The identified spiders ranged from level 21 to level 23. At last, some monsters his level, Bones thought.

He turned his focus from looking at the screen to witnessing why they were called the Jumping Arachnids. Once they were at mid-range, the spiders leaped at him with a speed surpassing that of their buzzing and charging mutating cousins.

Bones jumped to the side and rolled away, avoiding the first spider that leapt at him. He stood up with a lance ready but left it levitating in place as the second spider was already flying his way. He moved forward, toward the spider and ducked under as it passed above him. He didn't wait to see the result but heard the spider impale itself on a suspended lance. He kept moving and evaded their leaping attacks as much as the surrounding webs made it possible.

Their jumping ability did make for a scare, but other than that, they weren't much. They were an easy kill, just difficult to hit sometimes with all the jumping around. Most of them were lower level than him, so the experience didn’t amount to much. They did have the numbers on their side, he'd give them that!

Bones was standing, surrounded by a dozen spider corpses. Suddenly, the impact from behind sent him sprawling forward between the vines covering the ground. There was a screech, a hiss and then a bite.

A crawling sensation, he was now familiar with, coursed through his body and then his lightweight body was jerked from side to side. Bones couldn't find a moment to look at what the hell jumped at him from all the shaking. He sensed it clearly though. The screeching sounds he heard in-between the hisses were coming from a different spider. A spider twice the size of the spiders he has seen so far.

Bones casted Bone Spikes from beneath him. The spikes went through and around his body, and impaled the spider atop of him. It screeched in pain and backed away. Bones jumped up to his feet and casted spikes again at the creature's location, impaling the spider and pin it in place. At the same time, Bones used an opportunity to Identify it.

Spitting Weaver, lvl 24

First jumping and now a spitting spider?

The pinned spider retaliated and Bones dodged the spitting projectile flying at him, returning a projectile of his own and killing it. He turned to look at the blob of spit that hit the tree behind him and was now making a sizzling sound. Acid? Compared to the acid damage from the first stage, this one is on a whole new level.

He crouched next to the body and searched for the mana stone. He didn't find one. He looked at the other corpses and vaguely sensed mana radiating from two corpses. He turned to the corpse of the big one and removed its glands. The acid seemed potent enough and he might find a use for it sometime in the future.

This guy, he looked around at the surrounding webs, -is probably the one that weaved all the webs. Alright, so Bone Spikes work the best against the spitting spider. The jumping ones are trickier to pin down. They are fast, mobile and from what I've seen so far, jump from tree to tree, unlike the big one that came at me on the ground. They're also harder to hit with the lance, but area of effect spells like Mana Blast and Bone Nova are highly effective against them!

Bones approached the two corpses of Jumping Arachnids and removed the mana stones from their bodies. He looked in the direction of the only path clear of webs and started walking. As he walked, he heard the spiders skitter about. He sensed them following, circling him and positioning themselves. They were stalking him, preparing to leap at him in ambush, but Bones was ready.

Not a minute later, Bones repelled the ambushing cluster of spiders with Mana Blast. Most of the spiders were crippled and bleeding out from the impact and the ones at the hypocenter died instantly. Mana blast worked wonders but was the most mana consuming skill Bones had!

I wonder how strong the Mana Blast …no…Arcane Blast, would be if I had picked the Arcane Mage class? Considering my Arcane affinity, my guess is not much stronger.

The spiders he was wary of were giant spitting weavers. They were around his level and attacked fiercely in both melee and at range. Their sting, Bones noticed after one too many bites, drained mana.

This whole area, apart from the mutant spy-quitos, was inhabited by the spiders. Bones encountered one more species of spiders, a poisonous stalker. He had no doubt they would be a menace to adventurers with their ailments, but against him? They were harmless…sort of. The only reason he could differentiate the poisons they administer was because of the effects like mana drain.

Speaking of mana drain, Bones' Mana Drain skill was proving itself most useful when hitting multiple targets with Bone Nova and Bone Spikes. Every monster hit drained a minute amount of mana and hitting multiple targets accumulated to a decent mana drain.

By the end of the day, Bones heard a pleasant ding of a level up notification. His class hasn’t progressed at all for the past month, but his race did and it won't be long until he has his first class advancement and gains a new racial skill at level 20.

Status.

Status

Attributes

Name: Bones

Race: Undead Skeleton lvl 18

Class: Bonemancer lvl 24

Profession: ???

Hp - 390 (3.9 hp/s)

Mp - 530 (20.3 mp/s)

Sta - ∞

STR: 22

AGI: 5

END: 5

VIT: 39

INT: 53

WIS: 15

Free points:

Setting up a camp for the night crossed his mind. It was something he subconsciously thought of as the night fell down. There was really no need to raise a tent and set up a camp as he no longer required sleep.

That was the advantage he planned to shamelessly abuse! Bones planned to grind out the last level in class, before taking a break. The night brought different sorts of monsters out and Bones was the most monstrous among them.

It was a banging night, full of shrieks and screeching. Bones was constantly battling monsters throughout the night. He found the mosquitoes too. Normal ones and felt both disappointment and relief seeing they were the size of his fist. He expected a scourge of them swarming him, but always found them solitary. The jungle had a spider theme going on and his power of observation and deduction made him think that the boss of this dungeon might be the spider queen!

While spiders occupied the majority of the area he was in, as night fell, Bones lost sense of where he was compared to the dungeon entrance. His battle mania led him all over the zone and somewhere at the edge, he encountered a new type of monster. A black salamander with a yellow shifting pattern on its scales. It was big, around 4m in length, Bones estimated and heavy by the way it dragged its body on the ground.

Bones observed the salamander and saw how it hunted. The yellow shifting pattern was electricity running through the creature and it would zap its targets with lightning, paralyzing it. While the salamander was busy with its target, Bones approached from the side and casted Bone Lance, targeting its side.

Contrary to what he expected, the salamander swept with its tail and deflected the lance, changing its trajectory. It turned toward Bones, locating him instantly and hissed. Bones was surprised by the flexibility with which the salamander deflected his lance and even more at the speed it started charging at him.

It moved its body erratically, swaying its body left and right while closing in. Bones had a hard time aiming at its head and his attacks missed. It reached him in seconds and immediately tried to bite him by the neck. He dodged by a hair's breadth using Quick Dash, but not the zapping of electricity that lingered afterbite. His Quick Dash failed mid-skill, the current, messing up his mana flow and interrupting the skill. He backpedaled immediately, putting some distance between them.

Tche, what an annoying fella. How about this then?!

Bones casted Bone Spikes at the salamander's feet and it moved before the spikes even manifested! Hooh? What instincts…is it that sensitive to mana? "Alright, sense this!

Bones turned sideways and lowered his stance. He waited and baited the salamander into charging at him. When it was close enough, Bones thrusted out with his hand, punching and blasting the head of the salamander with the mana expelled from his fist. Its body swept Bones in motion and sent him flying away. Bones stood up and dusted the dirt of his coat.

I should've expected that.

He grinned and approached the headless body, sensing the mana stone from within. He shoved his hand in its chest and yanked it from the body. The scales and flesh, now less resilient after the salamander died.

The rest of the night was spent battling spiders and salamanders, which he rarely encountered, but each held a mana stone in its body. Tougher and higher level rare monsters had a higher chance to have mana stones. It made sense, as the majority of spiders and ants from the first dungeon didn't have one.

At the crack of dawn, Bones looked up as the sky brightened. The sun was up and he wondered why would a dungeon even need a night and sun cycle? He dismissed useless thoughts and ascribed it to one of the things the system just did.

I'm close to leveling up. Until now, I've seen spiders, salamanders and mosquitoes and…the mutant ones. Since the stage is jungle themed, there is bound to be at least one more predatory creature that inhabits almost every corner of the world. One I've yet to see…

Bones went further and outside the spider zone. A few spiders less and a few salamanders later, he found the traces of the monster he was hunting. Drag marks on the ground and damaged foliage marked the passage of the creature.

Uh…this one seems to be a bit too big?!

He followed the signs that led further into the dark shade of the dense jungle. Few critters crossed his path and he saw giant rodents squirming in foliage. There's a lot of them! Seems like I'm on the right track.

He continued and stopped, once he faintly sensed something approaching. He couldn't pinpoint the exact location from all the stimulants around him, overloading his senses. He crouched and waited. Not even ten meters away, the Giant Spiny Rat jumped out from the bush. Bones paused, this wasn't the creature he was looking for, nor sensed coming. Unaware of its surroundings, the rat was munching on berries when something long and green swooped in from the side and they both disappeared in the flora.

Bones jumped from his crouching position and ran after them. The chase was brief and he soon caught up to the giant rat, lying in the grass. Bones warily approached with confusion. Why is the rat still here? And where is IT? He looked around but saw nothing but greenery. He turned to the rodent, squatted and inspected its body.. It's dead. The fangs have penetrated its body but why didn't IT eat it?

Bones suddenly jumped to his feet, coming to realization. The giant rat was a bait? A bait for…him?

*hiiiissss*

Bones jerked forward into motion and dashed, using the trees as a cover. IT…was right behind him, chasing him. The trees were shaken as it slithered and some broke and fell from the impact. Bones circled but it was closing in, even with obstacles to its huge body. He casted Bone Spikes behind him but they didn't slow the creature down. He spammed Quick Dash, to get ahead and once he got to the clearing, he turned to finally see what had been chasing him. A second later, a majestic towering green snake broke through the foliage and into the clearing. They stared at each other for a moment. The first showdown between the two had already started.

Common Green Viper, lvl 28 miniboss

Bones identified and observed The Viper. It had yellow eyes with a black vertical slit, a big maw with two long fangs with venom dripping down its sharp points. The large green scales made for a perfect camouflage in the jungle. Below the maw he saw white marks left by his bone spikes. Barely a scratch huh? No wonder I didn't see it nor sense it coming.

As Bones was watching the snake, The Viper tightly coiled its body around its head and was observing him. Once it started to shake its tail, Bones knew. It's coming!

The Viper lunged at him and Bones sidestepped with Quick Dash, evading the attack. The snake quickly curled up and prepared to strike again. A lance hit its side, but was deflected against the hard scales, leaving white scratch mark. It lunged again and Bones dodged again.

They went back and forth, and it seemed like the pattern that would keep repeating itself until The Viper stopped lunging and started circling around Bones, picking up speed with each cycle. It demolished plants, uprooted grass and fell trees, but it kept circling. What is it doing? A question occupied Bones' mind as he was standing in the middle, casting spell after spell to no avail.