Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

There was a reason no one ever looked down on those who died in the tutorial or in the towers.

Neither the tutorial nor the towers were fair. They never were.

While some people barely encountered monsters, doing the bare minimum to pass, some experienced what some players had come to call Hell-level difficulty.

Situations that made no sense, battles that were so unfair that they were unreasonable.

[Threat detected! Goblins, Level 5 x 50!]

Bang!

The goblin drove its hammer into Ark’s skull, causing him to stagger as his head rang lile a bell. Being a skeleton did not mean he did not feel pain, it was definitely different from how a human felt pain, but it was definitely there.

His vision doubled, and his legs shook as another goblin slammed into him, tacking him to the floor and forcing them into a roll.

Three goblins were on him, racing him like piranhas as his body rolled across the floor. Ark tasted dirt, and his bones groaned as he bounced on a rock before slamming into a tree.

Thankfully, the impact had created some separation.

Ark’s vision blurred as he raised his head, red dust flowing out of the cracks on his body.

He had never been more grateful to have no flesh. If he had been anything else, by now he would be a bleeding pile of flesh—

”Olivia!” His eyes suddenly brightened as he rushed up to his feet. If he was in this state, then...

He tried to locate her, but he had been pained far away from the camp. Did she manage to escape? She was a harpy so she could always fly—

[Olivia is bleeding. Her health will continually be depleted over time]

Ark felt a cold pit settle at the bottom of his stomach. No... not like this.

Although she had ridiculed him countless times, Ark did not think it was something deserving of such a horrid death.

And knowing how goblins were, they would not kill her immediately, they would take their time, enjoy her first...

Around him, the goblins stood up and shook off the dust from their bodies, their red eyes gleaming with malicious intent.

One of them brought its crude dagger to its lips and licked it as it stared at Ark’s tattered body.

It was likely imagining how Ark would taste in a pot of bone soup.

Ark staggered to his feet.

He had to get to his party, he had to break through the ten goblins in front of him no matter what.

He took in a breath.

His mana was low, his body had weakened from the Life essence that was leaking, but there was one trump card he had not explored.

[Exp: 60/100]

He may be weak now, but four more goblins... that was all he needed to pull off an upset.

Ark raised his magic staff and slammed it into the floor, snapping it. Now the end of the staff was now sharp, the best sort of spear he could make on such short notice.

The goblins would have ravaged him in the ten seconds it would take to cast, and thankfully...

Ark summoned his weapon from his inventory, the rusty crowbar appearing in his hands. With the grace and fluidity of a circus his performer, or seasoned warrior... he twirled the crowbar and staff, alternating them between both hands and sending a wave of wings rushing past him. Then he took his stance.

... he had aced combat class.

”Come. I’ll make you my bitch.”

The goblins were far too happy to oblige.

”OZOGUAH!”

The first goblin screamed as it charged forward, its dagger tightly gripped in its hand. The moment it got to Ark, it leaped into the air, bringing the dagger down.

It knew that when it came to physical strength, Ark was far weaker than it. Goblins had a base strength stat of four, while he was at one.

But...

Ark smiled. Seasoned fighters knew how to turn a bad situation into their favor.

He dashed to the side, his tattered garment billowing in the air as he evaded the attack. At the same time, he swung the crowbar, catching the goblin in the hand and knocking the dagger away with ease.

Then just as the goblin’s feet touched the floor, Ark drove his spear right into its gut—

Skhhhh!

But the goblin caught it. Ark tried to wrestle the staff free, but it felt like trying to fight an iron vice. The other goblins didn’t even bother to join in. They chuckled by the sidelines, clearly enjoying themselves.

”Ubujakaa buvata!” the goblin jeered in its language while motioning at its nether regions, earning a laugh from its friend when suddenly—

Crackle—!

Ark summoned a spark of fire and the goblin panicked. Its grip on the staff loosened and it staggered back, shielding its face. But it had all been a facade. Ark could not cast that fast.

But the goblin didn’t know that. And that little moment of distraction... it was all the time Ark needed to turn the tide of battle...

He flung his crowbar at the goblin. The iron tool bounced on its face and flew back into Ark’s hands, then he drove the staff into its stomach, causing blood to spew out of its lips.

It was not enough.

The goblin grabbed the weapon, its grip weak on the wood.

Ark smirked. ”That won’t work again.”

Using all the strength he could muster, he drove his foot into the but of the staff, pushing it deeper and deeper....

The staff plunged through flesh and bone, then cracked open its spine as it burst out of its back. The goblin let out a low whine, just before its arms fell limp.

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

The goblins stared at their companion, their mouths wide open. How had a skeleton managed to kill one of their kind?

It was so illogical that it made no sense, which only intensified their rage. They charged with boiling anger, swinging their weapons.

Ark stepped back as a hammer rushed and paused his face, barely missing his eye sockets.

He was not faster than the goblins, neither was he stronger. But he knew how to fight, and to him, the goblins were no better than stumbling fools.

The crowbar flashed in the blue light of the moon, just before it crashed into the skull of a goblin, blood gusting out of the wood.

His friend tried to intervene, but Ark blocked with his staff, his eyes locked on the bleeding goblin.

Squelsh!

He drove the curved end of the crowbar into the goblin’s neck, hooking it around its blood vessels, then he smiled internally.

There was a reason when he saw an old crook offering this for sale he had immediately bought it...

Crowbars were the perfect murder tool.

He pulled, and the goblin screeched as it blood vessels tore open, putrid blood spewing into the air like a fountain, carotid artery reduced to shreds.

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

A goblin launched itself at him from behind, thinking Ark had not seen it, but he had seen its shadow...

He immediately, turned around as quickly as he could, slammed his crowbar into the teeth of the goblin next to him, bent down and held his staff firm, allowing the goblin to fall right into it, splitting its own belly open.

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

’Just one more...’

There were seven goblins left, but all he needed was one more to level up.

The goblins were now stalking him, looking for an opportunity to attack, but there was one that was disoriented...

The goblin who he had attacked was bleeding profusely from its broken mouth, screaming bloody murder as it staggered back.

It was easy prey. But as Ark tried to pull out his staff, dread settled into him when he realized— it was stuck.

”Ahh, fuck!”

Bang!

Three goblins slammed into him. Two held his foot, while the other held his neck, pushing him to the ground.

The goblin raised its hammer, ready to crack open Ark’s skull when Ark smirked.

Crackle!

Fire sparked in his hands, but the goblin did not flinch. They may bw stupid, but they were not that stupid... they had seen that trick before.

With an unimpressed look on its face, it drove the hammer down—

Bang!

Ark twisted his head to the side, the hammer missing by a hair’s breath. Any closer and his head would have been cracked open like a Mellon.

The goblin grunted with rage and raised its hammer once more...

”Wait!” Ark raised his hands to shield his face.

”Kakijah?” The goblin laughed as it watched Ark. If there was anything they loved, it was seeing their prey grovel and beg.

Ark pointed at its clothes. ”Maybe you should check that?”

The goblin sniffed the air, then its eyes went wide when it realized... its clothes were on fire, all their clothes were!

They screamed and jumped to the dirt, rolling left and right, trying to quench the fire.

Once the goblins finally managed to put it off, they let out a sigh of relief. But when they opened their eyes, Ark was standing right above them, a sadistic look on his face as he brought down its crowbar repeatedly.

”Bang—Bang—Bang!”

Blood and gore poured out of their fractured skulls, staining the grass red.

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

[You have slain a level 5 goblin! +10 exp]

[Ding! You have leveled up!]

[Level 1 >> Level 2!]

[+ 7 stat points!]

[Player, you have unused stat points, would you like to invest them?]

The four goblins left stared at him in horror as blood drifted down white bone, dripping out of his eye sockets like he was weeping for their future.

He rested his crowbar on his shoulder as he fixed his gaze on them, the crimson light in his eyes glowing like a pit of fire.

[Yes]