Fragments of the shattered black boulder lay scattered across the wasteland.
Kyle stood where he was, staring at the slash that had nearly split the entire rock in two.
He now had a much clearer idea of what a Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior was capable of.
Three thousand five hundred Strength.
Combined with Savage Strike, its explosive power was far beyond anything the Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors had been capable of.
More importantly, this was only the first one.
Kyle glanced at his summoning space.
[Summoning Space: 41/100] Forty of those slots were occupied by the Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors he had summoned before reaching Level 10.
The last belonged to his first Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior.
His old summons hadn’t automatically advanced when the skill evolved.
But that wasn’t much of a problem.
There were still fifty-nine empty slots.
As soon as his Spirit recovered, he could continue filling them with new Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warriors.
The old Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors hadn’t suddenly become useless either.
At least around the outskirts of Westport, ordinary monsters near Level 10 still had a hard time posing any real threat to them.
There was no reason he couldn’t use both ranks at the same time.
What Kyle was more interested in was another one of his abilities.
[Undead Substitute] He had already triggered the passive once against the Vine Demon in the Novice Trial Grounds.
Whenever an attack struck him, the damage would be transferred directly to one of the undead summons under his command.
As long as there was still an undead summon capable of taking the damage for him, Kyle himself wouldn’t have to bear the fatal blow.
Naturally, the more summons he had, the more ridiculous the ability became.
His summoning space could now hold one hundred undead.
If he eventually filled every slot…
Kyle thought about it briefly, then stopped.
One hundred was only the current limit.
His level would continue to rise.
There was no reason to assume his summoning space would remain this size forever.
Just as he was about to use his summoning skill again, a sharp sound suddenly tore through the air.
Whoosh!
Kyle’s eyes shifted.
An arrow shot out from the woods ahead, passing so close to the side of his face that he could hear it cut through the air before burying itself in a tree behind him.
The shaft vibrated violently.
Before Kyle could figure out what was happening, several more arrows came flying.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Three more.
This time, however, Kyle clearly wasn’t their intended target.
All three arrows were aimed toward the other side of the woods.
A black-clad figure suddenly burst from between the trees.
She moved incredibly fast.
Her body stayed low as she rushed forward, changing direction twice in quick succession to avoid the incoming arrows.
The last arrow skimmed past her shoulder and continued flying.
Straight toward Kyle.
He had only just turned his head when it was already in front of him.
Too late to dodge.
Thud!
The arrowhead struck his chest.
But the pain he expected never came.
At the exact moment the attack landed, Kyle clearly felt a strange force sweep through his body.
The impact that should have struck him seemed to be forcibly pulled away, traveling through the connection between him and his undead summons before vanishing in an instant.
[External attack detected.] [Undead Substitute activated.] [Damage transferred.] The arrow lost its force and dropped to the ground.
Kyle looked down at his chest.
There was a small mark where the arrowhead had touched his clothes.
No blood.
No wound.
At the same time, a Black-Iron Skeleton Warrior a dozen meters away suddenly shuddered.
A thin crack appeared across its shoulder bone.
Kyle looked over.
So that was how it worked.
Just like when he’d faced the Vine Demon, Undead Substitute activated automatically whenever an attack truly landed on him.
And judging from what had just happened, he didn’t even need to choose which undead summon took the damage.
The passive handled that on its own.
While Kyle was still observing the effect, the skeleton warriors around him had already reacted.
Clack.
Clack.
Several skeleton warriors scattered nearby stopped at the same time.
The blue soul flames in their eye sockets flickered.
The Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior closest to Kyle turned around immediately, raising its blade slightly.
Without Kyle’s command, it wouldn’t attack.
But it was already on guard.
The black-clad woman who had just emerged from the woods noticed the change as well.
She didn’t slow down.
Her gaze swept quickly across Kyle and the skeleton warriors before she abruptly changed direction and sprinted toward the woods on the right.
Within a few breaths, her figure disappeared between the trees.
Kyle didn’t chase her.
They hadn’t even exchanged a single word.
There was no reason to.
He looked down at the arrow on the ground.
The real problem was coming from the other direction.
Sure enough, hurried footsteps sounded from the woods only a few seconds later.
Two figures rushed out one after another.
The first was an archer.
He wore light leather armor, a quiver hung across his back, and the longbow in his hand was still raised.
A mage followed behind him.
Dark gray robes.
A staff set with a blue mana crystal.
Both were clearly chasing the woman from earlier.
“Where’d she go?” The archer rushed out of the woods and immediately looked ahead.
Nothing.
Without even stopping, he charged in the direction the woman had originally been running.
The mage followed.
Neither of them noticed Kyle standing nearby.
Kyle watched them disappear and said nothing.
Wrong direction.
The woman had changed course immediately after leaving the woods.
If they kept going that way, they would only get farther from her.
Sure enough, less than half a minute later, the two men returned.
The archer looked annoyed.
“Trail’s gone.” “She must’ve changed direction.” The mage didn’t answer.
He tightened his grip on his staff and muttered a short incantation.
A pale green glow spread from the mana crystal.
A gentle breeze formed around the two men.
It swept low across the grass before moving between the trees and rocks nearby.
Kyle remained where he was.
Judging from the mana fluctuation, it was probably some kind of tracking skill.
A dozen seconds later, the wind gathered back around the mage.
He opened his eyes.
His expression had grown even worse.
“Nothing.” “Her presence is gone too.” The archer didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“Forget it.” “Let’s head back.” “She got away this time.
Doesn’t mean she’ll get away every time.” Only after saying that did he finally notice Kyle.
Or, more accurately— he noticed the skeleton warriors around Kyle first.
One.
Two.
Three…
Pale skeletons stood scattered between the grass and trees nearby.
And the one closest to Kyle was clearly different from the rest.
Its bones carried a blue-gray metallic sheen.
The blade in its hand was noticeably more complete as well.
The archer’s gaze finally returned to Kyle.
“Summoner?” Kyle didn’t answer.
He simply raised a hand and pointed toward the ground.
The archer followed the gesture.
An arrow lay there.
A rather familiar arrow.
Then he noticed the faint mark on Kyle’s chest.
Understanding immediately dawned on his face.
“My arrow?” “Yeah.” Kyle looked at him.
“It hit me.” The archer’s expression turned awkward.
They had been too focused on the chase.
When the woman suddenly changed direction, he had fired several arrows in quick succession without noticing another class holder behind her.
“Sorry.” The archer lowered his bow.
“I was too focused on chasing her.
Didn’t see you behind her.” His attitude was reasonable enough.
Kyle had no intention of making trouble over it.
“Be more careful next time.” “Will do.” The archer nodded.
That should have been the end of it.
But the mage beside him was still staring at the skeleton warriors behind Kyle.
“Undead summons?” He frowned.
Kyle looked at him.
The mage didn’t say anything else, but his grip on the staff instinctively tightened.
Undead-type classes were rare to begin with.
Seeing this many skeleton warriors gathered around one person was enough to make most people uneasy at first glance.
Especially the Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior.
Even its appearance made it obvious that it was different from the others.
The moment the mage tightened his grip on his staff— Clack!
The Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior suddenly stepped half a pace forward.
Its blade rose.
The blue soul flames in its eye sockets flared.
Several nearby Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors turned their heads at exactly the same time.
There was almost no delay between their movements.
The mage’s expression changed.
His staff immediately came up.
The atmosphere tightened in an instant.
Kyle remained where he was.
He didn’t step back.
Nor did he give an order to attack.
For a brief moment, neither side moved.
“Wait.” The archer reacted first.
He reached out and pushed his companion’s staff down.
“What are you doing?” The mage frowned.
“Those things just—” “Of course his summons went on guard when you raised your staff.” The archer lowered his voice.
“And my arrow was the one that hit him first.” “Don’t start something for no reason.” The mage opened his mouth.
In the end, he didn’t argue.
He looked at Kyle again.
Kyle’s expression hadn’t changed from beginning to end.
What truly bothered the mage was the Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior standing beside him.
Maybe it was only his imagination.
But when that skeleton had stepped forward just now, he had instinctively sensed danger.
It was only a summon.
Why did it make him feel like that?
After a moment of hesitation, the mage slowly lowered his staff.
The Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior didn’t relax immediately.
Not until Kyle spoke.
“Back.” Only then did it lower its blade and return to its previous position.
The blue soul flames in the surrounding Black-Iron Skeleton Warriors gradually settled as well.
The archer visibly relaxed.
“Sorry about that.” This time, his tone was more serious than before.
Kyle nodded.
“It’s fine.” The man had apologized, and no one had actually tried to start a fight.
Kyle had no interest in turning it into something bigger.
The archer didn’t ask which way the woman had gone either.
He patted his companion on the shoulder.
“Let’s go.” The mage gave Kyle one last look, then glanced at the skeleton warriors surrounding him.
He said nothing.
The two soon left.
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
The woods became quiet again.
Kyle waited for a moment to make sure they were really gone before bending down and picking up the arrow.
The arrowhead was ordinary.
No enchantments.
Its attack power wasn’t particularly impressive either.
The transferred damage had only left a thin crack on the Black-Iron Skeleton Warrior’s shoulder.
That meant the archer wasn’t especially powerful.
As for the mage…
Kyle glanced in the direction the two had gone.
Probably around the same level.
If a fight had actually broken out, Kyle didn’t think he would have lost.
Still, avoiding a fight was obviously better.
He had come into the wilderness to level up.
Not to pick fights with strangers over pride.
What interested him far more was Undead Substitute activating again.
Kyle walked over to the Black-Iron Skeleton Warrior that had taken the damage for him and carefully examined the crack in its shoulder.
The damage was minor.
It wouldn’t affect its movement.
Then he looked at the Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior nearby.
If even a Black-Iron summon could easily absorb an attack like that— how much damage could a Bronze-Rank Skeleton Warrior with 3,500 Constitution withstand?
And soon, he wouldn’t have just one of them.
Ten.
Dozens.
Eventually, perhaps even more than a hundred.
The more undead summons Kyle possessed, the greater the margin for error Undead Substitute gave him.
That was what made a Necromancer truly troublesome to deal with.
Want to attack the summoner?
Fine.
Get through all the undead behind him first.
Kyle looked away and put the brief encounter out of his mind.
“Continue.” At his command— Clack.
Clack…
The skeleton warriors that had stopped earlier scattered once more.
Pale figures quickly disappeared among the grass and trees.
Before long, the familiar notifications returned.
[Successfully killed Level 10 Grayrock Wolf.] [Experience gained.] Another followed almost immediately.
[Successfully killed Level 11 Rockhorn Beast.] [Experience gained.] Kyle resumed his original route.
What had happened hadn’t changed his plans.
But his first minor conflict with other class holders had confirmed one thing.
Monsters weren’t the only danger outside the city.
As for whether someone might decide to cause trouble for him simply because he was a Necromancer— Kyle didn’t care.
He wasn’t someone who went looking for trouble.
But he wasn’t afraid of it either.
And if anyone decided that a Necromancer looked easy to bully…
Kyle’s skeleton warriors could explain the misunderstanding.