Reborn As An Evolving Monster

Chapter 372 Just A Couple Of Bones, II

Crack- Crack- Crack-

Clang-

Crack- Crack- Crack-

"Interesting..." The white-scaled Monster whispered.

Surrounding it, dozens of Skeletons lay on the ground.

"There's no light emitted from their eyes." Mark noted.

With his left hand, he held a Skeleton's wrists.

With his right, he moved its head from left to right.

"Different from those inside the Dungeon..."

Mark stared intently.

He extended an index finger, filled with perverse curiosity.

"Nothing, huh? Should have tested that with those inside the Dungeon. Or... That Dungeon, I should say." Mark chuckled as he pulled his index finger out of the Skeleton's empty eye socket. "They're disoriented compared to the others. I suppose they can't see. Can they hear? Mmmm..."

Unable to find an answer, the white-scaled Monster grabbed the Skeleton by the neck and separated its head from its spine.

"Crushing their bones is a sure way to stop them. What about this?" 

Mark only let go of the Skeleton once its limbs and head were separated from its body.

Clank-

He crouched, staring at the dismembered Skeleton that had just hit the ground.

"There really is no way to know whether they're alive or not... Alive might not be the right term." Mark whispered, a hand on his chin. "They're no different from objects now-"

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His thoughts were interrupted as,

Crack- Crack- Crack-

"Healing?"

The shattered and dismembered Skeletons' body parts started moving. 

It didn't take long before the Monsters were whole and standing once more.

"Healing bones is definitely possible but... For Skeletons? It's not really impossible, but doesn't really add up. It's more likely that they're being summoned. Or controlled? The Undead Lich or another Monster inside the Dungeon being the Necromancer, and it healing them or something."

Woosh-

CLAP-

"They don't react to sound or light. Then they're being controlled. Healing them all the time should be annoying though. Continually doing that..."

The Skeletons were crushed once more.

This time, even their arms, legs, ribs, spines, and skulls were crushed into tiny fragments.

"Wonder if they stick back together by interchanging limbs and bones or if they keep the same ones-"

Mark's eyebrow twitched.

A familiar feeling.

"That's..." He stared. "Bone Manipulation?"

The white-scaled Monster extended an arm towards one of the moving bones.

Stop-

"I shouldn't be able to control it if it's alive. I can stop it, but there is a force I'm fighting against. Interesting. Is it using Bone Manipulation to control all of them? Using bones to create puppets in a way? Sounds complicated. Especially when there are dozens of Skeletons, each broken into dozens of pieces."

Mark crouched once more, his gaze filled with curiosity.

"Remote control... Some kind of autopilot? They probably don't have Health Points. They'll keep rising again and again. That's a pretty strong Skill, especially if used on strong Monsters... No. It's because they're weak Skeletons that something like this can be used. A stronger Monster would cost too much Mana."

The white-scaled was amused by the bones moving around, seemingly at random, trying to find where they fit.

"Perpetual healing puppets... They're more like Items than Monsters. That's a good way of looking at it. Skeletons turned into Items? Or Items turned into Skeletons? Where do Skeletons even come from...? Corruption Magic to raise the dead from their graves. To turn them into Items... First of all, you wouldn't need their soul. They're all the same, so they don't keep their Skills either. Do they come from Humans? Something else entirely? Might be... What was it... A Ritual? Maybe a Ritual is necessary as a Condition for the activation of the Skill. The Skill that turns the Skeletons into Items. Yeah, let's focus on this part. What the fuck are Rituals in this World anyways? Guess it can be anything. Filling the Requirements for my Purgatory's Undead Troup could be seen as performing a Ritual... Though I've never succeeded. Still don't know all the Requirements I guess. The Dungeon is [B] Ranked, yet it chose Skeletons. It wouldn't be surprising for the Ritual to change depending on the Monster that is being turned. If that's the case, then there's no Monster which would require a simpler Ritual than these..."

The Skeletons stood once more.

"A simple Ritual... Oh. I could see that working."

The white-scaled Monster immediately leaped forward.

It roughly grabbed a Skeleton's body, before raising its arms, legs, rotating its body in every way it could be rotated before,

"Jackpot." Mark whispered.

The Skeleton's skull was separated from the spine. With a thumb through the right eye socket and an index finger through the left eye socket,

Crack-

"There we go."

The white-scaled Monster stared at the inside of the Skeleton's skull.

"A triangle... Drawn with blood?"

Snif- Snif-

A familiar stench.

"Blood imbued with Corruption Magic. A tiny triangle too..."

Mark chuckled.

"Then if I understand this right..." He extended his claws and brought his index finger to the drawn triangle. "Messing with the Sign will..."

Kriii-

A line was drawn against the bone, cutting the triangle of blood in two.

The next second,

Crumbles-

The white-scaled Monster's smile widened.

"The smell of Corruption temporarily increases when it shatters. Nothing about Experience Points or defeating a Skeleton, so I was right. They should be seen as Items. Wonder if I could make some..."

Mark thought for a bit, before shaking his head.

"Hope that Undead Lich will be talkative. Now, last thing I want to try with these..."

The white-scaled Monster waited for one of the Skeletons to rise before grabbing its body.

While keeping the Skeleton's arms firmly stuck to its body, it lifted it up and,

Chomp- Chomp-

"Easy to eat. Too easy, so they're definitely not alive. Again... Probably not the right term."

[Your Title "Devourer" says that you should look for better meals!]

"Ha. Yeah, I'll look for some."

[Your title "Devourer" nods begrudgingly.]

The Skeleton's body hit the ground and,

"Yep. Can't put itself together after I Devoured its head. Good to know."

One after the other,

Chomp- Chomp- Chomp-

[You have Consumed a small amount of Demonic Blood.]

[Affinity with Dark Magic increases very slightly.]

"Demonic Blood? A Demon's blood, or just Corrupted blood? Both suit me."

Growl-

"If that Undead Lich is the one making these and, hopefully, other stuff then..."

The white-scaled Monster's stomach grew louder.

"I bet it'll have more Materials."