Bones contemplated and even asked himself if being a member of the Adventurer guild was worth it. There WAS a sense of duty that came with being an adventurer Bones didn’t really want or need. Whether to continue being part of the guild or not, wasn’t something he had time to decide on the spot. He was an adventurer so he agreed to Solin's proposal and together, after the breakfast, they headed toward the Adventurer guild. Solin did his contracts solo but made an exception this time around and suggested they take the monster hunter quest together.

Bones did subjugation and collecting quests before, but this new term escaped his attention. He turned to Solin and asked if monster hunting wasn’t what they already did by killing the monsters. Solin, shaking his head, explained that the subjugation quests and the monster hunter contracts weren’t the same. An example being killing the chief of the goblin tribe as a monster hunter contract while the subjugation of the goblin tribe was more of a broad term and would entail both the chieftain and the tribe.

Bones inquired if a subjugation quest wouldn't be a better contract to take then if it entailed both a chieftain and the tribe. Solin nodded and said sure, at lower levels it was plausible to take on subjugation quests solo, but at higher levels? Not so much. He pointed at one of the posters on the board and Bones saw a picture of the Forest Troll. Solin added that that's the type of a monster, the Monster Hunters hunt. Big. Ass. Monsters! And the people or teams hunting them are specialised in that kind of a hunt.

Solin further delved into different specializations the guild offered, throwing around occupations like Vampire Hunter, Demon Slayer, Treasure Hunter or a Dungeon Explorer. The list went on.

Adventurers at a higher level choose what to specialize in and build teams to tackle such contracts. Rarely anyone ventured solo as the danger was quite real and not many were willing to brave the risk of dying. A great example was Vern, the defender they did the dungeon run with. The man was of middle age and only at level 34. He was a family man and no longer pursued his goal of leveling up and pushing himself towards greater strength. He was content with where he was and offered to tank the lower floors up to the third floor of the dungeon. For a fee, of course.

Bones nodded in understanding. He could see how the majority would prefer to find a safe spot and do their best to stay at that level. The average level of adventurers in the kingdom was around level 25. A low level when comparing what could be accomplished on a path to an ascendant, but those ascendants could be counted on one hand in the kingdom. Even third tier gold rankers were barely a dozen, gold rankers a hundred and silver rankers a thousand.

Bronze rankers and those below them, made for the rest of the adventurers. Of course, not every magician or a warrior was an adventurer. Guards, soldiers and the village hunters counted higher than the adventurers, but their overall level was below level 20.

Bones turned to Solin and asked. “What about you? What do you plan on specializing in?” Solin straight up answered assassinations at the core but would take on monster hunting contracts. Group fights didn’t suit him as his skills were more suited to one on one and he preferred to focus on a single target when fighting. Bones? He couldn’t decide on a single specialization, saying he didn’t feel a particular pull toward any of them. Everything and anything seemed fine to him. Solin shrugged and motioned back towards the Forest Troll contract.

“What do you think? Wanna take this one together?”

Bones agreed as he didn’t really have a preference. “I fought trolls before. We just fought the trolls in the dungeon.” Solin chuckled, interrupting Bones, seeing where he was going with this. “This troll won’t be like the trolls we encountered in the dungeon. While they had an elite tag, they were still weakened versions of the trolls outside a dungeon and believe me, this Forest Troll is THE boss. The picture doesn't really do it justice."

Solin picked up the contract and went inside the guild to register the two of them as a party taking on a monster hunter quest. Bones stayed outside, looking at the pair of adventurers approaching the guild on lizard-like mounts. The two, one male and the other a female, looked to be high levels considering the kind of gear they wore. Adventurers parted ways to the two and they dismounted in front of the gates of the guild, not far from Bones. One of the guards at the gates quickly approached and, like a good stableboy, led their mounts somewhere behind the building.

"Don't stare so much. You'll attract unwanted attention!" Solin said as he was leaving the guild and stepping down the stairs. Bones didn't question why, just followed Solin as he walked away.

"What kind of adventurers are they?" Bones asked once they were a fair distance away.

"The kind with good backing and inflated ego. Both of them are gold rankers and members of the major guild, Radiant Hawks." Solin briefly explained.

"I suppose I should know about the Radiant Hawks?"

Solin sighed, remembering who he was talking to. "They have a reputation and the Hawks could be considered a number one guild in the kingdom, even though they don't have an ascendant leading them."

"Oh? How come?" Bones asked, genuinely intrigued.

"The prince Tristan is the guild leader of the Radiant Hawks. He IS the Radiant Hawk. You know he isn't an ascendant yet, right?" Bones shrugged and Solin just awry smiled. "Common, let's go back to the tavern and prepare to head out. I'll tell you about him on the way." The two headed back to the tavern, completely forgetting about browsing shops by now.

"Tristan wasn't the first child of the king. He had many during his rule, but the prince was the only child in the last hundred and fifty years or so. While the king was notoriously strict, he spoiled the little brat! I mean the prince, or so I've heard."

"Anyway, the prince had the best mentors, best education, best training and…best of everything he needed. Like King Wezar's, his class is classified…" Solin snickered at the pun and continued, “it is known that the prince was capped at least in one class. A lot of people disliked him because everything was handed to him since birth, but there was no mistaking his talent and the strength he possesses. I've heard he could even go toe to toe against the ascendant! Can you believe it?"

"Okay fanboy, we're here." Bones interrupted. Solin looked up and saw they were already in front of the tavern. He frowned and followed Bones inside. I'm not a fanboy…

Bones had nothing to pack, having everything already stored in his inventory. While waiting for Solin in the courtyard, he took out a set of bones from his Bone Collector tab and started working on the already missed, spooky-looking cat.

An hour later, Solin found him and handed him a small set of vials filled with mana potion. Bones looked up in surprise and gladly took them off his hands, appreciating the gesture. “What are you working on? Is that a cat?” Solin asked. Bones nodded and said it helps him practice Bone Shaping and Bone Manipulation.

He made a jump in progress from practicing Bone Shaping but still not to the point to freely shape his own bones. Small bones were fine and shaping his arm for example, was still out of his capability. Once, he had an idea about shaping his arm into a spear or a giant spike in the midst of a fight, but now that he had a golem, he didn’t feel the need to do so. Realistically, it was unlikely to happen anyway. No, his goal now was to try and make the Bone Armor a permanent solution, maybe by fusing it with his skeleton if that’s a possibility? It wouldn’t be long until his Bone Armor advances and he finds out. Only two more levels.

“So, what once you finish with your…cat?”

“No idea to be honest. I might put it up for sale or maybe in the future I use the mana core and make a golem or an automaton out of it!” Bones replied, doing finishing touches on the small, cartoonish looking bone cat. For now, he would infuse the nucleus into the cat like he usually does, with a set of simple instructions and behavior rules to follow.

“We ready to leave?'' He asked and Solin confirmed. Their journey would lead them outside the city gates and northeast around the lake and into a great stretch of forest, close to the border with the Aphiton Kingdom. A part of forest further northeast would lead them in and out of Aphiton Kingdom, and into one of the smaller elven kingdoms known for dense rainforest, small hills and sparsely populated areas.

Elves didn’t build great cities and preferred to live by and from nature, among the other living beings inhabiting the forest. Like Forest Trolls for example. The two had no need to go so deep into the forest to find them as the Forest Trolls moved down and into the territory of Wezar Kingdom, hence the contract to eliminate the threat. Collecting the troll's heart would serve as a quest item and proof of the deed.

The party traveled by rented horses they would leave at the stable at the last village before entering the forest. The concept of renting, foreign to Bones.

After leaving the city from the eastern gates, they headed northeast along the shore of the lake. Many fisherman's houses were situated at the shore of the lake with people tending to their boats or working on their catch. People didn’t look as well off as the people inside the city. Solin noticed Bones’ gaze lingering on the fishermen and understood why. These people were exposed outside the city walls and while the guards patrolled the area, there was no guarantee they would keep them safe from whatever might be lurking in the waters and creatures did lurk in these waters!

Stalking Drowners are a water equivalent to a ghoul and common occurrence near any body of water. They are known to harass and stalk individuals on a boat and pull them into the depths where they would drown and feast on their flesh. They don't shy away from the shore either. Any passer-by along the shoreline was a potential target and usually fell victim to a flesh-eating monster.

The lake wasn't an exception and the fishermen were an easy target of the flesh-eating Drowners. That was a problem, however, for lower level adventurers. The two continued along the river bend and after a few hours of riding, drifted away from the lake.

Open plains spread far and wide and people were tending to their fields. From the outskirts of the forest in the distance, Solin spotted a pair of goblins dragging an unfortunate villager. Solin swirled and steered the horse in their direction with a gusto, Bones following behind and barely keeping pace.

The Goblin pair turned to a newcomer with a start and branded their weapons towards Solin who, without stopping, leapt off his horse and over the goblins. He turned in the air and upon landing, with a swift movement and precise strikes, dismembered the goblin dragging the villager and then quickly disposed of the other one. The villager was heavily bleeding but that didn't stop him from running away at first opportunity.

"You're welcome…", murmured Solin under his breath and turned in the direction of the forest.

"You can't expect a common man to remain calm given the situation." Bones said. The man frantically turned to flight without even realizing he wasn't in danger anymore.

Solin knew that but still thought a "thank you for saving my life" would suffice. "Do you want to follow the goblins trail and see where it leads to?" Bones asked.

"Yeah. You don't mind, do you? It'll take at most a couple of hours of our time."

"None at all, lead the way."

The two entered the forest and with Solin's basic tracking abilities, Bones didn't know he had, they followed the trail. The goblins were light on their feet and they often attacked from ambush. It was in their nature to be sneaky, but they didn't have the knowledge to cover their tracks. They left plenty of clues to where they were coming from and not even half an hour later, the two saw what looked like a camping ground with the group of goblins making gurgling sounds and tied up villagers in a bad state.

"Strange." Bones stated. "I would have guessed that the adventurers or even a patrol would deal with the goblins that were kidnapping villagers."

"And you would have guessed right." Solin growled. "They were supposed to deal with this kind of stuff and make bloody sure it doesn't happen in the first place! We'll deal with the goblins and escort the villagers back."

Bones nodded and without bothering to hide their presence, both rushed the goblins, taking them by surprise.