Stephen didn't seem particularly pleased with the outcome of the battle, but of course, he couldn't help but enjoy the praise.

He swung his sword, striking a very cool finishing pose:"Alright, let's move quickly."

Kenley nodded. Stephen had mostly relied on his own moves during the fight, except for the last thrust, which was a warrior's [Charge] skill.

Let me add a side note here: in the world of the Aude continent game, most people refer to the cooldown of skills as the"elemental replenishment period." Since the entire world was created by the Mother Goddess, and it contains elemental laws, after using a skill, everyone, whether a warrior or a mage, must wait for the elemental energy to replenish before they can use another skill. For players, this is essentially the"cooldown" period.

But what excited Kenley the most was that after Stephen killed the two skeleton soldiers, he saw two golden lights rush into his body—experience points! The two level-10 skeleton soldiers were enough for Kenley, a level-1 warrior, to level up several times! What was even better was that although he was in a party with Stephen, Kenley didn't receive any party experience penalty! This was fantastic news.

Each level-up granted Kenley five skill points, and the warrior skill tree didn't have many initial skills, just a few crucial ones: Battle Stance, Defensive Stance, Sweep, Slash, and Charge, each with three levels. Kenley was still at level 0 (pre-level 10), and he couldn't unlock more skills until he reached the first tier.

Kenley quickly leveled up to level 4, gaining 20 skill points, which he immediately used to max out his basic attack skills. Strengthening himself was his priority.

Kenley first maxed out Defensive Stance, Battle Stance, Sweep, and Vertical Slash, while he needed level 5 to learn Charge. The early warrior skills are divided into three tiers—low, medium, and high. It only costs three skill points to max out each skill.

Some might wonder why there are so many skill points at each level, but the few skills available at the first tier are scarce. This is because later on, players can learn skills from NPCs, so extra skill points are used for learning new abilities after seeking out a master. But we'll leave this for now and move on.

Back to the main perspective:

As they continued down the path, they encountered several scattered skeleton soldiers. These skeletons had naturally been created by the influence of dark elements, a common occurrence in tombs. Kenley quickly defeated them and absorbed the experience, continuing to clear monsters until they reached the tomb chamber. Kenley had already reached level 7, and his HP was now 27.

"We're here, it's this one," Kenley pointed to a large door at the end of the narrow path. Through the door, there was a faint blue glow that illuminated the entire tomb chamber.

Even without torches, the group could see the layout of the entire tomb clearly.

Around the room were numerous ornate coffin racks, neatly arranged with coffins. This style was created by the Light Church of Lopa Town, a typical Northern noble tomb style.

In the center of the room was a special coffin, belonging to the tomb's owner, a wealthy noble from the area. Behind it was a redwood chest, clearly the treasure they were looking for.

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"Mother Goddess above, forgive our intrusion. We did not mean to disturb your eternal rest. The child is crying, the wife trembling, and we only ask that after death, the useless belongings are left for those in need. Once we have the treasure, we will leave," Stephen took a step forward, respectfully performing a warrior's salute to the tomb's owner.

Afterward, he turned back to the group and said,"Everyone, stay extra vigilant. Do not touch anything except the treasure!"

"Yes! Captain!" the group replied in unison.

Translation of the Original Text:

Hiss~ There's some etiquette. I didn't expect that Stephen would have such a noble air. Could it be that his ancestors were nobles? Maybe they've fallen from grace now? Kenley couldn't help but think.

The group cautiously approached the treasure chest, carefully avoiding the main coffin. It was easy—there were no more dark minions like before.

Just as Stephen reached out to open the chest's lid, before he could even see what was inside, they suddenly heard a long sigh.

"Hm?!" Everyone was startled.

As Kenley had expected, the treasure chest triggered the key mechanism for a boss fight. The moment it was touched, the boss battle would begin.

Kenley glanced around the tomb room and quickly noticed a crack. When they were clearing the noble tomb dungeon in the past, a player had discovered a hidden passage inside the tomb that was just wide enough to hide a person.

The boss had been slowly trapped in this passage by that player, and the player was able to whittle it down over time. The boss had a very obvious weakness: its large size prevented it from entering the narrow passage, so the player could counterattack from the safety of the passage.

This created a strategy for soloing the boss, and the official game developers never fixed this bug, allowing players to continue exploiting it. Later, when new expansions were released and players leveled up, fewer people bothered with this 20-level dungeon, heading instead for higher-level ones. This explained why the developers didn't fix the issue.

And just like in the game, the secret passage was still there!

"You alone know how much impurity and filth have seeped into your hearts..." As the sigh finished, the central coffin in the tomb slowly opened.

"In the embrace of the Mother Goddess you once rested, now you embrace the light of Daisy. Intruders, you shall sleep here with me..."

Just as expected, the exact same lines as in the game, Kenley thought, feeling a bit moved as memories of the early days in the newbie village resurfaced.

As the speech ended, a tall skeleton mage in a robe rose from the coffin! A skeleton mage—this was a boss-level entity that could wipe out teams in the early stages, though later on, it would just be an elite monster. Kenley let out a sigh of relief, it seemed the secret passage could be used again, and they didn't have to worry about being wiped out.

Stephen, seeing the robe, immediately narrowed his eyes. He realized that things weren't going well.

However, he stood with his sword in both hands, taking a step forward and planting the sword into the ground."We walk under the same light, following in Daisy's footsteps. Tomb's master, forgive our sudden intrusion. We meant no disrespect to your eternal rest. We only seek to satisfy the hunger of children, ease the labor of wives, and light the fires of winter. Once we have taken what is needed, we will leave."

"Filthy intruders, gold cannot satisfy the endless pit of desire, and food cannot satisfy the greedy stomach. Your excuses are meaningless. Death is justice... Pass my test, or you shall sleep with me!"

As the words finished, Kenley's game interface immediately displayed an entry with the boss's health bar.

[Lost Noble· Skeleton Mage· Dain]

Race: Undead

Level: 20

HP: 122

MP:???

Note: Once a renowned noble of the Kane Empire, now resting in an unknown place...

A mage-type boss, still carrying the bloodline of nobility. Besides basic spells, this type of boss might also have inherited magic.

With 122 HP, it clearly had the fragile nature of a mage. If this had been a level 20 skeleton knight, its health would easily have been over 300. But even with this relatively low HP, it was still quite challenging for players at the first tier when the dungeon was first released.