Captain?"

"We won't interfere, for now. What did the barkeep tell you?"

"Steve? He said the men came here yesterday morning and mostly kept to themselves."

*crash*

"What of the other one?"

"Signed in as Bones, cap. Came not even an hour ago, from the direction of the mountains."

*crash*

Guard captain turned to the man, then looked at the high mountains in the distance. "Don't interfere."

"Right…"

*more sounds of crashing*

*silence*

The door squeaked open and Bones walked out, dragging a man by the collar. The man looked haggard and had a wounded shoulder, broken teeth and a bloody nose.

"The captain, I presume?" Bones asked.

The captain was taken aback seeing a skeleton walking out, but – surprisingly - quickly collected himself and replied back.

"Aye. You a mercenary that is just passing through?"

Bones cackled as he tried to smile. "Aye, just passing through".

Contrary to what Bones thought his smile looked like, it scared the shit out of the men behind the captain. They panicked and drew their weapons.

"HALT!" The captain shouted. "Sheath your weapons!"

The men hesitantly complied and put their weapons down while continuing to warily watch Bones’ every movement.

"What was that for?" Bones asked after the sudden provocation.

"They are, uh, just a bit jumpy seeing an undead in these parts."

"Not many undead here?"

"No, not many undead mercenaries working with the guild." replied the captain, finally at ease.

"These men attacked me. The barkeep can confirm. I was forced to retaliate in fear for my life. Is that going to be a problem captain?" Bones kept it short and to the point.

"Fearing…HIS life?" murmured one of the men behind the captain in confusion.

*cough* "No, it shouldn't pose a problem." the captain replied, then turned to his men and ordered them to take the thug away and into the interrogation room. "I will have to, however, report this incident and your…unusual circumstance."

"Is THAT going to be a problem?" asked Bones.

The captain thought about it for a moment then nodded his head. "To some? Most certainly. Others won’t care as long as you abide by the law".

"So, trouble?"

The captain shrugged and replied. "Most certainly."

"I rented the room for the night and intend to use it. I'll be gone in the morning, right after I have my coffee. " Having said that, Bones turned around and walked back into the tavern.

"Do the undead drink coffee?" asked one of the men standing next to the captain.

"Apparently they do."

The men turned around and went their way, the guards back to their post and the captain directly into his office and started writing the report.

*knock knock*

*sigh* "Come in."

"Captain, hi umm, evening! The barkeep greeted the captain sheepishly." What ab…what about my tavern?"

"It’s the middle of the night, not the evening... What about your tavern, Steve?" Captain Thomas asked the man, not looking up from his report.

"Well they uh, they trashed my tavern! Who's going to pay for that?"

The captain stopped writing, looked up from the report and directly into the man’s eyes. He never liked him. His weasel-like face and cowardly behavior. "Well, Steve, it certainly won't be me! Why didn't you notify the guards immediately, before the fight broke out?"

The barkeep's face fell. *snorts* The captain continued. "If you want someone to pay for the damages, take it up with your guest."

Steve's eyes widened at the mention of his guest as he quickly apologized and scurried away.

"Now then." The captain went back to finishing his report. He opened the drawer of his desk and took out a bottle of brandy, pouring himself a glass. What a mess this night turned out to be.

*knock knock*

"Son of a…” murmured the Captain quickly putting the bottle and the glass away. “Come in.”

"Sorry for intruding, captain." One of the guards walked in.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering, why didn't we apprehend the undead? He didn't seem to be higher level than you!"

*hmph* "It doesn't matter!"

"Sorry?"

"Think about it. A skeleton working with the guild as a mercenary? Have you ever heard of something like that?" Before the guard could respond, the captain continued. "No, you didn't! Someone like that has to have connections with somebody high up in the guild! No way I'm getting involved in that."

"Aaahh.. I see."

"Good that you understand, anything else?"

"Could I have some of that bra.."

"GET OUT!"

In his room, deep in meditation, Bones continued from where he left off before he was rudely interrupted.

What I want is to have an impact on this world. I want to reach new heights and leave a mark, never to be forgotten! Even if that meant leaving chaos and destruction in my path. *chuckles*

Short term? I guess capital, a profession and aiming for level 25. What else is there? I guess I’ll wait and see after advancing my class.

As for now? I should focus on leveling mana sense, mana manipulation and meditation to the next stage.

With his mind set up, Bones imagined a vortex of mana atop of his palm…

Come dawn, Bones left the room and went downstairs. The ground floor was still a mess, broken chairs and tables swept to a corner . At least they took care of the bodies.

"Morn... morning Mr. Bones" The barkeep greeted.

Bones nodded at the man while approaching the bar. "Coffee."

"Coffee? I'm sor... sorry, we don't serve…" before he finished the sentence he swallowed the words while his eyes met Bones’.

"Right away sir!" Steve left the bar in a hurry. A few minutes later he got back with freshly made coffee.

"Here you are sir, on the house, of course, due to…um well, last night."

"Forget about it. Thank you."

Stunned briefly by the thankful words, Steve continued cleaning the bar.

*sips* *haaaah*

With bone armor on, I could take quite a pounding…I wish I hadn't worded it like that. It absorbs blunt damage and, well surprisingly, piercing damage does the most damage.

*sips*

Thinking back to the fight, the man pinned at the door and the one crippled by his spikes were out of the fight from the start. The two rogues though, were difficult to deal with. Of course, that was only because Bones decided to hold back on using most of the skills, apart from bone armor and mending. Experience wise, it went better than expected. He was gaining a miniscule amount of experience whenever he had armor on but the real gain was, as he thought, him getting hit.

The two rogues had an upper hand in melee and their combat proficiency was higher than his, but - like most fights he had been in, he was unkillable. He was slashed at, hit and pierced through. None of it was enough to do some real damage. Mend working in synergy with Bone Armor worked tremendously well in patching up broken and missing parts of armor. It didn't occur to him at first that there will be such synergy when using them together.

I should've known, or at least thought, that mend could work on armor and not just my bones. Am I getting dumber? No, of course not. It's all just new to me, still.

*sips*

"Do you have any more mana potions for sale?" he suddenly asked the barkeep.

Steve stopped cleaning. "More? Well, I do have it in stock. How many would you like?"

Bones blatantly said, without a second thought: "all of it."

Emptying his cup and procuring all the mana potions, he left dozens of gold coins on the bar before he stood up and left the tavern, to the barkeep's relief.

Outside the tavern, guard captain Thomas awaited. "Mr. Bones."

"Captain."

They nodded to each other in greeting before the captain continued. "I've already sent the report to the capital and this letter is for you. Hand it over to any of the guards stationed at the gates when you reach the capital."

"What for?"

"It'll make it easier for you to enter the city as you are, without the mask."

"No trouble then?"

"Oh there will definitely be trouble. Just not with the city guards or the guild, probably. Can't say anything about the other adventurers though."

"Then I thank you captain..."

"Thomas."

"Thomas." Bones repeated the captain's name, said his goodbye and left the post.

"Boss!" The henchman opened the doors and entered, bringing the much awaited report with him.

"Took you long enough. Speak!" Guntar said while standing up from his chair. He had been expecting the report since two days ago.

"They failed."

*boom* The sound of a fist hitting the table.

…

"Explain."

*gulp* They've found the man and engaged in combat with him but…"

"But what? They lost?"

"Yes. Three died while the fourth one was captured and interrogated."

*slam* *crack* The sound of a desk cracking after Guntar slammed his fist on it.

"That's not all boss."

*grooaaan* "Do tell."

"The one you've been looking for? He isn't a human."

"So, what is he? An Elf? Don't tell me he’s a bloody dwarf?"

"It's a skeleton!"

….

"I must have misheard you. *chuckle* “I thought you said the man I was searching for isn't a man, an elf, or even a dwarf, but a skeleton? Tell me... what was that again?"

The henchman stayed silent.

"Well?"

"I'm not saying."

"What?"

"You look mad. I'm not saying!"

"Are you a child? I know it sounded like I was asking you, but I really wasn't."

"Boss…the last person that was giving you bad news...You got him killed. If that is any indication of how you treat your people, I'm leaving!" The henchman firmly said.

"Leaving? Where in the world do you think you are exactly? You're not employed here, you're here be.."

"Yes I am."

"What? Employed?"

"Yes, employed! Every day, early in the morning, I come to work, I do my job and leave by evening. At the end of the week, I get paid. So, that means, I'm employed." The henchman explained, as a matter-of-factly.

Guntar was looking at the man, lost for words. The balls on this minion…

"Alright, I promise I won't snap at you after you finish your report."

"Or during the report?" Added the henchman.

"Of course, or during the report. Please, continue." Guntar replied as politely as he could, veins popping out on his forehead.

"As I was saying, boss, the man isn't a human, but a skeleton. One of the guards we paid off at the post confirmed it. He came to the watch post by the mountain path, after midnight. Our men had been waiting for him since the day before and when he appeared in the tavern - they confronted him. There were no details as to what transpired inside, but not long after, the man stepped outside dragging one of our men with him."

"I see... and does our skeleton have a name?"

The henchman nodded and replied "Bones."

Guntar dismissed the man and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Trevak! TREVAK!

*sounds of footsteps*

Opening the door, Trevak peeked in. "Yes?"

"What's going on Trevak? Since when do our men talk back to us?"

"Hm?" *chuckle* "Ah that, It appears some of our men aren’t satisfied with their work conditions and wish to join the union."

"What?? Since when? Can WE join the union?" Guntar asked enthusiastically.

"Ahem, you and I? No."

*chet* "Then make an example out of the henchman that just left."

"Henchman…Roy?"

"I’m not familiar with the name. His name is Roy?"

"Yes."

"Then make an example out of Roy!"

"Alright, as you wish."

*door closes*

Guntar sighed and slumped down in his chair. He picked up a bottle and a glass next to him and poured himself a drink. He really needed one right now.

*knock knock*

"Goddamnit.”

No monsters in these parts. Just beasts, none at bronze rank. Since Bones left the watchpost, half a day had passed and he was ever so close to the capital. During the journey, he hadn't encountered a single monster. He was following the road but still found it odd! The beasts he did notice were below bronze rank, ranging from level 10 up to level 18, the highest he has seen.

He stopped by for a brief time in the village along the way. It didn't go so well. He wasn't attacked, but it was a close call. His ID card saved him the trouble. The village folk still avoided him and he really wanted to buy more mana potions…

The scenery changed after he left the rocky area of the mountain range. The grey stone was replaced by hilly countryside with lush vegetation and tall trees reaching high. The road pavement he was walking on was hard and durable, intended for both carriage and foot traffic. It wasn't as wide as the streets in the cities but wide enough for two way traffic.

While admiring the scenery, Bones tried to make use of the bone shaping ability. He didn't forget about the skill, how could he? He sensed that the skill would be important to him in the future, but so far, he didn't find much success with it. This is getting frustrating. I feel like I would be able to shape my bones if only I could raise the level of the skill!

He opened up the skill menu and checked for available skill points. He had plenty of them. He was given advice by Nica before they reached Westbrook not to spend any before his class advancement, but he was of two minds about using them. The failure at every step occupied his mind. It meant he was lacking! Fuck it!