"Gale Slash: Active Skill. Consumes half of your stamina to unleash three blade waves in an instant, dealing 80%, 100%, and 120% of normal attack damage respectively."

  ...

  If the leap from skeleton to Skeleton Soldier was the first major advancement for the skeleton race, then the leap from advanced-tier skeletons to elite-tier skeletons was the second.

  The first leap awakened the skeletons' consciousness, giving them a sense of self and allowing them to hunt their own kind, level up, and grow stronger.

  The second leap unlocked their intelligence!

  Right!

  Elite-tier skeletons possessed intelligence.

  Even if this intelligence was primitive and rudimentary, it was still intelligence.

  The Skeleton General's tactical formations, the Elite Skeleton Swordsman's charges and retreats, the ferocious zombie's commands and calls for help, the elite zombie's venom spray when trapped... all of these were signs of intelligence!

  Of course, this was only the most basic level of intelligence.

  According to Lucas's speculation, if the intelligence of elite-tier skeletons was defined as basic intelligence, then warrior-tier skeletons possessed intermediate intelligence.

  As for lord-tier skeletons...

  They likely possessed advanced intelligence, no less than that of humans!

  Facing such high-tier undead, Lucas couldn't afford to treat them with the same mindset he had when dealing with elite-tier skeletons and those below. Because once he fell into the trap of a high-tier undead... it could mean his utter destruction!

  After adapting to the power of his elite-tier advancement, Lucas set out on his hunting journey once more.

  His underlings needed replenishment.

  Leveling up required more experience—fusing the strengths of the Elite Skeleton Swordsman and Zombie class templates, the Heavy Skeleton Swordsman class had given Lucas higher growth potential, but it also increased the experience required for each level-up by 0.5 times.

  In addition,

  Rogris's presence was like a sword of Damocles hanging over Lucas's head, driving him to grow stronger as quickly as possible!

  Because no one knew if Rogris was currently in the Land of Buried Bones. Even if he wasn't, no one could guarantee that he wouldn't return at any moment to search for the missing crystal orb.

  Compared to Rogris, the players who would arrive in two and a half months... were no longer Lucas's greatest threat.

  When leaving the area, Lucas placed the crystal orb within his ribcage.

  Once placed, the crystal orb automatically floated and released thin strands of black mist, connecting to Lucas's bones like chains, firmly embedding itself in the center of his ribcage.

  It was as if...

  The crystal orb had become Lucas's heart.

  In this state, the crystal orb would automatically absorb the death energy permeating the air, purify it, and then channel it into Lucas's skeletal body through the thin misty chains.

  In terms of data, this meant a continuous supply of experience points and attribute boosts.

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  Although the daily amount wasn't significant, the long-term accumulation would result in a considerable number of experience points and attribute boosts.

  Additionally,

  With this setup, Lucas could also use the crystal orb's mana storage function, storing his mana in the orb and drawing from it when needed.

  ...

  ...

  One day later.

  Lucas, with his remaining nine skeleton underlings, entered the true core of the Land of Buried Bones.

  However,

  Even with the strength to crush elite-tier skeletons, Lucas still had to proceed with caution when entering this area, rather than recklessly harvesting and enslaving elite-tier skeletons.

  The reason was simple.

  Below the elite tier, whether they were basic skeletons or advanced-tier skeletons, they were all scattered and disorganized. Even Skeleton Warriors could only command a dozen or so underlings, posing little threat.

  But starting from the elite tier, group combat became the norm!

  The battle between the Elite Skeleton Swordsman and the Skeleton General that Lucas encountered when he first entered the core area of the Land of Buried Bones was just a stroke of luck.

  In the core area of the Land of Buried Bones, elite-tier skeletons fighting alone were a minority.

  Most elite-tier skeletons... had been enlisted!

  Enlisted.

  Skeleton Warriors had the ability to command Skeleton Soldiers, and Skeleton Generals could command Skeleton Warriors. Nearly 70% of the Skeleton Generals, Skeleton Warriors, and Skeleton Soldiers in the Land of Buried Bones were under the command of warrior-tier Skeleton Commanders!

  And the warrior-tier Skeleton Commanders... reported directly to the Skeleton King!

  In short,

  The skeletons Lucas had been hunting, regardless of their tier, were all expendable resources. In the human world, these skeletons would be equivalent to bandits and outlaws, targets for periodic culling.

  From now on, the skeletons Lucas would hunt were part of the Skeleton King's regular army!

  Unless Lucas was willing to spend a significant amount of time avoiding the patrols and culling of the Bone Legion, slowly searching the vast wilderness for the remaining 30% of elite-tier and warrior-tier skeletons...

  Otherwise, he would inevitably clash with the Bone Legion under the Skeleton King's command!

  Whether it was the threat posed by Rogris or the urgency of the players' arrival in two and a half months, Lucas didn't have the luxury of wasting time.

  Hunting the Bone Legion under the Skeleton King's command was his best option!

  Elite-tier skeletons only had basic intelligence.

  Warrior-tier skeletons were far from being as cunning as humans.

  The skeleton kingdom under the Skeleton King's rule still had plenty of loopholes for Lucas to exploit.

  It was under these circumstances that Lucas, with his mere nine skeleton underlings, appeared near a sea of skeletons!