And then, where was the more than 170 pounds of fat I had?
After counting his twelve cracked ribs, Ander felt a surge of helplessness, frustration, and utter disbelief. How could he have possibly transmigrated into a skeleton?
He had just worked his way up to the position of department supervisor in his company. All he had done was have a celebratory drink with his buddies, and now—boom, the damn heavens decided to transmigrate him?
His bright future…
Ander collapsed onto the ground, his bony fingers trying to clutch at the red soil, only to realize that his skeletal fingers were utterly incapable of such a task.
"Dammit—!" The faint red soul fire within his skull flickered, clearly expressing his thoughts.
After venting his emotions, Ander finally calmed down. He hurriedly began sifting through the memories of the skeleton body he had now occupied, hoping to find something useful.
From the fragments of memories, he learned that the original owner of this skeletal frame was named Haiger, a level-zero Skeleton Mage. The only spell he knew was 'Accelerate Decay,' and he possessed a bone staff…
Bone staff? Ander glanced around, and his eyes fell upon a large femur about half a meter long, thrust into the ground, with a rodent skull wedged into it. He hastily retrieved the staff and continued to rummage through the skeleton's memories.
The region covered in dark red soil was called the Bone Wasteland, part of the entire Undead Plane. As the name implied, only undead creatures roamed this desolate plain. However, due to its flat nature, powerful undead were scarce here. At least, in Haiger's memories, he had never encountered a particularly strong undead. This was a good sign, and Ander breathed a small sigh of relief.
Next, he found the survival methods of the undead. The first method was to sit still under the dual crimson moons that rose at night. The moonlight could slowly heal their wounds and strengthen their soul fires, helping undead creatures evolve. Haiger had used this method to slowly progress, though it was clear that fragile skeleton mages could only rely on this method in the early stages. After all, a skeleton mage's talent was in magic, not strength or speed.
The second method was much simpler—kill other undead, crush their skulls, and absorb their soul fire…
A dangerous feeling!
While Ander was focused on this troubling piece of information, he suddenly sensed danger and quickly rolled to hide behind a bush of Blood Arrow Grass. Just as he hid, a large skeleton wielding a giant axe walked into view. The massive bones and thick frame signaled its formidable strength.
Giant Axe Skeleton, a level-one Skeleton Soldier, known for its love of slaughtering other skeletons to increase its power.
Ander dared not move. According to the inherited memories, as a zero-level Skeleton Mage, if discovered, he would be dead for sure. His useless spell, 'Accelerate Decay,' only had minimal effect on zombies, and given the disparity in their bone sizes, Ander quickly abandoned any thoughts of running away.
The Giant Axe Skeleton walked leisurely past, its bone axe raised high, unaware of the huddled form of Ander. Once it passed, Ander let out a silent breath of relief, ready to sneak away—until a pale bone arrow shot over his head and hit the Giant Axe Skeleton squarely in the skull.
Ander turned and froze in terror—behind him, no more than three steps away, stood another skeleton, this one holding a towering bone bow, preparing to notch a second bone arrow.
Longbow Skeleton, a level-two Skeleton Soldier, known for its unparalleled speed and precision, capable of shooting anywhere it pointed. Among the ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety types of undead creatures that a zero-level Skeleton Mage feared, this one was ranked among the top.
Ander froze, his teeth grinding as he hid deeper in the grass. His mind raced with panic.
The enraged Giant Axe Skeleton yanked the bone arrow from its skull and swung its giant axe toward the attacker. The Longbow Skeleton, clearly more intelligent, nimbly dodged and fired arrows in rapid succession.
The Giant Axe Skeleton, though furious, was surprisingly skilled, blocking half of the arrows with its axe. Despite taking a few hits, no arrow managed to pierce its soul fire-filled skull.
As the Longbow Skeleton's arrows dwindled, the distance between the two combatants closed. Several times, the Longbow Skeleton barely avoided the sharp edge of the axe.
"Dammit, if you can't win, just run! This is suicide." Ander thought as he found himself near the edge of the battlefield. As the battle raged on, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the Longbow Skeleton, realizing it was at a clear disadvantage.
Then, just as Ander expected, the Longbow Skeleton's right leg bone was cleaved off, sending its bow flying from its grasp. It collapsed, unable to resist.
The Giant Axe Skeleton stomped on its chest bone, its jaw grinding as it seemed to take pleasure in the kill. With a savage grin, it stepped on the Longbow Skeleton's ribs twice more, then knelt to grab its neck bone, preparing to crush its skull for the soul fire.
But just as it was about to finish the job, the massive skeleton collapsed to the ground with a loud crash, its head rolling away.
What happened? Ander, who had been hiding, was shocked. The Longbow Skeleton was clearly supposed to be dead!
To his surprise, the Longbow Skeleton, now sitting up with a bone dagger in hand, wasn't dead at all. It had been faking the kill!
It carefully reattached its severed leg bone, then picked up the Giant Axe Skeleton's skull. With practiced precision, it shattered the skull and extracted the soul fire, swallowing it whole.
Then, it swiftly gathered its bone bow and arrows, hesitating only for a moment as it glanced at Ander's hiding place. But after a brief pause, it turned and left, now empowered by the absorbed soul fire, no longer interested in Ander's weak energy.
After what seemed like ages, Ander finally emerged from his hiding spot and approached the battlefield. He gazed at the shattered remains of the Giant Axe Skeleton.
Is this really the environment I have to survive in now?
According to the memories he inherited, if he relied solely on absorbing the moonlight under the dual crimson moons, it would take him at least fifty years to level up to a level-one Skeleton Mage… Was he really going to spend fifty years as prey? Even if he leveled up, would he stand a chance against that Longbow Skeleton?
Hiding forever only to be killed? Could he accept that?
Ander's answer was a firm no.
Then, was it time to seek out prey?