5

**Another chapter today.**

Enjoy

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(Level up)

The sound of leveling up once again echoed in Dave's head as he picked up the mana stone from another dead skeleton. He was now on the main street of the city, and in the distance, he could see the silhouette of a wall on one side and a massive palace on the other, though the fog obscured much of the view.

"This city is enormous." This was Dave's first thought as he analyzed the sheer size of the street he was on. The entire place could extend for more than 10 kilometers, according to his deduction.

In the street, hundreds of skeletons stood still, but unless he used sacred magic or attacked them, they normally wouldn't be very aggressive.

"What should I do now?" Dave wondered. He was currently level 5, and his mana had reached 60. His bone swordsmanship had leveled up to 4, but he was still an ordinary sacred skeleton without a class.

"My goal now should be to explore the city, maybe find a forge or a warehouse," Dave decided and began walking among the skeletons in the street. Since it was the main street, most of the buildings around him were shops made of stone and marble, though very ancient.

Many of the shops were even in complete ruins, with signs of destruction on the stone pavement, indicating past battles. "I guess a big war happened here in the past," Dave thought as he continued to walk.

Soon, he spotted a building slightly different from the others. It was larger and more robust, with hooks for hanging flags. The entrance looked like that of a tavern, suggesting that it might have been an inn.

"Let's see if there's anything useful in here." Dave thought and entered the place, pushing the door open. Inside, he found a simple entryway and reception area connected to a bar. To the right of the building was a large board filled with old, unrecognizable papers, and to the left was a sort of bank protected by bars, suggesting financial transactions had taken place there.

"Interesting," Dave thought as he began to explore the place. At the reception desk, he found several aged wines on the wall, and under the table, there were various drawers likely intended for storing papers and money.

"Oh, is this gold?" Dave picked up a shiny golden coin from a drawer, which he found among several others. "What's this?" he wondered as he noticed a slightly different and elongated drawer. The wood was very old, but he still managed to pull it open, revealing a longsword still sheathed.

Slim.

Dave drew the sword and held it in his bony hand. It was still a bit heavy for him but usable. The blade was still sharp, showing that it hadn't degraded over time, and there were words written in another language on the blade and hilt. "It's still intact, could it be magic?" Dave thought and tried to channel some mana into the sword. Soon, the words on it glowed momentarily, making the entire blade shine with a blue light.

Woosh. Woosh.

Dave swung it in the air a few times, and the sword easily cut through the wind, demonstrating its sharpness. "It must be an enchantment to keep it sharp and another for preservation." He made a preliminary judgment and decided to continue exploring the guild.

In what seemed to be a bank, he found several old bags filled with coins and some worn-out safes also full of gold, silver, and bronze coins.

Having found nothing more on the first floor, Dave decided to head to the back of the shop through a door he found near the counter. With a creaking sound, the door slowly opened, revealing a kind of storage room filled with old items.

"Unfortunately, most of this is already destroyed." Dave thought as he looked at the items on the shelves. He picked up a glass vial containing a green liquid. "This was supposed to be some kind of potion," he thought and threw the vial on the ground, which soon shattered, spilling the liquid.

Shiiii.

A hissing sound echoed in his ears, showing that the contents had turned into some kind of deadly acid. "Good thing I didn't drink it," Dave mentally sighed in relief and continued exploring the warehouse.

Soon, he found some useful items: a complete set of leather armor with the same preservation enchantments as the one on the sword's hilt, a backpack, and a utility belt.

"That's better," Dave said as he fully equipped himself. The outfit wasn't a perfect fit since he was literally a skeleton without muscles, but it was wearable. He placed several vials of the green liquid in the belt and proceeded to explore the second floor via a staircase he found.

The creaking sound echoed once more as he opened the door to the second floor, and what greeted him was a skeleton dressed in old clothes, holding a worn-out sword.

To his surprise, the skeleton immediately looked at him and charged quickly with its sword. "Ah, damn it," Dave thought, drawing his own sword and confronting the skeleton.

CLANK!

The two swords clashed, and Dave was briefly pushed back down the stairs by the skeleton, losing his balance and tumbling down before rolling to the bottom.

"DAMN YOU!" Dave mentally shouted in anger and quickly got to his feet, only to see the skeleton coming out of the second floor and jumping down the stairs toward him, forcing Dave to jump to the side.

Clank!

The skeleton's sword sparked as it struck the stone floor where Dave had been standing, and the skeleton quickly recovered, attacking him again.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The two swords clashed multiple times in quick succession, and with each clash, Dave lost a bit of balance, clearly showing that he was at a disadvantage against the skeleton.

Clank!

The swords clashed once more, and Dave lost his balance, rolling backward before getting up, gaining a brief moment to catch his breath. "At this rate, I'm going to be in a really bad situation," he thought quickly, but soon the skeleton charged at him again.

"Damn it, if that's how it is, let's see if you can handle this!" Dave said and activated the sharpness enchantment on his sword, then used his sacred magic to cover the blade with a thin layer of holy light.

The enemy skeleton, seeing the holy light, became even more enraged and attacked with all its might.

CLANK!

Crack!

The two swords clashed one last time, and Dave's sword prevailed, breaking the skeleton's sword and cutting off its head from its body.

(Level up) (Level up)

"That was intense." Dave looked at the head of the skeleton he had killed, and the sound of leveling up twice echoed in his mind. Having been hit by sacred magic, the skeletal body soon turned to dust, leaving only a magic stone the size of a marble, at least six times larger than that of an ordinary skeleton.

(Mana stone absorbed, +25 mana)

---------------Status---------------

Name: Dave

Race: Sacred Skeleton 

Mana: 45/85

Level: 7 (0/140)

Class: None

Talents: (Low Mana Sensitivity), (High Sacred Magic), (Medium Death Magic).

Skills: (Beginner Sacred Magic), New (Bone Swordsmanship >> Basic Swordsmanship Level 1), (Unarmed Combat Level 1).

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