Eric's eyes blazed with an intelligent flame as he scanned the skeletal figures in the deep valley. The skeletons, however, were completely oblivious to his gaze. After all, without intelligence, they could only wander aimlessly until they received orders from Pound.

  Eric didn't have many requirements for his targets. Low level, good skills, and alone. But in this dragon lair, finding skeletons of a similar level was truly difficult. After all, level 1 skeletons were, to some extent, rare. Most skeletons were above level 5, with very few below level 5, and so far, Eric hadn't encountered any level 1 skeletons other than himself.

  But with effort, nothing is impossible. During his patrol, Eric was fortunate enough to find a skeleton that met his criteria. A level 3 skeleton with the skill [Agility]. He was particularly drawn to the skeleton's pure white, slender legs, as beautiful and smooth as jade.

  He followed the skeleton with a foolish infatuation, his eyes burning with a bright blue flame, fixated on the bare, white legs. The skeleton, however, remained clueless, simply walking ahead foolishly. Eric bided his time, waiting for the perfect moment when the skeleton would be alone.

  Skeletons wandered without any pattern, and with patience, this adorable skeleton would eventually be isolated. That would be Eric's chance to strike. Moreover, skeletons needed to rest. Once the skeleton was alone and asleep, that would be his perfect opportunity!

  As a skeleton, Eric had become more patient, like a hunter who had locked onto his prey. As time passed, Eric seized his chance. The skeleton in front of him had lain down, its bare legs sprawled on the ground, those [Agility LV1] legs exuding an irresistible allure.

  Eric didn't rush in. He continued to wait patiently until the skeleton's status bar displayed [Sleeping]. Only then did he pick up a large rock and approach with practiced ease.

  The bright blue flame flickered slightly in the dark eye sockets. He struck down forcefully.

  Clang!

  The skeleton's tempting legs twitched, its skull shattered and caved in, and the bright blue flame slowly extinguished.

  [Ding! Killed a low-level skeleton. Experience +30]

  Suppressing his slightly excited emotions, Eric reached out and touched the skeleton's smooth legs. He tore off the better-looking right leg, removed his own right leg, and connected it at the joint, activating [Bone Mutation]. The legs connected perfectly.

  A familiar warm sensation flowed from the connected right leg into his body. The cracks on his body healed a bit more, the dark hue completely disappeared, leaving only a sallow color. The pockmarked surface of the bones also recovered slightly.

  [Ding! Acquired skill: Agility LV1]

  He adjusted the size of the leg bone, stood up from the ground, and tested it out. As he moved his legs, the surroundings flew backward rapidly, and his speed had clearly increased significantly.

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  The strength of the bones, well... it seemed to have improved a bit.

  Eric cracked his ribs and pondered.

  Then, he stopped his rapidly moving legs.

  His current race was the lowest of the low among skeleton monsters, with a level cap of only LV10. If he wanted to escape Pound's clutches, evolution was essential.

  But the requirement for evolution was to have all three attributes reach 10 points.

  “Can replacing higher-grade bones increase my attributes...?”

  After smashing two low-level skeletons in a row, Eric felt it was about time to take a break. After all, haste makes waste.

  He took a nap in the hidden cave he had discovered earlier, replenishing his spirit and stamina.

  Since he had no flesh, just a skeleton, it was only natural that he didn't feel hunger. But also because he had no flesh to nourish his bones, which were exposed to the elements, his skeletal lifespan was only a year.

  Hmmm...

  Eric carefully examined his status panel and noticed that the time for his skeletal deterioration had slowed down. The panel originally projected that his bones would only last a year, but now it was a year and a month.

  Was it because of the increased constitution points?

  Eric's sense of urgency eased a bit.

  It seemed he had to be more diligent about "borrowing" bones from his adorable colleagues.

  After waking up, Eric ran his fingers along his spine, easing the tension in his lower back, and then approached the other skeletons again, looking for desirable skills.

  Eventually, he locked onto a level 4 skeleton with [Brute Force LV1].

  Its thick arm bones gleamed with an alluring pure white in the dim valley.

  After all, Eric now had [Tough Bone] to increase defense and [Agility] to boost speed, but he was indeed lacking in strength.

  Stalking, lying in wait, and waiting, all routine actions.

  The heavy rock came crashing down.

  Although this skeleton didn't have a bone-hardening skill, it was level 4, and Eric had to strike it twice with all his might to shatter its skull.

  [Ding! Killed a low-level skeleton. Experience +40]

  [Experience bar is full, level up to LV2]

  [Free attribute points +1]

  The bright blue flame in Eric's chest cavity and eye sockets suddenly surged and then slowly returned to normal.

  The sunken areas of the missing bones began to grow and fill in bit by bit.

  Does leveling up grant free attribute points?

  He finally discovered a stable way to increase his attributes.

  At the same time, the maximum experience bar on his panel increased from 100 to 200.

  Eric allocated the free attribute point to strength.

  A tingling sensation spread through his body, and it seemed like the density of his bones increased a bit.

  Then, he tore off the skeleton's left arm bone, removed his own left arm bone, aligned the joints, and activated [Bone Mutation].

  The familiar feeling returned, but the improvement in the bones was no longer as noticeable. A pop-up box appeared on the panel.

  [Ding! Acquired skill: Brute Force LV1]

  Eric thought for a moment and tried to tear off the other arm bone. But as soon as he removed it, the panel changed.

  The [Tough Bone LV1] skill disappeared from the panel, and all his bones felt like something had been sucked out of them, becoming a bit more fragile.

  Eric quickly reattached the arm bone, and the skill returned.

  “Just as I thought...”

  Eric glanced at his skill panel, not too surprised.

  If he could keep acquiring new skills just by replacing his limbs, that would be too overpowered.

  The skill limit for the limbs he replaced was only four, with each limb representing one skill.

  Now it was more like borrowing skills from the replaced limbs rather than truly acquiring them.

  To fully integrate these skills from the limbs into his own, he might need to evolve once with these limbs equipped.

  Eric dealt with the remaining skeleton and began to look for the last skill.

  Smashing two skeletons a day, it was important to develop such a good habit.

  With persistence day after day, he believed he would eventually escape the clutches of the evil bone dragon, Pound.