I returned to the camp as quickly as I could. Luckily, they were not at each other’s throats yet. In fact, the injured goblins were sleeping. Ugark had his Thaumonomicon out and was reading up on something while Alex and Sra still talked. I felt the slight drain of vis coming from the seal. It powered her movements as she showed some martial arts movements. She looked far less clunky than I expected. Somehow, the thaumium turned very flexible with her cycling vis through it.

I connected to the goblins and told the good news. They looked hopeful when I mentioned an established place where they had little work to do to build their homes. Next, I turned to the orks.

“For you guys, we’ll have to find something else. I don’t think we can remove the tensions between you and the goblins.”

“That seems right”, Ugark said, “but how will that work?”

“I was thinking you guys should find a cave or something for the time being. I’ll need to keep an eye on the rampaging orks in the valley until they calm down. After that, we’ll find a sustainable place for you and build a home. Or you can try your luck with other species.”

“I don’t think that’s an option”, Sra said, “Where could we even go? The dwarves in their tiny houses? What else is there?”

“If you go north through the mountains you’ll eventually reach humans. I haven’t really interacted with them, though. No idea how they take to your race. They do business with the dwarves, sometimes.”

“Yeah, let’s just find a place close to some good hunting grounds.”

“And a node nearby!”, Ugark said.

“We’ll look into it. For now, just move up the valley and find a spot. I’ll come looking for you once everything is settled.”

“What about me?”, Alex asked.

“I would like you to stay close while I observe the valley. And not move a lot. I might need my vis.”

“Understood.”

“Farewell, then, Alexandra. May your… strength be enriched by your enemies!”

“Uhm, yes. Stay alive out there, alright?”

With that settled, the orks packed their things and moved on. The goblins looked relieved about being left alone. They would let the wounded rest a little more before moving along the path I had described to them. It was not easy to get into the ravine without taking the long way around but I had found a crevice they should be able to use as a shortcut.

Alex turned away from them after a simple wave and made her way back up the pass. I moved ahead and took a look at the valley. The orks were still going mad. Of the town, only a few bases and scraps were left. The trees nearby were kindling at best and some rocks had even been pulverized into gravel. The horde was looking for more things to destroy and spreading up and down the valley. The goblins might not get much more sleep with how this was looking.

Soon, Alexandra came up as well.

“This looks bad”, she remarked, “That village has an exit to the valley, right?”

“Yes. It’s there.”

I shared my vision with her.

“WOW! That’s what you see? Damn, I’m envious. Why did I have to get such a shit body?”

“What do you see?”

“I… here.”

The image I got was very strange and yet familiar. It was not visual but more of a feeling. Aspects were all around shaped into the form of grass blades, dirt and rocks. There was a blurred form where the sense was centred. Alex either barely perceived the details of her body or was hiding that part from me. Next to her, I saw a shade of beast and dark. My body was very distinct with the darkness vis always around my feathers. I had not even noticed I never truly stopped using my shadows.

Her vision was pushing slightly into every material, letting her see a few centimetres below the ground. The air around was a fit of mana zipping all around. It looked like it followed every little breeze. The air mana was very thin, though, and hardly, if ever, blocked her sense. Distance also was an issue. Beyond a certain point, things got fuzzy. Still, the greed and hunger vis from the valley below was extremely prominent. I assumed the orks’ Skill was channelling it through their bodies.

“This is amazing in its own way”, I said, “I only see this when using one of my Skills and even then only for a split second. Having the ability to study it this elaborately is wonderful.”

“I just want normal eyes”, she said.

“Which is probably possible. With some time and effort. We’ll look into it after making you self-sufficient.”

“Thanks.”

For a few minutes, silence settled between us. Alex was deep in thought and I was trying to understand how the [Bloodlust] Skill made the orks move. It was difficult to predict at best. When they encountered something living, there was a shift in the horde. Everyone nearby turned towards it and quickly ran to get their hands bloodied. The ones out of range noticed the movement and followed, quickly creating a pile of bodies. Once the animal was dead, they dispersed and started breaking other stuff.

I was curious what would happen if their target disappeared without getting killed but the risk was too high for me. Instead, I decided to shift to my metal and glass form. Anything to be as unliving as possible.

When my Skill activated, I felt Alex’ attention shift in surprise. She paid close attention to what happened to my body. When I was done, I turned to her.

“What did you see?”, I asked.

“That was amazing. You’re not there but you are. How?”

“It’s a Skill. My best Skill, I’d say.”

“I feel the bond but it no longer goes to your body. It’s directly next to me.”

“That is interesting. It’s not important right now, though. I’ll see if I can take out some orks.”

She hesitated for a moment.

“Don’t die.”

I nodded and took off.

I slowly circled down on the other side of the valley, closely observing the orks’ reactions. It took until I was maybe 20 metres above them to see their behaviour change. The closest ones looked up and roared or growled. I coated myself in shadows and had them take on the aspect of air.

“Fio! Are you alright?”, a panicked voice spoke into my head.

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

“You disappeared!”

“Yes. I can hide from your type of sight. I’m a capable [Assassin]. Now, I need to focus. Please don’t distract me unless it’s urgent.”

“Yes. Apologies.”

I refocused on the orks below who seemed to have lost my exact position but still knew I was somewhere nearby. That was enough for me.

I plunged down onto a lone greenskin and cut through his throat, pushing off right away. Blood sprayed onto his brethren and they perked up, taking the involuntary shower and ripping his body apart. That was… gruesome. Not particularly painful because he was already dead but it still looked horrifying.

After their shower of blood and guts, the orks turned right back to destruction. It seemed my initial idea of taking out their own to sate the [Bloodlust] was not particularly effective. But I had someone to check the details with me.

“Did anything change with the orks where I was just now?”, I asked Alexandra.

“Yes. The feeling of hunger and greed has given some space to life and death. Not much, though.”

“The vis, you mean? That’s a good sign.”

“What did you do?”

“Cut an orks throat. The others nearby ripped him to pieces.”

“Urgh. That’s brutal.”

“You should be glad you didn’t see the details.”

“I…”

“Just keep observing and tell me if there’s a swing in vis.”

“Understood.”

I kept going and killed or heavily injured orks all over the place. It was risky to stay too long after striking since the frenzy was near unpredictable. At least it distracted them for a while. I was able to slow down the advance of the horde.

I kept the killing up well into the night before catching a break. There had been no notifications until now. Only when I got back to Alex did I finally get one.

~ding~ You have taken out your chosen targets. Experience awarded.

~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 69. 4 Attribute Points awarded.

That seemed very little for almost 20 kills but considering they had not been quite unnoticed it was fair. I turned to my status and distributed my points into Intelligence and Wisdom. The former finally hit 50 points with the latter still one off. Nothing special happened, though. I had hoped something would be.

“How are we looking?”, I asked Alex.

“Not much better, to be honest. You’d have to get at least half the orks around there. The [Bloodlust] seems to regrow slowly after you take one out.”

“So, two more days if I don’t take a break. Possibly.”

“Hopefully. This world is fucked up. Why does a Skill like [Bloodlust] exist?”

“I… don’t know. But the orks evolved from a human. Maybe one particularly violent was their progenitor. No, it’s actually extremely likely.”

“Evolution?”

“Yes. I’m an evolved species. Did you [Identify] the details of it?”

“No. You can do that for others?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

She took a moment to read through the information.

“It is lonely? Is your species not very social, or what?”

“I’m a unique species. I’m the only one. And since I’m not a Progenitor, I’ll always be the only one.”

“So it’s more a you thing?”

I sighed.

“Yes. I’m working on it.”

“I’ll help you.”

I looked over at the thaumium golem.

“Thanks.”

~ding~ You have made friends with a new species, congratulations! Experience is awarded!

~ding~ You have reached level 38. Attribute Point allocated. 1 Attribute Point awarded.

I snickered. It came out as a half hiss, half hoot.

“What?”, Alex asked.

“I get levels for making friends.”

“You what? Isn’t that cheating?”

“It’s one thing I wanted when I evolved, so the system gave it to me. Or something like that.”

“So, how do levels work, exactly?”

“I’m not fully certain. Generally, you do what aligns with your race to level it up. The same for your Class. The common issue seems to be that people are never truly aligned with their race. I believe that is what evolution exists for. It solves the disconnect between person and body.”

“And how do you evolve?”

“Get to major vis enrichment and adulthood. You’ll get the option to evolve or get an affinity. Though I have no idea how golems work with that.”

I felt her sigh mentally.

“We’ll figure it out. We have time.”

“Right. If you don’t die beforehand.”

“Well, I won’t age anymore so I’m not too worried.”

“Just don’t get killed by orks or something worse.”

I nodded.

“I’m quite difficult to take down. Now, let me get some food and get back to work.”