The skeleton isn't some foreboding lich with a legion under it, nor is it unimaginatively named [Skeleton Mage]. Instead, standing there is a naked skeleton with an orb-like jewel tucked up inside its ribcage.

[Fledgling Skeleton Caster D Lv65]

I don't want to kill this skeleton. Its three-part naming sense is probably an indicator that it's unique... Not that I'm interested in taming it. Rob will probably need some vassals at some point, and having a court mage is 'romanticized,' no?

The skeleton spots us, not that we are hiding. The orb pulses energy before fire spirals out of its chest and coils down its right arm. The magic compresses at the skeleton's outstretched hand before being launched straight at me.

For some inexplicable reason, 90% of the undead in this fracture attack only me. The undead ignore my other beasts like they're invisible unless Rob tries to preemptively take over the sector without dispatching the local lord. Maybe my life force is so robust that the undead and their unique 'life-based' vision are engulfed by me.

The flames lick my face before dispersing into nothing. I tell Rob to 'nonlethally' dispatch the [Fledgling Skeleton Caster D Lv65]. Rob springs into action. He dug a deep hole while the skeleton was set on trying to kill me.

Ice, fire, lightning, and other destructive spells swirl from the skeleton's chest orb. My resistance is too high for it to harm me. It might kill itself by attacking me, so I disable my 'thorns' damage.

After the hole was finished, Rob sneaks up behind the skeleton and grabs it by the spine. It's surprised and tries to fight back by clawing with its bony fingers, but Rob shrugs off the damage and drags him into the hole.

Rob buries the skeleton 'alive' and pats the ground flat with his shovel. He gives me a thumbs-up and a toothy grin.

Sector Seven was shortly taken after. Same with eight and nine. In that time, I gained my first level in a long time, and it hurt.

My stirring energies inside my body started to fight amongst each other once again as soon as I became level 101. They calmed down shortly after without me needing to give any input, but this might be a warning of what's to come.

It's like tectonic plates deep within my person shifted out of place for a second. My multiple-attuned energies can't even be used for anything until level 200.

I haven't spent my unused stat points yet. I'll do some theory crafting and plan the best way to grow myself. I should get input from my Masters or my peers. Unlike me, my foster sister and acquaintances(?) actually learn this stuff in class.

I gained three more levels before finishing off sector nine.

Slowly, I'm understanding the layout of this place. The [Endless Graveyard] is deceptively laid out. First, I thought it was laid out like a board game. Go from one sector to the next.

Go forward to a higher sector and backward to a lower one. What happens if you go sideways? It doesn't seem to loop endlessly as a cheap way to induce 'endlessness.' Unless I take the time to run in a straight line for who knows how long, I won't get a definite answer.

I tried a different experiment. We backtracked to satiate my curiosity about the first sector. We go through Sector One to see what's on the other side.

It took a long time, but I got my answer. It was sector two. The sectors are laid out in layered rings. Maybe not exactly a circle shape because there are some sharp corners… perhaps a pentagon? I digress.

That also makes sense since if we couldn't find the boss' lair, Rob would 'summon' them by trying to preemptively take over their sector. We would then follow where most of the undead are rushing from and assumedly meet the boss in the middle.

I don't know… it feels inefficient. Having all this land just for one undead. 'No systems in place, no way to know what's going on, no generals or henchmen besides the random attack group of skeletons that just happen to populate your sector. It doesn't matter since they are unintelligent... but once sapient undead become a minority rather than a rarity, I wonder what their societies will look like.

Sector Ten. Convention says that the undead here shouldn't be able to surpass level 100. That may be true, but the amount of level 100s in this sector is surprising. 80%ish of this sector is level 100.

The weapons and armor of the skeletons are way better, and there are more species. More skeletal beasts as well. If the other sectors had vermin like rats or bats, this sector would have actual beasts. [Skeletal Lion] with his pack of [Skeletal Lioness]. A [Skeletal Gorilla] harassing other undead. A waddle of [Skeletal Penguin]s are beating the shit out of some walrus-looking skeleton with their little flappers.

It's nice to see wildlife. It isn't like humanoid undead are now rare to spot. They still come at us in hordes. Of course, our presence is spotted, and everything within sight wants us dead.

Archers rain arrows before Duchess can radiate them with holy light. She's agile enough in the sky to dodge most arrows before nuking the backlines. The warriors and animals attack in droves.

With Khan permanently swarming around me, the frontline can't do shit. They turn into bone shards and scrap armor before they can reach me. Flash Gordon, Rob, and Prometheus don't have as large of a battlefield presence, but they still crack skulls and char bones.

Whenever I see a 'beefy' - in this case, thick - undead, I have Khan let them through to me. Nine times out of ten, they run through the *literal* shark storm to stab or bludgeon me.

That's where I practice using [Cross-Counter]. Instead of using repetition as my training method, I try to use the skill when I instinctively feel it's right. When the enemy's attack is at its apex and has a wide-open shot at me without issue, I could breach their defenses and lay a heavy blow.

[Cross-Counter

The user mastered the art of taking blow for blow. The user can utilize an opening opened by the attack of the target. This attack ignores armor and sets the user's armor to 0.

Base Damage: 50% of the target's damage back to them. (Before mitigations)

Cooldown: 25 minutes]

I can almost do it with my eyes closed, and that's what I'm trying to accomplish. Becoming fluent in my skills to where using them is second nature. I'm utilizing the philosophy of the skill even when the skill is on cooldown.

Taking blow for blow. Utilize openings in my enemy's attack to land a lethal strike. Who cares if they hit me? It won't hurt me as much as it will hurt them. Even if the damage to my body makes me regret using this type of fighting style, at least I'm alive to complain.

I almost had an epiphany about the [Broken Body] martial arts, but I got distracted by a system notification.

[Path of the Broken Body C Lv5 > Path of the Broken Body B Lv1]

[Path of the Broken Body B Lv1

Unarmed Damage: +60% ⬆

Maximum Health: +60% ⬆]

[Broken Liver], [Iron Hide], and [Corrosive Metabolism] don't have any 'stats' in the first place. Any changes are hard to notice without testing. But all my martial skills have gotten stronger, one way or another.

-Broken Blood

Mana is the blood of life; it is in all things. The user may convert Health to Mana by breaking open their blood. It may cause fatigue and heart failure if used excessively.

Cooldown: 50 minutes ⬆

Conversion: 1 health for 3 mana.

–Martyr

You are a martyr of the people. May your sacrifice be remembered. The user can siphon any amount of damage taken by another target.

Range: 35 feet ⬆

Damage Taken: 2x

–Second Heart

Break our hearts? Two will grow in its place. The user now has a second heart.

If one of the hearts fails, the user can still survive with the other heart.

Health Regeneration: +0.6% of max health per second. ⬆

Vigor: +30 ⬆

–Cross-Counter

The user mastered the art of taking blow for blow. The user can utilize an opening opened by the attack of the target. This attack ignores armor and sets the user's armor to 0.

Base Damage: 55% of the target's damage back to them. (Before mitigations) ⬆

Cooldown: 25 minutes

-Battered Bones

The user's bones can be broken at will. Bones that are broken this way mend themselves quickly. Bones can be shattered to increase the exertion of various movements. Increase blood production.

Exertion Bonus: +55% ⬆

Blood Production: x1.5

After clearing out the undead that charged at us like crazed beasts, we continued our usual game plan. We head to the next wall separating the next sector and walk parallel to it until we find the boss' location. This gives us a chance to practice more skills and gain more experience. If it takes too long to find the place, we can have them come to us using Rob's skill.

If the other walls of this place were simple brick and mortar with iron barbs, then these could house a city. Gargantuan, ebony walls with decals depicting various undead. They stretch on just like the other ones but

Ontop the walls, flashes of motion contrast against the bleak, dark sky. I stand on Khan as he rises to match the great wall's height. My tamed beasts hitch a ride with me as we travel.

Two skeletons clad in armor are fighting each other. One is wearing heavy armor, swinging around a massive sword, and the other is relatively less armored but seems to be riding a horse. A horse onto a wall. That rider sure is taking advantage of being on a mount. That undead wields a spear.

The sword undead rushes the horse guy, smacking the spear away. The horse guy conjures a bone hawk with a flick of the wrist. The creature flies straight for the swordsman's helmet with its talons extended. The bird's undead life is short-lived as a casual swing shatters it into innumerable pieces.

The momentary distraction was enough for the spear user to gain some distance. The spear flies through the air like a crescent moon and lands hard, aiming for the skull.

The swordsman managed to slide to the right but still got hit in the space between his neck and shoulder. With a spray of sparks and metal fragments, the swordsman is momentarily off-balanced. They manage to swing the sword up as they fall to one knee. The massive blade servers the spear's head from its haft.

That's a broken clavicle, for sure. And a ruined weapon.

…for some reason, the spear user doesn't press its advantage, nor does the swordsman counterattack. They stand there, lightly gesturing and shifting their battle stance.

"What are they doing?"

[Thisss one believes that they may be conversing.]

How touching. Those undead must be having a moment together. My [Scientific Insight+] confirms that they are what we were looking for and that I misunderstood the spear user's horse deal. I get that bosses get to be stronger than the rest of the mobs inhabiting the fracture, but this is the furthest jump compared to the rest of the sectors.

[Skeleton Champion C lv150]

[Skeleton Centaur C lv150]

It's not an insane increase, nor are they unmanageable to take care of, but it's weird that there are two bosses. I've never heard or seen of a 'Centaur,' but it seems to be a half-horse person… Actually, it's more like three-quarters horse, one-quarter man. A humanoid torso is sprouting out where a horse's head would be.

They finish their conversation and go for another round of combat… The champion is healed, and the centaur has a new spear. They stop to 'talk' again. I can imagine what they are saying to each other.

'So we are fighting once more!'

'You think you can beat me? Not only do I have the height and reach advantage, but I've had an undead lifetime to prepare for this moment!'

'Haha, so have I. But your spear skills won't save you from my supreme sword skills. Prepared to be sliced.'

'Your puny sword is no match for my powerful and mighty spear.'

And then they fight for a bit after yelling out skill names, and the undead call each other words like 'toothpick' and 'helmet head' or whatever, causing the battle to be postponed or end in a draw.

[What? What the fuck are you thinking about?]

"I don't know. I'm just a hater. Rob, go fuck 'em up so we can leave. I think the miasma is making me lose brain cells."

Rob rides one of Khan's bodies straight at them. He doesn't stealth at any point. He rides into battle. The two undead fighting notices his approach. They lock eyes and give each other a silent nod. They brandish their weapons at Rob.

I would also be concerned if a tall, mismatched skeleton cloaked in shadows riding an armored shark was flying straight at me. AND it's wielding a shovel? That fucker is expecting to bury me after he's done with me.

Rob leaps from Khan's body, brandishing his weapon as the centaur flicks its wrist and another bone hawk is conjured. Rob slings a trowel at the bird, hitting the wing and causing the hawk to plummet off the side of the wall.

The centaur, staying proactive, stabbed his spear out at the still airborne Rob, but unlike the foe it was fighting before, Rob doesn't wear armor. His spear misses Rob's spine and pierces in between his ribs. Rob slides down the haft and smacks the centaur on the head with his shovel.

The centaur flings his spear up, causing Rob to be tossed off the weapon. The momentum breaks a rib off Rob once he reaches the tip. The champion slams his massive sword on Rob while Rob is still airborne. Rob has limited aerial mobility and can't dodge, so he takes the brutal hit head-on.

Rob gets severed into two pieces. The two undead look down at Rob like 'That's it?" before Rob's pieces start to reassemble. Rob slams his shovel against the side of the champion's armor, denting the armor. He unleashes a flurry of [Boneshot]s from his [Skeleton Gloves], targeting the dent.

The armor breaks, revealing bone underneath before the champion can respond to the attack. Rob's sneaky hand shoots into the hole in the armor and retreats with a handful of ribs. Rob was most likely trying to take a vertebra but didn't have the right angle.

The champion holds his side like a human who just got shot and looks warily at Rob. Before he has time to warn the centaur, it charges at Rob, hooves galloping,

Why do undead horses have hooves? I don't see human skeletons having nails and hair. They are made of the same material as hair and nails, but they get to stick around while the others don't. It's not like they are directly connected to bone or anything.

Rob lands a few [Boneshot]s on the centaur's armor, forming a hole where its human guts would be if it had any. Rob then takes the attack head-on, not bothering to dodge. He gets shattered into many fragments but manages to escape with one crucial thing, a piece of the centaur's spine.

The centaur has two spines, a human one and a horse one. Rob snatched the connecting piece of vertebrae. The lower half of the centaur collapses as the upper half slides and slams into the ground before eventually stopping. The centaur doesn't get up.