Chapter 05

Nadine had quickly skimmed through the Monster Tamer book and read aloud the parts she thought I might find useful. Most notably was the detailed explanation of monster tier and rank progression. Basically, monsters would start at rank one and consume mana stones to increase in rank until eventually evolving and increasing to the next tier. The tier structures were roughly approximate to floors of the Labyrinth, but unfortunately, the book did not list Ogres amongst its examples.

Goblins and Orcs on the other hand were rather well documented. Goblins, in a similar position as both varieties of kobolds, were what was considered to be half tiered monsters. They are an example of monsters roughly equating the average difficulty of the first floor of a Labyrinth. However, named monsters are always a half tier higher than their base species, so even though Toofy is a Goblin, she is technically a tier-one monster. Being tier-one put Toofy on an approximate power level to the Orcs, albeit with markedly different abilities.

Rank progression was actually rather simple to understand as well. Basically, consuming a mana stone of another monster of the same tier would award one maximum mana per rank of the mana stone. Consuming a mana stone of lower-tier monsters would have drastically reduced results. With every five maximum mana gained, a monster would evolve and improve its ability scores and racial abilities. When a monster reached twenty-five maximum mana, it would evolve into a higher tier form of its species and reset to rank one again.

This information was not immediately useful for my own progression, particularly since we didn’t know what tier I am to begin with. However, it was a different story entirely in regards to Toofy. It was entirely plausible that Toofy would be able to evolve into a tier-two Goblin species from consuming Orc mana stones.

The loss in mana stones would be a rather sizable loss of potential wealth, but the gains in terms of party strength would be worth it. It was actually Clarice who made the most convincing argument, comparing the investment in a similar sense to purchasing equipment. With a proper frame of reference for how strong Toofy is and of her future potential, only Emelia still grumbled at the prospect of losing so many mana stones.

There was one final thing Nadine took the time to explain to me before I had to leave again, and it was arguably just as important as the tier and ranking progression system. Nadine told me how to do advanced filtering of the status screen and notifications. After I had mentioned how dangerous it was to have the obnoxious panels covering my central vision, Nadine insisted on walking me through the basic filtering commands.

In hindsight, I honestly should have figured these out on my own. They are so glaringly obvious that I felt embarrassed for not discovering them sooner. “Status, combat notifications, scrolling lower peripheral, reduce size, reduce size, reduce size, reduce size.” The example notification pane shifted to my lower peripheral as I commanded and was replaced with procedurally smaller panes until they were roughly the same size as the group status information. Blinking, I dismissed the status screen and was left with only the group status panes,

I hadn’t realized just how much stress I was carrying in my shoulders until taking care of that. Even knowing that the sharp-toothed Vrabbits couldn’t hurt me, being reduced to only your peripheral vision was like watching a particularly suspenseful horror movie. The fact that I was now fighting Orcs that made the rugby players from high school look like librarians, really had not helped.

Toofy had also been fed the remaining mana stones to try and make her as strong as possible before hunting Orcs with me and Jacque. This increased Toofy’s maximum MP by a total of twelve points and had caused Toofy to rank up twice more and very nearly a third.

[Toofy - Goblin: 4 ] [HP: 19/19] [MP: 15/18 ]

[Emelia’s Slave*] [Class: Scavenger 2. +2 Intelligence, +1 Toughness, +5 HP. ] [Exp: 510/3000 ]

[Strength: 8 ]

[Agility: 15* ]

[Toughness: 6 ]

[Intelligence: 5* ]

[Willpower: 6* ]

[Presence: 5 ]

[(Class Ability: Treasure Sense): Detects and highlights items of value within a predetermined range. {Intelligence} increases range.]

[(Racial Ability: Vicious {Rank 2}): Deals additional damage to fallen enemies and those with {Negative Status Conditions}. {Willpower} increases the amount of bonus damage.]

[(Racial Ability: Underfoot {Rank 1}): Takes less damage from Larger enemies. {Agility} increases the level of damage resistance.]

From what I could tell, Toofy had gained one more point in her Strength and Agility attributes and ranked up both of her racial abilities once each as well. While the additional damage from vicious would be useful, I would have preferred Toofy’s underfoot ability had ranked up higher instead. After all, it was the Orcs that seemed most likely to deal with sudden fatal injuries, and Underfoot seemed like it could heavily mitigate that outcome.

Heading downstairs with Toofy, I still felt incredibly nervous about taking her into the forest. The fact that Toofy had been living there for who knows how long, was of little comfort.

Jacque was already waiting for us by the front door. She threw a large backpack at me the moment I cleared the stairs, “Heads up!” Jacque called out with a grin.

The backpack bounced off my chest and landed on the floor with a dull thud. Whatever Jacque had filled it with, was reasonably heavy. Picking up the backpack, I smelled the faint aroma of cooked meat. Unfastening the top of the pack and looking inside, the smell intensified and I found a multitude of wrapped cloth parcels.

Jacque had stocked up the entire large leather pack with food. Since the Guild was paying the bill, I felt kind of stupid for not thinking of something like this sooner. With both Toofy and Jacque benefiting from my Iron Gut racial ability through group synergy, food was equivocal to emergency medical supplies.

Slipping the pack onto my back, I wasn’t surprised when Toofy climbed up and used it as a seat. The pack was actually big enough that I could carry Toofy inside the pack if we ate or discarded most of the food.

“You ready to get back out there?” Jacque asked eagerly, tapping the butt end of her wooden spear against the door.

I nodded, strapping the doorshield to my arm and drew the morningstar out from my tattered belt, “I’m ready.”

Jacque smiled, “Then let’s get to it! Daylight’s a’wastin.”

“Do you really think we will run into the Orc chieftain?” I asked.

Jacque shrugged, “It’s possible,” she admitted, “But if we do, there will be a whole mess of minions to deal with. It won’t be an easy fight.”

Crossing the plains, I was relieved to find that the Vrabbits had dispersed rather than continuing to stake-out the invisible barrier. But considering the Vrabbit’s absence raised an interesting question.

Why did the tide of vermin not hunt Orcs and Goblins in the forest? Then I recalled the already healed bite wound to Toofy’s ear and had my answer. The Vrabbits didn’t have to leave, because their prey came to them instead.

“Let’s try the other direction this time,” Jacque suggested, leading us in what I presumed was a different direction than last time.

With no direct line of sight on the town, I honestly didn’t know where we were going. I really need a compass or something. I would even settle for a map, but those are inordinately expensive.

Jacque looked back at me curiously but said nothing.

After walking for a while longer, Jacque suddenly stopped and looked to our left. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and we set off in the opposite direction.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, a little concerned at her reaction and our abrupt change of course.

Jacque didn’t reply at first, but after a couple of minutes, she let out a frustrated sigh, “Damnit, I really didn’t want to deal with this a-hole today...”

“Who are y-” Before I could finish asking the question, I heard people approaching from behind us. Looking behind us, I could see five adventurers in chain hauberks rushing to catch up to us. They didn’t seem overly hostile, but I was getting a bad feeling all the same.

Jacque stopped and turned to face them, watching their approach with disgust.

“Oi! Jacky! Long time no see!” One of the adventurers called out boisterously.

The other adventurers laughed, but it came across as a little forced.

Jacque’s scowl deepened and she glowered at the adventurer who had called out to her.

The adventurers stopped a dozen paces away and the one who had called out removed his helmet.

“Hrmph, you still sour over that misunderstanding a month back?” The adventurer demanded with a disarming smile, “If you want, I could put in a good word for you and get you an invite back to the chapter.” Objectively, the young man was handsome in a classical sense, possessing strong features and a tall athletic build. Unfortunately, his good looks were ruined, in my opinion, by the cold arrogance in his eyes.

“Like I told the chapter master when I left, I don't work with rapists, Byron,” Jacque replied icily, gripping her spear so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

The adventurer, assumedly Byron, frowned, “The investigation cleared me on all charges, Jackie, so it might be best if you stop spreading rumours...”

The other four adventurers shifted uncomfortably.

Jacque stood her ground, “Then leave me alone! I want nothing to do with you, so get lost!”

“Apologise,” Byron demanded arrogantly.

Jacque turned to leave.

“Bitch!” Byron moved forward and made as if to grab her arm.

*Thwack*

Jacque spun and delivered a blow to Byron’s left knee, sweeping him off his feet in the process.

“Argh!...” Byron fell hard.

The four other adventurers quickly rushed forward to help him. Two of them grabbed an arm each to drag Byron to his feet while the other two drew their swords and squared off against Jacque.

This had escalated quickly...

Jacque backed off, “You try and touch me again, and I will drive the pointy end up your ass!” She growled angrily before turning to me, “Come on, let's get a move on.”

More than happy to avoid the confrontation, I quickly followed along behind her.

“Don't just let her go, you idiots!” Byron screeched, “Go get her!”

Looking over my shoulder, I could see that the adventurers were hesitating,

Thank god, for a moment there I thought they would just blindly follow this guy's orders like some pampered lordlings minions. I always hated that trope. No matter how weak the minion and no matter how powerful the protagonist, the minions would just mindlessly charge like flies against a car windshield. Stupid.

“A gold piece for whoever drags that bitch back here on her knees!” Byron promised.

Okay, now that'll do it. I quickly slip my morning star through my belt, grab Jacque around the waist and run. I don’t even have to turn around to know that at least one of those adventurers was going to take a crack at Jacque. One gold piece was worth one hundred silver, which was worth ten thousand copper. Greed was a notoriously powerful motivator, and I wanted no part in this!

After running for around five minutes, I slowed down and set Jacque back down, “Sorry,” I apologised. It would not have been a pleasant journey for her.

However, Jacque didn’t seem any worse for wear. She actually seemed kind of pleased about something, “Thanks Tim.”

“No worries. I just didn’t want to fight those guys, you know?” I explained a little awkwardly.

Jacque nodded, “You really don’t behave like most of the monsters I've seen before,” she commented cheerily.

“Well...there were four of them you know?” I deflected by reminding her of the odds.

Jacque snorted and shook her head, “Besides that shitheel Byron, the others are all just rookies running around in expensive equipment. I highly doubt they could manage more than just scratching you with those swords.”

“Maybe, but what about yourself and Toofy?” No way I was going to put Toofy at risk over whatever the hell kind of history Jacque and this Byron guy have.

Jacque’s smile widened, “See that’s what I mean. The Labyrinth’s monsters are inherently selfish by nature and design. Yet here you are.”

The way Jacque said that didn’t seem quite right to me.

Toofy began to growl.

“Oh, right. It seems like you may have run past a few Orc and Goblin patrols on the way here. We should get ready for a pretty big fight,” Jacque shrugged somewhat apologetically and readied her spear.

Ah, that is definitely my bad. I am not light on my feet and it’s pretty difficult to move quietly while running through the forest with a door strapped to your arm. “Toofy, do you think you could hop up into that tree and use your sling?” I asked, careful to avoid phrasing it as a command. Emelia’s Monster Tamer book has said that it was intent and not phrasing that triggered the command abilities, but I would rather not risk it.

“Toofy do!” Toofy crawled up my extended arm and climbed up a little higher before settling on a thick branch. She immediately set about loading her sling, giving it a rapid twirl and throwing the first bullet.

[Toofy has slain {Goblin: 1 } +50 Exp]

Woah! I didn’t know Toofy already knew how to use a sling. I mostly just sent her up into the tree to keep her out of harm's way. Wait, did Toofy hit the target she was aiming at though? Just because she killed a Goblin, didn’t mean that it had been her intended target.

Toofy threw another bullet.

“GRA!” An Orc bellowed out in pain.

Three Goblins rushed through the brush, with an Orc staggering a few steps behind them.

*Crack*

The Orc’s head whipped backwards as Toofy threw a bullet into its head just above the right eye.

[Toofy has slain {Orc: 1 } +100 Exp].

Okay, Toofy is obviously a damned sniper...

With the Orc behind them down for the count, the three Goblins spared only a second to make sure he wasn’t getting back up again, before legging it into the forest.

With the sounds of more Orcs and Goblins approaching, I was more than happy to see them go.

“Where did you find Toofy anyway?” Jacque asked, smiling and shaking her head.

Toofy was swinging the sling again, but she didn’t appear to have an immediate target.

“Would you believe me if I said we found her just outside of town?” I asked.

“Really?” Jacque seemed impressed, “Don't know how you managed to catch her. To keep her balance like that on the branch while spinning the sling, her Agility would need to be pretty damn high.”

I could tell Jacque was fishing, so I just nodded.

“Many Orcs!” Toofy called out anxiously and fired another bullet.

Jacque’s eyes grew wide, “Ah so, remember how I told you the chieftain would bring along his minions? Well, we may need to run.”

“Huh? Why?” I asked, a little confused since we knew this would happen at some point.

“Because he didn’t just bring his own minions, he brought the Goblin chief and his minions as well!| Jacque replied worriedly.

It took a moment for that information to sink in, “Running sounds like a good idea,” I agreed, “Toofy come down, we’re leaving!”

Toofy jumped out from the tree and grabbed onto my pack to arrest her fall, “GOGO!” She shrieked nervously.

Jacque began to run and motioned for me to follow, “Just follow me no matter what! They are trying to surround us!”

I nodded and began running after Jacque as best as I was able. Ugh, this all felt like it was my fault.

*****

Grobguk grinned, the Ogre had finally come out of hiding. Even now, the Ogre was running away in fear! “CHARGE! KILL OGRE!!!” He bellowed, whipping his warriors into an even greater frenzy.

Grobguk’s warriors were only too keen to obey, charging recklessly through the underbrush and leaving a swathe of splintered and trampled vegetation in their wake.

Gobgob and his pitiful Goblins were no less enthusiastic but were quickly being left behind.

Grobguk didn’t care. With the Ogre running scared, it was clear that he didn’t need the Goblins after all.

*Thwack*

Grobguk felt something strike his calf, causing him to lose balance and nearly tumble to the ground. Looking behind him, Grobguk could see Gobgob and his elite warriors just a short distance away, the latter already loosing another volley of stones from their slings. “GOBGOB DARES?!” Grobguk bellowed in fury.

*Thwack*, *Thwack* *Thwack*, *Thwack*, *Thwack*.

The hail of stones pelted Grobguk’s body and he felt his bones cracking beneath the onslaught. Instinctively, Grobguk understood that if he continued cowering, he would die. Mustering all his rage, Grobguk charged towards Gobgob, preparing to bury his knife into the treacherous Goblins head.

*Thwack*, *Thwack* *Thwack*, *Thwack*, *Thwack*.

Another volley of stones crashed into Grobguk’s chest, stalling his momentum and stealing the breath from his lungs, replacing it with blood and pain. “GOBGOB!” Grobguk spat, continuing to stagger forwards. Even if it cost him his life, Grobguk would end Gobgob before permitting himself to die. To be slain by a Goblin was already dishonour enough, to not take the puny weakling with him was just unthinkable!

Gobgob raised his hand and his elite warriors held back the next volley. The elderly Goblin chief stepped forward to face Grobguk alone, relying on his hilariously large walking stick for support.

Grobguk could no longer speak, so he settled for glaring balefully at Gobgob as he struggled towards the Goblin.

“Grobguk stupid!” Gobgob cackled, his wrinkled mouth splitting wide in a grin, “Gobgob smartest!” Gobgob swung his walking stick at Grobguk’s ankle.

*Crack*

Grobguk’s strength failed him as he tumbled painfully to the ground, “Blurghuk!” Blood vomited from his mouth as the impact forced it out of his shattered chest.

Gobgob struck again, this time at Grobguk’s right hand, which was still clutching the magical knife and symbol of his position as chieftain.

*Crack*

Grobguk felt his bones break but desperately clung onto the knife, struggling to inch closer to Gobgob.

*Crack*, *Crack*, *Crack*, *Crack*

Gobgob seemed more than happy to keep hitting Grobguk anyway. Eventually prying the knife from Grobguk’s badly mangled hand.

With his vision turning black, the last thing Grobguk saw was a bright flash of crimson light, and then, nothing.

*****

[Goblin Chieftain Gobgob has declared war against the invaders on this floor of the Labyrinth!]

[All defensive wards and transportation portals will deactivate for 24 hours in 3 days.]

I very nearly crashed face-first into a tree as the notification appeared in front of me. Unlike the other status notifications, which were blue, these latest notifications were a deep angry red. Even after I blinked, a much smaller status screen appeared at the top of my peripheral vision. It appeared to be a sort of timer.

[ 2d : 23h : 59m ]

“Shit...” Jacque cursed without breaking stride, slowing only enough for me to catch her up.

I could only assume that she had received the same status notification I had. It definitely wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t quite what I had expected. Wasn’t the boss monster meant to be an Orc chieftain, not a Goblin? As unfortunate as this was, a Goblin chieftain would be easier to defeat than an Orc chieftain, right?

After a few more minutes of running, Jacque stopped and motioned for me to do the same.

We had been running for close to half an hour, so I had no problems with taking a much-appreciated breather. “You...okay...Toofy?” I panted, glancing back at her.

Toofy nodded, although she seemed quite anxious. My face had taken the worst of the branches, so besides her hair having a fresh batch of twigs and leaves in it, Toofy looked fine otherwise.

“We need to head back to the foothold,” Jacque declared gloomily, “It’s just way too dangerous to continue hunting at the moment.”

“Okay,” I agreed, more than happy to return to town again.

After resting for a bit longer, Jacque slowly began leading us back to town.

Unsurprisingly, we were not the only ones heading back across the plains. Four other parties were rather hurriedly grouping together along the way. Not a bad idea considering the circumstances.

However, Jacque made no moves to join them, so we made our own way back alone. Even though we weren’t rushing like the other adventurers, it still didn't take too long.

“I’ll catch up with you later Tim, we are done for today,” Jacque gave me a small wave goodbye before heading off in the direction of the Guild office.

“Later,” I waved back but Jacque probably didn’t notice. She appeared to be deep in thought.

I needed some answers, so I returned to the inn.

“Tim!” Nadine called out from the window, her expression a mix of relief and persisting worry.

A couple of seconds later Clarice joined Nadine by the window and gave me an awkward wave.

The pair of them were waiting for me in the common room as I entered the Inn. they were currently seated on a table near the door and looking over what looked like a map.

“Tim, can you come take a seat for a minute?” Nadine asked hurriedly, apparently more than a little stressed.

“Alright,” I agreed and very cautiously sat down on one of the chairs. It creaked a little but seemed to be alright supporting my weight.

“There is no easy way to say this,” Nadine sighed, “The Guild has issued us a mandatory quest.”

“Mandatory? They can do that?” This was the first I was hearing of it. Outside of the Guild staff themselves, the adventurers Guild had honestly seemed a lot more like a temp agency to me.

Nadine nodded, “It’s rare, but in emergencies, the Guild can issue mandatory quests to members. If we refuse, we get blacklisted from the Guild,” she explained wearily, “We will still get paid for it, but the conditions and requirements are unreasonable.”

“It’s a frickin power-trip is what it is!” Clarice snapped angrily.

I really didn’t like where this was headed, but I have to know, “What is the quest?”

Nadine pointed to the map on the table. It was a somewhat crude birdseye view of the town. “The Guild wants us, specifically you, to guard the gate for the duration of the raid.”

“Uh...Did you tell them that I am not much of a fighter?” I asked worriedly, starting to feel a little panicked.

“Of course we did!” Clarice snorted, ”Guess how well that went down?!”

“They thought we were lying..." Nadine explained disappointedly, “Even though your combat record is short, from where they are sitting it still looks very impressive...”

“That's not even the worst part!” Clarice snarled, “Tell’im!”

Nadine paled and gulped hard, “The Guild...they want to put a slave mark on you...”

My stomach lurched and I felt like I was going to be sick.

“They already took Emelia to the Guild to handle things on their end. Tim, I am so sorry, I didn’t want something like this to happen,” Nadine explained sympathetically,

“Fucking bullshit is what it is!” Clarice seethed, “The foothold is in danger, better start enslaving people!”

“What is going to happen?” I asked weakly, ”Is it just going to be a second slave mark? Like, do I have to obey two different people?”

Nadine gulped again and looked down, “Ah, no Tim. You can only have one mark at a time. They took Emelia to...to transfer ownership...All Guild managers are Slavers and-”

I didn’t hear the rest of what Nadine was saying, I felt like someone had vented the oxygen from the room and I was having trouble breathing. Stumbling to my feet, I headed out towards the door to get some fresh air. Everything was all blurry and I couldn't stop my hands from shaking!

[Warning: Bond has been forcefully attempted. Accept? (Y/N)]

I stared at the status alert for a full minute before understanding what It said, “Refuse!” I croaked hoarsely.

[Bond Rejected]

[Warning: Bond has been forcefully attempted. Accept? (Y/N)]

“Refuse!” I repeated, this time, feeling a rush of anger.

Panting heavily, I stumbled back into the inn and retrieved my shield from by the door where I had left it.

“Tim, you should calm down so we can talk about this,” Nadine insisted pleadingly.

[Your master has given you a command.]

“REFUSE!” I snarled as a sudden mild pain took hold in my head.

Toofy whimpered and growled sympathetically, whipping her head around to try and find what was causing me pain.

Staggering out of the inn, I saw a small group of people rushing out of the Guild office.

The thought reverberated through my mind with such force that it very nearly stunned me.

However, seeing the group from the Guild office rushing towards me, I turned and ran towards the gate.

The group chasing me began shouting, but I paid no attention to them and just kept running. Reaching the gate, I hesitated only for a moment before charging forward again.

[Your master has given you a command.]

The pain in my head increased slightly, but I could handle it. It was nothing like the last time Emelia had given me commands. I continued running until I made it into the forest. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I looked back and was surprised that no one had continued following me. They had all stopped just a short distance into the plains.

“Are you alright Toofy?” I asked, a little worried that Emelia had used the command on her as well.

“Toofy okay,” Toofy confirmed, but she sounded a little shaken. “Why Tim run?” She asked curiously.

I tried to think of a way to explain it so Toofy would understand, “A bad man tried to take Tim away, so I ran.” It only occurred to me now that they probably have something in mind for Toofy as well. If they were willing to use me as fodder, naturally, they wouldn’t think twice about doing it to her. Ugh, but how do I protect Toofy from something like that?

Toofy suddenly stiffened, “Bad man taking Toofy!” She shrieked in terror, her shiv materializing in her hand and whipping around at the air in a panic.

“Toofy! Calm down! I won’t let them take you!” I tried to reassure Toofy.

“Taking Toofy away!” Toofy wailed, clutching at her head.

“I won't let them!” I roared protectively, “Stay with me Toofy!” I didn’t know how I would do it, but dammit I would try anyway!

“Toofy wants to stay, not go!” Toofy screeched, clawing at her hair and crying.

[Your master has given you a command.]

“Damnit Emelia! That’s it! CONTEST BOND!” I screamed in frustration.

[Bond Broken: Removing Enslaved Status and Effects]

[You have been automatically removed from Nadine’s party]

All at once, the pain stopped and I could think clearly again, “Toofy it’s okay, just stay with me okay?” I started moving through the forest, worried that the noise we had been making would very quickly result in an attack by the natives.

“***?” Toofy looked up at me in fear, confusion and pain.

Just as the monumental consequences of what I had just done began settling on my shoulders, Toofy began to convulse. Quickly setting Toofy down on the ground, I work the edge of my palm into her mouth to stop Toofy from biting off her own tongue. Shit! What is happening, what do I do?!

Oh no...Emelia or that Guild manager must be layering commands onto Toofy! It made sense now, her Willpower was nowhere near as high as mine, so of course, she couldn’t resist it as I could. Then what the hell do I do? I needed to buy some time to think. Gently cradling Toofy in my arm, I slowly begin walking back towards town.

Toofy stopped seizing almost immediately, just shuddering and crying from the memory of the pain. “*** ***, ***** ****, *** ***,” Toofy struggled feebly, looking deliberately at the town in the distance then back to me and shaking her head.

“No, Toofy,” I didn’t know what to do. If I didn’t take Toofy back, the pain would probably kill her. But going back also meant that they would be using Toofy as fodder to defend the town. Even though she was now stronger than an Orc, there would likely be hundreds of Orcs and Goblins attacking the town. Stuck as the vanguard, Toofy’s chances of survival would be almost nonexistent. So if I wanted to try to keep Toofy alive, I would need to surrender myself as well...

With Emelia, I had accepted enslavement without realizing what I was doing and what it entailed. But now, I knew better and every fibre of my being detested the very idea of it, demanding that I turn and run. Even Toofy wanted me to run away. But I couldn’t. Toofy would die without me, I felt certain of it.

Faced with an impossible choice, I chose the lesser of the two evils. Maybe I am just a coward. It would explain so many things about me and my life. I have always done what was demanded of me and when push came to shove, I would back down. Even my reluctance to hurt people could be seen as a fear of consequences, of power and control.

Technically, I could free Toofy by killing the Guild manager, or whoever was currently her master. I could kill him and run back off into the forest before anyone had a chance to do anything about it. But, I just couldn’t bring myself to even consider it before dismissing the idea in shame.

*****

“Let’s quit the Guild!” Clarice insisted seriously for the fifth time in as many minutes, “This is all bullshit. No one else is being forced to put up with anything close to this!”

Nadine was heavily inclined to agree with her. Even though the Guild had the right to issue mandatory quests, the theft of property through slave bonds was dangerous territory. Ignoring for a moment the fact that Tim was a thinking being, the Guild just forcibly seized a substantially valuable asset under the pretext of a quest. If it weren’t for the portals being inaccessible, Nadine would have immediately filed a grievance against the manager.

Slavery was big money, and the Guild manager had greatly overstepped his intended authority. If the Guild didn’t take the grievance seriously, most of the Slavers and Monster Tamer’s would quit overnight.

Nadine had already written three letters in preparation for when the raid ended. “We might as well be mercenaries,” Nadine agreed, “If the Guild is just going to abuse its authority anyway, then what is the point in staying a member?”

“Thank you!” Clarice agreed excitedly, “That's what I’m saying!”

“They still won’t give Tim back, or toofy for that matter. The Guild manager will just exercise his ‘emergency authority’ to keep them until the raid is over,” Nadine explained dejectedly, “And on top of that, technically Tim and Toofy are Emelia’s property, not ours.”

Clarice’s face darkened still further, “The treacherous bitch! Selling Tim after he saved her life!”

Nadine pursed her lips and nodded. She did not think for a moment that Emelia did it with ill intentions in mind. However, Nadine also heavily suspected that Emelia had given precious little thought, if any, beyond how much silver the Guild was offering her in exchange.

Clarice was about to voice a few more choice epithets but was distracted by a knock at the door to their new room.

Before Nadine or Clarice could so much as ask who it was, the door opened and Jacque slipped inside before quickly closing the door after herself.

“What do you want?!” Clarice snarled, already in a bad mood and unwilling to put up with Jacque’s shenanigans.

Jacque didn’t say a word, instead, moving over to the bed, yanking off the blanket and covers. She walked back over to the door again and stuffed them into the crack at the bottom of the door.

Nadine could already tell that Jacque was very likely bringing them a great deal of trouble.

Jacque then walked over and closed the shutters and curtains. Finally turning her attention to Clarice and Nadine, Jacque had an intense look in her eyes that Nadine had not seen before. “If there was a way to free Tim from the Guild manager’s control, would you do it?” She asked bluntly.

“Yes! Of course!” Clarice replied almost immediately.

Nadine hesitated a moment, earning the ire of both other women, “It’s not Tim we need to free,” she hastily tried to explain, “It’s Toofy. I know the reason he came back would have been to stop the commands from hurting her. He won’t leave without her being freed.”

Jacque nodded, “I know. So I will ask again. If there was a way to free Tim from the Guild manager’s control, would you do it?” She repeated earnestly.

Nadine nodded, “I owe him and Toofy at least that much,” she agreed.

“Good,” Jacque nodded, “Because I have a plan and I need your help to make it work.”

Nadine and Clarice glanced at one another before eagerly huddling closer to hear more.

*****

I continued staring blankly at the open plains from my position outside the gates. They had leveraged Toofy against me almost the very moment I returned to the town. Ordering her to fight me, while Emelia attempted to enslave me again. Toofy refused, of course, so she immediately began convulsing in pain. I knew they wouldn’t stop until I submitted, so that’s exactly what I did. I became a slave again. They had taken Toofy away, presumably to rest, but I can’t be sure.

Nadine and Clarice had stopped by to tell me that Toofy was alright, but the Guild had locked her up in a holding cell beneath the Guild office. They had both apologised profusely and promised to do what they could, but it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered. Emelia had cast me aside so casually, even seeming happy about it. Is that what I get for saving her life?

Staring despondently at nothing in particular, I wondered what the life expectancy of monsters was in this world. Did I have another fifty years of this ahead of me? A hundred? Ten? I had no way of knowing, but I hoped it was shorter rather than longer.

What really hurt wasn’t how callously the Guild manager, Gilbert, was treating me. It was how kind other members of the town had been up until now. I had fooled myself into thinking that my situation wasn’t nearly so bad as the reality. But reality seemed to have caught up to me in a real hurry.

Gilbert had spent a solid hour detailing exact commands for my every waking moment, including establishing which hours I would be awake for and which I would not. I learned more about the status commands in five minutes than I had in my entire time with Emelia.

Besides my clothes, morningstar and shield, everything else had been confiscated and presumably returned to their original owners, namely Emelia and Jacque. I could tell that Gilbert had seriously contemplated whether to take my clothes as well before eventually deciding against it. I can’t believe that I thought he was a standup guy...

Gilbert had assigned a number of adventurers to serve a watch schedule at the gate as well. But none of them seemed particularly friendly. They just mostly ignored me and kept to their own company.

When it grew dark and the pain ebbed, I shuffled to the inner side of the gate wall and lay down to sleep. Staring up at the sky, I wondered if perhaps someone would kill me in my sleep and I found that the thought did not scare me nearly so much as it had only a few days ago.

It took a long time for me to get to sleep, and waking up in the morning to a splitting headache made me feel that much worse. Picking up my morningstar and shield, I returned to the designated position and stared vacantly at the plains. I had realized rather quickly that Gilbert’s commands had serious problems with achieving the results he wanted.

I had no incentive to be vigilant, and so as long as I was vaguely looking in the right direction, I felt no pain. Gilbert’s pre-established commands were painful enough to be aggravating, but not enough that I couldn't resist. His whole house of cards was kept standing because he held Toofy hostage, and Gilbert knew it.

Only vaguely aware of my surroundings, I would probably fall asleep on my feet if it weren’t for the sudden jolts of pain whenever I closed my eyes for more than a second at a time.

“Tim!” Someone called out from nearby.

Ignoring the pain, I look away from the empty plains and see Nadine and Clarice slowly making their way down the street towards me.

“We brought you food,” Clarice explained nervously, holding out a small basket full of roasted meat.

“I’m not hungry” I replied offhandedly.

Nadine looked worried, “Tim, you really should eat something to help keep your strength up,” she insisted.

I shook my head and turned back to the plains again, “Not hungry,” I repeated.

“We went to see Toofy earlier,” Nadine shared encouragingly.

“She misses you,” Clarice added.

I nodded, “I miss her too...”

There was an awkward pause before Clarice tried handing me the basket again, “You need to eat to keep your strength up,” she insisted.

I sighed and slid my morning star through my belt, twitching slightly as the pain started back up almost immediately. Turning away from the plains added another layer of pain until I accepted the basket and shifted it awkwardly to my shield bearing hand and looked back out at the plains again.

I absently grabbed a piece of meat, put it in my mouth and swallowed. The mild pain in my head made it difficult to appreciate the food, so I just listlessly ate one piece of meat after another. My mind began to wander again when I noticed Nadine was trying to get my attention.

“Tim...I know this must be hard for you, but you just need to bear with it a little longer,” Nadine said in an attempt to raise my spirits.

It honestly wasn’t worth replying to. I was a slave and would soon be compelled to kill against my will. But only because they had someone I care about as a hostage. It was the lesser of two evils, but it made me disgusted with myself. I didn’t blame Toofy for this, it wasn’t her fault. I miss her.

“Just hang tough, things will work out...” Clarice added somewhat awkwardly, lightly punching my shoulder.

Another protracted silence passed between us before Nadine sighed. “We will see you later Tim,” she said quietly and slowly began walking away.

“I...” Clarice hesitated then roughly cleared her throat, “Just stay safe alright?”

When the food in the basket ran out, I found that there was a small leather satchel at the bottom. Ignoring the pain, I opened the satchel and found a half dozen thick sheets of card-stock. Curious, I removed the topmost one and very nearly dropped it again. It was a picture of Toofy and I eating breakfast at the inn, or at least a sketch of it.

Seeing the serious expression on Toofy's face, I couldn’t help but smile. Even though it had been only a couple of days, it had felt like forever since I last saw her. I needed to see more. Replacing the first card into the satchel, I withdrew another.

It was a picture of Toofy sleeping splayed out on my stomach in our room. Whoever sketched this had even included the belt abandoned on the floor. The next was of Toofy sitting on the large pack and leaning on my head as we walked through the forest.

I remembered each of the events they were based on, more or less. But the final three were different. The fourth picture showed Toofy huddled in the centre of a dark cage, and a featureless stranger looking at her through the bars holding a collar in their outstretched hand.

The fifth picture showed the stranger walking down the main street of the town with Toofy peeking out from the large pack on their back.

The sixth and final picture showed the stranger handing me the pack and pointing urgently to the forest.

Were Clarice and Nadine working on a plan to rescue Toofy? I didn’t know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I desperately wanted Toofy to be rescued, but on the other, I was worried about what could go wrong in the attempt. If something happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

*****

“How is he doing?” Jacque asked although she had a pretty good idea by the looks on their faces.

“It’s like he’s not even there,” Clarice muttered, .

“Tim was already quite fragile when we first met him, and...he's slipping. If the Guild manager forces him to fight, I don't think there will be much of Tim left afterwards,” Nadine explained, .

Jacque nodded, this was about what she had expected after observing Tim for a few days. Despite his literally tough exterior, Jacque had the impression that at any given moment, Tim’s psyche was hanging by a handful of threads. Given his current treatment, it was very likely that those threads would snap at any moment.

Jacque had only just confirmed Tim was an Awakened, a human soul given new life in a monster's body. Already insanely rare, he was rarer still in that he was not a deranged psychopath like the overwhelming majority of the others. That is, he wasn’t yet. Jacque had seen plenty of otherwise good people turn bad after being mistreated or pushed into a corner. This was why Jacque had come up with a plan to free Toofy and by extension, Tim. The fact that the Guild manager was able to control Tim by using Toofy as a hostage spoke volumes of each of their characters. Any doubts Jacque had about Tim had been swept away upon learning of his sacrifice. Only a handful of Awakened would do what he did, but only Tim would accept becoming a slave instead of killing the Guild manager.

“Alright, I have everything prepared. Are you both ready to play your part?” Jacque asked seriously.

Clarice and Nadine both nodded in agreement, their eyes steeled with determination.

“Then let’s do this!” Jacque declared.

The three of them headed downstairs to the inn’s common room, where Jacque and Clarice continued to head off to the street while Nadine beelined for Byron and his lackeys.

Nadine had the most difficult and frankly dangerous part to play in this rescue mission. She had to lure Byron away from his entourage and get him to drink the sleeping draught Jacque had purchased from the alchemist.

It was part of the cover and frame-job Jacque had thought up to redirect suspicion from themselves once Toofy was found to be missing.

Jacque and Clarice waited near the tailor shop across the street and waited.

After a short while, Byron’s entourage left the inn. Clarice shivered with a scowl and quickly headed back into the inn again. A few moments later there was a great deal of angry shouting and a short while after, the innkeeper was dragging Byron out by his collar and towards the Guild office.

After about an hour, the innkeeper stormed out of the Guild office and back to the inn.

Jacque waited a few minutes longer, ducked into the tailor’s shop and put on her disguise. Leaving the shop, Jacque knew that most people wouldn’t give her a second glance. Disguises were a specialty of hers and she knew how best to blend in.

Entering the Guild office, unsurprisingly, the staff were gossiping amongst themselves about what had happened. Some of them looked towards the door as Jacque entered but quickly dismissed her. After all, she looked like one of them. Well, specifically, Jacque looked like Emily, a member of the Guild staff who was visiting Don the butcher for ’an afternoon snack’.

Jacque calmly walked into the back area and took the keys off the hook by the door. All Guild office buildings shared the same general designs and floor plans, so if you have explored one, you have explored them all.

Unlocking the door to the holding cells, Jacque walked downstairs into the poorly illuminated passageway. Following the rows of barred cells, Jacque stopped at the end of the row.

Toofy was curled up in the fetal position in the exact centre of the cell, barely moving a muscle.

Jacque tapped the cell door quietly, loud enough that only Toofy would hear.

Toofy’s ear twitched. Far less coherent than the thoughts of humans, a myriad of images and impressions quickly surged to the forefront of her mind. Toofy quickly looked towards the door and saw Jacque. . Toofy’s head slumped dejectedly back to the floor. .

Jacque could feel the little Goblin’s despair, surprised that Toofy understood why Tim had returned to the foothold and what it meant. Doing her best to organize her thoughts, Jacque began projecting them to Toofy. .

Toofy raised her head again and stared at Jacque. .

Jacque could tell what she meant. What would stop them from forcing Tim to come back again? . Communicating like this was difficult, but Jacque at least had some practice deciphering and interpreting the thoughts of monsters, so she was reasonably confident that her intentions were getting across.

Toofy tilted her head at Jacque quizzically but nodded.

Jacque unlocked the cell door and stepped back.

Toofy cautiously approached the door and flinched as she made to step over the threshold. Just as Jacque was considering altering the plan, Toofy grit her teeth and lurched into the passageway.

Jacque nodded and jammed a few pieces of broken twig into the lock of the cell door and slowly followed Toofy up the stairs before doing the same on that door as well. Watching Toofy stagger towards the open window, Jacque made sure she was presentable, replaced the keys on the hook and walked out of the Guild and towards the direction of the butcher shop.

Narrowly missing the real Emily by quickly slipping into the shadowed alley between the two buildings, Jacque hurriedly changed her disguise to look like one of the other young female adventurers currently stuck in the foothold.

Nonchalantly returning to the Guild office building, Jacque was glad to find that no one had discovered Toofy’s absence yet. Looking amongst the crates and barrels, Jacque sighed in relief when she found the empty pack she had stowed earlier, was now rather full and trembling slightly.

the thought repeated over and over.

Jacque felt bad about this part of the plan. She had felt the pain of slave commands herself and had no desire to ever feel it again. Jacque encouraged her. Lifting up the pack and strapping it to her back, Jacque made sure no one was looking her way, then casually meandered over to the tailor’s shop and closed the door behind her.

“Ah, Jacque!” Rasped Kiki, eagerly wringing her clawed hands together, “I assume our transaction is soon to be completed?”

“Did you get what I asked for?” Jacque asked bluntly.

Kiki winced and nodded, materializing a studded leather collar in her hand before quickly dropping it on the counter as if it might lash out and bite her.

Jacque wasn’t thrilled about touching it either. Removing the small pouch from her belt, Jacque upended the remaining five mana stones onto the counter. “Now remember, no matter when Nadine comes in to explain that the Orc chieftain is dead-”

“-I will hiss and refuse to provide the reward since she did not bring me the head. But that will be the end of it, I know! Now take that loathsome thing out of my shop!” Kiki demanded, snatching up the mana stones and gulping them down before abruptly disappearing to leave the puppet in her place.

Gritting her teeth, Jacque swept the collar into the pouch and quickly left the shop. Casually walking over to the gate, Jacque saw two low-level adventurers boredly watching the treeline and nervously discussing the raid. Ignoring them, Jacque walked up beside Tim and shrugged the pack off her back, set it down beside the wall and placed the pouch on top of it along with a folded piece of card from her pocket. With her task complete, Jacque made sure the two adventurers on watch hadn’t noticed her, then walked back to the inn.

*****

, the voice cut through my melancholy like a knife.

Looking around for who had spoken, I only saw the scheduled guards. Then I heard it. A quiet whimper from somewhere beside me. Turning slightly and looking down, I recognised the large leather pack Jacque had given me the day before. There was a folded card and leather pouch sitting on top of it as well. Just as I was wondering what had made the noise, I saw the pack move slightly.

Remembering the cards from the basket, I quickly knelt down and looked inside the pack, My heart nearly skipped a beat when I saw Toofy grimacing and looking up at me in surprise.

“T-Tim,” Toofy moaned weakly.

I tried to stave off the wave of panic I now felt and think of a solution. The cards had not prepared me for this...wait! Snatching up the folded piece of card, I was relieved to find two basic sketches. The first was of the pouch and had several arrows and exclamation points directed at it. The second was of someone's neck and what looked like a dog collar, a hand and drop of blood falling towards the nameplate on the collar.

Fumbling for the pouch, I opened it and found the dog collar. The picture obviously intended that I should fasten it around Toofy’s neck, but I hesitated as I realized what this was a slave collar. Would a slave collar cancel out Gilbert's control over Toofy? I had no idea. Would it hurt her if it failed? I glanced down at Toofy and my stomach lurched. No time for what-ifs! I needed to act!

Awkwardly fastening the collar around Toofy’s neck, I hoped that this would work. Pressing my right thumb hard against a spike on the morningstar, I managed to puncture the skin and wiped the bead of welling blood against the collar’s nameplate. Almost immediately, Toofy relaxed and let out a sigh.

This had to be it! Toofy was free!

[Bond Successful: Providing {Command Least} Item Ability]

Free-ish, free from Gilbert! Good enough for now!

“Hey, what’s the Ogre doing?” One of the adventurers asked curiously, apparently having finally noticed that I wasn’t just standing there as I had been a couple of minutes ago.

Wasting no time, I quickly threw the card and pouch into the pack, picked up the pack and ran for all I was worth.

“Huh? HEY!” The other adventurer shouted after me.

I didn’t really listen to them, “Contest bond!” I hissed and began running as fast as I could towards the forest.

[Bond Broken: Removing Enslaved Status and Effects]

[You have been automatically removed from Gilbert’s party]

[Conditions have been met to advance to the Advanced Class: {Slaver}. Accept? (Y/N)]

“Accept!” I grunted, as much to get the status notification as anything else.

[Class advancement: {In Progress}]

[Class advancement: {Complete}]

[Class: Slaver 0. +1 Willpower, +5 HP.] [Exp: 0/5000 ]

What the hell is with that amount of Exp to level up?! I groaned inwardly before dismissing the status and redoubled my effort in putting as much distance between us and the town as possible.

Stopping at the treeline to catch my breath, I looked inside the pack and saw Toofy smiling up at me.

“TIM!” Toofy cried excitedly, leaping out and giving me a desperately tight hug.

Thank god I can still understand her! “Toofy!” I dropped the pack and hugged her back.

“Tim save Toofy!” Toofy sniffled, tears wetting my neck as she pressed herself in tighter.

As much as I wanted to indulge in the moment, I glanced back towards the town and saw a group of adventurers forming up at the gate. “Toofy we need to leave and find somewhere to hide, okay?”

“Kay,” Toofy sniffled, pulling back from her hug and wiping her snotty nose on her sleeve. “Where Tim hide?” Toofy asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. Every part of this forest looked the same to me.

Toofy was quiet for a moment before growing excited, “Tim hide Toofy’s home!” She insisted pointing off into the forest.

Right! Toofy had a hiding place at a tree or something. It may not be much, but it was better than nothing, “Do you know how to get there from here?” I asked.

Toofy nodded and scrambled onto my shoulders, sitting herself down behind my neck and pointing off into the forest, “Tim go! Toofy show tree!” She insisted excitedly.

“Okay,” I agreed, stuffing the pack into my apron pocket. I began quickly moving into the forest.

Just like when I was following Jacque, it took barely any time at all before I was hopelessly lost. Thankfully, Toofy seemed to know where we were going. Or at least. Her emphatic pointing seemed to indicate as much anyway.

“How much further?” I asked Toofy quietly, worried that we might encounter more Orcs and Goblins.

“Hmmmmmmm,” Toofy hummed thoughtfully, “Close,” she replied pensively.

Well, that wasn’t encouraging. I had been walking through the forest for close to a half-hour already and was beginning to suspect that Toofy was not as adept a survivalist as I had originally thought. “Toofy are you sure?” I asked dubiously.

Toofy hesitated, “Yeeeeees...”

Okay, we're lost, “Are you sure?” I repeated patiently, “I won’t be mad at you if we are lost, Toofy.” I reassured her.

“Ummmmm,” Toofy’s weight shifted as she took a fresh look around. “That way,” Toofy insisted after a few minutes, pointing off to my right.

I sigh and begin walking in that direction. At this point, we might have to call it a day and try to make a shelter to spend the night in. Since I have zero camping experience, I was still willing to Give Toofy a couple more hours to try and find her hideout.

“STOP!” Toofy suddenly yanked on my ears as if they were a horse's reins.

“Ow!” Toofy’s sharp nails didn’t break the skin on my ears, but it still stung.

“There!” Toofy insisted, pointing to a larger but otherwise innocuous tree,

Oh no...Did we just wander through the forest just to find a tree? For some reason, I had pictured a small bird's nest-like treehouse or a large warren under the tree. Ugh, that's on me I guess. Gloomily approaching the tree in question, I only grew more disappointed as I drew closer.

“Toofy’s home!” Toofy declared proudly, scrambling off my shoulders and over to the large tree.

“It’s...nice,” I commented supportively, trying to think of a way I could make a shelter from branches and maybe some of the denser bushes I had seen around.

Toofy gave me an incredulous look that made it clear she was questioning my intelligence. “Toofy no show Tim yet,” she stated flatly and gave an exaggerated sigh while shaking her head. Walking over to the tree, Toofy looked back at me expectantly. She took hold of a small tree root and pulled.

Much to my surprise, Toofy pulled up a large section of the grassy ground to reveal a hard-packed and reinforced tunnel. It looked like the mineshafts I had seen in movies and videogames, with rough planks and branches forming supporting arches.

Toofy climbed down into the mineshaft and motioned for me to follow her, “Tim! Follow Toofy!”

Curious, I unstrapped my shield, dropped it into the hole and hopped down after Toofy. Looking down the tunnel, I could see that there was a large chamber ahead and was dimly illuminated despite the absence of torches. Pulling the camouflaged trapdoor shut, I followed Toofy down the tunnel. I had to hunker down to avoid dragging my head against the ceiling, but it wasn’t so bad given how short the tunnel was.

The chamber at the end of the tunnel was quite large, maybe twenty feet in diameter. The source of light was coming from the trunk of the tree in the roof of the ceiling. Someone had somehow managed to bore a two-foot wide hole straight up the centre of the tree without killing it in the process. It had to be the result of magic, there was no other explanation I could think of.

Toofy excitedly scuttled to a small alcove in the wall and waved at me to join her, “Toofy’s shiny’s!”

I approached the alcove to see what Toofy was so excited about. It appeared to be a large pile of trash that was larger than Toofy herself. I could see pieces of broken glass, damaged cookware, scraps of armour, even the shattered remains of a sword. I now understood where Toofy had sourced the materials for her shiv. “Ah, it’s...nice...” I agreed somewhat hesitantly.

Toofy cocked her head and narrowed her eyes, “Tim no like?” She asked, the hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Nonono, it’s fine! It’s just...not what I expected,” I explained awkwardly.

Toofy scratched at her ear with a confused look on her face for a moment before becoming excited again, “Tim wants shiny’s!” She cried as if it were obvious. Toofy skirted around the pile of admittedly shiny garbage and began dragging something out from deeper in the alcove. Apparently quite heavy, Toofy was straining against the broken strap of an adventurer's backpack, leaving a groove of displaced earth in its wake.

Panting heavily, Toofy came to a halt in front of me and gave me an expectant look.

Curious, I opened the pack and looked inside. No way... I looked at Toofy incredulously.

Toofy grinned and began hopping around excitedly, “See! Many shiny’s!” She cried happily.

That was an understatement. Toofy just brought me a pack very nearly filled with copper and silver coins. “How did you get so many of them?” I asked, overwhelmed by how rich Toofy was.

“Toofy find,” Toofy replied happily, bouncing excitedly as she alternated between looking at me and the pack full of coins.

Oh! Of course! The Scavenger Class Ability! It basically made Toofy a loot magpie. Even though I don’t know how the ability works exactly, I have to assume that it makes items of value stand out quite well for Toofy to have found so many of them. “This is very impressive!” I compliment Toofy and tousle her hair.

Toofy leans into my hand and laughs.

I missed this. Somehow, Toofy always seems able to make me feel better. I mean, I am currently on the run and hiding in a hole in the ground, but I feel happy regardless. In fact, I just thought of a game I could play with Toofy. Taking one of the pieces of broken glass, I held it into the light and angled it to reflect a coloured light onto the floor.

As I had hoped, Toofy’s head whips about to stare at the colourful light, fingers twitching as she lowers herself into a stalking stance. Toofy cautiously stalks towards the light and prepares to pounce.

Just as Toofy leaps, I waver the light back and forth and move it away.

Toofy gives chase.

There are some close calls, but when I see Toofy starting to get tired, I let her ‘catch’ the light. “You caught it Toofy!” I cheer, “Good job!”

Toofy was confused and a little disappointed at the light’s sudden disappearance, but realizing that I was praising her, Toofy ran back over and pulled my hand onto her head for a celebratory hair tousling.

“Oh alright,” I conceded with a chuckle. We need to get all the sticks and leaves out of her hair again anyway.

Sitting down against the wall, Toofy immediately curls up in my lap and begins drifting off to sleep. She’s had a long day, so I'm okay with letting her sleep, and this is her house, so I guess she can sleep wherever she wants.

With nothing better to do, I decide to take a look at my Status to see how different the advanced class of Slaver is to Taskmaster, “Status.”

[Tim - Ogre Runt: 1 ] [HP: 45/45 ] [MP: 0/0 ]

[Class: Slaver 0. +1 Willpower, +5 HP.] [Exp: 0/5000 ]

[Party: Tim’s Party] [Party Members: Tim.]

[Strength: 15* ]

[Agility: 8 ]

[Toughness: 20* ]

[Intelligence: 10 ]

[Willpower: 15* (16*) ]

[Presence: 3 ]

[(Racial Abilities: {Hide/Expand})]

[(Class Ability: Enslave): Dominate the minds of lesser beings and press them into servitude. Requires a willing target or a contest of (Willpower) against a target with {Bloodied} Condition. Cannot be used on Beasts. Maximum number of slaves determined by {Willpower} (0:3)]

[(Class Ability: Command): Issue commands to your slaves. Disobeying your direct commands requires a contest of (Willpower). Degree of failure will result in pain being administered until the command is obeyed or the command is rescinded.]

[Group Slaves/Tamed Monsters: Toofy.]

[Group Synergy: {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 0 }.]

Okay, there was a fair bit more to see this time. The party information is new. I wonder if that's because I am no longer in someone else's party, no longer a slave, or because I am party leader, or a combination of the three.

Oh, my Racial Abilities had been minimised. Was that because I opened the status to see what was new? The status system seemed to take intent into account, but it was hardly consistent about it, so I couldn't tell for sure one way or the other.

Enslave makes sense, but I don’t think I would be comfortable using it. It would be rather hypocritical of me to go around enslaving people, given how much I hated being a slave myself. Command is basically the same as the Taskmaster ability, so that's easy enough to understand. Is Toofy not counting against my maximum number of slaves because of the collar? Hrm, we should try taking it off later after she finishes her nap.

I can see the slaves status section now as well, even though it just has Toofy. That’s kind of neat. Oh, why don’t I see what’s different with Toofy’s status? Hrm, it’s not very different just at a glance. So I won’t bother with it for now.

I briefly consider counting Toofy’s treasure hoard, but just the thought of it makes me tired. Maybe Toofy has the right idea, a good nap after all the excitement sounds pretty good about now. Closing my eyes, I begin to drift to sleep.

Huh?! My eyes shoot open and I look around the room, only to find that besides Toofy, who is still sleeping, I am alone. But I could have sworn I heard someone say my name?

I definitely heard something that time, but I still couldn’t tell where the voice came from. “Hello?” I reply, looking towards the tunnel and the hollowed tree trunk in turn.

The voice sounded exasperated, familiar. Where did I know this voice from?

.

There was the sound of muffled footsteps coming down the tunnel.

Awkwardly cradling Toofy in one arm while drawing my morningstar, I anxiously waited to see who or what would emerge from the tunnel.

A couple of seconds later, Jacque cautiously exited the tunnel with a somewhat annoyed expression on her face, “Do you have any idea how long I have been wandering around the forest looking for you?” She demanded hotly.

“Ah...” This was unexpected.

“I figured, hey, he's a big guy, he’ll leave a big trail to follow, easy. NOPE. You left a big trail alright, but backtracked and crisscrossed yourself so many times even I was beginning to get lost!” Jacque complained angrily, “I very nearly didn’t find you at all!”

“Erm, sorry?” I wasn't sure what was really going on here.

Jacque glared at me for a moment, sighed heavily and visibly calmed down. “It’s fine, I've found you now, and that’s what matters.”

“Are you here to take me back?” I asked nervously, clutching the morningstar tighter.

Jacque’s eyes darted to my weapon hand then back to my face again, “No. I wouldn’t have helped bust you out otherwise.”

“Huh?” I thought back to the events earlier today and hadn’t recalled seeing Jacque even once.

Jacque smirked, “A big part of why I helped you escape is because I need to talk to you about something incredibly important,” she explained enigmatically, obviously baiting me into asking about it.

Fine, “About what?” I asked, losing nothing by asking a simple question.

Jacque nodded and sat herself down, motioning for me to do the same.

Carefully sitting back down, I settled Toofy in my lap again.

“I know you aren't a monster,” Jacque stated bluntly, “Don’t try to deny it. You are an Awakened, a human from Earth.”

I stared at Jacque in surprise. How did she find out? What gave me away? What is she going to do to me?

Jacque winced a little but continued staring at me intently, “I know you have questions and I will do my best to answer them. I know you are an Awakened Tim, because I am as well,” The colour drained from Jacque’s hair, eyes and skin, leaving her as white as snow. “I am a monster, like you,” she explained, “My Racial Abilities are not oriented directly towards combat like yours are. They are more suited for infiltration,” Jacque’s body changed slightly and the colour flooded back across her body. In a matter of seconds, a young woman Tim didn’t recognize had taken Jacque's place.

My mind was reeling from the sudden influx of information. Wait, so I am not the only human trapped in a monster body? What kind of monster was Jacque? What brought us here? And why?

.

WHAT?!

The woman that replaced Jacque flinched, “Ow...” She glared in annoyance, “Don’t do that.”

“...” Sorry.

The woman's body quickly changed until she took the form of colourless Jacque again, “In case you are wondering, this is my true form,” Jacque explained patiently.

“You can turn into other people?” I asked dazedly.

“More or less,” Jacque agreed, “I am only a changeling, not a true doppelganger. So I can only change my form to within certain tolerances.”

“Changeling? Doppelganger?” I asked, unfamiliar with what those were.

Jacque sighed and nodded, “A doppelganger is a shapechanger that specializes in mimicking people and has telepathic abilities. A changeling is a much weaker, lower-tier version of the doppelganger.”

“Oh...” I wish I had gotten Jacque’s ability, I would have avoided getting into so much trouble.

Jacque smirked and shook her head, “I had a similarly rough start myself. Just like you, I didn’t speak a word of the language and sure as hell couldn’t read any of it,” her expression hardened, "Someone took advantage of my disoriented state and sold me as a slave. Before Orchestrating my escape, I learned what I needed to survive and blend in. Which is why I was able to help you today,” Jacque explained somewhat irritably.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I apologised.

Jacque shook her head and sighed, “It’s not your fault. it’s the Labyrinths,” she insisted, “They want us to lash out, to kill people. The Labyrinths choices aren’t random. They choose a monster that simultaneously plays to your strengths, but also embodies your greatest insecurities,” she gave me a knowing look.

Taking a moment to consider what Jacque said, It seemed to be right. So far as I could tell, the Labyrinth had barely deviated from my original body at all, because if Jacque was right, it didn't have to... I have always been big for my age, but cowardly. Factor in my early-onset baldness, a face that looks like I was smacked in the face with a shovel as a baby and it becomes inevitable that kids gave me the nickname of Ogre. My stats and racial abilities have been overpowered thus far, so that fits Jacque’s narrative too.

“So there are other people like us?” I asked.

Jacque grimaced, “Yes and no. Most Awakened I have made contact with are either batshit crazy, mana addicts, psycho killers, or a combination of the three. I can't stress enough how much of an outlier we are Tim. people don’t stay stable for long in the Labyrinths.”

“So why are you telling me all of this? Why help me?” I asked, growing suspicious with all this talk of killers.

“Because I need your help,” Jacque admitted, “I want to head to the topmost floor of the Labyrinths and find out where the Labyrinths came from and why they are killing people. I need someone I can trust, a partner,” she stared intently at me, ”Will you join me?” Jacque asked earnestly.

“Why me?” I asked indecisively, “Couldn't you just team up with some of the natives?”

Jacque shook her head, “The higher level the adventurers, the more difficult it is to fool them. I barely fooled your previous masters, while you noticed an irregularity right away. In the higher floors of the Labyrinths, shapechangers are more common and if they suspect someone's identity is not genuine, adventurers will attack first and ask questions later.”

I vaguely recalled how I had been able to see Jacque’s group status but not Nadine, Clarice, or Emelia’s. So I had to admit that she had a point.

“You are taking this a lot better than I expected,” Jacque observed curiously.

“Am I? I don’t feel like I am though...” I was just trying to understand what was going on.

“You...you aren’t the first Awakened I have approached about this,” Jacque shuddered and rubbed at her throat, drawing attention to a thin silver scar, “Trust me, you are taking this much better than they did.”

“Weren’t you afraid that I would react as they did?” I asked curiously.

Jacque nodded, “A little,” she admitted, “It’s why I wanted to spend time with you alone, to see if you were just acting.”

“Oh...” I guess that made sense.

“See! This is what I am talking about! You just roll with the punches!” Jacque shook her head.

“Is that bad?” I asked.

“Well...no,” Jacque admitted a little irritably, “It’s just weird. Don’t you have like a million questions?”

“Of course I do,” I agreed earnestly.

“Well then?” Jacque waved her hand insistently, “Ask away!”

“You said that you were trying to provoke me. Was that an act? Or is that who you really are?” I asked curiously.

Jacque was surprised and somewhat taken aback, “Erm...a bit of both...” She admitted hesitantly.

I nodded, that sounded like the truth. “Is your class really a Synergist?” I asked.

Jacque nodded, “I unlocked the class rather quickly, but it takes a lot of experience to level it up.”

“So it’s an advanced class?” I asked, wanting to know if it was normal for the advanced classes to require so much Exp.

Jacque was a little surprised, “You know about advanced classes?” She asked without answering the question.

I nodded, “I unlocked the Slaver advanced class when I escaped from the town with Toofy,” I explained.

“Wow...” Jacque shook her head, “Is it really that easy to become a Slaver?” She asked incredulously.

I shrugged, “It reset all my levels and Exp though,” I added helpfully.

“Oh, right. You were a Taskmaster, weren't you? Maybe that is why Slaver unlocked so easily? Still though...” Jacque seemed a little annoyed and maybe jealous.

Well, considering her goal, Slaver would probably have been a good fit. Jacque could have just enslaved a few Orcs or something instead of party members. Assuming that she was alright with slavery.

Jacque stiffened and looked somewhat embarrassed.

Oh, right. Jacque said she can read minds...

Jacque coughed loudly to clear her throat, “Ah, so, what do you say? Will you come with me?” Jacque asked somewhat awkwardly.

“Hrm,” there was a great deal to think about. I knew that in order to survive, Toofy and I would have to become much stronger, or we would just be enslaved again or killed. Finding out what was at the top of the Labyrinth was an interesting proposition, but didn’t feel like a priority to me honestly. But for a while at least, our goals aligned, and there was safety in numbers. But what about Nadine and Clarice? Couldn’t they come with us? They had proven themselves to be at least sympathetic if not kind towards myself and Toofy. I wanted to repay them for playing a part in rescuing us.

Jaque frowned but said nothing.

“Would you be against Nadine and Clarice joining us?” I asked tentatively.

Jacque sighed and thought about it for a short while, “Is it a deal-breaker if I say no?” She asked pointedly.

“Well, no. But wouldn’t we be safer with natives in our group? You said that higher-level adventurers become very suspicious of strangers. If it is just you, me and Toofy, wouldn’t that seem incredibly suspicious? Also, Nadine seems quite good with people and Clarice is..well-”

“-not so good with people?” Jacque commented but was nodding slightly.

“Well, I was going to say that Clarice would attract attention away from you, just by being herself,” I explained, somewhat embarrassed for speaking ill of her after rescuing me.

Jacque nodded, “I understand what you meant,” she reassured me, taking some more time to think.

“Ah, also, is the collar I put on Toofy removable? Maybe I could use that as my disguise?” I suggested. So long as people thought that I was an enslaved monster, they only had to then point out that I was also a Slaver, to explain Toofy’s presence.

Jacque looked at me curiously and nodded, “You can remove it and reuse it,” she admitted, “But you just raised a pretty big problem. The slave mark. Any Slaver, Taskmaster or Monster Tamer of fifth level or higher can see slave marks. They would notice rather quickly that no one besides Toofy bears the same mark and began asking difficult questions.”

That was a pretty big problem. I had been wondering why I couldn’t see any marks on myself or Toofy, ever since I read the Enslaved Status Effects. But maybe there was a workaround? “What if?”

“No,” Jacque replied flatly, “I trust you Tim, but not enough to become your slave.”

“What if Nadine or Clarice agrees to it though?” I asked, even though I honestly didn’t know if either of them would feel any better about it than Jacque.

Jacque was quiet for a long time before speaking again, “Okay,” she agreed reluctantly, “If at least one of them agrees, then I would feel more comfortable with them joining the group,” Jacque relented, “Just don’t get your hopes up.”

I nodded. It was a fair compromise and Nadine and Clarice really did have benefits they could bring to our group besides serving as camouflage. As natives, they were basically guaranteed to know more about this world than we do, and knowledge is a key component for survival. Besides, they each had classes of their own and it didn’t seem like Exp is reduced by being in a party.

“It is,” Jacque interrupted my train of thought, “Exp is quartered when you form a party,” she explained.

“What? Really?” That was a surprise, “So, do some people go around alone just to keep more of the Exp?”

Jacque nodded, “It’s obviously far more dangerous, but the rewards for the risk tend to be worth it. Most of this world’s ‘heroes’ run the Labyrinths solo and are exceptionally high level.”

“That’s crazy though...” I muttered, considering fighting groups of monsters on my own.

Jacque smirked, “Well, the rumours about the Exp requirements for levelling Master level classes strongly encourages it.”

“There is another classification of classes above advanced?” I asked incredulously, and it takes even more Exp per level? That’s insane!

Jacque nodded, “How to unlock them is kept secret though. Those with Master Classes have been known to kill anyone who tries asking them about it.”

Why are so many people in this world bloodthirsty psychos?...

“It’s part of human nature,” Jacque shrugged, “Survival of the fittest and all that. The addition of quantifiable abilities and upgrades just adds another layer to it.”

She had a point. It’s not like people on Earth had behaved much better when given the chance.

“Have you given much thought about the raid?” Jacque asked, changing the subject, “The foothold will probably endure, but there is no guarantee that Nadine and Clarice will make it through in one piece.”

[ 1d: 7h : 25m ]

There was still about a day and a half until the raid would begin. I thought of the townspeople who had been kind to me, of how Nadine and Clarice were still recovering from the Orc’s ambush. I wanted to help them, but I don’t want myself or Toofy to be enslaved like that again either. “I don’t know,” I admitted.

Jacque nodded, “Your standing with the Guild is pretty bad after escaping, but it’s fixable. Assuming Nadine or Clarice is willing to serve as your ‘beard’, you can play hardball with the Guild and establish favourable terms. The Guild manager already knows he can't challenge you directly, you will just break free again. Similarly, he can’t steal Toofy either, for the same reason, your Willpower is just too high for him to challenge. Factor in the dire straits of the foothold facing the raid with already wounded adventurers, he has no choice but to make concessions.”

I nodded uncomfortably. It all hinged on Nadine and Clarice’s decision. If they refused, I would probably have to flee deeper into the Labyrinth, even after helping the town survive. “Would you be willing to ask Nadine and Clarice for me?”I probably couldn’t approach the town without being attacked at this point.

Jacque nodded, “I wasn’t planning on sleeping out here anyway. Not just yet anyway.” She got to her feet and patted down her pants to remove some of the dirt. “I’ll try to come back tomorrow before midday with an answer for you. Oh!” Jacque slapped her forehead, “Nearly forgot. We should form a party so it isn't so dangerous when I come to find you again. You will know Nadine and Clarice’s answer by whether I invite them or not as well.”

“Okay,” I agreed, reminded that Jacque had made the trip without the synergy buffs Toofy and I otherwise would have provided. Carefully getting to my feet and cradling Toofy to my chest with my left arm.

“Party Invite,” Jacque held out her right hand.

I carefully clasped Jacque’s arm in the same way I had seen her and Nadine do it at the Guild office, “Accept invite.”

[You have joined Jacque’s Party]

I could see Jacque’s group status information now as well, so if something went wrong, I would at least know about it.

“Oh, I brought you some supplies as well,” Jacque shrugged off her pack and left it by the wall, “Just what the Guild confiscated, a bedroll and some food and water too. I hadn’t expected you to find a shelter like this,” she admitted, clearly impressed.

“It’s Toofy’s home," I explained, somewhat embarrassed.

“Ah,” Jacque looked around, “That makes sense. She must have found his abandoned merc bunker and moved in. Oh right, you wouldn’t know. Mercenaries often have bunkers set up in Labyrinths for when they aren't welcome in the footholds. There are probably dozens of them here on the first floor alone and they become more common on higher floors.”

Well, that explains a lot. While I hadn’t expected Toofy to have been the one to build this hideout, I had wondered who had and why. Even worried a little that maybe the Orcs had built it.

Jacque smirked and began making her way down the tunnel, “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow,” she said, before climbing out of the tunnel and replacing the trapdoor.

Left alone with Toofy, I awkwardly dragged my shield down the tunnel and used it to block off most of the tunnel entrance. There were some gaps to either side, but I felt safer knowing that there was another barrier between myself and possible intruders. After Jacque found the trapdoor so easily, I was having second thoughts about how well hidden this bunker was.

Laying out the bedroll, I settled down and began drifting off to sleep again. It had been a long day and there was a lot to think about.

When I woke up, Toofy was sitting on my chest and staring at me expectantly.

“Morning Toofy” I yawned, relatively unfazed by behaviour at this point.

“Mor-ning?” Toofy pronounced the unfamiliar word and shook her head, focusing on me intently again, “Breakfast?” She asked, pointing to the pack Jacque had left by the wall.

“Breakfast,” I agreed, “Bring me the pack and let’s see what Jacque brought for us.”

Toofy excitedly sprang off my chest and rushed over to the pack, grabbing it in a bearhug and quickly waddling back over to me again, “Breakfast!” Toofy declared excitedly, looking at the pack expectantly.

Opening the pack, I found that it had cloth parcels of food like those Jacque had first provided in the larger pack two days ago. Taking a couple of parcels out, I could feel that they had different contents. One was obviously sausages, the other was probably roasted meat. “Which one do you want?” I asked Toofy, holding out the parcels so she could choose.

“Hmmmmm,” Toofy seriously considered each parcel, subjecting them to intense scrutiny as she poked, prodded, sniffed and stared at them for over five minutes before choosing the roasted meat.

Untying the knot on the parcel, I set Toofy’s breakfast down on the bedroll.

“BREAKFAST!” Toofy squealed excitedly, stuffing pieces of meat into her mouth with relish.

I smiled and untied a parcel for myself. By modern standards, the boiled sausages were very flavourful, but I could still taste the spices Rose had used to improve them.

After finishing breakfast, I took one of the three water skins from the bag and took a small drink. Besides stew, I think this was the first time I had a drink of water since I woke up in this place. Was that considered normal? Even before taking a drink just now, I hadn’t been all that thirsty. Weird.

“Water?” Toofy asked, holding her hands out expectantly.

“Sure Toofy,” I handed her the waterskin.

Toofy proceeded to drink it dry in a matter of seconds. She handed me the empty waterskin and smiled.

Well, Toofy apparently needs a fair bit of water. So other monsters are assumedly the same. Maybe it has to do with my Toughness? That could be it. I have much higher Toughness than Toofy does and even though she is smaller than humans, she still eats the same or more amounts of food than they do. Maybe Toughness has something to do with how efficiently your body’s internal processes are? Like, maybe my higher Toughness is able to filter out toxins and hold onto more nutrients and minerals? I wonder if Jacque or Nadine know the reasoning behind this.

Unsurprisingly, Toofy now had to go to the bathroom, only, this bunker didn’t have one. So we had to cautiously make our way topside so she could relieve herself. Thankfully there was plenty of dawnmoss growing on a nearby tree, so that was one less thing to worry about at least.

While Toofy was relieving herself in the bushes, I tried to keep watch for trouble. This was a forest filled with monsters after all. It was a good thing too because I swear I could just about make out the guttural clipped tone of Orcs from somewhere nearby.

“Toofy, I think there are Orcs nearby, are you just about finished?” I asked quietly.

Toofy, who had been humming, suddenly grew quiet, “Orcs?” She asked nervously. There was a brief moment of silence and Toofy crawled out from the bush, thankfully with her pants on, although a new shiv had materialized and was now gripped tightly in her right hand. Toofy’s ears perked up and she turned to face a particular section of the forest, “Orcs,” she agreed unhappily.

Unfortunately, the Orcs appeared to be in the direction of our bunker. So faced with the prospect of losing everything that was left inside of the bunker, including all of our food and water, it was looking like we would need to fight.

“Toofy, how many Orcs are there? Do you know?” I asked, hoping it was only a couple.

Toofy gave me a confused look.

Oh...she probably doesn't know how to count... “Are there many or few?” I asked, changing the question so hopefully, she understood what I meant.

“Few?” Toofy replied uncertainly.

I couldn’t be mad at her, this was more on me than Toofy. It’s not like I have made an effort to teach her anything important. But I swear, if we make it out of this upcoming raid alive, it's going to be one of my top priorities. Because situations like this are where poor communication gets people killed.

“Okay Toofy, let's try to surprise them, okay? But If I think it’s too dangerous, we run away, okay?” I told Toofy quietly.

Toofy nods, now much more excited.

As we began quietly making our way back to the bunker, we quickly recognised the problem with this plan. I am not very quiet. When the tree on top of the bunker came into view, two of the five Orcs searching the area immediately noticed me.

“DIE!” Bellowed the first Orc, charging me with a stone hatchet.

“KILL! Bellowed the second, armed only with a large rock.

Toofy sidestepped into the bushes, removing their line of sight. Not that it mattered, since the Orcs were charging me, but it was still a sound tactical decision.

Having lost the element of surprise, I raised my shield and tightly gripped my morningstar.

As the two Orcs were about to crash into me, I tried beating them away with my shield.

*Whump*

Both Orcs fell to the ground but didn’t seem particularly injured, they had just been too heavy to deal much damage.

However, Toofy seized the opportunity and leapt from the bushes, driving her shiv into one of the Orc’s neck before he had a chance to get his bearings. Toofy stabbed him a half dozen times more before tumbling away into the bushes again.

[Toofy has slain {Orc: 1 } +100 Exp]

The other Orc and I stared at the Orc on the ground for a moment before coming to our senses.

“KILL!” The Orc roared, desperately scrambling to his feet.

*Crack*

I smacked the Orc with my shield and sent him sprawling again, only this time it was into Toofy’s bushes.

The Orc quickly tried to stand up but suddenly grew limp.

[Toofy has slain {Orc: 1 } +100 Exp]

The three remaining Orcs were approaching me more cautiously. They were all larger than the first two, so I could only assume they were also higher rank. Similarly, they had bigger heavier weapons too. The largest had a stone maul and the two slightly smaller Orcs had stone axes.

“Ogre mine!” The biggest Orc growled, “Kill Goblin!” He spat dismissively.

The two smaller Orcs didn’t look happy about that, but they diverted course for Toofy’s latest hiding place.

While the largest Orc was still a half head shorter than me, his heavily packed muscles were incredibly intimidating. Sheer brawn, combined with the huge maul guaranteed I would be taking damage in his fight.

As the large Orc drew closer, I took an experimental swing at him with my morningstar and missed.

The large Orc deftly leaned away from the blow and used the motion to shove the head of his maul at me.

*Clack*

I barely managed to move my shield to block the blow in time.

The large Orc wasn’t just big, he was fast too and apparently capable of using that maul one-handed. Snorting contemptuously at me, the large Orc began his assault in earnest. Swinging and thrusting the maul while saying out of reach of my morningstar.

I didn’t know how much punishment this shield would be able to take, but at some point, it would inevitably begin to break. I could feel the impacts from the maul through the shield, and while it didn’t hurt, my left forearm and hand were slowly becoming numb. Preparing my shield to block again, I was taken by surprise as the large Orc suddenly lunged forward instead and snapped his head forward.

*Crack*

The large Orc’s forehead smashed into my thick brow before he staggered backwards.

Stunned, it took me a moment to get my bearings again. I could see the large Orc looking at me in confusion, a thick line of blood running down his forehead and blinding his right eye. Worried that I might be bleeding as well, I pressed my wrist against my brow. Besides throbbing painfully, my brow seemed to have come out of the exchange unscathed.

The large Orc was not happy about that, “DIE!” He bellowed, raising his maul for a double-handed blow.

I decided to rush the large Orc instead, bracing behind my shield and slamming into his now exposed chest.

*Thump, Crunch* *Thud*

The large Orc was thrown backwards, his maul landing heavily behind me. He tried to rise, but grimaced in pain, coughing and gasping, flecking his lips and chin with blood.

Turning my attention from the large Orc, I was surprised to find that the two other Orcs were desperately hacking at two different bushes. Each of them was also sporting a multitude of bleeding injuries from their calves and thighs.

Glancing quickly at the group status, I was relieved to find that while Toofy had taken some damage, she was still okay.

[Toofy - HP: 16/19 - Normal ]

As one of the Orc's axes smashed into another bush, I heard Toofy screech and saw her hp drop.

[Toofy - HP: 14/19 - Normal ]

“RAGH!” A flood of anger washed over me and I charged the Orc responsible.

*Thunk*

My morningstar smashed into the back of the Orc's head, caving in his skull.

[Tim has slain {Orc: 3 } +300 Exp]

The last Orc left standing, changed targets, coming at me with a heavy sweeping chop.

*Thunk*

“GRA!” I took the blow on my shield and brought my morningstar crashing down on the Orc’s head.

*Crunch*

The Orc stared dumbly at me for a moment, blood running down its face, “Urk...” His eyes went cross-eyed and he collapsed in a heap.

[Tim has slain {Orc: 3 } +300 Exp]

Like a bucket of ice water was dumped on my head, the anger suddenly disappears and I begin thinking more clearly again. “Toofy?” I croak, my throat feeling hoarse.

Toofy, stumbles out from the bush, appearing relatively unharmed. Her clothes were torn in places, but I couldn't see any bleeding. Thank goodness for small miracles. She looks past me at the remaining Orc, still hacking and wheezing where I had left him. Toofy’s expression hardened and she stalked towards the Orc.

I wanted to stop her. Even though the Orcs had been trying to kill us just a few moments ago, it still felt wrong to kill them when they couldn’t fight back. However, my grievance was rendered moot when Toofy rammed her shiv through his eye and into his brain.

[Toofy has slain {Orc: 4 } +400 Exp]

Perhaps it was better this way. The nuances of mercy would only get Toofy killed. The monsters in the Labyrinth were ruthless because they had to be. Even if I found it upsetting, enforcing my beliefs on Toofy could only end in disaster.

While I was distracted having my moral debate, Toofy had been more productive. Using a dead Orc’s hatchet, she had begun to hack open the dead Orcs foreheads and retrieve the mana stones.

Another reminder of the advantages of brutal pragmatism I thought ruefully.

Once Toofy had gathered all the mana stones, I dragged the bodies a short distance away before we retreated back into the bunker to lick our wounds. I felt like such a coward when I thought of it like that. I had taken only a single point of damage during that whole exchange with the rank four Orc and wanted to go hide. Toofy had taken five points of damage while fighting enemies close to three times her own size and still seemed ready to fight. I should stop wasting energy on how to make Toofy more like me and start thinking about how I can be more like her.

“Breakfast?!” Toofy asked insistently, rapidly alternating her attention between myself and the parcels of food inside the pack while licking her lips hungrily.

“Alright,” I agreed, she had earned it.

Toofy grinned and pulled out a food parcel before frantically untying it and shovelling the contents into her mouth, barely sparing a second to chew. She repeated this four more times in rapid succession before slowing down. “UUURP!” Toofy let out an incredibly wet, yet satisfied burp, looking incredibly pleased with herself.