“Make sure you don’t kill him!” Glyn yells out as she dodges an attack.

Tisha leaps into the air, dodging a strike. “Well, he’s making it hard!”

The two stand before a tall green-skinned creature with long black messy hair that stands over them, smashing his large club into everything around him. He screams out in a cry of pain and agony as he smashes his club about randomly.

“This guy is in pain. Why the hell is there an Orc down here?” Tisha says.

Glyn nods. “We have to stop him. Then we can help him and then figure out why the hell he’s here.”

“Well, how do I knock him out? I don’t exactly have the tools needed to harmlessly deal with him.”

“I just need an opening.”

“What?”

“If I hit him with the book, then he’ll feel the weight of the curse attached to it. If his tolerance is weak, then he’ll pass out almost instantly.” Glyn says.

Tisha sighs. “Fine, but if your plan doesn’t work, then I’m taking care of him my way.”

“Fine. Although, in all honesty, I’d rather you not kill someone in front of me.”

“We’ll see about that!” Tisha yells as she rushes ahead.

As the Orc swings his club, she leaps into the air and fires her arrows out at him. He raises his arm and the arrows bounce off of his skin as Tisha lands. She grits her teeth as he stomps forward, swinging his club at her only for her to duck beneath the swing and fire off a volley of arrows towards his stomach. Before the arrows hit, he moves faster than the eye can follow, with the arrows bouncing off his club.

“What!?”

He yells out again, bringing his club down on Tisha only for Glyn to rush forward, pushing her out of the way of the attack. The pair of them roll along the ground before smacking into the room’s wall with the Orc screaming out.

“What the hell was that!?” Tisha yells out as she stands up.

Glyn stands. “That’s impressive.”

“What is?”

“He has a warrior’s skills. That’s how he’s survived in here for who knows how long.” Glyn smiles. “Interesting. I was looking for someone who could be a knight.”

“This isn’t some recruitment drive. Besides, I doubt he’ll listen to reason at this rate. He’s inflicted with some kind of madness.”

“Obviously. But we’re here to drive the madness out!” Glyn yells out. “Now I’ll distract him. Follow my lead.”

Glyn rushes ahead as Tisha readies her bow. “Damn it. Don’t get yourself killed, you dumbass!”

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Glyn runs in as he swings his club around randomly. The Orc turns to Glyn and brings it down on his head, only for Glyn to barely avoid the attack. Glyn laughs as he sees the Orc gathering energy in his mouth. Glyn holds out his book as he launches a laser beam out that Glyn’s book absorbs into itself.

Tisha leaps into the air and aims for the Orc’s head, firing off a volley of arrows. The Orc cuts off his attack and turns to Tisha, leaping into the air with incredible speed. He raises his club, aiming for Tisha as she lands on the ground. She stands frozen slightly as she tries to fight against the instinct to flee. She holds out her arrow and aims it at the Orc once more, aiming at his head once again.

“Got you!” She yells out, letting loose a singular arrow.

A single arrow flies out of her bow and turns into a beam of light, knocking into the Orc’s head and knocking him back. He flies crashing into the room's far wall and then crashing into the ground. Glyn stands over him with Tisha rushing to his side panting as she looks over the Orc and pulls out her bow, noticing him forcing himself up.

As the Orc stands, Glyn smiles as he pulls out his book and presses it against the Orc’s skin. A dark energy pulses out of the book as a wave of energy flows out of the book. He stands trying to withstand the strength of the curse but collapses to the ground with Glyn standing over him as he slowly loses consciousness. Glyn stumbles back with Tisha, helping him stand as she looks at the injuries on his hand.

“I thought you were immune to curses?” She asks.

“I have resistance thanks to the curse already on me. I’m not a hundred percent immune to the backlash of a reaction.”

“A reaction?”

“Curses are volatile and when you use them, they can also cause backlash to the person who uses them.” Glyn smirks as his injuries heal. “But I do heal faster from cursed injuries than most. And I suffer no permanent setbacks. Only minor injuries at most.”

“That you’ve experienced so far.”

“Yes.”

“Why put yourself on the line like this? You’re a Half-Elf who can’t use magic. You shouldn’t try to be something more than what you are!”

Glyn smiles and shakes his head. “Well, I try to be something more out of spite for those who look down on us Half-Elves. I might not do much on my own, but I’ll be sure to do what I can damn well.”

“Fine, well, what do you plan to do with him?”

“First off, I have to heal his injuries.” Glyn stares down at the Orc, looking down at the cuts and bruises lining his body. “He seems to be poisoned, too. Some of this might be signs of an infection.”

“He tried to kill us and you’re healing him?”

“Yeah. He’s not really to blame for that. Judging from his wounds, he’s been scraping by to survive the whole time he’s been in here and being stuck in here might have poisoned him with something. Or he ate something poisonous I can’t tell.”

“And you think some simple healing spell will fix him up?”

“No. As I said, I can sacrifice all of my spells to use one potent spell once a day. Well, I’ll use my strongest healing spell to fix him up. It’ll knock me out for a while, so I’ll be counting on you to watch over both of us.”

Tisha sighs. “Fine, whatever, just hurry this up so we can get out of here.”

“Alright,” Glyn says as he holds out his hands and closes his eyes. He breathes as his hands glow with an odd power before it spreads to his entire body. He pushes his arms down to the ground as a wave of energy spreads across the area.

Tisha looks at her body as it glows and her injuries heal. She turns to see the Orc’s injuries fading away as if they were never there. As the glow fades, Dirk falls unconscious as the Orc snores, the two falling asleep.

Tisha sighs as she feels the energy drained from her body, and she turns to Glyn. “You’re a real slave driver, you asshole. Doing that and telling me to stay awake.”

Odd howls come from the depths of the hall in front of them as Tisha forces herself up and readies her bow. She pulls out an arrow and readies for anything as she focuses.

“Fine, I’ll do it this one time. But you better hurry and wake the hell up!” She yells out as she charges at her unseen foe. “Bring it on. I’ll put an arrow into all of you damned heads!”