Thanks to General Yuan for the evaluation vote!
Also, I had something to do today, so I'm a little late coming back. Here's just one chapter for today!
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"Hmm, now that I've got Ollis as my big weapon, I'm about 70% confident in dealing with that arrogant, hulking mutated Giant Axe Skeleton!" Zhao Lun, who had already put the system out of his mind, looked at Ollis with satisfaction, grinning widely.
One minute, two minutes...
"Get up, get up, get up! What's with you kneeling like that?!"
Finally, after satisfying his vanity, Zhao Lun hypocritically ordered Ollis, who was kneeling before him, to stand up.
Poor, unlucky Ollis, who got the order to stand up with a swift whoosh and immediately rose to his feet. His posture was straight and perfect, making Zhao Lun smile even more, quite pleased with the result.
"Hmm, looks good, but I wonder how strong he is?" Zhao Lun circled Ollis and then had a sudden idea. He slapped his bone hand and shouted, "Got it!"
Then, Zhao Lun, eager to test Ollis's defense, ordered his remaining four skeleton minions to surround Ollis and attack him. What's worse, Zhao Lun, clearly overconfident in the skeleton he had created, commanded Ollis to defend only, forbidding him from attacking.
The remaining four skeletons, with almost puppet-like intelligence, had no concept of cooperation. They attacked one by one, becoming progressively more violent, almost trying to kill Ollis.
Luckily, Ollis, being a mutated version, didn't disappoint. Despite Zhao Lun's order to only defend, Ollis, the mutated sword-and-shield skeleton, displayed incredible skill and easily blocked all the attacks with his bone shield. Not once did he appear to be in any distress.
Zhao Lun was impressed with Ollis's performance, but he wasn't going to let him off that easily. Seeing that the four skeletons couldn't even make Ollis show any signs of weakness, he took over the command himself and began ordering a more coordinated attack.
Once Zhao Lun took control, the battle dynamics completely shifted. What was previously a chaotic attack now formed a well-coordinated strategy. Big Sword Skeleton No. 1 and Bone Shield Skeleton focused on close combat and drawing attention, while the two Archer Skeletons provided ranged support. The battle power skyrocketed. Ollis, unable to attack, was suddenly overwhelmed and struggling to hold his ground.
"Is this all you've got, Ollis? I'm really disappointed in you," Zhao Lun taunted, laughing as he commanded his skeletons to push Ollis further.
"Fight!"
Ollis's eye flames flared up suddenly, his aura growing intense. With a swift move, he thrust his bone shield forward, broke through Big Sword Skeleton No. 1 and Bone Shield Skeleton, and in the blink of an eye, charged at the two Archer Skeletons. With a single forceful push, he sent both skeleton archers tumbling to the ground.
It sounds like a long sequence of events, but in reality, Ollis only took about twenty seconds to complete all these movements, leaving Zhao Lun momentarily stunned.
"I... I... didn't... attack..."
After the battle ended, Ollis stood there in confusion, awkwardly explaining to Zhao Lun.
"Well, well, kid, not bad! You're quite the stubborn one! Nice!" Zhao Lun suddenly burst into laughter, his mood suddenly shifting to one of sheer amusement.
...............…
After testing Ollis's strength, Zhao Lun eagerly returned to preparing for the upcoming battle.
Preparation was essential. Although Ollis showed promise, based on the data, the mutated Giant Axe Skeleton was probably even stronger. Zhao Lun wasn't about to let all his efforts go to waste. Besides, he had a secret ambition: he wanted to capture that mutated Giant Axe Skeleton as well. This way, his power would increase even more. At that point, it might not even be a dream to rule the Bone Land. Therefore, no matter how much preparation was needed, it wasn't excessive.
After some careful consideration, Zhao Lun realized that the two things he had already planned were still necessary. First, training the Swamp Technique, and second, recruiting more skeleton minions.
Training the Swamp Technique wasn't a problem. After testing Ollis's strength, Zhao Lun, who was in a good mood, suddenly became determined not to lose to his own skeleton servant. He buried himself in practicing the Swamp Technique.
Maybe Ollis's power truly motivated Zhao Lun. In just six hours, Zhao Lun had finished engraving the magic array for Swamp Technique and had mastered the level 1 spell. Then, to save time, he decided to practice the incantation for Swamp Technique while also scouting for skeletons, aiming to recruit a few more in the next 24 hours so he could capture the mutated Giant Axe Skeleton in one go.
As Zhao Lun started scouting for skeletons, the downside of Ollis became immediately apparent.
Race: Low-level Undead (Skeleton Archer)Level: 4 (Black Iron)Talent: Black
"Trash! No!"
After casually scanning the information of a nearby Skeleton Archer, Zhao Lun turned away dismissively, commanding Ollis to deal with it.
It was clear that Zhao Lun's standards had become much higher. He had already lost interest in the regular skeletons.
The reason Zhao Lun had become so picky was that after mastering the Swamp Technique, he took a moment to check his own stats. When he saw the changes, his pride shot through the roof.
System OwnerName: Zhao LunRace: Low-level Undead (Skeleton Mage)Level: 3 (Black Iron) EliteTalent: —Evolution Path: Skeleton Lord???Evaluation: The system is unauthorized to evaluate without the owner's approval.
Zhao Lun's stats had only changed in two places. First, the "Black Iron" now included "Elite," indicating that Zhao Lun's strength had surpassed that of a regular skeleton. Second, the evolution path now showed "Skeleton Lord" in dark gray, but the option was still locked.
With a slight grin, Zhao Lun turned his attention to the back of his attributes page.
Skeleton LordEvolution Condition 1: Level 5LockedLocked…Loading...
At the very bottom of the page, the "Loading" status remained, but at least there was now a glimmer of hope for evolution.
Looking at his stats, Zhao Lun couldn't help but feel a rush of arrogance. He felt that he had risen above the mundane, that he now possessed noble qualities far beyond any ordinary undead.
Still, for some reason, no matter how he tried, Zhao Lun didn't have the courage to authorize the system to evaluate him.