Damn it, it’s been at least 10 minutes. He was not going to waste his time sitting on his ass.

He decided he might as well go into the forest. It looked like a place where he could kill things at. Hopefully he can get some goblins--those little guys seemed extremely punchable in every game Kristina played.

A horn sounded just as he got up. The old orc beside Dante got up a moment later, nodding approvingly towards him. “I count minutes. You count seconds” he said, patting his shoulder. “You live longer.”

Right. One of them must have been horrendous at counting, and that person must have been that guy.

A noticeably large orc came out from one of the huts. This one matched the image Dante had in his mind. The orc was a missing an ear and a pretty big chunk of his left jaw. He had a wood chopping axe resting on his shoulder, a mismatch of different pieces of metal hooked around his chest, and two husks sticking out of his mouth.

Level 3 Graymay Orc Officer

Rank: E

A smaller green orc, the size of a small kid, stood by his side.

Level 1 Goblin Scavenger

Rank: G

“Wait no...that’s the infamous…” Dante mouthed off. At last, a familiar sight.  The creature's egg shaped head was disproportionately larger than the rest of its skinny body. It's facial features followed the same pattern--its nose was the majority of its face. It was so hooked that the tip of its nose pointed skyward. 

“Goblins,” the old orc at his side nodded. "The myths are true. Ugly as my grandma."

Uh... Dante didn't know how to respond to that one, so he just let it pass. The rank below their names likely indicated power. Goodness, the difference in one rank is enormous. Twenty of those tiny creatures wouldn't be a match for that orc. 

“Cubs!” orc bellowed, swinging around his axe in the air. “Welcome to our lands. You find glorious deaths! We march!” he said, and then pointed towards the forest.

Dante wasn't the only one humored by his introduction.

“That’s it?” someone on Dante's side said.

What you expect, bud. We're orcs! Dante was already a fan. 

A line of orcs followed behind the Orc Officer as he martched out of the camp.  Dante walked along sides the old orc he had been speaking to. “I’m Dante.”

“Skan,” he said, going quiet. 

“So what type of things are we killing?”

“Monsters.”

“What type of monsters.”

“Word is Boars.”

Boars? I mean they’re not pretty but to call them monsters… Dante wasn’t getting anywhere with him, but he could hardly leave him at this point. He seemed like a rough but nice dude.

Once they reached the entrance to the forest tree, the lead orc raised his axe into the air. He waited for everyone to fall in around him. Once Dante and Skan got closer another notification popped in his head.

The Outskirts of the Forest Of Giants

Rank: E

That's nice. In addition to levels the game gave Dante another tool to measure strength--Rank. G was the lowest, A was probably the highest. 

“Cubs. We split. We Hunt food for clan. Follow tiny things,” he said, motioning to one of goblins at his side. ”If they die, you die. If you leave Graymay territory, you die. If you loot boar, you die."

You have encountered a rank E scenario.

Feed the clan. Bring the carcasses of boars or higher ranked creatures.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Each boar will satisfy the daily quota for a maximum of 5 party players.

Reward: permission to hunt in the Graymay territory. 

Looting a creature in Graymay lands without fulfilling this scenario by the end of the day will cause a major reputation drop with the Graymay tribe. 

Murmurs spread around Dante. Scenarios were probably the same thing as quests.

The orc's accent made him difficult to hear clearly understand, but the instructions themselves were heaven-sent. Kill animals. Drag them home. Then loot. He could loot before dragging one home, but that ran the risk of killing being unable to kill or find another before the end of the day.

The goblins were their guides. A legion of them gathered behind the orc. On his cue they spread out.

The orcs split with four to five for each goblin. Pre-made groups practically ran towards the goblins, taking one and sprinting into the forest. 

Dante shared their enthusiasm. They were on a timeline--they had to get as strong as possible within 3 days, but Dante couldn't leave Skan behind. The old orc would probably need a helping hand. 

"Let the kids go," Skan said, stopping Dante from fetching a goblin.

"You sure? We'll fall behind."

"Count seconds," he said, sitting down against one of the trees. 

Ah, why are these NPCS so hard to understand. Not having anything else to do Dante followed suite. More exterverted orcs went around, asking others to join up. A few approached Dante, though when he told them he was with Skan the offer was recalled. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was because of Skan's age. He looked like a fit grandpa. It was understandable that others wouldn't want to risk having him in the party.

 In a manner of minutes the crowd dispersed, leaving a few stragglers and a few goblins. Two other guys reluctantly joined in when there was no space elsewhere, which was a shame. They were fine and all, but he had been secretly hoping that one of the girls would join instead.

Orc want woman! Hur Hur!  A snicker escaped his mouth before he could stop it. His party all gave him a glance.

Dante cleared this throat, hoping his new face wouldn't blush like the real one. “Let’s make a killing out there, everyone,” he said. "I'm Dante."

"Ratch," the taller of the two said with a glare. He didn't sound particularly happy. "Is there a reason you don't have a spear?" 

"Yes," Dante said, turning towards the last orc. He was taller than usual, with lanky arms and a skinny torso. He was probably on the lower side for Strength and Constitution. "And your name?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm Pistil," he replied, looking at Ratch. 

Dante didn't bother glancing at Ratch. The guy looked and sounded like a jerk. Dante ignoring him probably made him even madder.  

"Stupid orcs, move faster,”  the goblin barked at them. Following it was mentally exhausting. It moved erratically and its nose sniffed obnoxiously loud. The sounds of battle echoed all around Dante, calling for him to join it, but here he was following the heel of a goblin instead. The wildlife grew abundantly with bushes, enormous leaves, and small trees that grew around the base of the giant ones. It made for nice scenery at the cost of blinding Dante. He couldn't see ten meters in front of him without something green to get in the way. 

Finding the boar was taking more time than Dante expected. Because Skan wanted to wait they were one of the last to search for prey. The early squads found the ones closer to the camp.  What was most surprising part, however, was the lack of any other life. For a forest this big Dante thought it would have a rich ecosystem. He was grateful that there weren't any bugs, but not having any birds or squirrels making noise made the forest eerie. 

It is a game, I guess. Other games had a field of bunnies, but broken realms? Broken Realms had a field of boars. And when they finally did find the boar...

“Excuse me,” Pistil said with a nervous smile. “There is nothing boar about that boar.”

It was more like an oversized bull, spanning at least five feet wide and tall as Dante. It had thick black fur and two husks sticking forward from the sides of its mouth.

Level 1 Lesser Boar

Rank: F

And there was absolutely nothing lesser about it. 

“How are we supposed to kill it with sticks?” Ratch said, looking down at his weapon and back at the beast. “I mean damn it, an old man and an unarmed idiot? What's with my shitty luck!”

"Old and idiot!" Skan said with a beam. "Good combo. Strong combo."

“Hey fellas?” Dante said, taking a step to the side. "I think we have a problem." The boar was looking straight at them.

"Great, this idiot's senile too," Ratch said. "Here is the plan. Aim for its legs and get its ey--"

With a high pitched cry the boar charged at them.

Everyone darted in different directions, all yelling different things. Everyone but Skan, who stood to scratch his scalp.

Does that guy have a death wish? Dante stuck his heel into the ground, the thick skin of his soles doing well to stop him where he was. Instead of running towards the sides like the other two orcs, Dante ran towards the boar at an angle, hoping he could attract its attention.

He unfortunately did. The moment the boar turned its charge towards him Dante jumped to the side. It always worked in video games.

Turns out it was much harder. The boar dug its feet into the ground and swung its head, hitting his feet with the sides of the husk and knocking him further away. Dante fell on his shoulders and rolled away, ignoring the throbbing of his ankles.

The beast slowed to a halt as it turned around, but only Skan took advantage of this. The moment it slowed down Skan had jumped from the side with a thrust. The spear went a good distance into one of its eyeholes before Skan jerked the wood away, stepping back as the boar madly swung its head around.

Ratch took advantage of its blind side. He charged forward, piercing the boar's side. He stepped back and brought his stick up to defend when the boar turned towards him, but the beast’s husks broke right through it and made a  deep gash on his chest. He yelled as his blood spilled. Pistil had attacked from the other side but could not penetrate the fur. 

The ground quivered as the boar ran in circle, swinging at them with its husks.

Dante followed it all the way. His raws speed let him keep up with its short sprints and while his agility was low, making turning difficult, the boar was even worse. He struck it from the side with his fists. Beyond annoying it he barely did any damage, though for Dante that was enough. He did his best to distract it while his part mates hacked at its sides. Each time it swung its head or charged straight at Dante it received a couple of good strikes from the side. Skan and Pistil tried to get its eyes while Ratch was... where was Ratch?

“That one will die,” Skan said as the boar began to circle back towards them. Dante left it to catch his breath.

Ratch was crying on the floor. He rocked his head back and forth as he wept. Dante glanced as his wound, and though it was bad, it wasn’t going to kill him.

Oh right. Video games. Kids.

When Dante saw the boar charging forward, he understood what Carl meant. They're gamers, not fighters. It was both Dante's advantage and disadvantage. He leaped forward, trying to drag the screaming and kicking orc behind a tree, but it was too late. There was no way to stop the boar with the momentum it has built out and he was being less than useful in saving himself.

He wasn't worth it. Dante dropped him and jumped out the way, leaving him behind. The boar pierced through him with both husks, lifting him into the air with it as it charged. The poor orc yelled and screamed, but there was no escaping his fate. One husk went through his thigh while the other through his chest.

Ratch has logged off mid-combat. Upon death, an extra penalty will be applied.

The boar did not stop like last time, however, and kept charging forward and away. The three leftover orcs stared as it charged forward, bouncing from one tree to the other.

“Stupid orcs! Run! Run!” the goblin appeared from behind a tree, waving his arms. “It’s escaping!”

“What! It’s not supposed to escape. We have agro on it,” Pistil said.

“Stupid! Stupid! Getting away!” the goblin yelled again, jumping up and down. “Food! Food!”

The goblin was right. Barely a minute in and one of their teammates was already down. They needed to get it. Dante began sprinting after the boar, and though the shrubs and tall grass-covered his vision, the boar had not bothered to hide its tracks.

Skan ran by his side. “Slowly,” he said, and then slowed down to a jog. Dante gave one glance behind him before speeding up. He could catch up to it. Dante didn't forget about the Orc Officer's warning--if the boar leaves Graymay territory all their effort would be for naught. 

Dante had spent enough time waiting. He needed to finish this now.