Bones watches the general in fascination. The undaunted attack and dauntless attitude, the complete confidence in his skills. That was the kind of attention he wanted someday!

After the magnificent display of skills that killed dozens, the soldiers sortied and retaliated. The general spun his battlestaff and aimed to slam it against the ground once again.

[Hellfi-]

The slash of the sword with enough force to cleave the earth interrupted Zidall mid casting. He blocked the slash with his battlestaff and skid along the ground from the impact and toward the forest.

"General Gral Varis, it's been a while…" Zidall glanced at the cut on his battlestaff and greeted his attacker.

"It truly has Zidall. Must we do this? Kidllams had already left. In a hurry too. I'm sure you have realized as well how pointless all of this is?! The King is bound to come back any time soon!" The General of the Wezar army Varis tried to reason.

"I'm just doing as ordered. Until your King comes back, we MUST do this. I promise to be lenient!"

"You call this being lenient?" Varis asked, gesturing at the frozen area and all the dead bodies around them. He then turned in the direction of the camp where Grizzlestride ran amok and the screams and yelling could be heard from. Zidall followed his gaze and whistled, calling back his mount. A few seconds later, Grizzlestride crashed through the fortified fence next to the gates and came running.

"You and me Varis! Come, let's condone our business elsewhere!"

Varis nodded and glanced at the camp one last time. "Lead the way."

The two Generals left, leaving the rest of the two armies to engage without reservation. The Aphitonians came running out the forest like a locust and swarmed the camp. The battle ensued after a few days of peace and Bones, pumped up after seeing the two generals, eagerly jumped in the fray.

The battle that morning wasn't as pointless as General Varis thought it would be. The movements of the main camp and the appearance of General Zidall drew the attention and garnered the need for reinforcements at the newly fortified camp, which weakened the other camps. Zidall was a lure to force the General out of the North Camp and the Wezar's side wrongly estimated how much of the enemy's main force was mobilized. All of it was!

A small portion led by General Zidall attacked the nearest camp in the clearing, a small portion circled through the swamps to the South Camp, while the rest maneuvered around the battlefield and attacked the fortress. General Varis was fully occupied with Zidall, and a few gold rankers that left the North Camp with him as reinforcement made enough of a difference in the battle for the fortress for it to fall in the enemy hands. Their next target were the mines.

Bones wobbled, heading deeper into the swamp. His equipment, or what was left of it, hanged loosely, just a bit short of falling off and his body was riddled with holes that would take days to repair. His head was throbbing. It wasn't the first time, but it's been a while since he last had a need to rest. He leaned with his back against the tree, and slowly slid down to a sitting position with hands grabbing his head.

*groan*

I overdid it! I really overdid it this time…but I can't rest! Not here and not right now. I have to push through!

Bones had a single purpose in joining the battle and that was to test his thesis on whether he could manipulate the stakes made by Boneyard. If he could feel the resonance with bones like he did back in the swamp, then he should be able to manipulate them! So with a great gusto Bones mingled with the other soldiers, casting Boneyard after Boneyard wherever he saw the opportunity. But he had a hard time concentrating on the task when he had to constantly be on the move and avoid getting hit. He retaliated when he needed to and after numerous failed attempts, he finally reached the state of mind in which he felt the resonance once again. He tuned out everyone around him and focused solely on manipulating the stakes as if afraid he would never again succeed if he failed now.

Bones strained his mind and in a flipping motion with his hand, forcefully yanked the stakes from the ground. They gradually took to air and started levitating. He felt ecstatic and overwhelmed by his accomplishment; he didn't notice the resonance coming from the bones of numerous screaming soldiers who were missing limbs and had bones sticking out. Reveling in euphoria, Bones didn’t stop pulling on the feeling and prised the bones out of the soldiers, with muscles and tendon tissue still attached.

The heart wrenching cries of soldiers as their bones were ripped out of their bodies sent chills to everyone that heard them. As Bones wished for, he got the attention he wanted and the first soldier that noticed the one responsible, charged with an encouraging yell. Bones afforded him a side glance and manipulated stakes into a barrage of attacks that stopped the man dead in his tracks. Another man charged from the opposite direction and Bones simply raised an arm, pointing in his direction and repeating the attack. Another soldier came, then another and soon Bones flayed his arms like a maestro controlling the flow of an orchestra. He was a maestro, the bones he manipulated the instruments and the screams of soldiers music to his ears.

The rest of the battle was sort of a blur. Everything was happening so fast he didn't have time to process what was happening between the attacks. He acted impetuously on whomever entered the range of his attack. Bones’ mana reserves fell dangerously low but he couldn’t stop himself manipulating the raging tempest of bones until he felt the weakness overwhelm him. His mana pool depleted and from deep within, he drew upon a different source of energy.

[Don’t stop. Kill. Kill some more.]

He heard a whisper and reached deeper. The chaos mana swirled around him, wild and unrestrained. Cracked lines begin to appear on his body.

ding

Chaos Affinity [low] > Chaos Affinity [medium]

Within the cracks, chaos mana pulsated throughout his body interchangeably between neon green and dark pale hue. His bone projectiles took off the flesh and left decay with each hit, and with each kill chaos flowed through Bones’ body faster and unhindered until it took on a incorporeal, otherworldly form of a smoke that started rising from the cracks in his body. He started laughing in the madness of it all until he was swept by the masses and put down.

Not far from Bones' position, two figures watched everything happening.

“This is madness! Madness I tell ya!” Guntar kept shouting while evading the constant barrage of attacks and spells spiraling around them.

Trevak wholeheartedly agreed with his partner. They never planned to stay this long on the front lines but they couldn’t deny the progress they made. They got greedy and were swept by the momentum and now, they were stranded in the midst of all the chaos, overwhelmed by both sides engaging fiercely.

Watching a figure manipulating bones and raising havoc reminded Trevak of a certain individual that caused them a fair amount of trouble. He exclaimed in surprise.

"It couldn't be?"

"Forget this. Trevak! " Guntar yelled, drawing the attention of his companion and gave a nod in the direction away from the battlefield. Trevak shared the same thought and nodded. The two of them retreated and deserted the frontlines, taking an opportunity to continue with their initial plan and two months later, they reached their destination in the Slesian Kingdom. Guntar had had enough of risky dealings as a criminal and thought to try and abide by the law for a change. He had a plethora of experience working with people and more importantly, leading people and eventually ended up an entrepreneur. After acquiring enough assets, he started a more legitimate business running a brothel while Trevak still did dirty work for the assassin guild. Guntar finally discovered deep down that his relationship with Trevak meant to him more than he thought it did. He had a thing for him and Trevak's half-elf features made him look rather feminine. It took him time, but Guntar realized Trevak was always open about his thoughts. He just never considered them THAT way.

Back at the battlefield, hours later, the fighting ceased and Aphitonians retreated back to the border. Among the hundreds of dead bodies littering the battlefield, Bones slowly stood up with multiple arrows penetrating his upper body. He looked around, then down at his tattered clothes. Most of it was torn and ripped from all the attacks he received, but the burned part was from incorporal smoke. He exhaled then turned to leave. The soldiers near the camp watched with mouth agape as the figure responsible for more than thirty deaths walked away from the battlefield like the injuries he received didn't concern him.

Bones stayed seated against the tree for some time until his condition improved and his mana flow stabilized. He didn't feel the need for rest anymore, but it would take a while until the mental exhaustion left him. He pushed himself up and in his first order of business, he focused on the notifications. There were plenty of them to go through.

The first one was an ominous one where his Chaos Affinity advanced from low to medium. Bones frowned. He lost himself a bit back there and the whispers…he didn't know if they were his own thoughts or something deeper, but he didn't like the lack of control one bit! He took a closer look at his arms and saw they looked damaged and the defensive layer torn, looking like the texture of a tree bark! The cracked lines and the pulsating hue of green was gone as well. Bones thought back to the battle and how the chaos imbued attacks affected his targets.

The chaos mana had more impact than I thought it would. The wounds inflicted left decay and rot and even affected second tiers. If I could learn to control it, then I could…

Bones suddenly stopped, realizing how dangerous his train of thought was. Did I really just think that I could control it? Chaos is something I've yet to understand, let alone control. Hells, I've only realized what I could do with mana manipulation, let alone chaos. I need time to process this. Right now, I need to focus on the present!

Bones gained another level in Bonemancer Adept class and numerous skill level ups, the only upside that came from all of it. Oh, and the confirmation that he could manipulate stakes made by skill Boneyard!

Next, I should work on leveling Soul Magic. I'm not far from leveling up and the next few days sh-

Bones sensed someone closing in fast. He spun around and his head took to air, started spinning and catching glimpses of a figure running away in slow motion. Then he saw everything in a blur, upside down and back at another figure chasing after the first one. His view changed again as his head fell to the ground, started shaking and bouncing until it suddenly stopped and he saw his headless body in front of him.

Bones' headless body stood still for a moment before collapsing like a puppet, not even two meters away from his head. While he still had little control over his body, Bones struggled to make it move. He tapped the ground, disoriented and reaching out, trying to get hold of his head.

I can't believe this is happening. Common body, work with me…

With his hands he felt the ground until he touched the cranial bones of his skull. He

grabbed hold of his head and quickly pulled it toward his neck. He laid still as if frozen, waiting for something to happen. His mend activated shortly after and ever so slowly started repairing and connecting his head to his body. At some point someone approached, checked him for the pockets of his leggings and ran away in a hurry. Few hours later, Bones felt he could move again and slowly stood up, deciding he had enough of war.

The Aphitonians took over the fortress later that day and the mines the very next day. General Varis ordered the army to retreat and regroup, and started planning his counterattack. If anything, mines needed to be taken back but by the end of the week, the mine was sabotaged and caved in. No side claimed responsibility and General Zidall started having doubts about his orders and purpose here. He ordered the army to retreat to the fortress and fortify defenses while he sent a group of loyal scouts to return to the capital and find out what was happening.

Bones, in the meantime, crossed the border to the Aphiton kingdom and did his best to avoid people and not draw attention while heading north. His plan to leave was well timed as the main camp close to the border was disbanded and the army scattered throughout the battlefield. Most of the main army stayed fortified in the fortress and Bones only had to avoid the riff-raff that retreated at the start of the battle.

His passing through the kingdom didn't go unnoticed and more than once, he was stopped and asked to provide an ID. A few times his adventurer's ID card worked in his favor but more than not, he fought his way through until he reached the outpost at the northern border with the Evergreen Woodlands, home to the Forest Elves.

The outpost was the last settlement before the beginning of a large forest that covered the area of a minor kingdom and was the shortest path to Bones' destination. He looked ahead but could only perceive the shade thrown by tall giant sequoia trees that blocked almost any light reaching through.

The outpost was deserted and Bones entered the empty military camp. Some of the equipment was missing, as were the horses in the stable next to the outpost, but everything else was left behind.

Seems like everyone left in a hurry. I don't see any traces of a fight or blood spilled so the outpost wasn't under attack. This might be a good time to take that necessary rest.

Bones searched the whole camp and eventually settled for a remote corner in the stables. He took off his gear, sat down cross-legged and entered Eternal Rest. Why was the outpost deserted remained a mystery and Bones continued his journey the next day. He crossed the border and entered the kingdom to the north and the home of the Forest Elves.