Armipotent

"This is troublesome." Tang Shaoyang muttered as he read the notification. He was still affiliated with the Tang Empire even though he moved with the Karian Adventurer Guild. So, when the skeleton killed the boss monster, it was the Tang Empire who won the contest, not the Karian Adventurer Guild. And the Tang Empire won the Epic Rank Garden, not the Karian Adventurer Guild.

'I will figure this out later.' He did not want to go to the Epic Rank Garden. The resource was too far from his original starter city. It would be hard to fully make use of the garden, so he intended to give it back to the guild. "The time is over, Yu." He recalled Yu, the Ancient Alchemist before he would forget about the herb nerd.

Meanwhile, The Skelly Family gathered where the Demonic Tree fell. He noticed there was a treasure chest glowing in blue, and the skellies surrounded the treasure chest from Eril's party.

Tang Shaoyang leaped into the air and landed right in front of the skellies. "They are our friend, Kaiser. There's no need to be wary of them." He waved his hand.

Despite him telling the skeleton Eril's party was friends, the skeleton had a different thought. Kaiser made clanking noise because its frame was made of metal, speaking to Tang Shaoyang's head directly.

(Precious treasure belongs to Master! They are trying to take your treasure, Master! We are protecting the treasure for you!)

"That's not mine but belongs to the guild." He waved his hand at Kaiser, gesturing to the skeletons to stay back from the treasure chest. "But good work. You guys go beyond my expectation." He gave the Skelly Family a thumbs up. It was genuine praise for the skeletons. It was beyond his expectation for the skeletons to beat the boss monster, which was almost level 2500, double their levels and triple for some of them. Despite the level gap, the skeletons killed the Demonic Tree with ease; at least, it looked easy.

Kaiser once more made the annoying clanking noise as it reacted well to the praise.

(The tree is stupid! It also can't move! It's easy for the Skelly Family.)

Tang Shaoyang shook his head and glanced toward the glowing treasure chest. The blue glow meant it was an Epic Rank Treasure Chest. He had three of them back at home. It was a valuable treasure, but he did not want his relationship with the guild to crack over a mere treasure.

Eril raised her hands. "We don't intend to take the treasure. Since your familiars killed the boss, you take the treasure dropped by the boss since we did not contribute anything to kill the boss. That's how it always works." She was quick to catch up. Even though she did not understand what the skeletons said, she could understand their conversation with how the skeleton protected the treasure chest and Ying's words to the skeletons. Lulu and Roman nodded their heads.

Eril then winked her right eye. "We will talk about the details later. Let's discuss how we are going to fight the Virandal Empire outside." She pointed at the portal that had just formed. The portal was the exit of this pocket dimension, and another battle awaited them outside.

Tang Shaoyang was aware that the wink was about the ownership of the Epic Rank Garden. That was what she wanted to talk about later, so he did not mention anything about handing over the garden to the guild. It would reveal his identity to Roman, Lulu, and Damian, that he was not officially part of the guild. The fewer people knew, the better.

"There's nothing to discuss. We just storm out and take the initiative to attack them, no? A surprise attack from us may put us in an advantageous situation." Tang Shaoyang felt like discussion was not needed in their current situation. With how small their number was, there was nothing that could really change the flow of battle with a plan. Especially they had no information about where the Virandal Empire's additional force was and how many they were.

There was a plan in Tang Shaoyang's head, but he did not want to showcase his full power to the others. The plan needed his full power, where they lured the enemy to another area, and he would fight the Virandal Empire's force by himself. That way, they could minimize the casualties. He would do that if the adventurers were his people, but not in this scenario.

In this scenario, where he had to rely on the Skelly Family, the plan in his mind would not work. On top of that, the Skelly Family seemed to be thriving in chaos.

"I agree with that. We know too little to make a plan." Roman agreed with Ying.

"But can you wait for a moment? I need to check on my skeletons." Tang Shaoyang heard several notifications in his head. And one of them needed his confirmation for advancement.

[Skelly4 — Master Golden Destroyer Skeleton] —> [Skelly4 — Abyssal Destroyer Skeleton]

[Skelly5 — Grandmaster Protector Skeleton] —> [Skelly5 — Abyssal Guardian Skeleton]

[[Skelly6 — Grandmaster Killer Skeleton] has met the requirement to advance! Please choose the next advancement!]

[Abyssal Assassin] [Abyssal Slaughterer] [Infernal Slayer]

This was the first time that level 1000 advancement gave him choices. However, the choices did not really help him much to understand what the advancement did. Skelly6 was known for its sneaky and quick movement, and he figured out that Abyssal Assassin was the closest to its beforehand advancement. If he had to choose, he wanted to see what Abyssal Slaughterer was, and he was tempted by the third choice because of how strong his second class was. There was also a Slayer in his second class, so he thought that the third might be the strongest one of the three, but he was curious about the second choice.

Tang Shaoyang could not really decide, and none of his spirits could give him any advice. He turned toward Skelly6 and asked. "Which one do you want, Skelly6? It's better for you to decide."

The Skelly6's jaw clacking, giving its reply to its master. (I trust you, Master. It will be a blessing for me for you to make the decision, Master.)

His rational thought told him to choose Infernal Slayer, but his feelings told him to choose the second choice. However, the first choice might be the best for the Skelly Family since they did not have someone similar to the assassin's ability to scout and launch a sneak attack in the chaos. That was Skelly6's role in the battle.

At this moment, a voice entered his head.

Clack! Clack! Clack! (Don't worry, Master. Listen to your feelings; I can fill the gap within my family with my summon. I can make a similar familiar to Skelly6's previous advancement.)

Skelly7, the Archmaster Bonemancer, was the one who spoke in his head. Skelly7's words erased the hesitation in his heart as he made a choice. He chose Abyssal Slaughterer.

[Skelly6, Grandmaster Killer Skeleton, has advanced to Abyssal Slaughterer]

Along with the notification, Skelly6's frame was shrouded in dark clouds. Eril's party noticed the sudden change in one of the skeletons, and they paid attention to the shrouded skeletons.

The dark cloud kept growing until it was six meters tall, making it look like a giant black cocoon. No one could see through the dark cloud.

Tang Shaoyang waited for the advancement with great anticipation. This was the joy of nurturing the skeletons, the advancement. The advancement took longer than he expected, maybe because this was level 1000 advancement. Usually, the skeleton instantly advanced, and the longest time took like ten seconds. However, Skelly6 took its time and finished the advancement in five minutes.

The dark cocoon broke out as the dark cloud slowly dissipated. Slowly, a figure came into their sight. The change on Skelly6 was big, not just in the color of the frame but also in its size. Skelly6 had become a giant skeleton, four meters tall, with additional three pairs of hands. That made Skelly6 have four pairs of hands, and each of its hands was holding a battle-ax, similar to the one he had previously. On top of that, its white frame turned black, just like the other Abyssal evolutions. The battle-axes continuously released a black aura, making the giant skeleton look dreadful.

Tang Shaoyang did not really like that Skelly6 turned four meters tall. That was the drawback of the advancement. Aside from that, he liked everything. The four pairs of hands with eight battle-axes; he could picture Skelly6 slaughtering its enemy on the battlefield. He then checked the Skelly Family and how much they gained from killing the boss monster.

[Kaiser (Abyssal Skeleton) - Level 1597]

[Keeper (Infernal Gunslinger) - Level 1534]

[Skelly1 (Earl Skeleton) - Level 1397]

[Skelly2 (Magic Swordsmaster Skeleton) - Level 1347]

[Skelly3 (Abyssal Archmage Skeleton) - Level 1198]

[Skelly4 (Abyssal Destroyer Skeleton - Level 1148]

[Skelly5 (Abyssal Guardian Skeleton) - Level 1131]

[Skelly6 (Abyssal Slaughterer Skeleton) - Level 1079]

[Skelly7 (Archmaster Bonemancer Skeleton) - Level 921]

Tang Shaoyang was surprised by his skeletons' growth. All of them gained over a hundred levels from killing the Demonic Tree. It was a massive leap for them.

He smiled and turned toward Eril. "We are ready." There was great anticipation in his heart, expecting them to grow even with the battle against the Virandal Empire outside the garden.

'I can't be left behind, though. I need to hunt those Myth Ranks if there are any.'