My strength is 2 to the power of my level

"Let me go! Are you rebelling? I'm your master!" Mordred shouted, trying to use his staff to control Ares.

But in the next moment, the golden-glowing skeleton snatched it away with such force that Mordred didn't even have a chance to resist.

In Mordred's panicked eyes, Ares casually stashed the staff into his own inventory. Mordred felt his connection to the staff sever completely.

"Impossible! How could you take it? That's my staff!"

This was a highly valuable staff, and it shouldn't have been possible to lose it without dying, especially to his own summoned creature. Mordred was losing it; everything he knew about the game was being turned upside down.

From his years of playing online games, he knew that a summoner's creatures wouldn't betray them, and weapons wouldn't be lost unless durability hit zero. They certainly couldn't be forcibly taken!

To change ownership, the item had to be given away or discarded for someone else to pick up. He had gotten this staff by sheer luck after forcing Sophie into a situation and then killing her.

James had spent a fortune getting that staff for Sophie, and when he logged off to handle some real-world matters, he returned to find his girlfriend violated and her gear gone.

James was livid.

Mordred being hunted across the network was entirely his own doing. These were player conflicts, and he had no complaints about being hunted. But he had no beef with Ares, so why did this mutated skeleton want him dead?

Indeed, Mordred could feel Ares' murderous intent, and he belatedly realized the fiery rage in Ares' eye sockets.

Ares' golden teeth clattered as he struggled to spit out a few words.

"Go... to... hell..."

Ares wasn't supposed to speak, but after his head evolved, he could manage to force out words, albeit not full sentences yet.

Hearing Ares speak again deepened Mordred's fear. His body trembled uncontrollably.

The skeleton was talking! It wasn't a hallucination.

The summoned undead creature was actually speaking! And it really wanted to kill him!

This game was nothing like the others he had played! The shift in his understanding plunged Mordred into a deep panic.

When Ares tossed him in front of a level 29 "Venomous Spider," Mordred's fear peaked.

He screamed and tried to flee, only to be blocked by a swarm of spiders. Then he watched in horror as an angry spider bit him right on the cock.

The intense pain and fear of death made him scream and writhe on the ground. He had only one thought: "Log out! Log out, log out—"

Ares didn't touch him, so his interface showed the "Log Out" option. But he was in combat, making the "Log Out" button gray and unclickable.

Mordred howled in despair, cursing Ares furiously. Ares just crossed his bony arms, watching coldly.

There was always a force urging him to save Mordred, but unlike when players attacked, this time the force was much weaker. He could resist it with his own will.

The game seemed to recognize Mordred's predicament as being caused by wild creatures, aligning with Ares' earlier assessment. He just wondered if Mordred's death would break the bond.

Ares stood amidst the "Venomous Spider" swarm, getting attacked but relying on his infinite life to endure it.

He wouldn't attack the creatures until Mordred was dead. They were just small fry, unable to withstand even one of his strikes!

Mordred, having gained a lot of experience from Ares' previous monster kills, had leveled up to 14, with his health reaching 900. Unfortunately, his gear was still a mix of D-grade and E-grade, offering little protection.

Under the spiders' group attack and five layers of poison, Mordred's health dropped rapidly.

Countless red "-30" and "-5" numbers floated out like blood, dissipating into the air.

Mordred watched his health bar in despair, glaring at Ares with venomous eyes. "You think this will kill me? Don't you know that dying in the game just means I can't log in for twenty-four hours?"

"Even if you kill me, you're still my summoned creature! Once I unsummon you, you'll disappear!"

"Just wait, once I'm out of combat, I'll make you pay!"

Ares couldn't be bothered to respond. It was just an empty threat.

A summoner's creature couldn't be replaced unless it died. At most, it could be put into a summoning space.

Even when the cooldown ended, it would just return to the summoning space temporarily. The same applied to undead summoners.

Unless Mordred never used summoning skills again, which would halve his power since he was too fragile to fight without summoned creatures tanking for him.

Ares' only concern was Mordred recalling him to the summoning space. But for some reason, Mordred hadn't done that.

Mordred wanted to, but he couldn't!

He had recalled all other skeleton soldiers, but Ares couldn't be summoned back! This realization was a crushing blow to his already fragile mental state.

Mordred, known for his foul mouth, relied on the fact that dying in the game wasn't permanent, spewing whatever venomous words he could. But no matter what he said, Ares didn't budge.

Only when Mordred's health hit zero did he fall silent, unwillingly. Watching Mordred's figure flicker and vanish, Ares waited a moment before checking his own interface.

The ownership field disappeared! The countdown above his head flickered twice and faded away.

[Name: Ares]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Undead Skeleton]

[Identity: NPC]

Attributes:

[Level: 6]

[Attack: 2221]

[Strength: 3437]

[Defense: 5]

[Agility: 2337]

[Magic: 1121]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Health: ∞]

[Inventory: Available Space 2/10000]

Body Evolution:

[Golden Bone Sword: Tier 7, 1,000,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[Golden Bone Right Arm: Tier 7, 1,000,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[Golden Bone Left Arm: Tier 6, 100,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[Golden Bone Right Leg: Tier 6, 100,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[Golden Bone Left Leg: Tier 5, 10,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[Golden Bone Skull: Tier 5, 10,000 evolution points needed for next tier]

[White Bone Spine: Unlocks after Golden Bone Sword Tier 8, Golden Bone Right Arm Tier 7, Golden Bone Left Arm Tier 6, Golden Bone Right Leg Tier 6, Golden Bone Left Leg Tier 5, Golden Bone Skull Tier 5]

Traits:

[Talent 1: Infinite Evolution (UR Grade)]

[Infinite Evolution: Leveling efficiency decreased by 99.99%, but defeating enemies grants evolution points to enhance personal strength.]

[Talent 2: Invincible (GR Grade)]

[Invincible: Personal strength receives a boost equal to 2 raised to the power of the level.]