Roughly ten hours before, a horseman rode into the town of Tarnstead and headed toward the Adventurer’s Guild. The horseman was lieutenant Liam and he was a former adventurer. Actually, he was one of the adventurers aiming for Jazmyne's bounty a few years back and like many before him, was converted to a lesser man by her many charms.

Liam entered the guild and stopped at the end of the line in front of the reception desk. The Guild was somewhat crowded at this time of the day but the line was moving fast and - fifteen minutes later - it was his turn. He approached the receptionist, a middle aged woman in business attire and asked to see the administrator Lester. The receptionist locked eyes with Liam for a second, excused herself and said she’ll be right back. Liam tapped his index finger against the desk impatiently and, a minute later, the receptionist returned.

“Mr. Lester is in his office and will see you now, room twelve.“

“I know.“ Liam said, turned and walked away - already knowing the way.

*knock*

He knocked once and entered. The inside of the office was suffocating with stale air and smoke filling the room, and a short man with greasy dark hair and an even greasier face sat at the desk in the middle. A lit cigar hung loosely from one corner of his mouth while a thick puff was coming out the other.

“Well, well… I haven't seen you in… how long has it been?“

“Three years.“ Liam said, not bothering with greetings or pleasantries. He sat in the chair across Lester and said he was here on urgent business.

“A few days ago a party of adventurers attacked the camp. I’m here to find out who it was and why we haven't heard about the attack. You’re getting paid a hefty amount so this kind of thing wouldn’t happen!”

Lester’s eyes widened and he quickly put out the cigar. “Now h-hold on! I’ve been forwarding any and every piece of information and contract that came my way. I can’t account for the information acquired by other administrators can I?”

“You can spin it any way you want but Jazmyne isn’t happy with our arrangement anymore.“

“W-wait wait! Give me an hour or two and I’ll find out who it was. I promise!“ Lester pleaded and quickly rushed out of his office. Liam watched him leave but didn’t stop him. It wasn’t like he had any other choice but to wait. Lester made quite a commotion between other guild personnel but he found the answer within twenty minutes.

The doors to the office slammed opened and Lester entered. Beads of sweat ran down his face and he took out a napkin he used to wipe his face before sitting back down into his office chair.

“I’ve found out who the adventurers were talking to!” Lester said and inhaled, catching his breath.

“Good. Who was it? Bring him here.“ Liam sounded pleased his time in the Guild will come to an end shortly. But Lester paused before continuing, which didn’t escape the lieutenant's notice.

“That won’t be possible I’m afraid. The one who spoke to the adventurer was Decker, an informant working with the Thief’s Guild!“

*tch* Liam frowned in annoyance. If it was someone else, he would be able to put pressure on them into revealing the information, but now that the Thief’s Guild is involved…

“But one of the other administrators told me it was a single person who took the bounties and requested the information on Daryll and Jazmyne.” Lester added. Liam remained silent, then asked him if he could find out where and when the bounties were taken. Lester replied he could but not right away.

“I need to access the data which can only be accessed from the reception desk. My shift starts in two hours. Until then, I ask you to be patient and wait here in my office.”

“Can’t you do it now?“

“Not without losing my job. Each administrator has a unique password he uses to access the guild’s terminal and every inquiry is logged and reviewed at the headquarters.”

“I have no idea what that means Lester.“

“It means, I can’t access the data until my shift begins and I can log in with my password!“ Lester explained and remained adamant in waiting despite risking getting on Jazmyne’s bad side. Liam didn’t push any further and waited until two hours later, after hearing what he could from Lester, he quickly mounted up and left Tarnstead.

He returned to the bandit camp before the evening and immediately set off to report to Jazmyne. When he entered her private chambers, he was briefly stunned to see Elric keeping her company. He heard stories before… that the man he knew as Daryll wasn’t actually Daryll. What happened to the original one, he didn’t know. He only knew of the rumors he heard about how when the current Daryll dies, the next lieutenant in line takes the name and the mantle.

So the rumors were true and now Elric is the new Daryll… that fucking bastard! I ought to…

“What did you find, Liam?“ Jazmyne asked, snapping Liam back to reality.

“The informant the adventurer turned to was someone with the Thief’s Guild so I wasn’t able to get all the details but, here’s what I know!”

“There was a single inquiry about us from the adventurer that came to the Guild last month and met with the informant named Decker. The said adventurer was seen again after a few days and he was alone. I had Lester look into his information and learned his name is Jones and that he took, among yours and Daryll’s, three more bounties back in Arbington.”

“It is unclear from the information received if he is working alone or in a party but given that we identified there were at least three assailants, it's safe to assume he wasn’t alone.”

Liam finished with the lengthy report and Jazymne paced around the room, thinking. The adventurer in question was a newly advanced silver ranker and already had five bounties registered on his record? That didn’t sit well with her. There were talented people with capabilities far beyond the norm but this screamed of either forged data and the adventurer's rank being closer to gold rank, or him having the backing of a major guild. Whichever was the case, she trusted in her abilities. Afterall, she killed a gold ranker before, a former bandit leader.

While Jazmyne discussed the measures needed to assure the safety of the camp, mostly her, the unassuming and uninviting spiders lurked in every dark corner and mapping the layout of the inside of the camp. Unfortunately for Bones, Soul Resonance did little to help with the newly constructed spiders unlike it did with two golems infused with Soul Spark. Still, he gained enough of an understanding to know which way to go about without being noticed.

Before the morning, the juice powering the spiders ran out and they remained but mere decorations hidden away from the bandit's eyes. Bones slowly retracted the link with the spiders, stood up and stretched his old bones. It took a minute to come back to his senses. The night was productive and yielded levels in Golem Mastery, Soul Link and the new skill - Soul Resonance. Bones believed he was ready to make an attempt on Jazmyne’s head but he was also patient. He knew that the bandit camp would soon return to the state of normality. He had already seen a group of men patrolling outside the fortified walls and when they returned to their usual routine of hunting for food and trading - when they would least suspect an attack - that’s when he would strike!

Skully, following after Bones, returned to Murdok who, not knowing moderation, fell every tree in a fifteen meter radius with fully powered crushing blows. Bones slapped his forehead, feeling another headache coming. The newly made clearing would be visible if looking from a high enough place in the distance.

This might work in my favor. Someone is bound to come investigate and when they do, we will await in ambush!

In the coming few days things have settled down in the bandit camp and the daily routine returned back to normal. Elric, the former lieutenant, has taken upon the name of Daryll and already rebuilt most of the bandit outpost. The word that Jazmyne was looking to recruit into her fold had reached the black market of Tarnstead and spread to nearby towns. It didn’t take long for the worst of humanity to come knocking. Elric gladly took them all in. Some needed a reminder who the boss is but most played nice with each other.

Three days later, the hunting party of nine came across the clearing, with dozens of stumps and debris cluttering the forest floor. The party surveyed the surroundings, wondering who could have been responsible, but there weren’t any clues to go on. The trees weren’t cut off with something sharp - they looked like they were crushed with great force and something blunt.

The leader of the party turned to one of the men and ordered him to go back to the camp and inform lieutenant Liam of their findings. The man took off at once and started running but fell to his death immediately after leaving the clearing. The whole party turned with a start, weapons were drawn and shouting ensued. Bones stepped out behind one of the trees in the distance and drew attention.

Three out of eight bandits forming the hunting party charged in his direction, only to be met with the blunt edge of the greatsword. Murdok lay hidden and well covered in the midst of debris and at Bones' signal he took action. One man died, one was crippled and sent out of commission while the third one was a step behind the others and avoided the attack - for now. Murdok didn’t stop attacking, immediately putting the new fighting style he learned to good use and while the third bandit headed for an early grave, the other five were ambushed by the more successful Skully, who jumped down from one of the trees from behind and sneak attacked.

The Lizardmen managed to land three hits before the rest of the men properly responded. Two had their arteries cut while the third one had his stomach opened while trying to dodge out of the way. All three were bleeding out and weren’t in the condition to fight back. In a span of ten seconds, two men died, three were bleeding out, one was crippled and two engaged Skully who remained elusive.

Murdok finished the crippling one then landed right behind one of the two bandits with a leap and followed with a crushing blow to the head. The man’s head burst like a watermelon, providing zero resistance and spraying red on everything around, including the last remaining bandit who looked on with a blank expression at the headless body. The man, the leader of the party, didn’t even react to Skully slicing through the hand that held the weapon. The hand, along with the weapon, fell to the ground while Murdok swept low with an imbued weapon and through the legs of the leader.

Bones commanded his golems to stand down, then approached the shocked, hyperventilating man. He looked down at the mangled mess of what was left of his legs and knelt beside him. There was no need to prolong the man’s suffering. Bones pressed his palm against his chest and used the Haunting Touch. The bandit lackey didn’t have much to offer in terms of intelligence. Even as the leader, he wasn’t privy to the happenings in Jazmyne's inner circle. Still, the rumors couldn't help but spread.

“Hooh, so they found out who I was? And even the bounties I took? So much for The Adventurer’s Guild confidentiality towards its members…“

I didn’t expect it would be this easy to find out the information about me, or anyone else for that matter! Good thing Horace forged my history.

“Things have gotten back to normal in the camp. I suppose this is what I’ve been waiting for! Boys, tonight we are infiltrating the bandit camp and taking the head of their leader!“ Bones declared and rummaged through the dead bodies before leaving the area.

Over the next few hours, dark and hazy clouds casted shadow over the forest. The rumble of thunderclap and a crackle of lightning could be seen in the distance. The storm brewed and the sudden downpour muted the noise of nature and the cackling sounds of undead skeleton…

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect!“ Bones exclaimed elated while taking a glance at his character status.

Status

Attributes

Name: Bones

Race: Undead Revenant lvl 32

Class: Bonemancer Adept Lvl 41

Soul Weaver lvl 20

Profession: Mana Engraver lvl 14

Keymaker lvl 2

Hp - 880 [8.8 hp/s]

Mp - 1300 [62 + 12.4 mp/s]

Sta - ∞

STR: 46

AGI: 15

END: 15

VIT: 88

INT: 130

WIS: 49

Free points: 0

Under the cover of the night and the sound of rain, he lurked in the shadows beneath the fortification walls, looking for the optimal place to climb over and sneak inside. If he played his cards right and managed to sneak all the way up the fortress, Bones thought this might turn out to be the easiest bounty he had so far.

Bones wasn’t the only one waiting for an opportunity. On the top floor in her private chambers, Jazmyne looked at the flickering light outside through the narrow window.

“Do you think they will really come tonight? The last few days have been peaceful.“ Liam asked.

“Peaceful?” Jazmyne repeated and turned to lieutenant. “Today’s hunting party is missing… They, no… He will come! He has to. He wouldn’t miss a golden opportunity for an assassination!”

“Are the men ready?“ She asked.

“They’re in position.“ He replied.

Jazmyne narrowed her eyes and grinned. “Good! Now all we have to do is wait!“