Chapter 43: Skills and Missions
Early the next morning, Leon was about to head out to complete his mission when Lady Ember stopped him.
Lady Ember said to Leon, "Can you finish today's mission quickly? There's something that might require everyone's help."
Leon looked at Lady Ember with some surprise but eventually nodded in agreement. After all, she was the one who invited him here, and going on missions was part of his duty.
Seeing Leon agree, Lady Ember breathed a sigh of relief. According to her plan, the missions assigned to Leon and Victor were the most critical. She had been worried about what would happen if they couldn't finish in time.
Now that Leon had agreed, it showed that he was confident he could complete the mission and still participate in the upcoming operation, which moved Lady Ember deeply.
Nodding to Leon, Lady Ember was about to leave but noticed that Leon was fiddling with something that resembled a chicken leg bone.
The bone wasn't very large, about the length of a finger. It had already been fully treated with necromantic spells. At the moment, Leon was just holding it between his fingers, and under his manipulation, the bone was slowly changing from an ashen white to a pale metallic color.
For some reason, whether due to Leon's lack of control or something else, the bone would swell as it turned metallic, eventually exploding.
Every time this happened, Leon would throw away the bone fragments in his hand and pick up another bone to repeat the same process, as if he were practicing something. This practice method was something Leon had discovered from the memories of the soul fragments. By using the most common bones for practice, he could master the technique before switching to the higher-quality bones he intended to use, preventing material waste.
Lady Ember never interfered with anyone's practice, as long as it didn't affect the mission. She also didn't care if someone practiced during the mission itself.
After glancing at Leon, Lady Ember quickly left, while Leon headed outside the base.
In fact, Leon was practicing something taught to him by the fortune-telling old lady. After consulting her, he confirmed that her method could be applied to other bones, not just those with fangs.
This technique involved injecting metal powder or liquid metal into the marrow of bones, then using vibrations to replace the original calcium or chitinous structure with metal from the inside out.
However, the method taught by the old lady was too absolute. The final result would be completely metallic, which didn't suit Leon. He was a shadow-affinity player and planned to follow the necromancer's path.
Fortunately, among the materials Leon had prepared to study, there was also a method that aligned with the old lady's teachings. It was a technique used by necromancers to strengthen the bones they controlled. Through this method, the skeletons under their command would become harder, thicker, and longer, as if the bones were growing.
The technique was somewhat similar to what the old lady had taught, as both involved injecting materials into the bone marrow and using internal vibrations to embed the materials into the bone structure.
However, this method didn't reject the original material of the bones but rather assimilated and fused with it.
Leon discovered that these two techniques could be used together, resulting in metallic yet still living bones. Not only would the bones retain their necromantic attributes, but they would also become harder and capable of gradual 'growth.'
This discovery made Leon very happy, but there was one problem: the materials injected into the bones needed to be adjusted, as did the vibration speed and technique.
Since preparing all the materials the night before, Leon had attempted the process over thirty times by this morning, but none had succeeded. Either the materials failed to merge, or the bones exploded.
However, Leon wasn't worried. He had prepared plenty of chicken bones for this, and he had already decided that whenever he was traveling or resting, he would experiment. He was determined to master the correct proportions and vibration technique before returning from the mission.
That day, Leon completed his mission. After handling the main control center, he took another look at the sand on the ground. He noticed that the negative energy in the sand had reached a high concentration. By tomorrow, some of the corpses buried under the sand would likely be stimulated by the negative energy and awaken. It wouldn't take long for an undead army capable of attacking the base to form.
But Leon didn't care. He had no interest in considering what would happen to the people at the base after he left.
After finishing the day's mission, Leon headed to the gathering point that Lady Ember had mentioned earlier. From what Lady Ember said, the mission required everyone's participation, so it must be an important one.
Although Leon had speculated about why Lady Ember had called them all together, when he arrived at the location, he realized he had underestimated the situation.
Lady Ember had gathered everyone near the ruins of a collapsed skyscraper. The building, half-buried in yellow sand, offered a clear view of the surrounding area.
Not far from the building, the yellow sand in the sky seemed to press down even lower, and Leon immediately noticed a pair of gigantic eyes appearing in the sandstorm.
The eyes were enormous, looking like two giant hot-air balloons. They appeared and disappeared amidst the yellow sand as if searching for something.
Around the eyes, the sand gathered in an organized manner, seemingly trying to form a humanoid shape.
Upon seeing this, Leon quickly made a judgment. "It's a boss-level elemental creature."
Indeed, those giant eyes belonged to a boss-level elemental creature that was about to take form. Such creatures could appear on any map. Whenever a particular element gathered in large quantities and remained unchecked for a long time, elemental creatures would naturally form.
Once the number of elemental creatures reached a certain threshold, elite-level creatures would appear, and eventually, a boss-level entity would emerge.
But the one in front of them was clearly different. This area had already been cleared by players. Even if there were wind elements, it shouldn't be enough to produce a boss.
Moreover, the boss in front of them hadn't launched any attacks or gathered any minions after its appearance, clearly the result of someone's mission.
At that moment, Lady Ember appeared as well. Seeing that everyone had arrived, she shared detailed information about the boss.
[Bewildered Wind Elemental]
[Race: Elemental Creature]
[Level: Lv0 (12-star) Boss Template]
[Attributes: Strength 6, Agility 9, Constitution 6, Spirit 1]
[Description: A wind elemental that appeared during a sandstorm. It has never understood its purpose, only knowing that it contains countless wind and sand. In addition to controlling fierce winds, it can also wield some of the earth's power...]
"This is the key to our current mission. Originally, it was just an elite-level wind elemental, but for some reason, after completing the preliminary tasks, it evolved into a boss-level entity. Without the core of this wind elemental, we can't proceed with our next mission, so I hope everyone will work together to take it down."