Chapter 142: Dragon Bones

The light from the scale lantern illuminated the surroundings. After entering the hollow cavity, a faint metallic glow emanated from ahead—armored skeletons holding spear-like weapons in their hands.

During the dozens of days excavating the ruins, Wade had essentially confirmed this place to be the temple ruins of the Silver Moon Elves. Those silver armors adorned with scale-shaped decorations matched the figures he’d seen on the topmost stone slab—warriors among the Silver Moon Elves.

These were the last elves who perished beneath the temple. Their skeletons remained perfectly preserved, showing no signs of external injuries beyond accumulated dust. The armors showed no rust either, appearing to be extraordinary-grade equipment of exceptional quality.

Wade didn’t recklessly explore the space. He stripped the armors and had the skeletons transport the equipment out first. These were the best-preserved armors he’d encountered in the wasteland, appearing far superior to his round-headed mace and small round shield—let alone the armor sets.

However, the armors were extremely heavy. Just a single breastplate required two skeletons to carry together. Wearing them directly would likely immobilize the skeletons. Wade attempted wearing the armor himself—the weight was manageable but still restrictive, slowing his movements somewhat. Any elf capable of fighting in such armor must have been formidable warriors.

Observing the intact skeletons, Wade conceived an idea. After some deliberation, several elven skeletons rose to their feet. He had spirits possess these elven remains, successfully animating four elven skeletons. Yet, saturating a single elven skeleton with soul fire consumed one-tenth of his reserves. Animating four nearly depleted half his flames.

This was despite the numerous battles he’d fought over the past month. After familiarizing himself with routes, each trip to the snowfields involved patrolling borders of small nations, liberating civilians suffering from war. After battles, teams arranged by the dragonkin would transport these people to ports for work and rest—now forming a small settlement where humans and demi-humans coexisted.

Wade had absorbed many deceased souls, expanding his skeleton forces to over one hundred twenty. The souls Mia absorbed and converted for him—whether nobles, pirates or soldiers—numbered nearly two hundred as well. Yet awakening just four elven skeletons consumed nearly half his accumulated soul fire.

Still, it proved worthwhile. The newly animated elven skeletons could don those armors and wield elven spears in combat. Compared to bodies pieced together from broken bones, these four elven skeletons finally qualified as genuine combat units.

Testing them in sparring, Wade found that while the elven skeletons couldn’t threaten him, even he struggled to damage them through their armor without employing combat techniques. Fully equipped, these elven skeletons likely reached iron-rank professional warrior standards.

In one-on-one combat, a single elven skeleton probably couldn’t defeat an iron-rank warrior capable of using combat techniques. But four working together could overpower even a squad of four iron-rank warriors. Their battle formations compensated for inability to use techniques—though saying they couldn’t wasn’t entirely accurate. Using techniques required burning soul fire, after which the skeleton would cease functioning.

For the first time in so long, Wade realized how scarce and precious soul fire truly was. He couldn’t invest more without affecting himself. No wonder necromancers constantly faced temptation to orchestrate massacres. Those lacking conviction easily lost themselves pursuing power, eventually viewing “souls” and “lives” as mere cold statistics.

Three days after converting the four elves, Wade carefully explored the massive underground cavity’s edges by the lantern’s weak glow. Without proper lighting, he had to inch forward like a blind man, leaving markers to avoid getting lost in the vast space. From his observations, this resembled not a basement but an enormous plaza.

After three days, Wade mapped the plaza’s hexagonal perimeter. Combined with the excavated temple ruins, the structure became clearer—the temple likely had four floors rather than three. What he’d breached three days ago was the surface-level first floor. Some disaster seemed to have collapsed the entire temple underground, with the hemispherical cavity acting like a magical barrier that preserved the structure from crushing earth and rock.

Around the temple, Wade found sixty-seven intact Silver Moon Elf skeletons—not just armored warriors but also Guardians of the Sacred Tree in hunting attire, though their wooden bows had become brittle, powerless sticks.

Why station so many guards in a plaza? Wade wondered. A temple for worship should have more praying elves. The answer came as he approached the center.

The lantern suddenly illuminated azure bones—just a fragment of something colossal. Raising the lantern with his spear, Wade beheld towering remnants of a giant beast. Each rib arched like a temple-supporting pillar, stretching beyond the lantern’s reach. The light barely illuminated the lowest few—thick as tree trunks.

Wade moved silently along the ribs, not daring to make noise lest he awaken this dead thing. If he still had a heart, it would be pounding violently now. Even Mia hid in the seed pouch at Wade’s waist—her makeshift sleeping bag—peeking out with tiny eyes after being frightened by the mountain-sized bones.

After a hundred paces, Wade finally saw the beast’s skull. The massive cranium rested on the ground, dark emptiness filling its eye sockets. The winding spine resembled a desiccated mountain range undulating into darkness. Between ribs, broken wing bones stabbed diagonally into the abyss. Even in death, its majesty and power remained palpable.

These were dragon bones—a Fairy Dragon. Considering Silver Moon Elf connections, Wade immediately thought of the legendary Fairy Dragon. Staring at the scale in his lantern, Wade suddenly realized something. The dragon bones had first captured his attention—only now did he think to examine the ground. Scales shed from the dragon bones lay embedded in the earthen floor, their patterns identical to the one in his lantern. He’d been walking on them all along.