Even with his shout, the two skeletons continued beating him up. Though, Alsis wasn't hurt as his bones were much stronger than theirs. It felt like two babies punching an adult.
Alsis pushed them away. The two of them fell to the ground and stared at Alsis with madness in their eyes.
"What? Are the two of you upset that I ate the soul fire?" Alsis asked as he towered above the two of them.
The two skeletons felt scared, seeing him above them. With one kick from him, he could kill any of them.
"If you don't want to follow me, you two can stay here. You will get killed by the Malevolent Ghosts," Alsis said before he turned around and left.
He was reluctant to kill them because he had already named them. This was his test to see if they were loyal to him.
After Alsis walked several meters, Whitey walked towards him and followed him. Boney hesitated for a bit before he ultimately decided to follow after Alsis.
Seeing that they were still loyal, Alsis felt happy. He doesn't need to kill them.
Soon, the fog covered the three of them. When the two brainless skeletons saw the change in the environment, they moved closer to Alsis.
*Fwoosh* *Fwoosh*
Alsis became alert. The Malevolent Ghosts would surely cause these weak skeletons a lot of pain. They might even go berserk and attack him. At that time, he would be forced to kill them.
Suddenly, a red streak flew in from the fog. Alsis swung his hand and caught that Malevolent Ghost in his hand.
Whitey and Boney looked at it blankly. They had never seen it before, and they didn't have any urge to eat it.
Alsis tore the Malevolent Ghost and gave the two soul fires to each of them.
The two skeletons took the soul fires and held them in their hands as if they were precious objects. They then slowly swallowed them. Alsis could even imagine them shedding tears of joy.
The soul fires of the two skeletons glowed brighter before calming down a few seconds later.
"Great, right?" Alsis asked them.
Although he knew that they couldn't understand his words, he decided to treat them like babies. The number one rule when taking care of a baby was to talk to them like they were adults. Alsis was hoping that they would develop intelligence this way.
The two of them ignored him. Their interests were piqued, and they also wanted to try catching the Malevolent Ghosts, so they turned around and looked at the surrounding fog.
This was a great chance for Alsis to make them dependent on him. He decided to not catch the next Malevolent Ghost.
Alsis didn't have to wait for long before a malevolent ghost shot from the fog and attacked Whitey.
Whitey tried to grab the malevolent ghost on his face, but it quickly seeped into his empty eye sockets and touched his soul.
Whitey's soul fire burned brightly, and he fell to the ground in pain. He clawed at his face and tried to remove the ghost inside him, but he was too stupid to open his jaw and take it out himself.
Boney took a step back and looked at Whitey in fear.
Alsis intervened. He flipped Whitey on his back, and he sat on top of him. He pulled his jaw down and grabbed the malevolent ghost inside.
Whitey's soul fire slowly calmed down once the ghost was removed. Alsis then tore the malevolent ghost and fed it to the two of them.
After they ate, they moved closer to Alsis. They realized that the malevolent ghosts were not good for them.
Alsis inwardly grinned to himself. With this, their dependence on him would increase. This would then result in them being very loyal to him.
Another red streak shot towards them. This time it headed for Boney.
Alsis easily caught the malevolent ghost and tore it. Both Whitey and Boney stared at him silently. He could easily guess that they were in awe.
Alsis spent the whole night feeding the two skeletons and occasionally feeding himself.
…
The two skeletons were already at the Mid-Bone Nourishing stage when morning came. Their bones were also slightly grayish.
"Pick up that bone," Alsis said to Whitey.
Whitey looked in the direction he was pointing and picked up that bone. He then gave it to Alsis.
"Good!"
Alsis was satisfied with his response. With this, he had two loyal skeletons.
He brought the two of them, and they roamed around. Soon after, they found another skeleton.
Alsis slowly approached that skeleton with the two skeletons beside him. They stood several meters behind the skeleton before it noticed them.
The skeleton turned around and stood in front of them blankly.
As for Whitey and Boney, they were much more behaved, unlike before.
"I shall name you…"
Alsis stared at the skeleton intently and tried to find a remarkable characteristic on it. It was very hard for him to see anything as his eyes were not trained to examine the difference between skeletons.
It took him a few minutes before he realized that the skeleton was missing one of its ribs.
"Interesting. Ribs… Ribby? No, no… I already named Whitey and Boney in a similar way…"
Alsis rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He tapped his skull for a few seconds before an idea popped up inside his head.
"McRibbs?"
There was once a Core Formation cultivator he met with the name M*Donald. He sold delicious food items, and one of them was called M*Ribs. Alsis quickly approved of the name in his mind.
"Alright. I will call you McRibbs from now on!" Alsis shouted.
The skeleton half-kneeled in front of him as if he understood his words.
Like a knighting ceremony, Alsis patted him on the head. [AN: A knighting ceremony is when a queen/king bestows Knighthood to someone.]
And so, with two childishly-named skeletons and a deliciously named skeleton, Alsis walked away from that area.
Before he realized it, they stood in front of a cave opening.