Bones’ decision to go straight to Stonefalls was sidelined as he was watching a struggling adventurer party, behind the cover of a bush. The party was a classic adventuring party consisting of a defender, two damage dealers, one support class and a healer. They were currently dealing with a goblin tribe subjugation quest, Bones remembered fondly. The party however, had bitten off more than they could handle.

Bones identified the goblin chief to be level 11, two levels higher than the highest member of the party, the defender. The party was holding on pretty well when things got out of hand and the struggling healer was about to be impaled by the goblin's crude spear. Bones rushed in and grabbed the little fucker by the head and lift him up. Ah crap. I ended by getting involved…

A pulse of mana went through his arm and out the hand, blowing the goblin's head up. The healer screamed at the scene, blood dripping down her face. Not her blood!

Bones turned toward the surrounded damage dealers and raised Bone Spikes, pinning down the goblins around them. The goblins screeched in pain, drawing the attention of their chief and his aides. The aides were level 10 and couldn't grasp the difference in strength between them and Bones. They rushed past the defender and towards the new threat.

The chief however, turned tail and made a run for it, leaving the rest of the party puzzled. Bones snorted seeing the chief tactically retreat and casted Bone Lance his way. A second later, the boss collapsed with a giant hole in his torso.

The chief's death made the two aides glance behind them for a moment and the next second, their heads were sent flying. The two damage dealers, one rogue and the other, sword dual wielding warrior, took advantage of the goblins' brief lack of attention and disposed of them. The rest of the fight wasn't really much of a fight. The goblins scurried away and those that couldn't get away in time were killed.

With the battle finished, the defender collapsed from exhaustion, the two damage dealers following right after. Bones turned to the healer and asked her if she was all right. She looked distraught, but quickly gathered her composure and slightly bowed her head, thanking Bones. The support type approached and thanked Bones for saving his party from the trouble.

Bones waved his hand in dismissal. "Think nothing of it. It's what anyone would do, no? You're lucky we crossed paths when we did. I take it you're on the subjugation quest? Finished?"

The support mage, Glen, nodded. "Yes and…yes, I think we're finished for today."

"Then, how about I escort you to the town? I'm heading there anyway." A lie…

Looking at Bones' mask Glen seemed hesitant , but the guilt of putting his team in a risky situation made him place any doubts he had to the side. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, then yes please and thank you!"

Bones followed the party from behind. Every now and then, the party would stop and battle monsters. Like Bones thought, the party could handle themselves well, minus the minor mishap with the goblins. He didn't have any particular reason or motive to help the adventurers. He did it on a whim, or maybe the killings of young adventures when he first came to, did impact him more than he thought it did?

Now that he did help though, he thought about putting his new level 20 racial skill to the test. After hours of going through the forest, he sensed an unease building within the adventurers around him. He felt them talking in hushed voices and as more time passed, he noticed the healer and surprisingly a defender, became more skittish.

Observing them over time, Bones came to the conclusion that their mental state wavered after the fight with the goblins and they were easily affected. After all, they were the frontline and the backbone of the party and right now, they were most affected by the aura he excluded. Soon, the party felt uncomfortable being close to Bones. They didn't understand why, but they just couldn't stand being around Bones anymore.

The party wasn't interested in hunting monsters and slaying beasts anymore. Their mood was sour and their frown deepened. They've been like that for hours and when Bones felt they were close to the road, he stopped focusing his skill on them. Once they were out of the forest, their mood improved and they marched towards the gates of town with great stride.

Bones didn't talk. He didn't even know what he would talk with youngsters about. The adventurers murmured and talked about how glad they were to return to town. They still whispered behind Bones, doing their best not to be heard. The closer they got to town, the more their pace increased.

As the group passed Bones, he quietly followed behind them and silently used Soul Link on the last person in the group, the healer. The moment the link was established, Bones made the healer stop for a second. Glen noticed and turned around. "Jackie, are you okay?". Jackie shook her head. "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Probably still overwhelmed by everything. Common, let's go."

What little emotions he could read from the healer, told him she couldn't help but feel animosity towards me. She felt confused, angry, ashamed and she felt terrible for feeling that way!

Bones smiled and continued following the group. Once they reached the adventurer guild, the party leader Glen motioned for Bones to follow, while the rest stayed outside the guild, breathing a sigh of relief. Bones was puzzled as to why but followed Glen nonetheless.

Glen approached the reception and spoke to the clerk behind the desk. "Excuse me, I'd like to complete the subjugation quest and report that this adventurer-" Glen motioned to Bones, "had saved us during the quest and safely escorted us back to town".

The receptionist behind the desk nodded and wrote something down. Once she finished, she asked for their badges. She took Glen's first and scanned it against the crystal plate thingy and then scanned Bones' ID card. "Hm? What is..."

"Is there a problem, miss?" Bones asked.

The receptionist turned to Bones, dumbstruck. "I don't…I don't know?" She was left baffled seeing undead written as a race on his ID card. She turned to her colleague. "John. JOHN!" She raised her voice. John turned to her, frowning. She quickly added in a hushed voice. "Could you come over here for a second?" John reluctantly went over to her and she showed him Bones' ID. They both stared at ID and then at Bones for a few seconds.

"Ahem, sir. Would you be so kind as to remove your head piece so we could establish your identity? There seems to be a mistake in our database" John asked.

Bones shrugged, did so and watched as their eyes went wide. "Would that be all?" He asked and after receiving confirmation and an apology, he put his mask back on and the hood over it. He turned and left the guild, leaving the two puzzled receptionists and Glen sweating, behind.

Now then, where was that alchemy shop?

With a new supply of mana potions bought, Bones left Westbrook and headed towards Stonefalls.

The sun was setting when Bones reached Stonefalls. Contrary to what he expected, the two dwarves weren’t drinking at the table in front of the smithy. The sound of a hammer hitting steel could be heard coming from the inside. Bones opened the door and the bell rang. The clanking sound of hammer stopped and a dwarf with dirty hands and dirt smeared all over his face popped his head out of the workshop. *cough* “Boney! It hasn't been dat long, whaddup?”

“Nothing much, brought you something but...it can wait.” Bones replied, seeing that the dwarf was busy. Hem nodded and told him to make himself at home and that he’ll be with him as soon as he finished. Bones was surprised to see the dwarf so hard at work. The few times they met, the dwarf seemed laid back and not as bothered with the work. ”Must be an important commission.”

An hour later, Hem left the workshop and joined Bones at the table. “Sorry fer making ye wait! I know I dun seem like it, but I'mah a pretty wanted dwarf! I get custom orders once or twice a week and they earn me mah food and drinks ye know? So, up for a round?”

“Sure, why not. I have a few things I’d like to celebrate.”

“Great! Lemme call Dar over so we can get hammered! He hav the good stuff!” Hem joyfully replied before he rushed out of the smithy. Not even ten minutes later, he was dragging Darsumi with him.

With a sigh he greeted Bones and sat opposite of him. “Greetings Bones, doing well?”

“Greetings Dar, it’s been busy the last couple of days but worth it.” replied Bones.

“Oh? Something good happened? I apologize, it will take a bit longer to deal with all the mana stones you gave me. It’s a delicate process after all, I’m sure you understand?”

“Hm? Oh no no, I’m not here because of the stones. I’m on my way back actually and thought I’d stop by. I actually have something to talk to the both of you about. Well, drink and talk, anyway.”

“That’s good to hear. You can ask us about anything that’s bothering you, anytime you feel like asking.”

They’re good dwarves. If I want to do business with them, I should be as honest with them as I can be.

“Will do, thank you! First, drinks!” Bones thanked the dwarf and Dar smiled, taking out a different looking bottle and handing it to Bones. Bones was puzzled but still took the bottle. He uncorked the lid and a familiar scent hit his senses. “This is...for me Dar?”. Darsumi nodded and said that he watched him drink mana potions frequently while he was here and thought about presenting him with a drink he would enjoy more than what they were drinking.

Bones gladly poured himself a drink, took a gulp and set it aside. He stood up and started taking the body parts of each monster he looted from his inventory and laid them on the ground beside him. Both dwarves looked on in surprise but didn't stop him.

Hem stood up and approached the chitin body part. He picked it up and gave it a thump with his knuckles. "Chitin shell makes fer a good defense on bronze level gear!" He then turned to proboscis next to chitin and exclaimed in surprise. "Wut da hell is dis?"

Darsumi raised an eyebrow and approached Hem's side to see what got his friend so surprised.

"That's…proboscis?" he asked to which Bones nodded.

"Gobrick's beard…is the - "

"Yep." Bones replied, already guessing what the dwarf wanted to ask.

"Wut? Wut is it?" Hem asked, feeling left out.

"Hem, what does this look like to you?" Darsumi asked. Hemdus took the proboscis in his hand and inspected it from every angle and said. "Well, it look a bit liek a prick them little…" He stopped mid sentence and looked at Bones, then Darsumi. "Is da body - "

"Yes. The body is proportionate to the prick." Bones answered again.

"Gobrick's beard…" Hem exclaimed, a disgust visible on his face, then added. "We coulda make a long straw from da - "

"NO!" Both Bones and Darsumi strongly interjected.

"Squishy like the little ones?" Darsumi asked and Bones nodded again.

Bones waited until the dwarves went through the items on the floor and added. "This isn't everything of course. I want to ask you how usable these are in crafting? To be more precise, would they fetch a good price?"

Hem thought for a moment, mulling about the applications, then nodded. "Ye, they coulda fetch a pretty sum if ye can find a master smith and a tailor!"

Bones saw the smugness plastered on the dwarf's face. He already knew what the dwarf was thinking so with perfect timing, he made a proposition. "I'd like to propose a business deal between the three of us."

"What did you have in mind?" Darsumi asked.

Bones sat back in the chair and dwarves did the same. For the next two hours Bones explained that he wanted to open up a shop with the two dwarves and sell equipment made with body parts he would provide, among other items. He didn't know what the procedure for opening a shop was and frankly, he couldn't be bothered with it.

"Not a problem," said Hem. As the crafter, he could open up a shop with ease and without much difficulty. "Boney, I haven't mentioned and ye haven't even asked, mind ye! But yer looking at da second tier silver rank armorsmith!"

Bones looked at the proud looking dwarf, puffing his chests out and realised he was supposed to compliment the dwarf. Second tier? "Amazing. Absolutely amazing! If I had eyes, they would be popping out right now!"

Darusmi snickered by side and Hem slowly deflated. "Yer being funny eh? No matter! Sounds like a good deal but…"

"...but what?" Bones asked and Dar sighed and replied in place of Hem. "In short? He's lazy. He doesn't want to work much."

Hearing Darsumi so blatantly telling the reason, Hem started making excuses. "Ay! Look, it aint dat I'm lazy ye know? I just feel like making newbie equipment is below me! Now, if I could delegate me work to apprentices then yes, I see it working out Boney!"

"Well that was just overwhelming…Then, do we have a deal?" Bones asked.

Dar and Hem looked at each other, then nodded and agreed to a deal.

"By the way, I’ve been DYING to ask somebody about tiers. What do you mean by second tier?"