Eric realized he was being rude. “I'm sorry, my name is Eric, we weren't really introduced.”
The scrawny orc with the green-brown hair laughed, “I am Tosh,” Then he pointed at a female orc who was nearly 7 feet tall, with all proportions matching, then a chest twice as large as he expected from that size woman. Her hair was nearly black, only a touch of green, and her skin was likewise the darkest green of the group. “Kentra.” A slightly shorter orc, stocky, with nearly white hair, though he didn't look old, was named “Thod.” Finally a bald, pale orc with less muscles, wearing a robe and holding a staff was “Gendrick.”
Eric nodded at each of them as he was introduced. Tosh then asked “Would you like to hunt wind-spinners with us?” Eric saw a small notification box and realized he hadn't been checking things. He opened it and saw:
Quest available, kill or help kill 5 wind-spinners, reward 200 XP, increased favor with the orcs, magic improvement.
Eric realized he should check for other messages, and a flood appeared:
Redemption chosen, you have decided to forgive those who killed your friends...mostly. 600 XP gained, Orcish Leather Jack gained.
Level gained! HP increased 13>20, MP increased 15>24, 1 free attribute point-error, allocated to Cha due to hidden trait, 4 free skill points, 2 free ability points, long-stride ability gained, due to player choices, long-stride ability can affect up to 6 allies.
Personal Quest given: I didn't fight the law and the law won, work with human and other law enforcement to deal with the man who tried to kill you.
Honor the Fallen, you have expended time and resources to honor your friends, reward, increased standing with the orcs,
Personal Quest given: Action must be taken, negotiate peace between humans and orcs, or join a war on one side or the other.
Personal Quest given: I just work here, determine how your job affects the system, and vice-versa.
A heavy lump of leather, neatly folded, hit the ground next to him. Eric ignored it for now. He wasn't sure how to deal with all this, especially the level, but he realized he had the perfect source of advice and help. “Tosh, how do I, um, level?”
“Kill beasts and foes, complete quests, live life well.” Tosh answered, grinning.
Eric suppressed a sigh, “No, I mean, I just reached level 2, and I have no idea what free points are or anything.” He explained what his status looked like, pulling it up to better share the information:
Eric Brown, Traveler 2, 1250/2500 XP to next level
HP 13>20, MP 15>24
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 12>13
Skills Diplomacy 1, Insight 0, Perception 0, Wilderness Survival 4, Mapping 1, Pathfinding 3.
Abilities Escape, Bypass, Wind Slash, long-stride (group of up to 7)
Unused skill points 8, unused Ability points 4
Unread messages 0
The orcs laughed a bit, but it was good natured teasing. It was Gendrick who spoke first, “You should use your free skill points and free ability points to boost your skills and abilities. Your skills will grow naturally as you learn, but you can put skill points into a skill and improve it without training or practice. You can even use free skill points for skills you don't have, you have not mentioned a weapon skill. Ability points can be used to improve an ability, or gain a new one from the system, but that can be risky if you don't know what abilities are out there. You can also learn abilities from others, but unless you use ability points, they will grow more slowly.”
Thod nodded, “You need a weapon skill...and a weapon. Probably a spear or staff.”
Eric suddenly remembered the orc staff he had gained from the quest, embarrassed that he had left it in his boss's office. Rubbing his head he admitted “I kinda got a staff, and it has a spear-point on one end, but I forgot it.” Eric was glad that the facepalm was apparently a human thing, as otherwise he was pretty sure he would have gotten four of them. “So I should get staff or spear skill?” He asked, hoping to change the subject.
Tosh nodded, “Yes, staff if you expect to mostly use magic to fight, it will aid you with spells and provides good defense, spear if you plan to fight like a warrior.” He looked at Gendrick “No offense.” The bald orc just gave Tosh an evil grin.
Eric nodded, “OK, so I just think 'staff skill 1?' or something?
Staff Skill gained at level 1, two skill points used.
“OK, that worked, but why did it use two skill points.”
Both Tosh and Gendrick were shaking their heads, and Kentra was smirking at him. Tosh explained “It takes one skill point to gain a new skill at level 0, which is what you will want to do in the future. It is very easy to get to level 1 with a skill, so spending skill points on the first level, or even the second, is generally a waste. But it is a small matter. Go fetch your staff, and return, we will meet you here when you return.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Eric began to move towards the portal when Kentra said “Aren't you forgetting something?” Eric paused, wondering what faux pas he had committed, when she pointed at the bundle of leather.
He picked it up, and it shook out into something like a leather t-shirt, with metal rods sewn into it for extra protection. He saw it was similar to what Thod wore, though Tosh was shirtless. Shrugging, he put it on, then realized he had plenty of mana. “Escape.” Eric said, and was standing outside the rift on the Earth side.
He biked all the way to work, his normal bus not running on weekends. Luckily his boss's office was unlocked, he grabbed his staff, walked out, then returned, writing a quick note 'Sorry I forgot my staff in your office, I have it now, Eric.'
His first thought was to use his escape skill again, but he quickly realized a few problems. First, he would leave his bike behind, the time he saved using the skill would be far less than the time it would take to walk back for his bike. Second, he wasn't sure if the rift to the Orc world, Ba'ruq, was the closest rift, if he ended up in another new world he would have to leave, walk to his bike, then bike closer to 'his' rift. Third, while he had regained some mana, he was still down 5, and it was probably 5 miles back to the rift, so he would have less than half his mana.
The bike ride went quickly, and he realized why when he passed one of those radar “your speed is” signs. He was biking at 40 mph! He looked down and could see his mana interacting with his legs, though he didn't know why. He got back to the rift, entered, and found the new group of orcs.
“Eric, you return, and armed!” Tosh nodded.
“Yeah, it isn't easy to carry a staff on a bike.” Eric complained.
“What is a bike?” Tosh asked.
Eric rubbed his head, “Um, it is a mount, but not alive, instead I use my legs to make it move a lot faster than I could walk.” He wasn't sure he was explaining it well, but the orcs nodded.
Tosh asked “So why not just put your staff in your inventory?”
“My what?”
Tosh sighed, “Think of putting your staff away.” Eric did, and his staff vanished! Seeing his panic, Tosh said “Now think of it back in your hand.” Suddenly Eric was holding it again. “You are like a newborn pup, did no one teach you the system?”
Eric sighed, “No, no one did, not only is our world new to the system, but I haven't really had good interactions with any humans with levels.” As he thought about it, why didn't the adventurers he met keep their guns and other weapons in their inventory, was this something people didn't know about?
Gendrick waved a hand, “We are here to hunt wind-spinners, not jabber.” Tosh opened his mouth, then thought better of it, and nodded.
The area they were in was similar to the American southwest, complete with large pillars of rock and plateaus. The orcs took him up a narrow path to such a plateau, but stopped before they reached the top. Gendrick asked Eric “Do you have a ranged attack?”
“Um, I think Wind Slash is ranged.”
Gendrick looked surprised, then pleased. “After the hunt would you be interested in trading spells? I will teach you Sun Bolt if you teach me Wind Slash.”
“That sounds great, but, um, I've never used Wind Slash.”
“Then you will attack first. Once we send off our spells, move to the top of the plateau and let the warriors defend us.” Gendrick ordered.
Eric peered over the edge, seeing birds that looked somewhat like Eagles, but with blue feathers, some with white patterns. The birds were in three pairs, each near what he took to be a nest of dry sticks and feathers. Luckily, none of the 'nests' were near the narrow path, being thirty to fifty feet away, and maybe fifteen to twenty feet between nests. He pointed at one and said “Wind Slash?” He didn't see his attack, but the bird he was pointing at squawked as green blood flew. A moment later Gendrick waved his hand and a yellow bolt buried itself in another bird.
Gendrick hurried him to the top of the plateau and the three warriors took station around them. The four unhurt birds screeched in anger and took off, flying towards the group. The bird Gendrick had hit wasn't moving, but Eric's target started to move slowly towards the group on foot. As the birds got closer, Eric realized they were larger than he thought, maybe a fifteen foot wingspan. They had been twice as far away as he had estimated based on thinking they were Eagle sized.
As the birds dived on the group, Gendrick sent another sun bolt into a bird, it crashed into Eric, but luckily was dead when it did. It still covered him, and he heard grunts of pain from the orcs. Pushing the huge bird off of him, Eric sent a desperate “Wind Slash” at one of the birds. He missed the bird's body, but clipped it's wind, causing it to spin and slam into the ground. Gendrick took down the last bird flying, and Eric noticed two birds downed by spears and swords.
Then Gendrick moved towards the last bird, the one Eric hit first, it screeched angrily at him, but the orc moved forward, and cast a spell. Suddenly the bird took to the air, circled the plateau once, and landed back on her nest.
The orcs collected the corpses of the five dead birds, and Gendrick explained, “By leaving one alive, she will feed the chicks, and with luck, many will survive, meaning more feathers in the future.” Eric had thought they were trying to wipe out a dangerous pest, but now he understood it was a hunt. Gendrick used healing magic on the other orcs, then on a gash on Eric's leg that he hadn't noticed, adrenaline had dulled his attention.
Tosh said “By right of hunt, one of the birds is yours.”
Eric thought about it, but had no idea what to do with a bird that size, especially when it weighed more than he did. “No, I should just head home.” He noticed a notification, and opened it:
5 wind-spinners killed! 200 XP gained, Wind Slash ability now at level 2, orc friend upgraded to orc companion.
Eric and Gendrick spent some time teaching each other spells, and Eric left the rift with Sun Bolt. He used Escape to leave the dungeon, then rode his bike home. Sunday he rested, having had a stressful week, and Monday he was ready to go back to normal work. He was able to look up contact information for Agent Kendra Parks and sent her a report about there being rifts in the Orc world to other worlds than Earth, and the Orcs trading with Dwarves.
Then he went back to his usual work, he was in a distance meeting with the county clerk and a rep from the wastewater utility of Applebury, going over what they were missing and what they needed to gather, when he got an e-mail. He had another one by the time the meeting was over, from the same address. The first read:
> Mr. Brown,
>
>
>
> I understand you have entered a rift and gained a system class. All EPA employees who have this experience are being recruited to the new Dungeon Protection Office of the EPA. The DPO has been established as a subsidiary agency of the EPA to monitor the impact on local ecosystems from rift incursions and to regulate ecosystems found within the rifts. As the senior such employee in Pheonix, I am placing you in charge of Arizona and the rest of region 9. You will report directly to myself, and I have attached a list of 5 employees who will now report to you. Please focus on determining the locations and ecosystems of all rifts in your region and identifying threats to local ecosystems. I would like to communicate with me as soon as possible, so please call me as soon as you receive this.
>
>
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> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Monika Stonehew, Dungeon Protection Office Director, Environmental Protection Agency.
The second read:
> Mr. Brown,
>
>
>
> I was expecting a call by now, your calendar does not indicate that you have the day off. I have spoken to your former supervisor and he spoke well of you, but you are not meeting my expectations.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Monika Stonehew, Dungeon Protection Office Director, Environmental Protection Agency.
Eric sighed and dialed the number.