After two hours of jogging, Bones caught up with a group of refugees fleeing Westbrook during the attack. He explained that the attack had been subdued and things were getting back to normal but the few people he was talking to shook their heads and with a sorrowful expression said that such an attack shouldn't have happened in the first place! People lost faith in the protection of the guild. Bones couldn't blame them. Many lost their loved ones in the attack and got their property damaged. The shopping district and the bustling square were hit the hardest! Westbrook was supposed to be a military town with an academy for adventurers and as such, a town governed by the adventurers guild. Their failure to stop the attack from happening put a stain on the guilds reputation. Guild leader Rayne will have a lot to answer for!

Maybe that was the whole point of the attack? What did the old man say the inn name was, Horned Dog? Might as well head there.

“By the way, do you have any mana potions for sale?” Bones asked the merchant he was conversing with.

“Hm? I do have them but they're not for sale at the moment, I'm afraid.”

“I see. Then, how about this. I'll protect the caravans until the next city and you could pay me in mana potions and maybe some other adventurers supplies?”

The men's eyebrows shot up as he thought about it and asked Bones if he was an adventurer? Hearing that he wasn't turned his mood down but he quickly perked up hearing he was a bronze rank contractor within a guild. He eagerly agreed to the proposition and they continued traveling together. By nightfall, they arrived in the small village of Little Westfield. Merchants negotiated a place to set up a camp with a village chief for a small fee. Apparently, villages close to the main road weren't attacked by the undead but they still fortified their defences and increased their village militia, consisting mostly of village hunters.

There were a small number of guards stationed at every village too, but their levels were too low to make a difference in case of an attack like this one. The night went by peacefully for Bones, which couldn't be said for the people he was traveling with. Older people and the young ones were too tired from the ordeal and fell asleep but others were too unnerved by today's attack and spent the night in worry and planning for their future. They had one more village like this one to stop by along the way.

Their destination was the city of Stonefalls that housed a population of around twenty five thousand. It was also the city with a minor branch of adventurer guild along with the crafters and a construction guild. The city was situated at the base of a mountain chain and was known for its stone quarries. Unlike Westbrook, the city had a mayor and city guards protecting its citizens and due to both the construction and crafter guilds in the city, its defences and walls were impregnable by normal monsters.

Early in the morning, the caravan moved on with their journey. Next village was only a few hours away and they planned to stop there for lunch before continuing the longer journey to Stonefalls. Hours passed uneventfully with Bones spending his time meditating. Arriving at the village, they were greeted by the village chief and guards by the entrance. Bones noted that in both villages, the village chief was the highest level. Both villages survived by hunting and farming and actually looked nice, which surprised Bones as he was expecting...well, villages! Their lunch at the local inn was abundant both in meat and vegetables as there was plenty of game to hunt in the woods and field to harvest.

Times changed, Bones mused, but he was still getting surprised by how much. After the meal, merchants did some trading with the locals while Bones took a walk around the village.

I should get a house. Maybe I could employ an earth mage to make me a house in the clearing where my tower once was? My little base of operations. *chuckle*

“Ahoooy, we're mooooving ooon!” He heard one of the merchants calling for him. He waved his hand in confirmation and started walking back to the caravans. A long journey awaited them as they were moving at a walking speed. Main road they were traveling on was surrounded on both sides by the open fields and forests in the distance. A small stone fence was following them along the road. Today, the mood of the people seemed better and they were more open to conversation. They didn't bother Bones nor comment on his full cover-up-get-up he got going on. He appreciated his privacy and decided he won't be killing any of them.

After a few hours of traveling, the sun was setting down and the caravan was on the road at the entrance leading through the forest and in need of Bones interference. In front of the caravan stood a burly man in brigandine armor with a two handed mace leaning on his shoulder. Next to him, on the left was a thin man in the same type of armor with a bow in his hands and on the right, a woman with a sword pointing in the direction of a caravan and holding a torch in the other hand. Bones wasn't listening to their shouting and apparent negotiation taking place. He Identified the bandits and he found them lacking. He sensed the three in front weren't the only bandits. Oblivious to the people of the caravan, they were surrounded. Three in the front, two on the left, three on the right and two more coming from the back. Bones quietly moved to the back of the caravan and silently disposed of the two incoming bandits. It was getting darker and everyone was focused more on the negotiation going on, rather than their surroundings.

He moved to the side and was approaching the two bandits who were waiting in ambush with arrows knocked towards the caravan. One of the bandits sensed something and turned around just as the sword sliced his throat. The second bandit turned abruptly and fired an arrow into Bones chest. The arrow sticking out, didn't stop him dashing forward and thrusting the sword through the man's torso. The commotion was heard by the bandits in front but before they could move, bone spikes tore through their legs, crippling their movements. People of the caravan were startled by the sudden commotion and took to arms with whatever they could find. Bones dashed between the caravans to the other side where bandits were already firing arrows at the caravan, while retreating back into the forest. Bone spikes crippled one of them but the other two managed to get out of skill's range. He was closing in and took down the second one with the lance while the third one stopped running, turned around and charged bones with a drawn sword in his hand.

The man thought he would have a better chance in close combat but Bones was above their level in both the skill and experience. He easily sidestepped the upward slash of the sword and shoved his fingers into the man's eyes, blinding him, while holding the sword downwards with the other hand. The man was screaming for a couple of seconds until the screams were cut off and silence prevailed the eerie night. Bones turned around towards the front of the caravan but didn't rush. He sensed the moment he crippled the leader and two with him that people took matters into their own hands. They immediately disarmed the three and were now pointing their weapons at them while shouting profanities. They stepped aside when Bones approached.

“Mr. Jones, I'm glad to see you alive! We thought, I mean, they were…” the man was panicking. It could have been heard in his voice. “Relax, I'm fine. What do you want to do with them?” Bones asked, focusing their attention back to the bandits. They all turn towards the laying bandits. They were bleeding out from the holes in their legs where the spikes have been. They won't be walking again without a healing potion or a healing assistance.

“I don't know, I don't know! We can't just let them go and we're too far away to hand them over to the authorities.” Bones was listening as they were voicing their opinion one by one, but he knew what they really wanted.

*cough cough* “How about you go on ahead and I catch up with you once I deal with them?” They exchanged glances but the relief was evident on their faces. “Yes, that would be for the best. Thank you Mr. Jones.” Fortunately, in a brief exchange with the bandits, no one was hurt and the caravan quickly moved on.

Bones watched the caravan disappearing into the night and out of the range of his senses. He gazed over the now unconscious bandits and impaled them one by one with the lance in his hand. He sighed looking at the miniscule amount of experience he gained. After the dungeon and leveling to level 20, his leveling speed slowed down drastically. More accurately would be to say that he couldn't find the opponents around and above his level around these parts, apart from the silver and gold ranker from the guild. With a slight jog he caught up with the others and hopped onto one of the caravans. Nobody said anything and bandits weren't mentioned again.

Along the journey, Bones saw many farmhouses in the distance with people harvesting the fields and a bull looking animal, grazing in the grass. Seemed like a peaceful life if not for the monsters lurking in the forests not so far away. They encountered patrols every hour or so and watchtowers overlooking the roads and woods in the distance. From the brief conversations he had with others, he learned that indeed, patrols and watchtowers were common near towns and cities and monster attacks were less common. Only during the monster surge would monsters attack the cities in great numbers. Bones wondered why they would settle in towns like Westbrook then, far from the cities? The answer of course, was money.

Further away from the cities, the higher the risk of monster and bandit attacks was, so the houses were cheaper and the overall living expenses were lower. People were left without much choice if they prefer to sleep under the roof. It is also the reason the merchants tend to travel to surrounding villages and towns to do trading. Less competition for goods and prices. Was it worth risking their lives? Bones couldn't answer, but such was life. The system offered great, many paths but not many could follow. Should he consider himself lucky he ended up in a situation he had? Bones thought he was.

So far he considered the pros and the cons but couldn't find many disadvantages. He guessed the only real setback would be his lack of emotions. He still felt surprise, shock and awe but they felt mild at least. Anger he felt! It would come in bursts. Killing, didn't really phase him at all. If he wasn't capable of thinking rationally, he thought he would eventually go on a rampage and masacre the whole village just for experience. Not that he would get any. He now knew his race was changing his perspective and his behaviour. For better or worse? Time would tell. He did think being emotionless and without hesitation in some situations he found himself in, proved to help him overcome them. He sighed, drawing the looks of his traveling companions, but they quickly averted their gazes, not to be noticed. He sensed them though. Not their eyes on him but their attention and focus.

Weird how the Mana Sense worked. Now that he thought about it, that scout on the building approached him without him noticing. Was it intent? He noted he could sense around him everyone that had intent. It didn't have to be about him. So without intent, there's nothing to sense? Could I learn to hide my thoughts and intent as well as that scout? Again, he would try to find the answers in the capital.

The caravan passed the patrol for the fifth time and for the fifth time they were asked questions. Things were edgy since the undead attack or perhaps this is how it has always been? They passed another crossroad and Bones could see the sign pointing towards Stonefalls with the number 42km written next to it. Soon, their journey would come to an end and he would get something to drink.