Kyo's eyes burned with a flicker of intelligence, scanning the skeletons in the deep, shadowy valley.

The skeletons, however, remained completely oblivious to his gaze.

After all, lacking any intelligence, they could only wander aimlessly until given orders by Ponud.

Kyo's criteria for a target were simple: low level, good skills, and isolated.

But finding a skeleton of similar level in this dragon’s lair was not an easy task.

After all, a level-1 skeleton could almost be considered rare.

Most skeletons were above level 5, and those below level 5 were few. Kyo hadn’t encountered a level-1 skeleton—aside from himself—until now.

But with persistence, nothing was impossible.

During his patrol, Kyo was lucky enough to find a skeleton he was satisfied with.

A level-3 skeleton, equipped with the skill [Swift].

He was particularly drawn to its long, slender legs, smooth and white like jade.

He followed the skeleton, his burning blue flames fixed on those beautiful, exposed legs.

The skeleton, oblivious, continued its aimless walk.

Kyo waited for the right moment, for the skeleton to stray from the group.

Skeletons wandered without pattern. Patience was key; eventually, this charming skeleton would be isolated.

Then, Kyo would strike.

Skeletons also needed rest, and when it fell asleep, that would be his chance!

Having transformed into a skeleton, Kyo had become more patient, like a hunter stalking its prey.

Time passed, and Kyo seized his opportunity.

The skeleton lay down, its legs, [Swift Lv1], exuding an irresistible aura.

Kyo didn’t rush. He continued to wait until the skeleton’s status bar displayed [Sleep], then silently moved closer, grabbing a large stone.

The eerie blue flames in his eye sockets flickered slightly.

With a swift motion, the stone smashed down with a loud *clang*.

The skeleton’s legs trembled, and its head shattered, the blue flames slowly fading.

[Ding, killed low-tier skeleton, experience +30]

Suppressing his excitement, Kyo reached for the skeleton’s smooth legs.

He removed the right leg and replaced his own, using [Bone Transformation] to connect the two perfectly.

A familiar warmth surged through his body, and his cracked bones began to heal. The dark tint faded completely, leaving behind only a faint yellow.

His bones' rough surface had slightly smoothed.

[Ding, obtained skill: Swift Lv1]

After adjusting the bone’s size, he stood up.

Testing his legs, he quickly realized his speed had greatly improved.

The strength of his bones seemed to have increased slightly.

Kyo examined his ribs, pondering.

His race, even among skeletons, was considered low-tier, with a level cap of 10.

To escape Ponud’s grasp, evolution was essential.

However, evolution required all three of his core attributes to reach 10 points.

“Does replacing higher-tier bones increase these attributes...?”

After slaying a couple of low-tier skeletons, Kyo decided to rest.

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After all, haste makes waste.

He found a hidden cave to sleep and restored his mental and physical energy.

Since he no longer had flesh, hunger was no longer an issue, but his exposed bones slowly deteriorated. His bone life span was now only one year.

Hmm...

Upon checking his status, Kyo noticed that his bone deterioration had slowed down.

It used to be that his bones would only last a year, but now it was extended by a month.

Was it due to the increased constitution?

This brought a small sense of relief.

It seemed that he would need to harvest more bones from his “lovely coworkers.”

When he woke up, Kyo stretched his spine, easing the tension in his lower back, then moved on to track down more skeletons with desirable skills.

Eventually, he targeted a level-4 skeleton with the [Great Strength Lv1] skill.

Its thick arm bones glowed faintly white in the dark valley.

Now that Kyo had [Hard Bone] for defense and [Swift] for speed, his strength was lacking.

He followed, waited, and waited for the right moment.

With a heavy thud, a large stone crushed the skeleton’s skull after two solid hits.

[Ding, killed low-tier skeleton, experience +40]

[Experience full, level up to Lv2]

[Free attribute point +1]

The blue flames in his chest and eye sockets flared up before calming down again.

The missing bone indentations began to grow back.

So leveling up gives free attribute points?

Kyo realized he had discovered a stable method to gain attribute points.

His experience bar shifted from 100 to 200.

He spent his free attribute point on strength.

A wave of tingling spread through his bones, and their density seemed to increase slightly.

Next, he removed the left arm bone from the skeleton and replaced his own with it using [Bone Transformation].

The familiar sensation returned, but the improvement wasn’t as noticeable as before.

A message popped up on his panel.

[Ding, obtained skill: Great Strength Lv1]

Kyo thought for a moment, then attempted to swap another arm bone, but when he did, his panel changed.

[Hard Bone Lv1] disappeared from the panel, and his bones became noticeably weaker.

Quickly, he reattached the arm bone, and the skill returned.

“Is this how it works...?”

Kyo wasn’t surprised. If he could keep swapping out his limbs for new ones, it would be far too overpowered.

He could only gain up to four skills, one per limb.

Rather than truly "gaining" skills, it seemed like he was borrowing them from the bones he swapped.

To fully integrate these skills, he would probably need to evolve these limbs.

After dealing with the skeleton’s remains, Kyo began to search for his final skill.

Smashing two skeletons a day had become a crucial habit.

Through persistence, he believed he would eventually break free from Ponud’s evil grasp.