The rest of the cutthroats secured all the goods they could transport on horses and embarked on the trip back to base. After they left, Skully approached the heavily damaged body of Bones and helped him stand up to his feet. Bones was eerily quiet. Usually, he would talk to Skully, even when issuing commands but now…

He ran his hand over his face, feeling the rough, damaged textures of his facial bones and then reached for his lower jaw, catching empty air where his jaw should've been. He pushed Skully out of the way and moved forward, frantically searching around the sight of the explosion and removing debris piece by piece until he found the part of him he was looking for.

He placed the missing lower jaw back to its position and pressed it tightly against the upper jaw, then used his hands to align them as best as he could while waiting for Mend to kick in. He turned to Skully, his teeth gnashing, who cocked his head and seemed to be observing Bones' shenanigans. After a couple of minutes, Bones finally let go of his hands and exhaled.

"For fucks sake… "

"Now then." He focused on the Mark and felt the pulling sensation in the direction the bandit party disappeared to.

The Mark works! Good, good. I wouldn't be able to find my way back to the hideout without it but now, it's just a matter of time before I trace Reggie back and settle the score with Iam!

He looked around the sight of the ambush. Most of the caravan was blown to pieces, the goods were taken and there was not a single horse in sight.

Of course they would take the horses. It's going to be a long walk back but I have plenty of time until the evening.

"Come Skully let's move before the beasts are attracted to the smell of blood."

Iam felt exhilarated and couldn't contain his excitement. Ever since they came back to the camp, he had taken to drinking and had deliberately kept mum about the item in the chest sitting on his desk in the office. The information on the item was of such secrecy, the details weren't divulged even to his right-hand man, Reggie.

"Iam, common. What's in the box?"

"I'm sorry Reggie, I'm not allowed to say. You know the orders from the Stronghold are absolute!" Iam teased. "But no one mentioned anything about looking inside yourself! So, why don't you join me for a drink and take a proper look at how sturdy this chest is?" Iam so subtly hinted, but couldn't contain his stupid wide grin.

Reggie pondered for a moment, then poured himself a drink and joined Iam at the table. He picked the damaged but sturdy chest, and hesitated for a second before opening it and revealing a circular transparent object inside. His eyebrows rose in puzzlement and he briefly glanced at Iam, but the leader kept quiet and looking smug.

"Can I?" Reggie asked, nodding down at the item and wanting to take it out of the box.

"Go ahead. You don't have to worry about breaking it!"

*chuckle*

Reggie nodded, "alright then" - and picked up the object for a closer look. The surface was smooth, marble-like and inside the object hundreds of slender, threadlike strands stretched out from the center.

"Hm, it resembles a core, but a transparent core? I've never seen a transp -"

*gasps*

Reggie sucked in his breath. His eyes widened and he asked in disbelief: "I-it's a dungeon core? An artificial dungeon core?"

"Heh, you've got good eyes! Now you understand the importance of keeping the information about the object from leaking out?"

"Yes. Yes, of course. If the other bandit leaders got a hold of the news that we had it, they would no doubt come and try to steal it from us! But boss, an artificial dungeon core's value is far above anything we've looted thus far. How did we manage to pay for such valuable information? There's no way the thieves guild would give us the info out of good will!"

"It isn't like that. It wasn't just us. The other bandit leader's were also privy to the information about the Merchant's Guild's movements. I think six merchants took different routes through different valleys to pass. We were just lucky enough to encounter one with the core."

"So the other merchants were a distraction from the one with the real prize?"

"No no, the other merchants are transporting goods and chests just like this one too. I don't think even the merchants are aware of what is inside the chests. Could be another core, something even more valuable or the chest could be empty." Iam shrugged.

"Anyway, the information was paid by the Stronghold and we are to present the chest to the Bandit King in the next meeting. Until then, not a word to anyone about the core!"

"Sure thing boss!" Reggie happily agreed and downed his mug of nasty ale. The two hung in the office for hours, downing mug after mug until sunset. Drowsy and intoxicated, Iam took the chest and headed down to the underground facility, where he passed out drunk.

Outside the bandit camp, some distance away, two figures clad in black couldn't be seen approaching. One had a bigger, wider frame and dangerously whipped its tail left and right, and the other was a dead man walking. Bones felt scornful. He had been outplayed and it didn't sit well with him. He could hear the laughter coming out of the camp from afar, even with a hideout nowhere in sight.

This won't do! Bones thought. Before making appearances, he pondered on how best to approach and opted on entering with a bang! He and Skully might be enough to clear the camp off bandits, but he had doubts about facing Iam. There was also Reggie…

On second thought, he decided to bring the reinforcement to the fight and an hour later, he had Skully and the reinforcement go to the opposite side of the camp with simple instructions to wait for the show to start, then join in on the fun. And Bones?

It's quite chilly tonight. It would be a shame if the folk felt cold on such a celebratory occasion. The lit braziers won't keep them warm throughout the night. I better keep the fire strong and man warm then, hot even!

Bones positioned himself a few meters behind the wooden fence and out of sight of the watchtower, then summoned an ominous human shaped skull in each hand. The Skull Bomb had mana compressed within the container that would cause a lesser version of Mana Blast on impact and overall, wouldn't be as effective unless he hurled hundreds of them inside. But if he strategically aimed at, let's say a mess hall full of easily flammable cooking oils, then he just might make the fire big enough to engulf - to make all the bandits warm!

Since he had already been inside the camp, Bones had a general idea of the layout and while he couldn't remember where everything was, the location of the mess hall was easy to recollect. He hurled one skull and immediately followed with the other, over the fence, the tents and the merry bandits. Both lobbying skulls hit the large tent of the mess hall, exploded and triggered a chain reaction. The tent easily ignited and spread fast, encompassing a few half-drunk bandits inside and first victims of the evening.

After midnight, numerous bandit tents went up in blazing fire, dyeing the night ablaze with color. The fire raged, the embers helped spread it around. The shouting, the yelling and the useless effort to distinguish the fire - The bandits had a lot to drink in the camp but the least of it was water. All of it was snuffed out by the explosion caused when the cart full of kegs of alcohol left in the middle of the camp caught fire and blew up. The bandit camp was under attack! That much everyone was aware of. Startled and confused, angry and crazed, they searched for intruders.

"Who dares!?" Reggie yelled. Beads of sweat circling his face. The heat emanating was a bit too much even for him. He saw no raised hands, no one to take responsibility. He looked around, teeth grinding and swaying his curved blade in agitation.

Iam isn't in the camp. He is probably passed out drunk in the facility underground and the idiots… Argh! Look at them running around like headless chickens!

In craze, the bandits bumped into each other, some fell over each other and some managed to get caught on fire, dying in agonizing screams and causing Reggie's frustration to grow. His peripheral vision detected an object flying at him from the side. He swiped with his blade in order to deflect the projectile but just a moment before his blade made contact, he forcefully changed the blade's course and moved out of the hurling skull bomb's path of flight.

[Boom]

He looked back, stunned and swallowing saliva.

What the fuck was that? A skull? If I hadn't changed the trajectory of my blade in time…

"Amazing perception Reggie! The others… Well, they cleaved through the skull without a second of hesitation!" The voice said from behind. Reggie wearily turned his head around and once again raised his weapon, pointing the tip of his blade at the newcomer.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the figure in front of him and felt his emotions running in a state of turmoil. His heart beat fast and the surrounding heat felt suffocating. He had a foreboding feeling things will turn real bad, real soon, and after taking a better look he asked: "What are you?"

Something didn't feel right. He couldn't properly see the figure in front of him but from the outline illuminated by the surrounding fire, he discerned a slim frame dressed in black, bald head and no facial features.

"Well, who knows, you know?" Bones replied disingenuously. Reggie was about to retort when he sensed another incoming attack from behind. This one he sensed a step too late but was still quick enough to react. He twisted his body to the side and the incoming spear grazed his chest, leaving a long and narrow tear in his leather body armor. He didn't have a moment to catch his breath or take a proper look at the second assailant because Skully immediately followed with a horizontal sweep, forcing Reggie to duck and then jumped out of the way of raising spikes from the ground.

"You're quite perceptive Reggie. But just dodging won't do! Shall we test how long you'll be able to last?" Bones cackled and said in a disdainful manner.

"Shut up! Don't make light out of me!" Reggie yelled before rushing toward Bones. He was fast, faster than him, but not as fast as Bones manipulating spikes. The spikes hovered in the air for a moment before surging forward after Reggie. Once again, he had to dodge, narrowly avoiding a slew of spikes hitting his back and penetrating ground with great force. He wasn't alone however, the other bandits finally gathered their wits and focused on an intruder amidst their camp, and finally jumped in the fray.

With more targets now, Bones finally made most use of manipulating spikes and just when Reggie thought he could catch a break and retaliate, he saw something that made him mentally choke. A whirlwind of bones moved rapidly around the caster and took flesh off of each bandit rushing in and getting hit. None of the injuries suffered were fatal, but downed most of the targets for the rest of the fight. The spikes forming the whirlwind dissipated within seconds but new ones formed shortly after, repeating the event. There was no way to approach the caster and the other figure with a spear easily finished off the wounded and incapacitated bandits lying on the ground.

As hard as it was for Reggie to admit, the fight was lost before he even had any chance to do anything about it. He wanted to forgo his dying subordinates and run away while Bones was busy channeling spikes, but found himself unable to escape the bizarre creature that vigorously brandished its spear with abandon and aggressively lashed with its tail. Reggie was skilled, but his opponent seemed to be immune to every critical hit he inflicted.

Still, he was self-assured in his ability to dodge and thought if he could drag this fight out and avoid heavy injuries, he would win the battle of attrition. He was confident in his stamina and if this the level his opponents were capable of, he was sure he would come out on top!