The [Undead Knights] and the [Forest Snakes] were the same level, yet the [Forest Snakes] held the advantage with their massive bodies and superior movement speed, which far exceeded that of the Undead Knights.
The Undead Knights would have struggled even more if not for the support skills [Soothing Veil] and [Wind Blessing].
Combined with their overwhelming numbers and the fact that Undead Knights neither felt pain nor hesitated in battle, they managed to kill the two dozen Forest Snakes after fighting for nearly thirty minutes.
Ethan sighed as he looked at their condition.
With severe damage and torn limbs, his Undead Knights were barely holding together.
He immediately commanded the [Wood Spirits] to use their skills to accelerate their regeneration.
"Just dealing with one batch of these snake monsters is hard enough. There are hundreds more in just the outer layer." Ethan rubbed his chin. "Looks like I need to increase my number of Undead Knights."
To clear this dungeon, Ethan needed to slay every snake monster within it.
The dungeon was divided into three distinct zones: the outer layer, the middle layer, and the core area.
The number of snake monsters decreased the deeper one went, but in exchange, their levels, attributes, and skills increased significantly.
The outer layer, where Ethan currently was, contained the highest number of normal monsters.
In the middle layer, both normal and elite monsters roamed.
At the core area, located at the center of the forest, lay the Snake Lord's nest, home to the dungeon's boss monster, the Snake Lord, as well as its elite and normal subordinates.
Their attributes were far superior to those found in the outer and middle layers.
"This is a good opportunity to test the elemental skills on my spirits. If elemental fusion works, clearing this dungeon will become much easier." Ethan waited until his Undead Knights had fully regenerated.
At the same time, he summoned additional Undead Knights, increasing their total number to 500.
"This should be enough." His gaze shifted to the corpses of the fallen Forest Snakes, where he noticed something shining within the mangled flesh of one of the bodies.
Reaching into its thick, blood-soaked green hide, Ethan retrieved a gem-like object, a small green crystal that radiated a faint energy similar to the essence he sensed from the monsters themselves.
---
[Attribute Gem Fragment]
[Attribute: Poison]
-Collect 100 Attribute Gem Fragments to merge them into a Complete Attribute Gem.
-A Complete Attribute Gem can be used to imbue any existing skill with a new attribute or grant it an attribute-based effect.
---
"You can give a poison attribute to an existing skill? I didn't know things like you even existed… And why didn't Sir Shawn tell me about you?" Ethan muttered, examining the green, middle-finger-sized gem resting in his palm.
It shone beautifully, its surface pulsing faintly like a living creature.
"Hmm… I guess this is one of those things awakeners learn along the way. I have to collect ninety-nine more of these, huh?"
Ethan immediately commanded the Undead Knight to tear apart the bodies of the other forest snakes.
After rummaging through their insides for a few minutes, he found fifteen more fragments.
"In just one group of monsters, I found sixteen of them. Looks like it won't be hard to collect all the fragments." Ethan grinned and stored them away.
Suddenly, his pupils dilated as his enhanced senses picked up something fast approaching from behind.
Something dangerous.
Before the attack could land on him, one of the Undead Knights near him leapt into the path of the incoming strike, taking the hit in Ethan's place.
"That was too close."
Ethan quickly retreated, allowing his undead to handle the threat.
It was another forest snake that had silently trailed him, waiting for him to drop his guard.
A few moments later, the monster was slain.
Searching its insides, he found yet another fragment.
[Attribute Gem Fragment: 17]
"That… was a little too close. What if I had been bitten? I don't even know if my Wood Spirits can heal poison or venom…" Ethan muttered.
He glanced around at the dense forest.
This place was clearly the snakes' territory, their playground, their home ground.
Diving deeper into the forest was far too risky.
Being forced to constantly look over his shoulder was not ideal when these serpents were not only poisonous but smart enough to stalk him and wait for openings.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Then I'll just destroy the forest."
"This is also a great chance to test my elemental fusion," Ethan whispered. "I'll go layer by layer, clearing everything while killing the snakes."
"First, I need to see if my spirits can combine their skills. Let's try synergy first."
Ethan recalled the concept Sir Shawn had explained to him and Shiro the previous day, since both of them had elemental spirit summons.
Synergy was the phenomenon where two or more elements or skills of similar or compatible nature merged together to produce an effect far greater than what each could accomplish individually.
Sir Shawn had only explained the theory, not the practical method.
But Ethan had a general idea from things he had read while living in Lord Alistair's manor.
He relayed clear instructions to his spirits.
Five Undead Fire Spirits stepped forward.
"To make synergy work, the skills must match each other in level, intensity, and compatibility."
Ethan controlled every motion of the five fire spirits as they aligned themselves in a line and raised their fire-formed arms.
Their blazing palms faced a single point ahead.
A moment later, all five activated their Heat Wave skill simultaneously.
Instead of several sweeping waves of flame, a massive orb of condensed fire energy formed above their heads, expanding rapidly.
In the next instant, it exploded outward, releasing a colossal wave of fire that surged forward like a wall of scorching destruction.
Leaves ignited instantly, the temperature rose sharply, and within moments, everything within a 25-meter radius was charred, the trees half-burned and smoking.
Unfortunately, no snakes happened to be in that particular area.
"Succeeded on the first try. I guess I really do have talent." Ethan smiled.
Normally, multiple Fire Spirits using Heat Wave would simply cast the same skill repeatedly, the strength unchanged, and only the accumulated damage would stack.
But synergy allowed several spirits to fuse their power into a single, far stronger attack, multiplying its range, force, and destructive capability many times over.
This method also saved spiritual energy, making it extremely valuable.
"Let's make it even more powerful."
Ethan commanded all 120 Fire Spirits to synergize their Heat Wave into a single devastating attack.
The 120 spirits arranged themselves like a perfectly synchronized legion, row after row, moving with machine-like precision.
They raised their burning arms together and activated their skills simultaneously.
Fire gathered quickly.
A small spark condensed at the focal point...
It swelled, growing larger and larger.
Within seconds, a massive sphere of blazing fire energy hovered before them.
Glowing like a miniature sun.
In the next instant, the miniature sun exploded, and all the fire energy it released transformed into a towering wall of flames.
It surged forward in a 180-degree arc, spanning more than a hundred meters in radius, consuming everything in its path.
Nothing survived; the forest turned to dust and ashes, leaving only a scorched wasteland behind.
"I can probably clear the outer layer and middle with this skill alone… this feels too easy," Ethan muttered as he walked through the burned land of the outer layer, preparing to release the same synergy skill again.
As another miniature sun manifested and exploded, it released a surge of flames, tower-like and wide, destroying everything in its path.
Dozens of [Forest Snake] within the area were incinerated instantly, turned to dust and ashes without a chance to escape.
The only remnants left behind were the Attribute Gem Fragments, which, unlike the monsters, didn't burn.
Ethan had his Undead Knights collect them.
[Attribute Gem Fragment: 69]