Strictly speaking, this was a battle of 4 against 3.
Even the numbers were unfair, let alone the drastic difference in individual combat skills...
So it ended like a whirlwind sweeping away the remnants of a storm.
Three of the elves lay dead or injured, their experience rushed into Heine's body like swallows returning to their nests, clinking and clattering.
His chest was hot to the point of burning, giving him a peculiar sensation, as if he could level up his skeleton again soon.
With his previous experience at the Haunted Farm and his familiarity with various game settings, Heine had also figured out a few things.
He could assign experience to his summoned creatures, but it required a certain method.
Without mastering this method, it could only be used in times of crisis, resembling more of a stress instinct.
As for his own leveling up, he had a hypothesis.
Perhaps before all his skeletons caught up to his level, the experience he gained couldn't help him level up.
He shook his head, clearing away his random thoughts and pressed the electric shock wand to the forehead of the remaining female elf.
She was the swordswoman who had charged him at the beginning.
At first, he had thought she was brave, but now, she was scared out of her wits, with a stench of urine spreading beneath her.
She was the one who cursed the most viciously during the fight and the first to try to run away, only to be shot in the leg by Director Sa.
"Tell me, who are you, and what are you doing here."
"I... we, we are the Scouts from the Whispering Forest..."
Director Sa expressed his doubts, "Can we not understand what others are saying?"
Actually, he should have noticed this issue last night, but at that time he had not yet accepted his identity as a transmigrator.
Zhuo Yang: "We can only understand what Heine is saying, to be precise, we know what he is talking about, but we still can't comprehend the language."
"What a pity, I wanted to hear what kind of lies this elf would tell. Not a single elf from Cui Yeting is straightforward."
Upon hearing this, Heine immediately interrupted the female elf's intermittent confession.
"I advise you not to lie, it won't do you any good."
The female elf's face turned deathly pale.
"I... I didn't lie... Ahhhh—"
A bone spear pierced her thigh, nailing her to the ground.
"I told you, this won't do you any good."
Heine grasped her smooth chin.
"You can choose not to answer, I already know who commissioned you guys to come here.
"I'm not going to kill you, but I am very angry.
"I will nail you here, like a tree, you won't bleed out, you'll just have a few white branches..."
The elf trembled even more:
"It was Jianglu, Lord Jianglu! She ordered us to lure you into the forest and trap you! Please, have mercy... I won't lie anymore..."
...
A few minutes later, having obtained enough intelligence, Heine kept his promise.
He didn't kill her, but nailed her to the ground with a bone spear.
Death energy contaminated the wound, nearly solidifying the blood, ensuring she wouldn't bleed to death— at least not in the short term.
He then had Director Sa "liberate" the bodies of the two deceased, just as he had done with the first elf.
He had heard the three mention something like "Spirit of the Woods", and he felt as if the forest was peering at and monitoring him, so stripping the dead of their clothes was out of the question.
Slaying prisoners was also included in this, which is why this elven swordswoman was still alive.
He only took the weapons of the three as spoils of war, especially the sword that would emit flames when activated.
As he had guessed, Jianglu had returned to Cui Yeting after leaving the hunting grounds yesterday to publish a commission, asking to monitor Heine and delay him as much as possible.
She also subtly hinted in the mission not to be too harsh.
On one hand, this was to protect those who accepted the commission; on the other hand, she was still curious about Teacher Xia's skilfully crafted skeleton.
She was wondering how Heine had managed to do it.
It seems like Cui Yeting truly lacked manpower.
This organization was not as structured or hierarchical as he had imagined.
It was more like a mercenary guild of sorts.
Jianglu published the commission and these four accepted it, ignoring Jianglu's reminder, deciding to kill this weak Necromancer directly.
Because they couldn't take action within the Viscount's territory, that led to their initial attempt to lure the enemy deeper in.
Before leaving, Heine also fired a signal flare for her, but by that time, the elf had already passed out from pain and terror.
Half an hour later, a grey four-winged behemoth descended upon the scene.
Three elves descended from the bird's back and began their rescue operation with grave expressions.
The leading elf was significantly older, and both his hair and beard were curly deep green, like moss.
He raised his hand to summon vines to secure the survivor's body, then dispelled some of the bone spears to release her, before beginning the proper treatment.
The other two were collecting the bodies of the deceased.
Suddenly, someone exclaimed.
"Is... is it the Mourning Wood Ritual?"
"What?"
The complete Mourning Wood Ritual refers to the life-and-death battle of Wood Elf archers, which includes this part of the ceremonial rites.
The victor must place the vanquished one's body under the closest tree and arrange his hands to protect his own heart.
For an ancient tribe that worships nature, ritual is as indispensable as breathing.
"What are you talking about?"
After attending to the survivors' wounds, Linumu furrowed his brow and came over.
"Head Nurse Linumu, take a look at this."
"This is a ritual only the Wood Elves of Mourning Wood Forest would use."
The Elf's voice became quieter.
He suddenly remembered someone mentioning that this Head Nurse Linumu before him had a trace of Wood Elf bloodline; therefore, his healing spells were more exceptional, and he was more favored by the spirit of the grass and trees.
"Wood Elves?"
Linumu examined the two corpses, then suddenly looked up at the forest, contemplative.
Indeed, he found markings on a tree trunk.
He was somewhat surprised – how could anyone here in the Makala Mountains still recognize such an ancient symbol?
The location was thousands of kilometers away from Mourning Wood Forest...
"You all stay here."
He followed the markings deep into the forest and arrived beside Daken's corpse.
Bending down for a closer look, he placed his finger on Daken's forehead and chanted a difficult incantation.
The response was a burst of emerald light.
It emerged from a tree near Daken's body, as if imbued with an intelligence. It hopped and skipped onto Linumu's shoulder, nuzzling his face.
Linumu's deep green eyebrows knitted together.
Even more incomprehensible...
Despite the slaughter created by a Necromancer, who was cruel to the living, there was no desecration of the bodies; the spirit of the grass and trees was not angry...
And the vanquished was treated with an ancient ritual.
Why is this person so contradictory???
...
Meanwhile, when Heine arrived in town, Arthur had indeed already departed with his men.
As Wumu Town's strongest man, Arthur naturally wouldn't concern himself with the help of a Necromancer who hadn't graduated from Bone Burial Ground.
Although George admired Heine, he was just an ordinary person.
His opinion didn't matter much to Arthur.
Perhaps it was only yesterday's conversation that made him think Heine had some brains – limited to having brains, which is why he was valued for his words.
"Being looked down upon, huh."
Heine sighed and boarded the coach lent to him by the lord.
He wasn't in a hurry to leave but headed directly for the Silver Market.
He put up three pieces of war loot for consignment at Lion King Trade, but unfortunately, these three items were only valued at a mere 2 Gold Coins, with the sword accounting for 1.5 of those Gold Coins.
To his surprise, the item turned out not to be an enchanted weapon...
He also purchased some decent arrows.
"Level One Demon-breaking Arrows, 2 Gold Coins apiece, 10 Gold Coins for five...
"Level One Piercing Arrows, 2.5 Gold Coins apiece, 5 Gold Coins for two...
"Silent Arrows, 15 in a set, 3 sets for a total of 3 Gold...
"Armor-Piercing Arrows, 10 in a set, 3 sets for a total of 1 Gold 50 Silver..."
Every Gold Coin Heine spent was a gift of goodwill for Director Sa.
His fondness for Heine soared, and he couldn't help but exclaim:
"Do you and your brother usually fight in such opulence?"
Teacher Xia: "Not really, mainly because we brothers don't have anywhere to spend the money..."
Director Sa thought about it and felt it made sense.
As a transmigrator, he carried the core essence of a Hunter – accuracy.
In the game, he was a free mode player who didn't need archery assistance to hit the bullseye every time; this was already quite cheeky.
And this profession was even cheekier in the early stages – he could compensate for a lack of skills with fully enchanted arrows, even excessively so.
Spending money is power!
But it was different for the other two.
Without skills, they were no different from ordinary soldiers.
"Haha, Dagger Warrior, Shield Warrior!"
"... You're too much!!"