Skelly

Roy looked at the stone for almost 10 minutes, almost jumping around from the excitement. Before, he could only imagine what it would be like, to own a Familiar. But now, he would obtain one, if he just did as little as crush the stone in his hands.

But of course, he couldn't. The stone in his hands could fetch a price of over 390 Gold Coins, maybe even 410 Gold Coins if could get a good bargain for it. That was equivalent to 4 million Credits! If he obtained that much money, his sister could basically relax with her job. She then wouldn't have to stay there, working for days on end, so that he could live at least a little more comfortably.

Another thing he could do, was to join an adventurer group, or a Guild. If he offered the stone as a trade, the other party would most likely nurture him, at least for a while.

'But, another thing I could do... Is to use the stone myself, and then try joining an adventurer group. That way, they would place even further value on my future growth!' Roy thought of how good of an idea that was.

'But before that, I need to become stronger. I need to at least reach Tier 1. If I don't do that much on my own, then they'll think that I just lucked out, and won't appreciate me choosing their adventurer group over others.' he grinned widely.

...

Roy was on his was towards the Crack again.

Whilst walking, he took out the Familiar Stone from his Inventory. It was of a shinny, lime green color. It had an oval shape, and was just the right size to fit into one's palm.

Roy looked and marveled at it for some time, before crushing it. The cracked stone melted, and enter Roy's heart through his chest. Suddenly, Roy received multiple System notifications.

[Would you like to use the 'Familiar Stone: Crystal Skeleton Chieftain (LVL 5)'?]

[If you choose 'Yes', then the Crystal Skeleton Chieftain (LVL 5) will become your Familiar.

If you choose 'No', then you will get back the original Familiar Stone, but it will be weakened.]

[You are currently Tier 0, so you can only have one Familiar. If you want to have more Familiars, then you have to raise your Tier.]

['Yes' or 'No'?]

"Yes!!" Roy shouted out without any hesitation.

[Confirmed.]

[...]

[The Crystal Skeleton Chieftain (LVL 5) is now your Familiar. You now have no more open slots for Familiars.]

"Come out: Crystal Skeleton Chieftain!" Roy yelled.

*rattle rattle* the suddenly appeared Familiar rattled

"...?"

"You're not gonna have a cooler entrance?"

*rattle rattle*

"Okay... Um, I'm gonna name you Skelly. Alright?"

*rattle*

"..."

"Can you even understand me?" Roy asked.

*rattle* the Skeleton nodded

"Ooo! So you do understand me. Listen, buddy, you're gonna help me fight Monsters. You have very high Strength, and high Defense. But you're low on Agility. So you're going to be a tank. Do you know what I mean?"

*rattle* it rattled in conformation

*happily grinning*

"So, Skelly, let me tell you about my time in God World..."

And so, Roy chatted with his Familiar, one-sidedly, for the whole time they were walking. He was happy, he finally had a companion, someone to talk to. And he could trust them, because it was his own Familiar.

...

At the Crack

*hiding in a bush, surveying the surroundings*

"Looks like they've increased the number of patrols. But they do seem to be a tad bit weaker than they used to be." Roy said to Skelly. In a way, he was right. But it wasn't the case that they were weakened. No, it was just that the "younger" Skeletons were sent out on patrols, along with the regular ones.

Before, the normal patrol was three-men-group, with Levels around 10 - 11. But now, there were at least twice as many patrols, with the average being a four-to five-men-group, Levels about 8 - 9. There was also a mix of Fighter Skeleton, making the patrols that much weaker.

"Right now, what we need to do, is to practice working together. So, here's the plan: first, you're gonna attract the attention of some of the weaker patrols. Start with the ones that are alone, that don't have many other groups together. Second, "guide" them towards me, I'll be over there. Then, when they spot me, hurry over to me, and use the shield that I gave you earlier, to block their attacks. Don't worry, their normal attacks shouldn't leave any marks, if they strike you. We just need to get the hang on things, so that when we attack stronger opponents, we will still have a winning chance!" Roy said enthusiastically.

Skelly started looking around right away, trying to find the perfect enemy troop to practice on. It really wanted to impress Roy, and have him praise it. Skelly was actually just a child Monster, that's why it's so low-Leveled. But because Skeletons as Monsters don't grow, it looked like a regular, mature Skeleton. So, like any other child, it wanted to be praised by its "parent(s)", that being Roy.

It found a group-of-four walking on a path. It jumped up, and threw stones at the enemy. They became angry right away, and started chasing it.

***

"Ah! Here he comes! It looks like a decent group is chasing him."

"Okay Skelly! Take out your shield, and let's start this fight!" Roy yelled.

Skelly turned around right away, and roared its battle cry (rattled). The chasing Skeleton saw this, and started attacking. Skelly's shield wasn't that big, so some attacks slipped through. But Roy wasn't just looking around. He grabbed his sword, and struck the Monster in front of Skelly.

They worked and practiced like this for at least a couple of hours. When they thought that they got better at cooperating, they started attacking groups of Warrior Skeleton.

In time, they entered the Crack. There, there were Monsters practically everywhere. They attacked almost every group that they saw, and killed them. And although there were only two people in this team, it was at least two times stronger than Roy on his own.

"Wow, this is really effective! I feel like we're deeper in than I was on my own. And we've only been here for three hours!" Roy exclaimed happily.

When Skelly heard him say that, it looked at him expectantly. Roy saw that, and thought a little.

"You're doing great, Skelly! I couldn't have done it without you." he said with a smile, and pat it on its head.

Skelly was overjoyed, but to Roy, it felt a little weird. He was patting a smooth, crystal skull, after all. He decided he wouldn't do that anymore.

"Now, let's continue. If we do, we'll have a great harvest. Maybe I could get you some other equipment!"

...

Like that, they cleared the whole area around the Crack's entrance. Roy even found a few storage rooms, where the Skeletons stored their weapons. Inside were Loot Boxes, which could sell for a good sum. Depending on their rank, they could go anywhere from 1 Silver Coin, to 500 Gold Coins. They went for even more, but that was for too big of a rank for common people to see.

After sorting everything they obtained, Roy sold everything he didn't need, or wasn't worth much. Everything else was either useful to him, or would be in the near future.

For himself, he saved some equipment pieces that he didn't have. Before, he had a ring, boots, leggings, a chestplate, and helmet. They were all from the Angry Skeleton Set Equipment. Additionally, he had a Common Sword - LVL 10, which he bought awhile ago to replace the LVL 0 one.

[(Common) Sword - LVL 10

Requirements: STR +8

Adds: STR +7, AGI +4, DEF +6, Slash (active), Cut (active)

Slash (active):

Slash at an opponent and deal +75% (50 + 25) Damage.

Cooldown - 29 Seconds (30 - 1)

Cut (active):

Cut at an opponent and deal + 75% (50 + 25) Damage.

Cooldown - 29 Seconds (30 - 1)]

(This is how equipment will be displayed now. I think it's much cleaner, and I personally like it more. Set Equipment will also display the Set Effects on only one piece, in a similar / the same format.)

It was about twice as strong as the LVL 0 sword he had before, in term of Attributes, but its Skills were much better.

The new equipment he would have on him was a pair of gloves, and a bracelet. Both were the best out of everything he had gotten, and would increase his combat power significantly. Their Attributes were high, unlike the Angry Skeleton equipment, which had medium-high attributes (individual pieces).

[(Uncommon) Gloves: White-Black Spirals - LVL 20

Requirements: STR +27, DEF +36

Adds: STR +52, AGI +47

Description: Gloves with a white-black spiral pattern. The pattern makes it appear like your hands are a certain distance away from the target, either closer, or further away, depending on their angle.]

[(Common) Bracelet: Cold-Fire Bracelet - LVL 20

Requirements: INT +35

Special Effect: Gathers Cold-Fire Mana around the user. The Mana can be controlled based on the user's will. The higher the user's Wisdom, the better control they will have.

Description: A special Item, that focuses on Cold-Fire Mana, a rare type of Mana, that has a Strength of 3.]

They couldn't be equipped yet, but it wouldn't take long before he could.

***

Roy headed home, to Earth. His sister wasn't home, like usual, but there was fresh food in the refrigerator. Well, fresh if you could still call it that. It had been more than a dozen days since Roy was home, and the food was about as old.

'But it would still be good.' Roy thought 'Because sis uses special ingredients that make the food a higher quality. Plus, she's in the top 3 cooks on Earth, *proud* just that nobody knows about her...'

Roy ate the food his sister Mary had left him, and enjoyed it wholeheartedly. After he was done, he cleaned up the dishes, and the rest of the house. Then, he went to bed, which he missed oh so much.

The next morning, before Roy left. He left her a detailed message about everything that's happened to him, and that she shouldn't worry too much.

With that, he headed back to God World.

***

For the next few days, Roy went and cleared out all of the Monsters near the Crack's entrance. Skelly was with him, of course, which made it very happy.

In time, Roy hit 98% of Level 19. Which meant that he would Level Up in an hour's time. Then, he would be able to equip the White-Black Spirals gloves, and the Cold-Fire Bracelet. Skelly also hit Level 15, which was about right, considering that it shared EXP with its master.

Roy then decided that he would go try and beat the Skeleton Army Dungeon again. His Power was at least six times higher than it was before, and would even further rise upon him reaching Level 20.

"Let's go, Skelly!"