Free Web NovelChapter 51: Chapter 33: Energy Gathering Skeleton
"Tell Kirkland to bring that skull over. I’ll appraise it."
Lin Yu saw what Kirkland had done. He was also curious what kind of skills these skeletons possessed to exhibit such a drastic difference in performance.
He didn’t suspect Kirkland of giving a false report initially. It was obvious this was a change that had occurred after the skeletons appeared in large numbers.
Soon, a Druid brought the skull before Lin Yu.
The stark white skull wasn’t still in his hands. The purple light in its eye sockets flickered nonstop, and its jaw opened and closed as if trying to say something. Unfortunately, no one present knew how to communicate with souls, and the skeleton itself couldn’t make a sound, so it was impossible to know what it was saying.
Lin Yu walked to the side of the skull, avoiding its constantly clacking jaw, and placed a hand on it.
[Do you wish to use the ’Appraise’ function?]
[Based on the target’s current level and grade, this will consume 1000 Gold Coins.]
’This damn system actually charges a fee?!’
Lin Yu’s expression darkened. The system had never charged him for using the appraise function inside his territory. Why was it charging a fee outside of it?
Thankfully, the price wasn’t high. With his current wealth, Lin Yu could still afford it.
To get a clear understanding of the skeleton’s specific information, Lin Yu reluctantly spent 1000 Gold Coins. The skeleton’s information then appeared.
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[Name]: Energy Gathering Skeleton
[Level]: 10
[Grade]: Excellent (Blue)
[Attack]: 450
[Magic Power]: 150
[Speed]: 210
[Defense]: 300
[Health]: 600
[Combat Power]: 400
[Abilities]: Resonance Gathering, Resonance
[Resonance Gathering]: This skill activates when more than 10 members of the same race are within visual range and share the same hostile target. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
The Attack stats of allies who cannot reach the enemy will stack onto an ally who can, dealing massive damage to the enemy.
When an ally is attacked, the Defense stats of allies who are not being attacked will stack onto the one under attack to mitigate damage.
[Resonance]: For every 100 members of the Skeleton Race gathered together, all stats of all skeletons increase by 1%. This effect can stack.
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HISS—
After reading the Skeleton Monster’s stats, the corner of Lin Yu’s mouth twitched.
’An Excellent-grade unit actually has such a broken skill! This is a one-shot build, invincible in a one-on-one fight!’
Lin Yu was tempted. The skeleton’s base stats weren’t great, but this skill was incredible. If one skeleton went into battle with ten thousand others standing behind it, you could only imagine how absurd its stats would become. All the skeletons’ stats would be doubled and then stacked onto the one fighting. That would be more absurd than the stats of even Legendary Heroes.
In other words, the Druids’ probing tactics had played right into the Energy Gathering Skeletons’ hands.
An attack dealing 230,000 damage... No wonder that Rock Druid was beaten to the point of questioning its own existence.
Still, that Kirkland really was something else. A single skeleton with 150,000 Defense, yet he’d managed to break through it and bring back a head.
Lin Yu thought for a moment, then removed his hand and instructed the Druid before him, "You, try and crush it with your foot."
The Druid froze for a second and was about to transform.
Lin Yu quickly stopped him. "No need to transform. Just step on it. Don’t worry, it’ll be easy!"
Hearing this, the Druid placed the skull on the ground, closed his eyes, and stomped on it with all his might. He was already braced for a broken foot. The worst that could happen was he’d have a Healing Druid patch him up afterward.
CRACK~
A crisp crack sounded from the skull. The Druid didn’t feel like he’d stepped on anything hard. He opened his eyes to see that the very skull Kirkland had gone to such great lengths to obtain was now crushed beneath his foot.
"His Lordship is wise!"
’I don’t know why, but it’s never wrong to praise the Lord.’
The others around them also shouted in unison, "His Lordship is wise!"
When the shouting died down, Lin Yu explained the Energy Gathering Skeletons’ stats, placing special emphasis on Resonance Gathering.
Having been removed from the sight of the skeleton horde, the skull had lost the buffs from Resonance Gathering. Its stats had returned to normal, which was why it was so easily crushed.
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Before the altar, Kirkland heard the cheers behind him and knew his lord must have solved the problem. His anxious heart immediately calmed.
Sure enough, a short while later, the Druid he had sent to deliver the skull returned.
After hearing the information his lord had discovered, Kirkland’s mind raced as he began to think of a way to break the stalemate.
He hadn’t been idle while waiting. The Shape-shifting Druids had tried using ranged attacks. Any skeleton that took damage would step out of its patrol range to counterattack the Druid who had attacked it.
A skeleton that stepped away from the horde was like a super boss. No one could damage it, and its attacks were terrifying—a single touch caused injury. In the end, the attacker had no choice but to flee, after which the skeleton would slowly return to the altar.
Although Kirkland had managed to lop off a skeleton’s head, it was only because he had used his trump card, which combined a stealth strike with an effect that ignored a portion of the enemy’s defense, allowing him to achieve the beheading.
He had lost his combat capability as a result and needed some time to recover before he could fight again.
Fortunately, now that they knew the skeletons’ information, it would be much easier to break their defensive line. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
The simplest method would be to temporarily retreat and wait for the skeletons to lower their guard and fall into a dormant state. Then, they could dispatch Sharp Claw Druids with stealth abilities to sneak in and eliminate the skeletons one by one.
However, Kirkland had made a promise to Lin Yu. For the sake of his future prospects, he chose to face them head-on.
This time, however, the Rock Druids would no longer be on the front line. They would transform into animals with stronger attacks or use Magic to provide support from the rear.
A few Sharp Claw Druids would be at the very front. They all had evasion skills that allowed them to perfectly dodge physical attacks for a short period, which was perfect for baiting the Skeleton Monsters’ attacks.
Since the main tank couldn’t hold, they would have to try using the off-tanks.
Once the Rock Druids were ready, the Fierce Raptor Druids in the sky also prepared their AoE skills.
At Kirkland’s command, a Sharp Claw Druid stepped into the Skeleton Monsters’ attack range.
Several Bone Blades swung toward the Sharp Claw Druid. At the same time, the other Druids who were ready to attack all launched their assaults on the skeleton horde.
Some Sharp Claw Druids sent several sharp blades flying toward the skeleton horde. A Rock Druid let out a deafening roar, which formed a visible sound wave that shot toward them. Several Fierce Raptor Druids circled rapidly above the horde, creating a tornado in an attempt to sweep the skeletons into the sky. These were just some of the various attacks being unleashed.
The key was not just to use powerful attacks, but to have those attacks cover as many skeletons as possible at the same time. This was the only way to reduce the defensive effect of the Energy Gathering Skeletons’ "Resonance Gathering" and actually deal damage.
When the leading Sharp Claw Druid’s skill duration ended and it ran out of the skeletons’ attack range, everyone else’s attacks ceased at the same time.
The good news was that this wave of attacks had eliminated more than 20 members of the skeleton horde.
The bad news was that one Druid had accidentally charged too close during the assault and was hit. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t deep, and they had already been taken to the rear for a Healing Druid to treat.
"Keep it up! A few more times and we’ll be done! The fewer of them there are, the weaker they get!"
Kirkland cheered them on from the side.
