Orrin kept watch on his [Map] as he teleported as far as he could see. He even did something he had always sort of avoided.

He used [Increase Dexterity] on himself.

He ran through the forests he came across, with [Camouflage] running nonstop. If he hadn’t still been running [Blood Mana] and [Mind Bastion], he would have run out of mana before the eighth [Teleport]. He ran through the trees, dodging and weaving branches, leaping over roots, and avoiding the red dots of monsters all around him.

At the edge of each clearing, he teleported into the distance, to whatever landmark he could make out. After thirty minutes of non-stop movement and teleporting, he reached the edge of the Pass.

The mountains on either side of Dey were huge. Orrin wasn’t the greatest at geography, but he was pretty sure the mountains on this planet dwarfed Mt. Everest back home.

Something had cleft the mountains at the edge of the Pass, creating a sheer cliff of rock that towered into the sky. Fragments had chipped away and fallen creating craters and ‘smaller’ hills near the base at points.

Orrin stayed away from the edge of the Pass. He felt tiny and afraid standing any nearer to the towering rock. Not to mention all the red dots that lined the edges.

A few caves, he scoffed. There have to be hundreds of hidden nooks and crannies on my [Map].

Orrin had still not seen any trail or ding of Daniel on the [Map]. He did notice that more of the red dots were congregating near the cliff face the farther he got from the Wall.

“Are you all hiding from something? I know it’s not me...”

The next hour saw Orrin grow bored. The mind-numbing nature of running, teleporting, and checking his [Map] became a routine all too quick. The constant fear of keeping out of reach of monsters, keeping his camouflage running, and findings Daniel in pieces were kept pushed to the back of his mind. [Mind Bastion] was working overtime.

Finally, Orrin spotted a grey dot. A single person out in the Pass. He hurried toward the location over half a mile to the north, away from the cliff.

A man with one leg missing sat against a large rock in the middle of a field. A small mound of cut-up Fetid Canines was piled up in a ring around the man, maybe a few dozen yards away from him.

Orrin used [Identify] from the shadows of the tree line.

Ira Singh Steel Ravager Level 52 HP:--- MP:---

Damn. The only other person who blocked my identify spell was Silas. I guess [Identify] only gives me information if their level isn't too much higher than my own.

Orrin searched for any hidden traps or monsters. Nothing.

“Fuck it,” Orrin said and walked out of the trees, willing his camo spell to drop away. “Hey, are you part of Dragoon squad?”

The man’s eyes snapped open and he pointed a finger toward Orrin. “Stay there. Guild or Guard?”

Orrin put his hands above his head. “I’m a Guild member, but I’m out here on my own. I’m trying to find Dragoon squad, my teammate ran out here to try and fight the Fogbinder.”

The man lowered his hand hesitantly and growled something.

“Sorry? Can I come closer? I can’t hear you?” Orrin put his hand to his ear to mime the question.

“Dragoon team is about an hour ahead...I think. I haven’t seen anyone else, but I might have slipped unconscious a time or two. Don’t come near. I’ve got my magic all tied up into traps. I’ll take as many with me before I go.”

“Before you go back?” Orrin really hoped he was misunderstanding what he was hearing.

“The bastard caught me and had some of his dogs chew my leg clean off. My team left me here at my request. We all knew what we were signing up for.” Orrin could hear the man grit his teeth even at the distance.

“I’m a healer. Can you turn off whatever would kill me? I’m going to come through,” Orrin took a testing step forward.

“A healer? What in the fiery sea are you doing outside the wall?” The man readjusted on his rock and slipped to the side. He let out a low moan and stayed quiet.

“Uhm... are you okay?”

He didn’t answer.

Orrin didn’t wait and used [Teleport] to land on the rock. His [Map] had shown no traps, but better safe than sorry. Especially after the man had said he'd cast magical spells. Orrin was ready to pop right back if anything happened, but luck seemed to be on his side.

He started casting the upgraded version of [Heal Small Wounds] on Ira. The man looked to be in his late thirties or early forties and had light brown skin. His long dark hair was tied back into a ponytail and a goatee covered his chin. The man groaned as health flowed into him. Unfortunately, his leg did not regrow.

I bet there’s a regenerate spell or something. Maybe... no, stop overthinking.

Orrin pulled a water skin out and poured a little bit out on the man’s face. It was covered with dirt and grime. Whatever he’d been doing in this small field with dead monster bodies all around, he’d been working himself hard.

“What- who’s there?” Ira looked all around before looking back and up at Orrin sitting cross-legged on the rock at his back. “You’re just a kid! How did you get across the field?”

“Teleported. You thirsty?” Orrin handed the man his water.

“I’m dead. Teleporting and healing? What are you?”

Orrin resisted the urge to say something quippy.

I’m just your friendly neighborhood... no, Focus! His thoughts were getting harder to keep on track the more mana he used. That can’t be good.

“My name is Orrin. I already told you I’m looking for a friend. Which way did your team go, Ira?”

“How’d you know my name?” Ira raised a finger toward Orrin again.

“[Identify] spell. Please lower your weapon. I’m a friendly, I promise.”

Ira kept his hand up. “How do I know you’re not a demon?”

“I honestly don’t know or care. I healed you. You probably won’t bleed out now. If your team really is only an hour out, I’ll be going. If you see another guy my age, please beat him up and bring him back to the Wall.”

Ira slowly lowered his hand again. “How do you expect me to get to the Wall?” He gestured to his missing leg. “I’ll just wait here. If I find your friend, I’ll convince him to stay as repayment for the healing.”

Orrin’s healing had sealed up the bleeding stump but the man still couldn’t run anywhere. Orrin asked, “Will you be okay alone?”

Ira let out a laugh and pointed at the corpse of a Fetid Canine. A spot of something shiny jumped from his finger and the dog corpse began to shred itself into pieces.

No, it’s a small knife or piece of metal moving around super quick.

“That’s impressive,” Orrin said. “I’ll try and get you on my way back.”

“Affirmative. Thank you for the boost. I’ll do my best to stay alive.”

Orrin took one last look at Ira. The man’s level was a testament to his skills and he was out here risking his life to give the people of Dey a fighting chance against the Fogbinder.

I could teleport with him all the way back, but that would take hours. Daniel left ahead of me but he can’t teleport. Did I miss him? I couldn’t have missed him. What if I missed him?

He used [Teleport] and popped away.

Orrin found Dragoon team thirty minutes later. He’d been lucky and found a long stretch of land with no trees and a bunch of rocks tall enough to count as visual locks for [Teleport] to work.

The nine grey dots on his [Map] told him where they were. They’d fanned out and were slowly surrounding another dot on his [Map].

A blue dot.

Daniel.

Orrin raced through the trees with [Camouflage] up and recast his [Increase Dexterity] spells.

He thought that he made it just in time.

“Daniel. Duck. You're surrounded.”

Unfortunately, the trained death squad took the attempted alert as a signal. The nine remaining members of Dragoon team attacked Daniel just as he started to turn.

“Orrin?” Daniel turned back and missed the first Dragoon member tumble out of the trees ahead. The giant man slammed a fist into Daniel’s face.

Daniel went down hard.

“Stop. We’re the good guys. Ira’s alive.” Orrin shouted as he raced toward his downed friend.

The giant of a man who had just clocked Daniel knelt by his body and pulled his fist back to punch him again.

“I said stop!” Orrin cast [Increase Will] on himself and then cast an inversed [Increase Strength] on the man, five times.

He stumbled and fell over. Then his head snapped up in the direction of Orrin and he yelled out a string of words.

“Down. Flank threat. Abnormal unknown.”

That should have been over 100 points of strength. How is he even talking?

Orrin didn’t have time to ponder as the man slowly pulled himself with one hand away from the fight.

Because Orrin realized, he was now in a fight. The eight other members were circling him. They still couldn’t see him and they were flanking him as they’d done to Daniel.

Orrin did the last thing they expected.

“I surrender.” He dropped [Camouflage] and raised his hands over his head. “Just don’t kill us. I can explain.”

Sure, he could have tried to heal Daniel and teleport away, but Orrin had no idea if he had time to heal Daniel or if he could teleport an unconscious body. He might have been able to reduce all their strength or dexterity to zero, but these people were trying to save everyone’s life. They’d just attacked the idiot trying to sneak up on them.

“My friend there is an idiot. He thought he could help fight the Fogbinder and came out here alone. I’ve been searching for him. I found Ira and he pointed me toward you all. He’s alive by the way. I healed him up.”

Orrin felt a blade settle under his neck. He got ready to [Teleport] just in case.

“What did you do to Bin?” A female voice asked from behind.

“Spell to sap his strength. He’ll be fine in twenty minutes.” Orrin stood very still.

“How do we know Ira really sent you?”

“Nice guy. He was missing a leg. He can cast really fast moving blades out of his fingers. I promised I’d give him a lift back. I just came to grab my friend there.”

Another man walked out of a tree next to Orrin. Like, actually walked out of a tree.

“Ok. That’s cool as hell.”

The man smirked a little and came closer. “He’s telling the truth.”

“His truth or the truth?” The woman behind Orrin demanded. “Sof, he’s dangerous. We’re too close to it. That’s why we agreed to take out the other.”

“Listen, I can get him out of here. Does anyone know if I can [Teleport] him if he’s knocked out?”

“Teleporting and healing? He’s lying.” Another female voice from within the trees hissed down. Orrin couldn’t see the owner of the voice.

“No. He still speaks true,” the man called Sof said. “As far as I know, he must be awake to teleport. Why did you not run when you could?”

“He’s my friend. I came out here to save him from his own dumb self.”

“Sounds a lot like Sof and Bin, don’t it? Ouch.” Another male voice from behind spoke and then was quiet. It sounded like someone else had hit him.

“We can’t just let him go, Sof,” the female with the blade at his throat whispered softly. “You know it.”

The man sighed and raised his empty hands in a helpless gesture.

“I know, Farah. I’m sorry. If we let you go to heal him, you could attack us. We are too close to the Fogbinder,” Sof said as he drew a long stick...a wand, from his pocket. “I can kill you or bind you. Which would you prefer?”