Over the coming weeks, Aziz assembled several skilled members of the Sulb Clan to join their group and head deeper into the Desolate Desert in search of the Mummy Lord, Baluea.
Among those that he assembled Marcus and Mrazivy had already seen most of them in action during the Muharib Festival and knew that they were strong. Not a single member that had been invited was below level sixty-five.
Except two individuals stood out from among the others as they were not members of the Sulb Clan.
"Zilre, Igna! What are you two doing here!?" Marcus said in surprise when the two of them appeared.
Just like him and Mrazivy they were guests here in Aezam, meaning that they should not have been among the forces that Aziz gathered. The only reason Marcus and Mrazivy were entering the Desolate Desert was for their own goals, but Zilre and Igna had no reason to venture into such a dangerous place.
"Hehe. We heard that you were getting together a bunch of people for something fun, so we figured that we would join you." Zilre said, a fierce smile on her face.
Marcus turned towards Aziz who surely knew that they would be coming but had failed to inform him or Mrazivy about it.
"Do not blame me. It was theirs and my brother's decision. He wanted to come himself, but I was able to convince him to attend to his duties as the grand elder so long as I included Zilre and Igna who were begging to join. He also told me not to inform you about this in order to surprise you."
Aziz looked more worn out from his brother's antics than anyone so Marcus and Mrazivy left it at that. It was not like having Zilre and Igna along would be detrimental. Both of them were incredibly strong fighters.
"We are looking forward to working with you this time instead of fighting. I am sure that this is going to be exciting." Zilre said, extending out one of her hands towards Marcus.
Taking her hand Marcus shook it and then Mrazivy did the same. With that Zilre and Igna had officially joined their team.
The next day after their team consisting of nineteen individuals had been assembled and was prepared to trek into the Desolate Desert.
"Are we really going on foot? I figured we would fly or at least use sand ships." Mrazivy said as they stood at the exit of the fortress.
"Ah, I suppose I forgot to mention we would be walking. This is the first time that any foreigners have ever entered this place." Aziz said.
He then explained that flying or using sand ships would make them easy targets for the undead that inhabited the Desolate Desert. If they did either, it would broadcast their location to pretty much all of the most dangerous monsters in the desert.
"I am sure if you observed the sky for a while, you would notice that nothing flies over this region. Not even powerful beasts like rocs dare invade the airspace of the Desolate Desert. Even above and below is the domain of the dead in this land."
After giving this explanation, Aziz began the march into the desert, taking the lead as a guide.
The moment that Marcus and Mrazivy took a step out of the fortress they felt essence of death that pervaded the area.
It was not terribly strong on the outskirts of the desert where they were, but if someone of a low level were to set foot here, they would likely die and become an undead within just a few minutes. Truly it was a terrifying place for the living.
"How are you doing Mraz?" Marcus asked, noticing her face tense for a second.
"I'm fine. This is nothing compared to Daniel's aura. Plus, Aziz gave us magic tools to alleviate the worst of it. It is just a little uncomfortable, that's all. What about you? I know that this does not normally affect you, but are you feeling anything unusual?"
Closing his eyes Marcus concentrated on the power of death that had seeped into the land and could feel it coursing all around them.
Unlike most undead he did not radiate an aura of death thanks to being an unbound ghost which was not a typically undead creature.
Marcus' race had been created by the Administrator and forced upon him the moment he arrived on Mirrion. He was a very unique case.
There was also the fact that he had become a great spirit which further complicated his status as an undead creature. As he was now, he was a bit of an anomaly that never existed before.
'Yeah, I can feel a great amount of energy within the ground and the air. While it must feel oppressive to you, I can feel a source of strength from it. I think my stats have actually gone up a little just from being here.' Marcus responded, using telepathy this time since he did not want anyone to hear what he said.
Mrazivy quickly sued her dragon eyes on Marcus and confirmed that his stats had indeed increased by one percent.
Learning this, Marcus realized that likely every undead within the Desolate Desert was receiving such a boost to their stats. And the closer they got tot eh Font of Death, the stronger this increase would be.
'No wonder the Sulb Clan has simply held the line instead of taking out the undead here. The deeper they go in, the stronger the monster will become.' Marcus thought.
However, while the undead that were contained within the Desolate Desert could gain strength from being in the vicinity of the Font of Death, so could he.
"Everyone keep sharp. It seems that the welcoming committee is here to greet us." Aziz said, his attention trained in front of them.
Popping up out of the sand was several dozens of forms that looked like dehydrated zombies.
These were undead known as husks and were among the weakest monsters that resided on the fringes of the Desolate Desert.
Nevertheless, they were still quite dangerous as getting touched by them would inflict any living being with a curse that depleted the moisture in the area they were hit.
Sensing the group of living people, the husks let out several loud moans and began running towards their targets.
Still, not a single one of these husks was above level twenty, and within a few seconds each of them was destroyed. Leaving nothing but bones and dried pieces of flesh scattered around.
"Whoa!"
After being destroyed the remains of the husks were being sucked back into the sands and soon were completely gone.
This was just another part of the Desolate Desert that made it a dangerous place. Even when destroyed the remains of defeated undead were swallowed by the desert and repurposed. In time, the bones and dehydrated flesh would come together to become another undead entity. At the very least they would not be as strong when they came back.
"This really does not bode well. That group was far smaller than it should have been, and we usually would have been attacked at least once more before making it this far." Aziz said, wearing a contemplative expression.
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