Eternal Rest

The identified spiders ranged from level 21 to level 23. Finally, some monsters his level, Bones thought. He shifted his focus from the screen to witness why they were called the Jumping Arachnids. Once they reached mid-range, the spiders leaped at him with a speed surpassing that of their buzzing and charging mutating cousins.

Bones leaped to the side and rolled away, narrowly avoiding the first spider that lunged at him. He quickly regained his footing, a lance materializing in his hand, but he opted to leave it levitating in place as he focused on the next attacker hurtling toward him. Moving forward, he ducked under the spider's trajectory, sensing rather than seeing it impale itself on the suspended lance behind him. Despite the constrictions of the surrounding webs, he continued to evade their leaping attacks, doing his best to navigate the limited space and avoid their strikes.

Their jumping ability certainly kept Bones on his toes, but beyond that, they posed little threat. Despite their agility, they were relatively easy to dispatch, although their erratic movements made landing hits a challenge. With most of them being lower level than him, the experience gained didn’t amount to much, but their sheer numbers posed a formidable obstacle. As Bones stood amidst the dozen spider corpses, he was suddenly sent sprawling forward by a powerful impact from behind. Landing among the vines covering the ground, he felt a sharp bite accompanied by a crawling sensation of the paralytic venom he had come to dread. His lightweight form was jolted from side to side as he struggled to regain his bearings. Amidst the chaos, he could discern the screeches and hisses of a larger spider—one unlike any he had encountered before, twice the size of the others.

Bones swiftly retaliated, casting Bone Spikes from beneath him. The spikes pierced through and around his body, impaling the spider atop him. As the creature screeched in pain and backed away, Bones leaped to his feet and cast another set of spikes at its location, pinning it in place. Seizing the opportunity, he used Identify to learn more about his assailant.

Spitting Weaver, lvl 24

First jumping spiders, now spitting ones? Bones mused to himself as he processed the information.

The pinned spider launched a retaliatory attack, but Bones deftly dodged the spitting projectile aimed at him. In response, he unleashed a projectile of his own, swiftly ending the creature's life. As he turned to inspect the blob of spit that had struck the tree behind him, he noted the sizzling sound it produced. Acid? Compared to the acid damage encountered in the first stage, this was on a whole new level of danger.

Bones crouched next to the Spitting Weaver's body and began his search for a mana stone, but came up empty-handed. Disappointed, he shifted his attention to the other corpses nearby, sensing mana emanating faintly from two of them. Deciding to investigate further, he focused on the larger spider's corpse and carefully extracted its glands. The acid it secreted seemed potent enough, and he surmised it might prove useful in the future.

"This one likely wove all these webs," Bones mused, eyeing the intricate structures around him. "Bone Spikes seem to be the best bet against the spitting spider. As for the jumpers, they're agile and elusive, but area of effect spells like Mana Blast and Bone Nova should do the trick." Approaching the corpses of the Jumping Arachnids, Bones retrieved the mana stones he detected and continued down the clear path. He could sense the spiders following, preparing to ambush him, but he remained vigilant and ready for whatever they had planned.

Not a minute later, Bones repelled the ambushing cluster of spiders with Mana Blast. Most of the spiders were crippled and bleeding out from the impact, and the ones at the hypocenter died instantly. Mana Blast worked wonders but was the most mana-consuming skill Bones had!

He pondered how strong the Mana Blast—no, Arcane Blast, he corrected himself—would be if he had initially picked the Arcane Mage class. Considering his Arcane affinity, his guess was stronger, but not substantially.

The spiders he needed to be wary of were spitting weavers. They were around his level and attacked fiercely in both melee and at range. Their sting, Bones noticed after one too many bites, drained mana. This whole area, apart from the mutant spy-quitos, was inhabited by the spiders. Bones encountered one more species of spiders, a poisonous stalker, specialized in delivering potent poisons through their fangs. He had no doubt they would be a menace to adventurers with their ailments, but against him? They were harmless, sort of. The only reason he could differentiate the poisons they administered was because of the effects like paralysis, which he felt but didn’t affect him, and mana drain.

Speaking of, Bones' Mana Drain skill was proving itself most useful when hitting multiple targets with Bone Nova and Bone Spikes. Every monster hit drained a minute amount of mana, and hitting multiple targets accumulated to a decent mana drain.

By day's end, Bones was greeted with the pleasant chime of a level-up notification. While his class had stagnated over the past month, now that he was back to battling and accumulating experience, it wouldn't be long before he achieved his first class advancement and acquired a new racial skill upon reaching level twenty.

“Status.”

Status

Attributes

Name: Bones

Race: Undead Skeleton lvl 18

Class: Bonemancer lvl 24

Profession: ???

Hp - 390 (3.9 hp/s)

Mp - 530 (20.3 mp/s)

Sta - ∞

STR: 22

AGI: 5

END: 5

VIT: 39

INT: 53

WIS: 15

Free points:

Setting up camp for the night crossed his mind as darkness descended. It was a subconscious notion, a remnant of habit rather than necessity. With no need for sleep, there was little reason to raise a tent or build a fire.

Yet, that was precisely the advantage Bones intended to exploit shamelessly. He planned to grind out the final level in his class before taking a break. As nightfall brought forth a different array of monsters, Bones stood as the most monstrous among them.

It was a tumultuous night, filled with shrieks and screeches echoing through the jungle. Bones found himself engaged in constant battle with various monsters as darkness enveloped the land. Amidst the chaos, he encountered the mosquitoes he had anticipated. However, his feelings were mixed as he observed they were merely the size of his fist—both disappointing and relieving. Though he had expected a swarm of them to assail him, he found them solitary, scattered throughout the jungle. Bones couldn't help but notice the prevalent spider theme dominating the area. His keen powers of observation and deduction led him to speculate that the dungeon's boss might be the spider queen.

As the night progressed, Bones lost track of his whereabouts relative to the dungeon entrance. His battle fervor drove him to traverse the entire zone, leading him to encounter a new type of monster at the outskirts. It was a black salamander adorned with a shifting yellow pattern on its scales. The creature was sizable, estimated at around four meters in length, and its weight was evident in the way it dragged its body along the ground.

Bones observed the salamander closely, analyzing its hunting techniques. He noted the yellow shifting pattern on its scales, recognizing it as electricity coursing through the creature. It seemed the salamander would zap its targets with lightning, effectively paralyzing them.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the salamander's assault on its prey, Bones cautiously approached from the side and cast Bone Lance, aiming for its flank.

To his astonishment, the salamander swiftly countered by sweeping its tail, deflecting the lance and altering its trajectory. Instantly, it turned toward Bones, pinpointing his location with unnerving accuracy as it hissed menacingly. Bones couldn't help but marvel at the creature's flexibility in deflecting his attack and was taken aback by the sudden burst of speed as it charged toward him.

It moved its body erratically, swaying left and right as it closed in on Bones. Despite his best efforts, Bones had a hard time aiming at its head, his attacks continually missing their mark. In a matter of seconds, the salamander reached him and lunged, aiming to bite his neck. Bones narrowly dodged the attack by a hair's breadth, using Quick Dash to evade, but couldn't avoid the lingering zaps of electricity that followed. His Quick Dash faltered mid-skill, disrupted by the interference of the electrical current, which messed up his mana flow and interrupted the skill. Reacting swiftly, Bones backpedaled, putting some distance between himself and the creature.

"Tche, what an annoying fella. How about this then?!"

Bones cast Bone Spikes at the salamander's feet, but to his surprise, the creature moved before the spikes could even manifest. "Hooh? What instincts… is it that sensitive to mana? Alright, sense this!"

Bones turned sideways and lowered his stance, waiting for the salamander to charge at him. As it drew near, Bones thrust out his hand, punching and blasting the creature's head with the mana expelled from his fist. The force of the blow sent the salamander's body sweeping Bones off his feet, sending him flying backward. Undeterred, Bones stood up and dusted the dirt off his coat.

"I should've expected that," he grinned, approaching the headless body and sensing the mana stone within. With a swift motion, he shoved his hand into its chest and yanked the mana stone free, the scales and flesh of the creature now less resilient after its demise.

The rest of the night was spent battling spiders and salamanders, amphibians he rarely encountered but each held a mana stone in its body. Bones noted that tougher and higher-level rare monsters were more likely to possess mana stones, a logical contrast to the majority of spiders and ants found in the first dungeon, which lacked such valuable resources.

As dawn approached and the sky began to brighten, Bones gazed upward, contemplating the presence of a night and sun cycle within the dungeon. "Why would a dungeon even need such a cycle?" he pondered briefly before dismissing the thought as irrelevant, chalking it up to one of the many peculiarities of the system.

"I'm close to leveling up. Until now, I've encountered spiders, salamanders, and mosquitoes... both normal and mutant ones" Bones reflected. "Since the stage is jungle-themed, there is bound to be at least one more predatory creature that inhabits almost every corner of the world. One I've yet to see…"

Determined to uncover this elusive creature, Bones ventured further outside the spider zone. Encountering fewer spiders and salamanders, he stumbled upon traces of the monster he was hunting: drag marks on the ground and damaged foliage indicating its passage.

"Uh, this one seems to be a bit too big," Bones muttered to himself.

Following the signs deeper into the dark shade of the dense jungle, Bones encountered various critters along the way, including giant rodents squirming in the foliage. "There's a lot of them! Seems like I'm on the right track."

Pressing onward, Bones halted as he faintly sensed something approaching, his senses overloaded by the stimuli around him. Crouching low, he waited in anticipation. Suddenly, not even ten meters away, a Giant Spiny Rat leaped out from the bush. Bones paused, realizing this wasn't the creature he was seeking, nor the one he sensed approaching. Unaware of its surroundings, the rat was peacefully munching on berries when something long and green swooped in from the side, and they both disappeared into the flora.

Bones leaped from his crouching position and sprinted after them. The chase was brief, and he soon caught up to the giant rat lying in the grass. Bones approached warily, confusion clouding his thoughts. Why was the rat still here? And where was it? He scanned the surroundings but saw nothing but greenery. Turning to the rodent, he squatted down and inspected its body. It was dead. Fangs had penetrated its body, but why hadn't it eaten it?

Suddenly, Bones rose to his feet, realization dawning upon him. The giant rat was a bait? Bait for... him?

hiiiissss

Bones jerked forward into motion, dashing and utilizing the trees as cover. He sensed that he was being chased by the prey he hunted. The trees shook as it slithered, some breaking and falling from the impact. Bones circled, but the creature was closing in, undeterred by obstacles to its massive body. He cast Bone Spikes behind him, but they failed to slow the creature down. Spamming Quick Dash, he attempted to gain distance. Finally reaching a clearing, Bones turned to confront what had been chasing him. A moment later, a majestic towering green snake burst through the foliage and into the clearing. They locked eyes for a moment, the first showdown between the two commencing.

Common Green Viper, lvl 28 miniboss

Bones identified and meticulously observed the characteristics of the Viper. It possessed striking yellow eyes with a black vertical slit, a formidable maw adorned with two long fangs from which venom ominously dripped. The creature's large green scales provided impeccable camouflage amidst the jungle foliage. Below its menacing maw, Bones noticed the white marks left by his bone spikes. "Barely a scratch, huh? No wonder I didn't see it or sense it coming."

As Bones watched the snake, The Viper tightly coiled its body around its head, fixating its gaze upon him. When it began to shake its tail, Bones knew what was coming next.

The Viper lunged at him, and Bones swiftly sidestepped with a Quick Dash, narrowly evading the attack. The snake, undeterred, quickly coiled up again, preparing to strike once more. A lance struck its side, only to be deflected by the creature's tough scales, leaving behind a telltale white scratch mark. The Viper lunged again, but Bones deftly dodged once more.

Back and forth they went, locked in a deadly dance. Yet, it seemed like a pattern destined to repeat itself until The Viper abruptly ceased its lunging and instead began to circle around Bones, gradually picking up speed with each rotation. It left devastation in its wake, demolishing plants, uprooting grass, and even toppling trees, all while maintaining its relentless circling. "What is it doing?" a perplexed Bones pondered as he stood in the middle of it, casting spell after spell to no avail.