Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

"System, assign all fourteen points to mana." Ark said as he analyzed the situation.

There were many stats that he could have upgraded, but Ark knew that most of them would be useless at this point.

The difference in strength and speed between a level forty player who specialised in enhancing herself, and him who was still at level eight was too great to bridge with just as little as fourteen stat points.

But mana was a different case...

This was because Ark did not need to surpass her in mana quantity, all he needed was to simply have enough mana to use his more powerful skills.

The only reason he had even lasted this long, was because of the bonus mana he got from [Pay-Back] each time he killed a golem.

If not, he would have long run out.

A second after Ark gave the system his command, he felt a cooling sensation wash over him as mana dripped into his core.

It was not full, but it was just enough gas to complete the ride.

Thalia stared at Ark cautiously, but with the eyes of a predator. Her eyes flickered between him and Sumo, likely formulating her attack strategy, then her body curled around like a spring.

Ark knew what was going to happen next— But that didn’t mean he could defend against it.

Swish!

Her tail suddenly launched her forward so quickly that it was as though she had teleported right in front of him.

Her violet eyes narrowed, her black claw cleaving a path towards his chest. Ark raised his glaive far too late, and the moment her claws made contact, his weapons ricocheted off it, sending his arm flailing back.

But Sumo jumped right between them before she could capitalize on it, his axe coming down on the head.

Thalia easily evaded, sprinting to his side. She slashed at his face, while swinging her tail at his leg at the same time. It was an attack that was practically impossible to defend against in his position.

Well, that was if he was alone.

Clang!

Ark’s glaive whistled through the air and blasted her claw backward, while Sumo defended against the tail swipe, his hands trembling from the force behind the impact.

The three fighters unleashed a flurry of blows, distanced themselves from each other, before clashing once again.

For now, with Sumo’s help, Ark had been able to stop any fatal attacks, but he could already feel it...

While Thalia was still doing great, he could feel his body falling apart. The sheer force behind her blows was constantly sending shocks right through him, draining his energy.

’I have to finish this early!’

A longer fight would only work in her favour.

Thalia seemed to grow impatient after a few more collisions.

She should have been able to defeat Ark far easier. But he fought in a conservative manner, constantly switching with his summon.

And worst of all, his summon was no ordinary undead. Thalia had seen more experienced fighters in the past, and this mere undead likely surpassed them all.

"Not bad for a newbie! But this is where it ends!"

Thalia lunged at him, moving so swiftly and smoothly that it was as though she was swimming atop the floor.

Bang!

Sumo slammed his axe into the ground, then he pulled the weapon forward, ripping out rocks and blasting the dust towards Thalia who was sprinting towards them—

Out of the dust, Ark’s glaive suddenly lashed out, puncturing through it. Thalia’s eyes widened as she quickly tried to evade, but due to the dust, she had seen the weapon far too late.

Stab!

The glaive dug right into the right part of her chest, and Thalia wheezed as she felt one of her lungs collapse, strength fleeing her body.

Blood splurted out of her back and Thalia stumbled back, but before she could make a move, Ark twisted the weapon—

Kuegh!

She vomited blood, her eyes turning bloodshot.

Everything had happened in the space of a few seconds. The dust had not even cleared and Sumo had already lunged, his black axe racing for her side.

And then she smiled—

Ark immediately felt a bad premonition.

The sound of a loud rattle reached his ears, and then Thalia’s tail suddenly surged from right below him—

"Don’t tell me she—"

Clang!

The tail slammed right into his hands and the glaive from below.

Due to the sheer impact of the blow, the glaive was ripped right out of her chest, tearing her collar bone and shoulder muscles off, before being tossed into the air.

Not only had Thalia sacrificed her own body to gain the advantage, she had also used their own dust screen to mask her attack!

The buffed tail met Ark’s body next, but right before it could make an impact, a golden shield appeared as [Mana defence] activated.

Combined with his iron body trait, Ark hoped it would be enough to protect him from the devastating attack...

It was not.

Not only was Thalia’s tail incredibly hard, right now, it was coated with the dark matter she usually had around her claws.

The yellow shield cracked like an egg, and Ark had never regretted having a D-Rank skill that much in his entire life.

Once the tail made contact, he felt his bones cave, splinters appearing on his sternum, just before he was catapulted into the air like a ball.

And then the tail finished its path with a strike that took out Sumo’s left arm.

Ark groaned as petrifying pain flooded every aspect of his body. If his mana defence had not activated when it did, then he would have likely been split in half.

His vision blurred as he located the lamia. Thalia’s tail had compressed once more, and in an instant, she was in the air.

A second later, her face was inches away from his own, her violent eyes boring into fiery blue.

"Is this how you wish to tame me?" She laughed. "Is this all that genius mind of yours can conjure?"

Ark’s basic goblin dagger appeared in the air and he drove it at her neck, but she blasted it away like a minor inconvenience, the blade crumbling on impact.

[Your weapon has been destroyed.]

She latched onto his neck before driving him down to the floor, a net of cracks spreading around them.

Then she wrapped her body around him, pinning him in place.

Ark let out a dark chuckle. There was a reason he had not summoned his glaive—!

"Now Sumo!"

Thalia immediately turned around, her eyes widening, only to see Sumo barely standing upright, and the glaive discarded in the distance...

"Ha! Made you look."

?!

Thalia immediately turned to him when—

Tzzzzz!

She let out a scream as lightning tore through her body, electrifying every single cell in her body.

But Ark watched in horror as she smiled through the pain and reached for his right arm.

He had bored a hole through her chest, set her on fire, and now electrocuted her....

Just how much pain had she passed through to gain such an absurd pain tolerance? What life had she lived so far that made her accept pain so readily?

Thalia’s fingers tightened around his shoulder, and with a battle cry, she ripped it right out of its socket, red dust gushing out of the missing spot.

She took hold of his head next and began to tug, a crazy smile on her face as she licked her lower lip.

Ark felt his bones groan. He heard it... the cracking sound of his bones about to snap...

But instead of panicking, instead of struggling in her grip, Ark laughed.

"Now I really want you more!"

Initially, Ark had simply wanted to save her, he wanted to change her twisted view of the world.

But now, Ark was thinking about something different. Just like Tristan had mentioned, Eden was not a one man guild, in order to climb to the very top you needed powerful talents, people who could keep up with you.

Ark never planned on joining a guild, it had never really sat well with him, and now he knew why.

He had never been the type to follow, but leading? That was very much his forte.

"Thalia! Join my guild!"

He would gather a group of the most capable people in Eden, and then he would climb the tower, and he would keep climbing until he reached the very peak.

Because that was the only way to be the best.

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