When I opened my eyes, Elincia was still sleeping by my side. Technically, by Loki’s side. The Changeling was comfortably curled between us, still in its dog form. I stretched my back. At some point in the night, I had been banished from the warmth of the enchanted blanket, probably by the joint efforts of Elincia and Loki. My lower back was cold.

I rolled onto my back and raised my body. Dassyra was sitting silently by the brazier, observing the contents of a black kettle. She gave me a quick smile and invited me to join her with a movement of her head.

“It’s good to see Wolfie having such a healthy couple as a model for romantic relationships.” Dassyra greeted me.

I wasn’t ready for that kind of statement so early in the morning.

“We are not like that.” I replied, holding my hands near the bright embers.

A quick scan revealed the iron brazier was embedded with fire mana.

Dassyra raised an eyebrow and grinned at me.

“Elincia is quite fond of you.”

“Lately we have grown a lot closer.” I said.

Elincia had told me about her fears about not being able to sustain the orphanage like Mr. Lowell did. She had told me about how her old companions had abandoned her. What she hadn’t told me yet, was what had happened between her and her only friend. Risha.

“So… Risha was a half orc too?” I asked.

Dassyra's eyes lit, as if she had understood something.

“Risha is my nephew. My sister wasn’t a great mother so she left the baby at the Caretaker’s orphanage when he was very young.” Dassyra replied. “Risha came to visit quite often so the elders believed he would eventually return to live among the tribes.”

“But he didn’t.” I pointed out.

“No, he didn’t.” Dassyra said as she prepared tea. “I don’t know what else to tell you. Risha was a half-orc but he grew as a human. You will have to ask Elincia if you want to know more.”

“Are you two talking about me?”

Elincia’s voice sent a shiver down my spine but then I remembered she couldn’t understand us. She could understand her name, though.

“Rob was explaining to me how pretty you are.” Dassyra replied before I could say anything.

I gave her a dirty look.

Elincia ignored Dassyra’s words. Then, she stood up and jumped a few times on her wounded leg. I looked at her with an horrified expression.

“Good as new, with no secondary effects.” Elincia announced with a wide smile. “It seems our little project was a success.”

If a high quality Health Potion could heal a pierced muscle in the span of a night, they might be expensive as hell. It was basically a ‘Get out of jail free’ card for serious injuries. A smile tugged my lips. With the threat of a Monster Surge, the price of potions must’ve skyrocketed.

Dassyra raised an eyebrow, watching Elincia dancing with Loki.

They made the cutest pair.

“Don’t let orcs know you were brewing potions inside the camp if you want to remain alive.” Dassyra said with a sour voice.

“Thanks for the heads up.” I replied, still in English.

“Could you stop flaunting your [Master of Languages] for one second?!” Elincia grunted as she joined us around the magic brazier. “It sounds like you two are flirting.”

“I’d never flirt with one of my student’s parents.” I quickly said.

“Good.” Elincia replied.

Dassyra hid her amusement and served us tea. I got the uncomfortable jackalope cup for the second time, and wondered why anyone would bother saving it during an evacuation. It didn’t even look like it was easy to pack without breaking the antlers. Dassyra smirked as I tried to drink without poking my own eyes.

I left the cup on the table and pulled the broken Slime Core from my pocket.

“You know it's useless if it's broken, don’t you?” Dassyra said.

“I figured that much. This is just a memento.” I replied.

I didn’t need [Identify] to know the core was completely busted, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to get a better look at it.

“If you continue speaking that way, I’m leaving you in the Farlands.” Elincia angrily said.

I massaged my temples. She was cute even when she was throwing a fit.

‘Man, I’m down bad.’ I thought.

Dassyra emptied her teacup and excused herself by saying she had to talk with her scouts. Elincia and I were alone once again. I couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.

“About what you said last night…” I tried to ask, but Elincia cut me off before I’d finished the sentence.

“If I said something weird I’m sorry, it was probably the potion’s side effects.” Elincia replied as she removed the bandages from her leg. Other than a small mark the size of a penny, the wound was completely gone. “Did I say something weird?”

I shook my head.

“Is your leg ready to travel back to Farcrest?” I asked, changing the topic.

“My whole body is ready to travel back to Farcrest.” Elincia gave me a thumbs up.

I wanted to be far from the orc's territory before they realized the amount of corruption on my character sheet.

When Dassyra returned from her morning report, she found us preparing our backpacks. She stood in the doorway and gave us a tired smile. “I’m gonna miss you, Rob. These muscle-heads didn’t even try to learn to speak English.” Dassyra said.

“What did she say?” Elincia instantly inquired.

“She said she’ll miss our company.” I replied with a stone cold face.

Dassyra seemed to find a perverse pleasure in triggering Elincia.

“You two are just too amusing.” Dassyra continued.

Elincia raised an eyebrow.

“Thank you, you are very kind.” I said with a polite tone.

“Come on, Rob. Don’t be mad, I have goodbye presents.”

Dassyra grabbed a small chest and slid it over the table. Elincia seemed to forget any grudge she had against the orc woman and looked at the chest with shining eyes. I also smiled, my RPG-sense was pleased at the sight of a proper reward.

Dassyra opened the lid and revealed a set of two silver rings decorated with vines and leaves. For a moment I doubted they were nothing more than a ploy to Dassyra to play wedding with us.

“Rob, can you put one of the rings in Elincia’s hand, if you would be so kind.”

“Dassyra, please.”

“I swear it’s nothing weird.” Dassyra raised her hands in the air.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I sighed, but ultimately complied. I grabbed Elincia’s hand and put the ring. Then, she did the same with me. During all the process, Dassyra looked at us with a big and dumb grin on her face.

Other than the beautiful design, I didn’t notice anything special about it. Then, I felt a small tug on my hand. Elincia must’ve felt the same, because when we extended our arm in the direction of the tug, our hands met in the middle.

“The rings search for each other, that way you two won’t get lost, even if you get separated.” Dassyra explained. “See? Nothing weird. It’s very handy to travel through the Farlands.”

Elincia’s eyes shone as she examined the ring. An enchanted item was an enchanted item no matter how small it was.

Elincia was telling me how cool the rings were when Loki suddenly morphed into its mouse form and jumped on the table. The Changeling walked directly to Dassyra and raised its arms, as if asking for a reward itself.

Dassyra smiled and gave Loki a silver coin.

“Damn beast!” Loki happily said as the coin disappeared inside a swirl of black mana.

“I’m sorry for not supporting the orphanage all these years. When I left Wolfie in the Old Caretaker’s hands, he told me it wasn’t necessary.” Dassyra said.

Elincia downplayed it with a gesture of her hand. During Mr. Lowell’s era, the orphanage had experienced its golden age.

Then, Dassyra pulled a Slime Core and a pouch with orc silver from the chest.

“I trust you’ll find a use for it.” Dassyra said before standing up and guiding us to the outskirts of the camp.

“Do you want me to give Wolf a message?” I asked as our departure was imminent.

“No. He already knows everything I want to tell him.” Dassyra replied. “If you ever return to the Farlands, come to visit.”

We waved goodbye and walked into the forest.

* * *

Elincia grabbed my hand and we ran up the hill. The bodily fatigue and the mental exhaustion accumulated from days trekking through the Farlands suddenly disappeared as we reached the last hill before our destination. Home.

The trip back had been incredibly uneventful. Perhaps it was the absence of the Lich, perhaps it was my corruption, or perhaps there just wasn’t anything stupid enough to get in our way back home. Most probably, every monster in the vicinity had run away from the Lich’s presence. Whatever the happenstance, the trip back was much faster than when we had left. We were finally in the homestretch.

We climbed the last slope with renewed strength.

Farcrest was still a small speck of wood and black stone in the middle of abandoned farmland. A hundred small trails of smoke raised from within the walls and small carts traveled through the door, carrying the last crops before the winter descended into the valley.

“Something is happening.” Elincia’s voice suddenly became concerned.

Mmana swirled around her eyes giving them a subtle emerald glint. Other than a few campfires way over the northern farmlands I didn’t catch anything suspicious.

“The Marquis deployed the guardsmen along the border.” Elincia said.

“Are they waiting for us?” I tried not to sound too afraid.

It couldn’t be that the Marquis already knew about our plans of crashing his potion monopoly.

“They are raising barricades.” Elincia squinted her eyes. A great amount of mana surrounded her eyes. She was pushing her skill to the limit. “This isn’t about us. This is about the Monster Surge. We should hurry up.”

My mind went to the kids.

“But we defeated the Lich.” I pointed out.

“The Lich spells must’ve displaced powerful monsters and created a chain effect. Monster Surges are always like that.” Elincia explained.

I nodded in silence. The prospect of packs of Black Wolves, Stone Giants and armies of Slimes attacking Farcrest sent a shiver down my spine. With the corruption flowing through my body and my mana pool crippled, I could hardly protect the orphanage if the Monster Surge went out of control.

Even if Farcrest seemed to be close, we didn’t reach the outskirts of the farmlands until afternoon. More than a hundred guardsmen worked tirelessly to raise defensive structures around the mills, grain silos, and leather workshops outside the city walls. Even from a great distance I could realize their movement was frantic.

“The guardsmen are really useful when they are not intimidating orphanage caretakers.” I growled as a watchman spotted us coming out of the forest.

There were wooden barricades being erected around the perimeter of the farmlands, with sharp stakes pointing outwards and bulwarks to break any group attack. The old watchtowers were being reinforced and surrounded with deep trenches filled with traps.

The mill and the leather workshop were also being reinforced with sturdy wooden doors and sandbags around the perimeter. It was clear that the Marquis wasn’t taking any chances with the safety of Farcrest food and goods production.

“This way.” Elincia grabbed my hand and guided me through the main road.

I assumed the watchman had signaled Elincia to avoid any hidden traps reserved to monsters. Despite my paranoia being at its peak, the guardsmen didn’t even raise their heads as we moved through the construction site.

“Master Clarke!” A familiar voice caught my attention.

I turned around to find the Marquis’ Court Scholar walking down the road. I closed my eyes and searched in the deep records of my brain for his name. Without [Awareness] everything was harder to remember. Abei.

“Master Abei! It’s been a while.” I saluted the old man.

“Indeed, I did not expect to meet again in this situation. The Sentinels had alerted us of an imminent Monster Surge so I had to see it with my own eyes. Those unwashed brutes call every single stray Stone Giant a Monster Surge.” The Scholar complained.

Abei’s jolly voice made me think he ignored my impasse with the Marquis’ guardsmen during the last Tax Season. He ignored it or he simply didn’t care. Suddenly, Abei seemed to notice my ragged attire and her eyes opened wide.

“Don’t tell me you were into the Farlands?” He seemed horrified.

Elincia gave me a stealth punch on the side.

“Eh… I heard there was an orc settlement nearby, so I thought about establishing contact in hopes to study their culture.” I said. Sometimes, my lying skills surprised me.

Abei was dumbfounded.

“I’m well aware of the orc settlement nearby but… why would anybody waste their time with a bunch of loincloth-wearing brutes when there is so much study material in Farcrest’s Library?” Abei seemed truly confused.

Elincia bumped me with her elbow once again.

“Knowledge can be found in the most unusual places, Master Abei. Human intellect is infinite but sometimes our own preconceptions slow us down.” I replied with a beatifical voice.

Something seemed to click inside the old man’s brain.

“Of course! Now I understand why you have obtained the Silver Scholar title at such a young age. I’m a poor excuse of a Scholar for not realizing earlier. Curiosity is the fuel that gives life to our class!” Abei’s eyes shone with confidence and a glint of madness.

“Y-yeah, of course you are right, Master Abei.” I stuttered.

My [Teacher’s Bullshido] seemed to be on point even after an exhausting two weeks in the Farlands.

“I’m ashamed that a young man half my age had to lecture me about my own class, but as you say, knowledge could be found in the most unusual places.” Abei nodded as if he had found transcendent knowledge. “I won’t take any more of your time, Master Clarke. You are welcome to visit the Scholar’s tower any time you want. I’d love to hear your masterclass in orc culture.”

Without any flourish, Abei continued his way to supervise the construction of defensive structures.

“Tell me I’m not the world’s greatest liar.” I bragged, taking a drink from my waterskin.

“If you ever lie to me like that, I’ll punch you in the ear.” Elincia quickly walked past me.

I knew Elincia well enough to know she wasn’t really mad at me. She was scared of something, I couldn’t blame her for her words. We jogged down the cobbled path. My feet hurt due to the hard boots but my desire to reach the orphanage was stronger.

As we reached the northern gate, a pair of guards blocked our way.

“The gates are closed.” One of the men said under his helmet. He was fully cladded in armor to the point I couldn’t even see an inch of his skin. They were ready for battle.

“Then open them.” Elincia growled impatiently.

“You’ll have to go to the southern gate. This gate remains closed.” The guard replied.

The southern gate was a good two hours of walking around the walls.

“Open the service door, your job is to protect civilians like us.” Elincia raised her voice to the guard’s amusement.

“Or what.” The second guard said, opening his visor. A cruel smile of yellow teeth peeked through his lips.

I didn’t need my [Awareness] to know he was the kind of guard who had more than a few levels on [Coercion] and [Intimidation]. Power positions always called the scum of society. I had worked in public schools for too many years to not know half of the teachers were drunk on power to some extent.

“Hey, hey, let me handle this okay?” I placed my hands on Elincia’s shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. She seemed to get my intention because she let me drag her back.

“Gentlemen. We were trapped in the Farlands during the Monster Surge, none of us is a combatant class so we just want to get to the safety of our home.” I calmly said as I grabbed the grip of my sword.

“That’s a training sword, kid. You don’t fool me.” The guard laughed.

I wondered why everybody I knew thought I was younger than I looked.

“Last chance.” I said as I slowly surrounded my blade with blue mana.

So far so good. My hands and feet became cold as my mana pool quickly started to deplete. My chest tightened as if the dark substance inside my body contracted like a dying spider. [Mana Manipulation] wasn’t one of the corrupted skills and I had to know how much I could push it before the Corruption affected me.

I made a quick motion with the blade perfectly honed from my years of training. The blade cut the cobbled path like a hot knife through butter, making the guards recoil and tighten their grips on their spears.

“Open the service door.” I said. “Please.”

This time, the guards rushed to comply and stepped back several steps for us to go through. I put the sword inside its sheath and invited Elincia to go first. I glared one last time at the guards with the hope they remembered my face the next time. They slammed the door behind me.

“So manly.” Elincia said in a mocking tone.

“So manly.” Loki parroted.

Of course, the Changeling had remained inside my pocket for the duration of the altercation. I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. My face was covered in sweat and my hands trembled. Apparently, my limit was only a few seconds of [Mana Manipulation].

“What were you thinking?!” Elincia’s demeanor changed instantly. “If you push it, it will only get worse.”

“I just want to meet the kids.”

Elincia sighed.

“Let’s go then.”

I nodded and we continued through the deserted town. There were very few people roaming around the streets, and the ones we bumped into quickly went out of our way. Maybe Mimics were more common than I expected.

I opened the orphanage’s iron gate, careful not to ruin my makeshift fix.

For the first time in weeks, I breathed in peace. Elincia seemed to feel the same because she put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a wide smile. Our mission was complete. We had gathered the resources and we had brought them safely to the main base.

From the backyard, I heard the sound of swords clashing.

“Let’s see what they are doing.” Elincia said with a mischievous smile.

We sneaked by the side of the manor, following the sound of the sparring. Elincia put her finger on her lips and we peeked over the old shed. My blood froze. A man with dark, unkempt hair raised his sword at Firana, ready to deal the lethal blow.