The trio had stepped into shadow ruins once again. Their target: imourte — an undead monster that could be harvested for a fortune.

  Now the ruined structures were pretty convenient, as apparently, no creature of the ashen lands could enter them while humans were free to use it as they pleased.

  Soon enough, Winston parked the cart in one of the many ruins. It was around this vicinity that they were to look for their prey as well.

  Eiza and Winston had suffered quite a bit in these lands — losing a party member in it as well. However, with Harwin, they could manage to survive in the harsh place, at least that is what they thought for now.

  A single venture in the ruins lasted from two days to weeks on end, of course, it depended on the scope as well as the experience of the party. The trio had planned to spend the bare minimum for now.

  They travelled carefully, walking with caution as to not walk into a trap like before. It was after an hour of search that they finally spotted a creature. Fortunately, it was exactly what they were looking for — a twisted being with six arms.

  Winston signalled for the rest to take cover. He himself scouted the nearby area before finally coming back to discuss the strategy. It was rather simple one and had already been predetermined so they were now just preparing themselves, mentally that is.

  Harwin now understood the weakness of the imourte, it was not only susceptible to fire spells but if one were to chop off its head then the thing's mobility will become limited. Of course, a fire spell would have been quicker and way safer, but the lad's magika capacity was limited as well which meant he needed to utilize it efficiently. As for Eiza, she could not even manage to cast a basic fire spell.

  With everything settled, Winston decided to take the first strike, aiming for the head as suggested by his companion. The young mage had thought that it would be a decisive victory but theory often plays out differently during implementation. As expected Winston's strike was easily dodged by his opponent.

  An imourte was a powerful creature, it was not going to go down without a fight. Its razor sharp claws helped it to deflect almost every single strike of its opponent. For a moment, it felt like Winston was being pushed back, well, anyone would have been overwhelmed against a six armed hell-spawn. This was when Stein — Harwin's hound — lunged forward to help. He was a swift beast and was able to bite one of the arm of his target right off.

  Harwin did not just idle around either, he charged forward and slashed right at the twisted creature, but it deflected once again. Even with three strikers, the monster could hold its own.

  However, this could not have continued for long. With each attack, Stein was able to chop off one of his enemy's arm off. The other two just acted in reserve for any short-comings of the, unexpected, main star of their party. The hound was now the main target of the imourte.

  It all came down to the last few moments when the twisted creature was left with only two arms. Stein, although, was a being of great endurance but was not invincible, so its movements were finally becoming dull. This was when Harwin took over as the main striker. With his stygian blade, he took the eflin stance which he had practiced thousands of times under the mentorship of two prodigies. Winston acted as the support while Stein maintained a bit of distance now.

  The crimson eyed undead charged with ferocity and bloodlust. Even though, its body was not whole, yet its movements were sharp as ever. Just as it was about to deliver a fatal blow to the young mage, the latter leaped right passed it. In the very next moment, the head of the imourte rolled down. Winston and Stein took the now headless body of the creature down immediately.

  In a matter of minutes, the trio had emerged out victorious. They were not unscathed, of course. Stein was absolutely fine with his tough, beastly skin. Harwin and Winston suffered minor wounds, but that was where Eiza shined. At her skill level, she could have reattached a lost limb without much problem. In the blink of an eye, the two lads felt as refreshed as if just having been woken up from a peaceful slumber.

  However, this was not the end of it all. Winston began to dissect the fallen twisted creature. Harwin observed carefully to understand and learn the process as well. The item they were after was a darkish orb called "The Marble Of Death", or more commonly known as "The Heart Of The Imourte".

  The strange orb was used for various purposes but adventurers hardly cared about any of that. Infact, anything bought by the guild was later sold to the capital who then sold it somewhere foreign, somewhere far away which none of the others really knew about. This was the very reason that there was limited information available for the utilization of the items obtained from the creatures of the shadow ruins.

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  After everything was done, the party decided to move forward. They did not find another prey for sometime, but soon enough, they found three imourte gathered in a single place. Now, in normal conditions, Eiza and Winston would have retreated far away from such an encounter, but this time, they had strong support.

  Harwin was not some weakling anymore who had to rely on his friends for everything. He had already faced death multiple times and now was much more confident in his skills. It was all thanks to the time he had spent in the southern continent under the care of his elfin comrades.

  After scouting the region for a while, He came up with a simple plan: Winston and Stein would act as a distraction while he himself would deliver the final blow. A single intermediate fire spell — Blazing death — could have taken down a large group of the twisted beings, but it also took a toll on a mage like Harwin.

  This was where the preparation came into play. With a great number of eco-shards in possession, the young mage could afford to not use any magika at all. So with everything settled, Winston and Stein gathered the attention of the three undeads. The beings mindlessly came rushing down towards the obvious trap, and just when they were in the striking zone, Harwin stepped forward. He shot the shards imbued with basic fire spells via the help of a recently acquired slingshot.

  He already had experience in handling a bow due to the time spent in the elfin village. He was, at least, precise with the thing. As expected, the shards hit right at the target and the combined effect of several basic spells caused a great explosion.

  After the smoke cleared, the small party of imourte was set ablaze, slowly falling down to their demise. None the less, the strikers carefully chopped down the heads of their enemies anyways.

  Harwin, with guidance from Eiza, began to dissect one of the undeads for the first time. It was not a intricate procedure or anything. These creatures mostly had no skin much less fat or muscles which meant the young mage just had to reach some of the already exposed organs.

  However, even after opening right through the chest, Harwin did not find the marble of death. He felt as if he had done something wrong, but Winston gave him a pat on the back and stated:

  "These strange orbs would have been absolutely worthless if they were to be obtained with such ease. We were just fortunate last time that we got one from each of these wretched beings, otherwise, it is never guaranteed. You can try your hand on the other one."

  Harwin, although a bit disheartened, tried his luck on the other. Unfortunately, he failed once again.

  "Hmm, quite an unlucky fellow you are, eh?" Winston commented.

  "Winston!" Eiza scolded him.

  "No no, he is correct. I guess, it will be better if you two handle this part, after all." Harwin claimed, slightly dejected.

  Strangely enough, the last imourte, dissected by Winston, had the item they were looking for which made him laugh as well. Eiza glared at her companion while Harwin just looked down. Stein tried to comfort his master by brushing his head against the the lad's leg.

  Now, this was not the end of their quest. They began to move forward once again, eventually finding their prey from time to time. At the end of the first day, they were able to get a hold of five hearts of the imourte.

  It was a good day, as stated by Winston but Harwin felt it to be less rewarding than he had hoped for. Either way, they were grateful at having made it through without any major injury.

  They made their way back to the ruined structure where they had stabled the desert horse. Harwin prepared the meal while Winston took care of the horse and Stein. They had brought along some raw meat from the town for the latter. Normally Stein could have consumed almost everything from the ashen lands, but an imourte hardly had anything to munch on much less fill the stomach. More importantly, the hound had earned his meal considering he had done a lot more than Harwin and his companions' had hoped for.

  After a humble yet filling dinner, the lot slept in shifts. It was a just a precaution, otherwise none of the creatures of the accursed lands could have stepped inside their camp as mentioned earlier. In fact, Stein was also served his meal outside of the camp and he spent the night there as well.

  In the morrow, the routine continued. After a small breakfast, the trio and their trusted pet continued the hunt. This time they went much further than before, and it was the first time that Harwin came across the crimson garden.

  The garden was part of the shadow ruins, it was filled with strange flowers. These appeared similar to roses yet there was something sinister about them. Of course, it was just as felt, the thorns and the mysterious smell of these plants could have resulted in the death of any traveler who spent too much time around the garden. The young mage had already read about this field of red and knew the consequences as well. This was the reason that the party decided to avoid treading towards it at all.

  Just as they were about to leave, they heard a cry from a far. As their eyes followed the voice, they looked to find a party of three fighting against something huge.

  Harwin had, once again, read about the strange being. It was the "Gogliath", similar to a cyclops — a mindless one-eyed giant which stood more than five meters tall. Although not sentient, yet it wielded a weapon. The weapon itself was just a large stone club, but similar in size to its user which meant a single hit could have squashed any living being without much effort.

  The party, shouting for help, was near the crimson field, and they appeared to be adventurers as well. Surronding them were about five or more corposes. The bunch were able to dodge the hideous being for now, but it was clear that their bodies were going to give in soon enough.

  Winston advised to leave. For a moment, Harwin was convinced as well, but Eiza argued otherwise. It was not until Stein rushed towards the giant that the young mage finally made up his mind. Seeing a beast of the ashen lands rush to help humans made the trio abandon any thoughts of cowering away.

  It was a brave choice, but Harwin's party was nowhere enough to take down the giant of the ominous desert. It would be a miracle if they managed to save the others and retreat safely, much less, take down the enemy itself.....