The cold rain fell on us while looking at the sight of brutal eating.

I was frozen with fear, and my mouth filled with the contents of my stomach. There was no way I had this much bad luck.

First, there were Goblins, which by chance were defeated by Valna's party. But now there were two Ogres, which were on a whole other level.

If I recall correctly, the idea of Ogres originated from Arthurian legend, like many other creatures, and their main characteristic was that they were typically giant, dumb brutes that liked eating human flesh. They were strong, barbaric and violent. Their name came from the god of the underworld Orcus, and with all those characteristics in mind, meant that we had very little chance of making it out of here alive.

In my mind, the only way we could survive was to make a run from here, but with the heavy rain now upon us, it was hard to see.

I watched as a glowing arrow flew towards the Ogre closest to us. The arrow hit the creature in the hand, and with a burst of green energy managed to tear off one of its fat fingers, making it scream in pain and drop the mangled body it was eating.

Valna had taken initiative in attacking first, and ask questions later. Although, no question would be answered by the Ogres.

Irina and Valna got off their horses and sent them running to the safety of the forest.

"Neill, keep the young man safe!"

Neill turned to look at me, his armor glistening in the rain, he had the face of someone ready to die fighting. A small grin could be seen on his face, as if he was waiting for this moment.

"Stay where I can see you kid, I'll make sure nothing happens to you"

He stepped off his horse and unsheathed his blade. Neill was running towards Irina and Valna, the three of them making a barrier between the Ogres and me.

The two creatures appeared surprised, but before long they seemed to be ready to retaliate.

The one that still had all its digits, in apparent anger, threw the body it was eating towards Valna.

With an attack this cruel and barbaric, blood and guts spraying all around from the flying corpse, its trajectory advancing forwards towards the half elf.

However, with nimbleness she ducked and rolled on the mud, soiling her beautiful braid but effectively dodging the attack. Immediately after, still ducked on the ground, Valna rapid fired two glowing arrows towards the Ogre, which hit it directly on the head, and with two green bursts blew off chunks of flesh that left a burning mark.

The Ogre put his bloody hands on the wound, screaming through the sound of the rain.

Meanwhile, Neill had arrived besides Irina and extended his longsword towards her. The gem on her staff started shining, she then touched the sword, imbuing it with a faint glow. After this, Irina ran towards me, making sure she kept her comrades on sight.

Neill approached one of the Ogres at a blinding speed, and with swift movements of his weapon, slashed its legs spilling black blood towards the ground. The Ogre fell to one knee, giving Neill the opportunity to reach more vulnerable parts of its body.

Sensing this approach, the Ogre grabbed one of the felled wheels of the cart and struck Neill in the chest, making a sound of crushing metal, and sent him flying besides Valna. Neill contorted his body in the middle of his flight and managed to land standing on the mud. He took a deep breath and straightened his back. His determination made him seem as tall as the giants that were attacking him.

"Al Aer!" shouted Irina, pointing her staff towards a large rock on the side of the road.

With what I suppose was an incantation, the rock sprung from the ground and flew directly to the kneeling creature, hitting it on the head and knocking it down, destroying the rock in the process.

This team was well coordinated, they had turned the tides of a dire situation in an instant. I was almost starting to think that we could win this. However...

The element of surprise had disappeared, and even though the Ogres had sustained serious injuries, they were still strong. Stronger than humans.

The Ogre that Valna had shot twice had already shaken off its pain, and with quick movements unbefitting of his size, ran towards the vanguards of the group giving them no time to retreat.

Its heavy body sinking in the mud and leaving the imprint of its footsteps gave me chills. It was as if for every step, the ground shook, as well as my heart.

But the two of them had no fear, they were concentrated in fighting. They were concentrating in surviving.

The Ogre swiped its big hand towards the two of them, but before it could reach Valna, Neill stepped in front of her and, with his longsword, deflected the attack. Valna used this opportunity to fire yet another glowing arrow, this time to the exposed neck of the creature giving it a nasty wound that spilled its dark blood. With silence and concentration she jumped backwards, giving herself distance to better use her longbow.

Meanwhile, the other Ogre finally stood up, or rather, started running in four legs like an animal to attack Neill. He was at a disadvantage, with monsters to his right and left.

Its approach seemed to be successful, tackling Neill with its large body and sending him flying yet again, this time towards a tree. While in the air, Neill threw small knives towards the creatures in a display of expertise. When he hit the trunk, a grunt of pain escaped Neill's lips, but he still managed to stand up again.

"Hydo!"

Irina once again raised her staff, this time generating a ball of a green liquid that flew towards the creatures, splashing them both. The liquid spread on their bodies and started to produce steam, giving them nasty burns. It seemed to be some type of acid.

This still wasn't enough to take them down, rather, it seemed to anger them even more and, to pile on my misfortune, made it so that the monsters concentrated their attention towards us.

Both of them started to run towards us with blood lusted eyes. The heavy rain making them look like shadowy walking mountains.

I wanted to run, escape with Neill's horse and not look back.

I could do it, I could escape through the woods and leave the three of them fighting.

Either way, I wasn't contributing to the fight, it made zero difference having me there.

I could run away.

I must run away.

You should run away, like the coward you are.

Before I could do anything, a flash came from where Valna was. I turned to look and I saw her putting her hand to the ground while holding an amulet with the other.

Suddenly, wooden spikes seemingly made from roots grew from below the Ogres, impaling them with each step they took.

The spikes pierced the soles of their feet and their legs and made a mess of white and black exposed muscle and tendons. The spikes then constricted their movements, pinning them to the ground, making it difficult for them to move.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

What I saw next happened in an instant.

Both Irina and Neill approached the Ogres. With her staff held high she yelled "Be Pyra!", conjuring a burst of fire towards them, making the spikes burn up, calcinating the skin of the monsters. The fire burned hot enough to instantly vaporize the rain.

Then, Neill sprinted towards them, unsheathing his short sword from his hip, ready to deliver the final blow. He struck one of the Ogres with two consecutive vertical movements of his long sword, completely cutting of its thick neck, while with the other hand, holding his short sword, stabbed it directly in its head, piercing its skull and, after retrieving the weapon, making the contents of it spill on the ground. A mass of dark blood and grey matter coagulated on the mud, producing a wet sound like a damp rag hitting the ground.

It was over. And we were alive.

I was shocked at the display of power these three showed. Was this the standard for this world?

"Fuck me, that was tough. Valna, do your thing, I got really beat up by those two" said Neill, sitting down on one of the Ogre's bodies, the roots now extinguished by the rain.

"Thank you for your hard work as always Neill" said Valna.

She approached Neill and with a whisper, created a translucent bird that flew and perched itself on his head. The bird started singing a faint melody and I could see the wounds on Neill's face and arms fade away, however leaving the residue of battle on the dents of his armor and torn clothes.

Irina sighed and approached Neill too, extending her hands towards the tears and dents and magically reverting the armor to its original state.

Not long after, Neill looked as if he hadn't fought at all.

"Thank you Neill, it was a tough fight" said Irina.

"We really spent a lot of energy here, I don't think we could make it if we have another encounter like this" Valna said, while extending her hand towards Neill so he could stand up.

After standing up, the magical bird disappeared from Neill's head.

I was just watching from the sidelines as the three of them congratulated each other for the good work they had done, and I couldn't help but feel like a burden.

While they were fighting and risking their lives for each other, I was thinking of running away. What kind of person does that?

But what could you have done? You are weak and pathetic in this world. The only reason you are alive is because of the mercy of those three. You'd be dead if it weren't for them. You know this and you still thought about running away. What a coward.

You should at least risk your own life for the ones who saved you. You owe them that much. Make yourself useful and offer your life. It's only fair, no?

It's been years since I've felt like this.

Please, not again.

Once more, I felt a hand on me. This time, a warm and soft hand touching my arm.

"Are you all right Occam?" Irina looked at me with a gentle expression, her wet hair clinging to her face.

"... Yeah, I'm alright, I was just thinking if I could've been more useful, that's all"

"You don't have to worry about that young man, you lost your memories so you don't need to concern yourself with fighting right now"

Valna gave me a smile, her typical smile, which made my body warm even under the cold rain.

"Well, enough talking, with the Ogres gone, we can now check what this was all about" said Neill.

"I've told you Neill, robbing dead people is wrong, you'll end up haunted by a ghost or something" Irina said, while putting up the hood of her red cloak and approached him.

"I know, I know, I wasn't planning on doing that. I just wanted to investigate these two"

"Hmm, they seem to be from the Gobler clan" said Valna while taking a necklace from the bisected neck of one of the Ogres.

"Well, now they are down two soldiers" commented Neill while rummaging through the destroyed cart.

The rain seemed to be letting up.

"What is this talk about a Gobler clan?" I asked Irina.

"Oh, well, in this region, there's three clans: the Koblins, Goblers and Boneclaw that fight for the middle turfs"

"Are they dangerous?"

"Well, when they are preparing for war -that is, some months before Summer- they appear more regularly on main roads and such, but besides that they don't bother anyone"

"Rather, the skirmishes they have tend to reduce their population, so the months following Summer are relatively calm although it doesn't last that long since they reproduce so fast, and the same goes for Kobolds" interjected Valna.

Neill seemed to have finished investigating the cart, since he stood up and whistled, making the horses come back from the forest.

"All right people, we should be going now, don't want to waste what's left of the day"

Irina and Valna got on their horses, while Neill and I kept riding on the same one. We continued under the light rain and exited the glade.

"What did you find out?" asked Valna to Neill.

"It seems the cart belonged to the Crimson Company, we better not get entangled with them. They'll go and retrieve their stuff anyways, they always do"

Neill seemed to have a past with this Crimson Company; while saying their name his face darkened and his tone grew colder. Valna didn't seem to question his decision.

Sometime later, the clouds stopped covering the sun, though really it was already plenty dark. The sun was setting.

"We should take some rest. If I'm not mistaken, at this pace we should arrive in two days" said Valna.

As we prepared to set up camp, I insisted on helping out. It couldn't be so different from my camping trips I had with my friends back in my world.

I helped put up the tent and start a fire, while the others extended their bedrolls, making sure the ground was dry enough.

"Al Aer" I could hear Valna casting a spell around our camp. When she circled the perimeter, a bell chime sounded.

"I didn't know you were a Wizard too, Valna" I said while warming my hands on the fire.

"Oh, no young man, I'm no Wizard. I'm a Ranger, you see, we can use magic too, although compared to what Irina can do, our spells are rather simple. For example, this spell is just to alert us if something enters our camp"

That... seemed logical, I mean, she was a half elf with a bow, I should've guessed. Though, if the magic she used in the fight with the Ogres is considered "simple", what is the true power of magic here? And what other kinds of magic users existed?

"Yawn... I am really tired from the beating, good night" briefly announced Neill, who had taken off his armor and went to sleep.

"He's always the first to sleep... Though, I suppose his role takes a toll on his body" said Irina, while studying a large leather book.

I wanted to ask her what she was doing, but I must've looked too hard since she turned to look at me.

"Are you curious? This is my spell book, years of work have gone into this specific tome and contains all the spells I know" she said, proudly.

"Can I see?" I asked.

"Umm, sure" she said, while I approached her, letting me see the contents of the pages clearly.

What I saw I couldn't describe.

Literally, since it was a mess of formulae, diagrams and annotations. All of it seemed like a huge and complicated math problem.

"Look, this here is the spell I used earlier, the one that made the rock fly towards the Ogre" Irina said while showing me three pages full of symbols.

"It's a simple spell but you have to understand the basics of how it interacts with the physical world to correctly use it, without this, catastrophe could happen!"

Amazed by the complexity of magic, I asked.

"Then, does Valna also have a spell book like this?"

"Oh, no no, only Wizards use spell books, Rangers and other spell casters use magic more 'intuitively' sort to speak. Some use small spell books to make it easier for them to remember what they know, but mostly it's just them visualizing what they want to do and using the Words of Power necessary to cast it"

"Then, what are the benefits of studying to be a Wizard?"

"Well, we have a larger repertoire of spells since we can study and learn, while other spell casters are confined to the spells that derive from the source of their power; like nature, bloodline or a powerful entity. Also, sufficiently advanced Wizards are able to cast spells using the wolnide from the surroundings, instead of their own reservoir, among other things"

It seemed like there are better and faster ways to gain magic in this world, though they seem to be weaker than a pure and studied career like a Wizard's.

"Well Irina, young man, you should both be going to sleep. Tomorrow we set out at sunrise, so get some rest. I left you some sheets over there so you can sleep. It's not as good as a bed roll, but it should work for now" Valna said, pointing to a soft looking pile near the fire.

✦✦✦

"Good night Occam"

"Good night Irina"

I laid down on the sheets, the starry sky above me, trying to sleep.

It had been a long time since I've seen this many stars. It was such a beautiful sight, but I couldn't recognize any constellation.

When looking at the night sky, I saw a shooting star.

I wished for me to go back home. Though, a part of me wanted to stay here and see what this world had to offer.