Elite Skeleton Summon
Elite skeletons.
These were nothing like the regular skeletons.
For starters, their summoning process was entirely different.
‘It’s like crafting gear from harvested materials.’
Regular skeletons could be summoned from any bones or corpses.
But elite skeletons? No.
You had to gather materials through various quests and hunts.
Then use the ritual skill on those exact materials to succeed.
‘If you fail, everything turns to ash. Would I really have had to start over from scratch?’
Materials included bones, catalysts, flesh, blood, and more.
Gathering each one alone could take months.
That was exactly why elite skeletons were so difficult to create.
But their effects were crystal clear.
‘First off, they can wear gear just like me.’
Even regular skeletons could equip weapons.
Elite ones, however, could wear equipment all over their bodies.
Weapons, shields, armor, accessories—everything.
They even had the same equipment slots as players.
And that wasn’t all.
They could level up and train.
Since they had intelligence, they could give real commands like actual people.
You could improve control endlessly through instructions and training.
Fafnir grinned.
‘Education worries me not.’
The skeleton legion he trained personally.
It wouldn’t fall short even against the named characters in the later parts of the novel.
‘First, let’s gather the materials.’
Fafnir checked his skill.
[Elite Skeleton Summon]
– Grade: Normal
– Type: Active
– MP Cost: 100
– Materials
– Bone for the vessel: 1 piece
– Bone with soul: 1 piece
– Dark mana crystal: 3
– Actoplasm solution: 1 bottle
– Pure goat blood: 1 bottle
– Black magic herb: 20
– Cooldown: 3 days
– Effect: Generates an elite skeleton bound to the player
– Skill Level: 1
– Current elite skeletons summonable: 3 (0/3)
– Acquisition Condition: Level 20+, Necromancer class
‘That’s not too difficult.’
Fafnir bought several materials from players at the market.
These were normally things you’d have to gather through quests.
But he had money from looting goblin dens.
‘Now’s not the time to gamble with pocket change.’
Horizon would soon enter a massive upward trend.
When it peaked, this investment would be nothing.
‘I’ve gathered most materials, but these two are the issue.’
Bones for the vessel and bones with souls.
Vessel bones were easy—pick the right monster.
The problem was the bones with souls.
‘Bones with lingering grudges before they vanish….’
Fafnir rested his chin on his hand.
Bones with souls could sometimes be found in graveyards.
But you couldn’t take them outside or sell them.
Because they had a one-hour timer.
‘You can’t get them unless you go yourself.’
Horizon had plenty of such cases.
Items that would rot, NPCs that would die from old age.
A game that considered time as well as money.
‘Still, I’ll have to do the legwork….’
Unlike other necromancers, Fafnir had no skeletons to summon.
But that wasn’t much of a problem.
‘Near here, I can get bones with souls….’
A spot he knew well because it appeared in the original novel.
‘It’s time to use the recipe the village NPCs gave me.’
Among the extra rewards from the village NPCs, there were not just gear but potion recipes and techniques.
Fafnir wandered the city outskirts gathering herbs.
– Collection successful.
– Acquired red flame herb.
– Gained experience.
The small amounts of experience gained were bonuses.
‘No matter how much I prepare, it’s never enough.’
Several hours later.
Fafnir moved to somewhere new.
A high-level field zone where monsters over level 30 appeared.
[Entered Catacombs (Public Cemetery)]
– Entered a map with the same attribute (dark).
– Attack and defense increased by 2%.
Byron City, northwest cemetery.
As Fafnir entered the entrance, a sinister aura washed over him.
‘I’m here.’
A graveyard teeming with rotting zombies.
Dark fog hung thick all around, and distant wails echoed.
But what stood out most were the zombies filling every inch of the place.
‘Then before hunting….’
Fafnir sat on the dirt near the entrance and opened his inventory.
‘Should I dop first?’
Zombies were monsters over level 30.
He was only level 16 with weak skills.
Even with excellent control, fighting them bare-handed would be tough.
– Used Strength Enhancement Potion (normal).
– Strength increased by 5.
– Used Agility Enhancement Potion (normal).
– Agility increased by 3.
Fafnir finished swapping gear and potion dopes.
But something felt off with the options.
Potions that boosted strength and agility, not intelligence or wisdom!
It was closer to a warrior build than a necromancer.
‘Good. All set….’
After finishing the strange build,
Fafnir pulled zombies from between the tombstones.
Grr.
Grr!
About ten zombies rushed over like callers.
Their pace slowed, but distance shrank in an instant.
Kaaaa!
Ka!
Zombies opened their mouths.
That was when Fafnir’s spear traced an arc and severed their necks.
– Weak point attack!
– Weak point attack!
– Weak point attack!
Zombies beheaded in an instant despite the level gap.
Thanks to the stat boosts from potions.
Swoosh.
Fafnir mowed them down like harvesting crops.
Neckless zombies flailed once, then stopped moving one by one.
– Acquired 20 copper.
– Gained experience.
After quickly defeating six zombies,
Fafnir grinned.
‘Even like this, it’s worth it.’
Potions could be restocked, so plenty of hunting was possible.
Experience was decent too, so it wasn’t a bad spot.
‘Then where….’
Fafnir’s eyes widened.
‘They’re not giving me any room to breathe.’
Zombies appeared from every corner of the graveyard.
Like a scene from a horror movie, they advanced in a full line beyond the horizon.
‘That’s why no one was here.’
Catacombs zombies had an overwhelmingly wide detection range.
With so many strong zombies coming, the hunting difficulty would spike fast.
‘No choice.’
Fafnir grinned and leveled his spear.
‘Let’s see who lasts longer.’
A long battle decided by stamina.
Fortunately, Fafnir had some experience in that area.
‘Time to practice fighting with stamina in mind.’
– Gained experience.
– Level up!
“Hoo.”
Fafnir wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Now I can finally rest.”
Battling zombies in the Catacombs was always intense.
Even a light graze would trigger hundreds of strong zombies attacking.
Inside the zombie movie scenery, Fafnir only did the necessary movements and stacked experience.
Thanks to that, Fafnir leveled up five times to 21.
Items and gold earned were huge, giving far more profit than invested in potions and gear.
‘This is pretty good efficiency.’
It was disadvantageous as a non-mainstream hunting spot, but experience was even better than mainstream areas.
The difficulty made it low ROI, but rewards were even sweeter than honey spots.
After countless dungeons in reality, Fafnir’s standards for best efficiency were satisfied.
The only downside was almost no rest time.
With instincts honed, he could only move what was necessary and barely keep stamina.
‘After resting a bit here… I could hunt more.’
With money piling up, he could buy the skeleton master skill.
And level up skeleton mastery.
‘Next, get bones with souls and prepare elite skeleton crafting.’
Fafnir finished planning and prepared to hunt again.
That was when—
Kaaaa!
Zombies suddenly rushed toward one spot.
‘What? Did someone else come?’
Fafnir hid in the dirt, raised his upper body.
‘This is a non-mainstream hunting spot, right?’
Following zombies rushing from all directions was easy.
Soon he saw a player surrounded by zombies.
“Hah!”
A female player in leather armor swung her fist.
‘Amazing power.’
Even a grazing hit sent a zombie’s head flying.
That level was nearly 40, or maybe 50.
Fafnir saw the light gathering at the fist end and nodded.
‘No, is the attribute holy?’
Horizon had an attribute system.
Opposite attributes took less damage, but received more themselves.
Catacombs monsters were all dark.
Holy was the opposite, so the power made sense.
‘Then it’s a great spot for hunting.’
For holy attribute players, this was the perfect area.
But something felt wrong.
‘Her fighting looks off?’
After one punch, instead of combos she stepped back and wiped her hands.
Undead zombies attacked again, pushing the monk player into a corner.
‘If they keep that up, more zombies will pile up.’
Undead zombies retreated to recover stamina.
New zombies filled the gaps and advanced!
Zombies from everywhere joined, and the female monk was steadily pushed back.
‘Still, she’s holding on somehow….’
The female player was pushed back again and again.
If she got surrounded like that?
She’d want to run but couldn’t.
‘If I don’t help her, she’s really dead.’
Even with the attribute difference, the situation in front of him was impossible.
Fafnir analyzed the scene.
‘Zombies have surrounded us. Wide open ground means no narrow terrain to use.’
He already heard zombies coming from all sides.
To fight, he’d have to pull aggro into tight terrain, but that was impossible now.
‘No choice.’
Fafnir pulled several glass bottles from his pouch and threw them among the zombies.
Kwer!
Zombies hit by the bottles looked around.
No reaction, of course.
What he threw was highly flammable oil.
‘They hit perfectly.’
Now the next step.
Fafnir threw the remaining bottles and pulled out more.
◈ Effect: Upon hit, causes a 1m radius explosion for 0.3 seconds at the spot.
◈ Description: Purified flame herb mixed with water. Small impact can cause explosion—beware!
‘The spot… there and there.’
He threw the flame bottles directly into the zombies!
“Huh?”
The female player looked up.
That instant the bottles shattered.
Fwoosh.
Simultaneously, fires broke out among the zombies.
Kaaaak!
Kaaaak!
Zombies were rotting corpses.
They were releasing toxic gas from their bodies.
Already easy to ignite, plus oil splashed.
The flames Fafnir threw ignited wildly in that environment.
Grr!
Grrk!
Flames spread stronger and stronger.
Creating such a large-scale disaster was odd to hope no one would notice.
All other zombies’ eyes turned to Fafnir at once.
‘Suddenly being noticed feels weird.’
“A-are you okay?”
The female player inside also saw Fafnir.
“Get out quick! If you don’t want to die surrounded!”
Kaaaa!
Without waiting for an answer, zombies surged.
A chaotic party of burned and unburned zombies!
‘When the tail catches fire, it’s really a mess.’
Still, this much was needed for hunting to feel right.
Fafnir grinned and raised his spear.
It was the start of an intense hunt.