Norris wrote runes on the bones of the adept level undead skeleton. This was going to transform the warrior into a guard. 

 

It would serve as a temporary protector of a shelter against foes of its level. Not much but good enough. 

 

Norris, after he was done, went to check the barrier sealing his temporary home. Checking the runes and seeing no deficiencies, he added a little finishing touch to the barrier.

 

Stepping out of the barrier, he was back to his handicap, no mana. A new day, his arcane energy was full. If nothing went wrong, arcane energy was enough to solve most problems. 

 

He looked back, and no trace of his cave could be seen. His skull nodded lightly. 

 

The extra functions given to the barrier was doing fine, blending his cave sweet cave with the surroundings. 

 

With his home secure, Norris sets out. He wanted to scout the area. Can't have any hidden danger in the vicinity of his new cave. 

 

He took in the surrounding landscape with his senses. The view was in black and white. Combined with the mana sense, he felt like he could see more......magically.

 

He set out intent on gathering information. 

 

Has he explored, Norris occasionally encountered corporeal undead --skeletons, ghouls, zombies, all of which he engaged in combat.

 

This skirmishes allowed him to hone is melee combat skills. Without his mana, he had to refine his combat awareness. By collecting data and adapting to using his new senses, he prepared himself to the unique challenges of this eerie world. 

 

***

 

Norris was fighting with an initiate zombie.

It was like a graduation test to him. Having fought all initiate corporeal undead, the zombie was the hardest. The zombie rotten skin camouflaged its use of mana. Much better than ghouls surprisingly. 

 

Using a sword to clash with its claws and parrying for the umpteenth time, Norris tried using his senses to understand the zombies primitive use of mana. He soon found the trick and patterns the zombie used mana to fight. Soon enough the zombie was defeated. 

 

Norris bound it easily, not killing his defeated foe. It doesn't threaten him anymore, so he doesn't mind letting it live.

 

With that done, he went on to challenge adept creatures. Initiate undead, could be easily defeated by arcane spells. 

 

He used them to hone his melee fighting skills. Using them as experience package and treating them like games, he went on to the elite level monster; adept level undead. 

 

***

 

Norris kept look around looking for a new adept undead. He was slowly getting used to sensing the more complicated ways the adept were using mana. That's when he saw one of those weird ones. But Norris ignored it. It also ignored Norris. 

 

Norris graded the undeads he saw. Initiate undead were almost non sentient. Adept level skeletons were as smarts as animals, though there are some special ones. They had keen instincts and had primate level intelligence. An academic guess, they were practitioners in their former lives before dying.

 

Norris so hoped he doesn't meet and undead of his level. 

 

As he navigated the twisted landscape, Norris's keen mana sense caught sight of a heavily armored skeleton warrior. This one was different, exuding an aura that matched Norris's own. The dense and heavy presence of its mana screamed caution to Norris's instincts, and he prepared himself for a potential confrontation. Norris sighed. He jinxed it. 

 

"A sublimation warrior. Same level as me.", Norris sighed 

 

Norris discarded his sword. He wouldn’t win a blade fight. Magic was his only chance. He might need his blade in the future, but Norris was sure not this fight. 

 

He kept his distance, mind racing. His upgraded soul processed scenarios in an instant, calculating spells, angles, risks. The air thickened with mana, the ground cracked beneath them, mist clinging to the battlefield.  

 

A Clone Spell (5th-level) split the air beside him. The clone erected a barrier, sealing the area, hiding the battle from prying eyes while allowing him to lift his handicap.  

 

The warrior charged.  

 

Norris sidestepped—barely. The warrior retaliated using the sword as a medium to contain his mana, as it glowed black. The warrior’s sword came down, unleashing a vertical blast of negative energy. The strike carved a ravine into the earth, withering the land, flinging bones and debris skyward. Nearby undead disintegrated in the shockwave.  

 

Norris dodged, but the residual energy crushed several of his ribs.  

 

Gritting his teeth, he retaliated.  

 

"Cure Wounds (1st-level)."

 

But he twisted it—infusing death mana. Pale green light coiled around the warrior.

 

The warrior's undead’s body registered it as a buff, bypassing resistance. It was indeed a buff, but also a sugar coated poison

 

The warrior slowed, its skeletal frame struggling to process the energy. The death mana Norris infused showing its effect. 

 

Norris didn’t wait.  

 

"Bind (1st-level)."

 

The spell struck the warrior’s soul, tricking it into hallucinating restraints. For a few precious seconds, it froze. Norris soul was overwhelming more, allowing him to easily perform this spell with greater effect.

 

Enough time.  

 

"Bone Binding (3rd-level)." 

 

The earth ruptured. Skeletal tendrils erupted, weaving into a cage, ensnaring the warrior. It thrashed, energy flaring—then unleashed another blast, this time from its body. Like a humanoid bomb.  

 

The explosion shattered the bone cage, obliterated Norris’s clone, and rocked the battlefield. The Ethereal Barrier (5th-level) enchanted on his robe for automatic protecting flickered, straining under the assault.  

 

Norris saw the energy shiel

d of his robe about to break as the attacks were gradually approaching the limit.