In the deserts of Azurah.

Where the sun was scorching the sand and those who dared to come.

Maybe it was because of the unfriendly environment that didnt allow us to strive or at the sheer size of the desert.

The deserts of Azurah were one of the many lands that were worth being called of unknown origin. The reason for that wasnt because it wasnt mapped or anything the like.

As of the last hundreds of years, explorers started that before were afraid had to take it by their hands to explore the desert of Azurah.

After many people who had gone missing and others that had been found dead, the few who managed to get out of the desert managed by comparing the work of fellow explorers and theirs to finally creating the addition of the desert of Azurah in all the other maps.

But till this day the title of unknown origin still stayed on this desert.

In the first place, the thing that draw the explorers to risk their lives to explore through the dangerous deserts was for a single reason.

Ancient Artifacts.

Once upon a time, there was a crazy magic caster who put himself to explore through the deserts of the unknown who was supposedly was searching the ways of immortality.

That man was a famous archmage back on one of the most renowned academies of the arcana kingdom. Maybe it is because he reaching the last days of his life and getting mad about it.

The reason why he was called mad was lost due to the nature of time.

But one thing was remembered after the archmages return.

It was the artifact that he brought back with incredible strength that made his legacy be a taint through history, making the explores with either greed or curiosity to seek what the Desert had to offer.

Even when the archmage in question had shortly vanished from history together of what the artifact did.

The sole potential treasure hunt in the desert was enough to make people seek the desert of Azurah.

Ores and material that had never been sighted were discovered.

Ancient Ruins of destroyed cities and monument buildings alike were found, some containing ancient knowledge or artifacts.

But till this day, the reason why this dessert was called Azurah was still unexplained.

Only one thing was universally known of those who dared to step in the desert of Azurah.

That was where that vicious beast inhabited the whole desert that sought nothing else than to kill.

And rumors were saying, that in those very deserts.

Champions of earth-shaking power and could-level armies were there to find.

As Ancient Devils were to find there.

***

Currently in the deserts of Azurah.

Though the vast and far desert, a silhouette was too seen.

Without carrying any water or food at his side.

With only a sheath carrying a longsword and wearing heavy armor under a cloak.

The armor of his that reflected the sun above had gone into dangerous heat levels that could easily leave a burn mark on a normal person.

One would question how the man survived walking on this desert under such circumstances and be still standing on his two feet.

As such a feat was only able to replicate by either a higher tier combated.

Or a being that neither hungered nor tired.

More specifically, an undead.

And that particular undead was none other than a wight going by Rue Danzel.

Staring at the piece of paper in his hand, Danzel cursed internally.

"Sigh, where am I..." Danzel said as he stared in front of him, only to see the same thing wherever he looked.

Sand.

One could say, that Danzel, f*cked himself a big-time this time around.

After he submerges in the river and walked in the deeps of it until he reached the other side, making him leave the borders of the Arcana Kingdom.

The journey from here to where he was currently was a rather uneventful month to say the less.

He walked through the forest and beast-infested lands without halting his march towards his goal. The desert.

Originally, walking from the river until the desert by foot only was from another perspective an insane act to do.

While the others had to sleep, find provision, fight through the weather, and fatigue.

Danzel had to do nothing of such things.

Fatigue and harsh weather? He felt nothing.

Need of food? He couldn't eat even if he wanted to.

Sleep? That was for losers!

With such features that had his undead body, walking 24/7 was nothing hard for him.

Except for the few times he checked his status window, he hadn't stopped making his way to the desert.

But once he arrived at the edge of the desert and he decided to head his way towards one of the cities.

Danzel, lost his way while going towards the city.

Rather, there wasn't even a path to guide him there.

Since, well, there was only sand to see.

Usually, Danzel would check his surroundings first before he was able to confirm his position on the map.

In the desert's case though, they weren't,t much of any details to take from to confirm his potion, as everywhere was just sand to see.

Without having a compass or like the magic item that serves a similar purpose.

Orienting yourself in such a place was close to impossible.

Even if they were ways to see which direction was where.

At least for Danzel, he knew no such method.

In other words...

He was lost.

"How many hours has it been since I came to this place?" Danzel said as he continued walking forward.

Taking a look at his Sun timer, he shook his head bitterly.

'Already 4 hours, huh?' Putting his sun timer away, he noticed something ahead of him.

'Ah, crap'

Out of the far distance, there were waves of sound flying through the air, swallowing everything to be never seen again inside the cloud of sand.

It was a sand storm.

"Next thing after next..." Sighing to himself, he braced himself forward and entered the raging sand storm.

Danzel did feel a slight resistance all around him, but nothing strong enough for him to be pushed away.

Although he could now barely see while his armor was filling with sand, he continued moving forward.

Danzel didn't know how many hours he spend in that sand storm. As he was too afraid of losing the sun timer if pulled out.

Seeing the end of the sound storm, he pushed himself out of the harsh winds.

Once he did, he froze upon the sight in front of him.

"Are those the..." Danzel said as he observed his surroundings.

With grumbled buildings that had clear signs of decay that could tell many history's based on the signs of carvings of each building.

The most noticeable one was one of the very centers.

To Danzel it looked like a large tower that overseen the much smaller buildings.

"So those are the small spots drawn in the map. Here I thought they were some village of shorts, but to think that they were just some ruins of the past." Daniel said.

With nowhere else to go, he walked towards the crumbled buildings, only to find an old road that was made there.

"Finally some steady ground..." Danzel said as he shook the sand out of his armor.

Finishing doing that, he walked towards the crumbled buildings with disappointment.

"There is nothing left, huh?"

'It wasn't like I was expecting something' He shook his head as he continued searching the houses.

With how old the building was, he knew that there will be nothing left.

Although some houses had a sword, they began usably;

Jest for combat.

Having checked 10 houses in total, his patience run down as he gazed at the large tower.

'Maybe that place has something interesting for me to see, as it looks all important and so.'

Having made his mind, he wandered towards the tower, only to halt his steps.

"..."

Sensing their presence, he drew his sword out while checking the surroundings.

"Gweaaagh~!"

Turning his head towards the sound, he was surprised to see what made it.

Staring at in front of him, three of the three-and-a-half-meter-long beast that had the form of a wolf and a tiger.

The faces of those things were almost skeletal-like.

Their body was long like a tiger with finely defined muscles.

By a glance at their eyes, one could tell that those guys seemingly lost all sanity.

"Seriously...desert wolves," Danzel said surprised

As Danzel was about to go forward and finish all those three.

There was a sudden change.

The two front legs of those wolves moved as if their bone structure had changed.

The legs become much stronger than before, making their form perfect to leap their opponent. Next, their mouth opened wide enough for them to swallow a kid at a whole.

For the moment ago, those wolves looked like some different beast with only their prey on sight.

"Gweeeh!

" Geaaaagh!

Seeing them dashing forward, Danzel raised his blade.