Durin watched as the decaying zombies and clattering skeletons slowly surrounded him. Magic once again surged in his left palm, and then the rune model for the cantrip—Flame Splash—appeared, while his right hand held a spiked mace.
These skeletons were very slow, seemingly not yet adapted. Their movements produced clattering sounds of joints colliding.
Durin knew he had no escape route, so he stepped forward boldly, swinging the spiked mace and smashing it down forcefully.
Bang!
Clatter!
The skeleton's frame scattered across the ground.
But Durin was slightly surprised. Judging from the feedback of the strike, this skeleton was actually heavier and sturdier than he had imagined.
If it were an ordinary person, they really might not be able to defeat these skeletons animated by necromantic magic.
Durin's spiked mace was as swift as the wind, specifically targeting the stiff joints of these skeletons.
In the blink of an eye, several more skeletons were dealt with.
Thankfully, Durin now had 99 points in One-Handed Weapon proficiency and 73 points in Running proficiency, so he was still quite at ease facing the increasing number of surrounding zombies and skeletons.
These living dead howled, and with every step, decaying chunks of flesh would detach from their bones, and gelatinous black pus continuously flowed from their pustules.
Durin swung the spiked mace, embedding this blood-stained mace into the zombie's torso. At the same time, flames erupted from his palm, beginning to burn steadily, and with a whoosh, a fireball shot out again.
The exploding fireball sent specks of flame scattering in all directions, adding a smell of burnt flesh to the stench permeating the cemetery.
Then, the hit zombie would fall flat on its back, never to get up again.
During this process, the special zombie holding the staff would occasionally release an arcane missile imbued with cold, most of which Durin managed to dodge in time.
Even if he couldn't dodge them, their lethality was actually limited. Aside from the pain, they only made his movements much more difficult, completely incomparable to the power of firearms.
Or perhaps it wasn't that the Frost spell was too weak, but that his current physique's resistance to damage was too strong?
In any case, it wasn't long before thick smoke billowed through the graveyard. Listening to the crackling of the burning flames, Durin felt that killing these zombies was much easier than facing the three enemies he fought last time, or the two professional robbers he encountered in Zaun.
Because those five people were normal humans, with independent thoughts, and you couldn't tell what they would do next, or if they would continue to attack.
But these things were nothing more than corpses and skeletons, just a group of puppets activated and controlled by some twisted necromantic spell.
Once the strings were cut, they would fall like puppets.
Not to mention most of these puppets didn't even have weapons.
Wait! Puppets?
Does that mean that if he just eliminated the special zombie casting the spell, these manipulated zombies and skeletons would stop?
Having figured this out, Durin swung his Morning Star again, directly smashing the neck of a desiccated zombie in front of him, sending grey-green decaying flesh splattering everywhere.
[One-Handed Weapon +3, Current Proficiency: 101/125]
[One-Handed Weapon Specialization Point *1]
[Running +3, Current Proficiency: 76/100]
[Running Specialization Point *1]
Durin fought with increasing ferocity, constantly approaching the special zombie holding the staff. The further he advanced, the more he noticed that these zombies seemed to have been dead longer, and the stench was not as strong.
Their bodies were no longer in the process of decaying; they were basically dried up, leaving only skeletons draped with tattered clothes, creaking as they charged at Durin.
Durin looked at the two lines of text prompts that flashed before him. He silently took a small step back, creating distance between himself and the skeletons and zombies.
Then he immediately opened his character card system and, without hesitation, allocated the unassigned skill specialization points from his level-up to Running.
In this current tense situation, he desperately needed to recover his stamina.
So, when the Running skill upgraded from Lv.4 to Lv.5, reaching max level, the fatigue caused by exhaustion was swept away, and his depleted stamina recovered significantly.
Next, he looked at the two One-Handed Weapon specialization choices that popped up, with their passive effects—
[Duelist: When alone, damage with one-handed weapons without a shield +20%. When participating in arena competitions alone, reputation gained is doubled.]
[Training Master: Personal Health +2. When acting as a captain, companions in the team gain +5% experience after each battle.]
Durin quickly scanned these two specializations and immediately understood the bonuses they would provide him. The former would make it easier for him to deal with these zombies and skeletons.
The latter would give him a stronger physique, allowing him to fight a prolonged battle with these zombies and skeletons.
The former's passive conflicted with the [Shieldbearer] passive specialization Durin had previously chosen. The various passive specializations granted by the character card system were like stacking various buffs on a character when leveling up in a game.
And from the current situation, the second [Training Master] which increased personal health was more suitable for the numerous enemies Durin was currently facing.
Thinking this, Durin decisively made his choice, selecting the [Training Master] specialization passive.
Durin could clearly feel extremely obvious changes occurring in his limbs, a feeling of expansion surging from within, like an inflated balloon, even his internal organs felt hot.
Then, the two Running specialization choices popped up, with their passive effects—
[Walking and Talking: Increases the base success rate of persuading others by 30%. When you are a captain, you can increase your companions' verbal conviction by 40%.]
[Extraordinary Stamina: Stamina recovery in forging +50%. If you have captives, it will reduce their escape probability by 10%.]
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