`I have to survive no matter the cost! The former owner thought to himself as he braced himself to face the Draugr.

Alas, when the blue-eyed Draugr dashed towards him, the former owner couldnt help but remember how his comrades died against that undead. The fear that run through his body was barely suppresed with his will to survive.

But even by strengthening his will, one couldnt surpass the physical difference between those two.

In just a single moment, the Draugr that was shrouded in the dark mist raised his sword up high and slashed at him.

The former owner imminently recognize the mana that was in the undead sword as the [Heavy Strike] technique. A rather common yet powerful skill that lets one increase the power behind one's attack.

It was a technique that was taught to the soldiers who achieved the 2nd-tier and was a must learn skill for any swordsman. Unfortunately, he only started learning so he couldnt perform it himself, but recognizing it wasnt that hard.

Knowing that he had bi hope of meeting the undead sword with his [Heavy Strike] technique and the difference in strength, he pushed forward his shield to block the Draugrs swing.

*Tiing!!!

Once the sword meets with the shield, unexpectedly to the former owner's expectations, the sword of the Draugr cut through his shield and only then stopped at his hand armor.

The sword needs only a few more inches to take the former owner's hand.

"Ugh! You all piece of bones!" The former owner cursed as he felt as if he was going to be buried in the ground.

Grinding his teeth though, he pushed through the hardship and swung his sword, aiming for the Draugrs skull.

And with a swift swing, it seemed like he achieved in cutting the Draugrs skull for a split second, but the former owner instead of celebrating cursed to himself.

`I felt not contract! That must be the-

Before he was even able to finish his thoughts, the part that he cut was nothing more than the dark mist, and the sword that was stuck in his shield was dragged back and once again swung towards him.

Seeing that, he barely managed to push the shield forward and take a step back.

*Ting!

This time the sword managed to cut through his shield and as the swing came from the side, now the former owner had only the bottom half of his shield.

He wanted to realize, but the next thing he knew, the Draugr sent out a kick towards his stomach.

If it werent for putting the other half of his shield in the way, maybe his organs would even be crushed. But even though he blocked the undead's kick, it was still powerful enough to bend the shield and make him fall to the lake with his butt first.

*Splash!

`I need to stand up and fight. Otherwise, I will die.` The former owner thought as he raise up as fast as he could.

Once he raisen up from the shallow waters, he was surprised to see the Draugr looking at him instead of rushing to kill him.

`Why did he stop?

As he was confused at the undead actions, the Draugr opened his mouth.

"Compare to the other humans, you are stronger. But at the end of it, you are just a human. A weakling" The Draugrs said with his cold voice.

Hearing that, the former owner was slightly stunned before anger rose up in him.

"You are right, compared to us humans, monsters like you have a much better start than us. Remember though, compared to that necromancer, you are nothing more than those skeletons that we fought! Compared to him! You are nothing!" He yelled before unequipping his shield and throwing it into the lake.

Right after his shield, he began taking off his armor and throwing it into the lake upon the gaze of the undead.

His helmet being the last piece of his armor, his wet black hair that gone till his neck fell off his face. Once he pushed his hair to the side, he gripped the handle of his sword with both hands.

"In fact, you are so weak that even I am confident that I have a chance against a mere skeleton."

Being called weak and even seen as a skeleton made the Draugrs before strong bloodlust even stronger.

"You mere human!" The Draugr yelled as he swung at the former owner.

He of course swung towards the sword to block the fate of being cut in two.

With the weight of having his armor removed, it was barely enough to push his sword against the undead one.

*Ting!

But of course, the whole impact traveled through his hand.

`Heavy! Me and my stupid mouth. It was just a single swing and yet I feel like my arms are going to be torn away! How long can I last against him.

Even though the water hinder his movements and the Draugrs attack was more than he could handle, the former owner pushed through his limits and blocked the time and time again the Draugrs sword.

His sword had already begun losing his edge and if this continued, his sword would become nothing more than a metal club at best.

Even though he knew that what he was doing was nothing more than preventing his inevitable death of his, he still had a linger of hope of the Draugr showing a mistake that he could use.

And as if the gods were answering his hopes, the Draugrs aura weaken suddenly, lowering both his speed and strength at the same time.

Noticing that, the former owner remembered the spell that the necromancer cast on all his undead, including the Draugr in front of him.

`The duration of his enchantment wore off! I can do it! The Goddes must be looking over me! He thought in joy.

Even though he was exhausted, he still pushed himself to attack the Draugr.

But even with the Draugr losing the Lesser Lich buff, he still had his armor increasing his strength, making the two now have an equal footing.

The one who held the disadvantage was the former owner as with the Draugr use of [Dark Mist Robe] he couldnt get a single hit at all.

Sooner or later he knew that his body would give up while the Draugrs tireless undead body would claim his life. Even though he knew that the fact that both of them were on equal footing made him push further towards the light of hope.

*Splash!

But as if fate was pulling a cruel joke on him and putting out his light, suddenly a skeleton came out of the lake and thrust his sword towards his abdomen and piercing his body.

"Huh-?"

Without even understanding what was happening, the Draugr used the former's owner's confusion and pierce his own sword towards the human's chest.

In the next moment, he threw a large amount of blood out of his throat.

"Gaah! When did such a thi-gah!"

He was completely bewildered upon the appearance of the skeleton's ambush. With his whole focus aimed at the Draugr, he never expected another enemy to appear.

Losing the strength of his body at a rapid pace, the sword that now had dulled fell to his feet. And once both the undead draw their swords out of his body, he fell to his knees and stared at the dark waters of the lake.

Seeing that, the Draugr scoffed at him.

"I am no mere skeleton, I am a Draugr! A being capable of dominating the likes of that mindless undead. Let your ignorance be the death of you." The Draugr said with his cold voice.

The next moment, several other undead came out of the lake with his [Undead Domination] talent. Looking at the Skeletons, the Draugr turned his back on the dying human and left the lake while making the skeletons follow behind him.

Being left alone in the cold lake, now filled with dead mana from the Necromancer, the former owner closed his eyes with the last bits of his strength and feel completely in the lake.

*Splash!

Even though he was only in the shallow parts of the lake, his whole body was completely submerged.

Watching from the sidelines, Velkir looked down at the corpse of the former owner.

"It seems like Danzel didnt inherit his talent of magic from him. And for a corpse, this weak to become a natural-born Wight in just a mere decade shouldnt be possible. Its unnatural. Unless..."

Suddenly, the whole vision that the ritual was creating started to break apart and Velkirs small part of his consciousness started to be pulled back towards his main consciousness inside the stone base in the Gartera forest.

Digesting the information that he gained, Velkir stared at Danzel that was rubbing Skull Claws' skull.

`A Death Hound? Thats rare... Velkir thought for a moment before even forgeting about Skull Claw and changing his focus towards Danzel.

"I see, Danzel, you are a natural-born undead anomaly. That explains it." Velkir said with his cold voice while nodding his head in understanding.

Danzel in comparison stared at the Lich confused.

`What the hell are talking about?