Eternal Rest

The Adventurer's Guild swiftly organized search and rescue teams, comprised of low-level adventurers under the guidance of guild operatives, along with separate offensive squads tasked with engaging and eliminating the undead threat. Each combat team, consisting of five members, was led by a seasoned bronze ranker, with assignments strategically dispersed throughout the town based on the urgency of the situation. While some teams were dispatched to address the immediate threat in highly populated areas, others were tasked with clearing out the undead infestations in more remote locations.

Despite the relatively low average level of the adventurers and guild operatives, hovering around twelve, the effective leadership provided by the bronze rankers ensured that the teams remained cohesive and focused. By adhering to proper instructions and guidance, casualties were minimized, and progress was steadily made in pushing back the undead menace.

However, just as the situation appeared to be stabilizing, a sudden tragedy struck. One of the team leaders collapsed to the ground, a gaping hole in his chest, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the hard-fought progress made thus far.

The sudden attack sent shockwaves through the nearby adventurers, prompting frantic efforts to identify the source of the assault. However, their search proved futile, as the assailant remained hundreds of meters away, perched atop one of the tallest buildings in the vicinity. A dark elf huntress, her sneer laden with malice, scanned the chaos below, her bow exuding an ominous aura as she sought her next target.

With unparalleled precision, she singled out another bronze ranker engaged in combat. Without hesitation, she drew her bow, releasing an arrow that swiftly found its mark, felling yet another team leader.

Just as she prepared to strike again, a sudden movement caught her off guard. With lightning reflexes, she narrowly evaded a lethal thrust aimed at her head. Stepping back, she faced her would-be assailant—a young woman clad in chainmail armor, brandishing a small shield and a glowing rapier with an air of determination.

"Vice Leader Belle, nice to finally meet you!" greeted the huntress, her tone laced with amusement.

Belle's frown deepened, her anger palpable. "Only friends and family call me Belle! You filthy undead!"

The huntress chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm not an undead, you silly girl."

"What? Don’t try to fool me! If you're not an undead, then what the hell is wrong with your skin?" Belle retorted, her confusion evident.

The huntress's amusement only grew. "Are you serious? You've never seen a dark elf before?" She chuckled again, mocking Belle's ignorance.

"So young, naive, and already a silver ranker!" the huntress teased, prompting Belle to roll to the side just in time to evade a spray of green liquid aimed at her from behind. The acidic substance sizzled upon contact with the stone ground, boring a hole through the roof of the building.

Belle, maintaining her defensive stance, cast a wary gaze at the newcomer while keeping the huntress in her peripheral vision. The hooded figure exuded an unsettling aura, with signs of decay evident on his pale hands and traces of green dripping from his fingertips.

"As expected, you dodged! Hey hey! Wanna join us?" the necromancer rasped, his voice tinged with an unnatural quality.

The huntress frowned at the sudden invitation but remained silent.

"Haaah? You must be out of your damn mind! Do you share your intelligence with all of your minions? Is that why you are so dumb?" Belle retorted sharply, aiming to provoke a reaction from the necromancer.

As the necromancer erupted into maddening laughter, Belle seized the opportunity to act. With a swift motion, she pulled back her arm, wielding her shield, and hurled it at the huntress. At the same time, she dashed towards the necromancer, who egged her on with taunts.

With a shout, the necromancer began summoning another green blob of necrotic energy from his fingertips, but Belle was too quick for him. She reached him before he could finish casting his spell, swiftly sliding under his extended arm. With a decisive thrust, she drove her rapier through his side and between his ribs.In a sudden burst of speed, the necromancer managed to grasp Belle's hand, infusing her with a surge of dark energy that left a sickly green hue in its wake. With a determined jerk, she freed herself from his grasp, her hand tingling with the lingering effects of his necrotic magic. Anticipating his next move, Belle swiftly circled around the necromancer and delivered a powerful kick to his back, sending him sprawling to the ground in defeat.

Briefly casting a wary glance at the huntress, who observed the scene with a smirk of amusement, Belle swiftly somersaulted off the rooftop, seizing the opportunity to escape while she still had the chance. Meanwhile, the huntress approached the fallen necromancer, noting the heavy pool of blood surrounding his body, its dark hue resembling more of a gelatinous substance than a liquid.

"Are you going to lie there, wallowing in your own stupidity, or are you going to get up? The guild leader is on his way, and he'll be here any second now," she remarked coolly.

With a grimace, the necromancer slowly rose to his feet, a hand pressed against his injured face. "That bitch is going to pay!" he growled through clenched teeth.

"Whatever. Let's go," the huntress replied dismissively, turning to leave without a second glance.

A few streets away, the vice leader battled tirelessly against an onslaught of undead. Despite losing sight of her shield and sustaining injuries to her hand, she held onto her rapier tightly, determination burning in her eyes.

"That undead bitch is going to pay!" she declared with unwavering confidence, her voice resolute amidst the chaos of battle.

Suddenly, Rayne emerged before her, his presence causing the undead surrounding them to freeze in place. “Who are you talking about?"

Belle's initial surprise quickly gave way to relief as she greeted him with a smile. "Rayne!" Belle exclaimed in surprise, her somber expression quickly giving way to a relieved smile. "I encountered them! I faced the necromancer and struck him through the heart, but I don’t think he’s dead.”

Rayne nodded in understanding. "That kind does take a lot to die. Where is he now?"

"He was on the roof of a building a few streets away," Belle responded, her voice urgent. "But forget him, he wasn't alone. A huntress, a dark elf she claimed to be, was aiding him and targeting our bronze rankers. Both of them were silver rankers and have likely fled by now."

Rayne absorbed the information without comment, his gaze shifting to Belle's injured hand. Without hesitation, he tossed her a healing potion. "Here," he said simply. "Tend to your hand first, and then we'll address the remaining undead. I've cleared the rest on my way here, but the eastern district still remains uncleared."

As Bones trudged through the dense forest, he felt a glimmer of hope as sunlight filtered through the leaves above. Pushing aside his embarrassment at his previous wrong turns, he pressed on, determined to reach his destination. Finally, as he emerged from the trees and set foot onto the cobblestone road, he caught sight of the towering defensive walls of Westbrook in the distance.

But his moment of relief was short-lived as a shout pierced the air, causing him to freeze in his tracks.

"Hey you! Stop them!!"

In the distance, a cry caught Bones' attention. He turned to see an adventurer, level sixteen, brandishing a mace, in hot pursuit of a group of skeletons. The undead paid no mind to Bones as they hurried past him, their hollow gazes fixed on their escape. Meanwhile, the adventurer came to an abrupt stop before him, confusion etched across his face.

"Why didn't they att—arghhh," the adventurer began, only to be cut off as a dozen bone spikes suddenly erupted from the cobblestone ground, impaling his legs and rendering him immobile. Bones had developed a fondness for immobilizing others, it seemed.

The adventurer's expression shifted from shock to panic, silently pleading with his eyes for an explanation that would never come. "I don't like people shouting at me in caps," Bones remarked casually, before swiftly hurling a lance that decapitated the adventurer in one clean stroke. The headless body remained rooted in place, a grim testament to Bones' handiwork. With a nonchalant shrug, Bones rifled through the pockets of the fallen adventurer before turning to watch the runaway skeletons disappear around a bend in the road.

Bones continued on his path towards the rising smoke beyond the town's walls, unfazed by the events unfolding around him. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, the huntress observed his actions from afar, noting his interactions with the adventurer and his subsequent looting of the body.

"Interesting prospect you’ve found, old man," she remarked to herself, her gaze lingering on Bones before turning to her bleeding companion with disdain. Urging him to hasten his pace, she made her way towards the capital, leaving behind the scene of chaos and conflict.

As Bones entered the town, he was greeted by a grim sight: corpses littered the pavement, some still moving, crawling, and gnawing on human body parts. He recognized them as zombies, their grotesque appearance matching the illustrations he had seen in "Adventuring for Dummies."

A growling sound snapped his attention to a level nine zombie standing before him, its vacant eyes meeting his gaze with confusion. Surprisingly, the creature made no move to attack him.

Observing the zombie's reaction, Bones realized that, to the undead, he appeared as one of them. As another figure approached, he swiftly retrieved a sword from his inventory and delivered a clean decapitating blow to the zombie before turning his attention to the newcomer.

Emerging from a sideway alley, a group of adventurers caught sight of Bones dispatching a zombie and promptly joined him in clearing out the area. After exchanging greetings, Bones explained his recent return to town and admitted his lack of understanding of the situation. The bronze ranker leading the group, one of the few left alive, provided a brief overview of the events and instructed Bones to report back to the guild for further instructions.

Acknowledging the instructions, Bones bid farewell to the group and made his way down the shopping district. However, as he pondered his next course of action, he suddenly came to a halt. Should he head straight to the guild to report in, or fulfill his promise to Vol and Horus first?

After a moment of consideration, Bones made his decision. "Business at the guild can wait. First things first, I have a favor to repay to Vol and Horus," he muttered to himself before setting off in the direction of the western district.

Navigating the streets leading to the alleys and warehouses, Bones encountered mostly empty thoroughfares, with only a few motionless corpses scattered about. He noticed a trail of lingering ice on the ground, evidence of recent magical activity, and the frozen remains of zombies. Whoever had dealt with the undead had done so skillfully, leaving behind a palpable aura of dense mana in the air. Remaining vigilant, Bones treaded cautiously, avoiding areas where he heard voices and opting for alternate routes to steer clear of encountering more adventurers. He had no desire to engage in conversation or risk being mistaken for one of the undead assailants plaguing the town.

The alleys, where he was once the target of a hold-up, now lay deserted. Continuing his solitary journey, Bones traversed one alley after another until he stumbled upon a gruesome scene. Before him lay the mangled corpse of Horus, his body mutilated beyond recognition. Missing limbs and with his face ravaged by bites, Horus's remains painted a macabre picture on the pavement. A trail of blood led from his corpse to scattered body parts strewn across the ground, mingling with organs, skin, and even bones. Beside the grisly display, a cracked and partially crumbled wall of a building caught Bones's attention. From within the hole in the wall emanated the heavy sounds of labored breathing.

As Bones neared the hole and prepared to take a peek inside, a hand suddenly crashed through, widening the crack and striking him in the skull! Staggering back, his vision obscured by the looming fist, Bones struggled to regain his footing. Slowly, the hand withdrew into the darkness, replaced by a single red eye peering out from the shadows. The figure on the other side retreated momentarily before bursting through the weakened wall, revealing the zombified form of Vol.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Vol. I've finally..." Bones began, only to be interrupted by a deep, rumbling growl that echoed through the alley. Without warning, Zombie Vol lunged forward, his grasp reaching out menacingly. Bones leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the grasping hands of the undead creature. Summoning Bone Spikes in an attempt to slow his assailant, Bones watched in dismay as Vol pressed on, unfazed by the obstacles, leaving shreds of muscle in his wake.

Bones retreated in a zigzag pattern, using every opportunity to cast Bone Spikes, while Vol followed closely behind. They engaged in a back-and-forth struggle until, finally, the zombie stumbled and collapsed. The relentless assault of bone spikes had torn apart the muscles in Vol's legs, rendering him unable to stand. Despite this, the zombie continued to crawl towards Bones with determined persistence.

"Such a shame. I was actually looking forward to killing you myself," Bones remarked regretfully, before unleashing one final barrage of bone spikes to finish off the zombie Vol. A prompt appeared, notifying him of a minuscule amount of experience gained.

"What a waste of time," Bones muttered to himself in frustration as he surveyed the surroundings. With a resigned sigh, he acknowledged the lack of valuable loot in the buildings where he had encountered Vol. "Well, that's that I suppose," he muttered to himself, feeling a twinge of disappointment. "Trevak and Guntar then?" he mused, weighing his options for his next move.

Bones rushed toward the brothels, but found them mostly empty. Upon encountering a few adventurers, he learned that the majority of citizens had been evacuated while they dealt with the remnants of the undead. The areas around the warehouse district were now occupied by guild members, searching the warehouses and standing guard.

"What are they searching for?" Bones wondered. "Guntar? He probably left the moment things went sideways. They should know this by now but they're still searching?"

Determined to find out, Bones decided to infiltrate one of the warehouses. He entered the district and spotted the entrance to a smaller warehouse suspiciously guarded. Employing his masterful distraction techniques, he picked up a small pebble and hurled it as far as he could. The clang of the pebble hitting the pavement diverted the guard's attention long enough for Bones to slip inside unnoticed.

The guard scrutinized the pebble briefly, then scanned the vicinity for any signs of suspicious activity, including inspecting the rooftops of nearby buildings. Besides the pebble, everything appeared normal. With a shrug, he returned to his post. Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Bones searched diligently but found nothing of value to the guild.

"Why bother stationing a guard here if there's nothing to guard?" Bones pondered. "Is this some sort of prank? He doesn't strike me as particularly astute." Doubts crept into Bones' mind about the warehouse's significance, but his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the growing clamor of voices.

"Just as I suspected, we need to report our findings and inform the higher-ups that everyone fled in haste, leaving behind only the merchandise. There must be thousands of stones down there," one voice asserted.

"Got it. I'll fetch a vice leader to assess the situation personally," another voice replied.

Bones observed two guild operatives suddenly materialize behind a stack of cargo in a distant corner of the warehouse, discussing their discoveries. Once they departed, he stealthily approached the cargo and peered behind it, only to find nothing there. A concealed entrance, perhaps? The notion of hidden passages leading to the unknown filled the old skeleton with excitement as he began to shift the cargo. Beneath an empty casket, he uncovered a hatch. With eager anticipation, he lifted it open, revealing a set of ladders descending into the darkness below. Without hesitation, he descended, sealing the hatch behind him.

The ladder led him into a narrow corridor, which extended further underground. At the corridor's end, he encountered two more guild operatives standing guard at the entrance to an underground hangar. Bones contemplated his next move, but then it dawned on him.

"Why am I complicating things?" he mused. "It's simple. I'll distract them first, then dispatch them both with a Bone Lance, just as I always do."