Eternal Rest

A month later.

"That would be enough for today. Thank you, Solin," Bones said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Not a problem, Bones. You're getting better! Won't be long until you'll be able to keep up with me!" Solin remarked with a grin.

Bones nodded in acknowledgment and turned to leave. "I'll head inside first, later."

"Later, man!" Solin waved as Bones walked away.

Bones returned to his room, feeling introspective. Over the past month, he had devoted himself to advancing his mana sense, vision, and manipulation, putting leveling his class on hold. After a bout and a conversation with Silva a month ago, Bones had decided to focus solely on honing these skills. His dedication bore fruit two weeks ago when both his mana sense and mana vision advanced to the next rank. The upgrade itself wasn't significantly different from his Bone Manipulation, but the prompt he received from the system afterward was intriguing.

Mana Sense upgraded to Advanced

Mana Vision upgraded to Advanced

Synergy detected

Fusion possible

Fuse Mana Sense and Mana Vision into a new skill: Omnipresent Perception?

Yes/No

His new skill combined the effects of both advanced skills, with slightly increased efficiency. It also allowed him, for the first time, to experience the sensations of tasting food, drinking regular drinks, and even recognizing smells. While his senses weren't as acute as they once were, they were as real as could be expected with levels in a skill. Additionally, his vision had improved, enabling him to see farther and perceive colors more vividly, albeit still in a somewhat bleak palette.

Since that day two weeks ago, Bones had been sparring with Solin on a daily basis. Solin saw this as an opportunity to improve his basics, and the sparring sessions benefited him greatly.

Not long after Bones left, Silva strolled into the courtyard where Solin was sitting cross-legged and meditating. Silva didn't interrupt his meditation but waited patiently by his side. Ten minutes later, Solin stood up and stretched.

"Finished?" Silva asked, breaking the silence. Solin, startled, spun around. "Silva! I didn't even notice you! Are you sure you don't want to change your class? You'd be great at sneaking up on people!"

"How rude! Anyway, how's his progress?" Silva inquired, referring to Bones.

Solin smirked and answered, "He's progressing fast with his new perception ability, or is it a sensory ability? Regardless, he can accurately follow my movements now and even react to most of them, whereas just a month ago, he couldn't keep up with what he was perceiving, sensing?"

"That's good to hear. What about you, Solin?" Silva asked, shifting the focus to the assassin's own progress.

Solin nodded in agreement. "Sparring against an opponent without any vital points can indeed be challenging for an assassin. It forced me to change my usual attack patterns and modify my combos. Surprisingly, it even eased fighting against mages. I scored a win in the arena against Morem yesterday!"

"Oh? That talented young one?" Silva inquired, to which Solin nodded in confirmation.

Silva glanced towards the door, and Solin followed his gaze as Bones opened it and stepped into the courtyard. "Silva, there you are!"

"Greetings, Bones. I apologize for not seeing much of you lately. I've been occupied with errands," Silva replied.

Bones waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I've been busy myself. Do you have some time now? I have a matter to discuss with you."

"Of course, I'll be right with you," Silva assured him.

Bones nodded and retreated back inside. Silva turned to Solin.

"Solin, are you free tonight? I may have a job for you," he asked. Solin nodded, and Silva added, "We'll talk later."

He turned and walked back inside to find Bones. Inside a private booth, Bones awaited with drinks. As Silva approached the table, he asked, "Oh? Are we drinking today?

Bones glanced at the drinks on the table before answering. "I'm afraid not. I won't take much of your time, Silva. I just wanted to tell you I'll be leaving for a while. I have some business to take care of back in Stonefalls."

Silva stared at Bones for a moment before sitting down and taking a gulp of his drink, then letting out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry to hear that you'll be leaving us so soon. When will you leave?"

Bones chuckled a bit before responding. "You made it sound like I'm not coming back! It'll take a month, two at most. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"You never know with people, Bones. Some come back and some leave for good. I guess we could have a drink or two before you leave?"

Bones chuckled in agreement. "Sure. Just a drink or two though!"

After a night of drinking…

"Silva?"

"Silva!" shouted Tiv.

"What...what?" mumbled Silva, lifting his head from the table and squinting his eyes against the harsh light. "Tiv? What time is it?"

chuckles "Past noon, sunshine! Bones really did a number on you, huh?"

"Bones? Where is he? Is he still here?" Silva asked, wiping the unruly drool around his dry mouth.

"No, he left early in the morning. Said not to wake you up. How was last night?"

groan "Had a couple of drinks."

"Really? Just a couple?" teased Tiv. "So, Bones left, huh? Did you plan to send someone to look out for him? I'm free for some time, I could…"

"Stop, stop, no Tiv, he won't be the new toy for you to play with. You broke your last one! Besides, with his new perception ability, it might not be possible to completely avoid detection."

"I'm not sure what toy you're referring to? Honestly, let me go get you a coffee." Tiv scurried off, sensing there might be a lecture coming.

Silva just followed her walking away and groaned at the pounding headache. It had been decades since he got drunk. It had been decades since he had someone to get drunk with. Not really fair playing a drinking game against someone who can't get drunk.

As Bones jogged towards Stonefalls, he couldn't shake off the thoughts swirling in his mind. Reflecting on the information Solin had shared with him, a sense of realization dawned upon him. His quest for vengeance against Trevak and Guntar might have been fueled by emotion rather than rationality. He had been chasing after adversaries without fully understanding their strength and capabilities. The revelation that Trevak was stronger than Solin, coupled with the knowledge that Guntar was even more formidable and on the brink of advancing to silver rank, made him reassess his approach.

"What was I thinking back then?" Bones muttered to himself. "I was wrong. I was not as strong as I thought I was. I just had weak foes," he mused to himself, the weight of his realization heavy on his shoulders.

Reprimanding himself for his foolishness, Bones pushed himself harder, the rhythmic pounding of his feet on the ground echoing his determination. He knew he had to reevaluate his goals and focus on improving his skills before facing adversaries of such caliber again.

As he passed through the Northpoint watchpost and continued towards Stonefalls, the path ahead seemed clearer, despite the uncertainty of what awaited him. With each step, he resolved to train harder, hone his abilities, and prepare himself for the challenges that lay ahead.

It was midday when Bones reached the smithy, finding the merry dwarves engrossed in a game of cards. Despite his approach, Hem and Darsumi remained deeply absorbed in their contest, oblivious to his arrival. Removing his mask and pushing back his hood, Bones revealed his skull visage.

"Greetings, Hem, Darsumi," he announced.

The dwarves glanced at him momentarily before resuming their game. "Dar, there be a skull standing there," Hem remarked casually, his attention split between the game and their unexpected visitor.

"I noticed, Hem. I don't think it's just a skull. There should be the rest of it too! Think it’s here to attack us?" Darsumi added, a hint of mockery in his voice.

"Who knows wit the lot! Haven’t seen one since…hm?" Hem halted his card-playing, his mind beginning to churn. He set his cards down on the table and shifted his attention to Bones, who stood a few meters away with his arms crossed.

"Jones! Yer a few days late! Thought you might not be coming back at all! Be a shame if all the gold stayed wit me ye know?!" Hem grinned, his gold tooth glinting in the light as he rose from the table and ambled over, extending his arm in greeting.

"I was busy, but I knew you would keep my gold safe. Wouldn’t you?" Bones retorted, teasing the dwarf.

cough “Of course, of course!” exclaimed Hem, sweating a little.

“Greetings again, Mr. Jones? Was it?” Darsumi said as he approached and greeted Bones.

“Greetings Darsumi, Bones is fine.”

“Bones? I see. Bit on the nose, no?” Darsumi asked and chuckled, not prying further.

“Come, let us go inside. Boney then?” Hem asked, to which Bones reluctantly nodded, then followed them inside.

Darsumi and Bones sat by the table in the kitchen while Hem went to the other room and into the safe where Bones' gold was kept in a storage ring. Returning, he placed the ring on the table. Bones looked over the ring in front of him for a bit before asking the obvious question.

"Hem, might I ask you something?"

"Ye?"

"Was it necessary to store gold in a ring, and then a ring in the safe?"

Shrugging his shoulders and rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, he took out a bottle and three glasses. "Better safe than lost."

"Right. Well, I'll take the gold and leave the ring. I don't need it. I take it you took your share?"

"We already took our share. Are you sure you don't need the ring?" Darsumi asked.

"He be sure, Dar! I'll gladly keep the ring," Hem quickly added, stuffing the ring in his pocket. He gave Bones a wide grin, showing his golden teeth again, and started pouring them drinks. "I take it ye won't leave us immediately?"

"I can stay. Isn't it a bit early to be drinking though?" asked Bones.

"Early?" questioned Hem, giving Darsumi a look. "We haven' really stopped drinking so na, we're fine! Anyway, last time ye handed us the stones, ye said we would talk about da rest of ‘em. So…"

"Relax, Hem," said Bones and asked Hem to pass him the storage ring. Hem took the ring out and passed it to Bones, who, upon receiving the ring, deposited the rest of the raw mana stones. With the exchange done, they drank until late into the night.

Bones had to admit, the two dwarves were merry company and were totally unbothered by his presence. He found out why when they started sharing stories about their adventuring days. Both dwarves were part of the adventurer party called Ruff Miners. Silly name, thought Bones, but kept it to himself. They spent their younger days clubbing undead on a daily basis, and Bones learned more about the Desolate Lands from their stories. It was a land he would definitely have to visit sometime in the future.

Both dwarves were silver rank, and Bones had no reason to doubt them, as he failed to see their levels. They didn't go into details as to how they ended up in this particular place or how they were "exchanging" the raw mana stones. The only thing they did disclose was that they still had connections from their younger days. Hem was a variant warrior class, some kind of enforcer and a master smith, which now outleveled his main class. Apparently, he had a shop in the capital once and was a renowned smith for some time until real big shots came and ran his business down. He settled here in Stonefalls and did his smithing in his leisure time. Bones was sure there was more to the story, but he didn't pry.

Darsumi was something else! A rogue variant class named Blade Dancer, and Bones had a rough time imagining a stoic-looking, long-bearded dwarf gracefully and swiftly dancing between his foes, drawing blood. As for his profession, he didn't go into details, but Bones figured he was some sort of smuggler.

"They also knew Guntar, to Bone's surprise, and mentioned they had some dealings with him a couple of years ago, but their relationship didn't go beyond that single instance." Bones also learned that Guntar was in the capital and worked under a subordinate of Dominos. He frowned at the mention of the ascendant's name. Everything was becoming more complicated than he wanted or needed it to be. “Maybe I should avoid Guntar and his associates in the future. It would be a smart thing to do…"

"Can you tell me more about Trevak? Is he his right-hand man?" asked Bones.

"Sure, it's good to know your enemies," replied Dar, grinning.

"Come in," Rayne replied to the knocking on the doors. A woman in official administrator attire opened the door and entered his office.

"Sir, I'm bringing you the weekly report you requested on the activities of an adventurer named... Bones."

Rayne motioned for the administrator to come closer. "Good! Tell me."

"Sir, if you would just open the report…"

Rayne raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, as if to say, "Well?"

Sigh Reluctantly, the woman accepted that she was going to have to summarize the whole report to her superior, given the look he was throwing her way.

"During the past month, adventurer Bones was seen visiting different shops, restaurants, and bars, also exploring numerous monumental sites, parks, and squares, mostly around The Tower."

"Sightseeing?" interjected Rayne, a bit puzzled. The woman shrugged. "It seems that way, sir."

"Any unusual activities?" asked Rayne.

"There was an incident about a week ago."

"Yes? What happened?"

"Bones has apparently, on numerous occasions, practiced his mana sense in crowded areas. Normal people and less mana-sensitive adventurers didn't notice, but an altercation happened when there was a higher-level adventurer in a crowd."

"So what happened, a fight broke out?" Rayne asked, showing interest in the altercation.

"Adventurer Bones apologized for stepping out of his boundaries, and the altercation ended with a silver-ranked adventurer leaving."

Rayne stayed quiet, then sighed, leaning against his chair. He had hoped to find something, anything on Bones or if he had any connections to Guntar or the Hounds.

"Sir, there was an additional note regarding the altercation."

"Oh?"

"The scout that was following Bones at that time found the ending to the altercation somewhat odd, so he made a note in his report saying that the silver-ranked adventurer was looking to start a fight. However, when he approached Bones, he paused, as if frozen, for a few seconds. They stared at each other, and then Bones excused himself. The other adventurer murmured something incoherent and left." Finishing her report, the administrator stood there and waited for further instructions.