Death of an Arrogant Prick; I Reincarnated as a Skeleton?

***

{Warning! You have encountered a powerful enemy!}

{You have encountered a level 5 apex predator of the decaying forest: Ancient Undead Tree!}

…

{You have killed a level 5 Ancient Undead Tree!}

{You have gained XP!}

{You have sucked health points!}

***

Like a hurricane, Clinton with his new weapons went on a rampage in the decaying forest, targeting the apex predators of this ancient forest.

The battle against the Ancient Undead Tree was not much different from his encounter with the Lord of the Green Goblins.

The only difference was that the Ancient Undead Tree had much more health points than the Green Goblin and its body was much more massive, giving it time to flex most of its power.

In the end, what Clinton got was a weapon, not an armor.

He could deal devastating damage now did not mean he got inviolable defense with it. One hit from the level 5 apex predators could still leave him on the brink of death, this was why he was extra careful.

Even more with an opponent like an undead tree with multiple tree branches that it could attack with.

Against the Undead Tree, even as the Ancient tree got to show its true power, Clinton also got to explore the true depths of the power of his new weapon.

This time, apart from taking advantage of Paralysis to deal devastating damage, he also made use of the weapon’s Corrosion passive skill.

The merger of these 2 passive skills was a true death combo.

Yet, that was not all, to target the true vulnerable inner parts of the massive Ancient Undead Tree, Clinton finally made use of one of the active skills of the 2 bones. He made use of Teleportation.

The toil of making use of teleportation was big as it affected his stamina but undeterred, Clinton used it wisely to bring the lumbering monster down.

Another reason why he wanted to use it was for practice and it worked.

He managed to cut the Ancient Undead Tree down in 2 minutes.

By then, the humans were already in sight again but Clinton was already on the move again as he didn’t want to entangle himself with them. His new power did not make him foolishly arrogant.

The humans were left increasingly baffled and spooked by the skeleton.

“How did the skeleton suddenly become so powerful?”

“Did it just kill two level 5 apex monsters simultaneously?”

“How?!”

While they speculated wildly, developing wild theories about the sudden power-up of the skeleton, their leader, the lady instead thought back to the events that happened back in the cave of the Stone Ogre.

Despite the pressure of being in a world that completely rejected their presence and was lethal to their bodies, this powerful human mage was still able to stay calm and think calculatedly.

That was when she understood. “It’s the bones”. She muttered.

“Huh?” Everyone paid attention to her.

“The bones, they belong to a powerful undead monster of the past”. She shook her head. “We may have underestimated this undead skeleton; I never knew that it was a craftsman too”.

“I finally understand why it took the risk to climb back to the light domain”.

“It came to search for materials to craft a weapon”.

“It’s trying to upgrade its power”.

“If I’m not wrong, those bones are mythical ranked materials and with them, that skeleton just crafted a mythical ranked weapon”.

“…”

“…”

“…..!”

The humans became even more alarmed and wary.

She nodded grimly. “This skeleton is more dangerous than we thought, but it only makes the importance of our mission rise”.

“And if I’m not wrong, I also think I know what its going after now”. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “We must capture this skeleton before it becomes any stronger and grows into a menace”.

“Follow my lead and be careful, give your all, we have a skeleton to catch”.

…

Clinton stayed on the move, not daring to settle down in one place due to the fear of the humans that were hot on his heels.

After dispatching the first two level 5 apex predators, the humans intensified their efforts, taking more risks as they started flexing their powers.

Despite the suppression of the forest, they were still powerful.

This caused Clinton to be more cautious, putting more effort into hiding but in the end, he never lost sight of his true objective, hunting level 5 monsters.

Of course, the humans came close to capturing him a few times already but he always managed to stay one step ahead while still pursuing his objective.

After killing the level 5 Green Goblin Lord and level 5 Ancient Undead Tree, Clinton set his sights on the Stone Ogres and went after them.

He easily encountered the first one at the western parts of the decaying forest and without hesitation, he engaged in battle.

Compared to the Ancient Undead Tree, the Stone Ogre was an even bigger tyrant with a ridiculous amount of health points.

The defense of its stone skin gave even the mythical weapon some resistance. Yet, it was just a little resistance. Against the might of a mythical ranked weapon, it meant little.

At this point, Clinton confirmed it. ‘My weapon is already too OP for this level of the dungeon, it’s like getting a cheat code’.

‘But I won’t complain. This is not a game, this is real’.

The humans may be higher-leveled and more powerful with well-rounded skills, but none of them had the devastating offensive capabilities of Magedon, the Light Slayer, Clinton’s new weapons.

With them, he slayed the first Stone Ogre in less than 5 minutes.

During this time though, the humans finally cornered him, trapping him in a circle but undaunted, Clinton launched a furious counterattack at them.

That clash made him respect the difference in levels.

OP offensive power was not the end of the world. Against the well-rounded humans, Clinton felt like he was using a hammer to hit a river, it was endless.

In the end, after suffering injuries, he escaped.

There was only 1 target left for him to go after, the last of the level 5 Stone Ogres and he would have to wait for the apex predators to respawn before he could kill the last one and meet his quota of killing five level 5 monsters to level up.

But after that encounter with the humans, Clinton changed his mind.

‘They’re too strong, I can’t afford to stay entangled with them, and they’re more desperate to capture me now’.

‘Besides, I can’t level up now’. His eyes flickered calculatedly. ‘I have no choice but to take my contingency plan’.

Changing his direction, with his weapons in his hands, with a fiery look of determination in his eyes, Clinton charged towards the edge of the decaying forest where a mystical ancient gate stood.

Clinton was ready to challenge the gate guardian’s trial.

Maybe it was phrased wrongly. He was not exactly ready but the current situation forced his hand, he had no choice but to take this alternative to survive.

The ancient gate at the end of the forest stood lonesome. It was gigantic, 5 meters tall with magical runes all over it.

Immediately after his approach was detected by the gate, the runes glowed and then a transparent battle arena appeared and expanded out before the gate, enveloping him in its barrier.

At one end of this battle arena stood the gate guardian.

{You have entered the trial of the first level of the Dungeon of Azarick!}

{Task: Defeat the gate guardian, Arto!}