I, Stone Golem, only want to forge.

Although Murphy was able to brake at the last second, an accident still occurred.

Ghostly peeking out isn't scary; what's scary is when this ghostly peeking out comes flying in.

What's terrifying is that the flying object is invisible!

The stone tore through the air with a whistling sound, and Murphy dragged a long gash across the trembling ground.

boom!

During his sprint, even though there was nothing in front of him, Murphy felt something blocking his way.

Then, a figure inexplicably flew backwards in front of him.

It flew more than ten meters away, crashed into the wall, and then shattered into pieces.

Murphy slammed on the brakes in shock, then looked at the things he had hit.

This, however, brought him a sense of relief.

It's a skeleton.

Oh no, it's a quarter of a skeleton, except for the rather hard skull and a few vertebrae.

The remaining portion has turned into bone meal.

However, as long as the core of an undead creature isn't damaged, the rest can be easily replaced, so it's not like it will be directly killed by a collision.

But why can this thing become invisible?

Skeletons have this ability?

Murphy scratched his head, then walked up to the skeleton and asked:

"Is he dead?"

A flash of deep blue light appeared in the skull's eyes, as if it hadn't expected Murphy to be able to communicate with it, let alone ask about something like this.

He pondered Murphy's words for a long time before finally saying something.

"He's already dead."

Murphy paused, then looked at the skeleton in front of him.

Suddenly it dawned on me: how could the undead not be dead?

So it could only cough twice to change the subject, and then pretend nothing had happened and continue asking questions.

"How about I find some bones for you and we can assemble them?"

"Human bones?" the skeleton asked.

Murphy thought for a while. Apart from the previous five, he hadn't really seen any other humans, and probably no human bones either.

"Uh, I probably won't find it."

A glint flashed in the skull's eyes, then it fell silent again.

"How about I put one together for you out of metal?"

Although the skeleton was captured largely because he hid and appeared out of nowhere.

But it was indeed Murphy who caused the accident, so making a body for him wouldn't be a problem.

Of course, the main reason is that the rewards from its Craftsman's Hammer are related to race.

He was quite curious about what kind of rewards would be given for forging things for the undead.

How do you spell metal?

The fire in the skull's eyes magnified slightly; it didn't quite understand what Murphy was saying.

"Why can bones be pieced together, but metal can't?"

As Murphy spoke, he used his large hand to scoop the skeleton up.

"Dude, I'm just a skeleton. Do you think I've ever been to school?"

The skeleton said, somewhat speechless.

Murphy calculated the distance and it seemed that getting to the goblin tribe from here was closer than going home.

Then let's just go to Gobruna to forge it, since it still owes me some metal anyway.

After thinking it over, he asked the skeleton with some curiosity.

"You don't sound stupid. Did you become a skeleton after you died?"

"Hmm, how did I become a skeleton before I died?"

"..." Murphy fell silent again.

Makes sense.

"What you should be asking is whether I retain any memories from before I died, right?"

The skeleton speculated.

Some skeletons are formed naturally over time due to environmental factors.

Some are caused by human factors, such as curses or resentment.

"Ah, yes."

Murphy nodded; he really didn't know much about the undead.

"Skeletons only have some memories of their previous lives, but they retain their personalities from that time."

As the skeleton spoke, it sized up Murphy.

"Are you a stone man?"

This time, Murphy silently looked at the skull in his hand, then looked away.

The skeleton wasn't embarrassed at all; only the fire in its eyes flickered.

"Yeah, my whole body is made of stone."

"Why can you become invisible?" Murphy asked.

"I'm curious about how you managed that speed?"

The skeleton retorted, but he was more talkative than Murphy, adding another sentence after he finished speaking.

"I never thought any stone golem could leave afterimages. If my skull hadn't been a bit harder, I probably would have been smashed to pieces on the spot."

Murphy explained:

"Hmm...don't you think an invisible skeleton is even more eerie?"

"Aren't undead creatures supposed to be eerie?"

Murphy fell silent again.

That actually makes a lot of sense...

However, Murphy didn't argue about it much, but changed the subject and asked about the skeleton's purpose in coming here.

"The mass grave should be quite far from here, how did you end up here?"

"Oh, I have a feeling that someone from the Vatican has come here. I'd like to see."

As Murphy spoke, he suddenly looked at the other person, the fire in his eyes dimming, and asked abruptly:

"Have you had any contact with anyone from the Vatican recently?"

Murphy nodded: "Yes, what's wrong?"

"They didn't come here to see me, did they?"

The skeleton seemed to be somewhat smug, as if being sought out by the Vatican was something he was very proud of.

"Looking for you? Who are you?"

Murphy picked up the skull and examined it carefully from top to bottom.

However, after half a day, no abnormalities were found in the skull.

Besides being extremely hard.

"Didn't they tell you? I've been to the ends of the earth."

The skeleton's tone became even more smug.

The end of the world? The Vatican?

Upon hearing these two keywords, Murphy instantly remembered them.

Isn't this the crazy paladin that Fina mentioned?

No wonder he said the person's skull was so hard. If it were the corpse of a powerful person, it would be normal that it wouldn't break.

After all, the entire skeleton can be replaced, except for the skull that carries the soul.

"Smart breathing technique?" Murphy asked tentatively.

"Hey, you know about this? It's so widespread?" the skeleton exclaimed in surprise.

"Did you write this?" Murphy pressed.

"If you have to put it in a way, I consider it as something I've incorporated. I've collected the cultivation methods of those without magic power from all over the world and compiled them into this system using my own knowledge."

So, is this considered an adaptation and incorporation?

The skeleton spoke boastfully at lightning speed.

"She just left. Do you want me to hand you over to her?"

Murphy ignored the skeleton's smugness and asked him questions.

"Ah, no need. I don't know what the Vatican is like now, and I'm afraid I'll be furious when I go back."

"So, have you ever been to school? Why can't metal be pieced together to form your body?"

Murphy asked the same question again.

"Because I've tried, but it just doesn't work. As for why? How could a skeleton possibly have read books? I only remember some fragments; I've forgotten all the other knowledge!"

The skeleton's answer remained the same, except it added one more sentence.

"Can you sense why metal can't be pieced together to form your body?"

Murphy was genuinely puzzled. What was the difference between bone and metal?

"Could it be because it's related to essence?" the skull said.