Ethan had enough spiritual energy to summon three more undead spirits, and he chose to summon three Undead Wood Spirits.
Three bright green undead magic circles appeared, glowing with energy, and from them emerged three Undead Wood Spirits.
Their bodies resembled living trees, their forms similar to dryads brought to life.
"Another new spirit?"
"Just how many kinds of spirits can this guy summon?"
Under the shocked eyes of his raid teammates, Ethan commanded the spirits, and they immediately began to carry out their task.
---
[Undead Wood Spirits]
[Level: 9]
[Skills]
-Wood Heart: The spirits continuously absorb natural energy from their surroundings, steadily restoring their own Spiritual Energy reserves passively.
-Verdant Bloom: Releases a burst of rejuvenating spores across a wide area, restoring health and a little portion of stamina over time to all designated allies. (Spore Limit: 5)
-Bloom Beam: Releases a focused strand of Wood energy toward a single target. Upon impact, the target rapidly heals their injuries and recovers a portion of their Stamina and Spiritual Energy.
----
Ethan didn't need to use his detection to learn about their skills.
His summons came from within him, and he shared a soul-level connection with them as soon as they were summoned; all the information about their existence was imprinted in his mind.
The Undead Wood Spirits possessed three skills, just like the other elemental spirits, but none of their skills were offensive.
They were purely support-type spirits.
Like the other spirits, they had three skills, all focused on healing and recovery.
Ethan commanded his Undead Wood Spirits to use their [Verdant Bloom] skill on all his teammates.
The spirits released yellowish-green, marble-like spores into the air, which floated as if they had a mind of their own.
They levitated in random directions across the battlefield, around his raid teammates and especially around his summons, like his Undead Knights, before releasing a wave of wood energy on them.
It rained down slowly, boosting their healing into rapid recovery.
Then he made them use the [Bloom Beam] skill on himself several times.
Before long, his spiritual energy was fully restored.
Using this renewed strength, Ethan activated his summoning skill again, calling forth seven Undead Knights and commanding them to attack the skeleton monsters.
Once his spiritual energy was depleted again, he had the Undead Wood Spirits use [Bloom Beam] on him repeatedly before summoning another seven Undead Knights to join the fight.
More than half an hour had passed since the battle began in the second stage.
Over half of the skeleton soldiers had been slain, many by Ethan's summons alone.
Since the skeletons were higher level than him, the experience they provided was also very high, more than enough for Ethan to level up.
[Experience Limit Reached]
[You have reached Level 8]
[Your [Summon Undead Knight] Skill reached level 8]
[Your [Summon Undead Spirits] Skill reached level 8]
[Your [Undead Graveyard] capacity increased by 1]
Ethan leveled up, and his summons also reached Level 8 along with him.
Their attributes and the power of their skills improved by one level as well.
His spiritual energy was fully restored, and just as he was about to use his summoning skills, he heard one of his teammates shout loudly.
"Watch out, everyone!" Jonathan screamed.
Turning around, Ethan saw the five Skeleton Guards making their move.
"What is the plan?" Ethan asked.
"The Skeleton Guards have both offensive and defensive skills. Their offensive skill is quite powerful and could one-shot us. We need to kill at least two of the Skeleton Guards instantly, then it will be easier to handle the remaining three," Jonathan said as he gestured for the others to take their positions.
Jonathan suddenly looked at Ethan. "Your summons are stronger... If you can use your spirits to launch ranged attacks at them, we can use our close-range skills to finish the job."
"But what if they use their Bone Shield skill to block my attacks?" Ethan asked.
"That is the point. Their Bone Shield is immobile, and they become vulnerable to close-range attacks while using it. So we can safely land our attacks in close quarters," Jonathan explained confidently.
"You just need to make them focus on your attack and force them to use their Bone Shield skill, and we will strike them in the meantime."
"Alright, Let's do it," Ethan muttered as he turned his attention back to the battle.
He watched as Jonathan, the Flame Swordsman, burning sword in hand, rushed toward one of the five skeletal guards, with the remaining combat class professionals following close behind.
Ethan raised his hand, activating his summoning skill.
[Summon Undead Spirits: Skill Activated]
In the next instant, five Undead Ice Spirits manifested from the undead blue magic circle.
As soon as they appeared, they and the other ice spirits already present began to rapidly spam their [Frost Wave] skill, focusing on the five guards one after another, while the remaining spirits and Undead Knights were commanded to cut down the skeletal soldiers.
The Undead Ice Spirits unleashed their skill repeatedly, and within moments, the temperature inside the dungeon plummeted like a falling star.
A layer of ice began to spread across the battlefield, slowing every monster caught in its reach, especially the five guards who stood directly in the line of fire.
"They are using Bone Shield!" one of the support class professionals shouted.
Ethan narrowed his eyes as he saw the five Skeleton Guards stab their bone swords into the rocky cave floor.
The impact sent tremors throughout the cavern. In the next instant, massive shields made of thick bone burst forth in front of them, blocking the waves of freezing energy crashing against their defenses.
"Charge!"
The moment the Skeleton Guards switched to defense, the raid party surged forward, ignoring the skeletal soldiers.
Jonathan and the other combat class professionals led the assault, followed by the controller class and magic class professions.
Ethan sent his Undead Knights with them, joining the attack.
All their attacks landed in perfect coordination on the first two Skeleton Guards.
Jonathan unleashed his skill, and a massive pillar of flames erupted from his sword slash.
The flaming pillar struck the first Skeleton Guard head-on, cracking its entire front.
The force of the blast sent the ten-meter-tall skeleton stumbling backward, smashing into the second guard.
Both of them toppled to the ground.
"Don't let them stand up!" Jonathan shouted.
Ethan narrowed his eyes and commanded his undead Ice Spirits to use Frozen Spear.
One after another, huge, elongated spears of condensed ice energy manifested and launched toward the two fallen skeletal guards, all aimed directly at their ghoulish skulls.
The frozen spears sliced through the air with a shrill whistle, like winter wind forced through a narrow gap.
The first spear struck the skull of the first Skeleton Guard with a heavy, echoing thunk, followed by the brittle snap of ice forming.
Frost spread rapidly, freezing the creature's skull to its neck, but it did not seem to deal significant damage.
Then a second frozen spear, just as powerful, hit the same spot.
The frost deepened, strengthening the freeze, and a faint crack appeared.
The third spear landed squarely on the weakened point.
This time, the moment of impact shattered the Skull Guard's head into fragments.
[Experience increased]
All of this happened within seconds.
Meanwhile, the others were already attacking the second Skeleton Guard, and more frozen spears were still flying in.
Jonathan and another combat-class professional, a man wielding a hammer, struck next. A pillar of sword flames, the silhouette of a massive energy hammer, and five frozen spears from the Ice Spirits all slammed into the second guard's head simultaneously. Their overlapping power obliterated its skull instantly.
"Jump away!" the hammer-wielding professional yelled.
He and Jonathan leapt aside, and a heartbeat later, a gigantic spectral sword crashed down where they had been standing, carving a massive sword-shaped crater into the cavern floor.
The ground trembled violently.
"That was close…" the hammer user exhaled shakily.
"Get ready, it's coming," Jonathan said as he glanced at Ethan.
They exchanged a nod.
Jonathan closed his eyes and activated a skill.
A scorching aura burst from his body, transforming into blazing flames that wrapped around him.
In the next instant, he shot forward like a wild beast made of fire, charging toward the approaching Skeleton Guard.
His fiery swords met the creature's massive bone blade, the clash releasing a thunderous shockwave as both were pushed back.
Before the Skeleton Guard could recover its footing, the hammer user struck again, his glowing hammer smashing into its skull.
The skeletal head cracked like a broken mirror, and Jonathan followed up immediately.
A pillar of sword flames erupted from him, engulfing the damaged skull and destroying it completely.
The Skeleton Guard collapsed, slain.
Ethan's eyes widened with excitement as he watched so many powerful skills unleashed.
He felt thrilled, but also jealous.
As happy as he was to have gained a powerful profession, he could not help feeling a bit frustrated that he could not fight like a combat-class professional.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding it to your library and supporting it with some Power Stones. Arigato!]