How to Raise Your Skeletons

Chapter 98: Get a Load of These Guys

—Crunch, crunch.

—Ptooey!

I spat out the remains of a dead scorpion after sucking out its venom, leaning back against a tree. Around me lay the scattered remains of various poisons I’d spat out without care.

[Bonus for poison.]

[‘Venom Gland of the Deadly Scorpion’ is classified as a Grade 1 poison.]

[You have gained an additional 500 trial points.]

“Nice!” I shouted without realizing it.

Lately, I’ve come to deeply understand the Elder’s words that encountering stronger poison is exciting. Especially Grade 1 poison—it was incredibly rare. It felt like I was only finding one after encountering 20 Grade 2 poisons.

“Ughhh.”

As expected of Grade 1 poison, my tongue felt numb and burned. Not just my tongue—every nerve in my body seemed to be begging me to stop.

Sorry, body. Just hang in there.

The pain now would make me stronger and more resilient later. There was the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

—Vwoom!

I activated the Great Blue Heart Technique, gently enveloping the invading poison. Following the pathways inside my body the Elder had taught me, I could now handle up to two instances of Grade 1 poison at once.

“Phew.”

After some time had passed, the poisonous energy gathered at my fingertips.

—Drip!

A green droplet formed and fell. After about two weeks in this place, I could now even control where the poison discharged.

I’ve really consumed a ridiculous amount.

Separated from my companions, I roamed the central area for a week, collecting and consuming poisons. And here was the result:

[Skill: Hundred Poisons Immunity]

[Rank: B]

[Effect 1: Resistance to 100 types of poisons.]

[Effect 2: Complete immunity to poisons below a certain level.]

I acquired a skill called Hundred Poisons Immunity, and…

[Current trial points: 51,300]

I accumulated a significant number of trial points. Of course, I was still far from being able to afford everything in the shop. But I wasn’t satisfied yet. I was still hungry.

“Take it easy, lad.” While circulating my energy, the old man scolded me from behind.

I’d told him I planned to focus solely on building poison resistance for now. Then he asked to be summoned during the day, not at night, because he wanted to watch.

“You don’t seem to be eating proper meals, just consuming poison. Are you even sleeping?”

“…Sleep? I make sure to get two hours every day. And I do eat, look over there.” I pointed to a pile of mushroom scraps.

“Eh? Don’t tell me you mean that?” The elder looked at me in disbelief. “How do you call that a meal? It’s just scraps of mushrooms. What if you get malnourished? You need strength to expel poison, you see.”

“There’s no time,” I said softly. “To face that poison fog or whatever it is, I need to achieve Thousand Poisons Immunity, but I’m still only at Hundred Poisons Immunity.”

“Hah! Look at this kid!”

What? Huh?

“Thousand Poisons Immunity or Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity cannot be achieved overnight. Back in my day, it took me nearly a year of scouring mountains to achieve Thousand Poisons Immunity!”

“That’s because there weren’t many poisons in your world.”

Despite the old man’s words, I continued chewing on poisonous mushrooms. Beside the tree I was leaning on, dozens of types of mushrooms were neatly lined up, gathered by Eldrin. There were still plenty of poisons to consume. And with Eldrin’s abilities, the supply of poisons was endless.

“Oh, don’t tell me.” I laughed. “You can’t possibly be jealous of your disciple finding such a treasure trove of poisons!”

“You little brat!”

[Bonus for poison.]

[‘White Spiked Toadstool’ is classified as a Grade 1 poison.]

[You have gained an additional 100 trial points.]

Tsk. Only Grade 3 this time.

At this point, Grade 3 poison barely registered. It wasn’t painful; it felt more like a refreshing massage.

“Yeah, I’m jealous. Damn, how does everything go your way wherever you go? If I were you, I might have reached the pinnacle of the All Techniques already, maybe even beyond that.”

“…Wait, there’s a level beyond yourself?”

“Heh,” the Elder chuckled. “Don’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“That the end of something is always a beginning.”

“Huh.”

I recalled my first meeting with the old man—he toyed with Gi Soyul, a ranker, as if she were a plaything. And now he was implying there was a level beyond that?

“As a frog who hasn’t even left the well, I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

“Tsk, tsk. Kid, you’re not entirely in the well anymore. At your level, I’d say you’ve at least poked your head out of the well.”

“Wow, that’s comforting.”

—Ptooey.

I spat out another mushroom I was chewing. The white spiked toadstool was bitter. It made my stomach churn slightly—probably a gastrointestinal poison.

Still.

It felt good being alone again. Was it because I was a necromancer to my core? Being alone felt much more comfortable. Since parting ways with my companions, I could eat as much poison as I wanted. I could also talk to myself freely.

“…Maybe I’m not the type of talent Delilah is looking for after all,” I muttered while stuffing another poison into my mouth.

“Hm? What makes you think that?”

“Delilah seems to value teamwork, but honestly, I’m more comfortable being on my own. Even now, I feel incredibly at ease.”

“Hmm…”

There was no need to deceive anyone and no need to watch my back. I could focus entirely on growing stronger, just for myself.

“You are the one and only disciple of All Techniques.”

“…”

“The Art of All Techniques is vast and ever-flowing, yet lofty and solitary. Even if you should be thankful to Delilah, there’s no need to fit her ideal image.”

“That’s true.”

“No matter what the next trial is or what obstacles block your path, just keep doing what you’re doing. With that, you’re already halfway to succeeding.”

“Keep doing what I’m doing?”

“That’s right. Keep blindly charging forward. Your fortune has already surpassed heavenly levels so you alone can solve everything. Tsk, lucky brat.”

“…”

This old man… Why does everything he says end up like that?

As I continued consuming poisons, bantering with the elder, Sunny approached.

“My lord.”

While Eldrin supplied poison, Sunny’s role was reconnaissance. About three days ago, I had instructed Sunny to investigate the remaining hunters near the central area. It took him exactly three days to return.

“As instructed, I’ve identified all the hunters near the central area.”

“Oh, really?”

Sunny was truly capable. He had managed to scout hunters of my rank or higher undetected, including A-ranks and S-ranks. Only a ranker could achieve such a feat.

Of course…

Sunny was a special case. His proficiency in darkness let him thrive at night.

“There are 24 individuals in the central area besides you.”

“24 people?”

“Yes. One team of ten, one team of five, one team of four, one team of three, and two individuals moving alone.”

“…”

Not as many as I had expected. With 50 participants initially, this meant 25 others had either moved far from the center or… died.

“Hm, there’s a team of ten already?”

Ten people. Conveniently, that was the exact number needed for a team in Theme 2. Did they also obtain an information ticket like I did?

“Yes, they were all busy gathering food.”

“That makes sense. By now, no idiot would still be clueless about earning trial points.”

“And there’s one more thing to report.” Sunny’s eyes turned cold.

“Hmm?”

“For the past three days, a team has been circling near your vicinity.”

“Oh, them.” I nodded.

With the Elder who could detect even a high-ranker sitting next to me, how could I not know?

“You’re talking about the team of four, right?”

“…As expected, you knew?” Sunny nodded as if expecting that.

“Lad,” the Elder interjected from behind. “They’re closing in on you right now.”

“…Yes, I can sense them. Speak of the devil.”

“Hehe. So what will you do? You’ve been singing praises about how much you enjoy being alone.”

“Well, first I should figure out their intentions, right?” I replied, glancing at the amused Elder.

But such a shame.

The Elder’s summoning time was nearly up.

“…”

Perhaps because he felt my gaze, the old man’s expression grew grim.

“Haah,” he let out a deep sigh. “Such a misfortune that I must leave right when it’s about to get more exciting… You can’t let this happen, lad.”

“Pardon?”

“Could you, by any chance, run away for now and run into them again tomorrow? That won’t be a difficult task at all for you, right?”

“…Wow, you’re that desperate?”

Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand his feelings. It must have been terrible to be under a curse that only allowed you to be alive for one hour per day.

However…

It was too late to accept his request.

—Rustle!

With the sound of footsteps coming from the bushes, four figures emerged from all directions—north, south, east, and west.

“Hey.” One of them, the man in front, spoke to me. With a hulking body and rough, textured skin, he looked incredibly intimidating. His nationality was obviously Chinese. “Just one question.”

“…”

I didn’t move away from the tree I was leaning against. I simply stood and stared at the middle-aged man.

[The duration of the skill ‘Teachings of All Techniques’ (S-rank) has ended.]

[‘Master of All Techniques’ has been unsummoned.]

[The skill can be reused in 24 hours.]

The Elder disappeared, muttering “Damn it” repeatedly.

Silence fell for a moment.

“…Hey, you deaf? Cat got your tongue? Why aren’t you answering when someone asks you a question, huh?” The man’s gravelly voice echoed through the clearing.

“I hear you just fine,” I smirked in response.

These people… I wasn’t sure why they’d come to find me, but they were quite impolite. If they wanted to ask something, they should have done so politely. Instead, they acted as if not answering would lead to murder.

“…”

There was no need to show respect to someone who didn’t offer it first.

“Well, look at this guy’s attitude,” the rough-looking man sneered, tilting his head. “Eating poisonous mushrooms alone for weeks must’ve made him lose it, huh? Right, brother?”

“Still wandering around alone without a team… Where does he get the nerve to act so cocky?”

The other three approached with equally bad attitudes.

Haha, I laughed inwardly. Get a load of these guys.