Chapter 82 : Dance of the Dead

Dance of the Dead

After sending everyone away, only Serea and Celia remained. Hearing that they might encounter powerful undead enemies the next day, Celia had also returned to her own room early to rest.

Now, only Serea was left. She lay back on her bed and then entered her consciousness space.

"System, system! I'm here to draw cards again. This time, I want to strengthen Little White or get a staff for my spellcasting skeleton."

System: To reiterate, this system doesn't interfere with reward probabilities; all rewards are drawn randomly.

"Hehehe, being tsundere again, huh? Fine, whatever you say. Either way, I want a longbow or a staff, just giving you a heads-up."

After saying that, Serea converted 100 death crystals, and gray death crystals turned into a black mist that surged into the main altar.

System: Converted Death Crystal*100, acquired Dark Power 1007.

"All right, let's do a ten-pull."

System: Drawing rewards, please wait...

As the notification sounded, 1,000 points of Dark Power were deducted, and then eleven floating cards appeared in the Dark Main Altar.

Serea had already covered her eyes and said,

"Um... If you don't give me a longbow or staff, it's fine, just give me a blueprint for some other piece of technology, I don't mind. As you said, everything is for the host's benefit."

System: Reveal rewards?

"Flip them, flip them, let's go."

Serea said impatiently, and the cards flipped one by one.

System: Obtained Experience Gem (Tier 1) *1

System: Obtained Experience Gem (Tier 1) *1

System: ...

Hearing the reward notifications, Serea's expression gradually froze.

A minute later, looking at the ten Tier 1 Experience Gems and a bottle of Tier 1 Stamina Potion she received, Serea didn't know what to say.

"Seriously, don't joke with me like this."

Serea muttered, forcing a smile, and converted 90 Fear Crystals and 10 Death Crystals into Dark Power.

"I trust you system, don't let me down. Let's do another ten-pull."

Serea said calmly, and the next round of notifications was...

System: Obtained Experience Gem (Tier 1) *1

System: ...

Eventually, Serea couldn't help but curse.

"Damn it, are you done yet? I fought so hard for these materials, not for you to mess around with!"

System: Obtained Experience Gem (Tier 2) *1

"Oh, here we go again—wait, seems like there's something different."

As Serea muttered, she casually exchanged one Tier 1 Experience Gem for a very stable "guaranteed HP Potion," then turned her attention to the Tier 2 Experience Gem.

In her hand, the Tier 2 gem felt heavier and looked more radiant than the others. So...

System: Experience Gem (Tier 2). Use to gain even more experience.

"... Heh."

Serea sneered coldly, then converted her remaining 90 Soul Crystals and 10 Death Crystals into Dark Power.

"This is the last time, dear System Daddy!"

System: I am eternally your servant.

"Really, for the last time—please, don't mess with me! Ten-pull!"

System: Drawing rewards, please wait...

System: Obtained Experience Gem (Tier 1) *1

System: ...

What a familiar scene, what a painful realization!

Watching the cards turn one after another, Serea felt as if her heart was bleeding.

Same old recipe, same old taste: eleven Tier 1 Experience Gems.

"Forget it. I feel... umm... System, do you have any luck-boosting items or equipment?"

Serea seemed resigned to her fate. Three rounds and all the guaranteed rewards—wasn't the draw rate for items and equipment supposedly ten percent?

Thirty-three draws should be 3.3, right? Drop the 2.3, at least give me one!

Probability theory couldn't explain this at all!

"I suspect you've only put Experience Gems in this prize pool to trick me!"

Serea's paranoia flared again, but as usual, the system ignored her.

System: Reveal guaranteed reward?

"Hah, fine... let's see. Thinking about it, all these Experience Gems are enough to increase my strength, so it's not a loss, not a loss at all. In fact, it's a great deal, absolutely!"

Serea consoled herself with these thoughts.

Thirty Experience Gems, and one of them is Tier 2. Wouldn't my level go up, up, up? I totally scored.

As she spoke, Serea casually exchanged one Tier 1 Experience Gem card for a guaranteed prize. Sometimes those potions really were useful.

System: Guaranteed reward revealed—Death Altar Reward.

"Huh!!!"

Looking at the replaced guaranteed card, the purple skull on the back was especially striking.

A purple card!

System: Skill reward.

"A skill!"

System: Obtained Skill Gem—Dance of the Dead (Tier 2)

Dance of the Dead (Tier 2): Consumes five Death Crystals. Choose a circular area with a diameter of ten meters to cast 'Dance of the Dead'.

For each corpse within the area, summon a level 12 Skeleton (up to ten max), each lasting thirty minutes. Skeletons do not take up undead follower slots and benefit from all skill and equipment effects. Cooldown: thirty minutes.

(Note: Skill can be upgraded; upgrading greatly enhances its effect.)

She put the card away, and the eleven cards turned into ten Tier 1 Experience Gems and a gray hexagonal gem.

Skill Gem (Purple, tier 2): Use to learn the skill "Dance of the Dead (Tier 2)," restricted to "host" use only.

"A skill! An upgradable skill! A skill that only I can use!"

Since it was restricted to her alone, what was there to hesitate about? Serea used it right away.

System: Skill Gem used; acquired skill—Dance of the Dead (Tier 2).

With the notification, "Dance of the Dead" appeared in Serea's skill list.

"See, system, you really do love me~"

The system didn't respond, and Serea already knew what to do with the rest of her Experience Gems.

"Use half of them for me, including the big one. Distribute the rest to the lower-level Skeleton Warriors."

Saying that, Serea took out fourteen Experience Gems and selected 'Use'.

System: Level +3, undead unit control limit +1.

"Now this one."

Taking out the Tier 2 Experience Gem, Serea used it.

System: Level up by 2, undead unit control limit +1.

"Whoa! One Tier 2 Experience Gem gives two levels!"

Serea was startled, then saw her level reach 19, just one step away from breaking through to level 20.

Now Serea was truly content.

After exiting the consciousness space, she distributed the remaining fifteen Tier 1 Experience Gems equally among the five lowest-level Skeleton Warriors.

After use, each of them leveled up once.

Now, the lowest-level Skeleton Warrior was level 12 and the highest was level 18, with their average level raised to 16.

With Serea's equipment bonuses and Little Black's skill enhancements, her unit of Skeleton Warriors now completely outclassed the Otto Kingdom soldiers.

And this gave even more assurance for the "source" investigation scheduled for tomorrow.

(To be continued...)

(Note: Because the elves who were rescued have returned, there aren't enough houses. Celia is temporarily staying in the side room of the queen's cabin.)

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=