Maru ordered Sebastian to find Frank at all costs or find out what had happened to him within 3 days, Sebastian heaved a sigh of silent relief as heard the time he was giving to find Frank.
Maru gave Sebastian 3 days to find Frank because he was going to be traveling in the expanse of New Darkovia and the green expanse of the planet they had conquered to find some of the familiars his father had that had started reaping the spoils of the dominated world.
Sebastian nodded gracefully and proceeded to depart gracefully before Maru stopped him and asked:
[I couldn't help but notice the faint glowing aura, hidden within your bones.]
[Congratulations on taking the next step to true wisdom;
"Death Knight Sebastian"]
Maru knew more than anyone the amount of time Sebastian had put into mastering the old scrolls and the history of the people of Darkovia and how much despair he must have felt when his peers were advancing into the next step and claiming their place in the strands of history and shaping the world through their actions while he was just a mere skeleton knight.
Maru croaked awkwardly before he placed his hand on Sebastian's shoulder saying:
[I know you did your best to protect this place while I was gone and that you also held the training activity in my absence.]
[I just want you to know I went through a great deal of work and I sacrificed a lot while trying to recruit Frank, so please find him and if you can't find him, find out what happened to him]
[Our world is changing and we would need heroes like you to stand up to the occasion.]
[Please, don't let me down...]
With that Sebastian saluted Maru before turning around to investigate what had happened to Frank.
Maru had a forlorn look on his face as he stared at the figure of servants in his camp wondering why none of them was missing, only the most important.
He then turned to his side to head back to the inner quarters of his castle so as to prepare to visit one of his father's familiars.
He picked a cloth to wear replacing the tattered garment he was wearing, he picked up a raven black sleeveless skin suit and a dark English suit to wear.
From a distance, he appeared to be dressed in corporate attire; however, upon closer inspection, the look was far less formal, the deep outlines of the suit he wore made him look awkward like he was wearing a jacket on underwear and the skinsuit he wore clung to his skin leaving no room for air unlike the bogus suit, still he didn't mind the way he looked as he walked out of the castle that way.
The familiar he was meeting today was called Cord, Cord was one of the masters that had sent his servants to participate in the Talent Bout, the huge skeleton Frank defeated was his own and they practiced different boxing techniques like: out-boxing, brawling and a mix of boxing and punching.
Hence, he was a high ranking officer in the city called New Darkovia and he and Maru had once been friends and still were despite the fact their relationship was a bit strained because of the newly found power they both managed.
He moved quickly until he arrived at his destination, he approached a huge campanile (a eight-story Romanesque structure) in the middle of the campanile a boxing ring was found where skeletons of different sizes dueled one another for training, to prove a point, duels to death and also for fun.
Maru ignored the staring gazes of most of the skeletons, he moved forward without obstruction with no one barring his path, his face conveyed no emotion as he approached the door where his friend worked.
In a modest structure built around the campanile, a skin grafted hand pushed open the wooden door gently, there stood a skeleton unlike the others, he had bones stronger and whiter than any other skeleton around, silver chainmail and shoulder blades constructed in a Roman battle armor design, he wore segmented silver tunic above the red robes on his torso, gigantic boots made of metal that covered every part of his feet and a huge gladiator helment made with metal that had a structure that covered every part of the head except where the face was.
At the face of the helment a tight string of little chains crafted together in a neat tight structure that looked like it was moulted into form that way was created to cover the mouth and nose on the face but the eye-view of the helment was made without armor.
The helment was kept on the table while the built figure made of thick white bones wore the armor. The figure stared at Maru with a distant expression for a while before a faint light entered the figure's eye holes.
The figure extended a large bony hand to Maru as he brought his gargantuan head to focus, his head was like that of a orc but he looked like a bag of orc bones that came to life. Maru accepted his hand saying:
[How are you doing, ...old friend?]
Cord spoke in a deep voice his oversized, protruding tusks that grew from the lower jaw scraping gently on the upper jaw as he said:
[Maru, it has been a long time.]
[What brings you to this part of the city?]
Maru approached a free chair in the modest building, sat on it and said:
[I'd like to enlist your help for something.]
Cord leaned on the large table that was in his office of sorts as he said:
[Hope you remembered the pact we made the last time we banded together to face a great calamity or has constant idleness made you forget it.]
Maru had a grim expression and a few moments passed before he said:
[I remember...]
[I, Maruti of the Rigveda, challenge you, Ma Cord, to a duel.]
[Do you accept?]
Cord had an expression of utter amusement as he said:
[I accept.]