Chapter 2

Nero walked through the dark, damp corridors of the cave, his bony feet making dull thuds on the stone floor. The silence around him was almost tangible, interrupted only by the distant dripping of water and the occasional creak of bones. Every step seemed to echo into infinity, as if time itself had slowed down, allowing him to fully experience his new, terrifying existence.

He had grown accustomed to the weight of his new bones. Though they had been unfamiliar at first, he now felt they were becoming a part of him. Their thickness and strength stirred mixed feelings within him—on one hand, he knew they were his only protection; on the other, they reminded him of how far he had strayed from his former body.

"It's not as bad as it could be," he thought, looking at his weapon—an orcish bone, which in his hands became a symbol of strength. "I'm a Barbarian, strong and resilient. And if I manage to advance, maybe I'll become someone truly powerful. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a harem of beauties, surrounded by undead warriors who'll obey my commands."

These daydreams were more comical than realistic, but Nero found himself deriving a strange pleasure from them. Maybe it was his way of coping with the absurdity of his situation. After all, what else was left for him?

The longer he wandered, the more his thoughts began to drift toward the future. As if he could already see himself as a powerful warrior, bringing destruction in the name of his own ambitions. "Maybe this is even better than my old life," he mused. "Perhaps here I can become someone I've always wanted to be."

Suddenly, at the end of one of the tunnels, he spotted something emerging from the shadows. Another skeleton, similar to him but different. Its bones were thicker and more massive, but what caught Nero's attention most was their color. Instead of the typical gray hue, this skeleton's bones were nearly black, as if imbued with some dark energy.

"Interesting… Is this a stronger type? Was it from some heavier-boned race? Or does it simply have a different set of skills?" Nero wondered, cautiously approaching the opponent. For a moment, he pondered what this other skeleton might signify. Was he nearing a place where a group of adventurers had perished? Or was this just another lost undead?

The opponent seemed to ignore his presence, as if Nero's appearance before the hostile skeleton's eye sockets evoked no hostile or friendly reaction. Perhaps other skeletons were just mindless monsters, and especially pack monsters, so it was natural for them not to attack members of the same race without a good reason.

"It's not so bad, like fighting an NPC. It shouldn't attack me unless I do. Alright, I guess I'll have to take a risk…"

Without further hesitation, Nero decided to attack. He raised his "mace"—the orc bone he had found earlier—and struck the second skeleton's skull with all his might. The blow was quick and brutal; the opponent's skull cracked with a loud snap, and the dark-boned skeleton collapsed to the ground like a puppet, losing all signs of life—or rather, un-life.

Nero stared at what he had done for a moment. "That... was almost too easy," he thought, feeling a surprising sense of satisfaction. "And enjoyable, really enjoyable. And they say monsters don't have feelings... Haha, myth debunked."

He knew he would have to do this many more times, but that didn't bother him. On the contrary—he found himself liking this new existence more and more with each passing moment. "If this is my new life," he thought, "it might not be so bad."

"Now for a new hand." Nero leaned over the headless skeleton and forcefully wrenched the undead's right hand from its socket.

"Now, what... System. Should I rip off my own hand? Or will you do some hocus-pocus and magically attach it?"

[Bone synthesis requires the "Synthesis" skill or the archetypal skill "Bone Joining." No such skills detected. Required action: remove the damaged body part and attach the new one.]

"Alright, at least I know there are such skills… Okay, it'll feel like a mosquito bite."

Using his left hand, Nero pulled off the damaged limb, which, to his surprise, came off quite easily. "That was anticlimactic. It doesn't hurt… right, no nerve endings." After tossing the destroyed limb aside, Nero grabbed the new arm from the defeated gray-boned skeleton and positioned it where his damaged limb had been moments before.

To Nero's pleasant surprise, the new limb almost seamlessly connected with his body and he immediately gained control over it.

As Nero clenched the new fist, astonished by the speed of the limb's assimilation, he heard a system sound and saw a new small blue window appear before his eye sockets.

[Equipped: "Deodrim's Right Arm of the Obese" gained [+3 STR, +2 DEX, +1 INT]]

Upon noticing the System notification, Nero's jaw dropped once again in comic disbelief. "System, what the hell… wait. Does this mean that by replacing limbs, I can become stronger? And how does this relate to the 'brush' rule? You know, if you replace the handle first and then the brush head, is it still the same brush…? And Deodrim… what a strange name… and why the hell did I get an extra point in intelligence? He didn't have muscles to attach it to muscle memory."

[As a skeleton, the host can replace damaged parts in this way, gaining bonuses to stats or skills. However, it is not recommended to replace the skull, as it would count as replacing the entire body along with the limbs. The host's consciousness resides in the skull, serving as a kind of magical core for the Slime.]

[Deodrim the Obese was a member of an expedition aimed at locating iron ore. His class was "Scholar," based on intelligence. As a result, his magical energy reservoir was rarely depleted, affecting his organs and entire body. This left a minimal residual effect on his undead form.]

"I get it, but if he was a scholar, why did I gain increased strength and endurance? Was Deodrim some kind of climber? Did he have the agility to locate finds or something?"

[Deodrim belonged to the intelligent orc race. Orcs are a powerful race with stronger physical attributes than humans. Hence the sudden increase in strength and endurance.]

"Alright, so a smart orc… cool… now for the other hand… Hehe…" Nero then acquired Deodrim's left hand and replaced the limb, which resulted in the same increase across the three stats.

"I feel stronger, but does this make me some kind of half-orc skeleton or something? I'd better check…"

[================================]

Nero

Level – 2

Class – Barbarian(02/100)

Race – Hybrid Skeleton(04/100)

HP – (96/96) [0.1 per minute]

MP – (11/11) [0.01 per minute]

STR – 22(+6)

END – 10

DEX – 12(+4)

INT –16(+1)

WIS – 14

CHA – 1.12

LCK – 10

[10-50-Common man]

(SP)-1

Resistance:[Sharp weapon resistance (-75% received Dmg) [Race Skill Resistance]

Skill: (Fast cut)(Battle cry)

[=============================]

"So, I've actually become a different race... and even leveled up. Judging by the stats, it seems I don't get any bonuses to all stats from race advancement or skills. Though, maybe there are bonuses every 10 levels or more?"

[The host, due to body part replacement, has undergone a race change to "Hybrid Skeleton." This is an exceptional case, as normally, ordinary skeletons have too low intelligence and, without a necromancer's intervention, are unable to change or gain strength unconventionally.]

[The host receives skills and stat bonuses upon reaching milestones (0-25-50-75-100 levels). Skills and stats can be gained through training, combat, external sources, and killing other creatures.]

"Those were surprisingly useful insights, but training is out of the question. Bones might just break from training. So, it's hunting and collecting interesting bones. System, if I encounter another skeleton, can you tell me what kind of opponent it is? What race, if it poses a challenge, or something similar? And one more thing, what happened to Deodrim's equipment? He didn't enter the cave naked, did he?"

[To obtain detailed information about an opponent, the skill "Assessment" or similar archetypal skills are required. The system has information about the killed skeleton from the experience points gained by the user. However, this information is limited to the creature's name, stats, and race. In the case of undead creatures, the reason for their race change to undead is also included.]

[The system does not have information about Deodrim the Obese's (gray orc skeleton) equipment location. Speculated theory: Based on the age of the bones, Deodrim's more organic equipment has decomposed over time, and the remnants were likely consumed by monsters. If Deodrim had steel equipment, the most probable scenario is that it was collected by a Goblin or another being before the body's decomposition.]

"So, another attempt at scamming turned out to be in vain. Tough luck... If it was a Goblin, I probably won't find any equipment too soon... Unless someone died recently."

Nero continued onward in search of opponents and perhaps an exit from the gloomy cave.