Chương 3: First Hunt & Bone Crafter

"I haven't seen a single person here yet. It looks like I really am the first. Have the rest of my coworkers even left the starting zone?" Alex gazed at the large cave entrance in the distance, partially hidden behind a tree. He had been waiting for the sun to set before raiding the Troll hideout. The growing darkness was perfect for his Shadow Veil spell, which would grant him excellent stealth and let him move undetected while surprising his enemies. He studied the Trolls in silence.

This would be his first real fight against monsters since dying and awakening in this new form. Strangely, he felt no nervousness or fear—those emotions seemed almost absent from his mind. Still, he worried the plan might fail, so he continued observing their patterns, movements, and behavior.

"They seem to form a communal society with clear power hierarchies." The Troll that had killed him earlier was only a smaller, weaker scout. Even so, it had been twice the size of any human, armed with enormous, log-like arms. Yet the guards at the cave entrance were even taller and stronger, their stone-like skin rippling with power as they gripped massive hammers.

"They look like high-level monsters… Can I really take them down?" Alex considered his next move and decided to experiment. He slipped behind a large boulder to ensure he wasn't followed, then activated Summon Undead, placing a magic circle on the ground. As expected, he had already reached his Undead Limit, so nothing appeared. That was precisely what he wanted.

"Modify the magic circle so it activates automatically once I die." Using Self-Binding, he commanded his own body to move. Drawing on the inner knowledge of the monster's structure—or perhaps the System itself—the skeleton began adjusting the runes within the circle. Alex memorized the formula quickly. It was simpler than he had expected. He placed a mana stone he had collected earlier into the circle.

These stones grew on large blue crystals scattered throughout the area; Trolls and other monsters harvested them to restore mana or craft items. Raw consumption was lethal for humans and required alchemical processing, according to the System prompts.

"Using this mana stone as a battery for the auto-summon circle… it should work. Maybe." He paused, steeling himself.

"The only way to test it is by dying, but I won't do that. I'll sneak in, kill as many as I can, and run if my life is threatened. This circle is not permission to fight recklessly." Once the sun finally set, marking the end of the second day in the Tutorial Zone, Alex activated Shadow Veil and crept toward the Troll cavern. Small flame torches provided weak illumination. If he could extinguish them, the interior would plunge into total darkness—an environment where he, as an undead, could see perfectly.

He readied his sword, infusing it with faint mana and activating Sword Energy to sharpen the blade and increase its durability. The Trolls spoke in a crude dialect most humans would not understand, but Alex could.

"See human?"

"No human."

"Heard humans appeared."

"Where? Down the mountain?"

"Scout hasn't returned."

"Humans dangerous?"

"Joking?! Gahahahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!" Their speech was simple, yet they were clearly intelligent. Alex didn't care. If they planned to hunt humans, that was all the justification he needed to eliminate them.

"Hungry. When human hunt?"

"Soon— Gaaaack?!" SLASH! In that instant, one Troll screamed and vomited blood as a dark shadow climbed its back and drove a burning sword into its jugular. Blood sprayed violently across the cave wall. The second Troll roared in shock and swung its hammer at its dying companion, accidentally smashing its head. Alex leaped over the swinging arm, darted toward the creature's neck, and stabbed deep, twisting the blade to burn and tear the throat wide open.

"Guuaaack!" Both Trolls collapsed. Their corpses quickly caught fire. Alex's glowing violet eyes scanned the darkness. No footsteps or alarmed cries echoed from deeper inside—the guards had been far enough away that their deaths went unnoticed. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Easier than I expected." He had commanded his body to move and kill with maximum efficiency while syncing his own thoughts and reactions to the process. The more he trained with Self-Binding, the more these movements became instinctive. Soon, he would no longer need the commands at all.

"It's like I'm a machine. Following precise orders always produces the best possible outcome with this body." Ding! [You have slain [Mountain Troll – Level 10] x2 – Bonus experience earned for killing enemies above your level. 40 TP earned.] [Class: [Soulweaver Necromancer (F+)] has reached Level 2 – Stat points allocated, +2 free points.] [Race: [Undead Skeleton (F)] has reached Level 3 – Stat points allocated, +3 free points.]"So both Class and Race level up separately.

The Skeleton levels faster—probably because of its lower rank. Forty Tutorial Points is solid, though. What exactly are they used for?" As if answering his curiosity, the System displayed a large panel.

Tutorial Panel Duration: 28 days & 12 hours. Tutorial Type: Survival Completion Criteria: Survive the full duration. Tutorial Rules: Collect Tutorial Points (TP). Tutorial Information: Welcome to the Tutorial. This small realm was created to give Humanity a head start before full assimilation. The Great Forest, the Mountains, and the Seas are filled with both danger and opportunity. Monsters roam the land, hunting any Player they find. Kill them to gain TP, Levels, and Skills.

If you are talented and fortunate, you may even challenge powerful Field Bosses or Dungeon Bosses and catch the attention of Higher Beings. Tutorial Point Rules: Gain TP by killing monsters (split among contributors). Killing another Player grants half their TP (split among contributors). Complete special scenarios and dungeons for bonus TP. Final Rewards are based on total TP and number of Survivors. To leave the Tutorial: 1000 TP per Player, or 500, 000 TP collectively.

Total Survivors Remaining: 483/500 TP Collected: 40

"Seventeen people have already died… We only need 1000 TP each? It doesn't sound that difficult, but it probably is for the others." With the corpses now available, Alex dragged them aside to examine them more closely. His skills offered many possibilities, but he needed time to analyze them first. The first ability that came to mind was Death Echo, which he could use only once per day. The day was nearly over, so he had to act now.

"Death Echo." Darkness surged from one of the Troll corpses, flowing into him and nourishing his soul. A powerful wave of strength rushed through his body. [Death energy absorbed: +26%] [Nether +6] [Strength +5] [Spirit +4] [Endurance +3] [Toughness +4] [Active Skill: Brutish Force (Tier 1: 7%) Growth increased to 20%.] [Undead Evolution: 103%] [Undead Evolution threshold achieved. Level 20 required to evolve as an Undead Skeleton (F).]"So I still need more levels. Fine." Alex felt sharper and stronger instantly.

The increase in Nether was especially noticeable—his phantasmal energy expanded, granting greater precision and flexibility. Strength made his body feel heavier and more grounded. Endurance and Toughness hardened him noticeably; his bones were no longer ordinary but as resilient as steel. Spirit replaced Vitality, fueling his drive and energy. He realized the stats needed to grow in balance for the strongest overall effect. Specializing in just one or two would create weaknesses.

"Now, this." Alex wanted to test another combination: Undead Evolution, Self-Binding, and Soul Thread Weaving. He unified their effects and began slowly extracting the massive bones from the Troll corpse before him. Each bone was enormous. Once removed, he assimilated them into his own frame with the Self-Binding command:"Seamlessly combine and enhance your structure with these bones." Twenty minutes later, the Troll's corpse lay disfigured and hollow, nothing but flesh and skin remaining.

A glowing green core rested in Alex's palm. He had grown significantly. Standing roughly two and a half meters tall, the bones had been reshaped into white bone armor that covered his body rather than simply making him taller. Runes of Endurance, Reinforcement, Lightweight, and Speed Enhancement adorned the plates—spells he had deciphered through practice. They couldn't be cast normally but worked perfectly for enchanting objects with mana.

He inserted the Troll's core, the size of two apples, into the armor and used Soul Thread Weaving along with Self-Binding to bind everything together.

"Meticulously connect the mana waves of this monster core with the bone armor." FLASH! The armor glowed as the runes activated. Soul threads wove the structure tight, and the core began infusing steady energy throughout.

"It works." Alex was fascinated. He had yet to evolve, but he had already modified and enhanced his body as if it were equipment. His base stats hadn't increased, yet the System still recognized the achievement. [You have learned the Class Skill: Bone Crafting (Tier 1: 1%)!] [Bone Crafting (Tier 1: 1%)] You have learned the art of shaping, modifying, and weaponizing bone.

You can harvest bones from slain enemies, refine them, combine them with your own skeletal structure, and enchant them using mana, runes, and soul threads. Current Abilities: • Harvest and purify bones from corpses and store them inside your skeleton. Limit: 10, 000 kg. • Fuse harvested bones into existing skeletal structures or create external armor, weapons, and tools.

• Basic bone modification (reinforcement, sharpening, lightweight enchantments). • Increased efficiency when working with your own body due to Self-Binding and Soul Thread Weaving synergy. • Growth speed of this skill is significantly accelerated when using high-quality monster bones or when modifying your own vessel.

"Incredible…" Alex marveled at the new skill. In seconds, he harvested the second Troll's bones, storing them inside his body's spatial compartment. The possibilities felt limitless. With enough growth, he could craft giant bone structures, bone golems, and even autonomous skeleton soldiers. If he expanded Soul Thread Weaving further, nothing would hold him back. The massive storage capacity even opened the door to creating separate bodies for different situations.

"Forging, normal crafting, alchemy—if those skills exist, they could complement this perfectly," he thought.

"For now, this is more than enough." He stored the bone armor to regain his lighter form, then advanced toward the cave once more. The Mountain Trolls remained completely unaware, showing no sign they had noticed their missing guards. Alex slipped inside, extinguished the torches with precise bursts of fire magic, and moved deeper under the cover of Shadow Veil.