29 Hungry For Rocks!

"Why did the skeleton put the talisman away?" asked Deer. "Whatever, so it is Lloyd again, then? Didn't he get the message? Did he think himself victorious just because we retreated"

Unfortunate for Kai, he only managed to pick up the words "Talisman…" and "…get the message?"

"Ha!" Kai thought to himself. "I'm not just going to listen to you blather on about who does what to your forest!" Kai felt if he took some time, composed himself and got ready to fight, it would be better than listening to them when he could offer no input. Furthermore, someone being privy to all your thoughts felt extensively invasive.

The three skinwalkers discussed a little more between themselves and Bear then approached Kai, pointing towards the entrance to the oasis they were in.

"Get ready," Bear said, sending a mental message directly to Kai. "They'll come soon."

"Look, man, I'll do my best, but unless you are hiding buncha bodies I can raise from the dead in your pocket, I'm not going to be of much help."

Kai could feel the disappointment in the pause Bear took even though he couldn't see his face. To his surprise, Bear nodded his head and headed outside himself.

"This guy is kind of creepy, am I right?" Kai asked as if gesturing to a crowd and turning to the other two skinwalkers, only to see that they weren't there anymore.

"Right," Kai scratched his head. "Of course."

The lonely skeleton thought about Arthur again. Even if he had no ties to that child, it still didn't sit right with Kai to leave him to die. He pictured what could have happened to him in this forest. Due to his current immense size and very durable bones, he didn't think too hard about the dangers before, but there was no way a random kid could survive there.

"Why would he even leave anyway?" Kai mused to himself as he took another look at his UI. It had been a while since he last checked his skills and stats.

"Character Page," Kai uttered.

His character page quickly appeared before his eyes. It seemed like simply speaking the words also worked as long as that was his intention.

*Character*

Name : Kai Litt

Race : Skeleton Level 3

Job : Necromancer Level 2

STR : 5

DEX : 2

INT : 1

CON : 6

FATE : 8

"I am almost sure 'FATE' didn't do anything," Kai scoffed. "Everything would have been easier If I boosted some other stat. Then again, Gort had made some pretty good arguments before. Is it really helpful, after all?"

Kai hit himself on his forehead and a *clank* sounded from his skull. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "I should increase my durability and become an absolute tank! Then I won't have to worry about anyone trying to beat me up"

However, he had no stat points left to spare at this point. It also didn't look like he could redistribute the stats.

"It is what it is, I guess," Kai said and promptly added, "Skills."

*Skills*

Spell Absorption Level 1: Allows for the absorption of level 1 spells and store them.

Hunger Level 1: Can eat inorganic materials and integrate them.

Summon Undead Level 2: Summons 1 zombie using a corpse.

Appraise Level 1: Appraisal of lower-tier items and creatures.

Light of Death Level 3: Significantly boosts the resistances and attack of the created undead in proportion to Necromancy level in a range of 10 kilometres. Activated as the spell's name is enunciated.

Kai scratched his chin as he looked through his skills also. The description of the skills wouldn't change, but as he levelled them, he could feel more control over each of them. It was almost as if the spells would get closer to their true potential.

As he looked through his skills, Kai's eyes fell on yet another of his skills he didn't focus too much on: Hunger. He truly hadn't explored his skills properly. With less than 16 hours left until he was dust, he should at least do all he can.

To test the ability, he started eating the rocks he found on the ground. He ate them with absolute ease, but they made him feel sick. It wasn't like the time with Alexandra's jade. Kai actually felt like it was delicious and wanted to eat it. As a result, he had levelled up.

He also checked his Spell Absorption ability. If he clicked on it, Kai could see what spell was stored there.

*Gaze of the Skinwalker: Caster attempts to ensnare the mind of an enemy. The damage done depends on whether the caster wills it. The success rate depends on the Intelligence of the caster and the subject of the spell*

"Holy shit, none of my spells are this cool!" Kai exclaimed in joy, up until he took another look at his stats.

*INT: 1*

"Yeah, I'm really hoping that '1' just means I'm average and not utterly stupid."

It also seemed that when his race or class levelled up, he would get a choice between a random skill and +2 stat points. However, levelling up his skills only served to strengthen his control of the said skills and draw more power from them.

As he walked around checking his skills, Kai was eating other things he found on the ground that could perhaps have an effect. Nothing worked. He finally made his way into a small tent where Crow had healed his bones.

Even though the damage to his bones had healed, it hadn't added to his overall time. Kai didn't think any of these items looked appetizing. But he would still throw some of the things he found into his mouth, just in case.

"Skeleton guy, get back here-" Deer's mental message resounded inside Kai's head. However, Deer then spoke in a puzzled tone from right behind himself.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Deer had caught Kai just as he was pouring a jar filled with small, glowing rocks into his mouth. Kai froze in surprise. He had just been trying out some stuff because he didn't want to die, but he felt like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Trying out these rocks?" Kai said, but he was barely sure what he was doing anyway.

"Those are concentrated rock poison," Deer sneered at him. "Where did they even go, anyway?"

Instead of whatever Kai ate or drink falling through his ribcage on the ground, they disappeared. He had already eaten half the jar.

*Concentrated Rock Poison integrated*

*For two hours, the user's body is akin to rock poison.*

Kai then looked directly inside the jar and sent another command, "Appraise."

*Concentrated Rock Poison appraised*

*This poison is created through a blend of poisons trapped inside gems for decades. Simply touching them rots the flesh*

"Oh, that's-" Kai was saying until he was cut short by another mental message by Deer. It seems he only spoke up due to the bizarre view he stumbled upon.

Deer's words and his tone of voice barely matched his status as a Witch of the Blessed Forest.

"Either fight, or run."