They had made it to the base of the mountain before lunch and decided to eat as they walked to find the source of the smoke as soon as they could. They were about a mile out from the base of the mountain when Joe received a new notice.
Warning! You are now entering a Level 50+ Zone.
“Why give a warning? It should say congratulations for leaving a level one hundred zone. I mean after the last month; you’d think a level fifty zone would be far less dangerous.” Joe looked over at Bixby, “That was sarcasm, by the way.” Bixby walked on without comment. Another hour of walking brought them to a small rise in the land and Joe saw, through a small break in the trees that they were getting somewhat close. “Couple more miles I think.” Joe told Bixby as they made their way through the brush.
Ten minutes later, Bixby stopped and both ears perked up. Joe listened and searched the woodland around them, looking for trouble, when he heard the sounds of fighting. People yelling and then a loud roar. “Find them!” Joe spoke. Bixby oriented on the sounds and bolted through the trees. Very quickly they came out of the trees and onto a paved road. The road ran east to west. To the east it curved out of sight into the tree line, to the west, it ran straight. And that is where they saw the battle raging.
From what Joe could tell, it looked like two large humanoid monsters, maybe eight to ten feet tall were fighting several people clad in various amounts of steel armor. And it looked like the people were taking a beating. “Bixby, you take the one on the right, I’ll take the left! Watch out for whatever weapons or spells the people might fire off!” Joe cast his mantle spell and he and Bixby sprinted, and blink stepped to the battle. When they were within blink step range of the fight, Joe watched as Bixby appeared on the back of one of the monsters. The monsters were something Joe had yet to see. They were human-like but tall and wide. They had rough hide skirts ornamented with animal bones and skulls around the waist and sewn into the hides. Their skin was tinted a sickly-looking light orange color and they had mohawks of braided black hair that fell down their broad backs. The braids were also ornamented with bones. Both were wielding gigantic clubs made of what Joe thought might be the leg bones of some enormous beast. When Bixby’s opponent turned its head and roared in pain as the large dog bit down on its exposed neck, the face was hideous. It had a huge jaw with a massive underbite which showed tusks protruding from the bottom row of teeth, two simple slits for a nose and an unnerving amount of eyes dotted its forehead.
Forest Ogre (50)
HP: 8000
Status: Angry
Weak to Fire and Lightning damage
That is one fugly monster! Joe blinked behind his chosen opponent and let fly a void bolt at its torso. The bolt burned into its side, and it roared as it spun to meet its new attacker, swinging its massive weapon in a wide arc. Joe blinked back about twenty feet and the swing missed, causing the confused ogre to lose its balance. The armored warrior that had been facing it took advantage of the monsters’ mishap and slammed a large one-handed war axe into the ogre’s calf. This caused the monster to drop to one knee and it blindly swept its bone club back at the warrior who took the blow directly on his shield. Standing there, Joe was surprised to see that all three of the armored fighters were short. He guessed that the one with the axe and shield was the tallest at maybe just a hair over five feet. The other two were almost six inches shorter and both were much wider than their companion.
The fighter with the axe and shield continued to swing at the ogre who was now busy fending off not only him, but one of the other warriors as well. The second warrior, Joe could see was swinging a two-handed weapon that looked like a stone hammer covered in strips of sharp, pointed metal. One side of the hammer was flat with metal strips protruding out around the face like a crown and looked like it would cause a lot of damage to whatever it hit. The other side was a huge spike of stone. He was also surrounded by a weird miasma of reddish smoke or fog. This close, Joe could see that this fighter had an enormous beard of bright red hair flowing out from under a metal helmet that reminded him of something a Viking would wear. The armor was leather covered in strips of metal with sharp pointed pieces of metal coming off of the elbows, knees, and shins. The warriors’ gloves and bracers also had metal spikes coming off of them. He yelled in a rich baritone voice and swung his hammer at the kneeling ogre’s exposed back. The hammer came down with a loud and meaty thump. The ogre dropped its weapon and spun on its knees to try and grab the bearded warrior. Joe thought the warrior would move out of the way, but he did not, he yelled again as the ogre grabbed his arm and then the small fighter began punching the ogre’s arm and hand, yelling like a mad man.
The Ogre yowled again and let go, just as the axe wielder slammed his axe into the beast’s thigh. The spiked fighter snatched up his weapon and began pounding the ogre with it, yelling, with spittle flying from his mouth. He looked like he had gone completely mad. Meanwhile the other ogre was faced with a swift moving Bixby and the last of the warriors. This fighter was clad in leather and chainmail across his wide body. He too had a massive red beard and a Viking style helmet. Bixby kept the ogre spinning in place while the fighter slammed an overly large mace into it. With every hit, electricity would arc across the wounded area, causing the ogre to spasm and roar.
But for all of their hits, the ogres were still a long way from dead. Joe pondered his options for a moment and then called his swords to his hands. He dashed up to the ogre facing the two warriors and stepped in close as he brought one sword down on the ogres exposed neck and his other sword jabbed upward into the monster’s armpit. Both blades bit deep, and the ogre thrashed backwards towards Joe, but he was already on the move. His dual wield skill giving him an awareness of the fight that made him feel like he was almost a passenger in his own body. He spun and cut two parallel grooves along the things back, stepped back and lunged forward to jab both blades side by side into the ogre’s kidney.
Joe quickly stepped back to survey his handiwork when the spiked warrior yelled out in what sounded like a thick Scottish brogue, “Oy, ya daft ballsack! This’s my kill! Getcher own!” He then proceeded to slam the pointed end of his hammer down on the ogre’s head repeatedly, as if he were trying to hammer it into the ground as fast as he could. The entire time yelling and cursing in a language Joe did not understand. The axe wielder also got in a clean hit to the large monsters’ spine, and it went down. A moment later Joe felt the familiar tingle that told him his opponent was dead. He quickly turned his attention to the remaining one.
The second ogre was not faring any better. It was being harried by Bixby and had dozens of bleeding wounds all over its legs and arms. It had dropped its weapon and was clawing at its face as if something had blinded it. This allowed the warrior to slam his electrified mace into the beast’s groin, which dropped it to its knees now clutching its crotch. The spiked fighter roared and jumped into the air as he brought his hammer in a wide swing to impact the side of the ogre’s head. The hammer slammed the ogre sideways and dropped it to the ground. Bixby ran in and latched onto its throat and with a few massive tugs, managed to rip the ogre’s throat out. It died quickly after that.
The spiked warrior came screaming over to Joe, “Och shite on a stick! Your mangy wolf is doing my nut in, stealin’ my kills!”
Joe put his hands up, “Whoa, sorry there man. It looked like you guys could use a hand.” Bixby came to Joe’s side, head down and ears flat, baring his teeth at the warrior.
“Rory! Shut your piehole!” the chainmail wearing fighter yelled as he came over to Joe. He placed a hand on the spiked warrior’s shoulder and pulled him back a bit, in a nicer voice he said, “Go calm yourself. Your fury’s nae needed here.”
The spiked fighter glared at Joe then at Bixby, he pointed two fingers at his own eyes and then back at Joe and Bixby, indicating he had his eyes on them. He hawked and spat out a wad of saliva on the ground then stalked over to loot the bodies.
The chainmail fighter addressed Joe, “My apologies stranger, Rory can be a right arsehole, especially after he rages.” He held out his hand to Joe, “Kier Stoneshear.” Joe shook the offered hand, “Ye’ve met me brother Rory. And this here’s…”
His words were cut off by the armored fighter walking over. He took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm and Joe was shocked to see a woman’s face. She was pretty, in a girl next door kind of way. Her face was strong with a slightly plump nose, which gave her a bit of a pixie look and a scar that ran in a semi-circle from her left cheek to her ear. She had bright red hair like the beards of the other two, but it was cut short into a military style mohawk. She had bright green eyes and her face was covered in sweat and grime. She looked up at Joe and offered her hand, “Iona.”
“Joe,” He said and pointed down to his companion, “And Bixby.”
Her gaze took in all of Joe and his self-proclaimed forest murder hobo look with a professional assessment. “Yer a human?” She asked without preamble.
“Um, yes?” Joe answered questioningly.
“Yes y’are, or yes your nae sure? You’re nae teched are ye?” She asked, eyes narrowed.
From next to the ogres, Rory piped up, “The Druid’s probably been eatin’ shrooms and shagging badgers. O’course he’s teched!”
Keir asked, “Now, now, no need fer name callin’.” He glanced at Bixby and looked up at Joe, “Ye are a druid, no? An ye’re a human, aye? What realm do ya hail from?”
Joe confused and desperately trying to understand what they said answered, “Um, not a druid. Yes, I’m human and I come from Earth?”
Iona asked, “Are ye answering or are ye askin’? You’re making not a lot o’ sense, boyo.” She turned back to Rory, “I think I’m with you, Ror. Definitely teched.”
“Look, I’m not teched, whatever that means and I’m from here.” He gestured to encompass everything around them.
All three stopped and stared. Kier asked, “What’d ya mean here? Tha’s not possible. Tis still three days away ‘til the integration is done. All the local humans are supposed to still be in the tutorial.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Iona stepped in close and raised an eyebrow, “How is it you’re not in the tutorial?”
Rory added, “He’s obviously lying. He’s got ta be from Serach or Holsten or some such.”
“I’m not lying. I have no idea why we were left out of the tutorial. We’ve spent the last month just trying to survive. You three are the first people we’ve seen.” Joe confessed.
Rory walked up with his hammer in hand looking surly. “I’m not too keen on liars longlegs. Care ta try again?”
Bixby growled low in his throat.
Rory looked at Bixby, “Ye may want to call off yer wee hound afore I skin his arse.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed and his voice sounded like steel, “Touch my dog and I’ll kill you in an instant.” His swords appeared in his hands, which caused the other two to step back in alarm, but Rory stood his ground.
“Is that so?” He squared up with Joe.
Bixby growled again and Joe glared down at the diminutive man. “Actually no. I won’t have the chance because Bixby will tear you into pieces before you can move.” Joe leaned in a bit, “And I wouldn’t want to steal his kill.”
The two men stood there glaring and suddenly Rory let out a huge rolling belly laugh, “Ahahahahahah!! Oh, aye, I like this one! He’s got fire in his bollocks!” He turned to Keir, “So?”
Keir looked perplexed and relieved all at once, “He speaks the truth as he knows it.”
Iona asked still eyeing Joe, “How is that possible?”
“Not the faintest.” Keir answered. At Rory’s laughter, Joe and Bixby relaxed just a little but still stood confused and ready for a fight. Keir said, “You can stand down now, lad. Rory was just testin’ ye. He can be a right arse, but he knows what he’s about.” He spun on his heel and strolled over to the bodies to take his turn looting. “Not bad, but not worth huntin’.” He gestured to Joe, “C’mon then Longlegs, ye helped, ye get ta loot too.”
Joe stowed his swords and patted Bixby, who had stopped actively snarling at Rory, but was still eyeing him. They walked over to the ogres and Joe looted them for four hundred gold each. Iona did the same and the trio of warriors began walking away. Joe called out, “Are the bodies worth anything?”
Rory called out over his shoulder, “They’re worth shite all, but knock yerself out.”
The three continued to walk west down the road while Joe and Bixby stood not knowing what to do. Iona stopped and turned around, “You lot comin’ or what?”
Joe took a step and then paused as a notification popped up.
Achievement Unlocked! First Contact! You are the first human of this realm to meet members of another chosen species. Rewards Unlocked! You and your companion gain +1 Intelligence, +1 Willpower and +1 Charisma. Exp earned, 5,000 (Banked). Gold earned 3,000.
Ok, cool. Joe dismissed the screen and the duo hurried to catch up to the three stout fighters. Joe had to consciously watch his stride as he could quickly outpace them, even without his magical boots. “So, um, how is it that you guys speak my language?”
Rory looked at Kier and waved a finger in a circle next to his head. Kier studied Joe and said, “We’re trained as wee tots ta speak the common tongue. Cannae trade if ye cannae speak the language.”
“So English is the common tongue?” Joe asked sheepishly.
Iona answered, “Common is the common tongue. I’ve no idea what English is. Are you truly sure you’re not teched? Just a wee bit?”
“If you’re implying whether I’m crazy or not, I honestly don’t know any more. Probably?”
Rory pulled out a piece of jerky and began chewing on it, “Ach, at least he’s honest about it eh?” Casually he tossed a piece of the meat to Bixby who let it fall in front of him. He sniffed it then looked at Joe. Joe just shrugged at Bixby who then cocked his head and ate the meat. Joe gave Bixby a raised eyebrow and Bixby gave a noncommittal huff.
As they walked, Kier placed a hand on Rory’s shoulder and Joe saw a faint glow around Kier’s hand, then Rory’s injuries started to heal. “Oh, that’s the right of it.” Rory said with obvious relief. Kier gestured to Iona and she waved him off, apparently either not wounded or at least not enough to take the man up on his offer.
“Sooo, I don’t know the etiquette here, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you all are not humans?” Joe asked with a wince.
That stopped all three warriors. Rory looked up at Joe, “Ye talk right funny fer a smelly longlegs. How can ye not recognize the superior race when ya see it?”
Joe looked on confused.
Iona stepped in, “We’re Dwarves of the Stoneshear Clan. I take it ye’ve not seen one of our kind before?”
“Only in the movies.” Joe replied.
“See? Talkin’ nonsense. Too many shrooms and badger farts.” Rory added.
“Look, before the System came, there were only humans on my planet. People like you were only talked about in fairytales and stories. This is all new to me and I would be all kinds of appreciative if you could help me out.”
The three dwarves looked shrewdly at Joe with Rory asking, “How appreciative?” as he rubbed his thumb across his fingers.
Joe understanding that gesture at least, replied, “Well, I could pay you. What’s the going rate for a System tutor?”
The trio of dwarves looked at one another and then got into a huddle and began speaking in their native tongue. Every once in a while, one of them would peek at Joe and Bixby and eventually they stood and faced Joe. Iona said flatly, “Fifty thousand gold.”
Joe looked at the amount of gold he currently had. He was sitting at just under six hundred thousand. He closed his screen and said, “Ok.”
Rory, let out a loud laugh, “Har! We had ya there boyo…” His voice trailed off, “Wait. What?” He looked astonished.
Joe answered, “Yeah. I’ll pay that.”
The three dwarves looked at Joe as if he had grown a second head. Iona said, almost quietly, “Twas but a joke. Fifty thousand tis a King’s ransom.” The look on her face changed, softened, “Ye really are a babe in the woods are ye not?”
Joe just shrugged, “I have no idea what anything is worth or how any of this works.”
Kier said, “Friend Joe, methinks ye need ta stick with us fer a spell. We’ll see what we can do to help you get sorted out. We’ll take ye and Bixby ta our camp and figure out a plan from there. Sound good? Oh, and when we get there, donnae go around showing gob all that you’re green around the gills. There’re those in our camp that’d just as soon take advantage of you.”
“Thanks. That is very kind of you. I’ll, uh, let you all do the talking.”
The group began walking again and Rory sidled up to Joe, being eyed by Bixby the entire time. In an exaggerated whisper he asked, “So, Joe is’t? Ye really have fifty thousand gold?”
Iona yelled from a few feet in front, “Rory, stop bothering the man or I’ll smack your skull!”
Rory, looking abashed smiled up at Joe, “We can talk later.” And gave him a wink.
The dwarves drew ahead of Joe and Bixby and Joe whispered to his companion. “Do you think we can trust them? Personally, I get a good feeling from them, but then again in this new world they could have some sort of spell or something to make us trust them.” Bixby thought for a moment and gave out a few barks, causing the dwarves to stop and regard the duo. Joe waved and said, “Sorry, he’s just happy that we found some good folk to talk to. It’s been a while since we’ve seen decent people.” He patted Bixby’s ruff, and whispered “Ok, I agree. Innocent until proven guilty.”
As they walked along the paved road, the first real sign of the civilization that Joe was used to, he asked, “So why did you think I was a druid?”
Keir answered, “Well, for a start, ye’re dressed as one, an ye have an animal companion ta boot.”
“An ya smell like badger farts.” Rory added.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I haven’t had a decent bath in a while.”
Iona stopped the group, “Hold up. If we’re gonnae walk into camp with ya, we should probably know what we’re walking in with.” She stepped up to him, “Ye mind if I Inspect ya?”
“Um, no. Do you really need my permission?”
Rory said, “Nah. It’s just that anyone will think you’re an arse if you do it without a proper introduction.” He gnawed on another piece of jerky and tossed more to Bixby who snatched it right out of the air, making Rory chuckle.
Iona looked expectantly at Joe who nodded. Her eyes went slightly unfocused and then the expression on her face changed to shock and her jaw dropped open. Kier and Rory noticed her expression and they too looked at Joe. In a moment, Joe found himself surrounded by three dwarves staring at him like he had three heads.
Kier was the first to speak his voice tinged with awe, “That cannae be true.” He looked again, “Yer level zero?”
Reverently, Iona said, “Look at the titles.”
“Yer killed a bloody dragon?!” Rory practically shouted.
“His health is so high without a class buff.” Kier nearly whispered.
Joe stood there bewildered.
“Well?” Rory asked. “Didja?”
“Yes.” Joe replied meekly.
“Mithras’ ballsack!” Rory replied. “How’d a zero level longlegs like you kill a dragon?”
Joe, starting to get annoyed, leveled his gaze at Rory, “I had help from a giant.”
“Ach, you’re off your head!”
Kier put a hand on Rory’s shoulder, “Rory, shut your lips and look at his titles again. The lad speaks the truth.”
“I’ve never seen the like.” Iona gazed at Joe with a look of wonder on her face.
Rory, turned and started walking again, “Ach, wait’ll Duggan sees ‘im. The man’s gonna take a right piss he is.”
Iona threw a glare at Rory and then turned back to Joe, “Ye can inspect me if ye like.”
“Har! The Princess has ‘er knickers in a twist fer the dragonslayer!” Rory tossed over his shoulder.
Iona turned bright red and blurted out, “Tha’s nae what… Rory! That's it, I'm kickin' yer arse!” She chased after Rory and kicked him in the rear. He hooted and laughed, and she said, “I told ya ta nae call me Princess nae more!” Mumbling under her breath she added, “I liked if better when ye called me Fartblossom.”
Kier walked on smiling at the interplay of his siblings as Joe decided to try to Inspect her. Hell, she gave me permission. He called up his ability while staring at the back of her head.
Iona Stoneshear
Level: (B) 30
Race: Dwarven
Class: Bulwark of the Axe
H: 1840
S: 1290
M: 670
Titles: Bastion of the Deeps
Status: Angry
As interesting as the knowledge was, though, it really didn’t answer any of his questions. If anything, it just added more. As they walked down the blacktopped road, the three dwarves steadily conversed in their language, occasionally throwing Joe and Bixby a look. Joe felt extremely out of place and just a bit embarrassed by the attention.
After ten minutes of walking, the paved road ended as if sliced and a dirt road continued on into the forest. Kier stopped the group and addressed Joe. “Alright, we’re about ta enter our camp. Nae everyone here’s seen a human. You’re bound ta bring up all sorts ‘o questions and shite. The easy way is ta lie. Say ye’re from Holsten an hit a stone bump, got tossed away from your immigration group or something. Ye can lie can ye not?”
“Um,” Joe looked absolutely confused. “I think I understood about three of those words.”
Rory threw his hands up in exasperation. “Just tell ’em yuir mute an dumb.”
Iona placed a hand on Rory’s arm and said to her brothers, “As soon as he’s Inspected, the cat's out of the bag an everyone’s gonna get a lift in their undies ta be jabbering at ‘im.” She looked up at Joe, “No offense, but yer an anomaly and loads’re gonna wanna have at. We can keep the rabble down if we take ye straight ta the Overseer, Duggan. Once he’s had a chance ta ogle ya he can make the decree ta make all the others leave ye be.”
Rory smiled and slapped Joe on the arm, “Ach, lad, look on the bright side, ye’ll nae pay fer a drink fer as long as yer around.”
“I don’t want to be a disruption to your camp. I’m happy to move on. I’m trying to get to the coast and find my family.”
Rory stepped in-between Joe and Bixby, “Pish tosh, you’re muh new best friends.” He went to pet Bixby who sidestepped the hand, Rory shrugged and clapped Joe on the back, “In for a silver, in for a gold. There’s nae danger there.”
Acquiescing to the three dwarves’ assurances that everything would be fine, they continued. During the rest of the walk, Joe learned that their entire camp had immigrated a few weeks ago and had immediately begun entrenching themselves. They thought it lucky that they landed in a level twenty zone and right next to a serviceable large creek. They brought roughly a thousand dwarves and had already begun a mine. The goal was to fortify their camp into a town and then call in more immigrants. The hope was to eventually create a city and grab as much land as possible. Their home was prosperous, but an opportunity in a virgin realm could not be ignored. The three siblings were a team sent out to cull the roving monsters in the area to keep them from becoming a threat to the camp. There were other hunting parties as well as scouts that constantly patrolled the area.