In the western corner of the northern border of the Fruit Salad kingdom, right at the edge of the great sea of mist that separated the Sloth's territory from the rest of the country, there was a mountain range devastated by the long distant artillery fire hundreds of years ago.

The legends have said that it was the place where lord Sloth cornered the God of wisdom and merged with it, gaining the knowledge and technology necessary for keeping the monstrous titan-class monsters at bay.

The sun was rising, illuminating the tops of the highest mountain peaks that only a few of the brave - or insane - travelers had dared to thread..

"...haa... hey, Zombie, do you ever wondered what kind of skill is needed to control the sea of mist?"

The red-haired girl getting a piggyback ride from the blue undead, asked, looking at the hundreds of feet tall wall of swirling whiteness on their left - a sign that the land was peaceful and no titan-class monster managed to break through the defense lines constructed by the Sloth family.

"No, never. But isn't it controlled by the system itself? We've seen that it stretches all the way to the horizon, if someone really is controlling it, their mana must be completely insane."

Zombie shrugged his shoulders and answered indifferently.

"That's the thing... one doesn't exclude the other."

Cranberry furrowed her brows and nested her chin against the blue undead's collarbone.

"Think about it. Saint was the last administrator. And at the same time, they were the spirit God Saint from the legend of Lady Envy."

The red-haired girl's eyes gleamed coldly as she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Wouldn't that mean that all gods from the legends were in fact administrators who had some degree of control over their respective aspects of the system? Haa..."

She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"God of wisdom merged with Lord Sloth... would a chimera of a player and an administrator keep the benefits of both? Saint certainly tried to kill me to regain some of their powers. Does that mean that with a steady influx of experience points be immune to the passage of time?"

Cranberry wondered while listening in to the chirping of birds and the sound of Zombie's high heel boots on the mountain path made by wild animals.

"You're making it sound like there always had been only one avatar of sloth. But wouldn't someone notice that? Even with the sea of mist in place, it's not like their territory is completely cut off from the rest of the world. They have to pay taxes like the rest, right?"

Zombie pointed out with a glint of brilliance that even dumb people showed once in a blue moon.

"Ha ha! True. But the avatar of sloth doesn't have to pay them in person, right?"

Cranberry laughed in her unique way and nodded.

"Truth to be told, the avatar of sloth is said to doing absolutely nothing except controlling the sea of mist. Apparently, no avatar of sin has ever graced the coronation ceremony of the Kings and Queens of the Fruit Salad. They've always sent a proxy."

She explained while relaxing slightly And even pulled away from Zombie's back, as far as she could without getting off of him, and stretched her body.

"~nnnnnngh~"

She let out a funny sound and her expression changed into a blissful one.

"Really? That sound like a big deal... Isn't that a bit disrespectful?"

Zombie furrowed his brows and asked intrigued.

"Oh, it is extremely disrespectful, considering that all the other avatars of sin would always attend no matter the circumstances."

Cranberry waved her hand and shook her head.

"But when during one of such events, the Sloth's proxy was asked the very same question... you know what their answer was?"

Cranberry smiled mischievously and started playing with Zombie's hair.

"Umm... no idea."

Zombie answered honestly while threading carefully by the edge of a cliff that suddenly revealed itself when the edge of the wall of mist started arching away from it.

"They've said. 'The current avatar of sloth is too busy protecting the border from invading monster. They have told me to ask the new ruler whether someone else who could hold the horde of titan-class monsters at bay had finally appeared so the Sloth's can have some rest. Ha ha! Wasn't that a lovely comeback?"

"Ouch, brutal."

Cranberry laughed and Zombie flinched.

"Titan-class monsters are even above dragons, angels, and true demons, right?"

The blue undead added curiously.

"Yes. Apparently, they are supposed to be just below the god-class monsters in terms of strength, but their level of intelligence varies from dumb adult human to clueless toddler - a clueless toddler with enough strength to level a city in one hit.

Cranberry ended up answering while rummaging through her travel bag and ended up pulling up an old-looking book.

"Wow!"

Zombie let out an excited gasp.

"That's not all. Did you know that the Sloth family came up with a tradition, where every player whose STR will exceed 3000 points will be granted a title of honorary Sloth, allowed to enter their territory and even take part in slaying a titan-class monster?"

Cranberry opened the book on the bookmarked page and read out loud.

"In the past, there were many adventurers and even some nobles who strived to achieved that, but since from everyone who accomplished that and then returned - all of them were said to come back disillusioned and with their spirits broken Because of that, the tradition is basically dead."

Cranberry closed the book and put it back in the bag.

"Why disillusioned?"

Zombie raised his brow.

"The 3000 STR is quite something, even more of a big deal nowadays, but it seems like it's like a bare minimum necessary to survive in the Sloths' territory. Every monster is basically dragon-class, and every human has to be an overpowers monster just so they can stay alive."

Cranberry said and leaned forward, hugging Zombie again.

"..."

The blue undead furrowed his brows and looked at the mist.

"...always someone stronger..."

He muttered under his breath.

"Yeah. That's how it works."

Cranberry nodded and closed her eyes nuzzling against his neck.

"Haa... It looks like Sloths' came up with the tradition as a way to remind everyone else why they should be left alone. The last person who went to their territory as an honorary Sloth, was the previous king, you know, Roan's grandfather, and it seems that the Sllths' plan has worked."

The red-haired girl sighed.

"Master, how about we go there and train?"

Zombie asked out of nowhere.

"It seems like a nice place to get stronger, right...?"

He tilted his head when Cranberry didn't give an immediate answer.

"...haa... we will. But not yet, it's too early."

Cranberry breathed out And shook her head with a solemn expression.

"First, I need to be able to use all the full extent of my strength without hurting myself, or there will be no point. Dying foolishly isn't on my to-do list, you know?"

She complainers pinching Zombie's cheek.

"Ah...! I haven't thought about that..."

"Of course you haven't, rotten brain."

The Master-Servant pair's banter was echoing down below the cliff.

"For now, let's concentrate on the task in front of us. How much further to the Pheonix layer?"

Cranberry asked opening her eyes.

"Umm..."

Zombie squinted his eyes and looked around.

"The entrance will be just below that mountaintop, the one with a hole punched out on the side."

The blue undead momentarily stopped supporting Cranberry's leg and pointed at the right spot.

"So high up... we will have to camp for a few more days before we reach there, so I would get used to the altitude."

The red-haired girl nodded.

"The Pheonix is a monster that breaches the gap between angel-class and true demon-class monster - if we won't be able to defeat it, we shouldn't even dream about going all the way to the Sloth's territory and bother the people who are working so hard to protect the entire continent."

"Okay! And if you still feel bad, I can always heal you with my damage absorption!"

"...!"

Cranberry flinched and her face turned crimson red from embarrassment at Zombie's innocent remark.

"...yes... yes you can..."

The red-haired girl became unusually timid.

"You know... we could actually train it right now... o-only if you want to train it that is...!"

She started mumbling while fidgetting intensely.

"We could just rest here for a bit and watch the sunrise and all... this whole scenery does set up a nice mood..."

Cranberry was doing her best to control her voice and not betray how much she actually wanted to do that.

"But you aren't hurt anywhere though? It won't even activate otherwise."

Zombie tilted his head while making a clueless expression.

Thankfully, thank's to his rotten brain skill, he was as observant as it gets.

"..."

Cranberry twitched and her expression soured.

"...haa..."

She breathed out heavily trying to get rid of all the disappointment in her body, and shook her head.

"...?!"

Then she suddenly flinched as if she realized something.

"Zombie, use your taunt...!"

She said with a determined expression.

"Ah? Okay..."

Zombie nodded and...

"COME AT ME YOU FUCKERS!"

...his deafening roared thundered over the mountains.

"SKREEE!"

"RAAAARGH!"

"REEEEEEEEEE"

"KURIIIIII"

Within the next second the air was filled with the battle cries of various monsters that were minding their own business up until that point.

"What do you want to do though?"

Zombie asked his master.

"I'm going to get damaged a bit so that you'll be able to train your skill, of course!"

Cranberry laughed, showing all her teeth in a bloodthirsty smile, and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Once a first beast showed up, the red-haired girl's body begun glowing with skills and she disappeared from Zombie's back.

"Wow, Cranberry is so committed to training!"

The blue undead gasped in awe, watching as his master's mighty swing rips right through the cranium of the large four-winged reptile.

But then he furrowed his brows and looked to the side.

"And here I thought that she maybe just wanted to kiss... yeah, right...! As if she sees me like that..."

He sighed, kicking up the ground with disappointment.