"Master, look! It's a hidden Boss!" The female swordsman's eyes twinkled with a hint of excitement.

Hidden Bosses are a major feature in the game, each one cloaked in its own narrative.

Upon defeat, they not only drop valuable items like equipment and skill books but also have a chance to drop quest items for class advancement, along with various other rare and curious objects.

Thus, the moment the female swordsman laid eyes on the Mountain Troll, she was visibly thrilled.However, the man in front of her remained impassive.

"This is not a monster we can challenge," he said, his tone flat, devoid of excitement or anticipation.He focused intently on a blood-colored skeleton, his eyes revealing deep contemplation.

"Uh…"

The female swordsman wasn't sure what to say, but something clicked and her enthusiasm was quickly reined in.She obediently moved to stand behind the man, daring not to mention the hidden Boss again.

"Fleeting kill with borrowed force, Gale Step? A bit rusty though..."The man cracked a faint smile as he observed Alexander, his fists tightly gripping his golden gauntlets.

Meanwhile, Alexander's battle with the Mountain Troll had escalated to a frenetic pitch.With Alexander's terrifying archery skills, the Mountain Troll's health was already down by half.

Yet, Alexander keenly sensed someone else's presence. Being a skeleton, he was hyper-sensitive to any living creatures with flesh and blood.

But sheer distance wasn't the only factor; he was over three hundred meters away from these people.His heightened awareness was the result of long-term cultivation of an absolute intuition from his days as a god-tier player.

Someone was watching him!

Taking advantage of a boulder hurled by the Mountain Troll, Alexander backpedaled over a dozen steps. After dissipating the rock fragments, he turned to find his observer. Across the three-hundred-meter expanse, their eyes met.

The man had a clean-cut hairstyle, golden gauntlets, and bulging muscles that exuded a savage aura. Just one glance, and Alexander was captivated.

Behind the man stood a stunning female swordsman, sensuous and beautiful. Yet, in Alexander's eyes——only the man commanded his attention.

This was the aura of a true master.

Alexander chuckled inwardly; once he recognized who it was, he felt relieved. This guy was no enemy.

He reengaged in the battle, transforming his bow and arrow into a Blood Prison cleaver and charged at the Mountain Troll.

"Boom!"

The hefty back of the blade, laden with monumental force, was less likely to rebound compared to a spear.A flash of blood-red blade light, and a damage number floated above the Mountain Troll's head.

“-507.”

As he struck, his steps had already carried him behind the Mountain Troll.Another cleave followed.

“-507.”

Alexander's agility was remarkable. Once again, he appeared behind the Mountain Troll and slashed.

“-507.”

The Mountain Troll roared in anger but saw no one. It could only bellow and spin in place.Hidden Bosses possess a certain level of intelligence; they're not mere mobs that simply follow game rules. Yet, what was happening now was beyond its comprehension.

It had no idea what was occurring, only aware that it was continuously taking damage underfoot.

Frustrated, it could only roar.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

The Mountain Troll's voice was loud enough to be heard clearly even by the man and woman standing three hundred meters away.

"Master, why is this blood skeleton..."

"Don't ask, just watch," the man gestured with his hand.

"Oh," the female swordsman immediately closed her mouth, but her mind was filled with astonishment.

She simply couldn't understand how a blood skeleton's skills could surpass hers, after five years of hard training.It made no sense!

Has the game developer's brain been eaten by zombies? Designing such a Boss?This is ridiculous!

...

The commotion from Alexander's fight with the Mountain Troll was too great to go unnoticed by surrounding players.

Players in the vicinity started to catch wind of it and began heading towards the stone wood.

The first to receive the message and arrive was Thor, the guild leader of the Thunder Guild. Leading a group of around a hundred players, he arrived at the peculiar stone wood.

"Guild Leader, this is the place. I heard from someone that there's a hidden Boss here, a blood skeleton, and it's really powerful."

"I've heard," Thor listened to the distant rumbling noise, intrigued.

"Seal off the surrounding area; we’re taking over."

"Roger that."Members of the Thunder Guild instantly became excited.

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This was the first hidden Boss discovered server-wide. Whoever could land the first kill would undoubtedly gain immense popularity. A server-wide announcement would make the Thunder Guild the trending name. With the guild's rise in fame, its members would naturally enjoy higher privileges.

"Listen up, everyone, get fired up. First, let’s drive away players from other guilds—"

"Hold on," Thor’s expression suddenly changed. He thought he saw a familiar face.

"What’s going on? What happened, Guild Leader?"

"Everyone, quiet down." Thor furrowed his brows, signaling for silence before heading towards the man.

"What's happening? What's going on with the Guild Leader?"

"How would I know? Maybe he... ran into someone he knows?"

"Someone he knows?" A few leading players exchanged puzzled glances as they watched Thor approach the man and woman hiding behind the rock formation. Thor himself felt a bit uneasy; he genuinely hadn't expected to run into him here.

"Mr—"

Thor had barely begun to speak when he was interrupted by the man with golden gauntlets. "Take your subordinates and escort irrelevant players out."

The man with the golden gauntlets turned his head, his lips curling in a slight, cold sneer.

Thor felt a shiver down his spine.

A fleeting struggle crossed his face, but a moment later, he made up his mind. "Li, clear out the players around here!"

Li was utterly baffled; he had no idea what had just happened.Why was their usually domineering Guild Leader so deferential in front of the man with the golden gauntlets?

A single sentence had been enough to make their Guild Leader retreat?They even sensed that their Guild Leader seemed... slightly fearful?

All they could do was execute Thor's orders with questions in their hearts, driving away the nosy players who had come to watch.

Meanwhile, they couldn't help but mutter, "Who the hell is that guy? And who is fighting the Boss inside?"

"So, they're taking on the Boss while we, the Thunder Guild, stand guard? This guy really has no sense of propriety, does he?"

"Thud!"

"–1176!"

Another strike lands, triggering critical damage.

At this point, Mountain Troll only has 10,003 hit points left, less than a tenth of its original health.

Alexander manages to bring a hidden Boss to such a dire state in less than a minute and a half!

Sofia, standing a hundred meters away, is almost overwhelmed with excitement; her heart rate soars.

"It's about to burst, it's about to burst!"

In perhaps less than 20 seconds, Mr. Skeleton could finish it off!

"Mr. Skeleton is like a god, even capable of soloing a hidden Boss. This is just too incredible," Sofia exclaims, her hands shaking with enthusiasm.

However, what puzzles her is the absence of other players despite all the commotion.

She may just be a game enthusiast, but she understands one thing: players always love to gather where the action is. It makes no sense that no one has shown up.

"This is really odd," a bewildered expression appears on Sofia’s exquisite face.

"Ding... Congratulations on killing the hidden Boss Mountain Troll. You've gained 20,000 experience points, a first-kill reward of 20 gold coins."

"First kill of a hidden Boss, loot drop rate increased by 200%."

"You are the first player in the Solar System service area to kill a hidden Boss. Would you like to make an announcement across the Solar System?"

"Boom!"

Mountain Troll’s massive body falls to the ground with a thunderous crash, sending countless shards of rock flying into the air.

Then, items radiate in one green and three blue glows, scattering across the ground. Equipment, silver coins, special items, and potions lay strewn everywhere, dazzling to the eye.

"Congratulations on killing Mountain Troll, gaining 20,000 experience points, 20,000 evolution points, and 400 enhancement points."

"Only 400 enhancement points?"

After killing Mountain Troll, Alexander feels slightly discontent when he sees that he's only received 400 enhancement points.

It seems... that earning enhancement points is much more difficult than earning evolution points.A level 20 hidden Boss only dropped 400 enhancement points.

One can only imagine how stingy other Bosses might be.

"Let's first see what dropped and if there’s anything I can use."Alexander starts rummaging through the loot on the ground. Equipment doesn't matter to him;

Because he's a skeleton, he can't wear any. Skill books are what he's most keen on obtaining.

With a 200% extra drop rate, even Alexander isn't sure what special items he may have won.

However, Alexander does spot something unusual in the top-right corner of his field of vision. He quickly moves forward and picks it up.

"You have picked up a Skeleton Cavalry Token x 1."

"Skeleton Cavalry Token?" Alexander gazes at the bone token resting quietly on his skeletal hand.

[Skeleton Cavalry Token]

Quality: Common

Level: 1

Special Item: A token that can summon a skeletal cavalry horse. Chant the incantation, and you can summon a skeletal cavalry horse. Can be used only once.

"Utterly worthless," Alexander mutters under his breath.

He's gotten summoning tokens in other games he's played; they just had different forms. The world of gaming is full of bizarre summoning tokens, even some for mythical creatures like sacred dragons, phoenixes, hydras, titans, Medusa, angels, and so on.

But he is well aware that such low-tier tokens can't summon high-quality creatures. The summoned beings from this token would have horrendous stats and would perish upon the slightest touch. They're purely decorative.

"I wonder if it can evolve?" Alexander suddenly ponders.

"Hexagram of the Underworld, Skeleton Sea heed my command, descend from the abyss!"Staring at the inscriptions on the token, Alexander mentally recites the chant.

As he speaks the incantation, within the Sea of Skeletons in the Underworld, a skeletal cavalry horse, composed entirely of bones, gradually stands up amidst the endless ocean of skeletons.

"Whoosh!"

In front of Alexander appears a skeleton cavalry horse, an awe-inspiring assembly of pure, bleached bone. Its leg bones are extraordinarily robust, indicating that in life, it must have been a magnificent warhorse.

However, its stats are nothing to write home about.

[Skeleton Cavalry Horse]

Quality: Common

Health: 1

Defense: 0

Movement Speed: +10%

Description: A decorative skeleton cavalry horse. Cannot be revived upon death.

"It really is trash," Alexander mutters.

"Evolution requires 10,000 evolution points. Would you like to proceed?"

Alexander couldn't contain his curiosity and gave it a try, only to find that it actually worked.

Given that, he wasn't too concerned about having an extra horse. Horses moved much faster than players, especially when galloping. Possessing a horse offered him an additional escape route when things got dicey.

Furthermore, weapons like lances and longswords had speed bonuses when wielded from horseback. The damage was calculated based on speed, causing instantaneous bursts of high damage.

The difference between a knight with a horse and one without was like night and day. Although he'd easily defeated the hidden Boss, this was just the tip of the iceberg; a level 20 hidden Boss was barely a blip on the radar.

The Mountain Troll had been slow, which made it easy to defeat, but many Bosses possessed various formidable abilities: extreme speed, unavoidable area-of-effect damage, forced invincibility, one-shot kills, control immunity, magic immunity, physical immunity, unknockable, and armor penetration, to name a few.

He was still a far cry from invincibility.

Alexander understood that only by defeating Bosses could he gain valuable Enhancement points. His fate was intertwined with battling various Bosses in the future.

Currently summoned as a skeletal being by Sophia, he could not afford any mistakes. Once dead, he could not be resurrected. Therefore, any increase in his power would add an extra layer of insurance to his survival.

"Spent 10,000 evolution points, evolving Skeleton Cavalry Horse successful."

"Gained Skeletal War Horse."

[Skeletal War Horse]

Quality: Common

Health: 300

Defense: 5

Speed: +20%

Summary: A regular skeletal warhorse. Cannot be resurrected after death.

"Just a minor upgrade. Let's continue."

"Spent 15,000 evolution points, evolving into Skeletal Steed..."

"Spent 20,000 evolution points, evolving into Elite Skeletal Horse successful, quality upgraded."

[Elite Skeletal Horse]

Quality: Elite

Health: 1000

Defense: 20

Speed: +50%

Skill: Leap

Summary: A top-of-the-line war horse, astonishingly fast, capable of leaping up to 10 meters. Cannot be resurrected after death.

"A good find," Alexander mused, satisfied. Now, riding on this Elite Skeletal Horse with Sophia, traversing maps would become much faster.