Chương 64: The Essential Stat Build for a Slice-of-Life Player

"Boom…" As if to prove Zelier's suspicions, the ground began trembling once again.

"Boom…" Fragments of bones buried beneath the soil were shaken loose, bouncing into the air.

"BOOM!!!" A massive arm, nearly as thick as a human leg bone, suddenly burst through the center of the graveyard and slammed heavily into the earth. A gigantic skeletal figure slowly dragged itself out from underground. Dirt cascaded down from its body, and within seconds, a monster formed from several forcibly fused corpses emerged beneath the moonlight.

《Adventurer's Guild Universal Bestiary》 【Sequence 29】: Vile Skeletal Amalgam Individual Threat Rating: 【Difficult】 Appearance: A massive skeletal fusion far larger than ordinary Skeleton Soldiers. Its basic shape resembles an enlarged human skeleton. When other Skeleton Soldiers are present nearby, the Vile Skeletal Amalgam forcibly drags them toward itself, piecing their bones onto its own body to form a new shape. Habits: No different from ordinary Skeleton Soldiers.

Special Ability: Possesses far greater strength compared to ordinary Skeleton Soldiers. Core Weakness: A lone Vile Skeletal Amalgam can be defeated by destroying its skull. However, if it is formed by merging multiple Skeleton Soldiers, every single skull attached to its body must be destroyed. Guild Notes: Like Skeleton Soldiers, Vile Skeletal Amalgams possess no pain response. Do not waste time attacking their bodies. Destroy every skull attached to them as quickly as possible.

"Looks like it finally showed up… the Vile Skeletal Amalgam." Marcus spoke slowly. The four members of the squad retreated and regrouped. The three-meter-tall skeletal fusion suddenly spread open its arms and let out a roar toward the night sky. The surrounding Skeleton Soldiers seemed to be pulled by an irresistible force. Their bodies collapsed one after another, and every bone—including the skulls still burning with sickly green flames—was dragged toward the Vile Skeletal Amalgam.

"Crack… crack…" Like pieces of a twisted puzzle, each bone reattached itself onto the monster's body, making its form grow larger and more grotesque. When the transformation finished, the creature standing before the squad had eight arms, ten legs, and seven skulls.

"Holy shit…" Grey stared at it, unsure whether he was amazed or horrified.

"What the hell is that… a skeleton crab?" This was also Zelier's first time seeing a monster like this. Even the Mistwraith had never been capable of such absurd reconstruction. Marcus lowered his stance, raising his shield in front of him. His expression turned serious.

"Ignore the rest of its body. Aim for the skulls." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. While they were speaking, the highest skull on the Vile Skeletal Amalgam twisted around. The flames burning inside its empty eye sockets suddenly intensified. Then its ten legs began pounding against the ground.

"Clack, clack, clack!" The monster charged toward them.

"Engage!" Marcus roared and stepped forward to meet it. Just like Skeleton Soldiers, the Vile Skeletal Amalgam snapped off its own sharp ribs and used them as weapons. Eight arms swung wildly, creating an intimidating barrage. But Marcus did not retreat. He raised his shield and blocked the enormous bone blade crashing down toward him.

"CLANG!" The result proved one thing— Iron was still harder than bone. The rib blade shattered from the impact. However, the terrifying force behind the strike still pushed Marcus back several steps. Yet he refused to give ground. While the Vile Skeletal Amalgam was busy tearing another rib from its body, Marcus charged forward with his shield, aiming directly at one of the lower skulls. Shield Bash! The heavy composite shield slammed into the skull embedded in its chest.

"BANG!" The skull exploded together with the green flame inside. First skull destroyed. Almost at the same moment, Grey appeared from the flank. Taking advantage of the opening created by Marcus, he slipped behind the monster. With a forward step and a twist of his waist, he unleashed a sweeping slash. Moonlight flowed along the blade. The skull attached to the creature's waist shattered instantly. Second skull destroyed. The Vile Skeletal Amalgam seemed enraged. Its body twisted and rearranged itself.

Its arms reassembled, stretching far longer than before as they were forcibly pushed outward. The monster became even more savage. It swung down toward Grey. The bone blade narrowly scraped past Grey's scalp, missing him by a hair. Grey retreated while striking back, cutting off one of the monster's arms and slightly reducing the pressure on Marcus. The remaining five skulls were all positioned above the creature's shoulders. Neither Marcus nor Grey could reach them.

But by then, Zelier had already finished charging his spell. Brilliant blue light flashed. Zelier found the perfect angle. The Arcane Missile shot forward. It entered through the monster's right shoulder, pierced through its neck, and finally burst out from the top of its skull. Enhanced by overwhelming magical power, the Arcane Missile tore through everything in its path. The Vile Skeletal Amalgam's bones were powerless to stop it.

"BOOM!" Bone fragments scattered everywhere. Three skulls were destroyed in a single strike. Vaelis' Thunder Arrow arrived right on schedule. He pulled back the bowstring, pouring his battle aura violently into the arrow. Under Vaelis' control, the energy stabilized into perfect balance. Lightning danced. The arrow fired.

"Release!" A blinding streak of electricity tore through the night sky. The arrow directly shattered another skull. The remaining aura explosion also destroyed half of the creature's shoulder, causing three arms to fall to the ground. Everything happened within only a few seconds. The Vile Skeletal Amalgam's final skull spun around blankly, seemingly unable to comprehend the endless barrage of attacks. The last thing it saw was Zelier standing there with his white ash staff raised. Cold air gathered once again.

His robe fluttered slightly.

"Rest now…" Ice Lance. Fully charged. The icy projectile left a white trail of frost as it shot forward, entering through the monster's mouth and driving upward into the inside of its skull.

"BOOM…" A deep explosion echoed. Cracks spread across the skull like a spiderweb before it shattered completely. Ice crystals mixed with bone fragments rained down like snowfall. The final skull had been destroyed. The Vile Skeletal Amalgam could no longer maintain its grotesque form. Its bones collapsed one after another, scattering across the ground. Within moments, the entire monster became nothing more than a pile of lifeless white bones. [Subjugation Complete!] Lv. 6 (102/225) → Lv.

7 (40/250) The Skeleton Soldiers combined with the Vile Skeletal Amalgam provided Zelier with a total of 163 experience points. Level Up! Hmm… Zelier frowned slightly as he considered his options. Should he continue increasing Intelligence? Following the principle of balancing weaknesses, he actually wanted to improve his Spirit attribute. But after thinking about it… Forget it. Intelligence it was. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take before he could break through to a Novice Mage.

Whether it was Veil of the Mist, Healing Spell, or Extraction Spell, all of them required advancement to a higher mage tier. With those powerful spells, his combat ability and overall utility would rise by more than just one level. Strength: 65 Agility: 61 Constitution: 68 Spirit: 71 Intelligence: 82 → 86 Perception: 30 Charisma: 49 → 50 Luck: 41 Talent Skill: Matrix Deduction. After this increase, his Charisma finally reached 50.

Zelier knew very well that his luck with people—especially women—had been surprisingly good so far. And his outstanding Charisma attribute had undoubtedly played a major role. As expected… The perfect stat build for a slice-of-life player.