CHAPTER 51: THE WING BONE

The Iron Palanquin swayed slightly as four Purple Thornblade Guards skillfully and steadily lifted it.

They began their journey along the muddy path.

Carlos half-closed his eyes, comfortably leaning back as his fingers rhythmically tapped the armrest. He continuously ran through the upcoming strategy in his mind.

"The Santeyota Ruins were discovered by humans ages ago—ancient ruins from way back when.

On the surface, anything valuable has already been cleaned out, leaving only the busted tower.

But actually, there’s still a wing bone from a demigod-level creature inside that nobody’s found yet."

That demigod-level creature’s wing bone was the target of this trip.

The skill point that had been sitting unused on Carlos’s status panel was specifically saved for this moment.

The goal was simple: perform a blood-bone connection ritual to absorb those wing bones and master the precious flight skill.

Flight skills were a crucial part of Carlos’s future plans.

Plus, flight skills were insanely rare and valuable at the low spiritual level.

Once mastered, facing enemies who couldn’t fly would basically guarantee an unbeatable position.

After all, if you can’t win the fight, can’t you at least fly away?

That’s exactly what he meant.

"This exploration doesn’t need to be kept secret from the guards around me."

Carlos casually glanced around. There were definitely tons of guards positioned by his sister nearby.

Unless they were in a black mist area with spiritual restrictions, these guards couldn’t be avoided.

...

A few days later, the sound of creaking reached his ears. Carlos opened his drowsy eyes, a flash of excitement crossing his gaze.

"We’re here!"

The Santeyota Ruins!

Located on a desolate plain north of Ember City, weathered by time with only a single Santeyota Tower still standing.

Carlos sent out Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard #1 to scout while he shared its vision from outside.

Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard #1 steadily approached the Santeyota Tower.

Through its field of vision, Carlos could see the ancient tower covered in all kinds of colored moss.

Massive vines wrapped around it, and bright flowers bloomed in the cracks between the stones that formed the tower.

All signs pointed to the fact that no humans had set foot in these ruins for a really long time.

"This situation is totally normal.

Over the years, humans have already explored it multiple times, taking everything worth taking and leaving only an empty tower shell.

Naturally, later visitors wouldn’t bother wasting time here."

Carlos directed #1 to cut through the massive vines blocking the tower entrance, then break inside.

Inside the tower was dark and nasty.

Without sunlight, large and small fungi had grown everywhere.

Looking around, dense clusters of white, fat grubs nested beneath the fungal colonies.

The arrival of an outsider freaked them out, causing them to lift their tails and spray streams of white mist.

Soon, the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard’s vision was shrouded in white fog.

"So this place has become a hangout spot for Hallucination Bugs.

No wonder there are no traces of humans."

Hallucination Bugs were small creatures that preferred dark, damp places, fed on fungi, and reproduced like rabbits.

In small numbers, they posed no threat to humans.

But once they gathered in large groups, they became a real pain in the ass.

They could spray concentrated hallucinogenic white mist.

Once inhaled, humans would experience massive hallucinations and do all sorts of crazy stuff.

Hallucination Bugs had another gross trait too.

When killed, their bodies would rapidly vaporize, creating tons of hallucinogenic white mist that would blanket the area. It couldn’t be dispersed quickly—you just had to wait it out.

However, the hallucinogenic white mist was only a problem if inhaled.

"Ignore them and go to the next floor!"

The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard ignored the Hallucination Bugs on the ground and headed straight for the stairs.

It inevitably crushed quite a few Hallucination Bugs along the way.

Their bodies vaporized, creating even more hallucinogenic white mist, but the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard wasn’t affected at all.

This was because skeletal creatures like Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards didn’t even breathe, let alone have brains.

Things like hallucinogenic white mist that messed with biological nervous systems naturally had no effect on them.

"Creak! Creak!"

Floor by floor, each level had different fungi and accompanying biological communities.

Confusion Bugs, Paralysis Bugs, Slime Bugs... a whole zoo of them, with the creatures on each floor clearly separated without any mixing.

This made Carlos kind of suspicious—could these disgusting bugs inside the tower have been deliberately placed there by someone?

Fortunately, while these bugs were gross as hell to humans, they had no effect on skeletons.

The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard moved through without a hitch, crushing countless bugs as it climbed to the top floor.

The top floor had a special structure, supported by dozens of thick stone pillars with no walls on any side, allowing direct sunlight. There was no environment for fungi to survive here.

"Go to the fifth pillar on the right."

Carlos calmly ordered, directing #1 to walk to the fifth stone pillar.

This pillar looked just like the others, weathered by wind and rain with a pitted surface. You could vaguely make out some carved patterns on it.

"Chop it down from the bottom!"

Carlos commanded.

The sharp greatsword, powered by the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard’s crazy strength, struck the bottom of the stone pillar again and again.

"Boom! Boom!"

After just a few hits, the pillar crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, making the entire tower shake.

"Cut it section by section from the bottom and find what’s inside!"

"Bang! Bang!"

The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard became a demolition crew, its greatsword spinning rapidly as the fallen pillar broke apart from the end, sending stone fragments flying everywhere.

Suddenly, a metallic clang rang out and the rapidly spinning greatsword came to a dead stop.

At the end of the pillar appeared a section of dark gold bone. The sharp sword had smacked into it but hadn’t left even the tiniest mark.

"That’s it! Keep going!

Dig it out!"

Carlos felt pumped—the target of this expedition was right "in front of him."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard started clearing around the edges of the exposed bone section.

Stone fragments kept falling.

Gradually, a massive bone wing about 33 feet long was completely dug out.

"Quick! Grab the bone wing and get back the same way!"

"Creak! Creak!"

The Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard carried the bone wing and booked it back down, moving way faster than when it had climbed up.

In just over ten minutes, it appeared before Carlos, presenting the bone wing.

Carlos eagerly grabbed the bone wing—it was surprisingly light.

After clearing away the leftover stone debris, the bone wing’s full appearance was revealed before Carlos.

It was entirely reddish-gold in color, with nine long vertical bones on each side connected by horizontal bones that spread out at the tips.

The vertical bones farther from the center were thicker and longer, not straight but gradually curved, bending downward.

Like horns, each bone’s tip was razor-sharp, gleaming with a cold, menacing light.