The groups of people coming from the direction of the camp were Wezar's army soldiers wearing mail and plate armor with polearm in hands and a one handed weapon at their waist. What little information Bones learned in the short amount of time he was in the south camp was that the soldiers were generally lower level than the adventurers. At least most of them were without actual combat experience. There weren’t many occurrences in which the soldiers could participate in a war during their lifetime so they spent most of their time safely within the city walls, practicing and keeping order working as guards. The soldiers working part time as adventurers and retired adventurers working as soldiers were the exception and in minority. Same as the small group of individuals Bones turned his attention to. Adventurers!

War was a risky game but an opportunity for anyone participating to earn levels quickly. Adventurers were especially drawn to the conflict they could benefit from even at the risk of getting on the bad side of a losing party. Bones could easily differentiate between adventurers and soldiers by what they wore and the way they carried themselves.

The adventurers had experience fighting other people more than the others and they wore mix-matched armor types. They carried different types of weapons and moved observant of their surroundings. The soldiers grouped in a squad of ten with a leader in each squad while the adventurers partied in a group of three to five. Bones strained his vision and saw matching markings on group members in the same party. Having a way to distinguish a party member from a foe in the midst of combat was a given and the markings he saw on some of the Aphitonians belonged to a mercenary company.

Makes sense that not all the participants would be soldiers or adventurers. There might be people here from the assassin’s guild as well! Nothing is stopping someone from being an adventurer in a mercenary company working as an assassin. Hm?

It has started. The soldiers on both sides have gathered in a formation and steadily closed in on each other. Ranged attacks coming from behind signaled the start of battle and Bones envisioned both sides engaging in frontal confrontation without much tactic involved, but he was wrong. The soldiers stood their ground, deflecting most of the projectiles and spells coming their way while using every opportunity to counter attack. They have been taught well. The Adventurers on the other hand engaged more freely and without restraint, as if they queued their skills and spells beforehand, just waiting to unleash them all at once. After an hour of watching the battle, Bones concluded Darsumi was quite right when he said that times have changed and the war is different now.

Back in my time a dozen silver rank individuals would dominate the whole war! Here, they are the norm. Times have truly changed.

Bones had never seen this many skills and spells used at the same time. It looked chaotic as spells flew in disorderly fashion, seemingly capable of hitting anyone at random and yet, most participants had a high enough awareness to not get hit by them. There weren’t many casualties resulting from a random spell or a projectile. Bones specially turned his attention to a few figures on the battlefield that were hard to miss.

One was an adventurer on the Wezar's side. A man over two meters tall with broad shoulders, lightly dressed in a leather body armor and leggings, mixed with plate pauldrons, gauntlets and greaves. He cleaved the enemy soldiers in two with every swing of his giant bardiche, a polearm type of weapon. The sun rays reflected off the weapon’s blade and Bones could make out a faint blue hue on the edge of the bardiche. Imbuing only the edge to reduce the mana cost of imbuing while still sharpening the edge. Smart. I wish my golem was capable of learning and growing into something as efficient! Bones praised the man and turned focus on the other man that dominated the battlefield.

It was a defender of sorts, with a giant shield in his left hand and a steel gauntlet in his right hand. The gauntlet had a gem embedded at the top and Bones watched in fascination how the man used both the shield and the gauntlet. The shield was used as intended, to block attacks. Then the man would press the gauntlet against the inside of the shield and unleash what Bones could only guess it to be a cone shaped version of his mana blast. The arcane blast passed through the shield amplified and blasted everything up to three meters in front of the defender.

Truly marvelous use of shield for both defending and attacking purposes!

That wasn't all! The man continued to impress Bones by using different methods to attack. Like throwing a shield, bouncing off enemies and making a stronger impact with each bounce. Eventually, the shield cracked and broke after such abuse but the man just summoned another one, like he was already used to it.

I can't tell if he is actually a defender or a mage. This is entertaining to watch! I can't help but wonder though, why are they even fighting in an open fie-

*crash!*

Bones' thoughts were interrupted by a sudden crash in the midst of a clearing, raising a cloud of dust and obscuring the view. He couldn't see what caused the crash but the blast from the impact pushed back everyone in the vicinity. From within the cloud a person rushed out in a blur with a speed Bones had a hard time following. A second later, another figure crashed and chased after the first one.

Bones watched everything from afar so he had a better understanding of the battlefield. The two headed in the direction of Wezar's army and before the soldiers could react in time and move away, the first figure charged directly into them. From the strength of the impact and the way the soldiers were sent flying in an unnatural way, Bones recognized the two newcomers to be gold rankers. The adventurers on both sides made a hasty retreat and Bones saw two more gold rankers join and give chase after the first one.

Of course. Leave it to gold-

*rustling*

-rankers to crash the party.

*clank clank*

"Hm?" Bones turned in the direction the sound was coming from. The clanking stopped and Bones climbed down the crown of the tree. He waited, quietly and motionless until his senses picked up a person a hundred meters away moving in his direction.

Well now, it looks like I won't be just an observer on the first day after all!

Judging by the gear and the silent movements exercised, Bones deduced that the person was a scout and most likely on the enemy side since he didn't have a band or any other recognizable markings. Bones didn't really care which side the scout belonged to. He decided to fish for some information and once the scout was around fifteen meters away and about to run past his hiding place, he hurled the golem core at him.

The core flew in a slight arc and straight at the scout. Before the core hit, Skully appeared with a spear already in thrusting motion. The scout reacted instantly by drawing daggers and hurriedly parrying an attack. Bones was surprised that the ambush failed and Identified the scout.

Aphitonian Scout, level 42

Level 42! Too much for Skully to handle alone…but what is it with the generic description? Is my Identify skill too low or is the scout's level too high?

The scout didn't look to be in healthy condition. The sounds of clashing from earlier most likely belonged to the fight between the scouts and this one, while victorious, didn't leave unscathed. Bones was right in his assessment but the scout made an assessment of his own in an exchange just now and concluded that Skully was lacking in power. Meaning, Skully was lower level and not by a small margin.

The scout was pushed back after parrying an attack and after realizing his opponent wasn't an actual threat, exhaled a breath of relief and relaxed his posture a bit.

"Haaah you sneaky fucker. You scared a shit out of me!" The scout yelled at Skully. In three quick moves he closed in and swirled around while delivering a precise slash against Skully's neck and then backed away.

Skully remained in place, not able to react to the scout's quick movements. The hood covering his head had a wide tear made by the dagger and was slowly sliding down his smooth skull. It slid off his head and Skully abruptly turned, baring the skull of a lizardman. The moment of shock and surprise the scout experienced, Bones took advantage of and casted an empowered Bone Lance while jumping off of a tree at the same time.

Bones quickly planned his next course of action after seeing the mobility and skill of the scout and hoped to repeat the ambush successfully this time, however, he failed too.

The scout sensed the incoming projectile from behind and blindy swiped with his dagger with as much strength he could muster. The dagger deflected the trajectory of the lance and instead of piercing his heart, it took a chunk of flesh off his ribs. The scout cried out in pain gritting his teeth then tried to use his movement skill to put a distance between the two assailants but froze. Soul Gaze bore deep into his soul and Bones managed to stun him for a brief moment. The moment was enough for Skully to finish thrusting his spear through the scout's thigh, tearing a hamstring and crippling him.

Bones ordered Skully to back away immediately, expecting retaliation but the scout went down on one knee, clutching his leg with the spear still sticking out of it. He groaned and his breath was haggard. He leaned on the left side where he was heavily bleeding from and slumped to the ground. Bones glanced over the man and noticed he had more wounds on his body, no doubt from an encounter earlier. Bones felt that the man came to terms with his fate so thought to try and give him some comfort.

"Relax. I just want to ask you a few questions. Feel free to use a healing potion if you have one." Bones calmly said. The man slightly raised his head and examined his assailant from head to toe, noticing a heavy amount of hardened mud on the slim figure of a man. He scoffed then said between coughing blood. "You expect me to believe that? Don't patronize me…"

Middle aged. Low level for someone his age but looks can be deceiving. Most likely a veteran considering his skills and experience. Bones concluded.

Bones waited patiently until the man finally decided to reach into his pockets and take out a healing potion. After a pause, he downed it down.

Skully eventually removed the spear and after seeing that the scout had calmed down and caught his breath, Bones asked: "How about you decide whether to answer or not after hearing my questions."

The scout stayed silent and kept watching Bones wearily. Bones took the man's silence as approval to go ahead and ask.

"What do Aphitonians hope to accomplish in this war by taking over the fortress? And what is the reason for silver rankers engaging in skirmishes in an open field? Why engage at all when the only ones that can truly make a difference in this war are the gold rankers?"

Bones had more questions he wanted to ask but thought to get the questions that occupied his mind the most out of the way first.

"Mud…camouflage? You're not a soldier. An adventurer then?" The scout asked, not answering Bones' question. Bones stood in silence watching as the healing potion took effect and the man's complexion turned normal. The scout opened his mouth to speak but before he spoke, Bones replied.

"Yes, I used mud as a camouflage."

"You think that's going to fool anyone?" The man asked again. Bones didn't reply. Instead, he suppressed his aura until the scout could barely sense he was there. The scout's eye twitched and he frowned, not expecting such precise mana control from the figure in front of him.

"I'm doing what I'm told. That's all there is to it. Knowing what my superior's scheme is above my pay grade. What about you? What do You wish to accomplish in this war?" The man asked.

Bones cocked his head and said that he didn't care about the war. That he was here for the experience. The scout spat on the ground and his demeanor toward his captor changed.

"Mercenary scum! You know no loyalty!" He said in a derisive tone. Bones didn't get angry. On the contrary, he was intrigued by the scouts display. The man is obviously grasping for more time, no doubt hoping to heal enough to take action.

"I'm surprised by your reaction. I mean, what is the difference between a mercenary and an adventurer really?" Bones asked, interested by how the man would reply.

"At least the adventurers have a sense of duty to protect the citizens from monsters and alike!" The scout replied and Bones saw his reasoning understandable but…

"I get that but they still get rewarded for the job done. Just like mercenaries do. However, you still haven't answered my questions. What would winning over the fortress achieve?" Bones asked again but received the silent treatment. Well, I guess 'm not getting anything from him. I should wrap this up before he regains enough strength.