Zeke stepped through a breach in the crumbling wall, turning sideways as he entered the ruined city. That the majority of the wall was still standing was a testament to its scale as well as its flawless construction. Zeke was no expert in architecture, but even he could see how perfectly the huge, stone blocks fit together. Even the ravages of time couldn’t bring it down altogether. Instead, the erosion of centuries, coupled with the creeping vines could only poke holes in the ancient barricade.

Once he’d cleared the breach, Zeke took a moment to get his bearings. He had seen the general layout from above, but being on ground level was something entirely different – especially considering that the ruins were far more expansive than he expected. Distance was difficult to judge, but everything he’d seen suggested that the city had once been quite large, spanning at least a few miles in every direction.

As he slowly pushed through an alley that abutted the wall, Zeke wondered who might have lived in such a huge and impressive city. The ruins were well past the point where rebuilding or repair would be possible, and nature had reclaimed much of the place, so interpreting architecture was all but impossible. Instead, there were only hints of what it once had been, and to Zeke, it looked a lot like the old Greek ruins he’d seen in history class, just on a much larger scale.

Idly, he wondered if humans had been the founders of the city. During his time in the Caracoa caves as well as trekking through the swamp, Zeke had seen that the trolls were capable of building a rudimentary society. So, was it such a faraway notion that they might build something as mighty as the city through which he’d begun to walk? More, was anything impossible in the new world? Magic existed. He’d benefited from it already. So did fantasy creatures. So, as far as he could tell, the boundaries of possibility had been stretched so far that they had all but ceased to exist.

Zeke’s bare feet slapped against the occasional cobbled stone as he explored the ruins. Mostly, there wasn’t much to see, but he was still awestruck by the place. What’s more, he discovered that he wasn’t quite alone when, as he turned the corner, he came face to face with one of the strangest looking creatures he’d ever laid eyes on.

It almost looked human, in a way. But coming in at a little more than four feet tall, it was too small, covered in feathers, and had wings. However, its visage was strikingly similar to what he’d expect of a pretty woman. There was an alien cast to its eyes, though, and its feet ended in wicked talons reminiscent of an eagle’s. He used [Inspection].

Harpy Screecher – Level 14

True to its name, the thing wasted no time before it let out an ear-splitting screech. Zeke clapped his hands over his ears as the sound threatened to overwhelm him. Luckily, his endurance proved enough that it didn’t incapacitate him, so he wasn’t taken by surprise when the harpy lashed out with its talons. Still, his reactions weren’t quick enough to avoid the damage entirely, and he quickly ended up with a trio of long, ragged gashes along his arm.

The pain woke him up, and a primal rage erupted from within. He summoned Voromir from his spatial tattoo, and swung it in a short, quick jab. The harpy was quick, and it easily avoided him, continuing its screeching even as it dodged the blow.

For someone who was used to fighting the lumbering trolls, being confronted by a creature that obviously favored agility was a bit of a shock. And it almost proved Zeke’s end when he was forced to throw himself out of the way of the harpy’s wickedly sharp claws. He narrowly avoided getting his throat ripped out, but the thing still managed to cut him again.

However, by this point, Zeke’s battle instincts had begun to kick in. The harpy had taken him by surprise, then further put him on his back foot by displaying such striking quickness. But Zeke’s stats weren’t just for show, and he quickly adjusted. He’d spent more than two years battling the denizens of the Caracoa caves, and he refused to let a singular harpy cut his journey short.

Zeke felt the now-familiar energy associated with his martial path course through him. It was like all the skill he’d gained over the past two years coalesced into palpable force, but it wasn’t just ability. It was knowledge and timing, too. It was as if every last facet of his ability with the mace had been ratcheted up to a new level, and he used that to regain the momentum of the fight with the harpy.

Gone were the long, sweeping blows he might have aimed at the trolls. Instead, they were replaced by quick, jabbing thrusts and controlled strikes. The harpy was taken by surprise, and though its agility was impressive, it only took one clean hit to send it careening into the nearby wall. And when it did, Zeke was rewarded with the sound of crunching bones. It was fast and deadly, but it obviously couldn’t take a hit worth a damn.

Zeke loomed over it, putting the pitiful, wounded thing out of its misery. After, he stood there, panting from the exertion. Swinging that many times in such a short span was enough to wind even him, but his recovery came quickly. However, there was no time to rest because he suspected that the harpy hadn’t been alone within these ruins. And that screech, while a potent offensive weapon that would’ve incapacitated many of its enemies, probably served the additional purpose of summoning its brethren. The trolls had often used that same strategy, and Zeke had been forced to learn the benefits of rapid retreat.

He quickly threw the harpy into his spatial tattoo – maybe it had something valuable on it – and hurried away, using the maze of ruins to hide his withdrawal to safety. After fifteen minutes, Zeke felt certain that if anything was chasing him, it would’ve either lost track or already reached him, so he settled down to wait for a sign that his fight with the harpy hadn’t aroused any response from the other wildlife.

A few screeches in the distance told Zeke that there were plenty of other harpies in the ruined city, and for a moment, he wondered if he should simply leave the place behind. After all, given the state of the ruined city, it wasn’t likely he would find anything that would make his immediate survival any easier.

But there was also a sense of adventure that tugged at him to keep going with his exploration. He’d barely even seen the outskirts, and there was definitely a part of him that wanted to keep going, to see what secrets the city might hold.

Eventually, the decision came down to a single fact. He was closing in on level ten, and the experience from killing the harpy had made a noticeable difference in the density of his core. It wasn’t exact, but he thought he was getting very close to gaining a level. And with that would come another skill – and one he hoped would prove more useful than [Heart of the Berserker], which he often forgot to even use.

The problem with the skill wasn’t its usefulness. It would help in just about any battle. However, it also came with significant downsides. Not only did it steadily whittle away at his endurance, but upon deactivation, it caused a period of weakness commensurate with the duration of the skill. Zeke had been in near constant battle throughout his time in the troll caves, so even a short bout of weakness could’ve proven deadly. And with danger around every corner, he’d decided to only use it when absolutely necessary. The issue was that it was difficult to judge when that actually was.

More than once, Zeke had chastised himself for not using it against the Makazith, the troll warlord. But he knew that he’d barely survived the thing’s wicked axes; any decrease in his endurance would’ve likely led him straight into a second death. So, he’d put the skill on the backburner, relegating it to a study tool for his artisan path. One day, perhaps he could mitigate some of the weaknesses of the skill, but for now, it occupied a very niche space in his toolkit.

After a couple more minutes, Zeke continued his exploration, though much more carefully. He wasn’t terribly adept at stealth, but he wasn’t completely incompetent either. As he slowly made his way toward the center of the ruined city, Zeke encountered a few more harpies, killing each of them with relative ease. So long as they didn’t ambush him, he easily overpowered the bird-like creatures.

The corpses joined the first one in his spatial tattoo; every instinct he had suggested that they might be valuable in some way. Also, he intuitively knew that time moved differently in the space, slowing to a crawl that approached a standstill. It would take years for the corpses to even begin to deteriorate in there. In any case, he didn’t want to leave a trail of harpy corpses to lead their kin straight to him.

As he walked, Zeke studied his surroundings, and it wasn’t long before he concluded that the city had once been truly impressive, and not just in its size. The closer he came to the center, the more intact the buildings were – and each one was bigger and more ornate than the last. Certainly, none of them were habitable, but hints at their former glory was evident. In addition, there were dry fountains at the intersections of many of the roads, each one studded with well-worn statues of vaguely humanoid shape. Details were impossible to determine, but Zeke thought it was possible that they depicted humans. Or something close to them, at least.

However, as impressive as the city must have once been, Zeke’s search proved fruitless. There were no hidden treasure caches. Nor were there any long-abandoned armories. He did find a rusty, old dagger while rummaging through one of the more intact buildings, but beyond that, there was nothing. Perhaps it had already been picked clean. Or maybe the treasures simply hadn’t survived whatever calamity had befallen the city.

For most of that day, Zeke explored, gradually making his way towards the center of the nameless city. Even though he didn’t find any treasure, Zeke didn’t regret his decision to explore the place. Each harpy kill had pushed him closer to his level, which was valuable in and of itself. But even more valuable was the sense of wonder that he felt as he trekked through the ruins. That had been mostly missing in the caves. Thankfully, he hadn’t lost the ability to marvel at his surroundings altogether.

As the sun dipped closer to the horizon, Zeke began looking for somewhere to summon his hut. Most of the alleys were too narrow, so he’d have to set up in the middle one of the streets. He was a bit hesitant, though. Sure, the hut’s aura warded away most wildlife, but would it work on the semi-sapient creatures like the harpies?

Suddenly, a cacophony of shrieks filled the air. Zeke dropped into a crouch and looked around, but he didn’t see a single harpy. A bestial roar cut through the shrieks, and for a brief moment, the harpies went silent. However, it wasn’t long before they started up again, and if anything, their calls were even more fervent than before – all coming from somewhere close by.

Looking toward where the sounds emanated, Zeke was torn. He desperately wanted to investigate. But judging by the discordant screeches echoing through the ruined city, there were dozens of the harpies in that direction. Maybe as many as a hundred. And that wasn’t even considering what made that roar.

On cue, it erupted again. More desperate, this time, but no less powerful.

In the end, Zeke knew there really wasn’t a choice here. He would be kicking himself for weeks if he didn’t at least try to get a peek. That didn’t mean he had to fight or anything. He just wanted a look. So, he started to creep towards what had increasingly begun to sound like a battle between the harpies and whatever monster they’d decided to fight.