The air in the Hunter's Market still buzzed with the energy of his transaction, but a new, colder current now flowed beneath Fang Yuan's skin. The cursed relic was a silent, seething presence within him, a shackle and a key forged into one. His motel room, once a mere pitstop, now felt like a laboratory for a dangerous new experiment.
He stood in the center of the cramped space, the jagged black rock—or what was left of it—completely absorbed. He focused inward, on the foreign knot of power lodged in his core. It felt like a living thing, a predator sleeping in the depths of his soul. He willed it to manifest.
A shimmering black liquid oozed from the palm of his right hand, coalescing, hardening. In moments, it formed into a pair of sleek, black gloves. They were form-fitting, made of a material that was neither leather nor metal, but something unnervingly organic. They hummed with a low, dual-frequency vibration—the biting chill of the tundra and the crackling potential of a storm.
System Notification:
[Adaptive Arsenal (Level 1) Active. Current Form: Cursed Gauntlets.]
[Inherited Attributes: Ice Wolf // Lightning Wolf.]
[Skills Available: Freezing Aura, Frostbite Strike, Frost Step, Thunderstrike, Storm Fist, Static Charge.]
A grim smile touched his lips. Cursed Gauntlets. A fitting name. He clenched his fists, feeling the incredible density of the material. He punched the concrete wall beside him. There was a sharp crack, and a web of fractures spread from the point of impact. Dust trickled down, but the gloves were unmarred. The relic's base durability was, as promised, formidable.
He couldn't wield swords. The very thought of trying to summon Ice Wolf sent a psychic feedback of rejection through the curse. But this… this was a new language of violence, and he was a quick study. He needed to learn it, to make it his own, and there was only one place to do that.
A few hours of research on a public terminal at the Hunter's Association library pointed him toward his destination: the "Skeleton Graveyard," a D-Rank dungeon known for its relentless, mindless undead. Perfect for target practice.
The entrance to the Skeleton Graveyard was a fissure in the side of a barren hill, guarded by a single, bored-looking C-Rank hunter chewing on a toothpick.
"License," the guard grunted.
Fang Yuan presented his A-Rank Healer card. The guard's eyes widened slightly, his posture straightening.
"A-Rank? In a D-Rank dungeon? You slumming it, sir? Or just here for some easy essence stones?"
"Field research," Fang Yuan replied, his tone neutral. It wasn't entirely a lie.
"Suit yourself. Watch out for the Skeleton Mages. Their bone shards can be nasty. And if you hear a lot of rattling in one place, it's probably a Legion. Don't get surrounded." The guard waved him through. "Happy hunting."
Stepping through the fissure was like passing into another world. The humid, bustling air of Seoul vanished, replaced by a dry, frigid chill. The sky was a perpetual twilight, a sickly purple-grey devoid of a sun or moon. He stood on a desolate plain littered with crumbling tombstones, shattered mausoleums, and the bones of long-dead giants. A thin, spectral mist clung to the ground, and the only sound was the mournful whisper of a wind that carried the scent of dust and decay.
His Six Eyes activated instantly, the world sharpening into a hyper-detailed tapestry of mana flow. He could see the faint, sickly green threads of necromantic energy that animated the dungeon's denizens. Dozens of them, buried just beneath the earth, waiting.
He didn't have to wait long.
A skeletal hand, yellowed and cracked, burst from the dirt ten feet ahead. Then another, and another. Five skeletons clawed their way to the surface, their empty eye sockets fixing on him with a malevolent, unseen gaze. They were basic models—rusted shortswords in hand, pieces of broken shield still strapped to their arms.
Fang Yuan settled into a low stance, the Cursed Gauntlets humming in anticipation. This was it. His new beginning.
The first skeleton lunged, sword raised high in a clumsy overhead chop. It was pathetically slow. Fang Yuan didn't dodge. He met the blow with his left gauntlet. There was a sharp clang as the rusted sword shattered against the relic's impossible density. Before the skeleton could process its loss, Fang Yuan's right fist, wreathed in a faint blue mist, shot forward.
"Frostbite Strike."
His fist didn't just impact the ribcage; it adhered for a split second. A wave of hoarfrost exploded outwards, engulfing the skeleton. It froze solid, a brittle statue of ice and bone, before collapsing into a pile of frostbitten fragments.
[Reactive Copy activated. Analyzing Skeleton Warrior combat patterns...]
The knowledge was minimal—basic sword swings, a crude shield block. But it was data. He was learning the "language" of his enemies.
The other four skeletons closed in. Fang Yuan pivoted, his new Agility stat making him a blur. He weaved between a thrust and a slash, his left gauntlet crackling to life.
"Storm Fist."
He didn't punch the skeleton; he punched the air in front of it. A concussive wave of lightning, shaped like a giant fist, erupted from his knuckles. It struck the two skeletons in front, sending them flying backwards in a shower of charred bones and arcing electricity. They twitched on the ground, stunned.
The System was efficient.
[Ding! Defeated Skeleton Warrior x3. Experience gained.]
The two remaining skeletons hesitated, their primal programming confused by the elemental display. Fang Yuan didn't give them time to recalibrate. He stomped his foot on the ground.
"Frost Step."
A sheet of ice radiated from his boot, flash-freezing the mist and dirt in a ten-foot circle. The skeletons' feet were instantly anchored to the ground. He closed the distance in a single stride, his movements fluid on the ice he created. Two quick, reinforced jabs reduced their skulls to powder.
He stood amidst the scattered bones, his breath misting in the cold air his own gloves had generated. The fight had been trivial, but it was a proof of concept. The gloves were an extension of his will. He could feel the drain on his mana—using the inherited skills through the relic was slightly less efficient than wielding the original swords, but it was a negligible difference thanks to his immense control.
He pressed deeper into the graveyard, a one-man glacier and storm. Small groups of skeletons fell to his relentless, close-quarters assault. He experimented, combining the elements. A Frost Step to immobilize, followed by a sweeping Storm Fist to clear the field. A Thunderstrike to stun a larger, shield-bearing skeleton, allowing him to shatter it with a Frostbite Strike to the head.
[Ding! Level Up! Current Level: 8.]
[Ding! Frost Step has reached Level 2. Cooldown reduced.]
[Ding! Reactive Copy has reached Level 2. Analysis speed and depth increased.]
He was growing, adapting. But the dungeon was about to adapt to him.
He entered a vast courtyard, dominated by a massive, broken obelisk. His Six Eyes flared a warning a second before the attack came. Not from the ground, but from the obelisk itself.
Three figures in tattered robes stood atop the crumbling structure. Skeleton Mages. Their hands glowed with concentrated green mana. They didn't chant; they simply gestured.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Sharpened projectiles of bone, each the size of a dagger, shot towards him with terrifying speed and accuracy. These weren't the clumsy swings of warriors; this was coordinated, ranged magic.
Fang Yuan's body moved on instinct, his 55 Agility making him a phantom. He twisted, sidestepped, and weaved through the first volley. The bone shards embedded themselves in the ground where he had been standing, sizzling with necrotic energy.
"A healer? Here? Your light will be extinguished!" one of the mages rasped, its voice like grinding stones.
Fang Yuan didn't bother with a retort. He charged the obelisk, using Frost Step to create an icy ramp that let him run vertically up its side for a few crucial feet. Another volley of bone shards came. He couldn't dodge them all in mid-air.
"Mana Reinforcement."
A shimmering, invisible barrier of hardened mana coated his torso and arms. Two shards struck him, one deflecting off the reinforced gauntlet with a spark, the other grazing his reinforced side. It felt like a hot knife, but it didn't pierce deep. His Six Eyes had calculated the angle and reinforced the exact points of impact.
He landed on the obelisk, facing the three mages. They began to gesture for a larger spell, a putrid green orb forming between them.
No time for finesse.
"Static Charge."
A surge of lightning enveloped him. His speed became blinding. He blurred forward, a thunderclap marking his movement. His first Frostbite Strike caught a mage in the chest, freezing it solid. He spun, his lightning-wreathed elbow disintegrating the second mage's skull. The third began to back away, raising a bony hand in a futile ward.
Fang Yuan didn't use a skill. He simply grabbed the Skeleton Mage's skull with his Cursed Gauntlet and squeezed. The bone crunched to dust in his grip.
Silence returned to the courtyard, broken only by the fading crackle of lightning around his fists.
He was about to check his status when his Six Eyes screamed a new warning. This one was different. Deeper. More profound.
The ground in the center of the courtyard began to churn. Not just a few hands, but the entire earth buckled and heaved. The mist thickened, coiling into a vortex. The green necromantic mana in the air wasn't just present; it was congregating, flowing towards the epicenter like iron filings to a magnet.
From the churning soil, bones began to rise. But these weren't scattered remains. They were assembling themselves. Ribs, vertebrae, arm and leg bones—hundreds, then thousands of them, all swarming together, interlocking with a horrifying, precise clicking sound. They weren't just forming a large skeleton; they were forming a colossus.
A skull the size of a small car rose, its empty sockets burning with two pinpricks of viridian fire. A spine like a train of vertebrae followed, with ribs arching over to form a massive cage. Arms, each a composite of hundreds of skeletons, finished taking shape, ending in hands that were more like wrecking balls of compressed bone.
The mana signature was overwhelming. This was no D-Rank threat.
System Notification:
[Warning! Dungeon Anomaly Detected!]
[Boss-level entity forming: Skeletal Amalgamation (level 20]
[Quest Updated: Survive.]
The guard's warning about "a lot of rattling" echoed in his mind. This was a Legion, all right. A Legion that had become one.
The Amalgamation stood over thirty feet tall, a monstrous, patchwork titan of death. It raised one of its colossal fists, the bones grinding together with a sound that set Fang Yuan's teeth on edge. It didn't swing. It simply let the fist drop, a meteor of bone aimed to crush him into paste.
Fang Yuan's mind, accelerated by the Six Eyes, analyzed the trajectory, the speed, the mass. Dodging was the only option. He kicked off with Frost Step, launching himself sideways in an explosive slide just as the fist hammered into the ground.
BOOM!
The impact was seismic. The courtyard floor shattered, and a shockwave of force and bone shrapnel blasted outwards. A chunk of flying rib bone, sharp as a spear, caught Fang Yuan in the thigh. He grunted, feeling the hot sting of pain even through his Mana Reinforcement. He landed roughly, his leg bleeding.
This was different. This was real.
The Amalgamation's head swiveled, those green pinpricks locking onto him. It opened its jaw, a cavern of yellowed bone, and instead of a roar, a concentrated beam of necrotic green energy lanced out, tearing a furrow in the earth as it swept towards him.
Desperation sparked innovation. Fang Yuan crossed his gauntlets in front of him, pouring mana into them, focusing on the inherited attributes.
"Freezing Aura! Static Charge!"
A dome of shimmering cold and crackling electricity erupted around him. The beam of necrotic energy struck the hybrid barrier. Ice sublimated into steam and lightning grounded itself into the earth with violent pops, but the barrier held—just barely. The force of the blast still sent him skidding backwards, his boots digging trenches in the dirt.
He was panting now. His mana had taken a significant hit. This thing was too big, too powerful. His Frostbite Strike would be a pinprick. His Storm Fist, a minor irritation.
The Amalgamation took a ground-shaking step forward, raising both fists this time, ready to pound his makeshift fortress into dust.
Think, Fang Yuan! his mind screamed. Reactive Copy! What is it showing you?!
His eyes, seeing the world in layers of mana, darted across the behemoth. He saw the dense knots of green energy at the joints, the powerful core of necromancy in its chest... and something else. A single, pulsing, brighter point of green light deep within the cage of its ribs. A core. A focus.
That was it. The weak point.
But how to reach it? The thing was a fortress of bone.
An idea, insane and brilliant, formed in his mind. It would take everything he had left. It would be the ultimate test of his new fighting style and his control.
As the two massive fists began their descent, Fang Yuan didn't try to reinforce another shield. Instead, he poured every last drop of his mana into his legs and the Cursed Gauntlets.
He used Frost Step not on the ground, but on the air itself, flash-freezing the moisture into a series of small, crystalline platforms leading straight up towards the Amalgamation's chest. It was a desperate, insane move, a staircase made of fleeting ice.
He launched himself upwards, his body a projectile. He ran, his feet shattering each ice platform the moment he left it, a cascading path of destruction leading straight to the giant.
The Amalgamation, surprised by the move, tried to bring its arms in to swat him, but it was too slow.
Fang Yuan reached the apex of his jump, directly in front of the monster's ribcage. He could see the core, a pulsating green orb the size of his head, nestled amongst the bones.
He drew back his right fist, the Cursed Gauntlet glowing with a chaotic, swirling vortex of blue ice and white lightning. He wasn't using one skill or the other. He was forcing them together, channeling both the absolute zero of Frostbite and the raw power of the Storm into a single, ultimate strike.
"FROSTBITE... STORM!" he roared.
He punched forward, not at the bones, but at the core itself.
The world exploded in a symphony of destruction.
A shockwave of concussive force, jagged ice, and arcing lightning erupted from the point of impact. The bones protecting the core vaporized. The green orb shattered with a deafening, psychic shriek that echoed through the entire dungeon.
The Amalgamation froze for a moment, a statue of ice and crackling energy, its form held together by magic that was no longer there. Then, with a sound like a mountain collapsing, it imploded. A blizzard of bone fragments and fading green mana filled the courtyard, raining down for what felt like an eternity.
Fang Yuan fell, his mana completely drained, his body battered. He landed hard on the pile of bone dust, breathing in ragged, painful gasps. He was alive.
[Ding! Defeated Skeletal Amalgamation (level 20). Massive experience gained!]
[Ding! Level Up! Current Level: 9.]
[Ding! Level Up! Current Level: 10!]
.......
[Ding! Level Up! Current Level: 14!]
Strike (Frostbite Storm - Unlocked).]
[Adaptive Arsenal has reached Level 2. Form-shifting speed increased.]
Your vitality has increased by 35 points(5 per level)
Current free status points:30]
He lay there, staring at the twilight sky, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across his face. The curse had tried to break him. Instead, it had forced him to become stronger, more creative.
But as the adrenaline faded, a new sound reached his ears, carried on the foul wind. It wasn't the rattling of bones. It was a low, guttural chant, spoken in a language dead for millennia. It came from the direction of the largest, most intact mausoleum at the far end of the graveyard.
From its dark entrance, a new figure emerged. It was not a mindless amalgamation of bone. It was a single, robed skeleton, its bones dark as obsidian, a crown of twisted iron resting on its skull. In one hand, it held a staff topped with a still-beating, crystalline heart that pulsed with the same green energy. Its empty eyes sockets were fixed on Fang Yuan, and in them burned not just malevolence, but cold, calculating intelligence.
The true master of the graveyard had arrived.
The Lich King raised its staff, and the very shadows in the courtyard began to writhe and twist, reaching for the exhausted Fang Yuan.
The System notification was blunt.
[Hidden Boss Activated: The Lich King of the Unquiet Grave (level 35).]
fang yuan upon seeing this did not consider the danger but infect disregarded it only seeing the gains upon leveling up his mana had recovered with greed in heart was fierce like a tidal wave