Hero Route 2

「Master… the humans' strength exceeds our expectations!

Dozens of our strong generals have fallen, and even the Skeleton Executioner and the Howling Succubus were no match for them.

Wise Master! Please tell me what to do!」

In a certain room high in the castle, the Skeleton Mage's head floated silently, communicating telepathically with the master of the room.

Deep within, the blue flame remained unmoved.

「I know.」

All the undead in the castle were connected to him spiritually, he could sense whenever one disappeared.

But… how could these humans be so strong?

Most undead monsters evolved from dead humans. The deeper the resentment they had before death, the easier it was to gain certain abilities.

Skeleton soldiers had no resentment, but their souls originated from dead humans, and were controlled by undead monsters.

So…

Humans are also humans, why are these humans so strong?

As far as Necromancer Vitor knew, human flesh is weak.

They must rely on undead power to become truly strong.

Just as the Skeleton Mage knew, death is only the beginning of strength.

They must break free from the confines of their bodies to achieve spiritual evolution!

Then become powerful undead creatures!

But why?

Why could a few humans easily defeat undead creatures?

As a Necromancer, he couldn't understand their strength.

But he knew…

Killing these humans would provide him with more nourishment!

And their corpses would be valuable for cultivation!

Humans who could kill the Skeleton Executioner.

This means that using these human corpses could cultivate undead creatures stronger than the Skeleton Executioner!

「Where are they?」 Vitor asked.

「They are still in the throne room.」 The Skeleton Mage replied respectfully.

「Good, let me meet them…」

The blue flame, accompanied by an evil laugh, slowly drifted away, finally disappearing from the room.

Only the Skeleton Mage's head remained, filled with joy.

「As long as the Master makes a move, these humans will surely die!」

Perhaps, in a few days, they'll become his brethren!

...

Miruku giggled: "Hehehe… Hehehehehe…"

Amidst the continuous praise from the four, Miruku began to feel a little giddy.

Originally, she just felt that she had done what she could.

But now she felt…

I am a war goddess!

Not only were Ariana and Karen grateful to her, Layton also said she was brave, and even Anyi praised her performance.

Miruku felt like she had suddenly stepped onto the stage, with golden medals on her chest, holding a trophy, giving a victory speech to the cheering crowd.

Aldrich Pope stood beside her and asked: "The great hero who saved Her Highness the Holy Maiden from the inferno, Thorn Hero!

Thank you for your contribution to the Theocracy! Thank you for your contribution to the world!

Protecting the Holy Maiden-sama is equivalent to saving the world!

As a hero who saved the world, is there anything you would like to say?"

Miruku put on Anyi's usual expressionless face and said calmly:

"Just a casual act, nothing to say."

"Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo——!!"

The crowd jumped and cheered, the applause like thunder.

"Thorn Hero-sama is so cool——!!"

"Aaaaaaaa——!!"

"Thorn Hero-sama, can you shake hands with me?!"

...

"Hehehe…shaking hands… I can shake hands…"

Ariana, while eating food, pointed at Miruku and asked Anyi: "Shake hands? What shaking hands?"

Anyi: "I don't know."

A good answer, I don't know.

"Everyone should be level 26 now, and Princess Karen should be level 25." Anyi glanced around and asked.

"Yes! 26!" Ariana nodded.

Layton: "Me too."

Karen nodded: "That's right."

"How many unallocated points do you have?" Anyi continued to ask.

Ariana checked her system: "I still have… 14 points."

Layton said: "Me too, 14 points."

Karen: "I have 5 points left."

Miruku hadn't come to her senses yet.

But there's no need to worry about her, her attributes seemed normal enough.

After all, she has the Goblin equipment and [Encourage].

Just use the points as needed.

But Ariana is different from Layton, they aren't as flexible as Miruku.

In the blink of an eye, the situation might change, there might not be time to allocate points.

"Holy Maiden's attributes are probably still the same as before, 4 points each in Agility and Endurance, and 3 points in Durability, right?

This time, just like before, don't allocate anything to Strength, first allocate to these three attributes, all to 8 points." Anyi said.

Ariana didn't hesitate: "Okay!"

In battle, she felt that her attributes were too low, even with the Goblin equipment and [Encourage] buff, only reaching 10 points.

Once she encountered monsters with 20 Agility or more, she would be in great danger, and her low Durability also made it difficult for her to withstand damage.

Layton, on the side, looked expectant: "What about me?"

"Mr. Layton… you should have your own judgment, right?" Anyi asked.

His Agility was 4 points, Endurance was 5 points, and he had 14 points left.

Then he could directly add 6 to Agility and 5 to Endurance, bringing both to 10 points, using 11 points, leaving 3 points remaining.

He allocated 2 points to Strength, reaching 30, and 1 point to Durability, also reaching 30.

Layton scratched his head: "With 14 points… I'll directly add 11 points to Durability, reaching 40.

2 points to Strength, reaching 30.

And the last point to Agility, making it 5 points, the same as Endurance, how about that?"

Anyi: "…"

Karen also chuckled wryly: "I think Mr. Layton should add points to Agility and Endurance first, right?

That way, you won't run too slowly, and you'll have more stamina."

Layton slapped his forehead: "That's right!"

Since the first time they fought slimes, Anyi had told him to increase these two attributes to at least 8 points!

How could he forget?!

Actually, Karen didn't know Layton's specific attributes, but she could roughly calculate them based on his words.

Of course, she didn't know Layton's [Intelligence: 0].

So, based on Karen's analysis, Layton allocated his points to Strength and Durability, both reaching 30, and Agility and Endurance, both reaching 10.

Anyi didn't suggest adding points to Intelligence.

Because the effect of Intelligence is only to increase skill learning speed.

Most of the time, the speed of skill learning doesn't actually affect much.

During the early game, you should plan based on the skills you already have, instead of gambling on unknown new skills.

Whether you learn it in an hour or a day or two, you will eventually learn it, there's no need to spend your precious early-game points on Intelligence.

In the mid-to-late game, when skills become extremely strong, then you can increase your Intelligence.

"Rumble… Rumble…"

At this moment, the bones scattered on the ground in the hall suddenly started to move—