Realizing that she was about to faint, the female archer lightly slapped the ebony woman's face. "Someone is on his way here! He can help! Hang in there!” She then gazed at the young man who was sprinting frantically towards them. "What's that in your hand?"

The young man dodged the people who stood in his way, trying not to trip over the bodies that were scattered around the place. “Almost there! I'm giving my best!”

Upon spotting a bone knife on the ground, he halted and retrieved it. Without hesitation, he made a small incision on his palm, being cautious not to drop the peculiar piece of meat in his grasp.

Ian and the male archer looked at him in bewilderment. They thought he was crazy. What was the young man with blue eyes, white blond short hair, and a face that suggests he had never broken a dish in his life doing? Was he a doctor? Did he expect her to eat on the verge of death?

"Come on! Grab my hand!" He shouted as he knelt down next to her.

The ebony woman glared at him. It was already hard enough for her to keep from fainting without being yelled at.

The young man grabbed her arm and took her hand. He mixed his blood with hers in the palm of his hand. "Quick! Squeeze my hand!"

The young man looked at her with concern. She had managed to squeeze his hand, but with great difficulty. Her expression began to lose all traces of life as her eyes rolled back. "Repeat after me! You are my friend and my brother!"

"Cough, cough! What the fuck are you saying?!" she blurted out, regaining consciousness briefly.

The young man didn’t bother to wipe the blood from his face. "REPEAT, DAMMIT! I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU!"

The female archer also insisted. "Please! Listen to him!"

She spoke in a low voice, lacking conviction and strength. Her life hung by a thread. “You’re… my friend… and my brother.”

"Don't give up now! We're not finished yet! I share your pain and your strength!"

“I share your… Cough, cough, cough!… pain and... your strength!”

Ian looked at the male archer in confusion, hoping for an explanation. However, the archer simply shrugged his shoulders after dispatching a dying goblin.

Ian was on the verge of rebuking them and telling them to cut the crap, when all of a sudden shallow cuts began to appear on the young man's arms and legs. At the same time, some of the more serious wounds on the ebony woman disappeared.

"Why the hell didn't I know about any of this?"

The whispers brought Ian out of his ignorance. That was a way to create a bond, but only those who had Irum's favor could do so with that healing effect. For the others, it just meant a brotherhood agreement where they could share many things, such as inventory.

Next, the young man placed the strange meat in her hand. "Store it in your inventory and consume it from there! The sooner you do it, the sooner the effects will kick in!"

The dimpled archer hesitantly looked at her trembling hand and cut her palm with an arrow. She then snatched the ebony woman's hand from the young man's grasp. "Squeeze my hand too! You are my friend and...!"

The little archer looked helplessly at the ebony woman, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had lost consciousness just after the meat had disappeared.

The male archer placed his hand on her back in a kind and understanding manner. "You did your best, but sadly she didn't make it! Don't blame yourself!"

“Really, Captain Obvious?!” muttered the spearman.

Ian clenched his teeth as the ebony woman's lungs slowly deflated. He preferred to be alone than witness such scenes again. Besides, he had his own concerns. It was possible that his mother was going through a similar situation, and he was wasting time on strangers instead of addressing the problem.

"You bastard! Get up now! We have something pending! You're going to pay me back!" shouted the spearman, pointing his weapon at Ian.

Ian wasn't going to overlook his attitude once again. Especially when he saw his red aura. “Strike three!”

Ian stood up, ready to answer the asshole's plea for death, when the young man suddenly grabbed his arm. "Stay with her! She's not dead! I can feel it! The bond is still active."

None of those present could believe what he was saying, so it was Ian who took the pulse on her neck. "What the fuck are you talking about? She has no pulse! This isn't a movie, man! People die for a lot less than this!"

"She needs more time for the meat to take effect! I prepared it to treat serious wounds. I specialized in alchemy, I know what I'm saying! We need to keep her heart beating!"

"And you want me to do it because you don't want to get your damn hands dirty, right? Fine!"

Ian pushed them all away and attempted to revive her with CPR. However, as soon as he started compressions, blood started gushing out. But not only from her wounds, from her nose and mouth too.

“Is this what you want, man? Do you really want me to proceed?”

“My name is Yaros and yes, I'm pretty sure this is what I want! Proceed!”

The new one already had a name. An easy one to remember. The spearman on the other hand, not yet. He kept approaching menacingly while showing his wounds on his arms and legs. "Come here, you piece of shit! Look what they've done to me because of you, scumbag!"

Ian wished to butcher him, but it was the male archer who interceded. "Why don't you shut the fuck up?! Do you have the mentality of a fucking kid or what? I can't think of any other explanation!"

The archer pointed at Ian. "Thanks to his decisions, we were able to finish them off quickly. I wish we could have saved her... We all did our best, or didn't you come to that?"

"What are you implying, asshole? Do you want trouble too?"

"Trouble? You had a spear and a shield, dammit! If you were smarter, you would have kept them at bay better than any of us."

"Easier?! Bullshit, asshole!"

"I've had enough!” The archer drew the long bow pointing to the ground. "My name is Zad! If you insult me again, it will be the last! Have you understood or should I draw you a picture?"

They both stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Zad was physically imposing, surpassing the spearman in both height and strength. However, the spearman refused to back off. He had a very big mouth that he didn't seem to know how to keep closed. "Whatever! That motherfucker has to pay for what he did to me. That bitch is already dead anyway!"

"Bitch?! She had a name we'll never know now!" the silver cat shouted, about to lose her temper. She looked like she wanted to stab him.

Yaros raised his voice indignantly as he instructed Ian to continue the resuscitation. "His name is Daowm and she will live! Don't you guys have Identify?"

Everyone looked around to check it out. Everyone except Zad. He was busy figuring out the spearman's name. "To be honest, Kham, I would rather you were the one bleeding like a pig right now!"

Ian wanted to agree with him, but he was too distracted by the events unfolding right under his nose. The wounds of Daowm were healing.

Excited, the little archer placed her hand on Ian's shoulder. "Wait, wait! You have to provide oxygen to her brain too!" Getting redder and redder. "Give her mouth to mouth!"

Ian didn't understand why she was blushing so much. Daowm's appearance was striking, but her mouth was completely covered in blood. In fact, everyone present was aesthetically pleasing. It was evident that the character creator had successfully met everyone's expectations.

“How easily they manipulated us... Come on, man! Focus!”

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

He attempted to dismiss the thought, but found it quite challenging when their lips met. That was a bad time to recall how her breasts jiggled as he compressed her chest with his hands. Maybe how soft her lips felt mixed with the viscosity of her blood contributed to that thought.

“When was the last time? Three years ago?”

The little archer spoke louder, drawing more attention to him and increasing his sense of guilt even more. "You're healing her!!"

"You mean, my meat!" Yaros stressed, looking at her annoyed, like a child seeking recognition.

Ian compressed Daowm's chest a couple more times until she started coughing like crazy.

Almost everyone greeted her with a welcoming smile when she opened her eyes. But it was the archer who spoke first as tears welled up in her eyes. "A true fighter!"

“Fighter?! She behaved like a damn suicide! Stupid civilians...”

Daowm's gaze lingered on Ian's blood-stained lips. Realizing that he had saved her, she tried to thank him, but she didn't know how to apologize for her reckless attitude.

Jealous, Yaros interrupted. "Look at me! Do you know who you are and where you are?"

"Darla... No Daowm! My name is Daowm!

Despite the interruption, her gaze remained fixed on Ian, and her aura grew increasingly white. Ian tiptoed away from her intense interest, realizing that he had become special to her. “I believe she is fine, let her catch her breath!”

"Yes! You are no longer in danger thanks to my meat, to the bond and..." Yaros turned reluctantly to Ian. "... and to your help, of course!"

Ian got to his feet and turned to face Kham, but Zad and Yaros intervened before he could make a move.

"It's not worth the trouble, man!" they said almost in unison.

Ian stepped back and wiped the blood from his lips with his arm before charging forward again.

This time, only Zad attempted to dissuade him. “We will need all the help we can get, even...”

Ian stared at Zad. He didn't want to finish the sentence because he expected everyone to idealize the concept of unity. Even though Zad himself didn't contemplate the idea.

"What did you do for a living, Zad?" asked Ian.

He responded with a smile to the directness of the question. Despite his youthful, surfer-like appearance, he exuded experience.

"I'm... was... a policeman many years ago." The brief pauses denoted bitterness, but no one tried to poke their noses in.

"Funny how many twists and turns life can take! I woke up this morning on my 54th birthday, ready to take care of my sheep and shoot any wolf that came near them in the head. But there was no happy birthday. My daughter rushed me to the hospital. I was unconscious with a nosebleed. I guess I hadn't been paying too much attention to the headaches of the past few months.”

Zad looked at Ian with interest, waiting to hear his story. However, Ian remained silent and didn't share anything.

"Happy birthday, Zad!" a new guy interrupted.

Dark skinned and physically fit. His head was shaved on both sides into a mohawk with the tips dyed white and green. He had blue eyes and a fierce gaze. He carried a cane reinforced at the ends with bronze and had the appearance of being a martial artist.

“I'm sorry I wasn't here in time to help!” He pointed to some goblin corpses in the distance. “I could only take care of two. The rest fled north. They must be settled over there. I saw another group of those things take several gagged humans. It seems they want us alive.”

Kham raised his voice out of the blue. “Great! As if one wasn't enough, here comes another!”

The guy with the mohawk, Dar-Hok, looked at Kham with disdain, as if he considered him nothing more than trash.

The silver cat approached Ian as he was about to take advantage of the distraction. Her eyes were a striking shade of mauve and the desire to know more about her revealed her as Ilya. She was slender and petite, with a lithe and graceful body. Her face was alluring and sensual, with a touch of mischief.

She placed her hand on Ian's abs and caressed them. She was too bold for Ian's taste. Even more so when she pressed her bust into his torso and her belly into his crotch. She was perfectly aware of the height difference between them and was using it to her advantage. No words were needed. "Don't humor him! We need someone like you to stay alive here! If you go after him, no one will follow you."

Ian took a step back. He had no intention of babysitting these idiots. He had his own objective, and he was about to make it clear when he noticed the hooded man leaning against a nearby tree, smiling.

Zad noticed that Ian was tense, so he approached him and whispered. "What's up, man? What did you see?"

“Really?! They can’t see him?!”

Moments later, Zad's Tracking Instinct alerted him. There was a very dangerous presence in the tree, but he couldn't see it.

Zad looked around anxiously, hoping no one would notice. "Is it an enemy?"

Ian observed the hooded man's aura. He was surprised to discover that it was white, but he remained skeptical. After all, it changed rather easily.

Ian gritted his teeth and shook his head.

Zad looked at him baffled. "Then?!"

Ian began to loot the corpses of the goblins without uttering a single word.

Zad took command, raising his voice. “It’s a good idea! Let's take care of this and find a safe place! They may come back!”

He then looked at Kham. “What are you waiting for?!”

********

Five minutes later, they had all learned how to manage the remains of their victims in their inventory with the help of the whispers. Additionally, they discovered that they were only entitled to the belongings of their own victims.

If they violated this rule, the whispers would alert the owners and the offenders of what was about to happen. If they were willing to suffer the consequences, they would become a Marked.

[Marked]: Negative title easily visible with identification. Some titles of this type are:

◦ Thief: It can be removed by returning what was stolen and compensating for the grievance.

◦ Killer of … (Humans, goblins, orcs …). Permanent.

◦ Traitor: After breaking a pact or deliberately attacking an ally. Permanent.

◦ Weaver: After convincing others to do evil things for you. Permanent.

◦ …

Enemies killed by several players were treated differently. An agreement had to be reached, which was usually to cut them into pieces as if that were a butcher's shop. Dantesque, but fair.

They also discovered that the goblins' skins were not gray with a blue hue, but ochre, some being more green. None of them were really blue. Perhaps it was for some kind of rite or brotherhood.

Those who entered through the left door found that they could not do much with the Maker without a craft specialization. Apart from creating [Roasted Goblin Meat] and [Small Healing Potion] with the flesh, they only obtained bones and entrails that weighed too much in their inventories. Materials that increased in value very quickly.

Their bronze weapons had durability, and no one possessed the Blacksmith craft to repair them. Their low level of [Maker] only allowed them to create weapons of bone and wood. They must rank up the skill to at least advanced.

[Roasted Goblin Meat]: Individual food ration. When consumed, restores 50 points of HP, stamina and mana over time. Cannot be taken consecutively.

[Small Healing Potion]: When consumed, this item restores 30HP immediately and an additional 40HP over the course of 5 minutes. Multiple potions can be consumed consecutively.

As for the goblin rags, people used them for different purposes, but they were generally put to good use. Some people made simple shoes out of the cloth, while others used the leftover material to create additional clothes such as shorts and tops.

The entrails, on the other hand, got a different treatment. Everyone threw them away as they could not do anything with them.

Upon seeing this, Yaros approached and asked for permission to keep them for himself. He used his alchemy skills to create potions, which he kept secret from everyone except Daowm.

Several female players and Yaros himself supported Daowm in her recovery, but she was more interested in Ian. She didn't take her eyes off him.

Kham continued to endear himself to everyone with his kind and respectful comments. Comments that two new guys of his ilk supported. They were not the only newcomers to join the group. They ended up being 16 in total; nine men and seven women.

With the support of the majority, Zad encouraged Ian to assume the role of Combat Leader. This position was intended to retain him. Zad had noticed that Ian wanted to leave, and that posed a real problem.

Only an idiot would ignore the obvious. They needed unity and a leader to follow. He was not a good leader. He already knew that, but maybe Ian was. However, that possibility would disappear if he killed Kham. And he was sure it would happen sooner or later. The guy seemed to be crying out for it. He needed everyone to trust Ian as soon as possible. There was something about him that he wanted on his side. Besides, he knew he wouldn't like the alternative.