The way back to the smithy was rather uneventful. Bones talked with the dwarves about the dungeon, crafting materials and items looted. Darsumi seemed like he was enjoying himself and Hem…well, Hem always seemed that way. Upon returning to the smithy, Bones said he planned to return to the capital for the time being and that he would be back in a month’s time with the new and improved golem, ready to tackle the dungeon! He didn't leave immediately, of course, because the next day was a big day. The day the shop opened up and he promised he wouldn't miss it. The opening of the shop was followed by a celebration that turned to a night of drinking. Early in the morning, after the celebration, Bones said his goodbyes to the drowsy dwarves and left.

Standing in front of the gates to the city, Bones was still mesmerized by the view in front of him. The Hagos dungeon is just huge! The tower seemed to stretch indefinitely with the top of the tower being hidden by clouds!

Bones couldn't imagine how much time and effort went into building the tower around the dungeon. Shaking his head, he headed towards the familiar tavern. Once there, he opened the doors and a familiar scene welcomed him. Dim lights, smoky atmosphere and blues. A bit less people than usual.

"Bones? Bones! Welcome back!" Bones turned to the person speaking and saw Clover, the barrier woman, standing at the base of the stairs leading to the accommodations on the first floor. "We thought you might not be coming back!" She approached with a smile and Bones could spot a tinge of nervousness. "It took me a bit longer to get my affairs in order. The others?"

"Out. Well, Solin is here in the backyard, training. The others are out, as usual. If you don't mind, could you come with me? Someone wishes to meet you." Bones looked at her quizzically, pondering who would want to meet him? Clover quickly added. "Silva said if anyone were to see you, to pass along the message. You don't really have to go if you don't want to."

Bones was thinking for a moment, then asked. "Might I inquire as to who wishes to meet me?"

"Of course, it's-", she leaned closer and whispered, “the necromancer."

"Why would…never mind. Where would we be going?"

"Great! Follow me!" Clover led Bones to the back of the tavern and through the secret entrance and down the manavator, Bones reluctantly entered. The manavator led them down and into the streets of the Underground City. After a short walk, they were standing in front of a shabby looking building, smeared by dirt and overgrown moss.

"In here." She motioned with her hand and Bones entered. After taking a few steps, he immediately turned around when he saw what the building was. "Another bar? Really?" Clover didn't reply, just shrugged and smiled.

Clover waited outside while Bones went to the back of the bar and down the hallway. He passed by the room where he saw a man in the white coat sitting at the desk, writing something down. He stopped and entered, greeting the man. The man greeted back and asked if he could help Bones with something?

Bones was a bit puzzled as he thought he was expected but replied anyway. "I'm Bones, I was told to come here because someone wished to meet me?"

"Ah great! You're here! Come with me, quickly!" The man said and ushered for Bones to follow. The man, Bert, led Bones down the stairs and into the room in the basement, where a pale white, husk of a man laid in bed.

Bert didn't say anything else as he waited outside the room. Bones turned and asked if that was the person he was supposed to meet? Bert nodded and said he would be waiting outside the room so they could have some privacy.

Bones approached the dying necromancer who slowly and deliriously opened his eyes. "S'that you, Bones?"

"Yes, it is I."

"Finally! I've…been waiting for you. Why haven't you come sooner?" Bones was questioning the necromancer's sanity at this point because he didn't know him or had any connections to the man. The necromancer, however, spoke like he would with someone he knew or even someone he was close to. The man kept rambling, chit chatting until Bones had had enough. "Enough! What am I doing here?"

"That…hurts man. I thought we had something? I raised you man." *cough cough* "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!"

Bones was baffled, the man was truly delirious! "Raise me? Man…I don't know you!" Everything about this situation is strange. What does he want with me? Hm?

Bones felt the mana from within the man stir as he was babbling nonsense. It felt…strange. Impure, disgusting even. He didn't sense it before but now it felt like the mana was building up to something.

Ending the conversation, Bones casted Bone Spikes under the bed, impaling the dying necromancer and ending his life. Or so he thought as the man's eyes widened and he coughed, asking him why did he do that? What in the…I'm sure at least three spikes went through his back!

"You annoy me!" Bones shouted. Another set of spikes went through the man and he still hadn't died. The necromancer began to cackle as the mana kept building up. Blisters covered his whole body and his skin began to crack at a visible rate. Bert couldn’t help but hear the conversation from the outside and where it was leading to so he took a peek inside and stared dumbfounded at what was happening to the necromancer.

Bones watched as the maddening cackle quieted down and blood tears ran down the man's face. The mana suddenly spiked and a sudden realization hit him. Bones drew from his mana pool and hastily casted Mana Blast the moment the necromancer used Corpse Explosion on himself. Both blasts hit at the same time and Bones was sent flying out of the room and into the wall of the basement.

The whole establishment shook from the explosion and a dust cloud covered the basement. The medic, Bert, was knocked down by the impact even from the safety of the walls outside the room, but quickly came to his senses. "What in the world…" *cough cough*

He turned to look at Bones who was slowly getting up, a piece of bone stuck in his ribcage. Bones pulled it out and threw it aside while approaching Bert. Together they entered the room and saw the walls dyed red. The room was completely obliterated by the collision of the blasts and there was nothing left of the necromancer. Bert belched and Bones turned around and left.

Clover waited at the top of the stairs of the basement and the moment she saw Bones, asked him what happened? Bones said they should get out of there and he'll explain on the way.

Like the city above, the underground city was bustling with activity. The streets were crowded and the bars were full. Only the type of people were different. There were no kids running around. Thugs, drug dealers, thieves and murderers made for the majority of people here. This was a place where the wanted and those breaking the law could move freely.

An equilibrium of sorts was reached as there was a huge grey area where the people could live their life on both the adventurers' so-called righteous side and the Underground, where they would show their true face, where they could show their true colors without the need for a facade.

"When would the others be back?" Bones asked.

"Not sure. They should be back by evening so…in a few hours? Want to go back?" Clover asked and Bones nodded. It's not that Bones wasn't interested in the Underground, it's just that he had been away for a while and he wanted to catch up with Solin. Besides, if Silva wanted to show Bones the Underground. He would've done so already.

When he reached the courtyard, Bones sneakily approached the bench and sat down, so as to not disturb Solin’s practice. He watched Solin deep in meditation and waited patiently. Finishing, Solin took a deep breath and turned around with a smile. "Thank you for waiting Bones! So much happened while you were gone!”

He stood up and motioned for Bones to follow. "Come, let's go inside and I'll tell you everything!" Bones chuckled at the youth's eagerness and followed him inside.

After a quick shower, Solin walked down the stairs and into one of the private booths, where Bones was already waiting with drinks. "First, greetings man! Second, the necromancer wanted to meet you. I'll uh…I'll take you there."

"No need, I already met the man. He died." Bones casually replied. Solin's response was as mild as Clover's has been. "Oh…Anyway, you missed a wild dungeon!"

"Oh? What happened?" Changing the subject I guess or no one particularly cared for the necromancer.

"Oh man, so three weeks ago…" Solin excitedly started telling Bones in detail how the report came to the adventure guild about the appearance of a wild dungeon in a remote area, west of the capital. The guild immediately sent people to test the dungeons' limits and soon, a notice was posted on the guild's board about the subjugation of the medium sized wild dungeon.

Raid parties were created and Solin, among others, was lucky enough to join the party. The dungeon had multiple entrances on each stage of the dungeon, allowing for a single raid party per entrance. Two raid parties were sent to clear the first stage that had bronze rank monsters and a silver rank boss. One raid party to the second stage with a gold rank boss and one raid party led by a third tier gold ranker to clear the third and the final stage.

Because of the appearance of a mutant silver rank boss in the first and the third stage, there were many casualties. The dungeon was supposed to be a chance for the lower levels to prove themselves and gain valuable experience.

Solin snorted. They sure did get a chance to gain experience. The moment the mutant boss appeared, there were bound to be casualties. Two raid parties were in the same instance so they joined forces and attacked the boss. At least fifteen people died. The second stage was better and they only had a few casualties while the raid on the third stage was hit the hardest. The final boss was a Minotaur Prime, a mutant variant monster and it was a towering presence. Only the third tier gold ranker with a few of the lucky ones survived.

"They actually had the nerve to claim the raid was a success! Can you believe it?" Solin exclaimed in disbelief.

"Is the Minotaur a monster that looks like the animal that pulls the carriages, only bipedal?" Bones asked, genuinely interested. Solin choked on his drink before laughing. "Yeah, I guess it does if it was three times the size, heavily enhanced with drugs and wielding a huge battle-axe!"

"Anyway, I'd be lying if I said I haven't gained a lot from the dungeon. In the few days I was there, I gained more than I gained in the last few months! Check this bad boy!" Solin took out a set of leather armor, the reward for killing the boss and wiggled his new spatial ring in front of Bones. Bones chuckled and saw that he did, in fact gained a lot, when he Identified him and saw he was level 30. Two levels in two months? Not bad at all.

"Speaking of items, I brought you something." Bones said and Solin raised an eyebrow. His eyes went wide when he saw Bones placing two daggers on the table. Solin was enthusiastic about his weapons and he immediately snatched them off the table. "Beautiful white hilt, made of bones?" Bones nodded and watched as the young man inspected the daggers. Crossing the edge of the dagger with his finger he felt it was a bit different. With a slight push, Solin imbued the dagger with his mana and a tinge of green appeared smeared on the edge of the dagger. "Heeh. This is poison? These are great Bones! Are you sure you want to give them to me? You can sell them on the auction for a nice sum!"

"The daggers are yours, though, I would like to see the auction."

"I can take you there tomorrow. Actually, do you want to go see the matches in the arena tomorrow night?" Bones didn't see why not so he agreed to both. It was the evening when Silva entered the booth and joined the conversation, already hearing that Bones was back.

"A profession you say?" Silva asked, smiling. "Greetings Bones, I'm glad to see you didn't leave us."

"Greetings Silva, I did say I would be back after I advanced my class."

"And advance you did! No class change?" Silva asked while pouring himself a drink and leaning back against the chair. The old man looked exhausted. "No change, just an upgrade! I'm happy with my class as is. Silva, I met the necromancer earlier today." Before he continued, Silva waved his hand dismissively. "I've heard you went to see him. What did he want?"

"To blast me away with Corpse Explosion apparently." Bones casually replied.

Silva smashed his fist against the table while standing up. "WHAT?" Seeing that he drew the attention of everyone around them, he slowly sat down and leaned back on the chair. He took a deep breath, calmed down and asked: "What happened?" Bones explained how his meeting with the necromancer went and Silva fumed. "That fucking…Pavlov…"

Bones observed the frenzied look on Silva's face that didn't look like a genuine reaction to his well being. The old man looked like someone tried to steal his prized possession.

Bones said he didn't know what the necromancer was thinking or what he wanted. It didn't matter. He is gone now and, changing the subject, Bones asked what had been bugging him for a while. "Silva, what happened to the undead army? I know the ones attacking Westbrook weren't all of them."

Silva didn't mind the question but Bones really missed a lot while he was gone. It was late night, as usual, when everybody said their good nights, leaving Bones alone in the booth.

Maybe it was due to his absence, but Silva opened up a bit more and Bones learned more about the Hounds. Decades ago, they were known just as The Hounds. A group of people openly opposing those in leadership, their corrupt ways and oppressing those weaker than them and causing them to suffer to further their own needs and thirst for power. Since then, they have gained a certain amount of reputation among the people and started calling themselves Defiant Hounds. The name stuck but somewhere along the way, their objectives changed.

Bones realized their noble goal as they called it, against the tyranny of the ascendants, is purely terrorism. Example being an attack on Westbrook, a town that was once a strategic military position within the kingdom, hosts an adventurer academy and serves as the line of defense against the monster surge.

Silva didn't seem heartbroken about the necromancer passing away or the fact that their assault on Westbrook, ultimately failed. He was already scheming something else, something bigger as Bones came to learn about the tunnels beneath the Westbrook. Their failed assault served as a distraction to steal certain items found in the tunnels, in the armory where the weapons used in monster surge were stored. The items they acquired were the same ones that caused the explosion in the tunnels earlier in the month - mana bombs.