Eternal Rest

Bones returned to the smithy in the evening and found the dwarves waiting for him. Not only Hemdus and Darsumi but the others were also present, indicating another meeting regarding the heist. Once everyone settled in a private room, Darsumi initiated the discussion.

“Since we're all here, let’s get started, shall we? First, thank you all for coming. The agenda for today’s meeting is to discuss the recent changes in vault security for the last two, and I’m confident to say, the most valuable houses on our list. Bones, you wouldn’t know since you weren’t here, but one of the two noble houses we’re targeting in today’s meeting has an intact mana core in their vault. We’re certain of that. However, the issue lies in our outdated intel on security. Specifically, the overall security of the mansion and the entrance to the vault is more robust than we initially anticipated. Fortunately, we have you for that!”

“Me? What can I do to help?” Bones asked in surprise when Darsumi addressed him.

“We need you to make something for us! Something usually hard to come by, but you might just have what it takes to make what we need!”

“Now you’re just keeping me in suspense on purpose! You know I’m not a crafter! What is it?”

Darsumi smirked and without beating around the bush, said, “We need you to make a Skeleton Key!”

All eyes turned to Bones, eagerly awaiting an answer.

"I'll do what I can to help, of course, but you need to explain to me first what a Skeleton Key is!" Bones replied.

Darsumi nodded and briefly explained that the Skeleton Key is a master key capable of opening a variety of locks. He promised a more detailed explanation after the meeting. The meeting concluded before midnight, with many ideas and scenarios discussed but nothing conclusive reached. Until more accurate information was gathered, their plans remained incomplete and unchanged.

The dwarves left, leaving Bones and Darsumi alone in the smithy. With Hemdus yet to finish with the shop, they talked while waiting.

"I see you made some changes to your…Bone Armor was it? Made it permanent?" Darsumi asked, referring to Bones' new and thinner frame. Bones confirmed and talked about the Widow Queen, stages of the fight, and his experience in the third stage. Darsumi kept writing notes and occasionally nodded his head.

"The third stage seems troublesome! It will take a while until we have a team capable of clearing it. We lack a leather type of equipment, and wolf pelts would increase our diversity of armor," Darsumi stated, then asked, "How's your golem? I see the equipment is getting worn down. Yours too, a bit! And…" Darsumi paused before he continued, "What did you do to your arm?"

Bones extended his arm and rolled down the sleeve. Darusmi sucked in a breath, seeing the engraving lines done on a thin layer of bone coating Bones' hand.

"That…looks painful!"

Bones scoffed. "That's an understatement! It's a bit early to analyze the result, but I can already feel the difference. Once I finish the whole arm…"

"You plan to engrave your whole arm?" Darusmi asked, a bit of shock and surprise in his voice. Smirking, Bones replied, "Not just an arm! Arms, legs, and possibly a chest too. I'm doing this to compensate for the lack of physical reinforcements you fleshy mortals have!"

"Fleshy mortals?" Darsumi murmured. "I get that you want to improve your body, but this… No, you're right. I might've done the same in your position," Darsumi admitted after thinking about it and continued.

"While you have the advantages, there's an apparent weakness that asserts itself with levels. More and more people will overwhelm you physically, and the gap will just widen. I'd suggest you wait until after your race advancement, but might as well start early. Are you any closer to advancing?" He asked, knowing that Bones needed one more level until his race advancement.

"Halfway through a level. While combat gives plenty of experience, it doesn't add much to racial level."

Darsumi nodded, not surprised. Class was, is, and always will be easier to level up.

"Speaking of experience," Bones started, "-do general skills always level this slowly?"

"Are you referring to skills like Identify?"

"No… I mean yes, Identify too, but I was referring to Mana Blast. I've been using the skill for quite some time now, and it still hasn't advanced! I'm close, only a level away from advancing, but I've been using the skill often and for a long time!"

"I see. Mana Blast is a skill you learned yourself, right?" Bones nodded, and Darsumi continued. "Then there's your answer! General skills level slower; that's general knowledge. And if you didn't know, your Mana Blast will be capped in progress after advancing."

"Capped? What do you mean?" Bones asked, not familiar with the term.

"It means you won't be able to progress after you advance Mana Blast. It will stay at level 1. Now if you were to choose an Arcane Mage class or any other class based on arcane affinity, your Mana Blast would become an Arcane Blast, and you'd be able to continue your progress with the skill."

"I see. A shame, really. The skill, while mana-consuming, did the most damage. What about the synergy between the skills?"

"What about it?" Darsumi asked, rising and moving to the cabinet, retrieving a bottle and two glasses.

"I'm getting more and more notifications about the detected synergy between skills. The synergy even altered the upgrades available when I received the skill advancement."

"All normal, Bones. As you level up, more skills will have synergies between them and fuse into a new skill. The system is designed to help you along the path. You customize skills to suit you better, and while you pick plenty of skills along the path, the end goal is to have a few skills you have completely mastered! Otherwise, you'd have ascendants running around with hundreds of skills at their disposal."

After a pause and a swig from the bottle, Darsumi continued. "Now then, you didn't answer me about the golem! How is it? Skully, was it?"

"Skully is fine. Leveling Golem Mastery helped improve his combat capabilities by a margin. Say, couldn't I have used a used mana core on the golem since they are so hard to find?"

Before Darsumi managed to reply, Hemdus, who just walked through the entrance, pitched in. "A used one won't do ye any good. Ye need an intact ‘nd new mana core fer yer golem! Trust me, Boney!"

"Mmmm, I do trust you…evening, Hem!"

"'ello lad." Hemdus greeted back and joined them at the table while rubbing his neck. "We have too many orders these days ‘nd the apprentices can't keep up! Anyways, ye misunderstood something. Mana cores aren't hard to find! Wut do ye think powers up this smithy?" Hemdus asked.

Bones looked at the dwarf, surprised by the question. It hadn't occurred to him. "You mean…"

"Aye, 'nd it's not just my smithy! Machinery in the Construction Guild, at quarries, even public transport ye luv so much. All powered wit the mana core! The hard part is findin' an unused core! And again, ye need an unused core if ye want a proper, non-defective golem bound to ye!" Hemdus finished, looking at Darsumi and motioned to the table and the missing glass. Darsumi rolled his eyes and went to get him a glass.

"Thanks, cuz!" Hem poured himself a drink and continued. "Once ye program a nucleus 'nd infuse it wit the mana core, they become bounded no? There’s' ways to unbound and delete the nucleus but it damages the integrity of the core. Ye dun want that, do ye?" Hem asked matter-of-factly, and Bones shook his head.

"If we had thought a used mana core would suffice, we would have already acquired one for you!" Darusmi added, seeing Hem take to the bottle.

Bones didn't stay the night this time and left before midnight. He noticed that Hem needed a proper rest, and with him being there, they would most likely stay up until late in the night or even early in the morning. Bones commissioned a new set of clothing and some modifications to be done to Skully's equipment when Hem found the time.

With a bit less than two months until the festival, Bones planned to use the time to practice his profession and make a Skeleton Key. Darsumi gave him a set of instructions with an explanation on how to make the key and its purpose. Bones was reading the instructions while slowly making his way to the capital and realized why he was commissioned to make one.

The Skeleton Key didn't have to be made of bones, even though its name implied it would be. A key made of wood or metal would work just as well. However, Bones was the only one among the dwarves who could delicately shape and manipulate the material needed to make the key, in this case, small bones. He was instructed to do his best and make at least an incomplete version of the key, as the complete key was impossible to make without a profession related to making keys, a Keymaker.

"Making the key looks to be an interesting project! The details and precision required bother me though. I'm not at that level of shaping," Bones mused to himself.

He stopped and looked at his engraved hand. "Perhaps engraving my whole arm would give me enough of an edge to make the key? Yes…yes! I could see it happening. The engraving should make manipulation and mana flow smoother and easier, which is precisely what I will need! I could ask Silva for a private place to not be disturbed while I work!"

With his next course of action made up, Bones increased his pace and around noon reached the now familiar gates of the capital, Hagos.

Bones didn't immediately head to the tavern. Instead, he made his way toward the shopping district, casually browsing the goods displayed in the windows of the shops until he reached the auction house. The palace was as busy as ever, with a constant rush of people going in and out. Upon entering, he began perusing the items for sale, not with the intention of purchasing anything, but to locate a trader selling certain types of items: monster's body parts.

After an hour of searching, Bones found what he was looking for. The merchant had set up a lavishly decorated shop, indicating his proficiency in the trade. The merchant himself was a big, fat man with a swirly beard, dressed in extravagant clothing that matched his opulent surroundings. Bones engaged in casual conversation with the jovial merchant to gauge his personality, concluding that the merchant knew how to put up a convincing facade.

Leaning in closer, Bones spoke in a hushed voice. "Look, you seem like you know a thing or two, but I am in need of someone who can acquire something not easily obtained."

The merchant harrumphed proudly, boasting that he could acquire anything, from eyes and ears to tongues and bones, if needed.

"To the very bones, you say?" Bones repeated, intrigued.

"Of course! To the very bones!" the merchant confirmed with a grin. Bones explained that he was in need of a skeleton, specifying the qualities he desired but without a preference as to whose skeleton it was. By the end of their conversation, both parties were making a deal in hushed voices, away from prying eyes.

Just like monster body parts, bones weren't illegal to sell, but what Bones asked for was. As he considered his needs, Bones reflected that Skully was primarily a damage dealer. Therefore, he was in search of something to fulfill a defensive role—a "tank."

"Mr. Bones, I must insist on an advance since I'll be the one taking on the risk here. I won't promise anything, but you will get your money back if the item seems…unacquirable."

"How much?" Bones inquired, awaiting the figure.

The merchant raised his hand and gestured an amount with his fingers.

"Three?" Bones questioned, slightly puzzled.

"What? No, three hundred gold…".

Ah, three hundred gold for an advance. Seems like a steep price, but if the man can deliver…

Bones agreed and handed over the gold to the merchant. If the man double-crossed him, Bones was confident he could find him again and retrieve what he was owed. He continued browsing goods, even purchasing some used alchemy tools he was missing, as he intended to make use of them someday. When he left the palace, darkness had already fallen. Time surely flies by.