BXBX NOVEL Chapter 218 - 218: Mutated Skeleton
The perimeter wall of the theater had completely fallen, and most of the doors and windows were blocked by heavy stones, making it resemble a colossal tomb.
Unlike other buildings, where monsters sheltering from the sunlight would occasionally emit roars, the theater was utterly silent, not a hint of sound escaping.
“There better be some monsters inside. Without monsters, a place like this is worthless. No one would even bother to explore,” Song Jian secretly hoped.
He stepped on the broken bricks and used the gaps in the wall to climb upward, trying to see if he could make his way into the theater from above. After all, removing the collapsed bricks in front of the theater would require a significant amount of time and energy.
The theater was over a dozen meters high, but the collapsed wall in front represented a slope that he could climb to reach the top. This wasn’t particularly challenging for Song Jian, who possessed superhuman physical capabilities compared to an average person.
Grabbing the eave, Song Jian flipped himself onto the roof.
Thump-
His feet landing shattered a few tiles, and one of his feet sunk deep.
Having been left unmaintained for years, this building was on the brink of collapse. The roof appeared intact, but it was brittle and decayed, unable to withstand any pressure.
Song Jian looked up to find a sealed skylight in the roof, used for lighting in the theater. He walked cautiously along the roof ridge towards it, the creaking sounds from beneath his feet making him nervous, afraid of making a misstep and falling in.
The closed skylight was embedded on a sloping surface of the roof. Some of the glass pieces were broken, and the others were covered in a thick layer of debris and dirt.
Song Jian carefully climbed onto the skylight and knocked on it lightly.
Crash-
The frame of the skylight shattered, pieces of glass flying apart. He tapped a few more times until there was enough space for him to fit through. Only then did Song Jian leap into the skylight.
Beneath the skylight was a small loft with some basic furniture. Straight ahead from the skylight, a white, fleshless skeletal figure leaned on a table, a decayed quill in its hand, and scattered papers on the floor. The writing on them was blurred, but they seemed to be some play scripts.
“This is indeed rare, a fleshless skeleton!” Song Jian couldn’t help but take a second look at the skull on the table.
Though the city was filled with all sorts of monsters, most were zombies, still maintaining rotten flesh and skin.
Upon seeing the skeleton, Song Jian was reminded of the gigantic skeletal giant he once saw walking through the city center, akin to a skyscraper.
Crack-
An odd sound echoed in the quiet loft. Song Jian’s gaze sharpened as he turned towards the skull. The skull, which was initially face-down, had twisted to one side. Just as Song Jian looked over, its right index finger trembled slightly.
“Is it coming back to life?” Song Jian drew the Guardian’s Sword and lunged forward, slashing the sword towards the skull’s neck.
Click-
The skull’s left hand strangely flipped up and grabbed the blade, blocking the attack, but its body remained still on the table.
At this point, a blood gauge and its attributes slowly appeared above the skull.
“LV10 Mutated Skeleton (Normal), Vitality Points: 4.00/800, Traits: Super Resilient, Dark Energy”
“Just a level 10 normal monster. It scared me for a moment!”
Song Jian was always cautious around unusually looking monsters, fearing he might encounter a boss with special abilities.
“Broken Wing Dance!”
Song Jian abruptly withdrew his longsword, his figure darting forward as if teleporting. The blade violently cleaved down on the mutated skeleton’s spine. This time, its claw reached out for nothing, its backbone taking a harsh strike.
Clang-
The collision sounded dull, almost as if he had struck gold or jade.
As he unleashed this skill, Song Jian suddenly seemed to feel a powerful surge of energy within him, propelling his own body. He swiftly twisted and almost as if teleporting, rushed to the mutated skeleton’s left side, his sword sweeping horizontally towards its skull.
Clang-
Another resounding thud was heard. On the milky-white surface of the skull, a white mark remained.
At this moment, the mutated skeleton seemed to have just awakened, attempting to rise to its feet. It was dazzled by the two blows, a harsh strike to the head causing it to lose its balance and stagger to the right.
It extended its right hand and grabbed hold of the backrest of a chair to steady itself. But the chair, long decayed, crumbled into a pile of wood dust with a creak, and the mutated skeleton tumbled to the ground.
Thud-
Two eerie green flames were burning in the skeleton’s eye sockets.
“The scent of fresh flesh…” The mutated skeleton was suddenly engulfed by a green flame, preparing to rise, Song Jian’s “Broken Wing Dance” third stage had already been triggered.
He leapt high into the air, his hands gripping the sword, and slashed down with all his might;
Boom!
The whole tower swayed slightly as the sword dispersed the green flame on the mutated skeleton’s surface and plunged into its shoulder, the blade lodged in its bones.
Bang!
The mutated skeleton suddenly extended its right hand and forcefully pushed Song Jian’s chest, flinging him three to four meters away.
Song Jian rolled a couple times on the ground before standing up. On his zombie leader armor, there was a palm print half an inch deep. This blow had directly drained Song Jian of over sixty Vitality Points.
“Is this the defense and attack power of a standard-level 10 creature? System, is there some misunderstanding with the ‘standard creature’ term?” Song Jian couldn’t help but spit out blood.
After coughing up the coagulated blood, his chest felt a little relieved. While losing over sixty Vitality Points would seem a lot to other players, to Song Jian, it was only a tenth of his Vitality Points. Moreover, his Vitality Points recovery rate had increased by 300% — recovering twenty-three Vitality Points per second. He would be at full health soon.
“Click click click-”
Slowly getting up, the mutated skeleton charged at Song Jian, the spine-chilling sound of its bones grinding against each other echoed in the air. “Eye of Death!”
A silvery vertical pupil slowly opened in the center of his forehead, and a silver light column instantly targeted the skeleton’s head. Consecutive damage scrolled above the skeleton’s skull.
For a moment, the mutated skeleton was restrained, its Vitality Points visibly diminishing rapidly;
Seconds later, the mutated skeleton emitted a harsh shriek, bursting into flames, and turned into a pile of black ash.
“No matter how high the defense, or the attack, the Vitality Points are still that of a standard-level 10 creature!” said Song Jian, as the silvery vertical pupil on his forehead slowly closed, leaving only a faint silver line: “A standard creature simply cannot withstand the ‘Eye of Death’. It will be killed instantly!”
Among the black ashes that the mutated skeleton had turned into, three to four items were scattered around. Song Jian didn’t pick them up, instead, he sat down to recover his Spirit Points.