“Mr. Rayne.”

“That's guild leader Rayne.” Corrected Rayne.

*scoff* ”Right, guild leader Rayne, for now." Said the elderly member of a bureau in derisive tone.

"You seem to have a problem with authority? Your report described the attack but not how it happened and why? You even went so far as to let the culprits leave after killing so many civilians and not to even mention the damage done to the guild property! Do you have any...“

“Are you serious right now?” Interrupted Rayne.

“Mr. Rayne! You'd do well to speak when asked to speak!” Warned the man.

“WHY YOU LITTLE SH…“

“ENOUGH!” Yelled the old man sitting at the head of the bureau. The windows of the building vibrated, almost shattering and dust fell from the ceiling. Such was the strength of the ascendant.

“Guild leader Rayne", the old man continued, "we are not here to judge your actions during the assault, but to find out why and who was behind the attack. My sources reported the undead army was summoned about a month ago in the clearing of the forest outside of the town's safety zone. They marched through two villages, completely wiping out the villagers and then disappearing without a trace. They reappeared inside the town a few days ago and assaulted the citizens.”

“Guild leader Rayne", the old man continued, "are you aware there were tunnels beneath the town of Westbrook?”

“No sir, I was not aware.” Rayne replied.

“I'm not surprised. They date back two hundred years ago.” Rayne frowned and asked why he wasn't informed when he took the position of the branch guild leader, that the town could be entered through the tunnels.

“Because not many knew about it. In fact, the tunnels were completely forgotten in the last hundred years or so. They were meant to be the refuge for people during the monster surge. Could you take a guess where the tunnels lead to?”

Rayne thought it over and with a frown answered. “To the village of Tenby, the second village wiped out by the undead army?”

“Yes, the first village was either a mistake or was attacked on purpose to hide the real goal. Now we know how they entered the town. We still don't know who and why.” Finished the old man.

Rayne nodded and continued retelling what was written in the report, adding the valiant effort of his vice leader in trying to stop the two culprits. The number of casualties didn't phase any of the bureau members, but the smear on the guild reputation did. By the end of the meeting, Rayne was stripped of his position as the guild leader, along with his soon to be ex, vice leader. He would remain in high position within the guild due to his status as a gold ranker and go back to his office duties until further notice.

The old man dismissed the meeting as over and told Rayne to stay behind. Rayne was given a look of disapproval by the bureau member who was clearly against him during the whole meeting. With just the two of them in the room, the old man leaned in his chair, relaxing. “Sorry about that kiddo. You know how these meetings are.”

Rayne rolled his eyes and sat by the old man. They shared a look.

“So, are you going to tell me who was behind the attack?” Rayne asked, all aspects of formality gone. Clearly, his relationship with the old man wasn't as formal.

*hmph* “What? You're not even going to ask me how I am doing? Haah what did I do to deserve such a shameless pupil.” Weeped the old man.

“Master…”, murmured Rayne, “you're the guild leader or the adventurers guild. Shouldn't you be acting more according to your position?” He asked in a teasing tone.

“Haa brat, for you to be preaching to me on how to act…”

“In short, they are a bunch of misfits. Old guild members, outcasts, exiles. You can find all sorts in their little group. They've been operating not just in our kingdom but surrounding kingdoms for the last thirty years or so. Some had been identified and there were already bounty contracts of them posted on the board. The two Belle met, along with the librarian will be added to the board.”

“How haven't I heard of them until now?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention. The group's name is Defiant Hounds. The same one you've been...“

“YEAH yeah, I know who they are.” Rayne snapped, clenching his fists. Silva…

The old man sighed and told Rayne he and his vice leader would follow up on the lead, discreetly and without the guild's knowledge. There was someone in high position in the guild realising their own agenda by sponsoring the Hounds. Meanwhile, reinforcements had been sent to Westbrook and nearby towns and villages as a precaution in case of another attack.

After the meeting and outside the adventurers guild main building, Rayne met with Belle and explained their new directive. Their first course of action would be to find Guntar. The man that conveniently disappeared not even an hour before the attack. Now that he knew how the undead appeared in town, Rayne knew it was an inside job. He suspected the old librarian to have a major role in the assault but he knew next to nothing about him. Guntar and his associates would be easier to track down and he had an idea where he should go looking.

Like any city, the capital wasn't excluded from having a rundown part of the city, where shady business deals played out and so called crime lords ruled the streets. On one such street, on the third floor of the brothel in a private booth, Guntar and Trevak were sitting at the table, drinking booze and talking business while the belly dancer in front of them graced them with her dancing skills.

“We need to find the rest of the stones, otherwise, it's coming out of our pockets and our pockets aren't that deep!” Guntar practically growled while taking a gulp of cheap ale. “You've been awfully quiet these days. What's up?”

Trevak frowned as he was thinking how to bring up the topic. “Remember when you told me to look into what Vol was doing?”

“Vol? Are you talking about that nonsense about a dungeon? I sent men to check the cave in, where the supposed dungeon was, but they found nothing.”

“Not just that. He sent Horus to track and kill someone but he came back annoyed and pissed off. It got me thinking as to who it was he was supposed to kill and if there was a connection between them and our mana stones.”

“You think some no name, newbie adventurer took our stones? *chuckle* We'd be the laughing stock on the streets if it gets out. Keep looking into it!”

“Sure thing. Have you made contact with the old man?”

“Nah, I think we've been screwed. I knew it was too good of a deal to be true. He was a fuckin gold ranker and I wasn't exactly in a position to refuse him!”

*sigh*

*sigh* “Gun.”

“Yeah?”

“This ale tastes like piss.”

*chuckle*

As they were conversing on the upper floor of the building, at the ground floor, one of the lackeys rushed through the entrance and up the stairs. The man reached the third floor and paused, catching his breath, before entering the booth Guntar and Trevak were in.

“Boss! They’ve found the stones!” The lackey said enthusiastically, interrupting them. Guntar turned to the man with a scornful face before berating him.

“Manners lackey! Have you never heard of knocking before barging in? Come boy, have a seat.”

The lackey, a young boy, with panicked steps approached the two and took a seat across from them.

“Now listen boy”, continued Guntar. “You need to learn the ropes around here and learn them fast! I didn't mean to undermine your enthusiasm by calling you a lackey but I literally don't know who you are and Identify has labeled you as such!” The boy's face fell down and Guntar continued. “Now, start from the begining with you needing to report something to me, yes?”

“Yes?” Answered the boy sheepishly.

Guntar raised an eyebrow at the boy and all flustered, the boy repeated. “Yes boss! I have an urgent matter to report!”

“Good! Better! Continue.”

The boy reported the message they received from Stonefalls, downed the ale Guitar practically poured down his throat and left. Trevak was silent the whole time, watching the exchange between the two.

“Why are you even in this kind of business? You'd do well as an officer or a member of the guild.” Trevak stated more as a tease then an actual question

*snort* “I WAS a member of the guild! Besides, we're basically doing the same thing, only on different sides. The adventurers guild, the number one criminal organisation in the world!” *chug*

Trevak didn't comment. Apparently bringing up the adventurers guild was still a sore spot for the boss. “So, the stones? Should we send someone to Stonefalls for the stones?”

“Can't. It would only complicate things further. We're gonna place scouts to be on the lookout for this Mr. Jones, once he enters the city. Hm?”

Trevak: ?

“Girl? You're still here?” Guntar referred to the girl.

Both turned to the girl, only now paying the attention to the dancer that was still there, dancing and pretty much hearing everything that was being said.

“Uh umm I could leave if sirs want me to?” Startled girl replied, not sure how else to respond.

“Yeesss, move along now. Go on…” hissed Guntar, rushing the girl away. After the girl left, he sighed and turned to Trevak, giving him the knowing look.

“Alright, alright.” Trevak said and left after the girl.

“On second thought, I might as well send people to intercept this Jones fella.” With that thought, he finished his drink and left the private booth and then a brothel.

*crack* A sound was heard as Bones was sent flying by the backhand strike from what he recognised from the book and now confirmed by Identify, as a mountain troll.

“Blasted troll. Guarding a bloody bridge.” He murmured under his breath as he was standing up.

“What are you getting pissy for? This could hardly be called a bridge?” He yelled at the troll, pointing his hand at the bridge, not expecting a reply.

After he left the city of Stonefalls, Bones decided that the route by road was unnecessarily too long to take, when he could pretty much halve his journey to the capital if he went over the mountains. Now, just a day later, he found himself in front of the troll guarding what was a fallen log over the ravine he needed to pass.

Mountain trolls weren't the type to attack if they didn't feel provoked. Unfortunately, they were territorial and deemed provoked to anyone intruding upon their territory which apparently was the downed log acting as a bridge. The troll was taller than Bones at roughly 2.3 meters high but had hunched posture, the result of their physiology. Grey, tough and rough looking skin signified high physical resistance. Their arms were as thick as their legs and long, reaching their knees. The power in those hands was proportional to their size. Bones could attest to that. His mend bones skill, still fixing the cracks he sustained from the previous blow.

Speaking of mend bones, the skill wasn't as effective as it was before. To be more accurate, the mend bones skill was too far behind in levels compared to his level and its efficiency was reduced significantly in mending his, now highly empowered, bones.

Thankfully, trolls were notorious for being slow so Bones managed to easily avoid the next few attacks. Seeing its attempts were missing its target, the troll unexpectedly, raised the big sized rock and threw it at Bones. The rock was dodged but more followed. This is bloody pointless. Thought Bones as he decided to close in the distance. Dashing forward, he reached the troll in seconds but suddenly lost his footing, rolling forward and narrowly avoiding the palm strike to his head.

Back peddling a few steps, Bones observed what just happened. Tripping and falling happens, sure, but not to the light footed him. Next to the troll's feet, he saw the imprint of a foot. Connecting the dots, he guessed what happened.