Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The air crackled as a magnificent air began to overtake Red Rage, his frame growing larger and taller in stark contrast to his previous smaller form.

Now Skullius looked on in anticipation to see just what the Pelvis Boar-Man would look like.

The crude and torn leather armours that Red Rage wore were ripped apart as the newly forming Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man emerged!

Red Rage’s shade of colour turned into a dark grey one that gleamed like a stainless steel, almost reflecting its surroundings like a mirror!

The fur hood that Red Rage had on fell off and its figure became more humanoid, its elongated snout receding quite a bit but ultimately still having its tusks that gained a golden colour.

A thick chin appeared on Red Rage’s face with a deep division, prompting for the growth of a sharp jawline.

Red Rage’s arms and legs got longer, its hands and feet no longer looking like those of a child.

From its sockets that became skewed upwards, the blue glow was replaced by a golden one, Red Rage jutting its chest outwards where a peculiar symbol appeared, traced along the ribs; a ‘U’ like shape with a ‘T’ across it.

This symbol glowed with incessant golden wisps that swayed smoothly, drawing most of Skullius’ attention.

He was dumbfounded when he saw the sheen, the glow and sturdy appearance of Red Rage as he brought his balled, bony hands to his pelvis, which looked strangely cool, and stood in a heroic stance while his chin was lifted high.

“The… the True Boneman of Steel!” Skullius exclaimed almost wishing he could bow and show reverence to those bones.

He quickly caught himself however and pretended to cough awkwardly.

[Congratulations! Apostle ‘Red Rage’ has evolved into Tier 1, becoming an ‘Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man]

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ has gained 1400 Mana]

[… has gained 1000 Health]

[… has gained 300 Strength]

[… has gained 130 Agility]

[… has gained 50 Intelligence]

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ has gained ‘Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man’ exclusive skills]

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ gains the skill ‘Null Extraction’]

[All standard Lifeform skills have levelled up]

“Woow… that’s a lot of stuff for one Bone Boa- I mean Pelvis Boar-Man,” said Skullius with a nod. “You look pretty cool.”

Red Rage looked to Skullius and gave him a heroic thumbs up, a notification that Skullius hadn’t seen in a while appearing in his vision.

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ approves of your compliment and your decision. +50 Favourability]

“… Uhmm… okay, bro. I guess I can’t stay made at you if you start behaving well like this,” Skullius said with a nod of approval before pulling up the Pelvis Boar-Man’s status.

~~~

[ Name : Red Rage ]

[ Tier : 1 ]

[ Apostle Trait : None ]

[ Rank : None ]

[ Class : None ]_.

[ Level : 1 ]

[ Race : Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man ]

[ Inv. Status : Seeks to dish out Justice ]

——-

[ Stats ]

[ Strength : 355 ]

[Agility : 185 ]

[ Intelligence : 96 ]

[ Endurance : Infinite ]

[ Luck : 5 ]

—–

[ Health : 1100/1100 ]

——

[ Mana : 1510/1510 ]

——-

[ Skills ]

[ Null Life Aura | Lv. 2 ]

[ Storming Charge | Lv. 1 ]

[ Dead End | Lv. 1 ]

[ Flash Throw | Lv. 2 ]

[ Swift Stab | Lv. 1 ]

[ Dash in Dust | Lv. 2 ]

[ Climb | Lv. 1 ]

[ Basic Bow Mastery | Lv.3 ]

[ Blessing of Serenity ]

<Racial>

[ Tusks of Justice | Lv.1 ]

[ Brilliant Boar Balance Buckler | Lv.1 ]

[ Pelvis Boar-Man Majestic Attire | Lv.1 ]

[ Hero’s Fist | Lv.1 ]

[ Hero’s Hero | Lv.1 ]

~~~

“Ohhh… You have some new features too? Apostle Trait and Rank? I guess we’re far from discovering everything about our abilities Red bro,” Skullius said with a deep sigh.

The Pelvis Boar-Man that looked up at him seemed proud.

His frame was still taller than Red Rage’s, but at least they looked relative now with the Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man having a height of approximately 1.8 meters.

“You even got [Null Extraction] which is insane. What will use Null Essence for though? Makes me remember that there is a skill I haven’t used on you that I feel I should start paying attention to.”

Skullius was referring to [Apostle Armament].

Another notification appeared in his vision.

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ is now legible to obtain a class. Do you accept?]

“Oh right! I almost forgot! I guess that makes sense. Show us the stuff!”

~~~

[Available classes for ‘Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man’]

–

[Valiant BoneKnight]

The one who walks the path of honour and the sword, mastering its taste, feel and makeup to the point of making it an extension of the self. With Null Life in tow, one who walks this path will not fail to cut everything apart after he gains:

<Stats>

+50 Strength

+100 Mana

+50 Agility

<Skills>

-Brave Bone Sword Art

-Threefold Quick

-BoneKnight Code

-Call to Duty

—

[Temper Skull Hegemon]

True power lies in the bone, not the flesh. Transcend the limits of mortal strength with your body and enter the realms of power where a single fist can demolish mountains. Armies will cower at your individual strength which warps space and severs limits. He who chooses this path will be feared after attaining:

<Stats>

+250 Strength

+70 Mana

+40 Agility

<Skills>

-Tempered Armament of the Hegemon

-Tempered Ascension

-Forged Steel Bones

-Glorious Rebirth of the Berserk Hegemon

—

[Spirit Walker]

To be a Null Lifeform means to be closer to the edge of Non-existence. A fleeting presence that can barely be perceived even by the strongest experts. The greatest enemies are ones that strike without anyone knowing of their presence. He who chooses this path will become a legend that has never been seen after attaining:

<Stats>

+150 Agility

+40 Strength

+80 Mana

<Skills>

-Shadow Assimilation

-Border of Death

-Spirit Touch

-Tranquil Messenger of Death

~~~

“Interesting. These are some interesting choices. I wonder why classes give weaker stats though. Maybe it’s because we’re still too weak? Anyway, the Hegemon has returned again along with the Spirit Walker which are both cool. The first one is new though,” Skullius said.

All three of these matched Red Rage’s style. Strength, finesse and hidden attacks.

Frankly, he was utterly stumped over which one to choose.

Given that Red Rage now had an extremely high defence, it was better to focus more on its offense, thus Skullius leaned more towards getting Red Rage one of the first two.

What was the point of becoming an assassin when you had a powerful defence and high strength but subpar speed?

Shouldn’t that strength be used in frontal assaults?

Then again it was perfectly fine nomatter which class Skullius chose but, it was a hard decision.

Seeing that the choice was too hard for him, Skullius turned to Red Rage and attempted something he hadn’t before.

“Can you see this?” he asked, motioning towards the guidance field status.

Red Rage nodded.

“Oh… can you understand it then?”

Red Rage shook his head.

“Damn it!” Skullius cursed.

He really didn’t want to make this choice right now.

So, he simply didn’t. Why force it?

“I have to see your preferences in this new form of yours before choosing a class for you. You can’t change it, after all.”

Red Rage nodded and gave Skullius a thumbs up.

“Great! Now we have to get out of here,” Skullius said as he took out the Arcane Teleportation Scroll. He was done with the Tremur Forest, at least for now and was eager to follow Serenity’s advice.

~~~

[Arcane Teleportation Scroll: Scorch]

<Rare>

An offensive and supportive item used to cross vast distances through <Stagnant Space> in a matter of seconds while simultaneously dealing fire damage to opponents.

Multiple coordinates are etched into the enchantment, allowing for one to transport themselves to any of the locations or near them depending on the amount of mana used.

Enchantment will become inactive if the user is too far away from the etched locations.

[Eofel – 300 Mana Points]

[Dihjhal – 500 Mana Points]

[Benegogue – 450 Mana Points]

~~~

Another choice awaited Skullius over which place to go to but there was no information on any of the choices thus he had to choose at random.

“Wait… actually, I can’t! I can’t travel in my skeleton form, which means I’m going to have to use [Flesh It Like You Mean It]. Damn it! In that Discount Human form I don’t have much mana for all this,” Skullius thought.

He had to go into that ridiculous form again to swiftly merge into the human society. Now that his enthusiasm over Red Rage’s revival was over, he could think clearer about this.

In the Discount Human form, given the boosts he had gotten after getting Fulgardt’s legacy, Skullius had roughly 400 Mana Points which was only enough to travel to Eofel.

“I guess I have no other choice. It’s better to be safe. While my luck has been good so far, I don’t know when it will choose to be atrocious again,” Skullius said trying to bolster his desire to even go through with this.

‘What’s the worst that could happen?’

“Don’t get freaked out okay, Red bro?”

The Abominable Pelvis Boar-Man at Skullius’ side tilted its head as it looked at Skullius who removed the Null Devil’s Aegis of Damnation.

He took out Denille’s spatial storage ring and stored the armour within it.

“It should be safe in there.”

He had noticed the robes he had worn before he had met Eobald, still where he had left them after he changed into the Green Neolist Regalia back then.

He grabbed the dirty robes as they were the one piece of clothing he had if he were to change into the Discount Human again.

“Uhm… what about Red bro? He won’t be put to slumber again, will he?” Skullius asked himself.

Unexpectedly, he received a direct answer from the guidance field in the form of a notification.

[Apostle ‘Red Rage’ can now sustain himself even when the Nullmancer is in slumber]

“Oh…that’s good,” Skullius was relieved. “I wish you’d answer more of my questions just like you did just now though.”

No other notification popped up.

“<Sigh>. Here goes then,” Skullius said before he activated [Flesh It Like You Mean It] which had come off its 3 hour cooldown a few hours before.

[‘Flesh It Like You Mean It’ has been activated]

Bubbles of flesh appeared on Skullius’ dark blue skeletal frame and covered him in an instant, being a bit faster than when he had used the skill for the first time.

Skullius realised something as this process went on, his body becoming bathed in an invigorating energy while he received his flesh.

Soon, a generic face devoid of any detail other than a pair of grey eyes, a noise and a mouth appeared.

Short auburn hair appeared from the cosmetic flesh and sprang over his head, a standard yet weak looking naked body which was shorter than Red Rage also replacing the Penetrator.

“Urgh… this again,” Skullius said with a frown but as he Red Rage’s figure which was still active, he was pretty much able to stomach the rest. Mid cast he had remembered that his Discont Human body had been in a terrible state and had thus used [Luminous Healing].

He had gotten to know that using [Flesh It Like You Mean It] wouldn’t heal either of his bodies when his Boneman body returned with an missing still. However, it wasn’t a problem now as he focused on what was ahead.

He wouldn’t be alone now.

Red Rage was confused.

He walked around Skullius a few times taking in the view with his golden sockets before giving his master… a thumbs down.

“I know bro. Flesh is the worst. That much we can both agree on, but I have no choice,” Skullius said as he wore the dark crude robes.

He then gazed at Red Rage and wore a devilish grin.

“You know… I can’t walk around with a buff skeleton like you Red bro… not until we can find some armour for you at least. I wonder if you can fit in here,” Skullius wiggled the spatial storage ring.

He didn’t know if it would work but it was his only choice as it would be very hard to conceal Red Rage especially when there was no armour to use [Unbound] on.

Red Rage didn’t understand and Skullius didn’t want him to.

The Discount Human actually found pleasure in Red Rage’s confused face as he did what he had to do.

He injected his mana into the ring which registered as the same he exuded in his Penetrator form, causing the ring to suck in Red Rage.

Skullius didn’t know the intricacies of spatial storage rings, some of which prohibited live things from being stored within.

Lucky for him, Red Rage was neither living or dead.

The unfortunate Apostle appeared in a cramped space with cores and a few other items, being forced to sit in a terrible position to barely fit in this space.

“I’ll pull you out soon, bro. Don’t worry, hehehe,” Skullius said with a short laugh. “Alright, let’s see where this thing takes us.”

He opened the Arcane Teleportation Scroll and injected mana, focusing on Eofel.

These items were created in such a way that allowed one to construct a connection with them through the mind.

Skullius’ thoughts were guided to where he desired by the intricate item which was the scroll as the words Eofel lit up with a brilliant stream of energy.

Soon, the entire scroll ignited and so did the entire area as a tremendous amount of fire roared outwards from Skullius’ position, while the Discount Human disappeared.

A new adventure was about to begin, away from the Tremur Forest and into the hearts of human civilization.

—–

End of Volume 1.

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