**Chapter 18: The Bone Rider of the Ancient City**
The ancient ruins rose before **Vivaan Sharma** like the fossilized remains of some long-forgotten age—weathered stone walls, shattered battlements, and narrow streets paved in the grey bones of time. No matter how many times he entered the digital version of this place through his mysterious phone, the moment he saw it again, his breath still hitched. If not for the game dungeon acting as an advance scout, he would never have dared step so deep inside. Wandering blindly in here was nothing short of suicide.
But now?
Now he had a way to explore without gambling his life.
The phone's blood-colored avatar could die a hundred times—it didn't matter. He merely restarted, analyzed, adapted, and moved forward. Every death bought him knowledge. Every failure built familiarity.
Compared to the vague information sheets the school provided, the real thing was far more oppressive. The zone beyond the northern gates was exactly as described—spotted with clusters of **Skeleton Soldiers**. Their bony frames clattered with every uneven movement, their hollow eye sockets burning faintly with cold spiritual fire. Although eerie, they posed little threat. A typical adult who had never cultivated might struggle against one—but a trained student of **Guide High Institute** could crush a squad of them without much risk.
Unless, of course, they were foolish enough to charge straight into a swarm.
Vivaan wasn't that kind of idiot.
Mounted atop his **Mutated Vigor Ant**, he pushed the blood-colored avatar further into the ancient city. The ant galloped forward with insectile ferocity, its black carapace gleaming under the flickering in-game sun. When groups of Skeleton Soldiers rushed at him—sometimes a dozen, sometimes more—the ant carved through them with terrifying ease. Its front claws swept out in cruel arcs, reaping bones like wheat.
Vivaan barely needed to make the avatar raise a hand.
The ant did the dirty work.
He soon outran the boundaries marked on the school-issued map.
Deep inside the ancient city, the architecture grew more archaic, the stone blocks more massive, the buildings older and more imposing. Shadows clung to the alleyways like ghosts whispering of ancient tragedies. Though curious, Vivaan didn't dare steer his avatar toward the structures. Every lecture, every textbook, every senior student had repeated the same warning:
**Never enter a building in a dimensional zone unless you absolutely must.**
Some of them hid dimensional rifts. Step inside the wrong room, and you might appear in a different plane of existence—lost forever.
So he remained on the streets, advancing methodically while the ant rampaged through whatever blocked his path.
The drop rate was abysmally low. Vivaan had killed over two hundred Skeleton Soldiers by now. Apart from the first one that gave him a **Skeleton Palm**, nothing had dropped. No Skill Crystal. No Companion Beast. Not even a stat crystal.
He wasn't disappointed.
He'd heard it countless times—the Skeleton Soldiers were too low-level to drop anything of value. Most players could slaughter thousands and still get nothing except frustration.
Still, getting a **Skeleton Palm** had been nice.
Weak, yes.
But rare.
As he rode deeper, his focus sharpened.
Something moved ahead.
A large group.
Bigger than any he had encountered so far.
A cluster of twenty to thirty Skeleton Soldiers shambled in a loose formation at the far end of the street. Their bone limbs rapped against the stones in a rhythmic clatter, like drums made of death. But they were not the ones who caught his eye.
No—the figure commanding them was.
Surrounded by the skeletal infantry was a towering **skeleton horse**, its entire frame bleached white and reinforced with thick, jagged bones. Sitting proudly atop its spine was a figure that radiated menace.
A **Skeleton General**.
Even without color or flesh, its presence was overwhelming—its skull thicker and broader than any ordinary Skeleton Soldier, its ivory-sheened bones polished like an ancient relic. A ragged yet complete dark-red cape draped behind it, fluttering faintly as if in a wind only the dead could feel. The armor it wore was broken in places, but the weight of its past glory clung to it like a second skin.
In its bony grip rested a two-meter-long **bone spear**, the shaft rough and uneven, the tip jagged and barbed like a cruel thorn designed for maximum suffering. One stab would tear flesh apart, refusing to let the wound close.
Vivaan's heart tightened with excitement.
**A mini-boss. Finally.**
Something worth dying to.
The Skeleton General noticed him almost instantly—but unlike most dimensional creatures, it didn't charge blindly. Instead, it watched him, cold and unmoving atop its skeletal steed, as if assessing whether the intruder was worth its time.
Its soldiers, however, had no such patience.
With a chorus of bone-cracking screeches, the Skeleton Soldiers lunged forward.
Vivaan commanded the blood-colored avatar to brace as the **Mutated Vigor Ant** swung its deadly claws. One savage rotation and ten Skeleton Soldiers exploded into showers of bones.
Only then did the Skeleton General react.
It threw back its skull and released a roar—harsh, grating, almost metallic. A sound that cut through the digital air like a blade.
And then it charged.
The skeleton horse darted forward with terrifying acceleration, faster than any Skeleton Soldier, faster even than Vivaan had anticipated. Its speed rivaled the **Silver-Winged Flying Ant**, one of the fastest Companion Beasts Vivaan had ever seen.
In a heartbeat, it crossed the street.
Vivaan ordered the Mutated Vigor Ant to meet the charge, intending to block the spear and counterattack with the blood-colored avatar's blade.
But the spear moved differently than expected.
It blurred.
The world seemed to flicker, the spear vanishing from Vivaan's sight for a fraction of a second.
Then—
**CRACK!**
The bone spear pierced through the Mutated Vigor Ant's claws, shattering their defense. It thrust straight into the avatar's chest.
A burst of blood.
A body flung backward.
A screen fading to black.
**Instant death.**
Vivaan stared, stunned—but instead of fear, a wild, eager thrill pulsed through him.
"That strong…?"
His lips curled into a grin.
This was the kind of enemy he sought.
Something powerful.
Something that required strategy.
Something that made him want to fight again.
He was about to restart the game when footsteps approached.
Vivaan lifted his head—and saw **Kabir Sinha** walking over with two youths around his age.
They weren't wearing the school's uniform, nor did they look like students who attended class regularly. Most likely, they were like Kabir—registered under **Guide High Institute** but rarely set foot inside.
"When we enter the ancient city," Kabir said casually, not bothering with introductions, "just follow me. Don't bother doing anything. Leave the rest to them."
"Alright," Vivaan replied simply. He had no intention of showing off during the official combat test anyway. Passing it quietly was enough.
The two unfamiliar youths didn't greet him.
Perfect.
Vivaan didn't feel like talking.
Instead, he reopened the game.
The two youths were speaking confidently with Kabir—too confidently. Their tone suggested that helping him secure first place in the **Guide City combat test** was as trivial as tying their shoelaces.
"That may be true," Kabir said, "but I need you both to take this seriously. Nothing can go wrong. I must take first place this year."
"Brother Sinha, relax," the taller of the two said with a smirk. "What real experts can exist in a tiny place like Guide City? Forget Jiang Hao—just me alone would be enough to make sure you get first."
Kabir's expression tightened slightly, just enough for the other youth to quickly interject.
"Brother Sinha, don't worry. We'll do our best. Nothing will go wrong," he said earnestly.
Kabir nodded in satisfaction.
The taller one—clearly not done bragging—opened his mouth again, but stopped when he noticed someone approaching.
All four turned.
A tall, striking girl walked toward them, her presence brightening the atmosphere instantly.
**Riya Malhotra.**
She stopped in front of Vivaan, relief softening her features.
"Vivaan, great—you found a team."
Vivaan smiled lightly. "All thanks to Kabir Sinha. I'm only able to join the combat test because of him."
Riya didn't recognize Kabir or the two boys beside him, but knowing Vivaan could participate eased the tension in her heart. She exhaled softly.
"I thought I had a small chance earlier," she said with a playful sigh, "but with you joining, I guess getting first is impossible now."
The tall youth didn't like that.
To him, her words implied that teaming up with Vivaan was the real advantage—not the other way around.
"Hey, babe," he said with an oily grin, "with Vivaan joining us, you can rest easy. He has no shot at the top three, but don't worry—our team will make sure he at least gets fourth."