"Master, how could a skeleton monster eat something? You're such a dork! That's clearly a pet egg dropped by the Skeleton Captain." Caiyi said, flying over to the pet egg and tapping its shell. "Master, prick your finger and drip some blood on it."
"A skeleton monster's pet egg?" Arlo found it a bit strange, but still used the cleaver on his equipment to make a small cut on his finger, dripping a drop of blood onto the pet egg.
After absorbing the blood, the egg emitted a dazzling white light. With a "crack," the shell shattered, and a miniature skeleton monster emerged. Unlike ordinary skeleton monsters, this one was entirely gold, as if made of pure gold. Its design was cartoonish, more cute than terrifying.
The golden skeleton monster was about one meter tall. As soon as it appeared, it moved its joints. Seeing Arlo, the empty eye sockets glowed red, and it tightly hugged Arlo's leg, affectionately rubbing its skull against his hip.
"Oh? This little skeleton is quite smart." Arlo said with a smile, patting its golden skull. The skeleton happily lowered its body, wanting more affection.
"This skeleton…" Caiyi murmured, resting her chin on her hand, thoughtfully looking at the golden skeleton monster.
"Caiyi, what are you thinking about?" Arlo, having leveled up to 5, took out the level 5 equipment he had collected: a cleaver, a shield, a helmet, and boots. He allocated the extra 5 attribute points according to his usual 4:1 ratio to Strength and Constitution. His current stats were as follows:
Level: 5
Strength: 35
Constitution: 20
Agility: 18 (15+3)
Spirit: 15
Luck: 10
Perception: 10
Health: 300
Mana: 200
Attack: 85 (70+15)
Magic Attack: 30
Defense: 40 (20+10+5+5)
Accuracy: 15
Evasion: 15
Attack Speed: Normal
Movement Speed: Swift
Reflexes: 50
Pet: Golden Skeleton Monster
Mount: None
"Nothing." Caiyi shook her head and flew to the golden skeleton's head. "Master, this golden skeleton monster is a growth-type pet with unlimited potential. If you train it well, it will become a powerful ally in the future."
"A growth-type pet?" Arlo looked at the cute golden skeleton monster, his eyes lighting up. He laughed. "Great! From now on, you'll be my number one fighter, Little Gold. I'll help you grow, hahaha!"
"Li… Little Gold?" Caiyi shuddered when she heard the name.
"Yeah, Little Gold!" Arlo said with a smile. "It's all gold. Easy to remember."
"Now that I have a pet, the next priority is to get a mount. Caiyi, do you know where I can find one?" Arlo looked at his resources and decided it was time to invest in a mount. Walking everywhere was tiring and inefficient; a mount would make life much easier.
"Master, your level is still too low. To capture the wild horses on the plains, you need to be at least level twenty. But if you're lucky, you might find a mount sooner," Caiyi explained.
"Really? Is it that difficult to get a mount?" Arlo frowned.
"Master, don't be so greedy!" Caiyi flew to Arlo's head and tugged on his hair. "You're already level 5, with 83% experience. Do you want to level up, or practice your butchering skills on those goat carcasses?"
"83%? Let's level up to 6 first and train Little Gold while we're at it." Arlo decided and headed towards the skeleton monster territory.
Equipped with good gear and reaching level 5, Arlo's combat strength greatly increased. Previously, it took five or six hits to kill a skeleton monster. Now, it only took three. However, leveling up required more experience, so it took Arlo more than an hour to reach level 6.
During this time, Little Gold accumulated a lot of experience and also leveled up to 3. At this point, Little Gold could defeat skeleton monsters on its own. It was faster and smarter than ordinary skeleton monsters. It would retreat after being hit and return to fight after recovering. Its stats were impressive: 300 health, 30 attack, and 30 defense, far surpassing Arlo's stats at level 3.
In addition, Arlo collected a considerable number of common items, but they were either duplicates or useless. He stored them all in his infinite inventory.
Finally, Arlo began practicing butchering by a small river. He took out the goat carcasses one by one, wielding his cleaver and carefully dismembering them.
Arlo was a novice, and his technique wasn't very skilled. However, after butchering more than thirty goats, his proficiency increased significantly. Although he wasn't as skilled as an experienced butcher, he was already quite competent.