“You’re the enemy, motherfucker!” Ron roared, spittle flying in Eric’s face. “Admit it! We’re just pawns in your twisted game. Our delve was disrupted and we’re conveniently rescued by the man who has every reason to hunt down the children of the administrators who sentenced him to death? Bullshit!” His crimson blade pricked Eric’s flesh, drawing blood. “Admit it, asswipe. You’d happily destroy us all!”

Eric clenched his jaw with bitter heat. Ignoring the sting of Ron’s blade.

He forced himself to meet the horrified young faces looking his way.

Of course Yuki wasn’t among them.

He had no doubt she was positioning herself to dispatch him even now.

Unified Perception Check: Success!

Good thing he had a decent eye for shadows.

He belted his words out, leaving no room for error or doubt.

“If that was the case, Ron, why did I risk my ass taking down ten of these fucking minotaurs while your so-called charges were getting overwhelmed? Considering that I gave my word not to cause any of you deliberate harm… as you yourself swore, Rony-o,” he said, with a pointed look at the trickle of blood coming from the tip of the blade pressing against his kidney.

“So, if I wanted you dead, why didn’t I just do nothing and let those bad-boys bum rush you all when I could have accomplished my ‘mastermind objective’ without a single bit of strain to my cultivation base, which is a fuck-ton more sensitive to that sort of thing than a System Classer’s progression?”

Eric shook his head, hand snapping forth in the instant Ron was distracted to snatch away the man’s sword. Then, before the asshole could even blink, Eric grabbed the man under the neck and tossing him a surprised Yuki’s way, all done so smoothly that Ron hadn’t even finished opening his mouth before crashing into Eric’s target.

Eric smirked at a flustered Yuki who was slammed out of shadow, her naginata dropping to balance a toppling Ron.

“Really, Yuki?”

She flushed, before crossing her arms and huffing. “Fuck you, Eric Orcbane. I was only going to kill you if you actually attacked us.”

Eric smirked. “Well that’s alright, then. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to collect some arrows and crafting supplies.”

Eric did his best to ignore the haunted looks he was being given as he casually plucked his arrows free of massive minotaur corpses before claiming both them and their massive axes. Countless tons worth of flesh and incredibly heavy potency-infused steel… and he hardly felt any strain to his ES Space at all.

“Damn, that is one fine ability you chose, Eric,” Steve said with a pained smile. “Anyone who says you wasted a node after storing twenty fucking tons of meat and axes is an idiot.”

Eric smiled down at the young wizard, sensing so much anxiety and dread beneath the boy’s anxious smile.

“I can’t help but note that you’re losing a fuck ton of blood.”

Steve closed his eyes and whimpered a chuckle that became a groan. “Fuck, yes I am. And the potion Emily tried to give me… I told her it wouldn’t work, not with the path I walk. There’s no Blood Magic, just arcana in it!” He whimpered in laughter. “Why are crooked paths so goddamned painful?”

Eric flashed the youth a gentle smile. “Believe me, I’ve asked myself that question more than once. I’m still looking for an answer.”

Steve sighed, eyes growing distant as he smiled up at Eric. “Is this where you’re going to kill us all?”

Eric snorted. “Fuck no. Not until you tell me all your delicious secrets.”

Steve smirked. “I have no secrets. Or do you mean this?” He opened his hand, forming a fresh pool of blood, from which a black book formed, covered in obsidian flames. “A fortuitous encounter. An artifact that promised me a path far beyond what a desperate Conscript hoping only to be able to afford a wand and one day walk an Arcanist’s class could have hoped for.”

He swallowed, gazing up at Eric with desperate eyes. “You don’t have to kill me to get the secrets, either. You just need a class change. But, um… it does drain Vitality. And Life force. And potency. By which I mean, it claims a fraction of your experience points. Anyway, you have to really know what you’re doing and invest in the right stats, or you’ll be a shriveled up old man before you know it.”

Eric nodded. “Yeah, I know what that’s like. Now, how about you put that away and we work on fixing you up?”

Steve gave him a shaky smile. “I wish. The only one of us who even knows how to stitch a wound is Yuki. Emily’s mom can hook us up with potions that work wonders on everyone but me. But that shit’s expensive, and we hate owing her favors. So mostly, we just keep the wizards out of trouble and wait a single hour for everything to… fuck, it hurts!”

Eric gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know. One hour’s almost perfect stillness or Rem sleep. But when your entrails are torn open and blood loss exceeds your regeneration rate and you’re in too much pain to sleep and writhing too much to be perfectly still to trigger a one hour System reset, you’re kind of fucked.”

“I know,” Steve sobbed. “I’m fucking living it!”

“So, let’s fix that.”

Blood Mastery skill check made! You have successfully reclaimed blood of associate: Steve.

Blood has been successfully cleansed of pathogens (Essence of flame) and returned to host. Wound has been sealed.

Patient has been stabilized.

Steve choked off a cry, eyes bulging as he mewled with agony when Eric pressed his open palm against the blood pouring out of him. Blood that suddenly became a living thing that gripped its own body’s intestines before crawling back inside its host, crimson tendrils of blood then squeezing tight to the wound, cutting off the blood-loss completely after paying its respects to the savior of its host.

Emily was gazing at Eric with open-mouthed horror as Steve collapsed with a groan.

“Wow. That was some fucked up tentacle shit,” Yuki whispered.

Jack just stared. “Did Steve’s blood just scoop up his own entrails like a living fucking thing?”

Eric grinned. “Of course. Blood is alive, after all.”

Jack blinked. “Well, yeah, but it doesn’t normally grow limbs or pop out glowing red eyeballs before saluting you.”

Eric shrugged. “You say tomato, I say Rank 30 Blood mastery.”

Jack whistled. “Rank 30 Blood Mastery. Elite tier.”

“I know. Awesome, isn’t it?”

“Fucking absurd.” Jack’s grin matched Eric’s own as he kissed his Javelin that Eric now recognized as an extremely powerful arcane construct that Jack could clearly summon at will. “Elite tier is where it’s at, after all.”

“So, Eric, what happens now?” Asked Yuki, leaning against her Naginata.

Eric frowned, gazing up at the ruins of the keep. “Now, I think we need to face facts.” He ignored the sudden sense of tension his words brought. “We can’t stay here. Whatever role the fort served, plugging up a lost delve entrance that you could clear passage by passage, here in what might be the heart of the maze, or at least a main thoroughfare… now it’s doing nothing but attracting attention, inviting larger and larger swarms to come our way. It’s effectively a beacon. We’ll only attract more aggressive resistance, the longer we’re here.”

He quirked a wry smile. “In point of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually saw a lot less minotaurs once we start doing the maze properly and looking for an exit, or just the maze boss. Because once that’s cleared… our exit’s virtually assured.”

Yuki stared at him intently. “Who gives a fuck about the minotaurs right now, Eric?”

“Um… I do?”

She shook her head. “You know that’s not what this is about.”

“Why the fuck can’t it be, Yuki?” Jack urged. “If Eric wants to focus on clearing this maze, let’s just clear the fucking maze. Who cares about anything else?”

Yuki coldly shook her head. “It’s not that simple, Jack.”

Eric sighed, catching Yuki’s intent gaze, and Ron’s glare of absolute hatred behind her.

“And why the hell can’t it be?”

Yuki clenched her jaw, angry brown eyes pinning Alex’s own. “Because I don’t like knowing you could explode at any minute, blaming us for the shit that led to a collar around your neck! Because if the odds of us taking you on are bad now… they’ll be impossible if you take us out while were actually facing down the boss of this place! Hell, for all we know, you’ll happily use us until the final battle is over. Then, when we’re all panting with exhaustion, thinking we’re all friends… that’s when you cut our fucking throats!”

Eric sighed, gazing at Yuki for long moments. “You must have really seen some fucked up shit working for your uncle, huh?”

Her eyes flared with sudden heat, fists clenched… before her anger abruptly faded. She shook her head with soft chuckle. “Sure as hell did. Yeah.”

Eric gave a sympathetic smile. “Me too. My mom wasn’t nearly as sweet and innocent as she appeared on the big screen.”

“No shit. Your family was muscling on my uncle’s territory big-time. Blackmailed some of our favorite associates to sell out and move before we could put them all back in their place.” She shook her head with a hard little smile. “He called Aurelia Silver an ice-cold prima donna who was as vicious to producers as she was to made men, and could never get enough. Of anything.”

Eric chuckled. “Yeah, all that’s true.” His smile faded. “And you want to know something else? It doesn’t mean shit. Because all of us here? We aren’t so different. We all come from money…” He dipped his head a smirking Jack’s way. “Or are now allied to people who come from money. Ruthless people who are used to trading favors, crushing their political and professional opponents, and doing whatever it takes to get ahead.”

He didn’t flinch from their gazes. Held them all, save for Ron, who Eric already knew was a lost cause.

“And not one of them is above using their own kids as pawns in their political games. My sister was the darling little movie starlet that Mother used to stretch her empire, no matter how much it ate Elonia up inside. And me?” Eric shrugged, locking gazes with Yuki once more. “She used me in other ways.”

Yuki blinked, giving him an odd look. “She used you as an enforcer. Like my uncle did to me?”

“Certainly she trained me for something. But mostly I was just a patsy, a seeming fool that would soften up our marks with how easily I fell into trouble of all sorts. And how opportunistic assholes would swoop in, over-extending to take advantage, only to find their feet swept right out from under them. Then it’s Mother Dearest picking up the pieces of their holdings at a steep discount. As for my rap sheet and supposed criminal record?”

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Eric shrugged. “Who gives a fuck, when sentencing is endlessly deferred because we too have friends in all sorts of places? And what the hell should a gamer nerd care if some of the strange dreams he had, surrounded by beautiful loving women, were actually true? I would just laugh it off, think of it as my own private isekai adventure, and get back to my raids.”

Yuki’s gaze was filled with unexpected pity. “She used you like that? Fuck. I’m sorry, Eric. That sounds almost as bad as what...”

Eric clenched his fist. “I’m a boy. It’s different. PC bullshit aside… it’s different. Guys like the stud fantasy. Half their friends cheer them on, even if your cheeks are blazing and you can barely pay attention to the raid because you’re feeling dizzy and strange, like there are two versions of you and you’re living a double life, and most of the time, you don’t remember a goddamned thing.”

He cracked his neck, doing his best to ignore the strange look in Yuki’s eyes. “And at least I got to watch the manipulative assholes squirm when they found out that I wasn’t the only one being taped. It was my smirk they had to look at when we squeezed them for whatever they were worth, unless they wanted certain pictures to be sent to the local papers, and their employers, employees, and families.”

Eric shrugged. “I’d call it a wash. Only thing I missed out on was whatever the fuck a normal healthy relationship was. But plenty of time to figure that out later, am I right? The point is, all I see before me are survivors and fellow adventurers about my age, who were used as pawns by people hungry for power, just like I was.”

He caught Emily’s anxious gaze as he finally reabsorbed in the crimson sigils he had drawn all over his face, to serve as a final shield before recognition set in. Yet with his blood mastery being what it was… clear ivory skin, brilliant blue eyes and golden locks presented themselves in all their glory once more. Not a flaw or blemish to be seen with his absurd Vitality and an Appearance score that looked outright photo-shopped.

Emily’s cheeks positively blazed, her eyes widening with horror. “Oh fuck, it really is you. And you look even better...”

Eric had the grace to say nothing of a certain drunken party she now clearly wished to forget, noting the way she clenched Richard tightly to him, glaring his way.

“Don’t you dare say a thing!”

“Wasn’t going to.”

“So I say… fuck it. If my mom’s hell bent on ruling the Sylvan Faction through my sister? I don’t care one way or another.” Eric’s gaze hardened. “Their political games are no longer my concern.”

“Like hell it’s not your concern!” Ron snapped, ignoring Yuki’s glare. “You’re her get. Her blood… her spawn!”

Eric shrugged. “You can choose your friends...”

“But you can’t choose your family,” Jack noted, sharing a look with the others.

Eric nodded. “Exactly. As for myself? I’m a strictly free agent. I don’t ride under anyone else’s banner. Which means I’ll make my own choices as to who I call friend and foe. As long as you’re not trying to stick a dagger in my back, I think we’ve got a lot more common than all the assholes trying to play us all off against each other while they’re sitting high and dry, with no personal skin in the game at all.”

Emily gazed at Eric for long moments, before blushing and lowering her head. “I trust him.”

Yuki’s eyes widened. “Just like that? You trust him because he said some pretty words?”

Her flush grew brighter. “I trust him. Because I… know him.”

Yuki frowned. Ron’s eyes widened with sudden fury, glaring at Eric once more. “You little shit!”

“Chill, Ron,” Yuki snapped, before turning to a brightly blushing Emily, an amused smile playing across Yuki’s features. “Wait… I do seem to recall your father being in hot water a couple years ago. But nothing came of it, did it?”

“No,” she whispered, stealing a look Eric’s way before forcing out the words. “Because Eric somehow manged to destroy the files.”

The silence gained an oddly painful intensity. None of them were fools.

Steve found the strength to whistle. “Jeez, Emily. You enjoyed a night with Aurelia’s elusive scion. I’ll bet that was quite a notch in your belt, once upon a time.”

She crossed her arms and glared. “Yes. It was. And if you weren’t mortally injured, I would be kicking your ass right now. As it stands, if you say so much as breathe a word to Richard once he wakes up, I’ll shove an ice pick so far up your ass you’ll be able to give us a bird’s eye view of this entire fucking maze!”

Yuki whistled, gazing Eric’s way with an odd sort of admiration. “Wow. You actually crossed your mother playing the white night. I’ll bet she pounded your ass something fierce for fucking with her schemes like that.”

Eric shivered despite himself. “Yeah, let’s not even go there. Those days are long gone. Right, Emily?”

She smirked. “Like they never fucking happened. Because as far as I’m concerned, life started over when I met Richard.”

“Who’s parents also ran afoul of Aurelia’s schemes.” Yuki smirked. “Wow, Eric. You gonna tell me there are some sweet tapes of you and Richard somewhere? Wait, hold up! Put down the fucking staff, Emily. I was just joking around!”

“Then why the hell are you still laughing, bitch?” Emily snapped.

“Because it finally makes sense!” Yuki crowed. “Why absolutely everyone who’s anyone has a hard-on to put Aurelia’s wild child in his place! I mean, seriously. Who gives a fuck if the orcs get taken out? No one. All their righteous indignation was just a pretext to punish Aurelia for making half the elites of New York look like chumps before our world turned into fucking World of Warblades 2.0!”

Eric laughed, long and loud. “So that’s why I ended up with a collar around my neck, sending pain currents like you can’t fucking believe. Well damn if that doesn’t make so much sense I think I’m going to be sick.”

For some reason, Yuki did not look relieved. “So tell us you’re not going to kill us all for the fucked up shit you went through?”

Eric held Yuki’s gaze. “I promise you, Yuki. I have no intention of doing anything malicious or more than slightly naughty to any of you. Because you’re no more responsible for your parents’ than I am for my mother being a power hungry monster.”

Yuki furrowed her brow, warm brown eyes glaring intently into his own. “What the hell does slightly naughty mean?”

Eric winked. “It means that you’re hot as sin, and don’t seem to be attached at the hip to anyone so… yeah. We’ll see where that goes, won’t we?”

Yuki froze, giving him the strangest look, a slight flush caressing her dusky cheeks. “I thought you said you had a girlfriend?”

Eric flashed a sad smile, playboy grin fading. “Yes. A girl I enjoyed four beautiful nights with, months ago, then sacrificed more than you could imagine to save. A girl now utterly in my psycho mother’s power, and the more she thinks I care about her...” he shrugged. “Far better if Mother Dearest thinks I’m so angry that I wrote everyone in my old life off.” He flashed a bitter smile. “Even better if she never hears from me again.”

Yuki’s gaze locked with his own. “I’m pretty damn sure my uncle never had me sleeping in your bed.”

Eric shrugged. “I think you’re right. But really, who the fuck even knows? I’ll bet half of us here were being fed benzodiazepines like I was, which is great for anterograde amnesia, which means you forget what happened for a couple hours after you were drugged up. Only thing is, with all of our stats, most especially our Vitality and Scholarship being boosted… I’m guessing I’m not the only one waking up to fresh memories they had thought no more real than dreams before.”

Eric ignored Emily’s furious blush and the way Yuki looked anywhere but up at him.

“Assholes.”

Eric nodded. “That our parents definitely were.”

“He’s full of shit!” Ron glared at Eric. “Quit listening to him. He’s just fucking with your minds!”

Emily turned Ron’s way. The look she gave was cold enough to freeze him where he stood.

Jack whistled. “And I thought growing up in my old neighborhood was tough. Nothing compared to growing up as a New York Blue Blood.”

Emily sighed, rubbing her red-rimmed eyes before gently kissing a still sleeping Richard’s brow. “I told you to think carefully before you got too close to us, Jack. You know I love you like a brother after what you did for us last year. And our guild will always be your home. But, well, you already know how my dad likes to use his so-called family.” She flashed a sad smile. “He’s even using my baby brother to watch his back while he’s in...”

Her words cut off, horrified eyes gazing into Eric’s own. “Eric please! Please tell me you didn’t...”

Eric waved her concerns away. “I didn’t do anything to anyone, save put a certain gnoll Contender’s champions in their place. There was a lot of bullshit shouting, name calling, and hustling… and at the end of it all, my mother got 360,000 troops for her faction and I got a collar around my neck, and we can fast-forward this tape to right here and now.”

Jack winced. “Damn. That does sound bad.”

Eric nodded. “Especially the part where New York’s own contender deliberately maneuvers to assure the destruction of the entire band of adventurers that had dared to get so much more powerful than his 30th level ass and his cronies, after maneuvering your parents to be over a hundred miles away, doing his bidding. I mean, if you want to talk about twisted ironies, there’s a whole boatload for you, right there.”

Eric cracked his neck, taking the group’s measure. “The way I see it, it’s the goddamned gnolls and goblins that are the enemy, not a bunch of rich socialites and movie moguls still at odds with each other, and sure as hell not us, their offspring, with all of us being used as pawns for their own advancement. Screw that primo-grade bullshit. From now on, I’ll be walking my own path through life without taking anyone’s grudges on top of my own. You guys feeling me?”

Jack gazed at Eric for long moments, Emily also pinning him with her enigmatic blue eyes. Surprisingly, Steve was the first one to speak.

“I think this cat might have just saved my life… no matter how strange it was to feel my own blood pulling the wound shut… with it’s own little arms.” He gave a rueful chuckle, wincing as he shook his head. “This dude’s done more for us and our fort than any one of us did in the past month. And the minotaurs he took out… did you see the way his arrows kept hitting their mark?” He gave an appreciative whistle. “Now that’s a badass I want on my team. Not gunning for me. So as far as I’m concerned… fuck the gnolls.”

His strained smile turned dark and ugly. “You here me guys? Fuck those goddamned gnolls! They would have been cackling their asses off if they could have seen that last fight, if Eric hadn’t played super archer and saved our asses!” He clenched a trembling fist. “I say team human, all the way.”

“So do I,” Yuki said next, earning a surprised glance from Eric, whom she gave a sly grin. “Even if this cat here isn’t exactly human.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “Shit, Eric! Please don’t tell me I offended you?”

Eric smirked. “Hell no. I’m all about team human. I happen to be half human myself!”

Jack chuckled. “And half Roundear. I guess all the stories are true, huh?” He gave Eric a curious look. “Did you really eat pork at the Blue Quarter Contender’s meeting?”

Eric’s grin widened. “That’s not the question you should be asking.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Did I really do what my feasting on that succulent pulled pork implied? Because the answer, my dear Javelineer friend, is a whole-hearted fucking yes.”

Emily furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about, Eric?”

Yuki’s expression turned deadpan. “It means he’s feasted on his orc kills… giving a big ‘fuck you’ to all the orcs who consider humans little better than livestock.”

Jack whistled, duly impressed. “My man Orcbane. What a fucking badass you are.”

Eric quirked a brow. “No hard feelings?”

Jack smirked. “What, you mean being given a golden opportunity to get the fuck out of there before the inevitable confrontation with the Sylvan factions resulted in me getting my ass peppered with arrows? With the former chief falling before any pig-faced asshole could think to force me and my friends to swear oaths to another one of those psychopathic fucks? Fuck no!”

He chuckled grandly. “Fleeing that hell pit, where my choice to advance was either to endlessly hunt rats or hunt innocent people, or just as bad, elves… the only race I play in World of Warblades 2.0… was really no choice at all. It was a freekin’ godsend. You did me and a bunch of others a king-sized favor. The only people throwing hissy fits were the ones who stuck around, trying to take you out. And I haven’t heard a lick from any of those jagoffs since, so as scary as that night was...” He gazed fondly at his friends. “I’ve never regretted the opportunities that leaving that city opened up for me. I do have one question, though.”

“What’s that?”

“What does orc taste like?”

Eric laughed. “Have you ever had crispy-fried lechon?”

“My ex was Filipina. So yeah, actually.”

“It tastes exactly the same.”

“No shit?”

“Dead serious.”

“Guess we’ll have to hunt ourselves up some lechon sometime.”

The pair laughed like brothers after that, earning a hard look from Emily.

“That’s absolutely disgusting. And if you’re going to join the Silver Griffins, there will be no eating of any humanoid that looks at all like us while you’re with us. Are we agreed?”

Eric smiled. “Deal.”

“My lady, please, no!” Hissed an alarmed Ron. “Anyone would be a better fit than this savage. Lest you forget, he’s why you’re close to death right now!”

Emily gave an angry shake of her head. “Wrong, Ron. It’s because of Sylvis. Not Eric. Eric had every right to race for the only sanctuary being offered. And instead of hiding in a tunnel when he crashed through, happily letting our deaths serve as a distraction while he sneaked right past us, he dared to present himself and fight by our side.” She gave an oddly satisfied nod. “Even when all we’ve given him is grief, and not nearly the gratitude that he deserves.”

Ron angrily shook his head. “You’ve treated this murderer more than fair. Yuki even went so far as to free him from his collar! The only pressure point we had on him. Please, my lady. The boy is right on one thing and one thing alone. We need to move. And we most certainly don’t need to have him accompanying us!” He then scowled at Eric. “And if his word means anything, he will be gracious enough to part ways with us, here and now.”

Eric smirked. “Yeah… I don’t think so. How about we instead wait for Richard to wake up and then see if we can find the exit? As a team, ready and able to cover each other’s backs. And while we’re letting Richy Rich get his beauty sleep, I’ll be keeping a look out for our friends.”

To Eric’s immense satisfaction, everyone save a scowling Ron nodded in quick acquiescence.

Which was a very good thing, because fresh company was soon upon them once more.

And instead of twelve minotaurs… there were twenty.