Two points of bright red light burned within their skulls as the undead skeletons stared at Dhruv with a piercing gaze.

They had finally seemed to find their opponent after who knew how many decades.

"What the fuck are you staring at..."

Fuming, Dhruv took a step forward and crushed the nearest undead’s skull with his bare hand. He was a mage to the core, but his physical stats rivaled those of a warrior as well.

"Let me show you how a man fights now..." Dropping the mana bottle he had already pulled out back into his inventory, Dhruv looked at the monsters with a smirk.

The undead skeletons seemed to share the same thought, slashing, stabbing, and hammering their way toward him.

He wasn’t overconfident or anything like that... in fact, he was sure he would win the bout no matter what method he chose.

And the reason for his confidence was the tier of the skeletons.

Like Vexar had informed him, the highest-tier undead he had found were tier 3. In fact, most of them were only tier 2.

Slash!

Catching the sword coming his way, Dhruv tried to snatch it, but due to its deteriorated condition, it broke into pieces.

"How long have they been dormant on this ship..." he thought, punching another skeleton into oblivion.

Slash!... Poke!.... Poke!

With their overwhelming numbers, the undead spears managed to reach his skin in hopes of piercing it, but the most they could do was poke at it.

"Heheh..." Dhruv chuckled as the countless pokes brought on a strange funny sensation.

Giggling, he moved swiftly, reducing another group of undead to piles of bones.

As he danced between their ranks, he noticed something strange.

"Why am I not getting any EXP..." As the anger calmed down Dhruv realized he wasn’t gaining any experience from killing the undead.

The moment this realization struck, all the joy he’d been feeling from defeating them vanished instantly.

A bittersweet feeling began to creep in as Dhruv looked at the undead with a hint of disgust. The satisfaction he’d been drawing from the fight drained away in an instant.

"Huh! You skeletons you are no worty of a man’s fight.." No longer in the mood to fight, Dhruv pulled out mana potions from his inventory and chugged them.

"This should do it..." Dhruv muttered, noticing his core was about 20% full.

Opening his inventory again, he brought out the [Staff of the Enigmatic Wrath].

Inspecting its status, he focused on the fourth enchantment it possessed.

Before moving forward, he created a mana barrier, preventing the undead from getting close to him.

Focusing his mind, Dhruv began channeling mana into the fourth enchantment until his core remained at 10%.

"Let’s see how big its wrath is..." Smirking, he activated the enchantment.

A ray of blue light emitted from the staff and shot toward the sky. Nothing happened for the next few seconds... but then...

Cracckkkle!

Thunder began crackling above him.

The sky above, which had been a pale white void just moments earlier, was now filled with dark clouds, brimming with thunder.

Crack!

Boom!

Finally, the first bolt of thunder struck, clearing a 1-meter area around the point of impact.

Crack... Boom! Crack... Boom! Crack... Boom! Crack... Boom!...

"Woah!..." A whisper escaped his lips as Dhruv witnessed its sheer power.

Tens of bolts of thunder were striking the ships’s deck every second, reducing everything they touched to powder.

Thor’s Wrath continued its relentless barrage for another ten seconds before finally coming to a stop. The sky cleared, returning to its pale whiteness.

’It’s more powerful than I expected.’ looking at the staff Dhruv couldn’t help but be impressed as he surveyed the destruction caused by the staff.

Just when he thought it was over, he noticed something shifting around him.

"Heh!?"

The bones, which had been reduced to splinters, were now beginning to solidify. Bit by bit, they reformed into limbs. And it didn’t stop there.

The limbs connected, and soon, the same undead skeletons were once again standing before him.

"What the fuck..." he muttered, drinking another mana potion before firing another shot of [Thor’s Wrath].

The monsters turned to dust once more.

...And then they stood again.

He fired [Thor’s Wrath] for the third time, but once again, the result was the same.

’Something’s not right.’ Realizing there was no point in fighting the monsters endlessly, Dhruv materialized his wings and began hovering over the ship.

’What is going on... why do they keep reviving?’ Dhruv thought, stopping his bombardment.

He knew something was wrong with these undead. After all, once Azarex’s undead were killed, they truly stayed dead.

There was no way for them to rise again... unless—

’Unless this isn’t the whole truth.’

[Azarex, are you there?] Dhruv reached out to the one with the most knowledge about undead.

[Yes, Master.]

[I have some questions...]

[I’m always here to help you, Master,] came a solemn reply.

[So the thing is...]

Dhruv explained everything as the undead below him completely reformed once again.

[Did you say they don’t give any EXP after killing them?] Azarex asked.

[Yes! Is that important? I thought undead didn’t give EXP since they’re already dead,] Dhruv replied.

[Well, that should be the case... but it isn’t, exactly. For lack of a better explanation, undead aren’t truly dead. They exist on a thin line between life and death—a line so fragile it merely appears like being dead.]

[Hmmm! Well, this is something new...] Nodding, Dhruv continued, [So, what does that have to do with this?]

[If they were the same type of undead I control, you should have received EXP. It wouldn’t have been much—just a fraction of what you’d gain from killing their original version—but still, there would’ve been some.]

[There are different types of undead?]

[Yes, something like that.] After a brief pause, Azarex continued,

[There’s a wealth of knowledge in the ’Grimoire’ I received as a reward. One of the most important sections involves studying different types of undead...]

’So, the rewards really come in handy...’ Dhruv thought, recalling the aftermath of using the crown.

’Let’s deal with this first.’ Focusing again, he listened closely to Azarex’s words.

[...So, the type of undead you’re facing is called ’Anchorbounds.’]

[Anchorbounds!?]