After leaving the Lord’s residence we were driven back to the hotel. Martin was quiet on the ride back and I decided to ask why.

“What's up, you haven’t said a word since we left?”

“Oh, nothing, I just figured I would wait for you to talk and tell me what to do since you seem to want to make decisions for me as well as everyone else.”

“I… uh… hmmm. Sorry, I just thought since you didn’t say anything during the meeting it was fine.”

Martin shook his head, “you should have told him you would think it over. You keep getting involved with these powerful people and it never ends well, for any of us.”

“You should have said something then,” I added heatedly.

Martin sighed, “that would just show him you weren’t in control. That is the kind of man you don’t show weakness in front of. It isn’t his level you need to worry about, but his ability to manipulate people. I may not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth like him but I can sense a conman from a mile away. That man,” Martin added, gesturing back toward the house, “was a born and bred conman.”

I let out a sigh as I collapsed back into the seat. I wasn’t worried about our conversation being overheard by the driver, it appeared that there was a noise-canceling enchantment on the carriage.

“So what do we do?”

“Nothing now. We play his little game and try to get out before we get chewed up and spit out. My guess is it has something to do with this Commander he wants you to meet up with.”

I nodded, “probably, I am familiar with the man.”

Martin sat up at this news, “you are, how?”

I realized I had never discussed meeting the Commander with Martin, it appears Fiona hadn’t spoken about him either.

“He was, or is Fiona’s Commander, depending on how you look at it. That’s how we initially met, I was given a mission from the man to bring her here, so she could bring Lord Durbin up there to reinforce the garrison. But as you well know, shit kinda went sideways.”

Martin rubbed his temples. “I didn’t think that was the same commander you were talking about last night, then again I was drinking a lot. So, I’m guessing our reception will be worse than expected?”

I shrugged.

“Well, let's hurry up and get these tasks completed, I want to get back to the work I was doing in Texas. Seeing things here only reinforces the need to build a united front.”

The rest of the trip back was quiet, only broken by Ska’s snoring. I envied the grimalkin for his ability to sleep at any time.

***

“You ready to go?” I asked Frathsar.

“Almost, I just need a few more items for trade and then we can be on our way.”

I chuckled at his need to make every trip an opportunity to make some credits as I watched him sort through items, some vanishing into his storage rings. It appeared he hadn’t replaced his magical cart. Probably for the same reason he decided to open a shop instead of visiting other local towns to trade.

“Alright, I’m as ready as I can be.”

“I’m sure they will be happy with whatever you bring. Now we got about ten miles to go before we get to the fortress. Do you have a mount?”

“No, I could never stand riding another creature, it just felt weirdly wrong.”

“…ok, fair enough. It’ll take a bit longer to get there then. Oh, also we have to take a slight detour and deal with the orcs,” I added.

“A pity, they would have made a decent trading partner if they didn’t try to kill everyone that visited them.”

Our trip back to the fortress hadn’t been as slow as I had feared. The area around the city was relatively clear of monsters and the few that did wander our way were quickly dealt with by Ska, Martin, or Fiona. I stuck near Frathsar as we chatted.

“You never did say how your trip south went?” I asked.

“It was dangerous but thanks to your directions, not nearly as bad as I expected. I was able to avoid most of the nasty critters in the area and I think that force you told me about must have cleared most of the countryside on their move south. It took a few months before dangerous wildlife began to return to the area.”

“At least they were good for something,” I mumbled in reply.

“Yes, it’s good to know they are no longer a threat, it will make living here a bit easier. I do worry about the creatures though, their levels seem to keep rising. Eventually, they should hit some unseen cap but who’s to say when that will be.”

I nodded at this, having witnessed the phenomenon as well. It wasn’t like the planet had zones of low-level creatures for easy experience. It had only seemed that way early on because everything was new, except the creatures and people brought over from other worlds.

“We’re almost there, mind hitting us with your illusion magic?”

“Not at all, are you expecting enemies?”

“I always expect trouble,” I replied.

I felt the magic of Frathar’s illusion settle over me. It felt odd having someone else's magic on me, and I didn’t remember feeling this way the previous time he had used it. I figured it had to do with either my higher Perception or tier two Intelligence. I also realized I had never had anyone cast defensive magic on me other than myself or Frathsar.

We quietly ran through the town and toward the fortress. I was glad I asked to use the illusion magic to cover us. A group of ten orcs was standing at the ramp leading into the quarry. A quick check beyond showed three dead orcs on the ramp to the entryway of the fortress. The scarred door was still present, if sloppily patched, meaning they were not able to get in.

A quick Identify showed that the orcs were all around level fifteen. It was higher than the Lord had said they would be and I suspected his intel was not as accurate as he claimed.

I motioned for the others to spread out and ready themselves for the attack. About half the group of orcs was facing toward us while the others were facing into the quarry and arguing about what to do. I decided to take that option away and cast Wall of Thorns between the two groups.

There was a few startled yelps of surprise but the orcs were quick to act, not that it helped them. Martin fired a dark bolt of energy from one hand and his mana pistol from the other, targeting the same orc. Fiona tore hers apart in a flurry of sword strikes, not letting the orc even draw its weapon. Ska leaped from the illusion, turning into a missile of fur and death as he raked bloody furrows through two orcs that stood close together.

I simply used Unstoppable Force, Charge, and Blink Step to barrel through the remaining two, as well as tearing through my Wall of Thorns. I took a bit of damage from the impact with the thorns as they were magical in nature. This allowed the orcs on the other side of the wall time to prepare for my charge, striking out at me with bows and wickedly shaped swords. I fended off one blade with my metallic hand while ramming my staff, point first into the highest leveled orc in front of me.

Within the first few seconds, the orc force had been reduced from ten to three. The remaining three bolted, using skills to enhance their speed. I whipped out a shockwave from my staff, clipping one and sending him sprawling into the dirt. Another looked back to try and see if he could save his friend but Ska pounced on him, dragging him down as well.

The last remaining orc disappeared into the forest around the city before we could catch him. But I made sure to tag him for Reaper to find. While I hadn’t been expecting orcs to be here, following that one back would make our job so much easier.

I heard Frathsar clear his throat behind us, “well, I must say, that was… violent, impressively so.”

“Sorry about that, we tend to fight creatures that are quite a bit more difficult, and acting fast and ruthless is really the only way to handle them.”

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

“You won’t get any complaints from me,” the merchant said with a toothy smile.

I hadn’t gotten any abilities from the orcs, mainly because they died so quickly I hadn’t had a chance to activate my spell. Being able to sneak up on them had made the fight rather one-sided. I hoped the fight with the orc leader went as easily. I could soften them up with the fortress but if I killed the orc leader that way I wasn’t going to get any skills.

Plus I think Ska wouldn’t forgive me. He hadn’t had a good fight since Chicago. I thought about it for a bit before deciding not to use the fortress to attack. If Martin wanted to stay behind because it would be more dangerous I wouldn’t fault him for that.

“Everyone ready to go?”

“Are we tracking the last one?” Ska crooned.

“Yup, but we won’t be using the fortress, you all ok with that?”

Ska nodded enthusiastically.

“Sure, I need to test out another summon anyway,” Martin added.

Fiona just shrugged.

“Alright then, let's go.”

We didn’t go quite right away. Frathsar wished to remain behind in safety. He wasn’t a fighter and I could understand his worry. He was still only level fifteen. While you could gain levels as a non-combatant, they were slower. I didn’t know what Frathsar’s requirements were to gain experience but I imagined it had something to do with selling stuff. He could still earn experience from killing it was just significantly reduced.

I decided to compromise, lifting off in the fortress to bring it closer to our attack site. This way Frathsar would be safe and we had a fallback point if the planned attack went to shit. Frathsar would remain behind alone. I trusted the dragonkin as much as I did Ska, Fiona, and Martin, he also had no way to operate the fortress. So the most he could do is look through the remote viewer while we were gone. I would have to leave the internal defenses offline but that should be fine. The damaged outer door and intact inner door could keep anyone out for quite some time.

“Here,” I said, handing Frathsar a small metal slate.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an alert token. Snap it in half and it will notify the paired plate on this necklace that you are in trouble,” I said, holding up the small metallic necklace I was wearing.

“Hmm, that’s rather ingenious. Did you make it?”

I nodded. I had stolen the idea from the ring that Sharla Cotton had worn. The plate was not as refined though and could only cover about twenty miles.

“I might be able to sell that if you would be willing to make more?”

I laughed, “sure, but after we finish our task with the orcs and the Commander.”

“Then it’s a deal, Frathsar said, holding out a clawed hand for me to shake.

I accepted the hand. The item was simple, having only two runes. I could whip out ten sets in short order. They didn’t even have to be metal, it was just what I had laying around that fit the size I needed.

***

It was rather boring floating unseen above the terrified orc as he ran around the forest. He kept checking his trail to make sure he wasn’t being followed before finally making off toward the mountains in the west.

We watched as he met up with more groups of hunters, it appeared that he told the story of what happened before hurrying off. Seeing an opportunity, I dropped Fiona and Ska off to deal with each group of hunters the lone orc ran into. Well, any that didn’t decide to turn around and go home. It turns out most were like that group I had met so early on, incensed at their kin’s deaths and eager to kill the culprits, no matter the information that was relayed to them.

On some level, I respected their drive to protect their kin. But it was too little, too late. Had they been willing to negotiate with the other people sent out to meet with them perhaps I would have felt bad about killing them. No, that time had come and gone, now it was time to deal with the threat.

By the time the marked orc reached a large village, Fiona and Ska had killed over a dozen hunting parties, ranging from four to eight orcs. Their levels were anywhere between ten and fourteen, none being as high a level as the first group we encountered. I wondered idly if that had to do with available prey. Surely they must have scoured most of the area near their village with this many hunting groups. The ones going farther afield gaining more experience.

Finding a spot to set the fortress down proved difficult. I settled on an overgrown gulley. The fortress landed, leaning to the side a bit as the landing gear attempted to compensate for the angle. It helped a little but it was the best we could do, there were no other areas clear of trees unless we made one.

“Alright, we got about a ten-minute hike, you all ready?”

I got affirmatives from the others. I nodded back and smiled at Frathsar. "We should be back in a few hours. I would recommend not leaving the fortress."

“Trust me, I will not be stepping foot outside. I leave the adventuring to the adventurers. Give me a safe road any day of the week.”

The four of us stepped outside and Martin got busy summoning his creature. An area of black tar formed on the ground, bubbling up and releasing a horrendous smell. Out of that bubbling soup, plopped what looked like a slime. It took on more human-like features though with a discernable head and arms. They were all featureless but you could sense when the creature looked at you. As with most of Martin’s summons, it gave me the creeps.

“It’s a demonic tar slime,” Martin said, looking at the creature.

“Any idea what it’s capable of?”

“Nope, but should be interesting.”

“Well, let's make it scout, that smell is making me nauseous.”

“Wait… it smells? Hmm, must be caster immunity or something. What’s it smell like?”

“It smells how it looks, like tar and sulfur and rot.”

“Ugh, really. Ok, Go scout ahead,” he waved to the creature.

“Hmm, Ska will scout as well, but far away from the demon beast, it overwhelms the local scents.”

“Alright, we will be a minute behind.”

It came as no surprise when I heard the first horns of the orcs. They were far off, but it seems the rancid smell had carried even to them. Other horns followed as other hunting groups started to converge on the tar creature.

“Fiona, go get Ska, see if you two can ambush a hunting party, Martin and I will stay back and pick off the ones coming in from our rear.”

Fiona nodded quickly flying off in the direction Ska had gone. While Martin and I found a good place to ambush the group. We located a small rise, no more than a few feet, but the sandy soil it was made from made it hard to climb. It wasn’t much but it would have to do. The horns were closing in and I could tell that two groups were coming from the rear now as the distinct horns from each group grew closer together.

Martin cast his protective dome while I cast Wall of Thorns on the top of the rise. It would only slow them down but that should buy enough time to plan.

Fourteen orcs burst from the treeline less than twenty feet from the rise. They spotted us instantly and the archers in the group started firing. They hadn’t even tried to discern our purpose here, just naked aggression. Up until this point I held onto a tiny bit of hope that Lord Durbin had been lying about the missing adventurers. But this sealed the deal.

Arrows enhanced with abilities impacted Martin’s shield, causing it to ripple but otherwise doing no damage. As far as I knew Martin could feed his entire mana pool into keeping the shield going. While an excellent defense it made him unable to move from the spot and limited his offensive capabilities. This was why his summon was so important. But it was off doing its own thing so I had to be the offense here.

I cracked my neck and produced my staff, rushing toward the nearest group. They had split up to surround us as I had hoped. Without my ability to use Aura of Rage without crippling myself, I had to take care of how many intelligent creatures I fought. Unlike mindless beasts, these could harm me.

One of the orcs rushed at me, growing almost a foot and moving quite a bit faster. He swung a massive flat-faced sword to cleave me in half. I smiled, intercepting the strike with my staff and redirecting the blow to the side. I grunted in surprise at the strength behind the blow but was able to overpower him anyway. Just before the attack finished, I Imbued my staff with electricity, sending a paralyzing bolt of power up the orc's weapon. He twitched as his muscles locked up, giving me the tiniest of opening as I jammed my staff into his gut and released a Shockwave.

The whole orc’s body rippled from the impact before it was sent hurtling into two others behind him.

‘Holy shit, I didn’t expect that to happen!’

The three weren’t dead, but they would be slow at rejoining the fight. Now I could have easily ended this fight the same way I attacked the group of orcs at the quarry, but I needed to test some combinations out and this was the best way to do it.

An arrow blasted into my armor, my shield absorbing the blow, but the flash of energy blinded me for a split second as another sword tried to slice my head off. My shield flared again and I realized, I needed to focus and take the fight more seriously. As the next attack came in, my hand snapped out, wrenching the orc's arm and bringing him in close, where I headbutted him as I activated Calcifying Strike.

It was another learning experience as both his arm and forehead started to turn to stone at the same time. He stumbled back as I slammed my staff down, activating Shockwave. The quickly petrifying orc fell to the ground where his arm and forehead shattered in a bloody display.

Another arrow slammed into my shield, and I could tell it was almost depleted. In this battle, I had made sure to grab some abilities. Each target counted as a fight, so I could use it once on each orc if I chose to. I would go through them after. For now, I cast Charge and bowled over any orc in my way as I ran toward the archers.

They saw me coming and dropped their bows to pull out their swords, but they were a second too slow as I activated Time Shudder for the first time.

It appeared as the world stopped, allowing me to continue moving as I had been. In that time I also cast Unstoppable Force. The flow of time returned and the first orc’s eyes widened as I slammed into him, trampling him underfoot as I continued unabated through his friends behind him. That’s when the real carnage began. Blink Step along with Underhanded Blow made a mess of the orcs. I even pulled out Double Strike and Flurry, forgetting I had upped my agility and my flurry now delivered twenty strikes so rapidly even I couldn’t track them.

The fight quickly turned into a rout as the few remaining orcs tried to flee. But I wasn’t letting them get away. I released Bella to go after a few, while I chased the last three.

They really had no chance, I was more agile, even without my skills. Although, I did have to employ a second casting of Blink Step to catch one orc with a similar ability. My armor was scratched from the fighting and I had taken a few slashes to the exposed areas of my body, a few on the arms and one across my neck, that I was thankful didn’t decapitate me, but those were healing as my spells went to work.

Martin found me a few minutes later, as I was trying to wipe the blood from my staff.

“I should really add self-cleaning to my weapons, I hate cleaning this shit off.”

“Might not be a bad idea, maybe self-repair too,” he added, looked at my general appearance.

I looked down at my armor, it was covered in blood and other bodily fluids as well as numerous shallow cuts. It was strange, unlike the fight with Randy Cotton and the Black Dragon, this fight – while dangerous – didn’t feel life-threatening at all and I had taken just as much damage.

I knew I should stop being so blasé about fights. From my experience a level fifteen could kill a level twenty just not as easily. Something about allowing myself to be injured made the fights feel more visceral. It was a dangerous mentality to have and I would need to curb that tendency if I wanted to stay alive. Nothing would lead to dying faster than underestimating an opponent.