Chapter 2 Just A Couple Of Bones

The Skeleton kept walking deeper down the path without making a sound.

'So I'm supposed to just survive in here? I wasn't given information beyond-'

[Congratulations!]

[You have developed a new Skill.]

[You have developed the Passive Skill "Silent Steps[G]".]

'Yes!! This is great! My first Skill, finally. It helps me move without making too much noise. So Skills have ranks too, huh?'

[Correct.]

[Skills are ranked by the same standards as Monsters.]

[If Skills are used enough, they can be upgraded.]

'Is that so? Nice then. Since this is a Passive Skill, I'll be using it a ton!'

The Skeleton kept walking silently.

After a bit, it found something on the ground.

A knife.

It was very rusty, but it was a weapon nevertheless.

'Good. This will help. Can I get info on it?'

[ Rusty Knife: [G-] weapon.]

'That's it? No Attack power or anything?'

The System did not respond.

'Maybe it's too low to even have a value... Or, I guess there's no reason for it to have an Attack Power value. It's a rusty knife. That's all-'

Kweek-

The Skeleton stopped walking and got closer to the wall.

Not one sound could be heard coming from the unmoving Skeleton.

It focused on its hearing.

Slowly but surely, the sound of footsteps became a bit clearer.

[Congratulations!]

[You have developed a new Skill.]

[You have developed the Passive Skill "Curious Ears[G]".]

'That's a weird name but cool... Oh. I can hear the footsteps a lot more clearly now that I got the Skill. Three small Monsters are approaching. I can hear their steps....'

After a bit, the Skeleton could see the incoming Monsters.

Three Goblins.

'The two at the front look the same as the one from before, but the one behind them is different.'

Indeed, the third Goblin's musculature was a lot more defined.

Unlike the other Goblins, this one did not have a bulging belly.

Its skin also looked tougher.

'What is it?'

[ A Muscular Goblin: An [F] Rank Monster.]

'How about the other ones? What's their rank?'

[ Goblins: [F-] Rank Monsters.]

The Skeleton had its back against the wall.

The group of Goblins got closer.

'Three of them is too much for me. Let's leave them alone...'

The group of Goblins did not notice the unmoving Skeleton.

After all, it was just a collection of bones.

As soon as the group passed it, the Skeleton sighed internally.

It stared at the Muscular Goblin walking at the back of the group.

It stared at its muscular neck and arms.

An intense feeling, that would have made the Skeleton drool if it could, turned it into a puppet.

The Skeleton's mind shut down.

Before it realized it, it had already started walking.

After matching the Goblins' pace for a bit, the Skeleton stabbed the Muscular Goblin's neck repeatedly with the Rusty Knife.

SHRIEK-

Green blood flowed everywhere as the Muscular Goblin fell to the ground.

The Skeleton stepped back as the two Goblins turned towards it.

'Shit... Can I defeat these two? If I can, it'll be a real feast...'

The next second,

[You have defeated one Muscular Goblin. 10 Gold Coins and 20 Experience Points earned.]

[You have leveled up!]

[1 Stat Point has been added to every Stat.]

The Skeleton stood with its arms raised defensively.

'Fight... I need to fight!'

One of the Goblins shrieked loudly.

The next second, it ran towards the Skeleton.

The latter tried stabbing the incoming Goblin, but the little Monster dodged the attack.

'Fast...'

The next second, the Goblin opened its mouth.

Clink-

It tried digging its teeth inside the Skeleton's thigh bone.

While the Skeleton was prepared to feel pain, none came.

The Goblin was trying its best to injure the Skeleton, but it didn't work.

'Looks like those broken yellow teeth can't penetrate my bones... Hehe!' The Skeleton thought as it stabbed the Goblin's neck.

[You have defeated one Goblin. 5 Gold Coins and 10 Experience Points earned.]

The remaining Goblin looked at the standing Skeleton as if it was a great foe.

A foe had defeated its leader and its brother.

The Goblin took a step back.

The Skeleton took a step forward.

The next instant, the Goblin took off while shrieking loudly.

It ran away as fast as it could.

'Look at you! An [F-] Rank Monster running away for me...ME A [G] RANK MONSTER!' The Skeleton greedily thought as it followed the prey.

The Goblin was a bit faster, but it was quickly getting tired.

'Alright! Come to me!'

They were back where the Skeleton had defeated the first Goblin.

'Behold! The Endurance of a Skeleton!'

In front of them, the way split into three paths.

But before the Goblin could choose which way to go,

Stomp-

A huge Monster appeared from one of those paths.

It immediately blocked the Goblin's path.

The Goblin recognized the Monster right away.

It stopped running.

The Goblin's body trembled.

The next second, it fell to the ground.

The Skeleton had stuck its body to the wall after seeing the Monster.

It was much, much bigger than a Goblin.

The Monster's skin was blue.

It stood on two huge and muscular legs.

Some kind of large pouch was in its hand.

At the sight of such a Monster, the Skeleton's sense of hunger immediately disappeared.

'How didn't I hear it approach? Does it have a Skill like my Silent Steps? What is it?'

[ An Orc: [E-] Rank Monster.]

'What? WHAT?' The Skeleton would have instinctively screamed if its body allowed it to.

It would have trembled if it had nerves or muscles that would have reacted to stress or fear.

But since it didn't have any of those, the Skeleton stayed next to the wall, unmoving.

'I shouldn't have followed... It was shouting all the way here! I should have eaten those two damn Goblins and left. I was too greedy...'

The Orc must have been two meters tall, while the Skeleton stood at about 150 centimeters.

The Goblins were a lot smaller, barely a meter tall.

The Orc took heavy steps towards the Goblin.

'How the hell didn't I hear those loud steps??'

The Goblin was shrieking weakly on the ground.

It had lost all will to fight or even run away.

The Orc stood in front of the Goblin.

After looking at it for a bit, it raised one of its feet.

Green blood poured everywhere.

The Skeleton would have felt chills and cold sweat if it could.

The Goblin's head had been crushed.

The Orc then proceeded to lift the bloody body and put it in its pouch.

'Just take it and go!'

The Orc, then, walked towards the Skeleton.

'No. No, no, no!'

The Orc stared at the bones in front of it.

It brought its face towards the Skeleton's skull and started smelling it.

Moist air enveloped the Skeleton's head.

'Don't... Move... Don't move...' The Skeleton told itself.

After a bit, the Orc raised its head and looked at the way the Skeleton and the Goblin had come from.

Finally, it grabbed the Skeleton.

'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!' The Skeleton thought as it was lifted and put inside the pouch.

The Orc walked with its pouch, now, a bit fuller.

'What the hell?' The Skeleton thought while looking at the Goblin's carcass it was lying on.

Still, the Skeleton couldn't do anything.

Its speed was inferior to that of a Goblin.

And yet, even the latter thought that running away from Orcs was meaningless.

'Why is it taking me?'

A bit later, two carcasses were thrown on top of the Skeleton.

It was the two Monsters it had previously defeated.

'Let's wait for now. There's not much I can do anyway...'

All the Skeleton could do was focus on its sense of hearing.

After being carried around for about twenty minutes, the pouch was put down.

'Please don't eat me... Please don't eat me...'

The next instant, the pouch was turned upside down.

The Orc shook it.

Three Goblin corpses and some bones fell to the ground.

The Orc found it strange that the bones were stuck together, but it didn't think about it too much.

It walked away.

Once the Orc was far enough, the Skeleton sat up.

'Thank god I'm only made of bones...'

[You can thank the System for that. ]

'Yeah, whatever...' The Skeleton thought as it looked around.

A dark room.

There was one big hole in one of the walls.

The Skeleton could pass through that hole if it bent its body a little.

Stare-

The next instant, a boulder was pushed.

'What the hell? No! NO!' The Skeleton thought as its only means of escaping disappeared.

The boulder perfectly covered the hole.

The Skeleton stood up and examined the room carefully.

'Yep. That was the only way to exit!'

After that, the Skeleton lowered its gaze.

'Huh?'

Not only were the defeated Goblins on the ground, but also multiple other dead Monsters.

Gray Wolves were lying on the ground, small creatures with wings, a Monster that looked like a Muscular Goblin but much taller, and others.

The Skeleton's hunger was awakened once more.

'Fuck this. I can't go out for now. Until then...'

And it was stronger than ever.

'It's a feast!'

The Skeleton started munching on the Goblins it had previously fought.

The more it ate, the stronger its hunger became.

[You have gained 5 Evolution Points.]

[You have gained 5 Evolution Points.]

The Skeleton turned towards the Muscular Goblin's body.

It was unclear how the Skeleton could eat.

After all, it didn't have a stomach or somewhere where the food would go after being eaten.

Still, the Skeleton didn't worry about it.

It felt great to eat.

It made its body stronger.

That was enough.

A minute later, the Skeleton had swallowed the whole Muscular Goblin.

[You have gained 30 Evolution Points.]

The Skeleton turned towards the other dead Monsters.

'What are the other Monsters? What are their ranks?'

[ Three Grey Wolves: [F] Rank Monsters.

Five Poisonous Bats: [F-] Rank Monsters.

One Hobgoblin: [F+] Rank Monster.

Two Black Wolves: [F+] Rank Monster.

One Paralyzing Centipede: [F] Rank Monster.

One Orc: [E-] Rank Monster.

Two Stone Lizards: [F] Rank Monsters.

]

'Some are hidden under other corpses... Some are half-eaten... This must be where that Orc keeps its food, huh?' The Skeleton thought as it started devouring a lizard whose scales looked like stones.

After devouring two Stone Lizards and a half-eaten Orc,

[You have gained 10 Evolution Points.]

[You have gained 10 Evolution Points.]

[You have gained 45 Evolution Points.]

[Evolution is available.]

[Would you like to Evolve now?]

'Nope! I'll evolve after eating all of these!'

[You can already check the available Evolutions.]

[Would you like to?]

'Check them? EvolutionS... Plural. So I get to choose, huh? Sure, I'll check them.'

[You can Evolve into:

1) Skeleton Soldier.

2) Goblin.

3) Muscular Goblin.

]

'Will I get more choices after eating these?'

[The number of choices depends on how many Evolution Points you possess and on the Monsters you have devoured.]