The town Arbington has a population of thirteen thousand and is run by a mayor and a council of elders - rich and influential folk in high positions. The geographic advantage makes the town a popular commerce hub, gathering merchants and travelers from all around. The town is a host to the branch office of Adventurer's Guild, Merchant's Guild and the Thief's Guild, among a few minor private adventurer guilds. A nearby small dungeon is an incentive enough to keep the town bustling with activity for the whole year round.

That's a gist of what the report says. Iam has people in Arbington and for some reason, he's reluctant to return to the stronghold. Perhaps he can't? Or he had taken a liking to whatever it was in that chest to the point of crossing over the so-called Bandit King, a third tier just a step away from ascending. Once I reach the town and get my Id, I'll look into what exactly is Iam doing. And if he's gone by then, I'll leave it at that.

After a day of walking, Bones entered the snowy plains of the Remore Kingdom. The trees and fields were bare of any form of vegetation and only snowy white came into the view wherever Bones set his sight on. The days were murky and bleak and on one such day, three days later, Bones neared the watchtowers positioned to the sides of one of the many entrances to the town of Arbington. There were people middling about at the entrance, with clothes huddled on and in a hurry to enter and quickly find a place to warm up.

Not Bones no. While he was sporting winter clothing again, now clean of blood and atop of the thief's outfit, he leisurely approached the guard at the entrance with a heavy amount of snow pressed tightly against his boots, coat and the top of the hat. Bones didn't find anything wrong with that but the guard looked at him in wonder. He meekly smiled and coughed before patting the snow off his clothes and handing his soon-to-be-replaced adventurer's id for inspection, a mistake he'll soon regret making. The guard wrote his information down but didn't bother checking out the authenticity of provided credentials. He just wanted to quickly get over with people at the gates waiting to enter the town, and go warm up inside the guard post.

Bones didn't head directly to the Adventurer's Guild to pick up his new id. Afterall, he didn't know where it was! He walked on the cleared cobblestone streets and followed the signs pointing in the direction toward the central part of the town. He wasn't sure what time it was as the days… looked rather the same, but he estimated it was near evening and was about to get dark real quick. On one of the squares in the center, he spotted crowds of people around the many stalls serving food and hot beverages, alcohol mostly. Apparently, it was Remore Kingdom's tradition to hold such events every day during the cold, hard winter's days, to the joy and good times of the good people of Arbington. Bones paused and watched for a minute before continuing toward the inn sign he saw hanging over the crowd in the distance.

Might as well immediately rent a room for a few days instead of roaming around, looking for the "best" accommodations, he thought. The room he rented was on the first floor of the building, out of the two, and small, just like many rooms he rented before. By now Bones learned it was simply the standard everywhere. The prices, though, varied and both the rooms, and the drinks and the food in the square, were a notch higher than in Wezar Kingdom. Even slightly more than in Melville.

Bones laid on the bed and contemplated the many questions occupying his mind lately. About the world, about the state of things and about what his role would be in this new world. He didn't find any answers over the night. Even when he was about to reach some conclusion, his mind would draw blank and his thoughts would be lost. It came with age and Bones was surprised that the thoughts would easily escape his mind even now, as an undead. His status screen still showed a weakened state, making him frown but there was nothing he could do about it.

He tried creating a Soul Spark before entering the town to no avail. The mana was consumed, but the next step in drawing a piece, a fragment of his soul, didn't happen. The mana dissipated to surroundings and he felt a pang of pain from deep inside his core. He even felt worried his failed attempts would prolong the weakened state. He needed to rest and that's what he planned to do while staying in Arbington. There wasn't much else to do in regard to the orc's skeleton except for repairing damaged nicks and cracks, so Bones spent his time until morning doing just that.

Before it got bright however, he went to the bathroom and took out the concealing ointment. He opened the lid of the jar, and took out a bit with the tip of his finger. The cream's texture was dense, but smooth. Bones eyed the cream for a second before smearing it on his cheek. The new layer was pink in color and resembled human skin. Bones took some more and kept applying the ointment until he covered his whole face. Due to his defensive layer covering his skeleton, the skin looked rough and his face looked like that of an old man, bald and without eyebrows, but he could finally pass as a normal human being. The last piece missing to complete the look, were the empty eyeball sockets. Bones took out a set of brown glass eyeballs and simply shoved them in. He looked in the mirror and saw an unfamiliar face of an old man.

When he heard people outside going about their business, he stopped what he was doing, put on his winter clothing, goggles and descended to the ground floor where the innkeeper was already grinding coffee beans and making coffee for regular guests. Bones saw free seats at the table in the corner and spotted tabloid newspapers on the rack mounted on the wall beside the table. Before heading toward the seat, he turned to the innkeeper, ordered a coffee and gestured toward the rack with his head. The innkeeper nodded and said to feel free and take the newspapers.

Bones approached the rack but didn't know which of the three varieties of newspapers to take. He took all three and took a seat. He swept over the hall before taking the newspaper, leaving the other two on the table, and started reading the cover. Halfway through, the innkeeper came with his coffee and asked if he wanted anything else. Bones shook his head, thanked him for the coffee and continued reading. After he finished with the first, he took the second newspaper and started reading through his foggy goggles, all the while sipping on a coffee. When he reached for the third newspaper and read the headline of a cover, he almost dropped the cup.

Chaos ensues in Hagos, capital of Wezar Kingdom!

Thousands dead and more injured in explosions that rocked the city during the new year's celebration!! The former branch guild leader died fighting off the insurgents!...

Stupefied, Bones held onto the cover for dozens of seconds before turning the page. He didn't expect to see the news of the attack several kingdoms away.

Former branch guild leader? Are they talking about…

Just as he thought, the branch guild leader they referred to was indeed Rayne, who lost his life fighting Silva. Bones carefully read through the articles, piecing together everything else that happened during and after the attack. The magnitude of the destruction caused by mana bombs was much higher than he initially thought.

I never thought it would be possible to do so much with so little. I knew the bombs would be devastating and saw them explode, but to think they would do so much damage… At least Silva seemed to be injured, but they still haven't caught any of them.

*tsk*

At least not any core members of Defiant Hounds. That means Solin is probably safe and Silva is still at large. Incompetent fools!

*tsk*

Displaying agitation, Bones drew the look of the innkeeper. His mood down, Bones stood up and approached the bar and asked for directions to the Adventurer's Guild, before leaving change for the coffee on the counter. The instructions in the letter he received from Darsumi regarding the new id included a secret phrase he was supposed to say to the clerk running the reception desk in the guild. But the phrase…

I hope Dar isn't pulling one over me with this…

When he reached the Adventurer's Guild, he climbed the marble steps and entered the guild. The layout of the guild was familiar. Main hall was where he was in right now with sofas and tables to the sides, a giant board with numerous contracts listed covered the walls on both sides and ahead was the reception desk. Bones continued up to the reception desk.

This will either work or it's going to be extremely embarrassing.

"C-clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."

The receptionist looked up from papers in her hands, baffled.

"What in the world…" She muttered.

"That's quite alright Wendy, I'll take over from here." The receptionist's colleague jumped in and sent her away. After Wendy left, the man turned to Bones.

"Quite true. The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize."

[...]

"I uh…" Bones was so focused on what he was supposed to say he forgot there was more to it than just his line. "Just a second!" He fumbled through a booklet where he tucked in the letter when the receptionist exhaled and said to never mind the password. "Jones I presume?"

"That's right." Bones confirmed.

"Come with me."

Bones followed the man through the back and down the corridor into the lounge members of the guild use during their breaks.

"Coffee?" He asked, Bones politely refused and waited for the man to continue.

"My name is Horace. Please take a seat while I go fetch the commissioned items."

Bones nodded, took a seat and waited. Not even five minutes later Horace returned and took a seat across Bones.

"Now, before we continue, there are a few more things that need to be done before I give you your new id and a badge. First, I need to ask you a few questions and explain a few things if that's alright?"

"Sure, ask away."

"Alright. The new id was commissioned two months ago, have there been any changes to your class and level?"

"Yes, to both." Bones replied and Horace slipped a piece of paper toward Bones.

"This is just a basic registration form, could you fill it up with your new information so I can make adjustments to your id? It is necessary unless you don't plan to progress any further."

"Hm…should I write my real level and class?" Bones asked.

"You can write whatever you want, technically, but I'd advise you to stick to the truth as closely as you can."

Bones nodded and filled the form within a minute, then handed it back to Horace, who politely waited. Upon inspecting the form, Horace stroked his beard, contemplating something.

"You're level thirty-eight, your real level?" He asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Well, would you be willing to postpone taking an id until you hit level forty? I'm asking because as a level forty, you would have the right to a silver badge and I could change your adventurers ranking to a silver tier. Silver rank offers many more advantages and perks compared to the bronze rank."

Now Bones was the one contemplating. Leveling to forty wouldn't be a hard thing to do if he had a place to earn enough experience.

Dungeon maybe?

"Silver ranker you say? That does sound good. What are the chances of me joining a party for a dungeon run anytime soon?"

"Ah! I'm afraid all the slots for the dungeon are filled for this month. I can check but I estimate the waiting period is at least a month and a half."

*tsk*

"Thought as much, then, any high value contracts I could take?"

Horace clasped his hands and replied that there were many contracts on the board but their requirements are either a few levels below Bones, or higher.

"Tell you what, how confident are you to clear a level forty contract?"

"Very." Bones replied without hesitation. Then after a second, added. "Well…depends on the contract, really, but I am confident in my abilities!"