Demonic Skeleton God-Chapter 74: Evolution to Stage 3

[Please choose one of 3 undeath evolutions:

1. [Bone Reaver]

2. [Spine Stalker]

3. [Cranial Sentinel]

When Flain saw this, an even greater excitement surged through his mind. He had last seen this system window back in dungeon 31. Flain clicked on the first option.

[Bone Reaver]

In this form, the spikes along the body extend from the shoulders into dual sickle-like blades made of hardened bone. His forearms rotate at the wrists, allowing wide sweeping arc strikes capable of piercing light armor. The ribs spread into a partial shield over his torso, providing defense against frontal attacks. Agility remains high, but each swing now carries slight recoil, forcing the Reaver to pause briefly before the next attack. Movement sounds like stone scraping against stone, announcing his approach.

[Do you want to select this evolution?]

[Yes | No]

Even the first option seemed pretty good to Flain, although definitely not ideal for him. The spikes across his body would extend, but Flain could retract them into his body, so that wasn’t an issue. He had only minor concerns about whether they might obstruct his vision during combat.

His noise while moving would also apparently be significantly reduced, as the scraping of stone against stone sounded much quieter than a blacksmith hammering iron. However, this wouldn’t bring any real benefit to Flain, since he would still have to use the Necklace of Deception.

The biggest problem with this variant was the recoil that forced him to pause briefly before the next strike. This would completely ruin Flain’s aggressive fighting style, so he immediately ruled this option out.

Flain clicked No and moved on to option number 2.

[Spine Stalker]

The vertebrae along his back extend and merge into a flexible, whip-like tail ending in a sharp bony spike. However, this causes him to lose the spikes across his body. The shoulder bones expand outward, improving balance for quick turns and acrobatics. The new whip-tail mechanism allows him to harass enemies from a distance, though every tail movement triggers a sound similar to cracking bones. He is much faster and slightly stronger than his previous form but has slightly more fragile bones, reducing his vitality. The loud noise during movement disappears.

[Do you want to select this evolution?]

[Yes | No]

This variant was amazing—much better than the first option. Flain would lose the spikes across his body, which would likely also remove the technique Tornado of Spines, since it relied on those very spikes that would vanish after this evolution.

But they would be replaced by a long tail, which sounded much more attractive to Flain—he would essentially have three active weapons during combat, which would dramatically enhance his fighting style. The cracking bone sound when moving wasn’t an issue, as cracking bones weren’t particularly loud. The tail could be easily hidden like the spikes he currently had on his body, so there was no problem with subtlety either.

Another great thing was that the loud noise he currently made while walking—which he was masking using the Necklace of Deception—would now be gone, so he could use that item for something else.

It improved his strength and agility, which was very good. But the biggest problem with this option was the more fragile bones—fortunately, the description stated it was only slightly, so in the end, it wasn’t such a major disadvantage.

Flain felt tempted to choose it right away, but that would’ve been foolish, since he hadn’t yet looked at the last third option. Flain closed the second option and moved on to the third.

[Cranial Sentinel]

This evolution focuses on the head and neck: the cranial plates merge into a horned helmet that can ram or pierce, and the jaw expands into a bony "maw" for brutal biting. The cervical vertebrae grow larger, providing a firmer posture and slightly enhancing bite strength. His strength and agility increase drastically at the cost of intelligence. He loses a large portion of his intelligence and will act partly on instinct, but he retains consciousness. His footsteps become much louder than those of the Bone Hunter, and the spikes across his body remain the same.

This option was the worst of the three for Flain. His movement noise would increase, which wasn’t a problem thanks to the Necklace of Deception.

Another advantage would be that his jaw would become much sturdier, and his bite would be brutal. Though that didn’t fit Flain’s fighting style at all, his style could be adjusted slightly.

The greatest advantage would be that his strength and speed would increase drastically. Flain didn’t know exactly by how much, but since it was described as drastic, it had to be a lot.

The greatest disadvantage, however, was that Flain would lose a large portion of his intelligence, which automatically ruled out this option. Flain would rather choose Bone Reaver and give up his aggressive fighting style than lose his intelligence.

When Flain was still a skeleton, he had the same intelligence he has now—he had both a mind and a will. Which a skeleton shouldn’t have, since skeletons are mindless and driven only by instinct. So theoretically, he might be able to preserve his intelligence, but Flain wasn’t willing to take the risk.

Flain therefore decided on option 2. He returned to it and clicked Yes.

[Evolution will begin in 10 minutes. During evolution, you will be defenseless, so it is recommended to find a safe place where you can remain for an extended period.]

Flain didn’t need to search for a safe area—he was already in one. So after 10 minutes, a black cocoon began to rise from the ground around him, covered in bone.

-----

Itai and Zheren were currently leaving the Adventurers’ Guild, having already visited every dungeon. They had arranged a meeting with Flor.

Itai had a total of 11,500 gold, which was already enough for one mana crystal. But it was still very little compared to the Night Communicator, which cost 70 Mana Crystals.

Distorted sounds came from Itai’s Night Communicator—Flor was calling him.

"Hey, I’m already at the statue of the Emperor of Light," Flor’s voice came from the Night Communicator. They had arranged to meet at the statue of the Emperor of Light.

"I’ll be there in a moment too," said Itai, picking up his pace...

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