Most importantly, Charm was strongly linked to Intelligence.

According to the attribute panel’s description, Power and Constitution were weakly linked—it took 6 points of Power to increase Constitution by 1.

Agility and Power were linked; 4 points of Agility would raise Power by 1.

The same was true for Constitution and Power—4 points of Constitution increased Power by 1.

So, the conversion ratios for a standard link and a weak link were 4:1 and 6:1, respectively.

However, Intelligence and Charm were strongly linked, yet their conversion ratio was still 4:1.

This was likely because Charm was an Advanced Attribute. Each point increase cost two attribute points, giving it a higher weight than the Basic Attributes, which explained the ratio.

’I hope this Intelligence boost is enough to push me over the threshold to Junior Mage...’ Zelir silently clenched his fist.

"Cool!"

As the Evil Remains’s body collapsed, its bones shattering and clattering to the ground, Gray let out a sharp whistle.

"I feel like if we ran into that young Fog Demon again, we could take it down without breaking a sweat."

Marcus nodded, clearly in agreement.

Out of habit, he performed a Blood Vibration before sheathing his sword, even though there was no blood on the blade.

’Throughout the entire Black Stone Town branch of the Adventurer’s Association, how many teams could boast our kind of firepower?’

’A Middle Level Ranger who has mastered Fighting Qi, and a Magic Apprentice with shocking destructive power who knows both Arcane Missile and the Flame Breath Skill.’

’A combination like this could basically sweep through any [Difficulty]-rated Demon.’

Just like goblins, Skeleton Soldiers didn’t drop much loot—after all, they were just mutated bones to begin with.

The proof of kill required by the Association was the Skeleton Soldier’s skull. But because they had fought with such fervor, many of the skulls had been blown to smithereens and were now difficult to find.

Gray crouched and poked at the debris with a twig for a long time before frowning.

"We’re not going to have to piece the broken skulls back together, are we? That would be way too much trouble."

"That won’t be necessary."

Valles said while rummaging through a pile of bone fragments, "Just look for the jawbones. The Association accepts those, too."

The bones of a Skeleton Soldier turn black after it’s destroyed, as if covered in large patches of mold, making them easy to identify.

The bones of the Evil Remains were even more distinct—they were as black as charcoal.

"It feels strange, taking someone’s bones to claim a bounty..." Zelir muttered.

The four of them began gathering the bone fragments like a team of archaeologists.

Zelir used his foil to pry apart a shattered ribcage and found a Skeleton Soldier’s jawbone.

Suddenly, a splash of an unusual color caught his eye.

It was a vibrant crimson, buried beneath a few broken pieces of a pelvis, with only a hint of it showing.

If Zelir hadn’t happened to be looking from that exact angle, he likely would have missed it.

Curious, Zelir pushed aside the pile of bone fragments.

An uncanny, blooming flower was revealed.

Zelir’s eyes wavered.

The flower wasn’t large, only about half the size of his palm.

It was a morbidly bright red, like blood freshly drawn from a vein. Its six petals had a smooth, Gel-like texture and gave off a faint, scarlet halo in the moonlight.

Zelir reached out a finger and touched it gently. The petal’s surface was incredibly smooth. There was no floral fragrance, but a faint, bloody scent lingered around it.

A single, powerful thought surfaced in Zelir’s mind—this thing was far from ordinary.

He used a shovel to dig up the flower, keeping the soil attached to its roots, then carefully placed it in a cloth bag.

’I’ll have to show this to Instructor Manlin later for a closer look.’

"You guys, get over here! Something’s not right!" Gray’s shout suddenly came from the other side of the graveyard.

The others stopped what they were doing and headed toward Gray.

"What is it?" Marcus asked.

But the moment the words left his mouth, he sensed something was off.

A stench.

The smell of rot filled the air and assaulted their nostrils, the pungent odor rushing straight to their brains.

Zelir couldn’t help but frown, covering his nose and mouth with his collar.

Valles also complained, "What is that smell... It’s more disgusting than an outhouse."

Marcus’s brow furrowed as his gaze locked onto the source of the smell: a pile of shattered tombstones overturned during the fight.

Resisting the stench, Gray went forward and kicked away the stone fragments, revealing a patch of soft, dark earth that had obviously been disturbed recently.

The wretched smell was emanating from beneath that very soil.

Drifting clouds obscured the moonlight, casting the already grim graveyard in an even more sinister light.

Zelir raised his hand and cast the Lighting Skill.

A bright, soft ball of light slowly rose into the air, illuminating the area.

They exchanged glances and nodded.

Although they all had a sinking feeling they knew the answer, they still had to see what was buried beneath the soil.

Gray used his scabbard to dig at the soft earth a few times. After just scraping away some loose dirt, the scabbard hit something soft.

A corpse.

...

Once they had worked together to clear most of the dirt off the body, the four of them were finally able to see it in its entirety.

The sight before them was extremely bizarre.

It was the corpse of an adult male, completely naked and curled up in the pit.

Except for his head, his body was in a state of advanced decay. His skin had turned a terrifying bluish-black, and white maggots were squirming in the rotting flesh.

But that wasn’t the most horrific part. The most horrific part was the man’s head.

His head was completely devoid of flesh; the stark white skull was fully exposed, picked clean of every last fiber.

What was even stranger was that the smooth surface of the skull had been covered in a dense, intricate pattern of carvings.

Were they words? Or drawings?

No one could tell.

"I thought this was just going to be a simple quest..."

Valles muttered to himself, "How did we get roped into a murder case?"

"This isn’t a simple murder, is it? What kind of normal person goes to the trouble of scraping all the flesh off someone’s head after killing them?" Gray said.

"Normal people don’t kill in the first place, do they?" Zelir said.

"Killers can be normal or not normal. This one is obviously not normal. And pretty artsy, too," Gray argued, sounding completely justified.

"What do we do?" Valles asked, looking at Marcus.

Marcus was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"This isn’t something we should get involved in. We collect our proofs of kill, and at most, we mention this to the Adventurer’s Association when we turn in the quest. The rest is their problem."

"Good point..." Valles nodded, agreeing with the cautious approach.

Zelir stared at the corpse, lost in thought for a moment. A nagging idea refused to leave his mind.

’I can’t shake the feeling... that this Skeleton Soldier uprising is connected to the murder. Maybe the culprit is watching us from somewhere right now...’