Chapter 9 - ARCANE SKELETON KNIGHT

[Error]

[Error]

[ Contractor in danger ]

[ Error... ]

[ Analysing best course of action ]

[ Analysing ...]

[...]

[ Analysis complete ]

[ Temporal Evolution ]

[ Basic skeletal warrior ~ Skeleton knight ]

[ Analysing ]

[ Skeletal knight is inefficient in dealing with the enemies; Enemies identified as tier 5 mystic shadow wolves ]

[ Temporal evolution ]

[ Skeleton knight ~ Arcane skeleton knight ]

[ Danger!!!! Danger!!! ]

[Contractor's mana is insufficient ]

[ Evolution can only last for a minute ]

[ All stats increased to match evolution ]

[ Countdown begins ]

[ 01:00 ]

[ 00: 59 ]

[... ]

In response to the system notification, Ossa's body glowed with a subtle dark green hue as he underwent evolution. The glow dimmed, bringing the glitching of his body to a stop, as it was now possible to save his contractor.

After his temporal evolution, he gained strength, insight, and knowledge he never knew he had, but everything felt right like it had always been like that. He, who had the cognition of a child, now felt like a veteran soldier with an IQ to match.

With his newfound abilities, he knew exactly how to use them and what to do to save himself and his contractor, Bel.

As the system notifications sounded in his mind, time temporarily froze, allowing his transition from a basic skeletal warrior to an arcane skeletal knight to occur smoothly without any external interference.

His broken ribs healed, and his usual weak skeletal body became sturdier than before; his bones radiated a silver hue, mirroring the color of steel, representing their newfound strength.

After the evolution was completed, time started to flow normally again.

With time back to normal and only a minute in his new state, without hesitation, he punched forward, hitting the shadow wolf in front of him before it could react. The wolf who could not react in time found itself hurling into a tree, as it had been hit hard by Ossa.

The first threat was taken care of, and his body teleported to counter the female shadow wolf, swiftly moving towards Bel for the kill.

"What..." Bel exclaimed as she noticed Ossa in front of her, his skeletal body glowing with a subtle silver hue.

"Os..." She paused, feeling a splitting headache, after which her body went limp, collapsing in the process.

"You are gonna pay for that," Ossa, who had not spoken all this time, said, anger vivid in his tone.

Without turning towards the collapsed Bel, he pointed at her, a barrier made of dark mana surrounding her.

The male wolf, which had been punched earlier, hit its nose on the barrier as it had taken advantage of the commotion to attack Bel.

"GROWL!!!"

It exclaimed, annoyed by the fact that its plan had failed.

The female wolf, baring its fangs at Ossa, hesitated to attack as it could sense that the skeleton warrior was now different, more dangerous.

The male, on the other hand, did not care about that and, with its jaws open, jumped towards Ossa.

Ossa skillfully dodged without turning towards it, as it had attacked from behind.

The creature missed its target, its momentum carrying it as it clashed with its mate.

"Wolf!!" The pup noticing the state of its parents ran towards them who lay on the ground, the male on top of the female a few meters from Ossa as the clash had pushed them back.

[ 00:30 ]

[ 00:29 ]

"I don't have much time left," Ossa thought to himself as he noticed the timer, which was a dark green, seemingly floating in front of him.

He dashed forward, his fingers straightened, ready for the kill.

The wolves, sensing danger, melted into the shadows cast on the ground, creeping away to safety.

Feeling like the creature in front of them was now formidable, their cowardly instincts told them to run, but their parental instinct could not leave their child with such a monster.

Resolving themselves, they jumped out of the shadows at the same time, each from opposite sides of the Arcane skeletal knight.

Ossa, noticing them, calmly stood still. As they got into his range, he stabbed at one of them with his straightened palm, his hand passing through it easily as the creature turned into a wisp of dark smoke.

The other, from the opposite side, taking the momentary distraction of Ossa as an opportunity, opened its jaws ready to crush Ossa's neck and separate it from the rest of his skeletal body.

"Not happening," Ossa said out loud, the dark green light in his eyes igniting with resolution.

He ducked and counter-attacked, throwing a punch at the creature which turned into wisps of black smoke. Unlike the first, Ossa's hand did not pass through it but hit the black smoke, hurtling it into a nearby shrub. He had coated his arm in dark energy, allowing him to punch at the smoky shadowy form.

"Wolf!!!" The pup screamed, having seen its parent being bested by another.

The creature that had been sent flying was the female, enraging the male.

Its body slowly changed to a smoky shadowy form but maintained its wolf-like silhouette, with fangs and claws still materialized.

"Howl!!!" It exclaimed as it rushed towards Ossa.

[ 00:15 ]

"Got to finish this quickly," he thought to himself as time was running out.

With this in mind, he coated his arm with dark energy, stood in a boxing stance, and resolved to intercept the wolf's attack.

The two clashed, the wolf evading Ossa's punches as it dissipated its body when the punch got closer.

"Smart beast... But I need to finish this quickly," Ossa thought, as he had not been able to hit it even once. On the other hand, the creature had bitten and scratched his sturdy skeletal body.

[ 00:09 ]

"No!!" Ossa exclaimed as he increased the speed of his punches, hitting faster than the creature could dissipate.

The creature was now bombarded with punches, its smoky, shadowy figure materializing with each hit.

Determined, Ossa continued the assault, finally bringing the creature down. The shadow wolf fell, its body bloodied from the continuous pummeling it had received.

Afraid time would run out, Ossa straightened his bony fingers ready to bring its life to an end but stopped in his tracks as the female and baby shadow solve rushed to the aid of the male shadow wolf.

"Whine!!! Whine!!!" With pleading eyes, they begged Ossa to stop.

[ 00:00 ]

[ Time up ]

[ Reverting host ]