“Aha, young skeleton, you’re finally back!”

Sentinel Leader Fark swung his bony arms and said in a silly voice, “Thanks to you killing many Skeleton Soldiers yesterday, the Undead Lord hiding in the darkness has finally shown himself. Right now he’s gathering a bunch of skeletons in the graveyard to taunt us, so head there, kill 200 Cyan Skeletons and collect 20 Cyan Skeleton Fingers for me. You will be rewarded very handsomely!”

I quickly clicked “Accept” while rejoicing at the fact that I was the only player in Frost Mound right now. There was no way a lucrative quest like this would have fallen into my hands otherwise.

Ding~!

System Notice: You’ve accepted the quest [Cyan Skeleton]! (Quest Rank: F+)

Description: Head to the necropolis next to Frost Mound, kill 200 Cyan Skeletons and collect 20 Cyan Skeleton Fingers. But be careful, a powerful Undead Lord has appeared there, and you are no match for him. Escape quickly if you encounter him.

　　……

I was enormously proud of my recent success. 200 Cyan Skeletons? Hmph! I guess I’ll be stuck completing this quest for a while. That being said, it was time to see how Du Thirteen was doing. My noob brother should be done with the starting village by the time I finish this quest.

I stopped in front of Undead Trainer Suren to check if there was any new skill to learn. Unfortunately, there was nothing. Suren stared at me before letting out a cackle. “Little skeleton, you may feel hungry after some time, but don’t worry, there is plenty of rotten meat in the necropolis to sate your hunger. Of course, you are free to find something fresher to eat. There are two human towns close to Frost Mound after all, hahaha!”

Hunger?

I suddenly recalled the two blood pools outside of Frost Mound. So it is the undeads’ dining hall!

Fuck! My stomach spasmed involuntarily. That’s way too disgusting. I would rather die than eat a corpse!

I checked my stat screen and found a satiety meter just as I was told. Right now, my satiety was at 71 points. It should be enough to keep me going for a while. However, my stats would fall drastically once my satiety dipped below 20. I must find something to eat by then!

Eh, I can think about that later. At least I can’t starve to death, right? Back to leveling!

　　……

I exited Frost Mound and ran straight for the necropolis. New mobs had already respawned, but instead of the Level 12 Damaged Skeleton Soldiers I had encountered the day before, they were now all Level 15 Cyan Skeletons! They were middle-level undead whose bodies was surrounded by a cyan glow.

Level 15 mobs? Not bad! Normally, I wouldn’t be able to challenge them at my current level, but with 3 pieces of Iron-grade equipment—the Glowing Chest Armor, the Black Bracers, and the Forest Green Blade—the impossible was now possible!

I surveyed my surroundings for a moment. Hmm, there are less enemies to the south. It’s perfect for solo leveling.

I quietly sneaked up a Cyan Skeleton before ambushing it like lightning!

“Slayer Slash!”

I let out a low cry and activated my skill. A greenish glow surrounded my blade before it struck the Cyan Skeleton squarely on the shoulder!

157!

Not bad, my attack power was as impressive as ever!

After my initial success, I immediately followed up with two basic attacks. They dealt less damage than Slayer Slash, but they were still pretty good.

"Grrr!"

The Cyan Skeleton growled in response. Since it was a high-level mob, it launched a counterattack without hesitation!

Pu!

Its green, bony sword pierced right through my chest. Unfortunately for you, all I have are ribs! You can’t pierce my heart because I don’t have one!

94!

However, my composure soon dimmed as I saw the huge number popping over my head. Despite being at Level 11, I only had 230 HP. This meant that the Cyan Skeleton could kill me in just 3 hits. The good news was that the skeleton had great attack power, but lousy movement and attack speed. It was the perfect mob for my ultimate tactic—pummeling my enemies with superior speed!

Rustle rustle rustle!

I zigzagged my way around the Cyan Skeleton. Despite it roaring again and again, it wasn’t able to turn around fast enough to face me. By the time it moved to one side, I had already moved to the other. All in all, I dodged at least 75% of its attacks.

From start to finish, the Cyan Skeleton only managed to strike me twice before I killed it after seven strikes!

"Roar!"

The Cyan Skeleton died and boosted my experience bar. Moreover, it was kind enough to drop me a 98 Quality Small Magic Stone and a Cyan Skeleton Finger to put me on a good start!

I picked up the handsome rewards and threw them into my bag. Then, I went to look for my next Cyan Skeleton.

I continued to train leisurely while checking the level ranking of Floating Ice City. It was then that I realized my rank dropped all the way to 127th place. Wow, these people must have grinded overnight while I was asleep. What insane efficiency!

The previously highest-level player, Wind Fantasy had dropped to 5th place; currently at Level 14, the player had probably logged off to rest. The previous runner-up, Gui Guzi, had claimed the spot instead. This undead knight was now at Level 16! What a madman!

A smile flashed across my face. Well, calm down. Levels don’t mean anything. It isn’t like I’m leveling slowly myself. By the time I’m done with this quest, I’ll have probably reached Level 14 or 15. Levels were important at an early game, but so was the equipment. A high-level player without equipment to match was nothing but an empty shell.

Moreover, I also found a familiar ID in the rankings; Hot Sun. It was Xu Yang, the strongest of the four elders of the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild.

Xu Yang and I received an invitation at nearly the same time when He Yi was creating Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls a year ago. Together with two beautiful ladies, the four of us were collectively known as the “Sunmoon Stardust”. The first word of the title, “Sun” was taken from Xu Yang’s ID, and the last word, “Dust” was taken from my previous ID.

The years slipped by, and after a series of ups and downs, the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild was slaughtered by the Martial God’s guild, “Candle Dragon” until five people were left: us four elders and the boss, He Yi. It was a memorable period to say the least.

I didn’t think that Xu Yang would reappear in Floating Ice City as the 21st player on the ranking list. Barring any accidents, he would probably serve Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls just like before!

An indescribable feeling filled my heart completely. A chuckle escaped my lips when I recalled He Yi’s exquisite face. “Boss, my delay is only 0.7 seconds now. Just you wait, I will prop up a corner of our sky!”

For now, my body was getting better. I was no longer a cripple and would no longer be a burden to He Yi. I made up my mind to become someone prominent in Floating Ice City. If I succeeded, I would return to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and create a new page of history with He Yi!

　　……

"Grrr…"

I killed another Cyan Skeleton, absorbing its undead spark and replenishing my spirits. Suddenly, a thought entered my mind. Oh right, I haven’t used the skill “Death Plunder” yet, have I?

It was a skill that allowed the user to loot a dead body. It might yield me some unexpected rewards.

I crouched on the ground and spread my hands. A green halo appeared from my palm and surrounded the Cyan Skeleton’s remains. A ding later, I obtained new loot!

Ragged Cotton

Quality: Terrible

Effect: None

Fuck! What a completely useless item! I threw the Ragged Cotton away and searched for my next target.

After that, I used Death Plunder on every mob I killed. However, the Cyan Skeletons gave poor loot despite the amazing experience. 95% of the drops were Ragged Cotton, and the remaining 5% was nothing at all.

After over an hour, nearly a hundred Cyan Skeletons had perished under my sword. I had also reached Level 13, my experience bar filled by 47%. So far, this leveling speed was impressive!

Crack!

Again, I absorbed the Cyan Skeleton’s spark and used Death Plunder after killing it.

Ding!

My eyes widened. An item drop!

Big Magic Stone

Quality: 41

Fuck, a magic stone?!

I couldn’t stop grinning. Magic stone was money, and money was the spring of all life. Once the game was unlocked to a certain point, magic stones would become the lifeblood of many gaming workshops!

A Big Magic Stone fetched about 1 to 20 silvers, and at this stage silver was a hot commodity. In the forums, it was rumored that many newbies who reached a city couldn’t learn any class skills because their total wealth was only 1 or 2 silver! They had to leave and farm magic stones!

Obviously, the drop rate of magic stones was terrible considering that I had gotten only two magic stones after killing more than a hundred skeletons. Therefore, the fact that Death Plunder could yield magic stones undoubtedly gave me an economical advantage over other players!

The spark of joy was continued by even more grinding!

I sneaked closer to a nearby Cyan Skeleton and was about to attack it when a sudden chill suddenly gripped my heart!

Something’s there!

Puchi!

I felt a scorching pain behind my head and checked my HP. 207 points gone!? I’d almost gotten one-shot!

I reacted swiftly and rolled away to safety. After I got back to my feet and started running, I looked back and felt a spike of terror. The Undead Lord, at least two meters tall, was standing right where I had been just moments ago. Its level was hidden to me. Clearly, it was much, much higher than mine, me almost being one-shot despite two Iron-grade pieces of armor a testament to its crazy-high attack power. Anyone else would have been taken out already.

"Hiss hiss…"

The Undead Lord let out a low and angry wail, obviously displeased with the intruder that was me. Currently, this was his territory.

No wonder the quest description said to run if I encountered the Undead Lord, it was definitely not something I could challenge at my current level. It was probably a Level 20 high-rank boss at minimum, the kind that could slaughter anyone and everyone if it had been set loose in a starting village.

I trembled in fear but continued to kill more Cyan Skeletons. Right now, nothing was more important than leveling and farming magic stones.

Another hour passed in the blink of an eye, and I was now Level 14 and 58%. I should be able to reach Level 15 by the time I turn in my quest. See, I knew that my leveling speed is pretty good!

I counted the amount of Cyan Skeleton Fingers I had. 19. I still needed one more.

I looked up and found the solution to my troubles, a foolish Cyan Skeleton wandering aimlessly in front of me.

I let out a chuckle and jumped toward it. Suddenly, I stopped in midair and rolled into a nearby bush instead.

A figure emerged from the forest ahead. It was an undead wearing a brown-yellow armor and holding a pale blue spear. His skeletal face looked incredibly sinister, and there was a line of text above his head—

Gui Guzi LV-18 Undead Knight

Fuck! He’s the highest-level player of Floating Ice City!

My gaze turned several degrees cooler as my killing intent surfaced. It was clear that this newcomer didn’t mean well.

Gui Guzi looked around him calmly before facing toward my hiding spot. “Get out of there, kid!”