"Norris", the lieutenant Stelan addressed the seated Bones. "Where's Finley?"

"Here sir." The young man replied, stepping out the tent.

"Good, now that you're all here, follow me." The lieutenant ordered and led them to his tent where he showed them a map of the local area and the route they would be patrolling.

"There are three patrol routes. Two will be patrolled by you prisoners, interchangeably and one by a group of soldiers. Your route…" The officer pointed at a route south of the camp and close to the swamps and explained the do's and don'ts when on patrol.

"The estimated time to complete the route is two hours and you'll be doing two rounds per night shift. Stick to the route and you'll be fine. Go further south into the swamps, and you'll find yourself in the maws of the lizardfolk, if the leeches wouldn't drain you dry! That would be all!" The officer waved his hand dismissively, then added as if almost forgot. "And… be at ease! There hasn't been an attack on the camp for quite a while now. Don't forget to stop by the armory first and take a band each. Unless you'd be mistaken for an enemy…"

Tate, as the highest level in the party, took on the role of the leader. Muck was his right hand man, Bones was an enigma and Finley was the target. The party stopped by the armory before heading out and each took a red band with the kingdom's crest on it and wore it around the arm. The band was mandatory on the frontlines to discern a friend from foe. Wearing one or not, however, was at the risk of the wearer. Some prefered capes. Most soldiers did while adventurers used bands as they were more practical.

Immediately after leaving the camp through the south gates, Tate took charge and rearranged the order of party members in the patrol. Bones would be at the front with Muck backing him up, Finley behind Muck and Tate will support the group from behind. Finley complained but was easily and naively persuaded. Bones listened but didn't interject. By all means, having the highest level and strongest man behind the group would be the correct decision, but these two were former bandits. Finley didn't have a choice in the matter and Bones simply didn't care.

"You don't look like Norris." Muck said walking behind Bones and right after the party started patrolling. Bones didn't turn around when replying: "Yeah well, you don't look like Much either."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Muck asked, not getting a play on words.

"Nothing Much."

"He's fucking with you." Tate interjected from behind the group.

"I see…Read your sheet Norris. Says you're a thief and a member of The Crimson Banner gang."

It was Bones' first time hearing that the man he was impersonating was a gang member.

"How convenient that you were behind the bars while your whole gang was apprehended in the raid two nights ago."

Bones stopped and slightly turned his head to the side. "What do you mean? What raid?"

"Hah! Don't act like you don't know what he's talking about!" Tate retorted and Muck continued. "Yeah, that's right! You were probably the one that tipped the guildies off. Half the gang died when they raided the Horned Dog and the other half ended up in the interrogation chair!"

Huh, so that's what happened in the tavern? Bones thought and tried to pry for more information.

"What else happened that night? What about The Hounds?"

"The Hounds?" Tate and Muck asked at the same time.

Bones stopped walking and others stopped too. He turned around and asked, looking Muck directly in the eyes, "Where's Silva?"

Muck was surprised to hear that name coming from the mouth of a nobody like Norris, but Tate reacted differently. He pulled a sword out of its sheath and in swift motion, without hesitation, backstabbed Finley who hadn't had a clue what they were talking about. Muck glanced behind for a moment and after seeing Tate attacking Finley, thought to himself, "This is it!" He turned to Bones who had his hood down and looking down on him. "Wha…"

*splurt*

Hearing the wet sound of a spear penetrating flesh followed by a pained moan, Muck turned back to Tate and saw the tip of the spear sticking out his chest. In a quick motion, the spear was yanked out and a spray of blood came out the hole in the man's chest. Tate dropped to his knees, then face first to the ground, still alive and twitching but heavily bleeding out. Behind the man was a figure in leather armor, sporting a hood much like Bones and holding a spear in his hands.

Shocked and dazed by the situation, Muck didn't react to a sharp blade against his throat. Only after hearing Bones speak did he come to his senses.

"You…you-you-you you're not Norris?" Muck stuttered.

"Come now. That should be obvious by now. Norris was killed in the prison cell and hearing that he was a member of the gang with ties to The Hounds, I'm beginning to think his death wasn't a random shuffle. Enough about him, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? And don't leave out…Much."

Muck weighed his options and ultimately decided that the blade against his throat is a pretty good argument not to try anything funny. He looked ahead at Tate bleeding out and swallowed hard.

"What are you? Why did you attack Tate?"

"What do I look like to you? And don't dodge my questions. Where's Silva? What do you know about him?"

"I don't know anything about him!" Muck yelled, but knew denying anything will just quicken his end. "We never met him. We only heard about him from our leader."

Bones wasn't exactly convinced, but it did make sense that they wouldn't know a high profile figure like Silva themselves. Still…Bones used Soul Link on Muck.

Muck's face twisted into something unrecognisable as he felt suffocating pressure. His heart began racing and the sound became deafening. He could only hear the beat of his own heart that grew louder and louder. He clutched his chest. The place where his heart was and feebly muttered. "St-stop it…"

Bones didn't really have a way to drag the information out the man. Not yet at least. Soul Link provided him with a way to sense the emotions and intent behind Muck's words and he felt the man wasn't lying.

He really doesn't know.

Soul Link however…The fear for his life is quite real so the chance to establish a successful link was higher, but it was still difficult. Was it because of his level? To think the level disparity makes that much of a difference…

"Alright Muck." Bones said suddenly. "Later!"

"Eh?" Muck blurted out, then saw Skully approaching, brandishing a spear his way. Before Muck could do anything else…

*slits*

Bones drew a line across his neck, then Skully thrusted the tip of the spear through his heart, finishing him off. Muck's final moments were in shock and disbelief. Skully pulled out his spear and Bones tossed Muck's body to the side and turned to a crawling Tate. The man suffered a sneak attack and his heart was pierced, but he still hadn't died.

"Quite a lot of vitality hm?" Bones said while slowly following the blood trail. Tate spat out blood, then with great effort turned on his back. He couldn't move anymore. That was the last of his strength. If he had the time, he might heal enough to muster enough strength to return to the camp and seek healing.

"Amazing." Bones said, standing over the man. Tate stared daggers at him and said he would be hunted down and killed for doing this. Bones chuckled and said he was just doing what he and Muck planned to do to them…

Tate opened his mouth to retort, but didn't have anything to add to that. He tried to laugh but coughed up blood.

*cough cough* "Fucking coward…what are you?" He weakly asked. Bones didn't reply. He established Soul Link with the man and watched as Tate's breathing slowed down. His eyes became foggy and he drew his last breath.

Bones looked at the dagger in his hand and wondered. Where did I get this dagger? Did I always have it or…

"Never mind that. Good work Skully." Bones said and crouched atop of Tate's body. He positioned the dagger above the dead's man's ankles and slit the tendons in his legs, right above the heel.

"That should be enough. Unless they investigate the wounds thoroughly, which I doubt they will." Bones stood up and put the hood back over his head. If anything, he learned that the two couldn't immediately tell he was an undead. Who knows, with a few more modifications he might pass as a living, breathing hum-

"Nah, I don't particularly care about looking like a human or an undead. It's more of a convenience if people didn't identify me as an undead though."

"Now then, we're about fifteen minutes away from the camp. I doubt someone would come by but…we are pretty close! Shall we head to the swamps, Skully? Come on…"

Bones left the scene of the crime and continued south, through a tiny stretch of forest and into the wetlands before the swamps. He decided to heed Darsumi's words and take things slow. He would observe the frontlines for the next few days and plan his approach. The swamps were a sort of safety net for him as most people would stay away from them. Not that the swamps didn't have their dangers. Like his ex-superior Stelan said, there were leeches and the Lizardfolk further south, among other swampy creatures.

Bones was eager to see the Lizardfolk, but not so much to delve deeper into the swamp. He glanced at Skully, then shook his head. "Maybe later we go and see your folk hm?" Bones followed along the edge of the forest and where the wetland started. He stopped in wet soil and started taking off his clothes.

"Hm? Ah Skully…you perv!" He chuckled then stored his gear. He took a few steps forward and crouched, taking a handful of mud, then started smearing the mud against his bones. Bones vigorously rubbed each part of his body until he was wholly covered in mud.

"Natural camouflage Skully!" He turned and said, then after giving it some thought decided he would spare Skully the rubbing. I can just summon and unsummon Skully when I deem it necessary. Besides, his brown leather armor fits the environment here.

Once finished, Bones continued his way through the wetlands and along the edge of the forest in search of a higher ground he could use to observe the battle from a distance. While Bones was attracting flies hiking, an hour and a half after he left the patrol route, the patrolling soldiers found the three dead bodies of his former party members. Like Bones thought, the soldiers didn't bother to properly investigate the wounds and attribute their deaths to the Aphitonian scouting party.

Bones eventually found a high, hard ground overlooking the swamp before the first light of the day. Different and dense trees populated the swamps and Bones found a high growing birch tree growing on elevation. He climbed to the top of the tree and after finding a few solid branches in the canopy of the tree that could support his new (but still light) weight, he looked around in the opposite direction of the swamps.

Beyond the forest that stretched for a few hundreds of meters, Bones saw a large clearing that extended all the way to the fortress he could barely make out in a distance. The fortress was at the border between the two kingdoms and from what Bones gathered, the current main objective the gold rankers were fighting over. He didn't quite understand the Aphitonians' intention in this war anymore and the importance of taking over the fortress.

Since the prince’s involvement over a month ago, they lost their advantage over the mines and have been pushed back to the border. What do they hope to gain? The fortress and the…what was their name again? Restless Wetlands if I remember correctly? I should’ve stolen the map of the area.

Bones looked far in the distance but couldn’t make out anything clearly. The Fortress is a military stronghold, a well protected place intended to be difficult for the enemies to enter but…Bones saw flashes of light at the top of the fort and around it. The gold rankers were at it but the distance made it impossible to observe the battle. He turned in the direction of the camp and only saw smoke from the bonfire rising beyond the tree line.

Fools! The smoke will give away the position of the camp! Bones first thought, then after thinking for a bit drew a conclusion that the Aphitonians must’ve scouted camps thoroughly by now and most likely knew everything there was to know about. Just as it dawned and the clearing was lit by the rising sun, Bones noticed multiple parties coming from the direction of the camp, moving cautiously through an open field. He looked to the right and saw Aphitonians moving as well. The clash between the silver rankers was about to take place and Bones will witness his first battle on the frontlines.

“Skully! I think we found the perfect spot to observe the war!” He said and paused, remembering he dismissed Skully before climbing the tree. Tsk, this will be boring to watch alone…