“Tell me Bud, which is more attractive, elves or humans” I asked the orc as we walked through the silent corridor.

We have killed more mutated dogs since crossing the illusion. And honestly, compared to the stuff I had to deal with deeper inside this place, I found it to be pretty pleasant.

If you ignore the traps and illusions, but those are rare.

Nobody would prefer to deal with the giant spiders or scorpions, undead or mutated orcs or the large worms that dig through the earth. And we of course never fought any of them, we only ran away from what we can while scaring the rest we could. Thankfully, it was a free for all down there and everything fought everything, so we were able to slip away from the chaos and carnage.

But other than orcs and the weird creatures, I haven’t seen any humans or other species around this place. I only found orcs and the occasional broken skeletons that probably got destroyed as a payback to the expirments they did on all that lived in this place.

My companion finally, with an annoyed tone, responded : “you crazy ever since you out of prison down there”

I could not help but agree to his broken sentence. But can you blame me? Ever since I found myself in the body of a kidnapped villager, I not only got mentally assault by the horrible sights of skeletons’ experiments but also the merging of my memories with the body I am currently inhibiting…

“Dam grunt, I was not put to sleep like you did. I HAD to witness the crazy shit the skeletons were doing!” I told the orc, to which he did not respond. I continued “ I mean I doubt you had to watch a live orc, infested with small insects eggs as they hatched, that slowly ate him while he screamed, all before your eyes!!”

I could tell the orc got uncomfortable imagining the scene, as I saw him shiver slightly. Hah, that is what you get, ugly bastard!

I was about to continue to describe more of the horrifying scenes that would plague my continued existence just to delight in making the orc uncomfortable, when the orc surprisingly asked me: “how you escape prison and found me?”

Oh, I forgot to tell him that since we climbed out of the prison below…

“Well, I am not sure, but a giant earthquake happened, collapsing everything. The ground, the walls and the ceiling. Turning the entire place into a giant cavern. I became unconscious while it happened. I assume rocks knocked my head. Then I woke up, and from there I just survived a few nights by sleeping in barrels or hidden tunnels dug by the worms. Until I found you and your friend.”

The orc nodded. And silently continued walking.

I of course did not tell him that I killed any unconscious orc I came across… I had to eat something, and those orcs were the easiest to kill since they were injured and unconscious, compared to the wonderful wildlife down there.

Plus, I believe intelligent beings were more dangerous here than the wildlife, despite its exotic tendencies. And you really can’t blame me, I was terrified, horrified and mentally deranged when I found myself down there.

Thinking back, I honestly got lucky that the small prison I stayed in held intact, making me able to survive the earthquake. Though most of the orcs and skeletons did not have such luck.

“I think we should be able to find a way out if we continue through this corridor. The map I found indicates that this is some sort of secret lab under a city or a castle.” I reminded the orc, who asked immediately: “another staircase?”

Remembering how we almost died climbing a broken staircase, only to be surprised by a giant worm trying to eat us, I replied, scared it might happen again.

“Probably”

The orc replied with a simple sigh.

I chuckled dryly as I repositioned the uncomfortable barrel backpack on my back. Thankfully, I was born into the body of an apprentice blacksmith, familiar with a lot of crafts, weapons, armour and equipment. Otherwise, we would have both died. Not to mention, I collected almost anything I could recognize as useful.

From what the weird materials and alchemy the skeletons used on subjects, to any loot I found on the ground or from monsters.

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I was able to craft a makeshift spear and knife from the dog scales we got. The former currently in my grip while the latter on my wrist. I also made a makeshift mace, which was a giant rock tied to a metal bar using a glue like substance and cloth. The orc wielded it as it was too big for me to wield.

I also managed to make armour and shoes. Although armour is a far-fetched word. I simply knit together, with the stinger of a scorpion and threads I ripped from clothings I found, layers of cloth together attached to a lot of black dog scales. Making a quite decent scale armour that prevented any piecing, bites or slashes. In theory, at least.

Both me and the orc wore a set.

So far, we have not found better equipment as most skeletons deep under wore simple robes, while the rest of the orcs were stripped of anything but clothes before being brought down here.

Hmm, I wonder if we would come across better equipment. It would certainly make us survive bet-

2 huffs were heard from my orc companion.

Remembering what the signal meant, I tensed my grip on the spear as we were met with a crossroad between two paths.

Right and left.

The orc did not move an inch as he stayed ready while I again threw rocks around every nook and cranny.

Seeing no reactions, I relaxed and then picked up a few larger rocks that were on the ground and threw them at the crossroads.

And lo and behold, two bear traps sprang up at the right corridor. Catching nothing.

I calmly whispered, “no illusions, the traps are covered and positioned well. More traps could be awaited, move carefully while I throw rocks. The right does not seem to go up, we could find some equipment hopefully”

The orc asked quietly: “Danger level high”

I shook my head: “So is upwards, there should be something to guard the entrance. Also, we should not rush the surface. Whatever caused the earthquake could be up there.”

The grunt nodded, “You said roar heard with earthquake”

“Indeed, it is likely that we can prep better for the surface if we find some equipment. I assume some kind of battle happened on the surface that aimed to collapse the lab.”

With that, we continued moving forward while collecting the best traps and testing for more.

We of course found all kind of traps, from holes with spikes to flying arrows. But we managed through, until we found a wooden door at the end of the tunnel.

I could not help but frown. I do not remember seeing such a section on the map…was it outdated? Or am I lacking memory, after all, my memories were extremely cloudy, due to the merging of my memories with that of this body, which happened DAILY. Even now, my head throbbed lightly… I could feel the person of this body speaking to my mind…

I shook my head lightly.

Sadly, the map was carved on the walls below, so I could not bring it with me.

Once In front of the wooden door, we both moved to the side silently, hiding behind the soon-to-be covering. I put down my barrel backpack, and held my knife, the spear would be too long for this and would have little effect compared to slashing skeletons. We both crouched down. The orc ready with his mace and me holding my knife tightly.

I then…

Knocked on the door.

I could feel the tension between me and the orc break as he gave me an amused glance.

I honestly almost chuckled to myself, the heck am I doing in this shithole?

But there is no way I am opening that damn door, I still need to see the cute elves this body spoke of!

Silence filled the air, I was considering knocking on the door again when suddenly-

Two metal spears with small spikes along the poles pierced the door, then slashed diagonally.

My heart pounding, I made eye contact with the orc.

Which he in return gave me a few hand signs, which caused my head bubbling up and down, making me dizzy. .

We were about to wait more until the skeletons came out to attack them, when the door exploded.

Exploded with fire.

A blazing fire that send the door broken into pieces melting and burning the rocky ground.

Smoke covered the corridor, which made me cough. I quickly held my breath.

From the side of my eye, I could see two figures forming with a shield and readied spears. With a speed, I was barely able to imagine an orc of his size moving, the orc smashes the legs of his side’s opponent.

Following in his example, I slashed at the legs of the Skelton at my side. I could feel hard bones break slightly.

Realizing I did not succeed, I quickly rolled back before a thrust of a spear hit the ground where I was crouching.

When I looked up, I saw the orc smash the head of the skeleton that was about to thrust at me yet again, destroying it.

But that was far from over, as I called out “Magic!”

The orc hastily reacted and ducked as a fireball flew over his head, passing by my head. Thankfully, my ear was not burned.

The orc, rather than charge whoever firing those fireballs, retreated to the corner while stomping on the still crawling Skelton on his side, killing it a second time.

And it was a smart thing to do, as this time two raging fire missiles flew, almost killing me if I had not too jumped to the corner.

Feeling the temperature rise all around us as the rocks melted and smock got to our lungs, I knew we had to kill this thing quickly. I could not hold my breath any more.

As if the orc thought the same, I heard a brave roar as my orc companion charged outside his cover, on the way picking up a shield.

I gritted my teeth and followed, but I did not grasp a shield, rather my spear. As I needed to catch up with the orc lest he die before I can strike the wizard. That could spell certain death for me.

As we charged, dread gripped my heart as I saw a Skelton in robes already having two fireballs formed in both hands ready to strike.

But he waited…

Once we got halfway, a glint lit in the skeleton’s eyes.

A thought flashed as fast lightning in my head.

And I stopped dead in my tracks, turned and stabbed behind me.

But that all blurred as I felt heat on my back followed by a sharp pain.

And then I found myself falling down, everything blurry…