Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World
Chapter 33: [33] Bountiful Harvest

Chapter 33: [33] Bountiful Harvest

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 2 mana points!]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received C-Rank skill, Stelth!]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 1 Mana point!]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 2 Defence points!]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 2 Mana points!]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 2 Mana....

....

Unfortunately, Ark only managed to get only one additional skill. It was an assassin-type skill that allowed him to perfectly blend into his environment for a set duration of time.

Strangely, he had gotten it from a monster with pitch black skin and slender limbs... A slender man.

Just staring at the monster had been beyond creepy, so he quickly left its body after he got what he needed...

As for the rest of the monsters, they only provided stats, stats and more stats!

None of them were unassigned, they either fell on defence or mana, with a single one falling on strength.

It seemed wherever the monster worm stopped by to snack, was an area filled with magical monsters. That was the only explanation for why he had gotten so many mana points.

The defence points on the other hand, were largely from the other giant spiders that were scattered all round the stomach of the monster.

At the end of the day, Ark had gotten seven points to mana, four points to defence, and two points to agility.

When he stared at his stats, he nodded with satisfaction because he was finally beginning to look like a mage.

===

[Name: Ark Karras]

[Race: Skeleton (common)]

>Race effect: A skeleton has no needs.

Not affected by normal, physiological nutritional needs, nor status effects like (heat), (cold), (humidity), (thirst).

Ps. But if a skeleton wishes to grow taller... the only nutrient needed is calcium.

[Race Specialisation: Reaper (unholy)]

>Perks: Dark Harvest. Skills? Stats? Traits? Loot? Treasures? Thrust your scythe and reap what you desire for the time of harvest is at hand!

[Class: Mage]

>Class effect: Skillforge. Can combine two independent skills to form a greater skill.

[Skills: Fireball (F-Rank), Chain Lightning (C-Rank), Dirt Drifter (D-Rank) Destructive flames (C-Rank), Serpent Spear Form (D-Rank), Steel webs (D-Rank), Stealth (C-Rank.]

[Traits: Minor Toxin Resistance (F-Rank)]

-

Strength: 9

Mana: 100/(100+90)= 100/190

Agility: 11.5+2= 13.5

Defense: 4+4= 8

-

Stat points: 0

[Rank: Copper]

[Level: 2 (190/200)]

[Inventory: Enchanted steel crowbar (F), Basic Dagger (F).]

•••

Mana points did not work the same way the others did, unlike them, one regular stat point would equal ten points when invested in mana.

’My agility is far ahead of the other stats...’

Agility was a great thing, speed was always an important stat when it came to combat. But how well did it measure up to strength?

Speed vs strength was a topic that has been debated for ages, with both sides always having excellent points.

One hit from someone who was super strong was enough to change the course of the battle, but can the strong man even touch the quick one?

He stroked his chin as he stared intently at his stat screen. "I’ll have to balance them when I get more points..."

He would keep his strength a little above his agility, but not too far apart that the gap became too wide.

As for defence, Ark’s plan was to improve it to some degree, then either completely stop investing in it, or invest slowly.

There was a good reason for this... he was a mage, and considering his ability, it was only a matter of time before he got a really good defensive trait or spell.

Once he got it his defense stat would practically be useless to him.

When he was satisfied with ogling the system screen, Ark dismissed it and breathed out a very pleased sigh.

When he started the tutorial many hours ago, he had been a weakling with only a single skill. But now, Ark already had seven!

His stats were also growing at an amazing rate, and with each skill he would only grow stronger. Ark coukd not be more greatful...

Ark glanced at the stomach one last time as he prepared to leave, when a thought suddenly came to his mind.

He had not bothered trying to harvest the corpse worms because he had already hit the limit of stat points he could get from them, and they had the only useful skill they could provide.

But there was something he had not taken into account...

Just like their mother, wasn’t it possible that the corpse worms had eaten other monsters as well??

Sure, they were not as large as their mother, whose stomach was like a literal cave, but they were big enough that the bodies may still be preserved well enough.

There was only one issue...

"Do I really want to gut these disgusting worms to get maybe two extra stat points?"

Ark folded his arms across his chest and began thrumming his fingers over his ribs.

"Hmmm..."

He only stood there for a second before he suddenly pounced atop the first worm, his dagger already coming down on its slimy body.

"Who am I deceiving? I would do it even for 0.5 points!"

But it seemed Lady Luck had grown tired of him, the first worm was a starving bastard that had likely developed ulcers from starvation.

"How terrible of a hunter can you be to not even have a single monster in your stomach?"

No wonder he was able to kill some of them with ease, they were just incompetent.

The second had digested its meal beyond recognition, another one was filled with rocks...

At that point, Ark considered giving up. It was not like he had much time to waste, he still needed to find his classmates before the boss fight began.

But deciding that he had gone too far to give up, he continued gutting them until there was only a single worm left.

It was like that point in a gacha game when you’ve hit hard pity and are waiting, praying that your fifty-fifty does not end your whole career.

Yes, we’ve all been there...

He was more careful this time, as through treating the dead worm nicely would make Lady Luck shine on him.

Maybe Lady Luck did reward his efforts? Ark did find something inside the worm.

But how could he consider himself lucky, when what was inside it was a corpse of a human.

His classmate...

His glee immediately vanished, replaced with a cold feeling that settled deep within his soul.

Once again, he was reminded that despite the beauty of this world, despite the minor achievements which had filled him with momentary happiness...

This world... was hell.