The water, now red with blood, spread in all directions and reached Bones.

"We're leaving Skully, seems the loot is once again not ours for the taking."

*tsk*

Bones expressed his annoyance and dismissed Skully. He jammed the tips of his fingers into the tree bark and started climbing the tree. Once he climbed to the first branch thick enough to support his weight, he sat and looked down. From the view up he could see dozens of leeches the size of his forearm tearing the other two bodies apart. The nasty creatures' level ranged from level twelve to level seventeen and they have gorged on his prey ever since he started hunting deeper in the swamps.

Bones wouldn't mind it if the flesh eating creatures didn't devour the whole body, equipment included. On the contrary, he prefered if no one found the bodies. The leeches kind of avoided him. With him having no flesh to feed on, they didn't even register him being there, he checked. The leeches sense when the water is disturbed, but only react and quite aggressively at that, when they sense blood.

The men were around level forty. The experience was good but not quite high enough. Am I getting greedy? Am I expecting too much? Perhaps I am, but if I'm to level by killing others, I will need more formidable opponents…

Bones remembered the day before when he ambushed a solitary individual. The man was level forty-five and gave him quite a hard time. The fight lasted long enough for the leeches to get involved and dampen the man's chances of winning. The combat experience netted him more experience than the three men he killed just now and advanced him another level in class.

Easy kills net me less experience. The system obviously wants me to challenge myself. As if killing users ten levels higher isn't challenging enough! I get it though. I need to put in more effort when hunting if I want to be rewarded more experience - or I could go for quantity over quality?

"Haah what to do, what to do…"

I think I'll continue with what I'm doing for now until the situation on the battlefield changes. I also want a new spear for Skully. The adventurers here have better weapons, but I'm having a hard time finding a target with the spear.

Bones positioned himself, then leapt off the branch. He continued jumping tree to tree until he reached an area with low water level. He jumped down and continued moving toward the stretch of the forest where he hoped to find more suitable prey to hunt. He stopped briefly to reapply mud on himself as the water washed off a good amount off his legs before continuing until he reached his hiding place. He climbed a familiar birch tree and sat down on a branch from which he could oversee the forest, and waited.

To make the most of the situation, Bones needed the Wezar's army to advance on the frontline and push the Aphitonians completely out of the south camp and on the run. With how hard they were pressing, it wouldn't be very long. While he waited, Bones contemplated what he had seen and experienced so far.

With the system guidance and innumerable paths available, I thought there would be more magicians around, but most seem to focus on physical abilities. A great deal depends on having Mana sense and Mana Manipulation so it makes sense that the users with poor sense and poor manipulation would choose to train their physical attributes instead. I just really thought I'd see more spells flinging at each other instead of arrows and that one guy that kept throwing axes.

My understanding is that the soldiers up to the second tier focused entirely on physical attributes, while the rest of them along with adventurers have hybrid builds with magical skills complementing and supporting the physical. Pure mages are in minority. Another thing to note is their equipment. It's of higher quality than what I'm used to seeing. I'd say on par with some of the better items Hemdus made. I had Skully change every piece of equipment so he shouldn't be receiving as much damage going against enemies my level. I should probably look into changing a few pieces myself. I would need to find female armor or a really scrawny adventurer. Everything I've looted so far didn't suit me.

"Get them! Don't let them pass!" The voices were heard in the distance. Bones focused in the direction the voices were coming from and sensed a larger group of people chasing a smaller group. For a second he thought that that was his cue, but it turned out to be a single instance where the Aphitonian soldiers were on the run. It wasn't the time yet, but soon it will be.

It was nighttime when Bones climbed down his hiding place. From the direction of the forest in the distance he spotted numerous specks of lights, similar to ones in fireflies. The specks of light were torches lit up by the Wezar's army soldiers as they finally forced the Aphitonians on the run. Bones sprung into motion. His feet leading the way into the forest. With so many people moving about, no one would notice a muddy undead sneaking around.

Bones followed the torches at distance and used every opportunity the Aphitonians soldiers fought back, to engage in a fight as well. Before he did though, he equipped his robe, took out a red armband and put it around his arm, just in case he encountered any soldiers who could mistake him for an enemy.

Bones let the two sides fight while he aimed to strike the killing blows. It was a dirty way to fight, but it didn't fetch Bones as much experience as he thought it would. The combat experience was shared with all the parties involved and Bones' plan to steal the kills didn't work out. It didn't stop him from trying though.

There was another reason Bones was eager to finally make a move and actively take part in a larger scale combat. In the midst of combat in one of the many skirmishes occuring in the forest, an object was hurled in-between the two sides and exploded. The sound of the explosion was muffled by the sounds of combat to all but those at the point of impact and the smoke that permeated went unnoticed due to darkness of the night. The thirteen soldiers on Wezar's side and nine on the Aphitonians would soon feel the effects of the bomb tough.

After throwing the bomb, Bones waited at a safe distance behind a tree for the poison to spread. The sudden difficulty breathing, nausea and dizziness affected everyone and the attacks and spells that were meant to be blocked and avoided hit true. Within seconds five soldiers died and the situation only deteriorated. The soldiers were affected and Bones took action.

He closed in on the nearest staggering man and jabbed a lance through his chest. The jab was quick and sharp, enough to pierce the protective equipment and his heart. Bones didn't stop to see if the man died or not. If not, he soon would be dead! Bones used Quick Steps until he was in the center, surrounded by soldiers from both sides. While manifesting a new Bone Lance in his hands, he fired three consecutive Bone Novas and hit everyone around him, friend and foe alike. An arrow pierced his shoulder and he felt a long slash on his back going from shoulder to his waist. It didn't stop him from moving around, using lance and nova to inflict as much damage as possible. His hastily approach and attack lasted mere seconds before he was flung and bounced off of trees by the sudden blast of raw mana.

Bones was quick to get up on his feet and look around in a crazed manner, searching for whomever attacked him. He saw mages on both sides convulsing and in delirium fire spells in random directions. The area of effect spells like Mana Blast hit everyone within the radius of the spell and Bones realized he wasn't being targeted.

Hm…this isn't good. This isn't what I had in mind! The purpose of the bomb was to incapacitate, allowing me to deal the finishing blow. This is just crazy…

The mages spells probably did more harm to their own soldiers than the enemy. Their frantic and uncontrolled outbursts were silenced when the few less affected soldiers knocked them unconscious. They were second tier silver rankers and took control of the situation immediately. Those that were affected to the point of suffocating were led outside the radius of the bomb while the unconscious were carried.

Both sides seemed to come to a realization that there was a third party involved in their altercation, trying to gain the upper hand while they fought each other. Bones disengaged in the meantime and observed the situation unfold from the top of the tree. He didn't have a clear line of sight so he relied on his Mana Sense.

The soldiers on both sides distanced themselves from each other. The Aphitonians took advantage of the situation and fled. Wezar's army didn't give chase. Bones could hear them talking and making a decision to turn back and regroup with the others. He didn't know who it was that said it, but someone came to the conclusion that they were most likely attacked by an adventurer. Bones was a bit surprised to hear them coming to such a claim so easily.

"Damn adventurers. Riley's group also faced adventurers. They are getting more bold with their attempts!" One of the soldiers said.

"There was always a risk of some of them turning against us. It happened before and it will happen again. We didn't expect loyalty from their kind anyway. Come, gather the injured and have the more able ones carry the unconscious." The other soldier said. The soldiers were quick to leave the area, leaving Bones alone to his thoughts.

So there are others acting out? Seems the soldiers don't quite get along with the adventurers. Anyway, if I am to continue using the bombs, I should stick to fighting at range. I keep charging in…

Bones left the area shortly after in search of another fight. He didn't have to search for long and once again, he first engaged the two groups with the bomb…

The night of fighting was fruitful in more ways than just gaining combat experience and leveling up. He gained a further understanding of "modern" combat but more importantly, he pushed his limits and once again recognized his advantages and shortcomings.

The Wezar's army managed a feat of winning back the south camp that night but its momentum was eventually stopped by enemy reinforcements. The two sides consistently clashed in the forest throughout the night and the aftermath was the fire that engulfed a good portion of the forest and forced the armies back into the clearing.

After a long night, the armies on both sides stood across each other on an open field. Very much like they did the first time Bones observed from his hiding place a few days ago. This time, Bones stood at the edge of the forest. His figure was a mesh of hardened mud, cuts and cracks and singed bones in places. The cuirass he looted and wore loosely was torn and its enchantment used up and faded.

He focused on the two armies two hundred meters away in front of him. On his left was the Wezar's army. Worn and weary, but unyielding in its resolve, and on his right were Aphtionians, outnumbered but with much needed reinforcement joining at each passing moment. The two armies sized each other up and with the sun rising over the horizon, they were once again ready to engage in battle.

The soldiers were too far to use Identify on but Bones could tell these soldiers were from the main camp. Their level was higher, their gear of higher quality and their presence alone impacted the surroundings. There was a tension in the air that would make the weak minded hard to breathe. Smooth dim morning fog covered the ground and where one could usually hear the sharp and piercing calls of birds, it was awfully quiet and eerie.

*thump thump thump*

A dull, heavy and blunt sound of multiple fists hitting a shield broke the silence followed by a warcry to rally the soldiers for battle. The army's slow advance turned to a jog, and then a run. The two sides clashed with ferocity not often seen. Bones was briefly stunned at the scene of chaos displayed in front of him, then grinned feeling exhilarated. He took three large steps forward and casted Bone Lance. The projectile flew straight for sixty meters before starting to lose momentum and falling to the ground. Bones groaned in annoyance but continued casting Bone Lances and firing them at different angles while closing in.

At the hundred meter mark, his lances started hitting his targets. At the fifty meter mark, he was starting to get hit as well. The enemy archers started aiming his way while the Wezar's side recognized him as an ally. Bones dived into the battle and disappeared in the sea of people and a barrage of attacks and spells, completely forgetting to fight at range.