At this moment, his bones had turned into a texture like white jade. Smooth as fine porcelain. The soul fire in his eye sockets and chest had also taken on a sapphire-like hue, flickering gently.

  Eric didn't have time to revel in his newfound power. He climbed out of the massive crater created by Pound's horn and continued to sprint in the direction away from the battlefield. As he ran, he allocated all his remaining attribute points to Spirit, bringing it up to 16 points. After all, Spirit determined the potency of magic.

  Eric hadn't run far when a group of succubi blocked his path, all low-rank demons. There were more than ten of them. Damn it. These succubi must have seen Pound's rage and fled the battlefield to hide here.

  Eric forced himself to calm down, controlling his bones to revert to the rough, sallow appearance of a low-level skeleton. At that moment, the succubi also got a clear look at Eric in the darkness and let their guard down.

  "Not a human, just a low-level skeleton," one succubus spoke.

  "How did a low-level skeleton end up here?" another, taller succubus frowned.

  How could a skeleton defy Pound's command and leave the battlefield?

  Eric acted mindlessly, wandering deeper into the forest through the group of succubi.

  "Fireball."

  But the next moment, without any warning, a fireball smashed towards Eric. The succubi had made their move. He couldn't pretend anymore. Eric nimbly sidestepped, narrowly dodging the fireball. The succubi had only acted out of caution, never expecting the low-level skeleton to dodge.

  Seeing Eric dodge, they were all stunned for a moment. A low-level skeleton?

  "Wind Vortex!"

  Eric raised his hand, and instantly a gale-force wind sprang up. The two nearest succubi were abruptly swept from the air and crashed to the ground. Then he clapped his hands together, activating both earth and water magic.

  "Swamp!"

  A large area of the ground turned into a soft, sucking swamp, swallowing the succubi that had fallen to the ground.

  "Burn!"

  Flames roared, engulfing the two succubi.

  [Ding, Killed Succubus LV12, Experience +200]

  [Ding...]

  Eric was already LV13 and had mastered Elemental Magic LV2, theoretically making him a first-rank elemental mage. But he hadn't learned any spells and didn't know how to cast first-rank magic. The magic he was using now was purely based on the elemental skeleton's racial advantage, crudely manipulating the elements.

  "This skeleton has intelligence!"

  In an instant, two succubi were defeated, and the tall, leading succubus shouted. Amidst her cry, all the succubi snapped back to their senses and began to counterattack.

  Eric quickly retreated, stomping his foot down hard on the ground. The mud and water in the swamp exploded outward, splattering and momentarily grounding the flying succubi.

  Eric then dove into the depths of the forest.

  "You two, go inform Lady Lucia of what's happened here," the tall succubus commanded.

  "Perhaps Lucia's experiment succeeded, and this skeleton merely concealed its intelligence during the experiment."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "The rest of you, come with me. We absolutely cannot let this skeleton escape!"

  The tall succubus waved her hand, swiftly assigning tasks. Two succubi flapped their wings and flew back towards the battlefield, while the rest pursued the direction Eric had fled.

  In the deep forest, branches and thorns scraped against Eric's bones. But he dared not stop, hunched over and running for his life. Yet the succubi above were still hot on his trail.

  He had to take care of these succubi; otherwise, there was no way he could escape.

  The shoulder blades on Eric's back slowly elongated, connecting with his spine and ribs, growing towards the back. Soon, a pair of menacing bone wings unfolded and conformed to the skeletal structure on his back. It was the [Bone Wings] skill he had acquired from Pound's horn.

  However, this was his first time flying, and with [Bone Wings] only at LV1, Eric had no idea how effective they would be. But there was no time for him to get used to them; it was now or never.

  He quickly scanned the sky, locking onto a succubus flying low and closest to him. Then, his fleeing body abruptly halted and spun around. The toe bones on his feet and the terminal finger bones on his hands simultaneously grew into sharp bone claws. He then sprinted towards a large tree, using all fours, his claws digging fiercely into the trunk.

  In this way, he ascended the vertical tree trunk as if it were flat ground, reaching the treetop before leaping towards the succubus. The succubus flapped her wings frantically to dodge, while casting wind magic towards the skeleton. Eric unhesitatingly spread his menacing bone wings, flapped them vigorously, and accelerated through the gale, capturing the flying succubus.

  The flying succubus trembled.

  "I've got you," a voice like the grinding of bones sounded in the succubus's ear, sending a chill down her spine. The hollow eye sockets held a quietly burning blue flame. Then, without hesitation, the bone claws pierced through the succubus's throat.

  [Ding...]

  "Fireball!"

  "Wind Bolt!"

  "Deterioration!"

  The remaining succubi surrounded the skeleton, unleashing a barrage of spells. Eric used the falling succubus's body as a stepping stone, spread his bone wings, and with a powerful thrust from his leg bones, leaped again, dodging the spells.

  Three of the succubi, seeing this, flapped their wings and transformed their hands into pitch-black claws, charging at Eric. They were the warrior-class succubi. The three succubi brandished their claws, nimbly flying through the air, slicing at Eric's bones.

  The remaining mage-class succubi provided support from a distance, bombarding Eric.

  Eric wasn't about to show mercy. He snapped off one of his rib bones, which turned into a bone sword, and in an instant, a deep blue flame covered the entire sword. Then, gripping his left arm, the arm bone wriggled and formed a long, narrow bone shield.

  Seeing an elemental mage adopt a warrior's stance, the melee succubi felt their worldview collapsing.

  Using elemental magic to adjust his posture in mid-air, he flapped his wings fiercely, propelled by wind magic, and lunged at the nearest succubus.

  The succubus swung her claws, and Eric raised his left arm to block with the bone shield.

  With his other hand, he fiercely swung the long sword, slashing at the succubus. The flame scorched the air, producing a loud crackling sound.

  The succubus's claws went numb as the sharp claws were easily deflected by the bone shield.

  What kind of hardness was this!

  The skeleton's durability was completely beyond the succubi's expectations, and for a moment, they were thrown off balance.

  With a few wind magic spells mixed with the bone sword's consecutive attacks, Eric pierced through the succubus's neck.

  Eric grabbed the succubus's corpse by the neck, activated [Brute Force], and hurled the body towards the two succubi behind him.

  "Damn it!" the two pursuing succubi cursed, their hatred for the skeleton reaching its peak. But Eric wasn't about to show mercy to his enemies. He swung his arm and launched a fireball after the corpse.

  "Explode."

  The fireball detonated, pushing the two succubi away. He quickly turned around, lengthened the bone sword in his hand into a spear, and wrapped it with wind magic in the form of a vortex.

  "Ha!"

  The spear was thrown, and under the influence of wind magic, it spun forward, piercing through a succubus's arm. Eric snapped off another rib bone, which turned into a bone sword, and slashed through two incoming fireballs. But with the fireballs exploding so close, even Eric, with his [Elemental Resistance], felt a searing pain.

  "Bone Overgrowth!"

  Eric, who had been pushed away, remotely controlled the bone spear that had pierced the succubus's arm. The bone spear wriggled and grew continuously, piercing through chunks of muscle and crushing pieces of bone.

  "Ah!"

  The succubus let out a miserable scream. Eric sighed in regret, about to flap his wings and rush over to deliver the finishing blow. But in the next moment, a shiver ran through his marrow. He quickly shielded his neck with his left arm, which had turned into a bone shield.

  A black line sliced through Eric's left arm, neatly severing the bone shield and the arm connected to it.

  A tall succubus emerged from the darkness.

  The dagger in her hand gleamed coldly as she swung it towards Eric's bone wings.