Coraigen Ukarel J’Onnlem tore through vegetation and mushroom-covered creatures without prejudice as he raced through the dense plant life covering the forest’s floor. He was having a very bad week. First he is selected as one of his clan’s support class positions for the upcoming incursion on the baby celestial body and then, somehow, he ripped through the actual incursion point three moons too early. The system had told his clan elders that they would be permitted to send through a team of no more than one hundred warriors with the mix of classes being at their discretion. But the quest timer had only counted down by three days when he had blinked and awoken in a desolate field of black glass surrounded by monsters. And of course, when he had finally escaped the neverending stamina contest with the mana-crazed creatures, he just so happened to stumble into a Forest being dominated by some of Myacept’s brood.
When he first set foot inside the stretching forest he had been overwhelmed with awe at the beautiful trees and plant life surrounding him. Huge twisting trunks dwarfed even his massive eight-foot frame and neighboring branches weaved together causing the massive blood leaves to create an almost perfect semi-transparent ceiling. The red light filtering through the canopy cast warm shadows across his dark, ashy green skin, and his unhinged jaw causing the large fangs in the bottom of his mouth to jut out at a comical angle. Then he stumbled upon the mutated canines covered in fungal matter and feasting on a beautiful creature with shaggy white fur and a feminine humanoid face sitting beneath pearly antlers.
The Urketh’s demeanor changed instantly and the tribal runes that were etched across his arms began to glow. They were a bright green, matching the luminescence that now bubbled from his eyes, “The Omniverse has allowed Myacept to initiate a brood while the planet is still in its tutorial?” Coraigen’s voice was a low grumble, spreading through the trees like shifting boulders as it escaped between his lower fangs.
This was not an enemy that the Urketh was confident he would be able to defeat. While he was sure that the two monstrous animals in front of him would not pose an issue, Myacept’s brood was not impressive due to their individual strength. No, it was due to the sheer numbers and rate of inception. Coupled with the quasi-hive mind within its domain and the sentient intellect of its higher echelon, this plane may be doomed before the tutorial even ends.
The bubbling emerald light in his eyes resolved into a blazing flame and Coraigen dashed forward in a blink. With his ancestor’s path flowing through him the reaction of the two mutated beasts seemed sluggish. The fungus-covered skulls barely turned in acknowledgment of his presence by the time both his fists had slammed into both of their heads and shattered them against the ground. As soon as the creatures had been dispatched the Urketh turned west and dashed through the underbrush with as much speed as he dared. He remembered seeing a shining obelisk in the distance above the treeline prior to entering the forest. Obelisks typically mean civilization, and while civilization didn’t always amount to an allied group, it was an obvious choice in comparison to the brood.
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As his choice had been made, he continued his mad dash through the forest for a full day and a half. His massive body was finally reaching its limit and his ancestral path had been put on cooldown that morning, its twenty-four-hour activation time requiring a full day to be used again. His loping gait slowly regressed into a short trot, and finally just became a marching drum beat against the ground as the sun beat in the sky above him.
“What kind of System damned plane did I descend to? Have my ancestors forsaken me?” Coraigen lashed out with his fit at some nearby underbrush as he grumbled to himself, “My whole life I have been pushed around for having chosen a support class and not having any flashy, death-reaping skills and when I finally have the chance to prove myself-” The large Urketh shoved through a particularly dense patch of the brush into a clearing when his rantings suddenly came to a halt. There was a small humanoid female huddled protectively over the unconscious man in the middle of the clearing. The female was staring at him with a fierceness that belied strong ancestors. While his people were warlike and favored strength but they were not a cruel people, Coraigen opened his fists palm out to assure her and began to speak, “Do not worry female. I, Coraig-”
The words came to an abrupt halt as a fist ripped through the shadows at his side and caught the Urketh on the side of the jaw, sending him tumbling. He was dazed for a moment, the blow vibrating through his entire being as though he had been struck by a falling boulder. When his vision began to clear, the silhouette standing above him began to take a humanoid shape. The male standing above him had long raven black hair, violet undertones deepening in the red glow. He was tall but painfully thin, and for a moment Coraigen was deeply confused that this was the being who struck him a moment ago. That doubt was immediately chased away by the sword dripping with shadow that hung comfortably from his right hand, pointed directly at Coraigen’s heart.
The Urketh didn’t move a muscle and after a moment the man spoke, “You’re lucky that you’re loud Orc.” Coraigen stared at him in confusion for several moments before he continued, “I could hear you talking about being a support class earlier, I also heard you tell Mel over there that she would be safe. Had I not, I would have opened you up from throat to groin. You wouldn't be around to argue your own case and I hope you make a good one because everybody loves a support...” The blade bit into Coraigen’s chest slightly then, the point making contact with his skin sending chills creeping across his skin, “So tell me, Craig, are you friend, or foe?”