Michael suppressed his growing curiosity for the moment.
For now, the skeletons in front of him were his first real source of information in this seemingly barren world.
With a thought, he activated Detect. A series of translucent panels immediately appeared above the prostrating skeletons.
[Skeleton Patrol]
[Grade: mon ★]
[Level: 2]
…
[Skeleton Patrol]
[Grade: mon ★]
[Level: 4]
…
[Skeleton Patrol]
[Grade: mon ★]
[Level: 5]
Michael calmly examined each one. Just as he had expected, they were all One-Star mon-grade creatures.
Their levels ranged from two to five, meaning none of them had even entered Rank One.
They were weak. Extremely weak.
Even an ordinary awakened teenager who had just received a bat class could probably deal with several of them without much difficulty.
Hmmmm. As long as they had good initial training.
However, Michael barely paid attention to their levels or race. What truly caught his interest was the name displayed above every one of them.
Skeleton Patrol.
"Patrol…"
Michael's eyes brightened slightly. That single word told him more than their entire status panels bined.
A patrol did not wander without purpose. That meant something had assigned these skeletons a territory, or one they had assigned themselves to.
Whether they served a tribe, settlement, or some other gathering of undead, their existence strongly suggested that others were nearby.
Michael's lips curved into a faint smile.
"That's good."
He had entered the Netherworld searching for dark-element resources. Although the surrounding environment was saturated with death energy, wandering aimlessly through such a vast realm would be inefficient.
Natural treasures did not simply lie everywhere waiting to be collected.
However, wherever intelligent or semi-intelligent undead gathered, there would almost certainly be resources.
Depending on their strength, the value of the resources also varied.
If these few undead were the dominant race of their settlement, whatever resources they had would most likely be scarce. But at the very least, a gathering would give him a proper direction.
Michael lowered his gaze toward the skeletons.
"Raise your heads."
The skeletons immediately obeyed. Twenty skulls lifted in near-perfect unison, blue soul flames flickering inside their hollow eye sockets.
Michael attempted the simplest approach first.
"Where did you e from?"
Silence.
The soul flames trembled.
Michael waited.
Nothing happened.
"Is there a settlement nearby?"
The skeletons continued staring at him. One tilted its head. Another copied it.
Soon, nearly half of the group had their skulls leaning at different angles, as though the motion itself would help them understand.
"…"
Michael's eyelid twitched. He tried again, simplifying his words.
"Others."
He pointed toward the skeletons.
"More like you."
Then he gestured toward the surrounding wilderness.
"Where?"
The blue flames flickered much more intensely. A faint response finally travelled through the strange connection between them.
It was not words, nor were they proper thoughts. Only several extremely crude impressions.
"Many. Bones. Near. Return."
Michael focused on the impressions, attempting to extract something clearer, but the result remained frustratingly vague.
"There were others nearby."
That was all he could understand. The skeletons possessed some degree of awareness, but their intelligence was simply too low for proper munication.
Even with the advantages granted by his class, Michael could not force thoughts into minds that barely possessed them.
He sighed.
"So you really are stupid."
The skeletons' soul flames continued flickering happily, apparently taking his statement as praise.
Michael stared at them for a moment.
"…Right."
Expecting anything more would be pointless. Fortunately, he did not need them to explain. They only needed to show him.
Michael pointed toward the direction from which they had originally arrived.
"Return."
The skeletons remained still.
Michael tried again.
"Go back."
No reaction.
His brows furrowed before he adjusted the mand, infusing a trace of his will into it.
"Lead me to the others."
The effect was immediate. Every soul flame erupted with brighter blue light.
Clack!
The leading skeleton sprang to its feet so violently that its skull nearly flew from its spine. It quickly caught its head with both hands, twisted it back into place, and turned around.
The other skeletons rose just as eagerly. Once the group had reassembled itself, the leading skeleton faced Michael and lowered its skull respectfully. Then it began walking.
The rest followed behind it. Their previous scattered formation disappeared. This time, they arranged themselves around Michael in a loose circle, almost as though they intended to escort him rather than merely guide him.
Michael observed the formation with a strange expression. Although they were weak and barely intelligent, their reverence toward him was unmistakable.
Even now, their soul flames continued radiating that inexplicable happiness.
"Death's Heir…"
He quietly repeated the name of his class.
Without further delay, Michael followed the skeleton patrol deeper into the dead forest. The sound of rattling bones once again echoed through the silent wilderness.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
The march continued for several minutes without incident. The dead forest gradually became denser, its blackened trunks growing closer together.
Michael remained at the center of the loose formation while the skeleton patrol moved around him with surprising diligence.
Then, clack, clang, a different sound echoed from ahead. Unlike the light rattling of loose bones, this noise carried the unmistakable scrape of metal.
Michael's gaze shifted forward. Another group emerged from between the dead trees.
There were fewer of them, perhaps twelve in total, but they were clearly different from the first patrol. Their bones were larger and darker.
Most importantly, they were equipped. Rust-covered breastplates hung crookedly over their rib cages. Bent helmets rested unevenly upon their skulls.
Several carried chipped swords, while others wielded spears with warped iron heads. One skeleton even possessed a shield, though the shield was so badly damaged that nearly half of it was missing.
The equipment looked terrible. Some pieces were tied together with strips of leather. Others appeared to have been hammered into shape by someone who had only heard about blacksmithing through rumours.
Still, pared to the nearly bare skeletons surrounding Michael, they appeared almost elite. Their levels were also noticeably higher.
Michael activated Detect.
[Skeleton Guard]
[Grade: mon ★★]
[Level: 12]
…
[Skeleton Guard]
[Grade: mon ★★]
[Level: 11]
…
[Skeleton Guard Captain]
[Grade: mon ★★]
[Level: 15]
Michael raised an eyebrow. To think they had all entered Rank One. It was not impressive by his standards, but it confirmed that the settlement ahead possessed some form of hierarchy.
The newly arrived skeletons noticed the first patrol almost immediately. Their blue soul flames flickered. Then their attention shifted toward Michael.
For a brief moment, they froze. The guard captain raised its crooked sword.
Clang!
The others immediately spread into a crude formation. Unlike the patrol, these skeletons displayed some discipline. They lowered their weapons and charged.
Michael watched calmly.
"So this group is more intelligent."
The first patrol around him made no attempt to defend him. Instead, they simply stepped aside.
The guards rushed closer.
Thirty meters.
Twenty.
Ten.
Then, just like before, their movements abruptly stopped. The guard captain's raised sword slipped from its hand.
Clang.
Its soul flame surged violently. A moment later, it dropped to both knees.
The rest followed. One after another, the armoured skeletons threw themselves onto the ground. Their battered equipment made the scene far noisier than before.
Clang!
Crash!
Clatter!
One skeleton bowed so hard that its crooked helmet flew from its skull and struck another in the back. Another lost half of its breastplate, which fell apart in three separate pieces.
The skeleton holding the broken shield accidentally planted it into the ground and snapped off what remained of its arm. It calmly picked up the detached limb, reattached it, and resumed bowing.
"…"
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