Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World
Chapter 23: [23] Life Or Death

Chapter 23: [23] Life Or Death

A few minutes ago...

Due to the dirt drifter skill, Ark was able to move faster than he could have ever done on foot.

The only downside was that when he popped out of the ground, his mouth was filled up with gravel.

He spat it out with disgust and frowned as he stared up the large mountain. He could not see what was at the top, but the floor was filled with the corpses of several worms.

’They really cleaned house...’

Still, although there was no scarcity of bodies down there, it was not a guarantee that his teammates were alright.

Ark quickly sprinted towards the bodies, and placed his hands on the first one.

Although he should have been climbing up the mountain with all haste, he had to think ahead.

The boss monster was still looming in the back, rushing up the mountain without proper preparation would be foolish.

He needed to maximize every single opportunity he got, which meant grasping at even the smallest stat points.

Everything had taken thirty seconds at most, and by the end of it, Ark had gotten 3.5 points. As expected, nearly all of them went to agility, except a single free point which Ark immediately added to his mana.

Without a second to waste, he sprinted atop the mountain.

Just as Ark climbed up, his eyes gleamed softly as he took in the scene in front of him. His party had done an excellent job in clearing out the monsters, but there were five of them left, and he had far too little mana to spare.

Currently, the worms had not noticed him. They were all slithering towards his group, salivating at the mere thought of fondling their dead bodies.

’Fireball is good, but I need something stronger.’

Upgrading his mana stat had granted him a little extra mana, but it was only enough for two full spells at best, all that would be left after that were embers.

’Alright, I guess it’s about time I tried to this—’

Ark instinctively knew exactly what he had to do to activate his class effect. He simply closed his eyes and mentally willed it to be, combining [Fireball] and [Chain Lightning].

And then the system tab appeared before him.

[Player, do you wish to merge (Fireball) and (Chain Lightning)?]

’Yes.’

[Skill merger successful! New skill, Destructive Flames (C-Rank), is now available!]

Lightning sparkled in Ark’s hands, and then an incandescent flame burst to life right in the center of it. The center of the fire was a vibrant blue, and around it was a bright orange fire that periodically sparked with blue lightning.

Ark had used fire ball and chain lighting before, so he knew how it felt, but this... this spell was on another level.

There was only one word he could use to describe it— Chaos. He was holding chaos right between his fingers.

He waited for the right moment and hurled the fire right at the worms, watching as they came undone under the destructive power hidden within it.

"Ahh, sorry." He stepped out of the darkness as all eyes turned to him. "Did I interrupt your meal?"

<•••>

Present time...

"Ark! We need your help, Soo-jin, Soo-jin is dying!" Olivia called out in a distressed tone.

Ark’s gaze immediately snapped to her direction. "What??" He asked, already sprinting towards them.

Since there was no notification, he had instinctively assumed that everyone in his party was safe, so he focused all his attention to the worms.

He had been so reliant on the system that he forgot one of the basic rules they were taught. The alerts would only come up within a certain proximity, once the distance was too great, the connection would break...

’Damn it!’

When Ark got closer to them, he felt his chest tighten. Nolan was lying in a pool of his own blood, and from the looks of things, he had not been killed by the worms...

Soo-jin on the other was lying on her back with Nolan’s spear embedded in her stomach. Ark did not like the conclusion that he was coming to...

This was his fault wasn’t it? It was clear that Nolan had attacked Soo-jin out of spite. If he had let Nolan die, then they wouldn’t have been in this mess!

"How many potions are left?!" They could still save her, as long as they acted fast, they could keep Soo-jin alive. But for that, Ark needed potions, at least two bottles!

But when he stared at the floor, all he saw were empty vials that reflected the light of the moon.

"W-we are out..." Isabella squeaked out. She sounded like she was on the verge of breaking into tears.

The girl that had looked at him so fiercely, with eyes filled with disgust, now stared at him like he was her only hope.

"Shit!" Ark cursed as he walked past them to Nolan’s corpse. "Isabella, use your blood manipulation skill to stop the bleeding! Olivia, keep applying pressure to the wound!"

He knelt down next to Nolan, the air around them heavy with tension.

"W-what are you doing?" Olivia asked, but Ark ignored her.

He was not so keen on revealing his hand so early, but he could not risk Soo-jin’s life, all because he wanted to keep a secret to keep.

When Ark read the description of Dark Harvest, it had been pretty clear on what it could do, and one of them was stealing loot.

He suspected that Nolan was the only one among them who still had a health potion, and if he added it to the half he had, it would be enough. The only issue was that, well, he was dead.

’But I should be able to steal from his inventory right?’

It was a very slim chance, but Ark put all his faith into luck. If he was right, then it would work, but if he failed... Soo-jin would die.

Before he started, he summoned an item he had previously regarded as trash, the F-rank Fate charm.

The moment he summoned it, dark purple fire burned around his index finger, carving the ring right into his bones.

It was plain black, with no adornments whatsoever, but there was a gleam about it, as though there was a lot more to it than met the eye.

Although Ark was surprised by the elaborate display, he had no time to waste thinking about it. He only hoped it would boost his luck.

’Here goes!’

He placed his hand on Nolan’s body which was still warm, blocked Olivia and Isabella’s view with his body, and prayed to whoever would bother to listen.

’Please, I don’t need skills or stat points...’

Ark had been indifferent about Soo-Jin for most of the journey, but he had grown fond of her snarky attitude over time.

And regardless of that, she was his teammate. They had fought side by side in this hellish tutorial, so it was only right that he would help her.

But as Ark activated his ability, his chest knotted with dread, and a cold chill ran up his spine as he stared at the notification in front of him.

[Harvest Failed!]