Chapter 62: Undead Mutation, Body of Darkness
Xu Han continued deeper into the forest.
Along the way, he encountered several more skeletal warriors. Without exception, he shattered their skulls, ending them all.
Xu Han glanced at his experience bar. It had only crept up a tiny bit.
Leveling up here was far too slow.
He needed to find higher-level beasts.
He quickened his pace, heading for the heart of the shadowy woods.
Just as he darted through the trees, a ghostly blue fireball came whistling toward him.
Xu Han narrowed his eyes.
He paused, aimed his right hand at a nearby branch. “Spider Silk Spray!”
A thread of spider silk shot out, latching around the branch.
With a sharp tug, he swung himself gracefully up, landing on another branch like an agile monkey.
Boom!
The ghostly blue fireball struck the branch he had just left.
It was instantly ignited, consumed by a ghostly blue blaze, burning fiercely.
This blue fire was not hot; instead, it radiated an eerie chill.
Xu Han looked down in the direction the fireball had come from.
There, among the thickets, stood a skeleton cloaked in a billowing black robe.
Blue flames burned within its eye sockets, seemingly stronger than those of the skeletal warriors.
Xu Han activated his Piercing Eyes to check the black-robed skeleton’s attributes.
[Name: Skeleton Sorcerer (Elite)]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: 30]
[Skill 1: Undead Body LV.1 (Passive Skill, skeletal warriors are immune to fear and poison)]
[Skill 2: Undead Fireball LV.1 (Summons an undead fireball at enemies; those struck are engulfed in flames that only holy magic can dispel. Cooldown: 15 seconds)]
[Skill 3: Slowing Curse LV.1 (Casts a curse to greatly reduce the enemy’s movement and attack speed for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute)]
[Skill 4: Fear LV.1 (Inflicts fear, rendering the enemy unable to attack and causing them to flee for 1-3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute)]
Xu Han raised an eyebrow.
He had come across an elite monster.
And it was a mage.
From the looks of it, not much stronger than the skeletal warriors.
The Skeleton Sorcerer fixed its gaze on Xu Han and raised its staff.
A blue fireball gathered at the tip of the staff.
Xu Han lifted his hand.
A searing fireball formed in his palm.
Boom!
Both fireballs shot forth at the same moment, colliding midair!
A cloud of dust and ash billowed upward.
The Skeleton Sorcerer looked up, its blue flames staring into the haze.
Bang!
A hole burst open in the drifting smoke.
A shadow shot out straight at the Skeleton Sorcerer!
The sorcerer raised its hand, unleashing a jet-black orb of energy that hurtled at Xu Han.
Xu Han couldn't dodge in time.
The dark orb struck him and vanished into his body.
He instantly felt as though a mountain had been dropped upon him.
His body grew unbearably heavy, crashing to the ground.
“So this is the Slowing Curse?” Xu Han forced his legs to move.
His speed had dropped by at least ninety percent.
For most, this would have been fatal.
With such sluggish movement, he would be an easy target—one undead fireball away from death.
But Xu Han remained completely calm.
It was about time to finish this.
“Shadow Flash!”
His figure vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was behind the Skeleton Sorcerer.
His dragon claw reached slowly for the sorcerer’s skull!
The Skeleton Sorcerer clearly hadn’t expected this move from Xu Han!
It quickly raised its staff.
A ghastly face erupted from the staff with a sinister laugh, flying toward Xu Han.
He had no way to dodge and let the ghostly face slam into him.
The face merged into his body.
Xu Han felt only a brief chill, nothing more.
He realized at once.
This must be another of the Skeleton Sorcerer’s skills.
Fear!
It was supposed to strip him of his ability to fight, making him flee in terror.
But the Skeleton Sorcerer would never know—
Xu Han possessed the Undead Body!
He was immune to all fear.
His dragon claw did not slow, continuing toward the sorcerer’s skull!
Smash!
The skeleton’s head shattered, fragments scattering across the ground.
The soul-fire flickered and faded.
The body collapsed heavily to the earth.
Even in death, it could not fathom why this human was unaffected by fear.
Xu Han looked over.
Beside the fallen sorcerer lay a pitch-black book.
His eyes gleamed.
A skill book?!
These had a drop rate of one in ten million!
Even the most basic skill book could fetch millions outside.
He stepped forward, picked up the book, and inspected its properties.
[Name: Fear]
[Quality: Silver]
[Description: Causes the target to enter a state of fear, losing all ability to attack and fleeing for 1-3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.]
[Restriction: Mage Class Only]
For a mage, this was a divine skill!
No mage is ever unafraid of close combat.
With this ability, when an enemy got too near, casting Fear would force them to flee, buying precious time to cast spells.
Selling it could easily net over ten million!
He slipped the skill book into his spatial ring and casually picked up the sorcerer’s bones.
Using Devour All Things.
The bones were consumed.
A system prompt sounded.
“Host has devoured a Tier Two Skeleton Sorcerer for the first time. Gained 80 Spirit.”
Xu Han opened his status panel for a glance.
His Spirit had reached 299.
He willed a blazing fireball into his palm.
This fireball was noticeably larger than before, nearly the size of a car tire.
Its hue had deepened from pale yellow to a vibrant orange.
Its power had grown significantly.
Spirit directly influenced the potency of all magical skills.
His Spirit now rivaled that of a level-30 mage.
And this was without any Spirit-enhancing equipment.
Just then—
The system chimed again.
“Undead Body is mutating…”
Xu Han’s eyes lit up.
What luck!
His skill was mutating.
A few minutes later, another notification sounded.
“Undead Body has successfully mutated into Dark Flesh.”
Xu Han immediately opened his skill panel.
Dark Flesh LV.1: Absorbs all negative status effects and converts them into health.
Xu Han’s eyes widened in astonishment.
Was such a thing even possible?
He had thought Undead Body’s immunity to fear and poison was already overpowered.
He never expected that after mutation, it would become even more outrageous!
Absorbing all negative status effects and converting them into health.
Negative effects included not only fear and poison,
but also curses, stuns, silences, paralysis, and more.
Which meant,
from now on, such skills would be useless against him.
When facing opponents or beasts with these abilities,
others could only avoid them.
But he could simply stand there, letting them attack.
Xu Han grinned.
This skill was exceptional.
Though it offered no offensive boost, it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful support abilities!
He never imagined mutation could yield such an extraordinary power.
He had truly struck it rich this time!