Colt stared at the Hard Rock Cafe—the giant red electric guitar outside was a massive monument to the place; it made it iconic so that anyone would know what it was, as did most of these kitschy cafes. Even without the big white letters on the guitar spelling out exactly what it was… This should be smack dab in the middle of downtown, right near the river. But here it was. Hardly a mile away from where they’d appeared in the street. Most of the city was mixed and matched. Buildings where they shouldn’t be, trapped in the middle of a forest…

It was much the same but very, very different.

Colt held up a hand as he stared at the cafe. Something was moving around the outside. “Hold on.”

Nate slipped forward and hunkered down next to him. The man was reliable, and Colt was very grateful to have him at his side.

The shape came more into view—a big bulbous creature, the size of a man but with a nose as big as a rock and grey-colored skin. It was also plain naked and had a big pot belly.

At this distance, his Inspect didn’t work.

He watched the thing scratch its back and yawn.

“Monster.” Nate said, “We’re not out of the nightmare after all.”

“What kind—more Kobolds?” Sarah asked from behind, around the corner of the building. Nate and Colt had the higher levels. With dexterity being his specialty, Colt was the most natural lead to be a scout, but he lacked as many stealth and sneaking skills as Nate, who’d learned in his time in the army.

The guy had been taking the time to give him pointers, back in the Labrinyth with so much going on, and Colt going his own way for solo training and levels, they hadn’t gotten the time.

It seemed now that all the sneaking had paid off as they spotted the first thing besides wildlife.

“No, not a kobold. I need to sneak ahead and get a better look—figure out what level it is. Everyone duck behind here, and if it notices me, I’ll lead it off in a different direction.” He’d gone over the barest details of his edicts with the rest of the group. They needed to know more, and he’d teach them once they had time to settle in somewhere. But they all knew by now he had something that would drastically increase his speed.

With his class perk and his new skill, he was almost eager to wave that new big Edict around and see it in action.

Nate put a hand on his shoulder. “Be very careful.”

Colt gave a small nod, then stepped forward, keeping in mind Nate’s advice: proper positioning and using the natural cover of the overgrowth nearby to keep himself concealed. Move quiet and smooth—that part was the easiest with his supernatural level of dexterity… The bits about avoiding a visible silhouette…

Step by step, he slunk closer to the monster.

He kept firing off his Inspect every so often, aware now that if this thing had any kind of Hide Status skill, it might give him away and turn this into a fight.

When he got within thirty feet of the thing, he got a much better idea of what it was. He’d seen orcs in all sorts of fantasy stuff… They had greenish skin, big jowls, and oversized teeth. This thing wasn’t all that far from that. Pudgy, muddy-greyish skin instead of green—and he made out the points of some tusks at this distance. It was currently looking around with a casual attitude and confidence that was troublesome.

Inspect finally worked.

———

Orc Peon - Level 47

Description: Just an Orc. A lowly Orc, but these things can cause some devastation in numbers, and they’re quite a bit stronger than you might imagine. A single Orc could wreck a building without much difficulty with their clan? Yeah, your depiction of this mighty warrior race doesn’t do them justice. If you see one of these things mad? Don’t even think about it. There’s an old adage in the labyrinth: Where you see one Orc, expect several more nearby.

Noteworthy Skills:

Orc Rage [Common] - Level 15

Thick Skin [Common] - Level 12

*Inspect* (Intermediate) has gained a level!

———

The Orc glanced in his direction, and Colt lowered himself even further into the bush. Slick and quiet as he did so, working his jaw as he calculated the level difference between him and this thing. Nineteen levels? It was a stretch. Even with a weighty Edict in his arsenal that would make this the biggest level gap of a fight he’d get into.

On the other hand, he had a healer nearby—and two other teammates.

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Colt waited for the monster to look away before turning back and sneaking closer to the building. Despite the high level, the Orc wasn’t perceptive.

He went over what he’d found out, and the group was just as split as he was.

“We need levels, and we need to see how strong these things are—if it’s called a ‘peon,’ there’s gotta be way more powerful things than this stumbling around,” Sarah argued as she crossed her arms. Though she didn’t sound happy, she kept her voice down.

“Not worth the risk. We might find something with a lower level to tackle first. Or have time to make a more elaborate trap in order to give ourselves a greater advantage. But more important than that, right now, fighting an enemy isn’t the priority. Shelter, food, and survival are.” Nate countered.

“Leveling is survival now. This thing is alone, and we can take it and net some levels between us. That will make exploring much safer.”

It’d been this way for the last minute. Colt had let the two of them go back and forth, seeing if either could help him make up his mind.

The irrational part of him wanted to test out his new power. To see just how far he could punch above his level with all of the new synergistic powers. Just like Nate and Sarah it was at war with the more practical part of his brain.

“Why are there still monsters,” Jimmy shook in the corner, with disbelief and fear. Colt peeled away from Nate and Sarah fighting, patting the poor guy on the shoulder. “I just want life to be normal, man.” He said after the gesture.

“Dunno if it ever will be again,” Colt said as Nate and Sarah looped their argument again.

“I just wonder where my mom is…”

“She from here?”

“Yeah, she lived about an hour away, I just wanna… I dunno know, I wanna call her—see her again. Instead, we’re sitting here arguing about fighting a damn Orc. I don’t even know if she’s okay? I got these damn healing powers, what good are they if they can’t help the people I love?”

“You saved Sarah. Saved me. Out of everyone here, I think your ability to heal has the most potential for good in this new world. I don’t know about your mom, but I’ll help you find her once we get the chance.” Colt said and shook his head, “But there might be more of these things in the way of that, y’know? Things we don’t even know are out there yet.”

Jimmy didn’t say anything to that; they didn’t have time since Sarah and Nate came over to them and looked at the two with expectant eyes.

“We’re taking a vote,” Sarah announced. “On whether or not to fight the Orc.”

Colt shook his head and rolled his shoulders. What Jimmy said had made up his mind; he would help Jimmy find his mother, and he’d help keep these people safe. He could at least adapt to this orc as the one with the highest level. That description made this creature seem like it might hit hard…

“As long as you’re all okay with it, I’ll be fighting this thing alone. I can run away if I need to, and I’m quick. We don’t know what being hit by something that can ‘wreck a building’ is like, and I don’t intend to find out what that’s like either.” Colt said.

“You want to fight it alone?” Sarah asked, almost insulted.

“I’m saying we should use me as a test case. I can figure out just how strong this thing is, and there will be more around. After we see if this is possible, we can find a strategy to deal with them. The thing is, this is an enemy we don’t have information on. If I can get it, it will be much safer to take this risk with everyone so everyone will also gain levels.”

He was the scout and main damage dealer in their group. With Sarah and Nate stocking points into endurance and Strength, he was the most lopsided among them. And while a big buffer of endurance would be nice here, the simple fact they were much further below him made it more dangerous. As the one strongest in both raw levels and skills, this was a risk he could take but they likely shouldn’t.

Besides, Nate was right, too, in a way. They didn’t need to fight this Orc to survive. But he wanted to. He also didn’t want anyone else taking an unnecessary risk.

He waited for Sarah to insist she come along. If she did, he’d have to let her; anything else would be hypocritical.

“Fine. But if things get out of hand, I’m jumping in.” Sarah said.

Nate looked relieved but didn’t add to her; simply gave Colt a nod. It was an understanding, as was the nod Colt gave back. If something did go wrong, he didn’t want help. He’d lead the monster away and would expect them to pull back. This was a risk and a test.

Not only was experience at play for grabs here, but it was also a way for Colt to figure out the full extent of what he’d gained.

With one last look at them and a promise to stay safe, Colt ducked around the corner…

Only to see that the Orc was no longer in the same place it had been. No. The monster was leering up—eyes locked on a building nearby.

There was a person there; and as Colt watched, a bow made of pure light manifested in their hands, then an arrow about the size of an arm shot forward, crashing into the Orc—but it didn’t kill it. The arrow was knocked aside as the Orc roared; then it rushed forward, crashing fist into the side of the building the person was on, sending cracks straight through the wall. One or two more hits, and they’d be down on the ground with the monster.

“Someone is taking on the monster. Another person. I’m getting involved,” Colt said loudly, knowing now was the time to end the subtlety. He’d let the rest of them do what they wanted with that information, but the time for action had come.

Colt summoned his knife, then rushed forward, the ground passing beneath his feet like a fast-flowing river, arriving right behind the Orc just in time as it smashed a second fist into the building.

CRACK.

A scream from whoever was on top of the little store as it started to go down.

Colt stabbed into the back of the Orc’s neck… And it went nowhere. The skin was thick, hard, less like leather, and like some kind of fleshy metal.

The Orc half turned and growled at him, taking a lazy swing.

Avoiding that was easy.

Colt rolled his shoulders as he took in his new enemy—the building collapsing behind it. Hopefully, whoever was on top could sort out themselves because he had the distinct feeling that this fight was going to be a handful.

“YOU DIE!” The orc screamed, spit flying as its face went purple. “HUMAN DIE!”