Since we were certain Dan was a dead man walking, my other team members were taking up most of my terminal’s view. Those idiots were all watching Dan on the Profile Reader anyway, and I could watch along with them.

Their gasps of horror seeing what Dan was up against, knowing he would soon die, filled me with glee. Becky gave Nick’s arm a supportive squeeze as her child played obliviously at her feet.

Nick worriedly exclaimed, “Jesus! Y’all see this? We got to go help him! We got to.”

Everyone was holding at least one weapon. All the men were holding a spear in the right hand and a mace in the left.

Three guards were set facing west, south, and east. The Trial protected the north. Ace picked Luke, Austin, and volunteered himself for the last guard spot. But he and Austin kept turning to look at the reader to see what people were hemming and hawing about.

“Watching is all you can do,” replied Ace. “You know that. Don’t give up on him yet. The fight ain’t over.”

I had always been surprised by how Ace and Chet had such similar backgrounds but had so little in common. Both had moved to the US at the age of seven – Ace from Jamaica and Chet from Vietnam. Both had mothers with horrible taste in men. Both hated every man their mothers had married or dated.

Ace was a couple inches taller than Chet, but a couple inches shorter than Becky. For the mortals of Earth, both Ace and Chet were considered shorts.

The similarities ended there. Ace had a decent build, and Chet had a skeletal build. Ace was an old and Chet was a young. Ace was a full stupid and Chet was only half a stupid. Both looked equally stupid though.

Of the eight team members present, I wanted Ace and Chet to die from Az’ga’s Sortilege the most. Or the most for pay-related reasons.

The one I truly wanted dead the most wasn’t even one of my team members – that little punk-ass bitch Bonnie. My heart yearned passionately for her to die in a horrific way.

And Nick too, because he was Dan’s brother. And Becky because she was the mother of a horrid monster. And Austin because he was an asshole.

And Leena because she wasn’t a real person. And Luke because he was a stupid to such an extent even the other stupids knew he was a stupid. And Carlos because he was a fat.

Yes, I wanted all of them dead, especially Bonnie, but only Ace and Chet for pay-related reasons.

“Monsters,” cried out Luke. Surprisingly, his vitals were stable and calm across the board, as if he were only yelling out, “Dinner’s ready! Come eat!”

The Sortilege was an okay one. Four level 4 hobgoblins with four different basic Classes – Healer, Mage, Sneak, and Soldier.

By the time everyone looked over, the Sneak had gone stealth, and the Mage had invoked Flare right into Luke’s face, setting his beard and hair on fire and burning the cheek it landed on to a crisp.

Luke screamed and dropped his weapons as he tried rolling his flaming head on the ground. Becky began unzipping her hoodie. Chet charged by with his spear, letting out a squeaky war cry as he rushed to engage the hobgoblins in combat.

Surprisingly, Austin followed suit, chasing right behind Chet, spear gripped tightly.

Ace, Carlos, and Nick were moving towards each other so they could attack in a coordinated fashion like rational adults. Leena was doing the same, but since she’s not a full person I’m not counting her. And it makes no sense how anyone could find such an old attractive as if science wasn’t a thing.

Ace, Nick, and Carlos yelled out, “Wait,” “Stop,” and some Spanish gibberish at the same time. These calls went unheeded by the charging Chet.

Anyone with any observation skills at all should’ve been able to see the Sneak. The starter Orbments that come with basic Classes are complete shit. The Sneak invocation of the Sneak basic Class is absolute shit. I could clearly see the hobgoblin.

Chet couldn’t. He took a double whammy. At the same moment that he took a dagger to the back, he also took a Flare invocation to the chest. Bob, Az’ga, and I laughed our asses off. That was one down! Austin dropped his spear and ran away south as fast as he could.

When he saw Chet take those hits, Ace let out his own war cry as he began charging forward. While he ran, he threw his spear and it thunked into the face of the Mage. A second later, still yelling in rage, he slammed into the Sneak with his body, knocking it over, and smashed his mace down onto its chest as it fell.

That barely slowed Ace, and his charge continued towards the Soldier.

Most Soldiers have the Enhanced Attack basic Class Orbment. It’s a shitty, basic version of the Smash, Cut, Slash, Swing, Bash – that whole line of Orbments. Still, there’s a lot of oomph to it. The Soldier’s sword empowered by the Enhanced Attack met Ace’s forcefully swung mace. This resulted in Ace flying back onto his ass and his mace flying off in a different direction.

Ace scrambled up like a mad dog and rushed the Soldier barehanded.

The Healer got a heal off on the Sneak right before Nick and Carlos reached its prone form and stabbed it a couple times.

Nick turned and threw his spear at the Healer. It didn’t come close to its target, so he quickly limped forward and engaged his new target with his mace.

The healer had a staff and got two big hits in on Nick before Carlos arrived to save the day. Even when it was two versus one, Nick somehow still managed to get a hit a bunch more times with that staff.

Ace was finding out anger and aggression would only get him so far when trying to fist fight an innately far stronger hobgoblin armed with a sword. He was about to get a blade lodged in his neck when Leena, who had gotten behind the Soldier, thrust her spear at its back.

The Soldier wore no armor. Since Leena’s so old and decrepit, even though her spear thrust was a clean hit and looked impressive, it didn’t puncture the skin much at all. It did get the hobgoblin to abort its attack and swing its sword around at her.

Once its back was turned to him, Ace tackled the distracted hobgoblin and yelled at Leena, “Stab hard! Stab a soft spot!”

Ace had a really difficult time holding the hobgoblin down. It took his full weight and a great effort to pin its head and sword arm.

One side of the Soldier’s face was pressed against the ground, and Leena tentatively stabbed its hard cheekbone a couple times before stabbing the spear behind its jaw and entering the neck, finally doing actual damage.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She leaned on the spear, putting more and more of her weight and pressure on it, driving it slowly deeper. Very slowly. Her stab killed the hobgoblin about ten seconds after when a full person would’ve killed it.

Becky had been extinguishing the fire on Luke’s head with her hoodie so had just joined in the battle against the Healer alongside Carlos and Nick. Carlos had stabbed its thigh decently, so it was slowed. All three stabbed or hit it three or four more times each before it fell to the ground dead. Then they stabbed or hit it about five or six more times each. Just in case.

The Mage was still alive. It had managed to remove the spear from its face and was getting back on its feet when Ace tackled it and punched it to death with Leena nearby the whole time, spear ready to stab, waiting for an opportunity to safely attack without risking Ace.

She never found that opportunity. Anyone else would’ve been able to help Ace in some way, I’m sure. She just stood there like a fool, spear shaking in her hands like a nervous Nellie.

The Sneak was still alive but in no shape to get up. It got the Carlos, Nick, and Becky treatment. After killing it, each stabbed or hit it five or six additional times. Just in case.

Becky quickly looked to make sure her terrible child was safe, dropped her spear, and ran to Chet as she called out his name for some idiotic reason, reaching the boy a moment after Ace had. Most of the others followed suit.

During a Rapture, when the damned are returned to a world, they inhabit corpses and rise as the undead. Depending on their state of decomposition, they could have many new and exciting orifices, or no real good ones at all, such as skeletons.

You’d be surprised just how attractive a rotting corpse can be if enough goop is leaking out of a bunch of strange holes. And best of all, the damned are far too stupid to even understand the concept of consent. They just let you do anything.

Don’t get me wrong – just like every other mortal, Luke had always looked like a half-melted candle to me. But through luck or good genetics, he had something sort of undeadish about him that was hard not to find a little appealing.

Now, on top of having such gloriously rotted teeth, half his face was crispy, charred, and blistered, and big patches of his hair and beard were burnt away. I’d be lying if I were to claim looking at him did nothing to my loins. Looking as he was, I’d be surprised if the undead wouldn’t be willing to let him walk among them as one of their own.

Luke was sitting up with his eyes pinched tightly closed in pain, his left-hand clutching Bonnie’s dress as the child tried to break free of his grip while screaming loud enough to shatter all of reality. I assume her cries were an attempt to summon the police.

As soon as the fight kicked off, Becky had removed her hoodie to help Luke with his flaming head issue, then told him to hold onto Bonnie. He didn’t know it was safe to let go of the child. It was. The danger had been neutralized. The Sortilege failed.

Everyone else was standing around Chet. Well, besides Austin. He was hiding in his terribly constructed fort near the Agility Trial and whimper-crying like a sissy.

I could tell Nick wanted to check the reader and see how Dan was doing, but he dutifully hovered around Chet with the others.

Back during my first use of Sortilege, when the orekun’s tail had wacked Chet and sent him flying away, that should’ve killed him. He was all skin and bones. There was no muscle or fat to provide protection.

But the dagger-sharp spikes on the orekun’s tail had somehow perfectly aligned with three hard ribs under the thinnest micrometer of skin.

That deadly orekun attack had barely injured Chet. An attack that should’ve killed him had instead barely even injured him. He had three tiny puncture wounds, and his ribs hurt for a few days after. That’s it.

As Luke’s face proved, basic Class starter Orbment or not, Flare was dangerous, often deadly.

Hobgoblins are innately much stronger than humans. More often than not, sneak attacks from stealth are fatal.

Chet was wearing a big sweater that had a shiny embossed shield on the front. Above the shield, in all capital letters, it said, “THUNDER.” In the shield, it said, “OKC.” I assume it represented some sports team.

The mortals of Earth worship sports teams and certain athletes as we worship the Shining One, though only the legendary arm-wrestling champion Lincoln Hawk of ‘Over the Top’ fame is worthy of such.

Whatever material that big shield on the sweater was made of acted as a retardant against Flare, which had given Chet only minor burns on his bony chest.

The sneak attack caused him significantly more damage. It hit his left shoulder blade with a lot of force. Enough force to chip bone. He would need a few stitches, and that area would hurt for a long while.

In total, so far, Chet had taken three attacks, two of which should’ve been fatal – the Sneak’s attack from stealth right to his exposed back, and the tail whack by the orekun. The Flare to the chest, at the very least, should’ve caused significant burns resulting in a major injury.

Luck like that gets my attention. It was as if he was under our Dark Master’s own protection. Far, far more luck than that Trait of his could’ve ever been responsible for.

Once Chet opened his eyes and it was clear his life wasn’t in danger, Nick ran to the reader, ignoring Becky’s questions about where the medical kit was. It was with her stuff back at the camp. Dan had given it to her two days prior so she could change the bandage on Nick’s calf.

I’m sure if Becky murdered her awful child she’d see a significant improvement in cognition. All of Bonnie’s terribleness was clearly wearing her down. I know it had been wearing me down.

Bob, Az’ga, and I were all extremely disappointed that the Sortilege had failed. And this time we couldn’t even blame it on Dan. My team of losers didn’t even have basic Classes yet.

I expected Dan to already be dead. I was still viewing my team since I wanted to see Nick’s heart break as he learned of his brother’s death. Maybe he’d openly sob in front of everyone like a huge wussy, and I could laugh at him and feel superior.

When he only tensed up and intently watched the reader, I looked at it myself. Fat Dan was still alive and fighting. But barely. It would soon be over.

I switched my view to Dan. A ton of horrific creatures surrounded him. His core had less than a quarter mana left within it. That didn’t matter anyways since there was about a minute cooldown left on STORM and over three minutes left on Lava Stomp.

There was no way he would survive this battle.

Blood and sweat dripped off him in rivers. That’s a little too dramatic of a way to describe it, but not by much. I couldn’t tell which blood was his own and which came from enemies. He was literally dripping sweat and blood all over the place.

Either the minor healing effect of Inevitability of Magma provided on an enemy’s death was extremely minor, or it just didn’t matter with how many hits he was taking. He had killed a significant number of enemies, so that’s a lot of mana-return and minor healing effects.

[Wait. His core had a quarter mana left? How many minutes into the fight was this?]

I’m not sure. I’d guess about four minutes or so.

[How much mana did he start with?]

Half a core. A little under.

[And he had been using his invocations?]

Pretty much on cooldown. And mana techniques too.

[Regardless of mana return, with his core size, it would’ve been tapped after a few minutes at most. If he was…]

Sorry to interrupt but I know what you’re getting at, Boss. Bob, Az’ga, and I had learned a ton by watching him invoke prior to this.

None of us had ever learned invocation usage could be controlled to such an extent. We had to watch closely. It’s not apparent as we increase in level and tier, but we all get better at it. We get better at invoking.

Seeing a level 0 use mana so efficiently made it apparent. It was easier to see when he used Orbments instead of mana techniques since we could compare the stated mana cost against the size of his core and mana used.

He was extremely efficient with mana expenditure. His lava-whip barely drained mana after it was created. I mean, like, we could hardly notice a trickle being drained. For all intents and purposes, it was like a free mana-weapon Orbment.

His lava-spray used way more mana than anything else, and he had used that a ton in this battle. He was spraying lava from both hands for a while too. Then factor in the mana-return. All his enemies were all around or well over his level. With how that Inevitability of Magma works, that’s a lot of time meditating all added up, and his technique’s topnotch.

So, anyway, he was surrounded by enemies. This was clearly the end of the line for him. He…

[Let me guess – his level 25 Legendary summons saved him.]

Oh, so now you’re joining in on Ace Blacky’s favorite game? The guessing game. I won’t be rude and ignore you or just say no since I’m not a jerk. I’m not saying you’re a jerk, Boss. Please don’t take that personally.

But to answer your question, I’ll just say you’re incorrect.

As I was saying, Dan was surrounded by enemies. So many that no matter how many times we watched, we couldn’t really see what happened once they rushed him. We’d see a flash of lava here and there or a piece of Dan for a second.

We basically just watched a big pile of slowly moving monsters leaving a trail of corpses behind until Dan next invoked STORM and got free of that mess.

I should say a little free. There were still a bunch of creatures all around attacking him. And he was very injured. He was alive, but he wouldn’t be for much longer. Not without a miracle.