Since he has decided to stay I describe the terrain of the island and the location of the various forces. I also repeat everything I know about the maker and then tell him my guesses. I also describe all of the undead I have seen her use and how I dealt with them.

Since we are going to be separated again, I make another communication amulet and give it to Bones. That way if something major happens he can get a hold of me and let me know. Barring anything major, I am fairly sure that Bones will be able to limit the maker's strength.

Unlike me, who has other things to do, Bones can focus on hunting her undead and stealing their energy. Not only will that help keep the maker from getting stronger, but it will allow Bones to get stronger. I plan to stop and pick Bones up when the ship passes by the island again.

That will give Bones a couple of weeks or so to hunt to his heart's content. Then again, knowing Bones, he will probably say he doesn't want to leave when the ship passes by. Since I can summon him, it is fine if he ends up wanting more time to play on the island.

For now I just follow behind him as he kills the undead, gathering their essence. I figure I may as well since I don't really have anything to do before tomorrow morning. Now that the murlocs are gone and no new undead are being created, their numbers are dropping fast.

At the rate Bones is killing them, the undead probably won't last until sunset. Still, I can gather essence faster than Bones can kill, so I eventually catch up. Once I do I take a break from gathering to enchant his swords with the drain effect.

As soon as both swords are done I give them to Bones and take back my hammer. Then I just stand and watch Bones start dancing around with the swords. His rate of killing the undead goes up double, maybe even triple, what it was when using the hammer.

While I was expecting a difference, I definitely wasn't expecting it to be this big. Then again, two fast weapons versus one heavy weapon is probably a big part of it. Watching how Bones moves with the swords reminds me of how Vacker moves.

It looks like leaving him to train with Vacker for so long was a really good idea. If we have some time later I definitely want to spar with Bones and see just how good he is. As long as nothing else happens, we should have some time after all of the undead are destroyed.

Once a decent number of bodies have piled up I go back to gathering essence. I manage to keep myself busy doing that for the next several hours until all the undead are destroyed. Then I gather the essence from the last few bodies, feed it to Bones, and then head for the beach.

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Bones says "Is it okay if I leave and start hunting now?"

"Actually, I want to spar with you before you leave."

Bones says "What's the point? You will win!"

"The point is to see how far you have come. Also, practicing with someone other than Vacker could help you improve."

Bones says "Alright then."

So, I create four swords of mana, shapeshift to my old form, and then we go at each other immediately. There is no slow probing, Bones comes at me aggressively right from the start. Knowing his personality I was expecting as much, so I fight back just as hard.

His skill is almost at Vacker's level, but his experience is lacking, I doubt he can win against Vacker even half the time. While my skills are not as good as Vacker's, my superior stats make up for it. Bones can't defeat me, but he does manage to give me a good workout.

After an hour of sparring I call and end to it and let Bones leave to start his hunting. Being shapeshifted for so long doesn't hurt, but it still feels good to return to my normal body. I guess I have gotten used to this new body, at least enough for it to feel comfortable.

After Bones is gone I fly to the meeting point I set with Brightfire and have dinner. Then I create a soulscape and play with the kids for most of the night. Knowing Brightfire she will keep hunting to the very last minute and only show up when she has to.

After ending the soulscape I get some sleep and only wake up when I hear movement. Opening my eyes I see Brightfire and her elves so I start taking out breakfast dishes. Once everyone is done eating I open a gate and we all return to the ship.

As soon as the gate is closed I head on deck to check on our current position. The ship is currently anchored in a cove a few miles north of the southernmost city. The city sits on the point where the coast turns to the west, as such it is a huge trading port.

As soon as I verify the position of the ship I take off and fly towards the city. Before I get too close I shapeshift into an eagle to avoid being spotted. After all, my body is obvious from a distance and it looks like that of a beast.

Since I am just scouting currently I want to keep a low profile and not alert the humans. When I reach the city I make several low passes over it while scanning with my mana. Thanks to my skills at scanning improving I don't need to land and search by scent anymore.

In a little less than an hour of flying around not only do I locate every elf in the city, but I also learn the layout. Then I fly back to the ship and call for Silverstream and Brightfire to join me. While I am waiting for them to arrive I build a sand table and use mana to make a model of the city.

When Brightfire and Silverstream arrive the locations of all the elves in the city are marked. The two of them are surprised by the sandtable model, but quickly get over it. Then they start studying the city and the locations of all of the captive elves.

Silverstream says "Do you have a plan already, Ash?"

"Basically. We will be splitting into two groups, one will enter the city with me. This time it is going to be Brightfire's team. They will be helping me retrieve all of the elves in the city. Your team will attack this city gate and hold it. Your job will be to protect the elves and get them back to the ship."

Silverstream says "Alright."

Brightfire says "Yes! When do we start?"

"Don't get overexcited, we are going to be sneaking and avoiding combat as much as possible."

Brightfire says "I know that! I am excited to save our people! They have been suffering for far too long!"