"Hey Dar! Come see this!" Mirami called out to Darsumi. He locked eyes with Hem who nodded, then left to see what got Mirami so worked up. The mansion had a second floor, where the master bedroom was. Across the bedroom was a hallway leading to an entrance to an enclosed, uniquely designed room without windows. The room was circular in design and Dar remembered seeing a turret in the top corner of a mansion from the outside.

Mirami discovered a reinforced chamber, four meters in diameter. If Hem was here, he would remember both he and Dar seeing a similar kind of chamber before. It was a specially designed chamber used to create a mana dense environment a person would use to train or meditate in.

On the walls of the chamber there were sockets the perfect size to socket mana stones into and the formation that ran the length of the wall with purpose to absorb the mana from the mana stones and release it into the chamber, filling it with rich and dense mana.

"A chamber?" Voice said from behind. Dar turned and saw Bones looking over his shoulder.

"Aye. A cultivation chamber! I'll explain later." Dar said and asked Bones how's the situation with the vault going.

"Vault is similar to a Hartmore's. I'm out of mana for one too many times so I came to check what the fuss was about." Bones explained himself.

Dar nodded and said, "The last time I saw one of these was back home." He saw Bones wanted to ask him more about it, but now was not the time. "Later."

Bones didn't pry, he just nodded and took one last look around the chamber before going back to the vault. Similar chamber to my own! Hopefully not as faulty.

Dar returned to Hem and explained what they've found. Hem whistled and said he didn't expect to see one here. Cultivation chambers were money sinks. They offer a great environment for training but the upkeep is too much for most. Major guilds would have one or two, but for a House of a noble of average standings to have one was a waste of resources.

"Dam rich folk." Hem said and sparked a reaction from Erhan who smirked as if agreeing with the statement.

The explosions stopped some time ago, but the night was anything but quiet. Voices of people never stopped. Hysterical, panicked, manic and angry. It sent chills down the spine to anyone who heard them.

"It seems to be over." Dar said.

"Over? Does it sound like over to you dwarf!" Erhan replied, clearly distressed. "I won't forget you!" He added. His message, very clear that he wouldn't let this pass.

Dar frowned. "Duly noted," he said and turned to Bones who was coming back and said he was done with the vault but Krampus needed more time to deal with a separate formation inside the vault. A muffled sound of explosion was heard following the sound of an alarm. Karmpus had failed and the formation activated. Dar and Bones rushed back to the vault while Hem stayed behind to watch the smirking Erhan.

"It's fine! A part of formation activated. A minor mishap!" Krampus said defensively, seeing the two rushing toward him. The other dwarves were already busy inside the vault. Dar stopped by Krampus while Bones passed them by and entered the vault. He glanced around but his target was hard to miss. Straight ahead was a glass container and inside was a mana core. Bones smiled seeing the core and a lock to a container. He was glad there was a lock and not a formation or something else in a way of his prize.

Once again he summoned the Incomplete Skeleton Key and went to work. It was impossible for the team to clean the whole vault. Inside were many display cabinets filled with all sorts of weapons, armors and jewelry. Many of them, under both the lock and a formation. The dwarves didn't bother with a big catch. Everything else was for the taking though.

Bones unlocked, snatched and stored the mana core in his inventory. He got what he came for and started unlocking nearby cabinets, deposit boxes and chests. He had no real need for anything else so he unlocked what he could and watched others loot. He spotted Dar going through documents inside one of the deposit boxes. He took some, left some and returned upstairs to Hem. I guess his priority is intel.

The beeping sound of the alarm stopped shortly after. Krampus dispelled the formation and turned off the alarm. It was time, however, to wrap everything up.

"Its still snowin!" Hemdus said, watching the unexpected snow cover everything in white.

"Apparently so. Come Hem, it's time to go!"

"Aye. Wit dis one finished, were dun 'ere!

Everyone gathered on the ground floor and discussed their escape route. The walls of the estate were too high for all to climb over, so they decided to go back the same way they came in, through the front gates. One by one they discarded their masks and rushed out of the mansion. Hem left after the others, leaving only Dar, Bones and Erhan inside.

"No casualties I presume?" Bones asked, referring to Erham and how Dar wanted to deal with him. Dar locked eyes with the men and saw defiance and a glint of resolve in his eyes. He knew letting the man live after seeing his face would come back later and bite him in the ass. Still, Dar shook his head and said to leave the man be. He still thought letting him live was a better option of the two. Bones nodded and followed Dar outside. Erhan exhaled in relief, then donned a stern complexion.

Looking inside through the window from the outside. He could be seen slowly and shakily starting to stand up. Before he straightened up, a spear pierced his heart from behind. He looked down in shock as the tip of the spear penetrated through. Skully thugged the spear back, pulling it out and thrusted again, and again. Erhan laid in a pool of blood, slowly dying from multiple stab wounds.

A moment later, just outside the estates perimeter, Bones stopped walking, an all too familiar screen occupying his attention. Darsumi turned to him and asked him what's wrong.

"Nothing at all…"

Golem Mastery level up!

"Just thinking about what next!" He lied. Sorry Dar, but the man had seen my face too.

Dar smiled and patted him on the back. "Let's return to the Uppity Gent first, then we can talk about what next, hm?"

"You're right. Let's do that."

They walked back at a casual pace, avoiding the central area where the commotion was still ongoing. Lot of people returned to their homes and more stayed outside watching and discussing what happened. Most of them had no clue that the ceremony was interrupted by an attack and thought an accident occurred. The fire from the explosions traveled far through the sewer and out the sewer holes, causing many buildings outside the radius of the explosions to catch fire.

By now the fires have been put out and only the destruction and casualties left by the explosion were left. Hundreds died and thousands were injured. If Fluvis Frose hadn't stopped the explosion by the last three bombs on the main square, many more would die.

The party of misfits reached the tavern around three in the morning. The tavern was usually packed and open until sunrise but tonight, the place was void of everyone except for Thaddeus' wife who was scared out of her wits. It took time and reassurance that everything was fine now to calm her down. The tavern was closed for the night given the situation and the party went back to the private hall where they finally allowed themselves to relax.

Mirami jumped on a sofa and passed out, while others indulged in a much needed drink. The heist was a success, albeit no one seemed in a mood to celebrate. It was late but that wasn't the reason why. The sheer savagery of the attack they witnessed without any thought of the consequence unnerved everyone. Bones felt that taking advantage of the attack didn't sit well with anyone. Once everyone but Mirami got settled at the table, Bones spoke out.

"I think I know what all of you are thinking about and I can assure you, there was nothing to be done to stop the attack so don't feel guilty about it." Bones said and paused, then continued. "I've informed someone in Adventurer's Guild of the attack beforehand and I'm sure they did everything they could in order to stop it from happening."

"I wouldn't call what we saw stopping from happening." *scoff* One of the silent dwarves voiced his thoughts. His comment, true to the point.

"That's not on us. There was nothing WE could've done to improve the situation. And from what I can tell, what we took from the vaults, didn't amount to much compared to what was left behind!"

"Hear ye!" Hem added and Darsumi asked him if he really informed someone about the attack. Bones nodded and explained he didn't really have a choice as he was jumped by Rayne back in Stonefalls." Bones noticed the surprise on dwarves faces and said he made a deal with Rayne but kept it to himself as he didn't want to worry them by something he could handle himself.

Darsumi leaned on the chair and breathed out. "What happened, happened! There's no use breaking heads over it now."

"First, ring's out!" He said and placed his and one other ring on the table. "Mirami already handed me hers."

Everyone placed their heist rings in the middle and Dar collected them all. He took out one more, a bit different than the others and shuffled through the rings, organising the items. When he was done, he extended a hand toward Bones, holding a different looking ring between his fingers.

Bones reached for the ring, thinking it was his share from the heist but Darsumi said it was a gift from him and Hem. Bones was taken aback for a moment, then grabbed the ring and took a peek inside. His eyes widened seeing another mana core among different pieces of armor and mana stones around two thousand gold in value.

"Another mana core? Dar, where did you-"

"We never stopped looking, Bones. You still don't realize the true value of a dungeon. It's not a mere couple of thousand of gold…Anyway, this is the best we could do with the time we had. Mana stones are pretty much a universal currency and if you are ever in need of more, come back to us!"

"I made ye sum heavy armor pieces fer ye new golem. All high quality stuff!"

"Appreciate it, Hem."

"Think nothin of it! Ye still plan on usin robes? Belmus made sum for ye. Its all in there."

"Ye…I mean yes. I find it easier to move in robes. Besides, they look kind of cool…"

"Well, yer choice I guess!" Hem relented.

"Apologies, cousins. I'm gonna go see how my wife is doing. She got really shaken by the attack." Thaddeus excused himself. Dadsumi nodded and said to thank his wife for letting them stay. Thaddeus stood up, nodded and added, "Don't forget the book", before leaving.

Bones watched Thaddeus leaving, then turned back to the dwarves and asked what book. Dar took out a booklet and presented it to Bones with an explanation that it was another gift, from all of them. The booklet was a compendium of useful information on location of interest, monsters and cities. Something that would hopefully help Bones decide on where to go and help him on his journey.

"I don't know what to say but thank you! You dwarves are good folk! I'm glad I met you when I did." Bones said earnestly. From the day he bumped into Hem in front of the Construction Guild, Bones hadn't had a single dull moment with them. They were a rowdy bunch, but in a good way.

Hem couldn't hide the embarrassment from being praised and rubbed his finger beneath his nose while having a chuckle. Dar nodded in appreciation then turned serious and asked Bones to come sit by the fireplace with him. He wanted to explain a few things before Bones left.

Soon, the others parted ways. Each dwarf picked a room to stay in overnight and headed upstairs where the accommodations were. Mirami was sound asleep on the sofa and Darsumi and Bones sat in the lounge chairs by the sizzling fire.

"You'll be boarding a carriage leaving for the battlefield at dawn." Dar said and took out a slip of paper with the address and name Marcus written down, and another, larger sheet of paper which he then handed to Bones.

Bones took both papers and while reading through their content, Dar continued speaking.

"On the small paper is the address at the south gates and the name of the coachman who will take you out of the city. The other piece of paper is who you'll be impersonating until you reach your destination."

"Impersonating? Why?" Bones asked in confusion.

"It's simple. You want to get out without announcing to anyone that you're Bones. And you can't join the army at the frontlines without providing an ID or bribing your way in. Not anymore at least."

"So I'm impersonating someone else to get in. Who?" Bones clarified.

Dar nodded and replied. "Marcus is transporting prisoners to the frontline to serve their sentence, or part of it. The man on the paper you're looking at was a thief and has assault charges brought up against him. He was supposed to board the carriage but was killed in his prison cell two nights ago."

"No one will wonder why a dead man is taking a carriage to the frontlines?"

"Not if you bribe the right people. He will die on the battlefield today. At least that's what the report is going to say." Dar replied smiling and continued. "After you reach the army camp, you will be grouped with the others. Think of it as a formality as the prisoners are basically cannon fodder. From there, you'll be on your own!"

"Now then. Let me tell you about the dangers of war!" Dar said and Bones listened.