone.
Tory.
Shadow Blade (Common)… low stage… mastery rate: 100%.
Suddenly, light flashed over Tory, and his aura expanded for a moment before returning to normal, but… he did not return to normal. His strength had increased!
Shadow Blade…
A beam of black light shot forward… more numerous… larger… stronger… much faster than before.
It carved two flat paths through the masses of skeletons.
“Excellent,” Ian praised.
Tory smiled and jumped forward, swinging his axe with force.
!@!@
A strong skeleton appeared at the back.
Level One… but it no longer meant anything…
The moment it appeared, Porto’s arrow had already reached its eye.
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As soon as the first landed, the second was already flying toward the other eye… ending the skeleton’s life instantly.
“Keep going!!!!” Ian shouted.
The second hall.
“My lord… I will go ahead,” Chris said.
Ian shook his head. “Your strength will drop without your sword… I’m the opposite.”
Chris frowned. “But—”
“No ‘but’. Wait for me,” Ian ordered and advanced…
Raaaaaaaar!
The Tiger wanted to follow him, but Ian shook his head.
He wasn’t taking a risk…
He knew the limit here was Level Two…
And this room could not possibly contain something of Level Two, otherwise why didn’t it come out earlier to fight them?
And even if there was a Level Two skeleton inside… he would deal with it.
He entered the room, and the previous scene repeated.
The bars closed on him, and Ian was trapped inside with a skeleton soldier holding a long spear.
This time, Ian left the spear, bow, and arrows outside so they wouldn’t distract him uselessly.
He also wanted to try something new.
The Death Accumulation skill.
Outside… Noa approached the cage and began inspecting it.
He wanted to understand its mechanism… to understand why he didn’t detect it…
He wanted to be useful… he didn’t want to repeat the previous mistake.
Everyone watched Ian with dangerous eyes… if anything happened to him, they would burn themselves alive just to reach him and rescue him.
Ian took his stance and calmly counted the time…
He observed the skeleton’s steps and movement patterns, then the moment the skeleton moved—he moved as well.
He dodged the spear by a hair’s width from his head, then directed his fist into the skeleton’s body…
This time, something was different.
Death Accumulation.
A tiny thread of black aura appeared on his fist.
It was faint and almost invisible… but that tiny thread made the skeleton tremble violently…
Before it could react, Ian’s other fist had already struck it.
Accumulation…
Speed…
Power…
Every strike was fiercer and stronger than the one before.
The air around Ian was screaming from the force of his punches as if it would tear apart.
The skeleton tried to swing its spear to knock him back, but Ian’s fourth punch was aimed at its arm, making the spear fall to the ground—
BAM.
BAM.
BAM…
Cracks began to appear across the skeleton’s body, turning it into a training dummy.
It couldn’t even stabilize itself… it couldn’t counterattack… it couldn’t even stand.
Ian turned it into a punching bag, knocking it backward little by little as cracks spread through all its bones.
The fifteenth strike.
BAM.
The skeleton shattered completely.
**You have obtained the title: Bone Breaker
**When fighting skeletons, your strength increases by 10%
Ian exhaled for a moment.
Training… 31%.
It seemed this skill not only enhanced his idea—it pushed it into insane territory… Ian thought.
He had wanted to create a training skill like this, but now he understood the enormous difference—this skill would enhance him the more he burned himself out… meaning with every extra effort he exerted, Ian’s strength would rise even further…
While the skill he wanted to create would never reach this level… at best, it would allow training for 24 hours continuously, nothing more.
As expected of legendary skills. If only I could give them to all my people, Ian thought as he opened the treasure chest.
Chris and the others entered with awe to make sure Ian was safe, while Noa walked toward the entrance where the bars had been earlier, examining the area more and more.
Another shard of the mirror and… a Beast Blood Seed. Looks like I’m very lucky today. Ian smiled and handed it to the White Tiger.
Bloodline… 20%.
A surge of aura rose around the White Tiger.
Ian felt both happiness and a strange sensation as he held the mirror shard.
This item… was strange.
The group continued forward…
The situation was chaotic at first, but with repetition—and Chris’s strict instructions—they were able to grow stronger and more capable. Then they discovered something important…
These skeletons… although they didn’t drop any items, they accelerated training—not cultivation, but skills and mastery.
Everyone had gained massive benefits in just a few hours… benefits that would normally require several days or more to obtain.
Soon, the group arrived at a large hall.
The treasure chest inside was huge… ten times larger than the previous ones.
The room itself was filled with silver—several thousand coins piled up together.
A fortune… a massive fortune, especially at this stage of the game.
Besides that, there was a simple throne with a skeleton sitting on it, wearing a torn black robe, a damaged crown, and holding a wizard’s staff topped with a skull.
!@@#$
The skeletal mage opened its mouth and spoke strange words.
No one understood them… but in a moment, the meaning became clear.
From its staff, a massive number of skeletons materialized.
A flood of skeletons surged toward them.
“Chris, lead the forces… Liu, Tory, follow me to take this one down!” Ian ordered as he charged toward the mage.
@!@$@
The skeletal mage spoke again, and ten skeletons appeared in front of the trio…
All of them Level One…
“General’s Blade!”
“Shadow Slash!”
Liu and Chris unleashed their skills, opening a path for Ian, who reached the skeletal mage.
“Moment of Glory!”
He drew the spear and unleashed a finishing strike with his Rare-rank spear at the skeletal mage.
{ One chapter left until the end of Book One }
