"Alright, strip the corpses as well, bring their armor here so I can take what suits me. Also, take anything from them that can be sold," Flain ordered Itai.
"Hey, I'm not your servant. Do it yourself. If anything, you're mine," Otai said, offended.
Flain locked his glowing purple eyes onto Itai's. "Alright," he murmured.
[Your master does not approve of what you are doing. If you do not stop, you will be punished.]
Itai took a small step back. "Don't do that, it creeps me out," he said.
Flain then approached the men, stripped them, and selected armor. None of the armor was damaged because when he fought, he deliberately targeted areas where they had no protection, knowing he wouldn't be able to pierce their armor.
Flain chose a set of iron armor from the man with the club, as it seemed the sturdiest. He also took the cloak from the archer. Now, he had a chestplate, pants, boots, gloves, and a green cloak. However, none of the men had a helmet, which Flain didn't like—his skull was a weak spot.
Flain put everything on. He pulled the hood of his cloak down as far as possible to cover his entire face. He did this because he doubted the locals would react peacefully upon seeing a skeleton.
Suddenly, a strange sensation spread through his entire body. The best way to describe it would be as if something slimy was rapidly sticking to him.
[Your title [Body Rotten With Darkness] has been updated.]
[Your armor has latched onto you.]
[Tip: Armor does not function the same way for you as it does for a normal being. Your armor latches onto your body and becomes similar to a part of you. It will provide stat bonuses based on its quality, displayed as +1. When someone harms you, the damage will directly affect your HP. Your armor will wear down more slowly than normal due to its attachment. You can change armor freely.]
Flain read the tip. He wasn't sure he fully understood it. He wanted to check his stats but first wanted to test something.
Flain started running, making a loop around the battlefield. It actually worked just as he had imagined. The armor moved as if it were part of his body, and he didn't feel any weight from wearing it.
"Flain, what are you doing now?" Itai asked.
"Testing my speed," Flain coldly lied.
"I'm going to do release air particles for a while," Flain then said.
"You just did that a moment ago," Itai objected.
"It happens randomly when I feel like doing it," Flain replied.
Then, Flain opened his stats.
[Name: Skelly
Level: 4
Class: None
Age: 0
Race: [Skeleton]
Master: Itai
Titles: [Body Rotten With Darkness] [Bloodthirsty] [Extremely Powerthirsty]
HP: 120/120
MP: 0/0
EN: 120/120
Strength: 7
Agility: 6 [+2]
Intelligence: 0
Vitality: 5 [+7]
Bonus Points: 3
Skills: [Low-Dagger-Mastery lvl:1]
EXP: 70
Next Level: 450 XP]
His new eyes widened when he saw it. He now had 120 HP—more than half again as much as before he put on the armor. But then, Flain noticed something interesting...
Flain noticed that the bonus stats were highlighted, so he first clicked on Vitality.
[Bonus stats to Vitality gained from armor:
Chestplate: +3
Pants: +2
Gloves: +1
Boots: +1]
This showed how much each piece of armor contributed to his bonus stats. Then, Flain clicked on Agility.
[Bonus stats to Agility gained from armor:
Boots: +1
Cloak: +1]
For a normal being, the iron boots Flain was wearing would probably be a burden on Agility. But since they were part of his body, it made sense.
Next, he opened [Body Rotten With Darkness] because he had received a message about its update. Only one sentence had been added: You can also latch your armor onto your body to make it a part of you.
"Itai, by the way, why were those men after you?" Flain asked after closing the system.
"Because of this," Itai said and pulled a heavy book decorated with a grim reaper from his bag.
"But mainly because of this," he added, taking out another black book.
"The first one, I'll guess, is related to necromancy. The second one, I have no idea," Flain said.
"Since you're my first skeleton and an ultra-rare one, I can tell you my story," Itai said as he sat down, and Flain joined him.
"I grew up in an orphanage. The caretakers told me I had been left at the doorstep when I was two months old. Life went on, and for some reason, everyone avoided me. I never made any friends. On my 18th birthday, I heard a faint knocking on my door."
"When I opened it, there was a small black coffin with an inscription: 'From your father.' I was pretty angry because I thought someone was playing a joke on me. But I opened it anyway. Inside was a small note that said: 'Keep this a secret.' There was also a strange red gemstone and two books. On the gemstone, there was another note that said: 'Destroy this if you strongly wish not to stay where you are.' I still didn't believe any of it, so I opened the first book. Inside, it said: 'Once you fully understand this book, you may proceed to the second one.'"
"I started reading, and there were concepts I absolutely didn't understand. That's when I began taking it a bit more seriously. I was kicked out of the orphanage since I was past 18. After that, I worked as a bartender for a while. I kept reading that book, and I was fascinated. The more I read, the more I understood. One day, a mage came to town and, by chance, visited the bar where I worked. He wore a golden cloak, looked around, and eventually, his eyes locked onto me."
"His eyes widened, and he dropped to his knees, pointing at me. 'He has the Gate of Death!' he shouted across the bar. Everyone turned to look at me, but no one knew what the Gate of Death was. I always carried the two books and the gemstone with me to avoid losing them. I had my hand resting on the gemstone just in case. Suddenly, a water rope appeared beside me, binding me so tightly that I couldn't move. I knew I was in serious trouble. Fortunately, I had my fingers positioned over the gemstone in my pocket, and I managed to crush it in my palm."