Derek climbed into the back seat, a giddy smile on his face that reflected the excitement he could not contain.

“This is insane,” Evelyn said.

He buckled himself in. “This will be the best homecoming ever.”

Nick drove from the parking lot. Evelyn’s small smile disappeared, and instead she pointed to the area around her mouth. “What’s that on your face?”

“Hmm?” Derek pulled out his phone and turned his camera on. Streaked across part of his mouth were obvious marks of lipstick from where he and Emma had been making out. “Uh, nothing.” He worked on trying to wipe it off. “So, are there any ground rules?”

Nick turned on a blinker. “If anyone asks, we went to an ice cream shop to comfort Evelyn after a disastrous homecoming.”

“Oh?” Derek turned his attention toward her. “Was it?”

She sighed. “It was fine. Except Akshi was there. And he freaked me out.”

“Same.” Derek got the last of the lipstick off before Emma started calling him. He turned his phone on silent before smiling at Evelyn. “Hey, you look great.”

Evelyn brushed some hair off her shoulder. “I know.”

Derek chuckled, then shifted his focus to Nick. “Where are we going?”

“No idea. Milo and Grizzizzik would know where to go, though.”

Derek leaned back against the seat. “Should we portal them in?”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Nick said.

“Portal?” Evelyn asked.

Derek concentrated, feeling the pull with Milo and reaching for him. Milo and Grizzizzik both appeared in the car. Grizzizzik’s shoulder rammed into Milo’s sternum and he groaned.

“What the hell,” Grizzizzik muttered, straightening. “We’ve talked about this, Nick. I don’t enjoy being pulled like that.”

“Totally understand. But I will make it up to you by letting you give a message to your father,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of message?”

“Slaughtering the two-dozen orc army he’s beginning to collect.”

Grizzizzik paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I’d be okay with that.”

Derek turned toward Milo. “Do you know where they are?”

“They’re stupid. We can check the same place,” Milo said.

Derek placed a hand on the driver’s seat. “Head toward Aztec road.”

“On it,” Nick said.

It didn’t take long to get there, but the plan they cobbled together felt sound enough. Evelyn was smiling the entire time. Derek was beyond excited. This would be enough to push Milo into level three. His mana fusor needed the added benefits of that level. He was close to a breakthrough with red mana, and perhaps pushing another level would be the thing he needed.

Once they parked, Evelyn worked on getting Clarissa to their position while Grizzizzik and Milo scouted ahead. Derek rolled an eight, and the +2 barely made it a ten. Grizzizzik got a nineteen with his modifier, so hopefully it would be enough.

Once again, they were right outside Elmwood. Derek could see the campfire about half a mile away, and he assumed it was the orcs. He rubbed his hands in excitement.

It didn’t take long before Clarissa was teleported to their position, and Evelyn explained the plan. They had over an hour to do this, and Derek couldn’t wait to get started.

Milo, being human, didn’t have dark vision. Grizzizzik and Clarissa thankfully did. It explained why Grizzizzik was holding Milo’s wrist, leading him back.

“There are fifteen orcs down there,” the rogue said.

“Hmm, only a little more than a dozen. Where did the others go?” Nick asked.

Milo shrugged. “It’s still a lot to take on. I say we do as much as we can now while they’re sleeping. We do not want to face the full fifteen by ourselves.”

Grizzizzik nodded. “He has a point. And we don’t have all night. Let’s get a little closer and begin.”

“Help us reach them. It’s getting dark,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik begrudgingly grabbed Nick’s and Milo’s wrists and pulled them through. Clarissa helped Evelyn and Derek as they made their way in the dark, closer to the orc camp.

Their plan began. A swirl of sand circled around Clarissa, hiding her form until it dropped, revealing a wolf. Evelyn gave her a scratch behind the ears before the Clarissa wolf dashed off. Derek waited, the nerves and excitement making him incapable of holding still.

Evelyn, Nick, and Derek tried to hide. Milo got a fourteen plus two for stealth, and Derek watched him meld in with the sand. Derek didn’t know what Nick rolled for Grizzizzik, but one second Grizzizzik was standing next to him, the next he disappeared.

In the darkness, they waited. They heard the orcs before they heard Clarissa. Derek hoped she hadn’t attracted too many. It certainly felt like a lot.

Derek, who was so used to the sound, was afraid of how loud it was when Milo smacked his crossbow with his wrench. He tried to see the glow of the crossbow, but it was thankfully hidden. Milo chose acid damage bolts. Derek had watched Milo working on his crossbow the past few days, using his tools to tighten it with mana. It only took Derek a moment to realize what his mana fusor was doing. He was running out of crossbow bolts, and had specifically requested to learn the infusion of repeating shot. With how much Milo worked on it over the few days, it could now create its own bolts from mana, even if it wasn’t infused as an arcane weapon. Milo’s crossbow was swiftly becoming the most powerful weapon he owned.

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The wolf raced past him. Derek looked up to see four lumbering orcs chasing after it. Time slowed down. This wasn’t for initiative. This was a surprise shot with Milo’s crossbow.

Derek had to roll twice for disadvantage, since he didn’t have dark vision, but was happy when the lowest was a fourteen, with an added five bonus. He was not surprised to see the d8 and the d6 pop up. He gave them a good shake and got a five and a one. Disappointment came with rolling a one, but the plus three bonus made it nine total. That would be a pretty nice surprise hit.

Time resumed, and one orc bellowed as an acid bolt hit him right in the thigh. Derek winced, hoping they were far enough from the large group of orcs that no one would hear them.

One of the other orcs dropped to one knee with a rat dagger sticking out of his kneecap, which was the only hint of what Grizzizzik had done.

“Turn on your flashlights. It might help them see better,” Evelyn said.

It was mostly for Milo’s benefit, since he was a human. Derek opened his phone and turned on the flashlight, lighting the fight. Nick’s phone didn’t have that capability, but any light at all had to help.

The orcs were more surprised at the light coming from Derek and Evelyn. The four orcs turned toward them, and Derek got to see just how intimidating the seven-foot-tall orcs were. He was pretty sure they could squish Derek with no trouble at all.

Nick lifted a hand in Derek’s direction, his eyes still on the orcs. “They can’t hurt you.”

It was like Nick could read his mind. Though it gave him an idea. “It might be a great distraction, though.”

Right as he finished, time slowed down.

Roll for initiative.

This battle was going to be sick.

The dice rolled, and with everything added, Milo got an eighteen. Since this was a sneak attack, he was pretty sure the orcs would roll at a disadvantage.

Time resumed, and Derek wondered if he was supposed to see something.

“Grizzizzik missed,” Nick mumbled.

Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have dark vision. Time slowed down, and Derek made his quick decision. There was enough light from their phones that Milo was no longer at a disadvantage, which was good enough for him.

It would be stupid to choose anything other than the crossbow right now. He grabbed the d20 and gave it a good shake. It landed on nineteen, and the plus five was an easy hit. He then grabbed the floating d6 and d8, giving them a good shake, too. They landed on a four and a one. The plus three gave it a nice bump, and he chose the enemy Milo could see the clearest.

Time resumed. The orcs were confused and livid. A dangerous combination. One of them grunted in surprise as an acid bolt whacked its arm, but they were still confused about Derek and Evelyn holding the phone with light coming out of it. One orc picked up its massive great axe and swung at Evelyn. She closed her eyes, and Derek and Nick watched as the weapon sliced right through her abdomen and did nothing to harm her. Evelyn cracked an eye open, smiling.

With a snarl, Clarissa the wolf bounded out of nowhere and tackled the orc that tried to slice Evelyn in half. The orc toppled over as the wolf tore his throat open, blood going everywhere as the teeth sliced into an artery. A gurgle came out of the orc before it expired.

Derek checked his clothes to make sure the orc blood didn’t get on his suit. “Nice.”

Another orc tried to slice the wolf in half, but Clarissa leapt out of the way, snarling. The last two orcs tried to stab Derek and Evelyn with their javelins, but they moved right through.

“We should join their fights more often.” Derek lifted his arms. “We’re great distractions.”

“I don’t think many of our enemies will be as stupid as orcs,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik appeared from nowhere, making a wide slice against one of the orc’s throats before again dashing back into the shadows.

Derek couldn’t help but laugh. “Dude! That’s sick!”

“Sneak attacks are great!” Nick said.

Time came to a standstill. Derek rolled and got another nineteen. He was positively beaming. This had to be the best homecoming week he’d ever had.

With twelve total damage, Milo aimed at the orc that attacked Derek and completely obliterated him with one powerful acid bolt to the neck. The orc dropped without so much as a whimper. Derek gave Milo a thumbs up, and he returned it.

Clarissa the wolf once again leapt onto the orc Grizzizzik hit. The orc toppled to the ground as the wolf bit down on the exposed throat. The orc once again gurgled as he, too, died. Clarissa’s snout was covered in blood as she snarled.

The final orc tried once again to stick his javelin straight through Evelyn’s gut. In a way, he did, but Evelyn simply smiled as the orc grunted in confusion.

Grizzizzik appeared again out of nowhere and slammed his rapier against the orc’s thigh. The orc bellowed before collapsing.

They were down. All four orcs were dead, and it only took a few minutes. Milo and Grizzizzik brushed themselves off. Neither one of them were hurt.

Grizzizzik tried to heave one of the great axes. “How much gold do you think Calawit would give us for these? We might have quite the collection before the end of the night.”

Milo shrugged. “I have no idea, but we might as well ask when we see her next.”

“Who’s going to lug them around?” Nick asked.

“No one.” Milo put his crossbow in his inventory. “I’ll put them in my void bag.”

“You have a void bag?” Evelyn asked.

Milo reached behind him and took out one of Amanda’s reusable shopping bags. “I’ve got a lab, now. I created my own void bag.”

Derek couldn’t help it and started giggling. He’d been rolling a ton for Milo during school. He assumed it was for creating mana, but clearly, it was for something else. They watched, fascinated, as Grizzizzik and Milo stuffed huge great axes and javelins into the reusable shopping bag. It wasn’t one of his mother’s favorites, so that was good. It had a huge anthropomorphic apple, giving an enormous smile and a wave. Next to the apple was a huge ‘Muchas Gracias’ in fancy calligraphy. There was a point where Derek was certain the bag would break, but they kept sliding in the weapons like it was nothing. Clarissa, still in her wolf form, ran to get more orcs.

A hundred and thirty-three experience points dropped into Milo’s progress bar, and Derek couldn’t help but smile. By the end of the night, they were going to get to level three. He could feel it.

Clarissa brought five orcs, and the battle was about the same. It was starting to feel like a grind. The orcs were so surprised and startled by the lights that Derek, Evelyn, and Nick took the brunt of the attacks. It wasn’t hard. The orcs were so stupid they kept trying to attack them.

Milo and Grizzizzik once again put five pairs of great axes and javelins in the reusable shopping bag as Clarissa ran off for more.

Derek watched, fascinated, as they finished filling the bag with all the loot they found. Milo held the bag like there was barely anything in it before sliding it back into his inventory. From what he remembered, void bags could carry five hundred pounds worth of items but only feel like ten pounds. Milo was working hard in the lab. There was no doubt about that.

There was an odd chirping sound, and Nick pulled out his old phone. He frowned.

Despite everything, Derek felt the numbing panic enter his chest. “Is it your dad?”

“No, it’s… Tyler.”

“Tyler? Why is he calling you?” Evelyn asked.

Derek checked his own phone, since he had it on silent. He saw a ton of missed calls from Emma and a few from Tyler.

“Do I answer?” Nick asked.

“Uh…”

Technically, Tyler told them not to do this until next week. They were going against their game master’s wishes. But he also wasn’t the game master.

They heard a yelp in the distance, like the sound of a wolf getting hit with a javelin.

“Princess!” Evelyn said.

“Is she alright?” Derek asked as Nick turned off his phone and slid it back into his pocket.

Evelyn was reading something from the character sheet only she could see. “She got smacked with something. She’s down to two hit points in her wolf form.”

Derek was trying to figure out how far away Clarissa was. They might need to go find her. And fast.

Everyone else had the same idea. They moved from their battle spot, with Grizzizzik leading the way with his dark vision. Their careful walk ended up being a careful jog. There was another yelp, which caused Evelyn to sprint. “Princess Clarissa!”

A wall of flame appeared not that far from them. They ran to it like a beacon as an orc bellowed in pain. If Clarissa was using magic, she must have dropped her wolf form.

Time slowed down, and Derek’s momentum came to a slamming halt. Familiar words filled Derek’s vision.

Roll for initiative.