The next day, Edmond performed Bone Modification on the Skeleton Wolf again.
After the modification, the Skeleton Wolf was covered in a thin layer of bone armor, granting it sufficient defensive power without hindering its normal movements.
Upon closer inspection, Edmond discovered a distinct advantage of the Skeleton Wolf.
That is, they are very fast; when running, their speed is nearly twice that of an ordinary skeleton.
Because of this, an idea sprouted in Edmond’s mind.
He wondered if he could have these two Skeleton Wolves pull a carriage for him, with him sitting inside while they ran in front.
After all, he would eventually need to explore the surroundings for villages or small towns, and traveling on foot would be far too slow.
Since the Skeleton Wolves were so fast, why not put that to good use?
Furthermore, they were undead and would never get tired; as long as their Soul Fire remained unextinguished, it was equivalent to having infinite stamina.
This made them even more suitable for pulling a carriage than a horse.
Horses get tired, hungry, thirsty, sick, and temperamental, but Skeleton Wolves do not.
Horses require stables, fodder, and even a blacksmith to shoe them, but Skeleton Wolves require nothing at all.
A horse’s speed decreases as its stamina is depleted, but that is not the case for Skeleton Wolves.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to Edmond.
His eyes lit up, and he made up his mind almost instantly.
Having made his decision, Edmond immediately sprang into action.
Building a four-wheeled carriage wasn’t difficult; after all, the area was filled with dense trees, providing an abundance of materials.
Moreover, Edmond could use a Spell at any time to craft all the necessary tools.
Even if he lacked the physical strength himself, he could simply have the skeletons do the work for him.
Although the skeletons couldn’t perform such delicate work on their own, it was no problem as long as he controlled them personally.
For the next few days, Edmond busied himself collecting materials and constructing the carriage.
The skeletons’ claws were incredibly sharp; a single swipe could tear a deep gash into a tree trunk.
Exercising his focus, Edmond controlled all four skeletons simultaneously and quickly gathered all the necessary timber.
Next came the processing; he used a Spell to manifest the necessary tools and then continued to direct the skeletons in their work.
Edmond was admittedly clueless about carpentry, having never done anything of the sort in his past or present life.
However, he possessed powerful Mental Power, which greatly enhanced his learning ability, and he had four tireless skeletons at his disposal.
Besides, there was one most important point: he didn’t need the carriage to be exquisite, just functional.
As long as the wheels could turn, the carriage could hold a person, and it wouldn’t fall apart halfway, that was enough.
After about two days of work, a simple four-wheeled carriage was completed.
The structure of the carriage was very simple, crafted entirely out of wood.
With four wooden wheels and a wooden passenger compartment, there was almost nothing else to it; it was very crude.
But Edmond didn’t care about that; as long as it worked, that was fine.
After all, he just wanted a means of transportation.
Once it was finished, Edmond couldn’t wait to climb inside and test it out.
The interior of the carriage was equally crude, with only a raised wooden plank serving as a seat.
It was hard and uncomfortable, making his backside ache after sitting on it.
The surroundings were nothing but bare wooden planks; there wasn’t even a handrail.
He frowned, then fetched a blanket from the cave and placed it on the plank before trying it again.
“Hmm, much better.”
Although it still wasn’t very comfortable, at least it wasn’t painfully hard anymore.
After satisfying himself that it was acceptable, he directed the two Skeleton Wolves to the front of the carriage.
To make it easier for them to pull the carriage, he specifically used Bone Modification to increase the size of the two Skeleton Wolves.
Now, the shoulder height of the two Skeleton Wolves reached just over a meter, making them quite massive.
Subsequently, Edmond used Bone Crafting to form two long bone whips.
The bone whips were pure white, free of any cracks, and possessed excellent flexibility; they could be bent and folded at will without breaking.
From their appearance alone, no one would ever guess they were crafted from bone.
Edmond tied one end of the bone whips to the Skeleton Wolves’ shoulder blades and secured the other ends to the carriage frame.
He then used a Spell to create a crossbar, connecting the two Skeleton Wolves side-by-side so they could exert force in unison rather than running in different directions.
After finishing all this, Edmond sat in the driver’s seat and excitedly gave the command to the Skeleton Wolves.
“Run!”
Upon receiving Edmond’s command, the two Skeleton Wolves remained silent, letting out no howls, but the Soul Fire in their eye sockets flared violently.
“Click-clack!”
Accompanied by the violent clattering of bones, the two Skeleton Wolves broke into a sprint.
“Snap!”
The bone whips instantly went taut, and under the pull, the carriage began to move slowly.
As the Skeleton Wolves increased their speed, the carriage gradually picked up pace.
“Rum-ble, rum-ble!”
The wooden wheels rolled over twigs and gravel on the ground, creating a rhythmic clattering.
At the same time, due to the uneven ground, the carriage began to jolt violently.
Although the carriage looked very crude, it was exceptionally sturdy; despite the violent jolts, there was no sign of it falling apart.
Although Edmond, sitting at the front of the carriage, found the jolting uncomfortable, his inner excitement did not wane.
Watching the scenery flash by on both sides, he couldn’t help but want to shout out in excitement.
While the carriage pulled by the Skeleton Wolves couldn’t match the speed of a real horse-drawn carriage, it was still much faster than walking.
Most importantly, the Skeleton Wolves would never feel fatigue; they could maintain their peak speed indefinitely.
However, there was still one drawback: the carriage was far too bumpy.
After all, Edmond was not a professional.
It was quite an achievement that he managed to build a sturdy, functional carriage in just two days, so he couldn’t ask for too much.
Since he was so excited about his new “toy,” Edmond rode the carriage around the surrounding forest for quite a while.
After he had had his fill of fun, he drove the Skeleton Wolves back toward the cave with a satisfied heart.
During this time, many animals in the forest were startled by the commotion and watched the strange scene with curiosity.
Upon returning to the vicinity of the cave, Edmond jumped off the carriage, his legs giving way, and he nearly stumbled.
Although it had been exhilarating, it was also quite an ordeal due to the severe jolting.
If he had to endure that for long, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Therefore, for the sake of his own body, Edmond spent the next two days modifying the carriage.
After the modifications, although the jolting wasn’t completely eliminated, it was at least partially alleviated.
This was the best Edmond could do.
After finishing the modifications, Edmond didn’t immediately set off in it to search for villages or small towns.
After all, his current supplies were enough to last for a while longer.
So, for the next few days, he remained in the cave, focusing on Meditation and research to improve his strength.
He also paid special attention to the two Skeleton Wolves, doing his best to ensure their strength also improved.
Because as their strength increased, their running speed would improve accordingly.
After another seven days passed, Edmond was finally ready to set out to find a village or small town to purchase some supplies.
After packing some white bread to serve as food for the next few days, Edmond prepared to depart.
Before leaving, he took care to camouflage the cave entrance to make it less conspicuous.
He certainly wouldn’t be bringing the four skeletons along; there was no need.
Although the skeletons’ combat capabilities were decent, given the current situation, it was simply inconvenient to bring them.
Not only were they slow, but they were also difficult to hide.
Finally, Edmond gave the four skeletons their last order: to guard the cave entrance.
If they encountered any enemies, they were not to attack proactively, but simply to hold their position inside the cave.
At the same time, Edmond dug a hole and buried the Spell books he had copied for safekeeping.
After doing all this, he left with peace of mind.
“Rum-ble, rum-ble!”
Accompanied by the sound of rolling wheels, the carriage quickly moved away from the cave and sped into the forest.