Before Felsha could move another muscle, she found herself grabbed around the neck by an unseen hand and lifted into the air. She choked as she was pulled up, kicking the air and grabbing at her neck.

All of it was in vain. Her dagger proceeded to unsheathe itself from the scabbard around her arms, before floating away into the air beside Adam. Following that, her mask began to pull away from her face.

She frantically began to shake her head, obviously not wanting to have her face revealed. But Felsha had little choice in the matter.

Instead of being completely ripped from her face, Adam instead opted to crack it open, reducing it to pieces.

What was revealed to the moonlight and lamp flame was a scarred face of hate and fear. Long scars ran across her face at various angles, depicting slashes that were too shallow to kill, but enough to make her bleed. She had bulging eyes and bloodied lips. It was a miracle she wasn't blinded by any of her scars.

She gritted her teeth with enough force to cause them to crack. Seeing her face up close and personal without the mask disgusted Adam. He realized that seeing it instead through his psychic senses was preferable.

Adam couldn't help but see that she bore a resemblance to the pair of bunny girls he saw earlier inside the guild lobby. That said, he was certain that this particularly bunny girl was different. Maybe he was still not used to seeing the differences in these other humanoid races. He needed to learn how to discern them.

After all, he was never bigoted. And he was not about to start now.

That said, this particular bunny girl was not going to have a good night.

Recalling his earlier thought, Adam sent the bunny girl into a nearby wall, slamming her with enough force to cause several cracks, and rendering her unconscious.

Adam felt her pain, but it didn't bother him much. As she floated back into the air in front of him and Ruk, Adam reminded himself that he was holding a psychopathic murderer with his telekinesis.

"I'm sorry, Ruk," Adam felt the need to apologize to his companion, "She left me no choice."

Ruk looked at Adam with confusion, "Why sorry? No need! You did right. As expected of my brother!"

Adam smiled awkwardly, "Should we drop her off at a nearby guard station or something?" He wasn't sure if Port Silvershore had something similar to that of a police station.

"Nah, she won't wake up till next day. Let the guild handle her then. We can carry her no problem."

Adam turned to look at the unconscious Felsha as she floated in the air with her stomach facing the ground and her arms and legs limp and dangling. Judging by the state of her mind, she wasn't gonna wake up anytime soon.

Taking a closer look, Adam concluded that her body was not in the process of trying to save her life, though he was still unsure. He figured Baran and Fred had the knowledge and means to check her vitals, but would they even welcome him now that he was going to bring them two surprises?,

Adam sighed. There was only one way for him to find out, and so they continued on their way to the docks.

After ten minutes of dodging other pedestrians from seeing their suspiciously floating third companion, the trio arrived at their destination with only a few odd looks from the several people unfortunate enough to see them walk by.

Knocking on the door, Adam and Ruk waited. After a brief shuffling of footsteps, the door swung open, revealing Fred and Baran on the other side.

"Adam!" The both of them greeted as they went and gave Adam a rather tight embrace. Adam received it with surprise and acceptance, embracing his two benefactors back. It looked like they were expecting him.

"Heard your application went poorly!" Baran said, causing Adam's heart to sink. "But it all worked out in the end. See?"

Adam sighed in relief, "I guess Carnos sent you a message then."

Baran chuckled, "Ha, of course he did. And he also sent me some questions about ya, but I ain't gonna answer them. He knows some and that's enough already."

"And you also brought a friend!" Fred said as he pointed to the large orc standing just behind Adam.

Ruk took this opportunity to walk forward, bow his head, and introduce himself.

"Humans! Happy to meet you. I am Ruk. An orc berserker. I am this human's partner, and we are the Rukdam Duo!"

Though Ruk's voice was loud, as expected, he didn't declare himself too loudly this time, making sure to try and temper his voice to not disturb any ears too much.

Baran and Fred looked at Ruk for a few seconds, then at Adam, then back at Ruk. Adam feared the worst, but something unexpected happened instead.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"He's got an orc partner! Now nobody's gonna mess with him." Baran proudly declared as he and Fred both began to hurry Adam and Ruk through the door.

Before Adam could raise the fact that they brought along an unconscious bunny psychopath who was still floating outside, he and Ruk found themselves sitting around a table with enough food to call the occasion a feast. The large orc somehow managed to fit through the doors, though the dining room looked cramped due to his size.

Ruk, however, was not complaining. His chair, meanwhile, definitely was.

It seemed to Adam that Fred and Baran had been preparing for his return with a lot of enthusiasm. The table was lined with plates of roasted chicken, roasted ork, medium steaks, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, cold juice drinks, roasted fish, and many, many more meals as if he had won some sort of grand victory.

Adam was not complaining. He sensed within Fred and Baran a genuine feeling of care and understanding. They considered Adam as someone worth celebrating for, someone who was worth the expense.

Adam was their friend.

But why? What made him worthy of being labeled as such.

Adam had no time to ponder over this question as dinner began in earnest. Ruk was more than happy to oblige in the feast and thanked Fred and Baran profusely for their generosity. The two took the thanks from the orc with pride and dug in as well.

Dinner was long, but it was far from boring. Adam shared his experience with the day, telling of his registration and the duel that proved him capable to face the world. Baran and Fred listened with full mouths and pride on their faces. They smiled throughout, their happiness dimming only at the mention of the years he shed.

Still, the shadow of doubt did not appear in their minds or hearts. Rather, they believed in Adam to succeed, and so he did.

After Adam finished sharing his experiences, Baran took his turn to explain further the message he received from Carnos.

As it turned out, Carnos was not satisfied by Adam's admittedly vague description of his life during his registration. The branchmaster was curious and sought the help of Baran for further clarification and enlightenment regarding the guild's newest recruit with strange powers.

Baran, however, knew that sharing more than what Adam had already disclosed was dangerous and beyond disrespectful to the young man he had taken under his wing. And thus, Carnos was not going to receive a reply whatsoever. Was it rude to leave a message hanging? Yes, but Baran didn't seem bothered by the fact.

As the conversation moved to other stories, it was Ruk's turn to share the tale of the journey he undertook from his tribal home in the main continent of Erea, through the Unending Storm, and towards the new world. Adam hyped it up by teasing his mention of the kraken whose tentacle he chopped off, which earned him the intense interest of Baran and Fred.

Apparently, a kraken and other sea creatures were serious realities that warranted serious tales. Pondering for a bit, Adam understood. Who wouldn't be mesmerized and terrified by a giant sea creature? Especially given that he himself had the help of one.

The chances of his encounter being a mere hallucination did not stand, for Adam knew if his mind was playing tricks on him or not. His desperation against the towering waves of the Unending Storm as it gaped its ugly maw was real, and the voice he heard and the large shadow that looked at him beneath the waves was likewise genuine.

Adam would have his answers for that fateful day, but not now or soon.

Everyone listened to what Ruk had to say, and the orc said a lot. His tribe, the Sandhammer Clan, valued martial prowess and a good fight like all other orc clans living in the Yellow Wastes. That said, Ruk claimed that he was sent here by their War Chief to find a glorious battle and bring home the head of a worthy champion.

While Baran and Fred were more than interested with the Orc's backstory, Adam found himself somewhat terrified at the fact that his partner was on a quest for battle and glory, with the end goal of bringing home a literal head to prove his worth.

It sounded like a very violent and hard life, and as Adam gazed into his thoughts, he found the orc to be completely honest for the most part.

Except for whenever he mentioned that he was on a quest to prove himself. Adam felt that he wasn't telling the complete truth, for his mind appeared troubled whenever he spoke of it. It was as if he was not just telling his story, but also trying to convince himself that what he knew and believed in was indeed the case.

Ruk was hiding something personal, but Adam wasn't about to point that out and put his large and bulky partner on an awkward spot. Such a reckless and rude act may very well antagonize the otherwise jolly orc.

When Ruk finally got to the part of his journey recounting his voyage by ship through the Unending Storm, Baran and Fred listened with a fiery intensity. They seemed to have a fascination or a keen interest towards the mysteries and legends that surrounded the ocean, especially the waters in and around the Unending Storm.

From what Adam had understood so far, the Unending Storm stretched from north to south, dividing the rest of the world with a wall of dark clouds, thunderous lightning, and towering waves. Any and all ships that dared to go through its raging jaws would find themselves consumed by the storm or swallowed underneath the waves. Only ships guided by mages and reinforced by their magic could make their journey, but even then, their survival was not guaranteed.

For there were also leviathans and sea monsters lurking underneath the churning waters. Creatures of immense scale and power, defying the storm itself.

One such creature was the kraken. Adam knew just from the name that it was a gigantic octopus, and Ruk's mention of chopping off one of its tentacles made it obvious enough. That said, the fact that a real creature here shared the same name with a mythical creature back in his original world did not bode well.

Ruk claimed to have confronted the large beast as it wrapped the ship with its many tentacles, threatening to pull it down into the dark depths of the ocean below. As the rain poured and the winds howled, he lifted his axe and swung it in an arch towards the nearest tentacle, cleaving it in half and causing the sea-beast to wail in apparent agony. Frightened by the loss of one of its limbs, the kraken removed itself from the ship and sank bank into the rolling waves.

The orc found himself acclaimed a hero by the crew, while the rest of the passengers were muted in their appreciation of his heroism. It was then did Adam learn that orcs were treated more as animals than people, viewed with suspicion by most. It was Ruk himself who explained this prejudice, but he didn't seem to mind it all that much.

What mattered to him was that he now had a tentacle to call his trophy. Neither Adam, Baran, or Fred dared to ask where he kept it. That said, the latter two were in awe of his tale and found themselves wanting more.

But that was where the story ended. At least it explained where all the blood came from when Adam saw him walking through the docks. That said, Adam now wondered why the rain didn't wash the blood away. Or rather, why didn't he wash himself in the first place