The appearance of the first quality Skeleton immediately injected a new level of energy into Zhao Lun. It was as if he were a motorcycle, now fully fueled and ready to go. He couldn't wait to cast Sense again and again. Unfortunately, his magic reserves in the Soul Fire were limited, and after casting one Sense, he was out of power. Thankfully, he wasn't short on resources; it was just that his Soul Fire refinement was not progressing quickly enough. To recover enough magic power for another Sense, it would take him almost two minutes.
"I really wish I could level up to level 4 right away!" Zhao Lun sighed in frustration. Once again, he found his magic power running low. He took a moment to inspect the elite Skeleton Archer before him, carefully eyeing it from head to toe, trying to discern its unique traits that might distinguish it from the others. Unfortunately, there was nothing obvious on the exterior to suggest that this particular Skeleton Archer was exceptional.
However, Zhao Lun remembered the Ice Arrow ability and became curious. "Come on, shoot an arrow!" He gestured at a one-meter-tall stone nearby.
At his command, the Skeleton Archer quickly drew its bow and fired an arrow that flew like lightning, striking the stone with incredible precision. The bone arrow, over a meter long, buried itself deep into the stone, showing off its impressive power.
"Not bad," Zhao Lun nodded in satisfaction. "Such a powerful shot... Even Ollis, without a bone shield, would have a hard time blocking it." But then, Zhao Lun's gaze hardened. He extended his bony hand and gave the Skeleton Archer a sharp knock on the skull. "But I don't want to see your basic arrows, I want to see Ice Arrow. Did you hear me? Shoot it now!"
The Skeleton Archer, confused by the blow, stared at Zhao Lun blankly. It couldn't understand his actions at first. But when Zhao Lun called out the Ice Arrow again, it turned towards the stone and pulled back its bow.
This time, the shot wasn't as quick as before. The Skeleton Archer held the bow for a while, and it took almost ten seconds before the arrow began to shimmer with a faint blue glow. Finally, the archer released it.
Thwip!
The ice-blue bone arrow embedded itself into the stone, and though the physical damage was similar to the previous shot, the ice attribute added a chilling effect. The stone was covered with a thin layer of frost. Zhao Lun touched it and immediately felt his bony hand stiffen, becoming less nimble. It took some time to regain full movement, which pleased him greatly.
Next, Zhao Lun conducted a few more tests. After a series of evaluations, Zhao Lun discovered that while the Ice Arrow had considerable power, it also had a significant drawback: this 4th-level Skeleton Archer could only fire five Ice Arrows before running out of energy. Additionally, the preparation time for each shot was long—about ten seconds.
Taking notes, Zhao Lun assigned this Skeleton Archer the title of "Ice Shooter No. 1" and told it to stand by.
As time passed, Zhao Lun continued to use Sense on the remaining skeletons. By the time he finished with the 800 skeletons, he had found five more Skeleton Archers that had been marked for special attention. It seemed that Ice Shooter No. 1 had some luck after all. All the Skeleton Archers that Zhao Lun focused on turned out to be elites.
Out of the five new ones, four had Ice Arrow abilities, including the first "Ice Shooter No. 1." The last two were Skeleton Archers with Fire Arrow. Zhao Lun was naturally keen to test the Fire Arrow ability. Upon inspection, he found that the Fire Arrow was noticeably more powerful than the Ice Arrow. However, the Fire Arrow lacked the freezing effect, so it didn't slow down the target's movements. Thus, the two abilities had their pros and cons, and deciding which one was superior wasn't as straightforward.
Once Zhao Lun finished inspecting the defending Skeleton Archers, Ollis returned with the hundred Skeleton Archers he had taken out on a mission. While the formation of their unit had improved a little, it was still quite disorganized. Most of the skeletons had returned with their skeleton heads sliced off by swords rather than being shot by arrows. Zhao Lun was somewhat disappointed by this outcome.
He had Ollis put the skeletons down and then had him keep only the hundred Skeleton Archers that he had brought back. Zhao Lun sent Ollis to fetch another batch of Skeleton Archers that he had previously sensed and asked him to continue hunting.
Zhao Lun, now well into inspecting his 800 skeletons, had a vision. He dreamed of having an entire squad of elite Skeleton Archers. This would be crucial when the time came to conquer other territories.
The hours passed, and Zhao Lun's team of 30 Skeleton Archers had still not reported back. Meanwhile, Zhao Lun had nearly finished his work. As he examined his 800 skeletons, which had been carefully chosen from thousands, he realized he had made substantial progress. The quality of his army was improving.
Among the Skeleton Archers, Zhao Lun found three more with Ice Arrow abilities. Now, his elite team of Skeleton Archers had a total of nine, including Ice Shooter No. 1. This was a formidable force. If Zhao Lun ordered all nine of them to use their abilities at once, the devastating power would be enough to defeat even Ollis without him being able to react in time.
In addition to the Skeleton Archers, Zhao Lun also found four Bone Shield Skeletons with Shield Bash, which provided excellent defense. Of these four, one had been the original Bone Shield Skeleton that had followed Zhao Lun from the beginning.
Additionally, there was Great Sword No. 1, a powerful skeleton with Cross Slash, and two more elite Great Sword Skeletons. Furthermore, two elite Giant Axe Skeletons and one elite Spear Skeleton were among the remaining force.
Now, Zhao Lun had a total of 19 elite-level skeletons: 9 ranged attackers, 6 melee warriors, and 4 defensive tanks. With such an elite squad at his command, Zhao Lun felt a renewed sense of confidence and excitement. The upcoming territorial war would be a major opportunity to prove his strength.