[Anchorbounds?]

[Yes, Master. They are a type of undead that, instead of being controlled by a master, are more accurately bound to an object or an area.]

’That makes sense... still.’

[How can they manage to regenerate? Even if they’re bound to something, shouldn’t they stay dead after being killed once?]

[That should have happened... if the binding item isn’t supplying them with mana. In your case, I believe the entity or object powering these undead is providing them with enough mana to regenerate,] Azarex explained.

Pausing, he continued, [Even so, the mana source isn’t infinite. There should still be a limit.]

[How many times have you killed the undead, Master?]

[Three or four times,] Dhruv replied.

[Hmmm! You can continue killing them, or... a better solution would be to find the object they’re bound to. It should have abundant mana, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to locate it with your mana sense.]

’A mana-rich item... hmm. If there was something like that, I should’ve detected it long ago. Maybe it’s coated with a layer of mana masking,’ Dhruv thought, turning his gaze from the undead to the ship instead.

The ship, which once appeared as a wonder of ancient carpentering, was now nothing more than junk—a ragged structure made of decaying wood. There were more holes than planks holding it together.

Activating his mana sense, Dhruv asked, [Okay... I should destroy the item once I find it, right?]

[That should do the trick, Master.]

[well that’s it for now... thank you, Azarex.]

[It’s my pleasure, Master. If you need any further knowledge about the undead, don’t hesitate to ask me.]

[Sure.] Saying these words, Dhruv closed the connection.

’Let’s see where you are hiding...’

As there was nothing on the deck, Dhruv moved to the other section of the ship.

Being as large as it was, on top of being infested with undead, it was proving difficult for him to find the item with a relaxed mind.

***

"These little shits..." Breaking the skulls, Dhruv opened the gate to what seemed to be the washroom for the crew.

The moment he entered the bathroom, a blinding light hit his eyes.

Tsk.

Deactivating his mana sense, he tried to find the item that was emitting this sort of light.

There he found an orb, twice the size of a regular football. White in color with a tint of darkness inside it.

The moment Dhruv laid his eyes on the orb, he was sure of one thing.

’The mana level of this thing sure is off the charts. What type of sorcery did they use to conceal something of this magnitude?’ he thought.

If someone asked him to make a comparison, Dhruv was sure the mana level of the orb in front of him shouldn’t be lower than a peak-tier V monster core... no, a lower-tier VI would do more justice.

Instead of breaking the orb instantly, Dhruv moved around the restroom, trying to find anything that might help him understand the mana masking.

But despite spending tens of minutes searching, nothing came to his hand.

Sigh!

’Well... nothing more I can do...’ Thinking this, he moved toward the orb with the purpose of destroying it.

Before he could reach the orb, though, a voice rang in his ear.

[Master, did you find the item?] Azarex asked.

[Yes,] Dhruv replied, moving toward it.

[Have you already destroyed it?]

[No.] Finding it strange, Dhruv asked back, [Why do you ask?]

[If you haven’t, I want to experiment with the item a bit. Can you keep the orb and not destroy it?] Azarex asked.

[But these undead?] Dhruv asked in confusion.

[I think if you move the orb quite a distance from them... they should die naturally. And even then, it isn’t really necessary to kill every monster if they aren’t the boss.]

’Ohhh! Yes, how could I forget about this?’

[Okay, I will do it.] Having nothing against it Dhruv simply agreed.

’Take the orb far from the undead... well, I have a better idea,’ he thought, reaching the orb.

Picking the orb from the shelf, he thought of something.

The orb instantly vanished from his hand as it appeared in his inventory.

The moment the orb’s connection was cut from the dimension, a notification appeared in front of him.

[You have killed a tier II Undead Warrior.]

[You have killed a tier III Undead Mage.]

.

.

.

[You have gained Exp.]

.

.

.

’The cosmos really is stingy in giving exp.’

like Azarex had suggested, Dhruv didn’t really get much exp from all these kills. Even with hundreds of notifications, he didn’t level up once.

Just when he thought the notifications were over, another one appeared in front of him.

[You have cleared the objective.] 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

With this notification, a stone appeared in his hand.

When Dhruv looked at the stone, the name [Stone to the Next Floor] was written all over it.

’Well, shit...’

[The orb was related to clearing the floor,] Dhruv instinctively relayed the information to Azarex.

[What... did you destroy it, Master?] Azarex asked with a hint of worry.

[No...] Dhruv was about to assure him but stopped. [No, let me check it first.]

An orb appeared in his hand as he thought about it.

Dhruv looked at the orb; it was still the same. It still possessed the immense amount of mana it had earlier.

[Yes, the orb is completely fine.] Saying these words, Dhruv began focusing on the notification.

[Inform everyone... let’s meet on the first floor.] Saying this, he cut the connection off.

Looking at the notification there was one thing a piece of new information was coming to light.

’Cleared the objective... hmmm! There are two types of dungeons. One where I have to kill the boss and the second where I have to clear the objective...’

After some thinking, Dhruv realized something else.

’No... aren’t they fundamentally the same thing? Just that the objective of the former dungeon is to kill the boss. Huuu! I’ll have to talk to Aurora some more.’ Thinking this, he decided to go to the first floor.

Moments later, he disappeared from the place and appeared beside his guardians.

Looking at them, he began explaining how to clear the floors.

"You have only raided four dungeons, so it isn’t uncommon to not know about the objective dungeons," Aurora explained.

"So you knew about them?" Dhruv asked.

"Of course... I think some of these people knew about this as well," Aurora replied, gesturing toward the crowd.

"Makes sense." Nodding his head, Dhruv commanded everyone to enter the dungeon once again.

Without thinking twice, the group went to clear the next floor.

While they were busy clearing the floors, talks about their recent progress had already become a topic of discussion amongst the crowd.

Everyone was making assumption about their origin... their motive and most importantly the extent of strength they possess.