Daniel took off at a slow jog towards the fog wall. He had started thinking of it as the graveyard for obvious reasons. While he ran, he tested the functions of his new staff. At first glance it seemed fragile, yet as he tried to bend, break or damage the slim piece of wood. Even the engravings upon the shaft weren't damaged. His head snapped to the left and he bared his teeth to threaten the huge panther that was barely visible to his left. It prowled out of the underbrush, snarling back at him and strafing to his right. A high pitched yowl behind him brought him to his senses and he moved away from the protective mother's cub.

She stopped snarling so loudly as she checked over her cub, never taking her eyes off the threat. Daniel reached into his pack slowly and tossed his last piece of boar meat. She sniffled at it, sneezed and ate it, no longer outwardly hostile yet still wary. Daniel gave the panther and her cub a wide berth as he walked away. keeping eye contact with her, he backed up and once he was out of sight began jogging again. No reason to kill her for simply protecting her child. After a few minutes, he forgot all about the event but someone else had taken note of him and it would change him in the near future, for better or worse is a matter of debate.

As he neared the wall of fog, Daniel took a moment to smell the fresh air before crossing over into the graveyard. Instantly, his new senses proved much better at penetrating the fog. He drew air in with a great lungful of breath. He smelled the decay, felt the cold mist, saw the 10 shambling zombies and skeletons walking towards him, tasted the bloodlust, and heard the groans of torn and rotted throats. This was what he loved, ever since he had started learning from his sensei's, they had to curb his bloodlust. Daniel loved to fight and win, here in this wild place he could cut loose and not need to worry over shattering an opponent.

With a cry of challenge he rushed forward and brandished his staff, extending it to full length. Daniel rushed forward and relying on his training, jabbed towards the throat of the leading zombie then choked back up on the staff, whipping the other end to the stomach of another. Searing pain erupted along his left shoulder as the first zombie embedded a rusty axe into him. He kicked it away with a pained scream and disengaged from the undead. Thankfully they weren't the sprinting kind. He took a moment to use the staff to dislodge the axe. It didn't hit anything vital thankfully but it was still incredibly painful. Grabbing the bloody axe in a fit of rage, he threw it as hard as he could at the one who wounded him. It flew end over end and while the blade didn't impact, the back of the axe did and crushed the rotted skull.

"Martial arts meant for fighting humans don't work on undead, should be obvious. It's hard to break a habit though." Daniel said. His wound was emitting a blue and sickly green/black mist, simultaneously rotting and healing. He grimaced at the pain "shrink to baton." From Demas' memories, he preferred the staff form but it could also become a thick baton to be used alongside the knife. "Blunt force should be effective" he said as he darted forward and slammed the baton into elbows, wrists and knees, dodging attacks by a hair. Soon enough his opponents were wriggling torsos on the ground, their pulverized and detached limbs twitching on the ground. Daniel took great joy in mercilessly crushing their skulls under his bare foot. While rotted brains weren't the best feeling between one's toes, he felt they might be good moisturizers.

Daniel took a moment to breathe in the slightly foul air, noting the lack of pure Aether, or unrefined mana. Demas' memories gave him more than just a few languages, he now knew the strength and weaknesses of being coreless. He would never be a great mage as one's core served as a magical subconscious, giving insight into the obscure and confusing nature of runes and magical formulae. But as a sort of consolation prize, he had already started along the path of an elementalist, martial artist who used their bodies to manipulate and control the forces of nature. As an elementalist, he was required to find an area of high magical density of any element to attune himself to it. Oddly enough, he was already attuned to ice and didn't have the problems absorbing mana from other sources, like the death mana in the air.

Daniel chalked it up to either he or Demas having wrong information. Maybe the Alva's research into the subject was incorrect or incomplete? "No matter." He mumbled to himself. "I'll figure it out eventually." As Daniel walked, he absorbed and cycled his mana, the slight aches like growing pains in his body told him that his channels were expanding through his muscles like they should be. With more time he would be able to wield ice with startling accuracy and efficiency. That was the advantage that elementalists had over mages and sorcerers, in their chosen elements, they reigned supreme in physical prowess and singular mastery but lacked the versatility of spells.

A shuffling sound interrupted his reverie. Daniel looked up in annoyance at the zombie limping towards him. "I. Was. BUSY." He threw a punch at it's head, it splattered like a rotten fruit, covering his fist in rotted grey matter. "Eugh." He shook his hand off, slight tingles alerting him to a potential problem. His hand was covered in the sick looking mana and his veins were turning black. Daniel took a deep breath and forced out his mana through his whole body, hoping it would purge the foreign contaminant. It felt like tensing every muscle in your body and then relaxing.

Both the wound on his shoulder blade and his hand felt much better and he could feel the flesh knitting back together. "Well that solves that. Though I don't remember anything in Demas' memory that indicates elementalists heal fast. Another thing I need to find someone to ask, Then again I look like a savage." Daniel rubbed his lightly bearded chin. "Problem for another day." He set off to find his little friend, walking further into the mist and avoiding the undead along the way. In the distance he spotted what looked like a knight carrying a helmet in one hand by the plume and an enormous halberd in the other. Steering clear of the intimidating figure, he heard the sound of barking in the distance. He smiled and set off at a sprint.

As he ran, he noticed the density of undead growing. His shoulder was sore but usable now so he extended the staff and smashed any that crossed his path, they never guarded against him, only swung whatever they had in their hand. It was simple to dodge out of the way and use the heavy staff to smash their skulls like ripe melons. Daniel started to cackle and then gagged when a piece of grey matter splattered into his open mouth. With a few retches and a thorough washing out with his boar bladder of water, Daniel resolved to wear a mask or something when fighting undead. He wouldn't wish that taste on anyone.

Up ahead Daniel saw the glowing blue flame of his friend the skeletal dog through a large set of doors. He burst into the suspiciously fog free hall and saw a terrifying sight, glowing green chains held the dog down while a floating skeletal figure wrapped in midnight blue robes watched with barely concealed glee. His frail looking form was wrapped tight in grey skin that looked paper thin. Instead of eyes, he had two green orbs of fire in his eye sockets. The undead turned to Daniel and Shrieked in rage. "THOSE DO NOT BELONG TO YOU!!" He screamed and green chains shot out of the stones to wrap around Daniel. He rolled forward to escape them and with a closed fist, blasted out a cone of cold to deflect another set. Daniel ran towards the skeleton thing..it looked familiar for some reason and the name of what it was flashed into his mind. This was a lich, a sorcerer that had sacrificed numerous people to craft a phylactery. A soul container that could be held seperate from the body, they could revive nearly infinitely unless it was destroyed. He tsked and dodged another set of chains that came out of the walls beside him by rolling under them.

At the end of his roll, Daniel dived forward once more and somersaulted into a crouch. He snapped the staff forward to crack across the lich's face. The lich snarled and began throwing green bolts of energy at him, dizzying symbols revolving around his bony hands. Daniel began partying the bolts with the staff, which seemed to piss it off even more. "I WILL BURN YOU TO ASHES, THIEF!!" A chain snagged Daniel's ankle and though he tried to fend off the rest of them, without his mobility he was doomed to fail. A green missile impacted his midriff and drove the air from his lungs. It was like he'd been punched by all four of his sensei's. Then came the pain, fire roared through his veins and he screamed in agony.

What felt like hours, green flames licked at his body and drove him to insanity with the intensity of pain. Finally it stopped and he was left limp in front of a cackling lich. "What do you have to say for yourself, worm?" The lich's raspy voice demanded. Daniel just whimpered. "Answer!" More pain, more screams. "Why do you have these weapons?!"

"I found them in a pyramid of skeletons! I got flashes of memory of some ancient king!" Daniel screamed out, afraid of feeling the pain again.

"You lie!" Somehow the lich made it hurt more.

"I swear! His name was Demas Rialdi! King of the Alva! Oh God make it stop!" Tears streamed down his face as he begged for release.

"So you tell the truth. Yet you are still a grave robber, defiling his rest." As the lich raised his hand to begin the torture again, a blue blur impacted the lich from the side. The skeletal dog had the lich pinned down on the stone and was aggressively biting down on the back of Its neck. Daniel struggled as hard as he could pulling with all his strength. The chain on his right wrist gave a groan of tortured metal and snapped, dissipating into colored mist. He reached down to his hip and unsheathed the long knife, slashing through his leg restraints. Still secured by one wrist, he swung into the wall with a crack, his shoulder dislocating. This was nothing compared to the fire and so Daniel ignored it, slicing the chain and falling to the stone with a groan.

He got up and began hobbling to the struggling pair 20 feet away. The only sounds were his labored breathing and the struggle of the two. The lich blasted the dog away with a muffled curse and floated up, blasting curses at it. The dog dodged the projectiles and launched itself at him, once more it grabbed an ankle and dragged him down to the earth. Daniel was a scant few feet away and the lich turned just as Daniel rammed the blade between its eyes with a feral snarl. "Take this you fucking bastard." The green light in his eyes flickered and went out, his body dissipating into particles. Wincing, Daniel went over to the dog who seemed to be wounded. The fire in his ribcage was slowly growing dimmer and dimmer. Daniel quickly shoved his hands into the fire and tried to feed it mana, hoping to invigorate the friendly undead.

A feeling of happiness and contentedness radiated from the dog. With a whispered sigh, the dog bones collapsed in a pile as the fire went out. Daniel gave a choked sob as he cradled the skull in his arms. He didnt know how long he grieved the only friendly being he'd met since he cane to this godforsaken world. But after a while he became aware of the aches in his body. Daniel attempted to stand but a rumbling in the building knocked him on his ass again. As he tried to scramble to safety, the floor collapsed beneath his feet and Daniel tumbled into the Abyss with a scream.