"So this is the Star Dimension..."
Lukas examined his surroundings with a tensed expression on his face. From the memories that he received, the Star Dimension was a hellish place with a sky-high mortality rate of more than ninety percent.
Even after thousands of years, humanity still had no idea just how large it was; some even claimed that it was an endless space with no end.
However, there was no way to avoid this place. No matter what, everyone had to visit this place after awakening; there was just no choice.
Shaking his head to get rid of useless thoughts, Lukas once again scanned his surroundings. Tall, ancient-looking trees with tatty black trunks filled his vision; thick, dense smoke drifted around, making it difficult to see far into the distance.
The grim-looking surroundings made his expression darken. "Damn, I am one of the unlucky ones arriving in a random corner of the Star Dimension, not in one of the already established settlements."
Lukas cursed while slowly moving backward, stopping only when his back struck the trunk of a tree. Only then did his guard slightly relax; at least now he was sure that he wouldn't be suddenly attacked from the back.
Suddenly a thought popped into his head causing his expression to darken. What if this tree is also one of those Star Energy monsters...? Fuck! Stop thinking...
He took rapid, deep breaths to calm down his heart; in this forest, everything filled his heart with dread.
"Okay, calm down. First I need to find out just how far away from the nearest settlement I am. If I don't reach the nearest settlement quickly, death is inevitable..."
Lukas muttered with an ugly expression. Surviving in the Star Dimension without power was a pipe dream.
If it was in the past, Lukas would have already started to complain and might even have started crying. But being a top-tier failure had taught him a lot of things, one of them being crying and complaining wasn't going to fix anything. First, he needed to understand himself better. The only hope he had out of this situation was his talent, no matter how trashy it was.
Unconsciously, Lukas's figure slid down to land on his butt, a slightly focused expression on his face.
"If you have talent, activating it is pretty simple. I just need to think about using it and it will actually activate. Now that I have awakened a summoning type talent..."
Lukas's eyebrows were quickly screwed up together as he went through all the information that his predecessor had learned all these years.
After going through the method multiple times, Lukas grew confident enough to try.
The next moment, under his focused gaze, the two stars on the back of his palm lit up slightly.
Lukas felt a strange sensation massaged on the back of his palm, followed by a sense of weightlessness that he had never felt before in his life. The sensation vanished as soon as it appeared.
Before he could feel surprised, the space some distance away from him rippled and a bony skeleton materialized, its two hollow eye sockets staring emptily into the air.
It really is a simple skeleton...
Seeing that his talent was just actually the ability to summon a skeleton, Lukas felt disappointed. In the back of his mind, he was still hopeful, but it seemed the world didn't care about his feelings.
Still, after a moment of loss, Lukas hurriedly cheered up. An ordinary skeleton—so be it; it was still better than nothing.
"If it is a skeleton, so be it. First, let's check its status."
With that thought in his mind, he muttered in a low voice, "Status."
Immediately following his words, a blue window materialized before him. After awakening, every awakener could see their attributes with this status window as well as keep track of their progress.
[Skeleton - Basic Bonewalker]
[Grade - Trash]
[Bloodline - None]
[Star Energy Potential - Two Stars]
[Skills - Assimilation]
Just two stars, huh... Lukas simply couldn't stress the importance of stars enough. They not only represented just how far an awakener could walk the path of a Star Warrior, but it was also something akin to a storage for Star Energy: the more stars one had, the more Star Energy they could store.
Star Energy was the miraculous energy needed for all sorts of magical skills, so its importance was pretty obvious.
Lukas was no genius, but he still understood the importance of all these things.
However, one thing surprised him. Skill! Assimilation? What kind of skill is this...?
Before he could continue thinking, suddenly a heavy roar came from the distance.
Lukas's heart immediately chilled, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking just how good it would have been if this skeleton had some skill that could help in hiding...
But complaining wasn't going to help. He needed to make the best use of the resources that he already had to survive.
"You go there..."
Lukas ordered in a cold voice, asking the skeleton to move ahead. Whatever the thing that was coming his way, he hoped it would be satisfied with the skeleton and would not come for him.
As if reacting to his command, a blue fire seemed to ignite in the skeleton's eyes; slowly, step by step, it moved forward.
Lukas looked at the skeleton's speed and sighed again. By the time the skeleton reached its destination, the monster might already find him. Shaking his head, he moved forward, lifted the skeleton by holding its bony frame, and carried it for some distance before placing it in an open area where it would be easy to spot. Then he hurriedly retreated to his hiding spot.
Watching it standing alone, Lukas felt slightly bad, but for survival, he swallowed the guilt. He was sure the skeleton would understand why he was doing this; after all, as its master, he had to survive. If he died, the skeleton would also die, while if the skeleton died, Lukas would simply summon it again.
While thinking, Lukas's eyes were always on the skeleton figure, ready to flee the moment he noticed any sign of danger.
However, moments passed. The roars continued coming from the distance, not moving closer. Lukas didn't grow impatient; his expression remained tensed. After one full hour, following a slight pained whimpering sound, the roar suddenly died down.
In this hour he had understood something: two Star Monsters seemed to be fighting ahead. Just now, probably one of them died.
Should I check it out?
This dangerous idea suddenly popped into his head. Lukas immediately shook his head. No, I must absolutely not... but what if?
As soon as this thought popped up in his mind, Lukas's eyes sharpened slightly. "You go check it out."
Following his command, the skeleton walked forward, its entire bony figure shaking as it moved step by step. Lukas was worried a single gust of wind might send its bones flying.
I also can't keep calling this bag of bones 'skeleton' or 'you'. I need to give it a name…
Lukas mused while following the skeleton from behind, multiple names popping up in his head.
Skelly? Nah, it's not intimidating enough.
Death Lord... hmm, it's too cringy.
Lukas thought of multiple names and however gave up; now was not the time.
Suddenly his nose twitched; without him realizing, the smell of fresh blood filled the air.
Indeed, it was just as he thought. Two Star Beasts seemed to have fought here. Looking around, he even found mangled flesh remains scattered in every direction.
Just as he was thinking, suddenly a blue window popped in front of him.
[Ding! Your skeleton had assimilated the collar bone of Rare Grade Three-Tailed Leopard]
[Ding! You have learned the innate skill of Three-Tailed Leopard: Traceless Steps]
Before he could even pay attention to the window in front of him, his mind was filled with foreign memories that he never had before.