Just as he had promised, Darsumi left for the capital the next day. Hemdus was busy with commissions, and with no other plans until the festival, Bones joined him in the workshop.

Bones walked over to a remote spot, the same one he had used when he first started engraving, sat on a chair, and summoned an alchemy set.

Since I've decided to go to the frontlines, I might as well prepare the best I can. I'm not well-versed in alchemy, but what I know should be enough for what I need.

After setting up the alchemy table, Bones opened his inventory and searched for the items he needed: poison glands. Bones had always wanted to make use of them but hadn't decided how until now. The poison glands occupied two inventory slots: tier 1 poison glands looted from spiders in the forest near Westbrook and tier 2 glands dropped in the second stage of the dungeon. Bones took out all the poison glands he had looted from the spiders over the past few months and placed them on the table.

He selected a gland from each tier and performed a simple test to evaluate the potency of the poison within them.

His work sparked Hem’s interest. He waltzed over and watched Bones working over his shoulder.

"Ye doin' alchemy now, Boney? Makin' mana potions? Dun look like it!"

Bones replied without stopping. "No, not mana potions. I'm testing the potency of the poison from these poison glands. Hem, higher tier items imply better quality, right?"

"Hm? Aye, higher tier poison would be better! Do ye plan to coat yer weapon with it?"

"Poison coating on weapons? Interesting idea, but no, not at this time."

Seeing as Bones didn't continue with an explanation, Hemdus excused himself and left Bones to work in peace. As Bones had suspected, the results of the test concluded that tier 1 poison was mild at best and wouldn't have much effect on anyone at bronze rank and higher. Bones discarded the whole batch of tier 1 poison glands, leaving only the tier 2 glands.

Bones used alchemy tools to dissect the poison glands and extract the venom within. It was a slow process, and each gland yielded only a small dose of venom. Bones collected the venom in phials, and with hundreds of glands to go through, it took the rest of the day. By the end, he had only a dozen vials full of spider venom.

"I'm done for the day. How ye doin'?" Hem approached, noticing the phials filled to the brim with yellow liquid on the table in front of Bones.

"I'm done with the first step. Next is to transform the liquid into powder... luckily, I have just the right planting agent for it!"

Hemdus made some incoherent sound, then said, "Am sure ye know wut ye doin'. Later…" and left. Bones chuckled and continued working throughout the night and well into the next day. Occasionally, Hem would stop by and ask questions. Bones didn't mind and answered his questions to the best of his capability, but it was clear that Hem didn't have much interest in alchemy and would mostly zone out when Bones was explaining what he was doing.

A day later, Darsumi returned around midday and found Bones busy in the workshop, using a mortar and pestle to grind dried orchid flowers into a powder. He approached quietly to avoid disturbing him and looked at the worktable full of small pouches. Taking a peek inside one and sniffing, he grimaced. "What a strong scent! What are you doing there?"

Bones was startled away from his work, almost dropping the mortar. He was so engrossed in his task that he hadn't noticed Dar approaching. "My god, Dar, my heart almost gave out. When did you get back?"

Darsumi snorted, and after exchanging greetings, said he had just returned. He took out the spatial ring Bones had given him before he left and handed it back. "Check it, it's all there!"

Bones excitedly snatched the ring and stood up. Darsumi moved aside to make room as Bones summoned the skeleton stored within the ring. Bones marveled at the skeleton of the orc, standing a bit over two meters high.

"You're playing with fire, Bones! Some might misinterpret having an orc for a golem, but better an orc than a human or, worse, a dwarf!" Darsumi stated and added, "No wonder it cost as much as it did!"

Bones nodded. "It's exactly what I was looking for!" He identified the skeleton and saw it was from a level 48 orc. “This will prove to be a challenge to engrave but…” He glanced at his hands and formed a fist. “A challenge I'll gladly tackle!”

"You seem satisfied! I'm glad everything worked out for you. Now..." Darsumi glanced at the pouches on the table, and Bones followed his gaze.

"Right, take a seat. I could use your input!" Bones said, storing the skeleton into his Bone Collector inventory. The golem can wait a few more hours. "By the way, what about my new ID?"

Darsumi sat down and said he had made contact with his associate and arranged for a new ID. "I'll have all the information by tomorrow and I'll get back to you on the price and everything else."

Bones thanked the dwarf and turned to his alchemy set in front of him. "I'm working on something to give me an edge on the frontlines."

"I noticed the powder has a rather strong, distinct smell of poison,” Darsumi said, continuing, “It seems surprisingly potent, but I don't think it'll work well against higher-ranked foes. Bronze rankers have a constitution high enough to significantly resist the effects of poison. Where did you get the poison from?"

"You're right, it is poison. I extracted the venom from the poison glands dropped by the spiders in the dungeon," Bones replied, watching Darsumi's surprise as the poison seemed more potent than expected.

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Bones guessed what had surprised Dar and explained, "I used a Blue Orchid Flower, mostly used in mana potion making as a mixture agent to absorb the venom, dried it, and then ground it into a powder, as you can see."

"And you are telling me you're not an alchemist? Because I know a few alchemists, and they use various methods to increase the effectiveness of their concoctions. It seems to me you at least have the basics down!"

Bones chuckled at that. "I used to make simple concoctions and serums back in my time, but nothing on the level that would make me an alchemist."

Darsumi raised an eyebrow. "Back in my time, you say?"

Bones paused, recognizing he'd made a blunder. He put the alchemy tools down and stood up, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth. "How about we take a break and move to the kitchen?"

Darsumi nodded. On the way out of the workshop, Bones motioned for Hemdus to join them on the break, to which he happily agreed.

"Since the festival is approaching, I might as well explain a few things." Both dwarves stayed silent and focused their attention on Bones.

"You two have been more than accommodating with having an undead breathing down your necks, so to speak. Why didn't you ask anything? I'm sure this isn't a normal situation, even for the two of you!"

Hemdus chuckled and said, "Yer business is yer own, Boney. We figured if ye wanted to say sumthin', ye already would."

"We had doubts when we first met and then some more after you revealed yourself to us. Don't take this the wrong way, Bones, but you aren't a real threat to us. So we waited to see how things would play out between us, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say we're glad things worked out the way they did," Darsumi added.

Bones nodded, feeling a mix of gratitude and relief. "I appreciate that. It's not often I meet people willing to take things in stride as you both have."

Darsumi smiled. "Well, we’ve been around a while and seen our share of strange things. But you, Bones, are a first."

Bones chuckled, "I aim to be memorable. I don't know what you thought of me, but my past isn't as important. What I want to share is that I was born and lived in a time before the system," Bones said, pausing to see if the dwarves would react. When they didn't, he continued. "I was a mage, average in skill. The only special thing about me was my affinity for Soul Magic, which at that time was almost unheard of. I wasn't particularly strong compared to other mages and I was nearing my end when... through a series of events, let's call them that, my soul became embodied in a recently raised skeleton."

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait..." Darsumi interjected. "That day with the necromancer and the undead army..."

Bones nodded. "Yes, that was the night. When I came to, I was in the body of a skeleton, looking at the transparent blue screen in front of me. Now that I think back, I must admit I was pretty distraught and could have handled my actions better back then."

There was a brief silence before he added, "I think that's pretty much it. I met a few adventurers on the way to Westbrook, met Silva there, and from there on, I mostly went with the flow."

"Huh, 'nd I called ye a lad when yer as old as... well, very old! I thought ye were one of 'em enlightened ones or an experimenting type ‘nd ye did this to yerself!"

"You're not far off, Hem, but no. I am the result of the system... Honestly, I was expecting more of a reaction from you two. That’s a pretty big bomb I just dropped! Wait, what do you mean by the enlightened ones?”

Hemdus shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it's a first for me, but it's not the worst thing I've heard," he remarked. Darsumi, deep in thought, nodded in agreement with Hem. "You do look a bit deflated," Darsumi added with a chuckle then explained the term 'enlightened' is used to describe sentient monsters, those who've risen above their primal urges.

“Knowing you're a product of system shenanigans is actually reassuring. It also explains why you have so many weird questions! Though, I must say, your story could use some embellishment…"

Bones gasped dramatically. "Oh? My story is lacking, is that so? Then what about you two? Why don’t you tell me what's up with you two!"

The two dwarves exchanged a glance, and Hemdus innocently replied, "Whatever do ye mean, Boney?"

"Since I shared, it’s only right for you to share as well, no?" Bones pressed on. "It didn’t strike me as odd at first, but now, after all this time, I can’t help but wonder why there are so many dwarves in Stonefall of all places?!"

Before Hem could respond with a generic excuse, Bones added, “And don’t tell me the same story you told me back then! I can tell there’s more to you than just being a talented smith. There’s no point in all of you being here and stalling your progress rather than being in the capital or somewhere else for that matter.”

Hemdus looked down, gritting his teeth. “It’s not like I wanna be ‘ere…”

“We’re exiled, Bones,” Darsumi interrupted. Both Hem and Bones looked at him in surprise. “Don’t look at me like that. Just as you said, there’s no way we would be here if we weren’t forced to be here. We’re from the Ebasal Kingdom to the south and we-”

“Glorious place, Boney, just glorious!” Hem interjected, his voice filled with a pang of nostalgia. “High mountains as far as yer eyes could see! Rich soil ‘nd advanced cities! Oh, the smell of ore, Boney... takes me back…” Hem whispered the last part.

“Uh, wow, okay. What happened?” Bones asked.

"Back home, Hemdus was a renowned young smith coming from a long line of smiths, and I was, well, his cousin and a smuggler. As glorious as our Kingdom was, clans often waged wars against each other for resources. You see, our greatest weakness is that the dwarf always wants more, and our clan waged war with others over a mountain rich in ore and precious stones," Darsumi explained, taking a swig of his drink and coughing before continuing.

"Hem was one of the smiths conscripted to make armor and weapons for the clan. But me and Hem, we thought better than to just make equipment for our clan…"

"Don't tell me…" Bones interjected incredulously.

"That's right. We were selling to other clans as well as our own. Hem made the equipment, and I smuggled it. Our clan eventually won, and certain things came to light. Our families have been labeled as traitors and were expelled from the kingdom. Of course, they didn't just exile us. They blacklisted us! We won't prosper ever again no matter where we go! They wouldn't let us!"

"Damn, Dar! I didn't expect that," Bones said, glancing at Hem, who kept staring down at the table, lost in thought. "But you have a shop now?"

Darsumi shook his head. "When we first came here, we opened multiple shops in the capital. Once our reputation spread, we were quickly shut down. No doubt the work of our people. A small shop like this one and the one in Westbrook won't raise any red flags!"

Bones sighed inwardly. This is just great, Bones. Nice company you keep. Terrorists, traitors, and I guess I fall under murderer... he thought, feeling a pang of bitterness at the realization of the company he was keeping.

"I think we're done with the break. How about you show us what you're making?" Darsumi said, starting to get up.

Bones nodded and turned to Hem. "Hem? Come on, no use dwelling on the past."

sniff "Yeah, yeah… I'll be coming wit ye in a second."