Capitol? Why not? In due time of course.

Is a week enough to reach bronze rank? Probably, if I push myself as hard as I can.

Bones finished his drink and with the book in hands, left the library. From what he heard, the guild leader could rarely be seen in the main hall of the guild. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to quickly grab some contracts and get the hell out. It was around noon when he left the guild. With nowhere in particular to go, he kept walking the streets. There was always something to see in the shopping district. For example, an alchemy shop he just noticed!

*sigh* I can’t believe I spent the last of my gold on mana potions....

It was still daytime and without any other plans, with subjugation contracts accepted, Bones headed in the direction of the gates. For the next few days, he planned to grind levels. There’s also the matter of his tower…

As he was following the road leading away from the town, his thoughts were preoccupied with skills. His class Bonemancer, was considered an uncommon class and the skills in class were learned automatically every five levels. That he understood. The skills that were learned every five levels, however, weren't strictly the same for every Bonemancer, or any other class for that matter. He was supposed to learn the bone manipulation at level 1 and bone spears at level 5! He, however, learned bone manipulation before he had gotten his class. It was exactly learning the skill that got him offered the class in the first place! His choices, skills and his actions, he guessed, would be a defining factor on the classes the system will present him at level 25. He hadn’t considered the 2nd class yet. Hell, he only got his main class. Professions though? He did give them a thought.

Runesmithing caught his eye as he read about professions in the book “Adventuring for dummies”. Runes came into existence with the system. It was said that Runes were the language of the gods and that’s why a single rune could hold much power. Rune wasn’t just a letter or a word, but an idea behind it. He remembered the mana posts in town. The way the mana was coursing through the silver wires connecting each post, lighting them up. The rune was engraved onto each post with an idea to light the crystals, giving light to surroundings. Well, there was more to it but that was the gist of it! Rune strength depended on the runesmith and the amount of mana used to engrave the rune. To engrave, one needed to learn mana engraving first. He did ask in town about professions, but apart from basic smithing classes, there wasn’t anything else. He would need to go to the capitol it seemed.

*ah-choo* The sound of sneezing brought his focus back to the road.

Hm? Where am I?

Turning around, he didn’t see the town anymore. While lost in thoughts, he passed the intended forest entrance and continued down the road. He shrugged, turned in the direction of the forest and started walking.

*Aroo*

An hour later, a howl of a wolf was heard. This was their territory apparently, and howling was a signal that an intruder had entered. Bones, of course, wasn’t worried, much. Last time, they had been chasing him with a craze in their eyes.

Hmmm, yeah, not going to bother with wolves again.

Bones climbed a tree and started hopping from one tree to another. Something he should’ve done the last time.

Some time later…

“HOW?? HOW ARE YOU STILL FOLLOWING ME???”

Bones shrieked in both bewilderment and annoyance. He had underestimated the tenacity of the wolves. Have they climbed the trees or jumped on the trees? He didn’t know how, but they were chasing him on both the ground and the trees. He wanted to avoid wasting time on wolves because they were lower level than himself, but this had gotten absurd! At the sight of the first clearing wide enough to battle, Bones somersaulted down, firing two spears at the wolves that jumped after him, piercing their hides and dropping them dead. He landed, rolled over and got into a fighting stance.

He scanned the pack of wolves that came after him and into a clearing. Two dead ones and all the rest but one, were level 8. The leader of the pack, he presumed, was lvl 9. Identify showed them to be Grey Wolves, a different kind than the wolves from before. As they were eyeing each other, a thought occurred to him. Could he learn the next skill he was supposed to get at level 15, Bone Spikes, by himself? He delved in his reserves of mana, taking hold of hundreds of mana. He willed the bone manipulation to activate and visualize the spikes coming from the ground. Nothing happened though. There was nothing to start with, nothing to form the spikes from. He frowned. He couldn't be sure, but the feeling when using the skills just wasn't there. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn't thought to try it sooner.

Wolves circled him and were stepping closer. He sighed and was preparing to use the bona nova skill when an arrow flew past him and struck the wolf closest to him, killing it. Bones spared a glance to the side and followed up the tree, where a hunter was standing, knocking an arrow. Soon after, the rest of the hunters party jumped out to the clearing. They eyed the wolves and then turned their attention to Bones.

“Fellow adventurer! Do you mind if we take care of the wolves? We have a quest to subjugate the wolves in the area!”

Speaker was a young man, a mage, judging from his attire. Bones eyed them a bit, shrugged and said he didn't mind and stepped back. He watched them kill the wolves with precision and efficiency. As he turned around and was about to walk away, he heard a t’chi sound and by reflex, ducked and rolled to the side, barely avoiding an arrow to his head.

*Tsk*

An exclamation of disdain was heard, coming from the young mage. The party was now focused on Bones and a hunter was nowhere to be seen. Bones couldn't even sense him around, but he knew he wasn't far.

“Seeing you're not wearing an adventurer badge, you’re not an adventurer, I take it?” The mage stated as a matter of fact, with a grin.

“I'm a contractor to the guild and that was an attempt on my life!” Answered back Bones with a tone of animosity in his voice.

“Ah, excuse my friend! His hand must've slipped, otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation.“

As he was talking, another arrow flew at Bones from his blind spot. He tried to sidestep, but an empowered arrow was too fast and hit him in the shoulder. The impact sent him spinning and crashing at the nearest tree. He slid down to a sitting position, silently watching, not a peep coming out of his mouth.

“Gyahah ha, look at him flying! Good shot!” *thumbs up*

The mage was gloating, others laughing with him. Bones was glad there were adventurers like these. He already killed a group and was worrying about how indifferent he actually felt towards killing them. Now? They were just the means to hone his skills, an experience to level up!

The fucker made a hole through my new shirt…

He slowly stood up, eyes glued to the party standing some thirty meters away from him. His senses sharpened and ready for the hunter. With his stance low, he dashed toward them. A surprise was plastered on the mages face for a moment, before he mischievously grinned.

“Take him out!” He barked an order.

Three men dashed to meet the charging Bones. Two rogues were in the front and the third man, behind them, was the slowest of the three. A warrior with a giant axe in his hands. Behind them was the mage with his arms crossed, watching in amusement. The hunter was still nowhere to be seen. Bones sent the two spears at rogues, who managed to deflect them, but slowing them down. Bones followed with bone nova and two more spears at close range, aiming at the rogues again.

Third time's the charm.

Bone nova missed the rogues, but hit the warrior behind. Two spears, however striked true. One rogue had a spear sticking out of his shoulders, while the other one was holding a spear embedded in his guts.

“SHIT! THE FUCKER IMPALED ME!! LEON! FUCKING DO SOMETHING!”

One of the rogues screamed. Leon, a mage, started forming his spell with a grimace. Meanwhile the hunter was moving through the bushes, trying to find an optimal position he could fire from. Warrior swinged widely with his axe, trying to cleave Bones in half. He ducked down, avoiding a swing, and stepped back. Seeing an ice version of his bone spear forming next to the mage, he circled the warrior and rogues. Without a line of sight, mage couldn't use his spell.

Impatience started showing on the mages face. This wasn’t how he imagined the assault would go down. It wasn't the first time they made some money on the "side" and they had the advantage in numbers.

The hunter made his move. He stopped and took aim. The moment he did, however, the spear was flying in his direction. “Shit!” He moved behind a tree, avoiding the spear. “I don't have a clear line of sight!” He shouted. Meanwhile Bones, after sending his spear towards the hunter, zig-zagged between two rogues. Their combat was impeded by the wounds they received, but they still held their ground, showing their proficiency in combat to be at least on par with Bones'. Warrior was just useless. Weaving a giant axe and swinging widely, wasn't helping either side. The previous wound from nova, too superficial to restrain his movements.

Finally the situation got the better of the mage and in his impatience, he sent the ice spears towards Bones. The spear pierced through the rogue and reached Bones, embedding itself in his torso. The cold slowly spread and he felt his action slow down. Bones was speechless. He didn't expect such a brazen attack. He felt…mad! He should have avoided it.

Haah, I'm getting pissed off…

He was riled up, it hadn't happened before. He reached within, the core empowering his whole body. He felt the mana flowing and he felt strong! He wanted more! The ice cracked and dissolved. With movement reinforced, he sidestepped the dying rogue, still in the process of falling down and summoned a spear in his hand which he shoved through the other rogue's head. Another bone nova and the warrior recoiled back to the side. He dashed to the mage who, in his panicked state, started rushing more ice spears. Bones reached him, but instead of using the bone spear, he discharged a huge chunk of mana from within. *ding* He dismissed the notification as he was looking at the scene in front and around him. Mage was gone, mana discharge blasting him everywhere. Chunks and pieces were spread out all over the ground. He sensed the hunter disappearing and heard the yelp of a warrior behind him. The man stood frozen, speechless. Bones turned to him and told him he could leave! Warrior quickly snapped out of it, turned back and was ready to leave, only for the spear to pierce his back.

“Back to hell!” Bones added and then groaned at how cliche the phrase was.

He was low on mana. He wasn't sure if he could have fight the hunter if he hadn't left. The mana discharge took a toll on him. He never used that much mana at once. It was, however, worth it. He had gained another skill he had learned himself and pretty much finished the fight with it. A level in a race and another level in a class. He could feel the slight bump in his stats. As usual, everything felt a bit more! It was becoming an addictive feeling. He opened up his notification and confirmed he had learned a new skill. He gave it one over, smirked, then closed the screen.

Mana Blast [basic] - an ability to discharge accumulated mana, dealing arcane damage to enemies in a small radius around the user. Damage and radius increased with mana spent.

He was contemplating on what to take from the dead bodies and decided to leave untouched most of the gear they had. He picked up their weapons, took their flasks and pocket all the money he could find. Their clothes had adventurers' badges pinned on them with tracking ability and he wasn’t sure if someone would recognise them if he were to be seen wearing them.

After looting the bodies, he left before anyone else stumbled upon the scene. An attack on him surprised him. After thinking about it some more, he came to an understanding that just because they were adventurers, didn't mean they would be righteous. Like Norris, they too, were drawn to the life of crime. With crime bosses operating so close to the guild, it wasn't really surprising that some of them would "double dip" on both sides.

Which made my decision easier for me. I'll hunt the bosses down and leave for the capitol.

With the new found purpose, he continued towards the marked areas on the map, where goblins could be found.

Back in the alleys, in the office on the upper floor of a building, the hunter was standing in front of the desk. A fear in his eyes was evident and beads of sweat were dripping down his face. Behind the desk sat a burly figure with a cigar puffing from his mouth.

“So, you ran away after getting your teammates killed? If the guild scouts find the bodies, which they probably will, they will come to you for questions!”

“Boss! I'm sorry boss! I won't return to the guild!”

“You're damn right you won't! Now, what can you tell me about the killer?”

The hunter nodded profusely and started telling the story from the beginning. After an over exaggerated story and overestimation of Bones abilities, the boss sent the hunter to report to one of his higher level henchmen to track down this killer and bring him in. He didn't know who the hell this guy was, but no one messes with Vol!