So far, over twenty skeletons have been torched, and only three of them made it through the fire slurry. But then, in the second round, Lucia stuffed some weird crystal into their chests.

  The dark blue flames in their chests and eye sockets instantly turned orange-red, and they were burned into black chunks by the flames in their chests and eyes.

  Now, all the skeletons around Eric are gone, leaving him as the only skeleton standing. Damn, this is way too conspicuous.

  Eric had been so focused on the skeleton barbecue that he didn't notice all the other skeletons being taken away. He quietly turned his head and started wandering towards where there were more skeletons, pretending it was unintentional.

  The longer he stayed, the more he could observe how the other skeletons reacted to the barbecue. Maybe that would help him survive longer.

  But as soon as he started moving, two succubi grabbed him by the shoulder blades, one on each side. Damn it, he's stuck.

  Eric suppressed the urge to struggle and played the part of a mindless skeleton as he was escorted towards Lucia. He absolutely couldn't reveal that he was intelligent; otherwise, he'd be dead for sure.

  Eric was brought right in front of Lucia. Up close, she was undeniably stunning, with an extremely fiery figure. Her horns, tail, and bat wings just added to her allure. But Eric couldn't care less about how beautiful this demon was at the moment.

  He suppressed his trembling spirit and braced himself for the flames. Lucia glanced at Eric, not paying much attention. After all, to her, these skeletons were nothing but instinct-driven creatures, no different from wild beasts or insects.

  She placed her right hand on his smooth skull, and then her voice sounded in his ear.

  "Fire Slurry."

  Magic traced a pattern in her palm, and then more and more magic was poured in. The molten sludge-like flames poured down his skull, flowing over every inch of his skeleton, as if covering his bones with a layer of fire.

  This was the first time Eric had felt pain since becoming a skeleton. The dark blue flames in his chest and eye sockets flickered wildly and trembled. His throat involuntarily made strange noises, like the sound of bones grinding against each other.

  "Crackle... crackle..."

  The bones were constantly being scorched and then healed. His [Fire Resistance] skill significantly weakened the effect of the fire slurry, allowing him to survive until the end of the ordeal. His bones now had a faint reddish hue and were steaming, like a piece of iron that had been heated just right and was about to be forged.

  "Such a weak presence, yet you made it through the fire slurry," Lucia said, looking at Eric with some surprise.

  Then, the two succubi lifted him up again, but this time not with their hands. Instead, they used invisible hands formed by magic. After all, his bones were now extremely hot.

  "I hope you can still surprise me," Lucia said, taking out the crystal.

  For some reason, it seemed bigger than the ones used on the other three skeletons.

  Special treatment?

  A reward for excellence?

  The crystal was precisely inserted into the dark blue flame in his chest.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The flame suddenly burst into intense, orange-red flames that spread to his eye sockets, making his entire body look like a blazing bonfire.

  It was excruciating. Compared to this, the fire slurry felt like a warm bath.

  "Snap... snap... snap!"

  The sound of bones cracking filled the air. His entire skeleton turned bright red, as if it were about to shatter like over-fired pottery from a kiln.

  His [Self-Heal LV1] skill was constantly trying to repair his body, but it was barely keeping up with the rate at which his bones were about to collapse. The fact that he hadn't turned to dust yet was probably thanks to [Toughness], [Tough Bone], and [Fire Resistance].

  "Still not working, huh," Lucia said, looking at the skeleton on the ground, engulfed in flames, with a disappointed expression. She had deliberately increased the dosage of the crystal she inserted into him.

  Based on how the skeletons had reacted in the first round of fire slurry, she had inserted a lethal amount of crystal. She never intended for them to survive; she just wanted to collect data on their deaths for her experiments.

  Eric gritted his teeth and opened his status panel. Even amidst the searing flames, the panel remained crystal clear, unaffected.

  "Free attribute points, add to Constitution!"

  He had saved those attribute points from his last level-up, waiting for just this moment.

  [Ding, Constitution +1]

  When you add points to Constitution, it can heal some of your injuries. It felt like a warm stream was flowing from his marrow, and the cracks in his bones finally stopped spreading.

  Then, [Self-Heal] and the Constitution points worked together. The cracks slowly healed, resisting the searing flames. Break, heal, break, heal. It was like a tug-of-war was happening within his skeleton, and he was in agony, letting out crackling, miserable noises.

  Until the intensity of the flames gradually weakened, Eric felt like he had crawled out of hell.

  [Ding, Constitution +1]

  [Acquired skill: Fire Magic LV1]

  [Unlocked LV10 optional class: Elementalist]

  [Elementalist] A type of mage who wields dangerous elemental magic, a master of destruction and devastation.

  [Unlocked evolution path] Low-Rank Fire Skeleton

  [Low-Rank Fire Skeleton] A special variant of skeleton, a skeleton that has mastered the power of fire, with a level cap of LV20.

  The flames were completely absorbed into his body, and the orange-red flames gradually turned back to dark blue.

  Lucia's expression shifted from surprise to disappointment.

  "Still a failed transformation, huh."

  "But you made it through, you lucky bastard," she said, kicking Eric on the ground and looking at the remaining skeletons.

  "Next one."

  Eric shakily got back on his feet and continued to wander mindlessly. But the dark blue flames in his eyes flickered with a hint of orange-red.

  Fire Magic, acquired.

  Eric resisted the urge to test out the legendary magic and wandered aimlessly.

  Hide, lie low, and wait for an opportunity.

  He had gained a new trump card.

  In the end, out of all the skeletons, only Eric made it through the experiment, although the transformation still failed.

  This didn't surprise Lucia at all; she never expected it to work the first time. She began to look for new experimental skeletons in the valley.

  Soon, the experimental area was filled with skeletons once again.

  After the first round of experiments, Eric was certain that Lucia hadn't been keeping track of the number of skeletons. To her, these mindless, unintelligent experimental skeletons were no different from pigs. She wouldn't remember how many pigs she had caught.

  Among this batch of skeletons, Eric singled out five, four at LV5 and one at LV6. When Lucia left again to collect more materials and only some low-ranking succubi were left to guard, Eric quietly approached the targeted skeletons.

  He slapped his palm right onto the face of one of the skeletons.

  "Fire!"

  The fire magic activated, and the dark blue flames were barely noticeable in the dark night. In an instant, they engulfed the skeleton's head, fiercely scorching the inside of the skull. With his other hand, he brutally plunged into the skeleton's chest, clutching the fire within and burning it out.

  [Ding, Killed a low-level skeleton, Experience +50]

  Eric cautiously looked around and removed the left leg of this skeleton, then took off his own [Fire Resistance]-enhanced left leg. But after removing the [Fire Resistance] leg, he noticed that the [Fire Resistance] skill on his status panel didn't disappear. Maybe it was because he had survived the intense flames earlier, which granted him [Fire Resistance].

  He aligned the new left leg with his hip joint and activated [Bone Mutation].

  [Ding, Acquired skill: Stealth LV1]

  The faint sounds in the air disappeared as well.

  Then, Eric dismantled the remaining skeleton into various-sized bone pieces, carefully wrapped them in fire, and burned them into powder, which he sprinkled on the ground. After he had completely disposed of all the bones, Eric felt a wave of mental exhaustion.

  "Is magic related to spirit points...?"

  Eric was relieved that his spirit points were decent and then drifted off to sleep.