The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

The sound of bones being knocked could be heard continuously coming from the resurrection space within the maze.

Lance sat calmly on the protruding stone bed, while behind him, Angelica pouted and kept pounding his back with her fist.

The left fist followed by the right fist, it was more like massaging his back than hitting him.

The other skeletons watched from afar, too afraid to approach.

"That's outrageous! That's outrageous! That's outrageous!"

"We're not going to die anyway," Lance said.

"That won't do! How can you use someone as a shield!"

As she spoke, Angelica angrily smacked Lance on the head again.

Clearly, Lance had anticipated this situation and had already devised a solution.

He stood up and lifted Angelica up, supporting her under his armpits, as if he were showing her off his pet cat.

Looking around, he said loudly:

"Thanks to the newcomer! We defeated a human! We won!"

"Eh!"

Surprised, Angelica even forgot to struggle, letting Lance hold her up like an exhibit.

The skeletons around her had gleaming eyes and moved closer, giving her thumbs up repeatedly, while a series of creaking sounds came from the room.

Some skeletons, with their hands raised, happily ran around in the resurrection space.

Some even linked arms and started dancing.

The skeleton's happiness is that simple.

The process of going from "I think" to "achieving" can make them happy for quite a while.

Lance put Angelica down and, while she was still reeling from the shock of being surrounded, checked his spoils.

[Elemental Affinity: Reduces mana cost when using elemental magic]

It's a pretty good class talent, avoiding the mana shortage characteristic of the skeleton race.

Next, Lance checked the plundering skills.

He acquired three elemental attack spells in one go, and the skill level of the skills he learned through plunder was the same as that of the caster.

As for the skills [Arcane Knowledge] and [Common Language], they appear in the form of memory.

"Whoosh—"

A burning fireball emerged from Lance's fingertips, its orange-yellow light illuminating the gray stone room and casting the shadows of the skeletons onto the walls.

The skeletons turned their heads, each raising their hands and leaning back, feigning fear.

This action seemed contagious, eventually affecting Angelica as well. She raised her hands and shouted Lance's name in shock.

"Mr. Lance!!!"

"I can hear you clearly, you don't need to shout so loudly."

"Why can you use magic?!"

"Can't you do it too?" Lance replied. "We're all skeletons; there's no room for exceptions."

Then, he smashed the flame in his hand against the wall in front of him, leaving a charred mark.

After all, it's only LV3, so its power is just so-so, Lance thought to himself.

I also checked the mana consumption.

【Magic Power: 500/550】

A single Fireball LV3 spell costs 50 mana, even with the mana cost reduction from the Elemental Affinity skill.

It can be used 11 times when fully charged, which is a bit of a waste, but it's still pretty good as a covert tactic for ambushing in battle.

Skills that allow for surprise attacks are all quite good.

"Angelica." Lance beckoned to Angelica, "Use your mana replenishment skill on me."

Now that there are skills that consume mana, Lance's first thought is to experiment with Angelica's talent.

"But there are no magic crystals," Angelica muttered under her breath, "and Mr. Lance never used the word 'please' when he asked them for help."

She kept glancing in his direction as she spoke.

Before he could finish speaking, Lance grabbed her hand:

"Please, the gentlest lady in the world, Angelica, replenish my mana... I said before that even without magic crystals, holding hands would be fine, right?"

Although Lance didn't know what magic crystals were.

Angelica lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Is she...shy?

Lance remembered that she had mentioned that she had never tried to hold hands with anyone without relying on the magic crystal.

Although it's a skeleton, its soul is still that of a young girl.

Lance cleared his throat:

Angelica.

"what?"

"Although I am a skeleton," Lance said, "I am attracted to human priestesses and large-breasted elves, and I have no feelings for skeletons. You understand?"

"I'm so sorry I'm a skeleton!"

Angelica tilted her jaw, almost as if she were making a "pouting" gesture, and her voice was filled with unhappiness.

But thanks to Lance's joke, she calmed down a bit.

He then calmed himself down and began using the mana replenishment skill on Lance.

The magic flowed from Angelica's body to Lance's body, using their clasped hands as a bridge, but the rate was... very slow.

In about 10 minutes, only 50 mana points were replenished.

In other words, after Lance's magic power is depleted during battle, he must raise his hand and say to the enemy, "Wait two hours while I recharge."

Only then can you have full mana and continue fighting.

It's completely useless!

"This is too slow," Lance complained.

"I already said it's slow!" Angelica muttered, "That's why we need to use magic crystals as a medium to transmit magic."

"Do people from your area all have this skill? I mean, the priests of your church."

"It's the Church of Frey!" Angelica reminded her irritably, then paused, raised her chin, and looked quite smug. "This is a skill that only I can use; it's a gift from the goddess."

After saying that, she crossed her hands on her shoulders, lowered her head slightly, and muttered something in a devout tone.

"Frei, goddess of the sky and storms, your most devout follower Angelica prays to you, thanking you for your blessings..."

Lance watched Angelica praying with great interest.

Religious beliefs are something that no world lacks.

He didn't mind these things; he even found it quite amusing to have a skeleton around who kept praising "goddess."

Lance said he was quite grateful to the goddess for sending her devout follower to the labyrinth as a skeleton.

Angelica will definitely occupy an important tactical position in future development plans.

Halfway through her prayer, Angelica suddenly stopped, looking somewhat dazed and incredulous.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked.

"I prayed when the goddess didn't answer," Angelica replied blankly, then turned to look at Lance, "and punished me instead."

"punish?"

Lance checks Angelica's panel.

[HP: 10/20]

I'm losing health.

Is this a case of being betrayed by a vow?

"Could it be because you're a skeleton now?" Lance guessed.

Considering that goddess's title, "Goddess of the Sky and Storms," ​​she probably wouldn't like the undead.

"Splash—"

Angelica collapsed to the ground, her bones clattering, and she threw her head back, covering her face with her hands before bursting into desperate sobs.

"Waaaaah! My goddess dumped me!"

"Is there a god for monsters?" Lance asked curiously. "I mean, you can pray to the god of monsters in the future, and you shouldn't be punished."

The crying stopped abruptly.

Angelica turned to look at Lance in surprise, then cried even harder and louder.

"Ugh! I don't want that kind of thing!"

Skeletons cannot share each other's joys and sorrows.

Angelica is heartbroken because she has been abandoned by the goddess she worships, while the skeleton on the other side is happy because it has defeated humans.

They linked arms and formed a circle around Angelica, dancing in circles, hoping she would join the celebration.

then.

Angelica cried even harder, shouting things like "You guys are so mean."

Lance couldn't comprehend the feeling of a faith collapsing.

In short, let her cry for a while first.

It's my first time being a monster, so there's always a learning curve.

As for the next steps...

Try fighting the boss after you revive.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The midday sun shines through the branches and leaves onto the ground, and a gentle breeze blows through the leaves, causing dappled shadows to sway.

The entrance to the Kru Labyrinth.

Martin was panting, and his tense mood only eased when he stepped out of the maze and felt the sunlight.

"This maze is fucking weird."

Mulin, who had escaped the maze together, leaned on his knees, panting and cursing under his breath.

Recalling those terrifying experiences, Mullin still feels lingering fear.

Martin glanced at the reckless fool beside him, especially at the staff on his back, and remained vigilant.

"Aren't you going to collect your comrade's body?"

"Stop pretending to be a nice guy," Mullin cursed, panting. "And you saw his body turn into a skeleton with your own eyes! Damn, that's really creepy!"

Martin's face turned pale at the mention of this.

That skeleton knight was too strange; such a monster had never appeared in the labyrinth before.

Duke was pierced through the throat by the black sword thrown by the Skeleton Knight and died instantly.

Just as Mullin was about to retrieve the equipment from Duke's body to sell for money, a skeleton suddenly emerged from Duke's corpse.

That scene was in a league of its own, even as a nightmare.

Startled, Mullin yelled and swung his sword, killing "Duke" once again.

Feeling lingering fear, they no longer coveted the equipment and hurriedly left with Martin, carrying only the staff.

"What are your plans for the future?" Martin asked.

To be honest, he was about to retire and didn't want to get involved in this mess. It would be best if the two of them could just separate like this.

Mullin's answer surprised him somewhat.