Michael didn’t know how much time had passed, but at some point, he found himself fighting level 3 monsters in the third wave.
More monsters also began flooding into the community from outside, their numbers growing exponentially.
“{Bone Armour}”
If there was one thing Michael could say he loved about this chaotic mess, it was twofold
First, the experience points.
Nothing could beat that.
Michael wasn’t even the one benefiting the most from the monstrous horde—it was his undead.
Being at lower levels than him, they leveled up faster and, before long, had caught up to Michael’s own level.
Well, his previous level.
[ Status Window ]
[ Name: Michael Norman ]
[ Class: Adept Necromancer ]
[ Level: 17 ]
[ EXP: 1,321 / 39,867 ]
All he knew was that he had leveled up twice. However, he hadn’t even had time to properly check his status before rushing after the next group of monsters.
And as for increasing his stats? Michael didn’t see the point yet.
The rank 3 monsters were level 20 at most, and even though he was technically lower-leveled than them, he didn’t feel the need to boost any of his stats.
These creatures were simply too weak to warrant such action.
If they’d all been rare-rank monsters, then the situation might have been different. But, fortunately for him, they weren’t.
All it took was a single swipe of his spear to end them.
If one slash wasn’t enough, a second would be enough to balance the equation.
The second thing Michael was happy about was his skills.
At first, he had planned to rely solely on his spear—keeping things simple and straightforward.
But during the second wave, when the level 2 sand scorpions were nearly eradicated, an idea struck him.
Why not use the opportunity to raise the proficiency of his skills?
It wasn’t as if his skills were useless.
Yes, Michael wasn’t just going to milk these monsters for their experience points—he was going to squeeze out every drop of value they could offer through training.
And that’s exactly what he did.
Since the passive skill {Spearmanship} had been his most-used skill, it naturally saw the most noticeable improvement.
The more he fought, the sharper and deadlier his movements became.
If not for the knowledge that people were probably dying every minute outside the community, Michael might have thought he was in some kind of heaven.
[{Spearmanship} (Basic Mastery) Proficiency: 62.14%]
A fundamental skill for wielders of the spear, Spearmanship improves the user’s control, balance, and precision with this versatile weapon. It focuses on the physical mechanics and practical understanding of spear handling, making it easier to execute basic techniques.
Though Michael was pleased with the rapid increase in proficiency of his {Spearmanship} skill, he couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.
Sometimes, this was the downside of the skill system—it made it difficult to discern what someone was genuinely talented at.
For the average human, the skill system made every Awakener look like a genius.
This was why Michael found himself questioning things.
At first, he had jokingly claimed he had great comprehension since he’d unlocked the skill simply by reading about it. But now, it seemed there was truth in his joke.
Perhaps he really did possess extraordinary comprehension and talent in the way of the spear.
Of course, he had considered other possibilities.
Could it be the result of his increasing Intelligence stat?
That was plausible, but Intelligence primarily affected one’s ability to learn magic-related skills or knowledge.
Then again, the enhanced cognitive abilities that came as a side effect of higher Intelligence might also contribute to his progress.
Another possibility was that the spear itself was simply an easier weapon to master, and the skill system made it even easier.
Or perhaps it was a combination of all these factors working together.
In the end, it didn’t really matter.
Regardless of the reason, he was getting stronger, and that was enough.
Aside from {Spearmanship}, his other skills were also improving—well, with a few exceptions.
{Share Senses} was tricky to use in the midst of battle.
Unfortunately, Michael couldn’t act like a blind spearman with vision of two places at once while having to rely solely on his own senses to monitor his surroundings.
For now, at least.
As for skills like Undead Summoning and Undead Revival, they couldn’t be used for obvious reasons.
One skill, however, had recently stood out to Michael.
[{Acid Shot} (Basic Mastery) – Proficiency: 12.07%]
Acid Shot allows the user to launch a corrosive projectile that melts through materials and deals continuous damage.
Range: Can be launched up to 5 meters.
At first, Michael hadn’t appreciated {Acid Shot} much. But now? He realized its potential.
Unlike a chemically created solution, {Acid Shot} was fueled entirely by his mana—mana that was not only 100 times greater than that of the average human but also exceptionally pure.
With such high-quality mana as fuel, the corrosive effects of the skill were devastating.
He’d proven this when he used it on a sand scorpion, a creature with good rock-like defenses.
The acid melted through its carapace as though it were paper.
Additionally, although the skill description stated it worked as a projectile, Michael discovered that when he manually manipulated it, he could create a continuous stream.
This, of course, drained his mana significantly, but it added another layer of versatility to the skill.
It was yet another reminder that the system often didn’t reveal everything about the true potential of some things.
And {Acid Shot} wasn’t the only skill with hidden depths.
There was another skill Michael had grown fond of ever since it appeared…
[{Bone Spear} (Intermediate Mastery) Proficiency: 19.2%]
Bone Spear summons a sharp, ethereal spear made of bone to pierce through enemies.
Travels up to 10 meters.
—
Michael had always wondered why the range of this skill was so low despite being at {Intermediate Mastery}.
That was, until he discovered its true nature.
Not only was there no limit to the number of spears he could create (the only restriction being his mana), but the “ten-meter range” specified in the skill description simply referred to the area within which he could control the projectiles’ direction.
To Michael, it felt like some kind of domain skill, which made it even cooler in his eyes.
It quickly became his fastest method of clearing enemies in the midst of a crowd.
However, the sheer computational power required to control a large number of spears at once was staggering. Once the number of projectiles reached a certain threshold, the mental strain became terrifying.
Also at {Intermediate Mastery}, it gained proficiency points at an exceptionally slow rate.