CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: UNDEAD SHAMAN, EVOLVING SKILLS TO LEGENDARY

The [Undead Shaman] stood cloaked in violet rags, its skeletal frame held together by flickers of dark magic.

In its bony hands, it gripped a crooked scepter crowned with a shard of black crystal that pulsed faintly.

It lingered at the very back of the hall, as far away as possible.

Between it and Stark stood a bunch of [Skeleton Warriors].

Their shields raised, rusty swords gleaming faintly under the light.

Their formation was clear: protect the shaman at all costs.

For Stark, that didn’t matter.

Whether it was close-quarters combat or long-range exchanges, he had the experience to deal with both.

His fight against the [Ruined Sentinel General] had given him the confidence to step into the danger zone without hesitation.

The skeletons creaked and rattled as they charged, their hollow sockets fixed on him.

Stark leveled his staff and cast his spells.

Annihilating Fireball! Vine Cataclysm! Corrosive Crystal!

BOOM! CRASH! FWISH!

-13,860! -13,340! -4,500!

Numbers flared in the air as health bars plummeted.

Several skeletons staggered, brittle bones cracking apart under the impact.

One dropped instantly, shattered by the Corrosive Crystal’s focused strike.

But he barely had a second before—

"RAHHHHH!"

The shaman’s roar echoed across the chamber.

Its staff shot into the air, purple sparks dripping from the gem as it began weaving a spell.

Stark narrowed his eyes.

’A shaman with minions doesn’t go on the offensive. That’s not an attack spell. That’s... a buff.’

He had fought countless mages in his past life.

He knew the strengths of their kind, but more importantly, he knew their weaknesses.

’If your focus breaks mid-cast, the spell collapses.’

The trick only worked on spells that required constant charging, exactly like what the shaman was preparing now.

Unfortunately, Stark couldn’t interrupt it fast enough.

Strength Buff!

A crimson glow flared across the warriors.

Their empty sockets glowed brighter, and with renewed force, they lunged toward him.

Magic Barrier!

A dome of shimmering light snapped into place just as the first sword came down.

’I wonder how much HP my barrier actually...’

The thought had barely formed when a translucent panel popped into his vision.

[Magic Barrier: 5,000/5,000 HP]

"Oh," Stark muttered, slightly amused.

A simple thought was all it took to bring up the shield’s health. Convenient.

CRACK!

The first blow landed.

[Magic Barrier: 4,430/5,000 HP]

Stark’s eyes narrowed.

’Almost six hundred damage from a single strike? Yeah... they’re definitely buffed.’

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Swords hammered against the barrier in a relentless rhythm.

The dome shuddered, spiderweb cracks racing across its surface until—

SHATTER!

In under a second, the barrier was gone.

Stark gritted his teeth.

He couldn’t allow the shaman to keep empowering its minions.

Using the nearest skeleton as leverage, he vaulted off its shield and hurled a fireball at the shaman.

FWOOSH! BOOM!

-13,860!

The explosion ripped through the back wall, knocking the shaman off balance and tearing a chunk out of its health.

A quarter of its life vanished in an instant, and the buff fizzled away.

The opening was all Stark needed.

VINE CATACLYSM!

The ground erupted with vines.

They lashed out in every direction, battering the skeletons.

The majority of them were already low from being hit before, and so almost all of them crumbled.

The chamber fell eerily quiet, only the shaman and a bunch of warriors left standing.

Corrosive Crystal!

FWISH! CRACK!

A jagged shard shot forward, piercing the shaman’s chest.

4,500! -1,125! -1,125!

The crystal pulsed, leaking acid that hissed as it ate into the boss’s bones.

The shaman hissed back, raising its scepter desperately.

Great Fireball!

A sphere of flame launched toward Stark.

He sidestepped, the blast whistling past and exploding against the stone wall behind him.

The shaman lurched forward, swinging its scepter in a wild attempt to disrupt his casting.

But Stark met it with a staff swing of his own.

His strike landed harder, staggering the boss.

From this range, the shaman had no chance.

It was a support-type monster, built to hide behind its minions.

Without them, it was helpless.

Thirty seconds later, silence filled the hall.

Every monster was nothing more than dust and shattered bone.

Ding!

---

[You have killed x11 "Skeleton Warriors (Level 13)"]

[You have killed "Undead Shaman (Level 14 Elite-Boss)"]

[You have gained 42,000 experience points!]

[You have gained 9 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 102 Lives]

---

Hand of Avarice!

The spectral hand materialized, sweeping across the corpses.

Ding!

---

[You have gained 8 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 100 Lives]

---

"Haha!" Stark grinned, gripping his staff tighter, "Perfect."

[Hand of Avarice] was shining just like always.

Against bosses, it was invaluable.

The thrill of pulling extra Evolution Points and Lives never got old.

His eyes flicked to his experience bar.

Even with all that, he hadn’t leveled up.

He was close, though.

[Current Evolution Points: 22.]

That was enough for two legendary evolutions.

A grin spread across his face.

He could feel his power climbing, step by step.

Still, he had to be cautious.

Deeper inside the [Undead Soul Land] lurked a level 15 epic-rank boss.

Rushing in unprepared would be suicide.

But as for the skills he wanted to evolve? He already knew.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Points to evolve "Vine Cataclysm"?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Vine Cataclysm" (Epic) to "Sovereign Vines" (Legendary)]

[Current Evolution Points: 12.]

---

[Sovereign Vines (Legendary): Summons several powerful vines from the ground that will hit with immense force at several targets, it will deal 500 → 1000 damage + 300% → 500% of spirit. 25 → 20 (10)-seconds cooldown.]

---

The glow in Stark’s eyes deepened.

The damage boost was massive, and the cooldown drop made it even deadlier.

And that was only the beginning.

Stark could only wonder how much he would be able to deal with his future evolutions.

His gaze shifted to the next option.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Points to evolve "Hand of Avarice"?]

He had been waiting for this moment.

A skill this useful evolving to legendary could only be good.

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Hand of Avarice" (Epic) to "Hand of Avarice" (Legendary)]

[Current Evolution Points: 2.]

---

[Hand of Avarice (Legendary): Can be used on corpses, has a 100% chance to obtain another loot reward, in addition to that, if the loot is an item, there is a 10% to increase the rank by one.]

---

Stark froze.

Then his grin widened until it was almost feral.

The original effect hadn’t changed, guaranteed loot remained.

But now, there was more.

A ten percent chance to upgrade the rank of an item.

He turned toward the loot shimmering on the ground.

Among it, the shaman’s crooked weapon glowed faintly.

[Undead Shaman Scepter (Elite)]

He imagined it.

If [Hand of Avarice] worked its magic... ten percent was slim, but if it triggered, that scepter would jump to epic rank!

The power spike would be absurd.

"Ha... haha..." Stark’s laugh echoed through the hall.

His mind buzzed with possibilities.

What if he evolved it further? What if the chance climbed higher?

For now, he tucked the scepter and the other items away.

With a steadying breath, he walked to the end of the hall.

A massive stone door loomed there, carved with skeletal patterns.

Cold air seeped from the cracks.

He pushed it open.

The path to the true boss lay beyond.

"Time to fight, then."