A giant swing.

Barely blocking it, I cast a flame spell to counterattack its body. Unsurprisingly, it did no damage.

“You're fighting too desperately. Try to think calmly.”

I know that, Wrath.

Currently, I'm fighting an undead skeleton knight in No man's land. The reason for its name was that past wars had little to no survivors.

It is also an extraordinary strategic location because of the abundance of mana, the narrowness of the route, and the roughness of the landscape. Mages had always gone to this region to test their new magic. I dare say it was all their fault that the land is this messy.

You could say that this place is a barren land.

“Up, right, down to your foot. Jump back, wait for an opening, and destroy its core with an upward flame spell from its stomach up to his chest.”

Wrath coaches me with various strategies while eating some skewers. Love him or hate him, all of his directions till these moments are on point. 

The skeleton knight charges with an upward strike full of unjustified anger. Finding this a bit interesting, impulsive thoughts quickly came to my mind.

Should I take the brunt of the attack? It is always fascinating how an undead works and its emotions, so this could be a great time to test them. Besides, death magic will always be a great scapegoat whenever things go south.

With my mind made up, I became ready to take the shot. Yet, it appears that someone is against it.

“Wind: hasta Aeris!”

Wrath annihilated the skeleton into pieces. Its core was being protected by its ribs, yet the sheer force of his attack is more than enough to bypass it.

He looks at me with questions above his head. Maybe he was even pissed too.

“Okay, why did you just do that?”

“Because… I was curious.”

You can even say that I'm more confused than him. By now, he should be already aware of my death magic. 

“So you want to take the attack?”

I simply nodded.

“Sigh, even if you have that anomaly of yours, you shouldn't do that,” he said. “Firstly, you should know that using that weird magic of yours repetitively will cost harm to your body, right? I mean, you even told me that side effect. Secondly, even if you did find a way to bypass the side effect, using it will still do no good. You might rely on it heavily. Last, have you ever imagined if you slip up even once? If you did not, then you should know that you would be dead.”

In conclusion, he's saying that death magic is too risky to use.

“I… Understand.”

Nodding, he went around the valley, trying to find another skeleton knight.

These skeleton knights have always been common around here compared to other areas. I noticed this because of past wars that happened here.

To be honest, there is something odd about this place. The shapes of the canyons that are surrounding this valley are something akin to being cut in half.

It wasn't a clean-cut, all I can say was that it came from the edge of a sword. A sword that can cut a mountain in half.

“Hey, Lapiz, found another one here!” Wrath exclaimed.

I immediately went to his location and saw a skeleton knight from afar. 

“Now, go on and do what you usually do. Death magic is prohibited, so use whatever you have in your arsenal.”

“Enhancement: touch.”

Nodding quietly, I rushed at full speed while also preparing for flame magic. The skeleton knight noticed this immediately and went for a full-frontal attack.

The moment I infiltrated its defences, he swung his sword so fast that it surpassed my speed instantly. With no other choice, I decided to attack his core faster than he could crack my skull.

“Flame: hasta Aeris.”

Blue flames erupted right beside the skeleton's chest. Now it is only a race of who gets to hit first, and the odds are stacked against me.

“Enhancement: perception.”

Trying to enhance my sense of perception, my battle instinct elevated from what it once was.

Knowing that the cut cannot be dodged, blocking will be the only choice.

With desperation, I stopped it with both of my hands. Since its sword doesn't have a sharp edge, the only thing I felt was the blunt force of its attack. Nonetheless, it was still a sword.

A full second of nothing but the defence was all I could do. It is also all I needed.

This is the end.

My spell hit his core. The moment they came in contact, the skeleton turned into ashes. What was left was his blunt sword.

I held my hand in pain, trying to cover up the wound. Using death magic would reset it, but Wrath forbade me to. Besides, that full one second was everything I had. 

With little to no strength left, I inevitably collapsed on the ground.

***

Dizzy ness. Nonetheless, I woke up reasonably peaceful. 

I looked around, left and right and saw Wrath eating some skewers beside a bonfire. My hands are all patched up and my strength was back to normal. Still, my arms are not healed yet.

How many skewers does he have?

"Oh, didn't expect you to wake up this fast Lapiz," he said after he finished eating.

I just nodded before he fetched some skewers towards me. 

It appears that we were still in no man's land. At night, the monsters should double up yet I see none.

"You wondering about the monsters?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Well, you could say I was cleaning while you were out cold."

I simply nodded. If it's Wrath then he should be able to do this much.

"By the way, do you already know zones?"

I shook my head.

"Hmm, weird. Thought you would already know it. There are 4 types of zones in a form of colours," he stated. "First off, the green zones. This zone has no hostile monsters and is usually a town or an empire of some sort."

"Can... This exists outside of settlements?" 

"Yes. This can be a forest with no monsters or a place where nothing lives. The criteria are very vast too. Are you clear about this one?"

I nodded.

"Great! Now, for the yellow zone. In these places, there would be something that can somewhat injure a D-class adventurer. These places don't have anything that can kill you but has many things to hurt you."

"Then... What is the zone of this land?"

"Hmm, on the map, it is said to be an orange zone. This also brings me to the other one and it's The orange zone," he exclaimed quite excitingly. "It's where people die every day. These places could kill adventurers ranging from C-class up to A-class adventurers."

"That's... Too vague."

"Yeah, I thought so too. I mean, why rank something based on how strong of an adventure die in such places? Whoever thought of this ranking was an absolute idiot," he said while sweating a bit. "Anyways, there is a reason why it's so vague. Zones have what's so-called branches that filter out the difficulty."

He then proceeded to tell me all of the branches with utmost precision. To be honest, I had a hard time paying attention to what he was saying so the only thing I got was a general idea.

Every zone has three branches. Its job is the same with zones albeit more specific. For example, If it's generally a weaker version of an orange zone, it will be classified as low-orange. 

This simple ranking helped merchants to choose their path more easily.

"The... Last zone?"

He went silent for a few seconds carefully choosing his words.

"Let's just say that... You should avoid those regions at all costs," he ordered with no exceptions.

The wind became cold. Colder than it ever was before. 

"Want more skewers?" Wrath's cold atmosphere vanished in an instant and what replaced it was his usual tone yet all I could do is ignore it.

He's so fast at switching attitudes.

These pieces of information were the only ones that were worth remembering. It was also the last thing I remember before I went to sleep.

Goodnight.