Disputes Between Lizards

He sprinted toward the nearest Lizard with a sling, who was just about to fire another projectile. At the last second, Flain sharply changed direction, slipping out of the trajectory of the incoming stone. With the same force, he lunged forward, his sword slicing through the air in a sharp arc.

The Lizard tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. Flain's blade cut deep into its chest, piercing all the way to the spine. The creature hissed, its body tensed in its final agony, and a second later, it collapsed to the ground, dead.

[+260 EXP]

But the victory lasted only a moment. The second slinger had already loaded another shot and fired a stone at point-blank range, aiming directly at Flain's head.

Flain didn't react in time. The projectile struck the side of his skull, and a deep crack immediately spread across his face. His skull nearly shattered—he was left with only 5 HP.

[-60 HP]

Flain staggered. If he were still human, his head would have spun, and he would have collapsed. But as a skeleton, he felt no pain. He could ignore the damage as long as he had HP left.

He moved quickly, but this time, both melee fighters were ready. One attacked from the right, the other from the left, their daggers flashing in the dim light.

Flain knew he couldn't block both at once. He dodged the first dagger while simultaneously parrying the second attack.

Seizing the moment when the Lizard whose strike he had deflected was off balance, he delivered a sharp kick to its chest. The Lizard growled as it was sent stumbling several steps backward.

Flain instantly turned to the second Lizard and unleashed a series of rapid strikes. His opponent blocked, but Flain had the advantage of aggression. With his first sword, he knocked the enemy's dagger aside, and with the second, he slashed its throat.

[+270 EXP]

But the other melee fighter was already back in the fight, and the ranged Lizard was loading another projectile.

Flain was trapped.

He did something no normal warrior would ever do—he threw his right sword directly at the ranged Lizard.

The enemy had no time to react. The sword buried itself deep into its chest, and the Lizard dropped to its knees, letting out a raspy sound.

[+290 EXP]

But now, Flain was down to one weapon against the last melee fighter.

The Lizard growled, its eyes gleaming with hatred. It lunged at Flain, dagger poised for a lethal strike.

Flain had no time to draw his second sword. Instead, he did the only thing he could—he rushed straight at the Lizard, grabbing its wrist with both hands.

It was raw strength against raw strength.

The warrior hissed as he tried to break free from Flain's grip, but Flain held firm. His stronger fingers dug into the Lizard's wrist, pushing it back.

The Lizard attempted to strike Flain with its other hand, but Flain expected it. He let go of its wrist and, at the last second, grabbed its throat.

He squeezed.

The Lizard began to choke. It kicked its legs, clawed at Flain's hands, but it couldn't break free.

Flain suddenly turned and slammed the Lizard's body brutally against the ground.

The Lizard growled in pain but was still alive.

Flain quickly moved over it, picked up his second sword, and mercilessly drove it straight into its chest.

The Lizard tensed, its body trembled, and finally, it went still.

[+300 EXP]

Flain looked at its lifeless body.

"I stand alive, and you lie dead. How does it feel to be dead?" Flain whispered.

Then he raised his foot and kicked the body away with full force. After that, he went to sit by Itai, waiting for his HP to fully regenerate.

It annoyed him that after every fight, he had to wait an hour to recover. But it was probably better than dying in every second battle. And the waiting time would only increase since his HP would keep growing.

Flain had his stats open in front of him and noticed he had enough EXP for the next level. So he leveled up.

[Name: Skelly

Level: 7

Class: warrior

Age: 0

Race: [Skeleton]

Master: Itai

Titles: [Body Rotten With Darkness] [Bloodthirsty] [Extremely Powerthirsty]

HP: 170/170

MP: 0/0

EN: 200/200

Strength: 10 [+3]

Agility: 8 [+2]

Intelligence: 0

Vitality: 10 [+7]

Bonus Points: 0

Skills: [Low-Dagger-Mastery lvl:1] [Low-DualSwords-Mastery lvl:1]

EXP: 2120

Next Level: 1500 EXP]

[Level 7 -> Level 8]

[Strength increased by 1, agility increased by 1, vitality increased by 1]

[You have gained 1 bonus point]

He decided to put the bonus point into strength.

[Strength increased by 1]

Then Flain waited an hour and 20 minutes until his HP was fully restored. He left the cave entrance, placing the magic map along with the severed hand into his armor. He slung Itai over his back.

He didn't plan on using the magic map while crossing the valley, as it would be a distraction. He would only use it when he needed to return.

Flain set off. He moved along the edge of the valley because, on his 12th attempt with Itai, they had only encountered a single skeleton when traveling through the center.

He had to wade through mud, as it covered the entire valley's edge. But for Flain, this wasn't a problem—he was now strong enough that it didn't slow him down at all. The pressure of the mud against his legs was nothing to his strength.

Flain continued forward and spotted a strange scene ahead, so he crouched down to make himself less visible.

In front of him were two groups of five Lizards—one black, the other green-violet.

"Why you take our water?!" said the green-violet leader, who had a large yellow sun tattoo on his chest.

"Because you kill one of our groups!" replied the black leader, who had a white crescent moon tattoo on his chest. He let out a hissing sound, and the other black Lizards glared at the greens with hatred...