[Instance Mission: Clear all undead units in the training ground]
[Reward: 1000 experience points]
Upon entering the one-time instance named "Undead Tomb: Training Ground of 961 Skeletons," the instance mission was immediately refreshed.
The reward was quite decent in the early stages. Killing 100 1st Tier units would usually grant around 1000 experience points, essentially a generous gift if completed. Qin Muye's luck, however, didn't trigger the 1% appearance of a Hero Unit or a Champion-level unit. It was evident that these two were likely boss-level units, and as a 1st Tier low-level instance, it was designed for beginners, making such high-level entities improbable.
As Qin Muye entered the instance, accompanied by his Champion-level monster, they were teleported into the skeleton training ground. The area was spacious, with three squads of skeletons engaged in training.
Among them, the leading three elite skeleton soldiers were dressed in leather armor and wielded long knives. Regular skeleton soldiers usually wore tattered cloth and wielded rusty knives, showing the clear distinction between commoners and regular military forces.
However, as a 1st Tier unit, their information was easily discerned through his basic reconnaissance skill.
[Unit Name: Skeleton Warrior]
[Unit Tier: 1st Tier Elite]
[HP: 10/10]
[Attack: 3]
[Defense: 2]
[Skills]
[Undead Creature: Immune to toxins, mental magic, and fear; cannot be healed or resurrected]
[Cold and Heartless: Lacks morale]
[Hollow Body: Chance to evade ranged attacks]
[Elite Warrior: +1 Attack, +1 Defense]
Qin Muye noticed that these elite skeleton soldiers were now called Skeleton Warriors and possessed an additional skill, Elite Warrior. Regular skeleton soldiers typically had only three skills, with attack and defense values of 2 and 1, respectively, along with the first three skills, similar to non-elite ones.
This raised a question for him: his own monster had reached the Champion level, yet it was still referred to as a monster, while the skeleton soldiers got a name change. Was it because his monster's advancement was not influenced by "Lord's Era" but rather modified by Qin Muye himself?
The three Skeleton Warriors, upon noticing Qin Muye and the Champion-level monster, immediately charged towards them with a group of 27 skeleton soldiers.
Facing the onslaught, Qin Muye decisively turned around and fled.
"Handle it; I trust you!!!" Qin Muye shouted to his Champion-level monster as he ran.
The Champion-level monster revealed a ferocious grin, saying, "Master, rest assured. They're just a bunch of bone frames."
With that, he brandished his standard sword and charged into the fray.
If they were 1st Tier Champion-level skeleton soldiers, he might have been cautious. However, three 1st Tier Elite Skeleton Warriors were no threat to him. With a defense of 10, even if thirty skeleton soldiers attacked simultaneously, their attacks wouldn't penetrate his defense. With an attack power of 15, any collision with the skeleton soldiers would result in dismemberment.
Swinging his sword, he effortlessly cleaved the three leading Elite Skeleton Warriors in half.
Undead creatures, lacking flesh and blood, didn't die from such attacks. Instead, they struggled with half their bodies towards the Champion-level monster.
Seeing this, the Champion-level monster stomped on the flaming skulls within the shattered skeletons, ensuring their complete demise.
Observing the performance of the Skeleton Warriors, Qin Muye realized that undead units like skeleton soldiers were essentially emotionless killing machines, with potential comparable to monsters.
Fearless in death, their only weak point was the flaming skull within the skeleton head. Even if detached, as long as the soul fire didn't extinguish, they would continue fighting.
As the three Elite Skeleton Warriors were all crushed, there was no longer any threat to the Champion-level monster. While beheading them might be a bit troublesome, it turned into a one-sided massacre.
"Oh damn, did I miss some?" Qin Muye suddenly noticed five skeleton soldiers approaching him. Helpless, he turned and ran.
With 0 attack and 0 defense, did he want to fight these skeleton soldiers with 2 attack and 1 defense? The Champion-level monster also noticed Qin Muye being pursued and flashed a fierce smile. "Master, don't worry; just a bunch of bone frames."
With that, he lifted a skeleton soldier and smashed it into the pursuing group.
The force was tremendous, dispersing the group of six skeleton soldiers.
Seeing this, Qin Muye daringly approached and picked up a skeleton head to examine. Despite being shattered, the head still attempted to bite him.
"The core is the skeleton head. Once other parts of the body lose skeletal connection, they lose control over the skeleton soldier. Quite interesting."
"Chop off all the skeleton soldiers' heads and then kill them slowly," Qin Muye instructed.
"Yes, Master!" The Champion-level monster complied.
Encountering a small group of skeleton soldiers earlier, Qin Muye hadn't paid much attention. However, with this opportunity, he decided to study them further.
"It seems there's a chance to build a recruitment building for skeleton soldiers; these would make excellent laborers."
Undead creatures, especially those like skeleton soldiers lacking obvious intelligence, were ideal for various tasks. For instance, sending skeleton soldiers to scavenge resources while having a large number of them assist in transportation, or even using them for farming, logging, and mining – all were tasks that could be assigned to skeleton soldiers.
These inexpensive undead creatures not only required no payment but also seemed to lack fatigue. However, there might be certain requirements for their survival, such as death energy. The skeleton training ground exuded an eerie atmosphere, exceptionally cold, almost like a graveyard. Well, this place was a graveyard.
As the last skeleton soldier in the besieging group was shattered by the Champion-level monster, Qin Muye felt that if this training ground wasn't cleared in time, the difficulty might increase beyond 1st Tier low-level.
If he spent more days here, the number of Elite Skeleton Warriors might increase, potentially reaching 2nd Tier. After all, this was a real world, not just a game.
(End of this chapter)