Silva knew someone was bound to find out about the tunnels and come investigate, given time. So when he saw that the necromancer couldn't pull his weight, he immediately had Tivaara bobby-trap the tunnels with the remaining mana bombs. The result was devastating, or fantastic, as Silva thought.

Bones was surprised to hear about the explosion since he was there, in Westbrook, just days before it happened. He was even more surprised to hear that Rayne beat up the branch guild leader Roselyn half to death the next day. He wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that Rayne was expelled from the adventurer guild. It was to be expected but Silva...he really is a bastard. Bones would know, since he is one as well.

The Defiant Hounds of today, acted more as a mercenary group, doing the bidding of whoever had a big enough wallet. The one pulling strings behind The Hounds this time, was someone in high position within the adventurer's guild. Of that, Bones was sure of and if he could notice, so could the others. If they haven't already.

Bones stood up, seeing as barely anyone was left on the casino floor and left to his room. It wouldn't be long now, a few days at most, until he advances his Meditation skill. It's been a long time coming and he already knew how he wanted to morph the skill. Once inside his room, he sat down next to the bed and entered mediation.

The next day, when he sensed people were already up and about, he left the room and joined them at the table by the bar. Solin was behaving as usual and Clover was holding her head in her hands. "Morning. Had a bit too much to drink?" Bones teased. Solin grinned and Clover groaned, pleading with him not to speak so loudly. He smiled and waited for his coffee, already becoming a morning routine.

"You can take off the mask here, Bones." Solin added and Bones took off his hood, chuckling and showing the pristine white top of his head. "Not a mask." He casually tossed, to the surprise of the both. His mask was crushed when he took a punch from the bandit back in the mountains. Besides, he didn't need it anymore. His shaping has progressed enough he could make slight changes to his bones now, at least the smaller and lighter ones.

The reason his face now looked like he had a mask on was mostly because of the bone armor adding a thin defensive layer across his face, hiding the indentations and making it look like he had a mask on. The only openings were the slits for the eyes and a long narrow opening for the mouth. A rather bizarre look considering Bones could make expressions now, thanks to the progress he made in both bone manipulation and the shaping skill.

"Wow", was the best response he got from Solin as Clover dozed off right after. Making small talk, the two made plans for the day. They agreed to go see the match and before the match, Solin wanted to register his own and Bones wanted to apply for the dungeon. Having no team to go with, Solin offered a spot in his. He had a small team he would sometimes dungeon with, all party members with close ties to the Hounds. Until the two headed out, Bones spent his time practicing shaping small bones into bizzare figurines and had some engravings done on some of the larger bones he had left.

It was close to evening when the two headed towards the tower. Solin registered them for the dungeon and returned with a ticket in hand. A ticket? Bones thought. A simple entry ticket required to enter the dungeon like one would need for an amusement park. It had a logo of both the adventurer guild and the crest of the kingdom on one side and the date and rank of the dungeon, stamped on the other side of the ticket with the names of the people in the party right under. The entry cost was twenty mana stones per party member. A bit pricey in Bones' opinion.

The date was set to two months from now and Bones grunted in displeasure. Solin laughed at him, saying how that was the normal waiting period for grunts like them. Close to the tower was an overly decorated palace with motifs depicting different sorts of figures fighting man and monsters alike. Inside the palace was a grand hall where the matches between the users played out. The place was packed with people shouting, cheering and placing bets. "And this is a legit arena?" Bones wondered. Solin nodded and motioned for him to follow. They had found free seats at the far end and sat down.

"This is a legit arena, sponsored by both the royal palace and the adventurer guild among the dozens of small business owners. There's a lot of wealth exchanging hands here from all the bets. Not a lot for the fighters though, that's why a lot of us take on the Underground arena to make some money on the side. Of course, the Underground arena has its own rules and is far more dangerous."

Bones nodded and listened tentatively. He couldn't help but ask, interrupting Solin. "Solin, how did you end up with the Hounds? A young man like you, talented, could do much better! It's not that I don't like the others. They just seem like the type to suit me more than you."

Solin was silent for some time, no doubt taken aback by the sudden question. "Hah Bones, that's quite the question you're asking me! Fine. You most likely heard, but I am an orphan. Not really a surprise as a lot of people have lost their parents and much more, but do you know how I lost them?" Bones shook his head and Solin continued.

"Both of my parents were adventurers, bronze rankers. They didn't take chances or took risks. They loved what they were doing and were content with what they had! I was thirteen and attended the academy, wanting to follow in my parents footsteps. That year, a special event was announced as a part of the festival to smoothen the relations between the two kingdoms. An exhibition match between ascendants, Domino from the Wezar Kingdom and Kidllams from the Aphiton Kingdom."

He paused before continuing, his focus no longer on the match but a memory of the festival ten years ago. "Imagine witnessing an exhibition match between the two ascendants!? I wanted to attend. What kid didn't! Do you know what a normal match between ascendants looked like? It was devastating!" Solin exclaimed, his voice breaking up a little bit. He took a deep breath and calmed down before continuing. "Their "light spar" destroyed the arena and the shockwaves destroyed the surroundings with each hit they exchanged. The two lost themselves in the match, not caring about others at all…"

"My parents died trying to get me out of there. My mum burst into pieces on the spot as one of the shockwaves hit her. My dad picked me up and ran as fast as he could, but was hit by the debris and thrown off balance. He threw me through the window of the nearby building, right before the shockwave hit him too."

"I will never forget the expressions of those two as I looked up through the window. There was nothing there Bones, the two ascendants were indifferent about the whole thing like it had nothing to do with them! THOSE BASTARDS…" Solin shouted, standing up. His outburst went unnoticed by the fight and the cheering going on. He sat back and added. "They gave me the money for the loss I suffered. Pension for my parent's adventurer services. Since then, we get to watch the gold rankers show off during the festival, on a reinforced podium with the barriers raised up."

Bones was stumped processing everything. Damn, I expected something tragic but this was a borderline ridiculous thing to happen! "How did Silva appear in your life?"

"I was in a rough spot back then. I had money to live off and a lot of undirected anger inside me. I finished the academy and did proper adventurers work for a few years before I took on the odd jobs. Eventually, I started hanging with the rough crowd in the Underground and started killing for them. Silva was one of the targets I was set up to kill. My boss found out I was actually well off and tried to have me killed for my money."

"Guess it didn't turn out that way." Bones added.

Solin chuckled, his mood improving. "No, it did not. Silva beat some sense into me, wiped out the whole gang and took me under his wing, promising to help me take my revenge. I owe him Bones, I owe him a lot! I am aware of how the Hounds do things. I am mostly left out of their missions, but I'm not dumb. My point is, when the time comes, I'll give him all the help he needs from me."

"Even at the cost of losing your life?" Bones asked. Solin hesitated for a second, then with conviction replied, "Of course!"

Seeing how the mood turned sour because of him, Bones tried to change the subject. "The match down there is heating up." Solin glanced at the stage, then turned back to Bones and snorted. "That was terrible." He did smile a bit though.

The undergoing match was between the two fire mages of silver rank. One was focused on the pure raw destructive power of the fire element while the other on control. The two had the same starting points and yet a completely different approach to the battle. In the end, the winner was the mage focusing on control as he had better defense and was able to control the fire element in his opponents spells to a certain extent.

"Did you know that different places and different cultures have different beliefs about the system?” Solin suddenly asked. “We all know that the system is adaptive to both the society we live in and the individuals. It is a guide to set us on the path but Bones, who's to say that the path is set and cannot be changed? There are people and societies that learn and progress without the assistance of the system."

"Without? Did they-”

"No, it's impossible to get rid of the system, but they learned to tune it out. They learn by experience, hard work and the guidance left by their ancestors centuries ago. They chose the harder path to take but the progress they made is tremendous. The same skill like a fireball for example you saw on the podium feels like a different skill when used by one of them. Simply because - due to no interference by the system - they were free to modify the skill to suit them better."

"But Solin-”, Bones tried to interject but Solin waved him off. "I know Bones. The system does that already, right? Well, it does to a certain degree but you don't see all the options available when advancing a skill, no?"

"True." Bones agreed. "So, where does that leave us?"

"Nowhere! I just thought we were chit chatting, trying to change the subject!" Solin cheekily replied, all smug-like. Bones turned to him, his mouth open in surprise. "Wha…you cheeky little!"

"Seriously though, we should watch the next match!" Solin turned serious and looked at the female mage stepping up on the podium. "She's the one Bones...uh, not like that!” He quickly corrected himself seeing the look Bones was giving him. “She was the one I couldn't beat!"

Bones followed his gaze and saw him focusing on a woman, probably not much older than Solin, entering the stage with a bow in her hands. A bow? A mage with a bow and not an archer? Interesting…

“Watch this match, you will witness the difference between talented and fucking prodigies!” Solin proclaimed, expecting much of the female mage-archer wannabe. Bones observed the match closely. Both combatants were bronze rank with the female being a level higher than her opponent. The match began with the man dashing forward in a burst of speed. He reached the woman in an instant and threw an explosive punch. Bones thought the punch would hit but the woman avoided the attack with minimal effort, her hair blowing away from the wind pressure caused by the punch. She touched the extended arm of her opponent lightly and vines wrapped around his arm, holding it extended in place. She stepped away and raised her arm at the same time, summoning roots that bind the man in place.

Few steps back and she pulled on her bow. A summoned needle-like root appeared in her hand and she used it as an arrow. Bones watched in fascination as the woman swiftly controlled the fight. He heard a *groan* and turned to Solin only to see him frowning and holding his chin.

“Bah, she got faster! No doubt the loss from me got her riled up, tch.” He added in annoyance.

“What’s your win-loss ratio against her?” Bones asked. He knew Solin frequently visits both arenas and he was bothered by the archer/mage two months ago as well. He did score a win against her if I remember correctly?

Solin grumbled under his breath, barely muttering one win and seven loses. “Anyway, that wind mage is good, she’s just way better.”

Bones nodded, continuing to watch the match. The woman kept her distance and fired root after root with the mage barely managing to deflect them with some kind of summoned whirlwind barrier around himself. He was fast. Faster than Bones with a quick dash, he noticed, but she still caught him with her vines. The match finished with the thorny vines pinning the wind mage in place, blood covering his whole body.

“She is a dual class, a magic archer variant and a druid class. High nature affinity! She was already scouted by the major guild and found herself a sponsor. *sigh* C’mon, let’s go.” As the match finished, they both stood up and turned to leave. Solin went to register for the arena and on the way was stopped as someone grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the side.

“What the fuck Soiln? Where were you all this time?”

*groan* “Hi, Morem…”

Bones watched in amusement as the female mage from the fight they just watched, started nagging at Solin. “Not like that huh?” he asked and Solin turned to him with a scornful look.