Chapter 14

I just stared at Gric incredulously for a while, trying to reorganise my thoughts. It couldn’t be that easy...

“Lord?” Gric asked worriedly.

With one simple act, I could unlock a Master level Class and be rid of Slaver. According to Gric, all I had to do...was issue a quest. As the Daemon had explained it, I was apparently just shy of unlocking a Rulership Master Class that was only available to Lords of the Labyrinth. The requirements were not even that difficult, which is why I had already completed so many of them.

Leadership, Delegation and Authority. The three broad categories for unlocking the Rulership Class. Leadership just required a class that emphasised leadership...and apparently, both Taskmaster and Slaver qualify. Similarly, Delegation only required recruiting three or more minions and promoting one of them to Underlord. Clarice, Nadine and Toofy would have counted as being recruited as minions when I became Lord of the Settlement, sort of ‘Grandfathered in’ as it were. Lastly, Delegation was literally just a matter of issuing a quest and having at least ten minions accept that same quest, regardless of whether they intended to complete it or not.

“You’re sure there isn’t any sort of hidden catch?” I demanded sceptically.

“Of-course, Lord,” Gric rumbled, “The-quest-will-drain-EXP. Rulership-Class-will-recover-it.”

I couldn’t help but frown. It was the same as he had described before, but it still worried me a little. The prospect of losing so much hard-earned EXP was actually not particularly distressing, but Gric’s lack of available details on what the Rulership Class was even called, let alone what abilities it's meant to have, was rather upsetting.

Technically, as a Lord of the Settlement, I could now invite up to twenty minions in a secondary Party termed a Retinue. Functionally, it was the same as a Party except the EXP sharing suffered a fifty percent penalty and allowed four times as many members plus myself. Ushu and Gric could also form their own retinues, though only half the size of mine. With the very real capability of power levelling back from level zero, the loss of EXP didn’t really bother me. It was the distinct possibility of Toofy being left unprotected against enslavement that worried me.

Really, the only security I had in reserve was the slave collar I was currently wearing around my own neck. Theoretically, the collar should be enough. I had no immediate plans to linger in ‘human’ territory, not after what happened with the adventurer Guild. I was simply too unfamiliar with the politics and social norms of this world and living out here in the swamp didn’t seem quite so bad a prospect as it had only a couple of days ago.

The more I thought about it, the fewer reasons I could think of not to go through with it. Who knows, maybe the Rulership Class will have better protections than Slaver anyway? I mean, it probably won’t, but it’s possible.

Making up my mind, I let out a deep sigh. “Issue quest, open to all minions with Class levels from my Settlement. Slay one wild monster. Repeatable. Confirm.”

For a few moments, nothing happened. However, before I had the chance to relax, a pair of black status alerts appeared in my upper periphery.

[Repeatable Quest: Monster Hunt {Active}]

[Conditions have been met to acquire the Rulership Class: {Imperator}. Accept? (Y/N)]

Still waiting for the other shoe to drop, I suspiciously watched the status notification for what felt like at least a minute. A little unnerved that everything had gone so smoothly, I cleared my throat, “Accept.”

[Class advancement: {In Progress}]

[Class advancement: {Interrupted}]

I groaned as the latest notification appeared in front of me, “This seems more like it...”

[Class advancement: {Delayed Pending Review}]

[Class advancement: {Pending}]

“What?...” That notification didn’t mean the Labyrinth itself was getting involved...Right? I felt a cold shiver run down my spine in response. Oh no...

[Class advancement: {Review Completed}]

[Class advancement: {Approved*}]

[Class advancement: {Complete}]

[Class: Ogre Warchief 0. +1 Willpower, +5 MP.] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

Wait a sec...

“That isn't the class I agreed to!” I growled angrily.

Gric shrunk back worriedly but said nothing.

Even though I didn’t know what the difference was between an Imperator and an Ogre Warchief, the all but confirmed meddling of the Labyrinth in what should have been my own decision was infuriating and deeply unsettling. “Status!” I barked hoarsely, wanting to get a handle on this new development as quickly as possible.

[Tim - Ogre Runt: 1 ] [HP: 40/40 ] [MP: 5/0(+5) ]

[Rulership Class: Ogre Warchief 0. +1 Willpower, +5 MP.] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

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

[Strength: 15*(16*) ]

[Agility: 8 ]

[Toughness: 20* ]

[Intelligence: 10 ]

[Willpower: 15* ]

[Presence: 3* ]

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

[(Class Ability: Eminence): Monsters slain by your minions within range of a Settlement Totem generate bonus EXP that may be awarded through {Quests}. {Willpower} increases the range of Effect. Stored EXP:(2200)]

[(Class Ability: War Cry {Rank 0}): Issue a bellowing roar to improve the combat capabilities of yourself and your minions by consuming MP. {Strength/Toughness} increases the effect.]

[(Class Ability: Inspiring Presence {Rank 0}): Your very presence bolsters the hearts and minds of your allies giving them resistance to negative Status {Conditions}. {Willpower/Presence} increases the range of effect.]

Taking a seat on the ground, I massaged my head and tried to focus on the positives. This wasn’t actually all that bad. Eminence almost seemed worth it. A pool of free EXP I could dole out to whoever needed it most. The thought of the good that could come of power levelled healers was enough to earn at least a wry smile on my lips. This wasn’t what I had expected, but I would make sure it did the most possible good. War Cry and Inspiring Presence would probably be very useful too, but they were certainly tied more to the name of the Class itself...

Gric smiled a little uncertainly, or at least in what approximated the expression, “Lord?” He growled somewhat meekly.

“Uh, yes?” I hadn’t expected Gric to have a request of his own.

“May-I-accept-my-Class-upgrade?” Gric asked with nervous excitement.

“Ah, I guess so? What is it?” I asked curiously, unsure how I felt about the Daemon requiring permission to advance their classes.

Gric grinned widely, “Daemon Lord, Lord,” he took special care to carefully pronounce every syllable.

I just stared blankly at Gric for a moment as my brain struggled to catch up with what I knew I just heard, “Did you say Daemon Lord?” I demanded a little faintly.

Gric nodded, “Yes, Lord.”

I gulped hard and felt my mouth turn dry. Surely the name was just a coincidence, right? There was no way that Gric or indeed the other Daemons were hellbent on global destruction or anything like that, right?! “Uh, Gric. What Does the Daemon Lord Class do exactly?” I asked warily, desperately holding back a wave of panic.

“It-is-a-leadership-role, Lord. Daemon Lord-inspires-Warband, generates-quests, summons-allies, and-challenges-champions,” Gric explained happily.

So it’s exactly what I thought it was...

Still, it didn’t mean Daemon Lord was an inherently evil Class. Objectively, it sounded very much like my new Class. At least Daemon Lord seemed to be oriented towards inspirational leadership rather than petty tyranny. That was actually something odd I had noticed about the Daemons themselves as well. Beyond the initial misconceptions based on their name and appearance, they were incredibly pleasant to be around. Even more than that, I hadn’t seen any of them commit a single unsolicited violent act.

“Gric?” I asked again to refocus his attention, “What would you do if I was not in charge?”

Gric looked confused for a few moments before seeming to come to grips with the question, “Gather-and-strengthen-Warband, and protect the Settlement Lord,” he replied bluntly.

It was just about what I had expected, but there was a problem with the answer I didn't think Gric was aware of, “Why though?”

Gric remained silent, apparently having no answer to offer.

“Gric, I want you to focus your efforts on supporting the Settlement so it can flourish, but what do you think I mean by that?” I asked pointedly.

Gric shifted nervously, “To-protect-the-Settlement-from-invaders, Lord,” he answered hesitantly.

I nodded slightly, “That’s part of it Gric. Keeping our people safe is important. But you need personal goals and aspirations of your own as well. I appreciate how selfless yourself, Qreet and Dar have been up until this point, but there is more to life than just fighting. Do you understand?”

Gric just looked confused.

I sighed and shook my head, “Gric, Hana told me that part of what a Daemon leader is expected to do is lead by example. You can be so much more than just a soldier. I already asked you to be a teacher. But before that, you took the initiative and taught the Serpent-Kin kids how to fish from the pond. You have the potential to be more than you are now, and if I were to support your choice in the Daemon Lord Class, I would want you to understand what that means.”

Gric seemed to slip into deep thought, hunching his shoulders so his elongated arms rested his thick knuckles on the ground to support his weight. He stood there for close to a half-hour in silence before blinking suddenly and turning his attention back to me again. “Lord?” Gric rumbled assertively.

“Yes?” I had more than a little bit of time to think on things myself and realised I probably could have handled it better. Breaking even at this point would be a win in my book, just so long as the Daemons didn’t decide to set themselves up as tyrants.

“I-want...to-lead,” Gric growled, “Protect-so-Settlement-can-grow-strong. Protect-Settlement’s-future, Gric’s-future.” The conflicting emotions on his face made it clear that the minor distinction was difficult for Gric and very likely ran contrary to the Labyrinth’s prime directives or programming.

Encouraging the Daemon to be selfish may seem like a stupid idea because it is, but I really couldn’t handle the near mindless level of obedience they held towards higher authority. This was for one singular reason, the Labyrinth was almost certainly a higher authority to the Daemons than I am. What was stopping it from sending a mass communication to suddenly start murdering people order sixty-six style? Hopefully, this would at least give the Daemons a choice, or give their victims a head start.

“If you want to be a Daemon Lord Gric, you have my blessing, but not my permission.” I patted Gric on the shoulder and began heading off towards Clarice’s training grounds. She was very likely quite annoyed by the loss of her buffs, so I figured that I might as well handle the inevitable fallout sooner rather than later.

As I expected, Clarice did not look happy.

“The hell did you do?!” Clarice demanded, giving me a rough shove.

“I unlocked a Rulership Class and decided to advance it,” I explained bluntly.

Still noticeably ticked off, Clarice sighed and shook her head, “You think maybe you could have provided a little warning?” She demanded, “I was in the middle of a sparring session and thought one of my students was holding out on me!” Clarice gingerly rubbed her left shoulder.

“CLARICE!!!” Nadine was storming over from the direction of the barrows and looked pissed.

Unsurprisingly, Clarice stood her ground.

“THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING BREAKING HIS ARM?!!” Nadine shrieked in Clarice’s face.

Clarice nodded her head at me, “It’s Tim’s fault!” She insisted dourly.

“What?!” Nadine dismissed the excuse out of hand, “Right, so Tim ‘ordered’ you to break that guy's arm in two different places?!” She demanded sarcastically.

Clarice rankled under the verbal tirade but still didn’t back down, “No. Tim changed Classes without telling anyone, so I thought Hresh was stronger than he actually was!” She replied firmly.

“What?!...” Nadine had lost her momentum and was foundering, “You changed Classes?” She asked, appearing more than a little surprised.

I nodded, “I did,” I replied, trying my best to not look guilty. In hindsight, I probably should have anticipated something like this. Clarice was more than a little out of control when it came to those synergy buffs.

“Oh...” Nadine pretty much immediately deflated.

“Yeah...” I agreed awkwardly.

“You still need to be more careful!” Nadine hissed angrily at Clarice, “You don't just break someone’s arm like that ‘by accident!’”

Clarice exaggeratedly threw her hands up in the air, “I thought he was way stronger!” She countered irritably, “You have no idea how much I have been holding back!” Clarice jabbed Nadine in the chest with her finger.

Nadine Flinched and was pushed back a step.

“Enough!” I demanded, relieved that the slavery bond was now gone and I didn’t have to worry about accidentally frying anyone’s brain.

Nadine and Clarice stiffened briefly and suddenly looked at me in confusion.

“The hell was that?” Clarice demanded.

“Inspiring Presence?” Nadine commented, squinting slightly, “A new buff?” She looked over at me with a curious and expectant expression.

I sighed and nodded, “Yes, it’s one of my new class abilities,” I explained, “It’s meant to remove negative Status Conditions, but I thought it was a passive effect since it doesn't cost any MP...”

Nadine looked surprised, “Really? Did you get any other abilities?”

I nodded and quickly explained the changes.

Clarice was laughing like a madman, “You know, I thought I had imagined the quest alert before!” She shook her head and grinned, “But this is way better than those synergies!” The deep manic hunger in Clarice’s eyes was unsettling.

Nadine was only slightly more reserved, practically twitching in excitement.

“Oi, so when are you going to give us some power levelling quests?!” Clarice demanded eagerly.

Nadine nodded in agreement.

“I’m not sure. The Quests don’t really work that way,” I tried to explain before either of them had the chance to interrupt, “I could use it to accelerate levelling, but not replace it outright. The quests have rules and automatically calculate what a suitable reward would be based on the difficulty. So I can’t just set a quest to kill one monster and have you gain a bunch of levels.”

Clarice deflated a little, “Damnit! Stupid Labyrinth!” She cursed.

Nadine looked more thoughtful, “So more enemies would mean a larger payout? And the same with more powerful enemies?” She asked with a strange glint in her eyes.

I frowned a little but nodded, “Difficulty determines the maximum reward, I agreed a little hesitantly.

“And that retinue thing you told us about, you can have twenty people in it plus your own party?” Nadine asked with a growing smile.

“Yes...” I agreed hesitantly, unsure I liked where this was going.

Clarice suddenly perked up, “Hey! What if we had a big brawl, the last one left standing earns the EXP?” She suggested eagerly while cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

Nadine nodded encouragingly, “Make a quest for the fighters, award them EXP for every opponent they manage to defeat and give the Surgeons a quest for healing injuries!”

I just stared blankly at the pair of them for a short while before massaging my temples. “We can’t have a battle royale tournament...” I groaned exasperatedly, “We don’t have the resources or the time to spend on this sort of thing right now. Besides, everyone is pretty much level one anyway so they wouldn’t get very much EXP even if they won.”

Nadine frowned slightly, “Right, I forgot about that. Hrm...”

Clarice looked disappointed and turned to Nadine as if she was her only hope.

“What about a hunting competition?” Nadine suggested, “It would give Clarice’s students a chance to earn some EXP while also bringing in more food and manastones. Injuries are pretty much inevitable and at least this way we get supplies out of it.”

“That...Is actually not a bad idea,” I agreed hesitantly. “We could start doling out manastones for everyone in the Settlement. The increased MP would make more leeway for the healers too.”

Clarice was rubbing her hands together so hard and fast that I wouldn’t be surprised if they caught fire, “YESSS!”

“Well, I should probably get ready to teach the surgeons,” I stated a little awkwardly, “If you really want to go through with this, you should probably speak with Ushu and Gric so they can coordinate it. They both have the Retinue function as well and you will want even the unclassed Serpent-Kin for support.”

Nadine and Clarice both nodded eagerly and ran off to find their unwitting prey.

Shaking my head, I sighed and headed off towards the garlic field. Just about all of the Serpent-Kin were now fully recovered, so I wanted to try and establish a more permanent treatment facility, and I would need the help of Hana and her apprentices to accomplish that.

As I had expected, Hana and her apprentices were hard at work in the garlic field. Well...the apprentices were working hard while Hana did her best to help them improve. Seeing me coming, Hana smiled a little awkwardly and waved.

I smiled and waved back. I felt just as awkward but kept my nerve by focusing on the reason for my visit. “Hi Hana, do you have a minute to talk? I wanted to expand one of the barrows and wanted your help.”

Hana brightened a little at that, “Okay, sure. What did you have in mind?” She waved dismissively to her apprentices and they took that as their cue to take a break.

“Basically, I want to make a hospital, a dedicated building for the sick and wounded to receive treatment and recover,” I explained.

Hana seemed unfamiliar with the word hospital but perked up as she heard the description, “Alright,” she agreed thoughtfully, “Did you just want the barrow made bigger or did you have something else in mind?” Hana asked curiously.

That was the question, wasn’t it? The barrows were actually pretty good so far as shelters go, but the lighting was a little lacking and airflow was a bit of a problem sometimes. “Would you be able to grow something similar if I could draw up a rough plan for it?” I asked, “The barrows are mostly fine, but there are some changes I would need to be made to make the hospital more effective.

Hana looked intrigued, “Sure,” she agreed happily.

“I’ll try to have something workable by sometime after midday then,” I agreed, “Thanks Hana,” I turned to leave and was surprised by Hana suddenly grabbing my hand.

“Wait!” Hana quickly let go of my hand and cleared her throat awkwardly, “I...um, nothing...” She hurried over to where her apprentices were relaxing and began animatedly directing them back to the field.

Feeling plenty awkward myself, I brusquely cleared my throat and headed off towards the barrow.

Around fifteen Serpent-Kin were engaged in light-hearted conversation when I arrived, all of them proudly bearing the twin scars on their chests as if they were badges of honour. Which I suppose was probably quite appropriate given the circumstances.

Organising the more ‘senior’ students to go through some of the more advanced subjects. I spent the next couple of hours sketching the rough outline of what I wanted onto one of my last pieces of paper. It actually gave me an idea related to teaching. So long as Hana was willing, she could probably make some large relatively flat surfaces to write and draw on with charcoal. It would be a decent approximation of a blackboard and could really help when teaching larger groups. That also reminded me that I hadn’t asked Hana to help out with the clothing shortage either. Hopefully her apprentices would make decent progress and be able to help share the load sometime soon.

As she agreed, Hana arrived a short time after midday. “You know, Nadine was right,” she took the piece of paper with my sketched designs and held it up to the light to take a better look.

I shrugged, my skills were pretty mediocre at best. Sketching covered a lot of the inherent flaws in my technique.

“Soooo, you mostly want it to be bigger?” Hana asked with a small smile.

“Well, mostly yeah,” I smirked a little bitterly. She was functionally correct. Most of my requested changes were to increase the size of the building.

Watching Hana work, I should have just assumed she would have no problem adding windows, sheltered skylights and even indoor plumbing. All I had to do was generally explain what it was that I wanted and Hana seemed to be able to figure out everything else on her own.

“I don’t suppose you would be able to weave some curtains?” I asked hopefully.

Partway through reconstructing the ceiling, Hana gave me a curious look, “I don’t know what that is,” she commented dryly before giving a small smirk and returning to her work on the ceiling.

“It’s...” I drew a mental blank for a moment as I tried to think of how to explain it, “Curtains are like cloth doors for the windows-”

“I don’t know what that is either!” Hana chuckled.

“...” I don’t know why I had assumed she would, “Wait, a window or a door?”

“Both,” Hana replied lightheartedly.

We spent the next couple of hours just chatting back and forth about mundane things I had honestly been taking for granted as common knowledge. I guess it was all relative really.

“Do you think you could draw something for me?” Hana asked a little nervously.

“I could try,” I agreed, more than happy to give Hana something in return for her help with the hospital building, “What do you want me to draw?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Hana smiled gratefully and got back to work, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes now that hadn’t been there earlier.

Before I had the chance to ask if everything was alright, Clarice and Nadine charged through the door like a wrecking crew.

“Everythings arranged!” Nadine cried triumphantly, “We think we even figured out a way to get more of a benefit!”

“Yeah!” Clarice agreed ecstatically.

“We just have to make it a team competition,” Nadine declared smugly, “Technically your competition would be every other group, making the challenge higher, resulting in more EXP!”

“So?!” Clarice pressed, “That will work right?!”

Thinking about it carefully, I had to grudgingly agree that they were onto something. Was I the weird one for not being excited about this plan?

“It should work,” I agreed with a sigh.

“YES!” Clarice pumped her fists, “My team is gonna win this easy!”

“What’s going on?” Hana asked, understandably confused.

“They are trying to power level using my new Class Ability,” I explained, shaking my head a little in exasperation.

“Oh...” Hana was quiet for a moment and then suddenly grew quite determined, “I’m going to compete too!” She insisted adamantly.

I should have seen that coming. Of course, Hana would be on board with power levelling...

“You can join my team!” Clarice insisted, “Tobi didn’t really want to join anyway.”

“Right!” Hana agreed seriously, shaping a spear from the wall t and taking hold of it with grim determination.

“Please tell me you haven't got Toofy involved in this,” I insisted.

Clarice and Nadine shared a brief but unmistakably guilty look with one another.

I frowned disapprovingly.

“Hey! It’s not like she is on our team!” Clarice whined defensively, “Filthy ingrate went and made her own team!”

That was only marginally better and actually made me even more worried than before. “Who is on Toofy’s team?” I asked while trying my best to remain calm.

“Just that boy Asra,” Nadine interjected, glaring balefully at Clarice, “I don’t think they are seriously considering joining in since it is just the two of them. Well, last I checked anyway.”

“Where is Toofy now?” I demanded while heading for the door.

“I think she is by the cooking fire with Ril!” Nadine called out after me but made no signs of following.

With a snort, I hustled over to the cooking fires to look for Toofy. I was REALLY uncomfortable with the idea of just her and Asra running around the swamp on their own. The giant toads were easily big enough to swallow her whole!

“Urk!” Asra had seen me coming and choked on what he had been eating.

“Tim!” Toofy jumped up excitedly and ran over to greet me, Ril trailing along on Toofy’s heels and wearing her spare tunic as a dress..

It was hard to stay mad at her when she was so happy to see me, “Hi Toofy,” I graciously accepted the skewer of roasted meat and was about to say something else when Toofy interrupted me.

“Hem!” Toofy Cleared her throat loudly and looked pointedly at Ril who was also holding up a skewer.

“Ah, thanks...Ril, “ I accepted the skewer and chose to ignore the fact that it only had a half-chewed piece of meat left on it.

“Good baby!” Toofy patted Ril’s head affectionately and then gave me a surreptitious glance.

Ril leaned into the petting and grinned happily.

Snorting a little in amusement, I transferred one of the skewers to my other hand and gave Toofy’s hair a light tousle. She was making an effort to socialise Ril, and that at the very least should be encouraged. Toofy had been doing a good job so far by the looks of it.

Ril looked about as healthy as I could tell without being invasive about it. She seemed to be growing roughly at the same rate as Gric had, but showed no signs of altering her form thus far. In a weird sort of way, she really did look like a younger version of Toofy, assuming you ignored the albinism and horns.

Noticing me staring, Ril stared back at me and smiled wide, revealing her mouthful of knife-like teeth, “Ril...Good!” She exclaimed, struggling a little as if trying to find the right words but smiling even wider when she finished.

I nodded and knelt down to bring us closer to eye level, “Then you deserve a reward,” I offered Ril the skewer Toofy had given me earlier.

“Heek!” Ril hopped excitedly and snatched the skewer, ripping and tearing into the roasted meat.

Toofy was still smiling but now jealously eyeing the remaining skewer from the corner of her eye.

“You can have this one, Toofy,” I handed her the remaining skewer.

Toofy grinned and graciously accepted the skewer before pulling off the final piece of meat and throwing it in her mouth.

Looking over at Asra, who had been attempting to very slowly back away, I fixed him with a determined stare and motioned for him to come to join us.

Asra gulped hard and timidly made his way over. “L-lord?” He stammered nervously.

“What is this I am hearing about Toofy and yourself joining in the hunting competition?” I asked sternly, making my stance on the issue painfully clear.

“Ahh...” Asra furtively glanced at Toofy, who had suspiciously grown quite still and was now avoiding eye contact with me. “Uhm...” Asra shifted uncomfortably, “L-lord I did not wa-OW!” He flinched back with a yelp as Toofy stomped hard on his foot.

“Toofy!” I called out reproachfully.

Toofy flinched and slowly looked back at me with a guilty nervous smile, “Oops?” She offered optimistically.

I shook my head, making it abundantly clear that I didn’t buy it, “Toofy, you can’t just hurt people when they do something you don’t like.”

“Hrmpf,” Toofy slouched her shoulders and scuffed at the ground with her feet.

“You need to set a good example for Ril,” I stressed, motioning to the little Daemon watching the transpiring events with wide-eyed wonder as she scarfed down the last of the meat.

Toofy stiffened and her eyes widened, “OH!” She gasped and held her hands over her mouth in horror.

Ril just sort of vacantly smiled as she followed the flow of the conversation.

“Toofy bad mama!” Toofy hissed angrily, stomping her feet and pulling her ears.

“Toofy no!” I quickly took hold of Toofy to stop her from hurting herself, “You shouldn’t do that either okay? Just tell Asra you’re sorry and don’t do it again, alright?”

Toofy slumped and nodded, “Kay,” she sniffled.

I let Toofy go.

Toofy turned to face Asra, “Toofy sorry Asra, Toofy no hurt Asra again,” she apologised quietly.

Asra gulped hard, “Ah, that’ss alright, I uh, I forgive yo-oof!”

Toofy had tackled Asra and wrapped him in a tight hug.

To my surprise, Asra didn’t panic like I expected him to. Instead, after overcoming the initial shock, he leaned into the embrace and hugged her back. It was actually a rather tender moment until Asra and I made eye contact, immediately causing him to panic, although I wasn’t really sure why until I noticed the embarrassed flush in his cheeks.

Oh no...This was going to be a problem.

“Asra why don’t you go help Gric for a little bit,” I suggested, “And, ah, Toofy I need to talk to you about some things...”

Why didn’t I get Nadine or Rose to do this days ago...

*****

Emelia double-checked the makeshift saddles for what felt like the hundredth time. Even though she didn’t have much experience with them, Emelia was still a little surprised that Tim had been able to put something like this together from the random supplies they had on hand.

“Everything good?” Tobi asked, giving her one of his shy smiles while blushing slightly.

Emelia snorted quietly and felt her own cheeks flush in response, “Stop it,” she hissed, “Do you want the others to know?” Emelia demanded playfully.

“I was just asking about the saddle!” Tobi insisted innocently, becoming flustered and blushing far more noticeably than before.

Emelia knew that, of course, but it was fun to tease him a little she knew he wouldn’t take it personally.

Calming down, Tobi moved in closer, “You sure you want to do this?” He asked, visibly concerned. “Just because Clarice asked you to, doesn’t mean you have to.”

Emelia nodded, “I want to get stronger too!” She insisted, “Besides, this is all my fault anyway...I owe them...”

“Hey!” Tobi Took hold of her shoulders, “We have talked about this, it...it wasn’t your fault Emelia. The manager twisted your arm, there was nothing you could have done-”

“I could have refused,” Emelia interrupted bluntly, feeling ashamed as she remembered how quickly she had submitted to the manager's demands.

“No, he would have enslaved you on the spot,” Tobi refuted, “Then made you do it anyway and gods know what else besides,” Emelia felt him shiver as he pulled her in for a hug.

Leaning into it, Emelia tried her best to let go. While she knew that she should bear some of the guilt over what had happened, Emelia appreciated Tobi’s advocacy on her behalf. No one had ever really taken her side before and she quite liked the piece of mind from knowing that he was there if she needed him.

“Save it for the bedroom!” Clarice cackled from somewhere nearby.

Emelia stiffened and glowered as she stared over at Clarice.

“Now now, there will be plenty of time for ‘wrestling’ after we win this competition,” Clarice grinned lasciviously as she made her way over to Thunder.

Tobi unexpectedly had not let go and was holding her tighter. “You shouldn’t talk to her like that,” he insisted.

“Hrm?” Clarice pretended not to notice, hopping up and into the saddle.

“I said, you shouldn’t treat Emelia like that,” Tobi repeated sternly.

Clarice sighed and shook her head, “Look, just because she treats you nice, doesn’t mean she likes you,” she drawled condescendingly.

“Tobi, it's fine,” Emelia insisted, “Let’s just focus on the competition.”

Tobi shook his head and gave her a pained look, “It isn’t fine. I can see that it bothers you-”

“You’re off the team by the way,” Clarice interrupted bluntly, “We have a heavy hitter joining instead,”

“Wh-what?” Tobi looked confused.

“I thought you’d be happy,” Clarice taunted, “Given I had to just about twist your arm to join in the first place.”

“W-what about Emelia?!” Tobi demanded protectively.

Emelia felt conflicted by the exchange. She was glad Tobi was standing up for her but was worried Clarice might take things too far. “It’s fine. We can just go hunting on our own tomorrow,” Emelia insisted quietly.

Tobi looked a little disappointed but nodded. “You know it’s not the EXP I'm worried about right?” he asked quietly with a small worried smile.

Emelia shyly smiled back and gave Tobi a quick peck on the cheek, “I know.” With Tobi’s help, she quickly mounted Beaky and gave Tobi one last smile before heading over to Clarice. ”I’ll see you later.”

Tobi nodded and waved while seeing her off, “Stay safe!” He called out, ignoring the laughter coming from Clarice up ahead.

Emelia wanted to reply, but Clarice was already plenty agitated and she didn’t want to make it worse. So she half-turned in the saddle and gave Tobi a determined nod instead.

*****

Organising the surgeons and roughly twice as many porters, I sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary. If there were, at least all of the aspiring surgeons would benefit. I had invited them all into my retinue as well as inviting Ushu’s apprentices and Ril to my party.

I had tried talking Toofy out of going, but somewhat surprisingly, it turned out Asra actually had a plan. The pair of them weren’t intending to fight at all. Asra was going to make the Daemons do it for them by summoning copies through his Pact Binder ability. Which made things make a bit more sense since Gric and the other Daemons were not participating.

Watching the Serpent-Kin adults rushing about and preparing sleds, I was early reminded of a scene from a movie where teams of ‘runners’ were preparing to charge into no mans land to deliver ammo. Once this competition started, the comparison wouldn’t be all that different. Even though the tribesmen were armed, they didn’t have classes and would be responsible for retrieving the bounty of resources generated throughout the competition. With all the blood in the air and spattered on the ground, I had no delusions in thinking that it would be ‘safe’.

Massaging my temple I tried to focus on all the good that would come of this competition. Regardless of who ‘wins’ everyone would be better prepared for the future. This Labyrinth was a violent place. I had all but made my peace with that now. I just couldn’t shake the feeling like something bad was going to happen. Something felt...wrong.

Standing at the gate to the Settlement, I stared out into the swamp and frowned. There were fewer monsters out there than there had been over the past couple of days, most likely a result of the hunting trips earlier that morning. However, something still felt off.

Moving forward, until I was standing just behind the edge of the barrier, I slowly scanned the horizon for any sign to justify my feeling of unease. Again, I came up empty. Everything looked...normal. Or what seemed to pass for normal anyway. I was about to turn around and head back through the gate, but then I saw it.

Standing out in the swamp was a familiar shadowy silhouette standing in the bog.

“Oh no...” I croaked, somehow, despite the distance locking eyes with the creature.

The Tailor grinned, revealing rows of needle-like teeth as it began stalking forwards.

Fuck...

Whatever The Tailor is I sincerely doubted the Settlement barrier would be able to keep it out.

A Swamp Lurker Lunged from the water dragged the unresisting form of The Tailor into the murky water.

I had seen more than enough horror movies to know where this was headed.

It was to my complete lack of surprise when the blood and mud-covered monster clawed its way out of the water, dragging the twitching carcass of the Swamp Lurker behind it.

What was it doing here? Was it after me? Jacque had said she settled the score already...

Thankful that I at least had a weapon on me this time, I waved back the Serpent-Kin that Ushu had assigned to guard duty. They had just noticed the unknowable horror lurching towards us and I did not want their deaths on my conscience.

“Maybe I can buy it off?” I muttered hoarsely, “Maybe it would accept some manastones and just leave us alone?” I hissed and gnawed at my lip. That was a bad idea, even assuming it accepted the deal, it would just keep coming back. Worse, it would be stronger every time it came back for more. No, I had to do something about this here and now.

Still dragging the corpse of the Swamp Lurker behind it, ‘The Tailor came to a shuddering halt a dozen or so feet away. “Hello...Tim,” it twitched and smiled wide, revealing its teeth again. The otherwise bedraggled and unassuming appearance of The Tailor began shifting into a form that haunted my nightmares. “I want to talk,” its voice changed, sounding like an old Slavic woman. “It’s okay, I won’t bite-” The Tailor lifted the Swamp Lurker by its neck and chomped through its head like it was an apple, discarding the rest of the Swamp Lurker’s body as it grinned and swallowed, “-I won't bite you,” The Tailor amended.

“What do you want?” I demanded hoarsely, clutching my spear so tight my hand hurt.

The Tailor grinned, “I just want to talk and perhaps make an offer?”

“What do you want?!” I repeated firmly, surprised I was standing my ground.

The Tailor frowned, “Interesting...” Its clawed hands twitched like dying spiders but the creature made no attempts to move closer. “No matter. Some young punk burned down my store!” The Tailor snarled, “You have something he wants!” The Tailor pointed accusingly at the Settlement behind me.

“You can’t have her!” I declared adamantly, levelling my spear with the creature's chest.

The Tailor hissed and snarled in annoyance, “I do not want HER!” The monster's voice had become a discordant chorus of a hundred different voices each out of time with one another, “I WANT HIM!” The Tailor pointed out into the swamp in what seemed like a random direction. “NOBODY TAKES WHAT IS MINE! NOBODY STEALS FROM KIKI!” The monster shuddered for a few moments before calming down again, “When that boy comes here for her, he is MINE!”

“Fine!” I agreed, “Just leave us the hell alone!”

The Tailor snarled, “No. That boy is coming here. I will not leave.”

“I can’t let you stay!” I insisted. This monster was way too dangerous to have around. The Adventurer’s Guild might be morally corrupt enough to accept a few missing people, but I’m not.

“I will do as I-” The Tailor suddenly stiffened suddenly.

“Lord,” Gric stalked out from the gate, Qreet, Dar and Ushu right behind him.

“Daemons!” The Tailor hissed angrily, “You consort with Daemons?!” It demanded furiously.

Gric growled and took a threatening stance, glaring balefully at The Tailor without a shred of fear. Following his lead, Qreet and Dar released deep rumbling growls and bared their teeth.

Ushu held aloft what looked like a giant snake fang dagger. Cloaking himself and the dagger in a thick fog of grey mana, Ushu thrust the dagger towards The Tailor like it was a holy cross and he was trying to repel a vampire. Surprisingly, it seemed to be working.

The Tailor shrieked and stumbled backwards, shielding its face with its long-fingered claws.

“I BANISH YOU!” Ushu hissed, thrusting the fang dagger forward again and directing the point towards The Tailor.

The Tailor fell to its knees and howled, shivering and shaking so violently that it seemed like the monster would tear itself apart. Then, all at once, The Tailor disappeared, leaving a rather plain and out of place middle-aged woman behind where the monster had been only moments before. The woman stiffly stood up, looked around, noticed me and smiled in a mechanical sort of way. “Hello,” The woman waved stiffly and began walking over.

“What did you do?” I asked Ushu incredulously. Somehow, he had managed to turn The Tailor into..well, the tailor.

“It wass an evil sspirit, Lord. I Banished it,” Ushu bowed but was still looking warily at the approaching woman. “That ssouless wass sserving ass itss vesssel, it iss very likely marked. We should desstroy it!” He insisted worriedly.

Gric nodded but looked conflicted. “We-cannot,” he hissed in agitation, “Destroying-a-vendor-will-bring-destruction.”

“From the Labyrinth?” I asked warily.

Gric nodded.

“Hello,” the woman repeated, now standing only a few feet away and staring at my face without actually making eye contact.

“Then how do we get rid of it?” I demanded, “I don’t want that thing showing up here again! Especially now that we just pissed it off!”

“Ssorry Lord,” Ushu’s expression was conflicted between relief and worry, “I thought you were in danger...”

I sighed in frustration and shook my head, “No, you did the right thing. That thing, that evil spirit? It’s dangerous and I don’t want it anywhere near my people.

“I can Ward it!” Ushu suggested eagerly, pointing at the woman. “The sspirit cannot posssesss what iss warded.”

“But what do we do with it?” I glanced worriedly at the woman who was still staring vacantly at me.

“Hello,” the woman repeated for the third time with precisely the same inflection.

Gric shrugged apologetically, “Lord-could-keep. Trade-for-supplies.”

“That...Isn’t the worst idea...Huh,” I took a few moments to think about it. “Don’t we need money, er, coins, to trade with it?”

Gric nodded.

“I guess we could always try and establish trade with some adventurers or something,” I sighed. “Alright, so, what do I do?”

Gric shrugged.

“Hello,” the woman repeated for the fourth time.

“Hi,” I replied exasperatedly.

“I need somewhere to work,” the woman commented brightly with the same vacant smile.

“I will find you somewhere to work,” I sighed resignedly. This was not the outcome I had expected, but considering how everyone was still alive, it could definitely have turned out worse.

The vendor just kept following me like a stalker. After talking it over, at length, with the others, Nadine suggested we store the vendor in its own barrow in the Grove. No one was particularly thrilled with the idea, but it made sense when Ushu confirmed that he could establish a permanent Ward thanks to the ambient mana level. So we imprisoned the vendor in its own private cell, not that it seemed to mind.

“This could be pretty handy,” Nadine commented, assuming you can trade with the foothold or some independent merchants.”

I was about to ask something but realised I had been overlooking a rather significant problem. “The Tailor claimed that psycho burned down her shop...”

Nadine’s expression changed from mild interest to shock, “Wait, what?”

“That’s the reason it came here. It said the same guy was coming here next for Hana. Or at least I assume that was who it meant...” I was pretty confident The Tailor had been talking about The Destroyer and Hana.

“Then that means...” Nadine’s face paled still further, “We need to find out if Rose, Kirk and Millie are alright!” She insisted, “They wouldn’t have come to the third floor at all if it weren’t for us!”

I winced and nodded in agreement.

Clarice looked worried but was also pretty annoyed, “I guess the competition is off then,” she grumbled.

Nadine gave Clarice a scathing look.

“What?!” Clarice demanded defensively, “I’m worried about them too! That’s why I assumed the competition was gonna be cancelled!”

“There hasn’t been a Raid Status alert or anything. Is it possible that the Foothold barrier is still active?” I asked hopefully.

Nadine threw her hands up in the air, “I don’t know!” She hissed angrily. “We need to make a rescue party and try to find them. If they were lucky, maybe they managed to escape through the portal. Or maybe they made it onto a boat and fled upriver?” Nadine grew more concerned, “But that psycho is running out there too...”

“Sso are the treacherouss Black-Maw!” Ushu hissed angrily.

“But what can we really do? A trip through the swamp would take days in and of itself, let alone trying to make it across the river. Also, how are we meant to find them?” I asked, not meaning to discourage anyone but I was overwhelmed by the scale of the endeavour and didn’t know where to start.

“We could have one the Shamans make a Ward to keep the monsters away, and the rafts Ushu’s people used to cross the river are probably still there,” Nadine suggested, “The Foothold is meant to be by the river, so it would be relatively easy to look for them by travelling up and down the river. Besides, maybe they managed to get away on a boat and have been hiding out on the river.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, “But who would go? The more people we send, the more difficult it would be to travel through the swamp.”

“Hey!” Clarice cried out excitedly, “You could make this a quest!” She slapped her hands and rubbed them together greedily, “I mean this kinda sounds like a suicide mission, what with that psycho running around and all. So the difficulty level must be insane!” Clarice seemed completely out of sync with her choice of words and more than a little ecstatic at the prospect of rushing into extreme danger, “Just think of how much EXP it would be worth!”

Nadine just shook her head incredulously. “Well, I am definitely going. Someone needs to be responsible.”

Clarice shrugged, apparently not put out by the implication, “Well I'm definitely going,” she didn’t seem to think she needed a justification for it, which only made Nadien more annoyed.

“Ushu is the most powerful Shaman we have,” I suggested, “Would you be willing to go?” I asked Ushu.

Seemingly content to be a bystander in the discussion until called upon, Ushu was a little flustered. “If my Lord willss it,” he replied nervously.

“We will go too,” Emelia insisted, volunteering herself and Tobi.

Tobi was a little surprised but nodded in agreement.

And that made five. Looking at the way they were already grouping together and starting to talk about preparations for the trip, I realised that I was being left behind. “Just help yourselves to anything you need,” I encouraged them and then left them to their planning.

“Are you alright?” Hana asked a little awkwardly after catching up to me.

I shrugged and shook my head with a soft snort, “I honestly don’t know,” I admitted, “I know they are heading into danger, but a part of me is disappointed at being left behind.”

Hana nodded but said nothing.

“I guess I am just worried about them. The swamp is no joke and I honestly doubt the river and just about anywhere on this floor of Labyrinth is much better.” I felt like things were spiralling out of control, which was crazy considering how I had been just about ready to give the go ahead on some insane monster cull competition less than an hour ago. “I guess I am just worried that something will happen to them,” I explained dourly.

Hana nodded again but was giving me a strange look, “Why don’t you hate them?” she asked bluntly. “They enslaved you and made you serve them against your will. So, why?”

I was quiet for a while as I remembered the events before and after my arrival in the Labyrinth. “I have had some time to think about it, and honestly, the more I learn about the Labyrinth, the more convinced I am that they saved my life. They weren’t exaggerating when they pointed out my hang-ups involving violence. If a pack of Orcs had found me first, I would have been dead or gone crazy.”

Glancing at me dubiously, Hana elected to stay silent.

“You don’t believe me?” I guessed.

“Well...” Hana shrugged apologetically and determinedly kept her eyes fixed ahead of us. “Mother...She told us once, that when she first arrived in the Labyrinth, a group of humans attacked her. She tried begging them to just let her go, but they refused, even laughed at her.” Hana’s eyes lowered slightly and she shrugged, “So Mother killed them and that was the end of it.”

“I couldn’t do something like that,” I shook my head and tried to ignore the minor slip I had made.

Judging by the look in Hana’s eyes, I could tell she had noticed, “Couldn’t, not can’t?”

I let out a deep sigh and stopped walking, “I have people I want to protect. People who depend on me, Even though I don’t want to...I would kill to keep them safe from those who mean them harm.” It was a testament to the Labyrinth’s conditioning. Death was everywhere and I couldn’t just shift the responsibility to others anymore.

I am a civilised man living in uncivilised lands. But worse than that, there was precious little I could do about it. The best I could do is establish a sanctuary and hope that I would be strong enough to hold it together.

No.

I was going to have to work for it. No more sitting back and waiting. If I just kept reacting, then I was doomed to failure. I had to be more proactive. I needed to become stronger so I could support my ideals with strength and conviction, not just words and sentiment. If I wanted to keep the people I cared for safe, I was going to have to get my hands bloody.

As if on cue, a crimson Status Alert popped up in front of my eyes.

[Conditions for identifying {Key of Awakening (???)} have been met.]

[{Key of Awakening (???)} Quest Available. Accept? (Y/N).]

“Accept,” I barely hesitated. It was time to begin taking control of my life.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Active}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: Kill 1000 monsters within 10 Days. {Success} will earn a reward appropriate to your effort and unlock the next stage of the quest. {Failure} will terminate the quest and destroy {Key of Awakening (???). Good luck!]

Reading through the Quest, I was surprised to see that there was no timer like last time. Similarly, there was no automatic death upon failing the quest either. A thousand monsters seemed like a lot, but it hadn’t required that I kill them all myself either. It also hadn’t required a baseline of strength for the monsters.

“What is going on?” Hana asked warily.

“I just accepted a quest,” I explained while forming the plan in my mind. Effort could mean a number of things. The difficulty of the monsters, how much I contributed personally, or even how quickly the quest was completed. There would be other interpretations as well, so I decided that getting to the next step of the quest sooner was an acceptable idea anyway, since the reward was unspecified.

“Issue limited quest. Kill one-thousand wild monsters. Exp reward goes to the top five contributors.” I didn’t exactly know why, but I felt like this was the way the quest was meant to be done.

It only took a few minutes for the others to find me and begin asking questions. So I explained the situation to them as best I could. Within the hour, the competition was back on and I could see solid progress being made on both the quest I had issued and the quest I had accepted. However, I still felt like it would be a good idea to make sure I earned at least some of the kills myself, so after adding Hana, since the expeditionary group was gunning for the reward collectively, I left the Settlement and headed into the swamp.

Even though there were only about twenty to thirty participants, Asra and Toofy’s strategy had turned the surrounding swampland into a warzone. There were seven different copies of Gric barrelling around the area and recklessly throwing themselves into brutal confrontations with wild monsters. Even though they were certainly weaker than the original, Gric’s copies were ruthless and supported by a veritable swarm of the still child-sized Daemonlings.

Watching Asra throw manastones and use them to summon copies of the Daemons from the Settlement, I was reminded of a show I had watched as a kid and wondered if perhaps I had chosen the wrong class...

Each time a Daemon was killed, which was already proving rare, they would return bigger and stronger than before. Almost all of the Daemons had modelled themselves largely upon the three body types of Gric, Qreet and Dar, favouring natural weapons and powerful muscles to see them through a fight.

Clarice’s students were getting stuck in as well, although they each seemed to have very different ideas on how to rack up their kill count the fastest. Some of them were fishing, while others were lingering at the periphery of the Daemon killing fields, swatting Scourges that were drawn in by the smell of blood.

The expeditionary group themselves were in direct competition with Asra and Toofy’s horde of summoned Daemons and didn’t seem to be making much progress. I wasn’t having much better luck either. Just about every predator in the region was being drawn towards the Daemons. So the best I could manage was attempting to intercept them, which was having middling levels of success.

*Shunk*

I drove my spear into the side of the croc and retreated before it had the chance to whip its head around and take a chomp in retaliation. Bleeding freely, it would quickly weaken if I drew the fight out. However, I was already struggling to find opponents as is and drawing the fight out would probably make it worse. Besides, maneuvering around on this terrain was dangerous, better to just end it quickly.

Attempting a feint to my right, the croc was not fooled for a moment and barrelled straight for my legs. With no real alternatives, I stepped back and very nearly tripped as my left foot suddenly sank shin-deep into the mud. Thrown off-balance, I barely managed to stab the croc’s left foreleg and stall its advance.

Experimentally trying to just tug my foot free, I quickly realised that it was going to take considerably more effort and both my arms to provide the necessary leverage. Stabbing at the croc to buy some more time to think, I was less fortunate this time and only managed to score some of its scales as it rushed me again.

Out of sheer desperation, I threw myself sideways.

*Clomp*

The croc’s jaws popped shut around where my leg had been trapped a moment earlier. However, just because it missed didn’t mean it would just stop the attack.

*Crack*

Kicking the croc in the head with my heel as I tried to scramble away, I felt a section of bone give way and the croc’s head snapped sideways painfully.

Still alive the croc groggily followed after me to try and take another bite.

Trying with the spear again, I caught the croc in the side again, only this time, I decided the just try and hold it there rather than retracting the spear.

With little thought for self-preservation, the croc kept trying to push forward towards me, but it only managed to bury the head of the spear deeper into its internal organs.

Eventually, the Swamp Lurker died from internal bleeding. It was only my third kill, so the sorry state it left me in was kind of pathetic. Gingerly testing my ankle to make sure I hadn’t sprained it, I was relieved to find that I had only pinched a nerve.

The retrieval teams were a decent distance away, so I decided to bring the body in myself. Given how terrifyingly filthy I was already, I committed to carrying it back over my shoulder. At the very least, it would seem more impressive than just dragging it back. It may also confuse the reason for my being so filthy in the first place.

After this quest is completed, I am going to spend some serious time practising how to fight. However, with Clarice gone, I would need to be creative.

Dropping off the carcass, I decided against washing up just yet, I was likely to get dirty again, so there wouldn’t be much point. Heading back out into the swamp, I was surprised to see Emelia racing back and heading straight for me. In order to find more monsters, the expeditionary group had pushed deeper into the swamp, so Emelia’s sudden return did not bode well.

“We found more refugees!” Emelia called out and motioned back in the direction she had come from, “There are too many monsters and we can’t break through!”

Rushing over to meet Emelia halfway, I needed more information, “How far away are they? And how many monsters are there?”

Emelia looked quite pale and more than a little scared. “Not too far, Nadine thinks that they were trying to make it to the Settlement like Ushu’s people, but they don’t seem to have a Shaman and there aren’t many of them left. There are just so many monsters...” She was shaking so hard her teeth were nearly chattering.

It was time to be decisive. “Issue quest. Rescue the refugees. Reward priority based on distribution.” That should give some early warning and let everyone generally know what was going on. “Emelia, go let the porters and Surgeons know that we will be heading out and to meet me at the gate.”

Emelia nodded and hurried away.

“EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!” I roared, “THE COMPETITION IS CANCELLED! RETURN TO THE GATE!”

Of course, it wasn’t nearly so simple in practice. While Asra and Toofy were both able to rather quickly retreat to the gate, the horde of Daemons was in the middle of a pitched engagement of their own and couldn’t just suddenly cut and run. Clarice’s students had it much easier and were able to end their own activities in short order.

Gric, the original, had made his own way to the gate, despite appearing somewhat lethargic. “I-will-fight, Lord,” he insisted stubbornly.

Seeing this a positive step in his development, I nodded. Gric’s Daemon Lord Class would be an important asset, assuming he had taken the Class.

Hana was standing by the gate as well, but it didn’t seem like she planned on joining us. “I can’t,” she said regretfully, “But I will do what I can to make the return trip easier,” Hana insisted, promptly cloaking herself in emerald mana walking towards the edge of the barrier. In a similar fashion to how she terraformed the Settlement, Hana began transforming the nearby swampland. The nearby bogs began to empty one by one.

Gric took control over Asra and Toofy’s party and quickly formed a retinue from half of Clarice’s students, inviting all but two of them into the party itself.

Following his lead, I invited the remaining pair into my party and quickly assigned them to protective duties with the Surgeons and Porters for our travel through open swampland.

With what remained of Asra’s force of Daemons to serve as Vanguard, we hurried off into the swamp.

As I had somewhat expected, we met minimal resistance and quickly saw the reason as to why.

In stark contrast to when we had found the Bleak-fang encampment, these refugees were in the grips of a desperate battle for survival. Unlike the Bleak-Fang, they appeared to have actual warriors and equipment, but the fighting was brutal. Like Emelia had said, there couldn’t be more than fifty refugees, and they were being assaulted on all sides by a ragged tide of monsters.

“**** **!!!” A tall broad-shouldered woman in primitive plate armour raised a bloodied battle-axe high and roared something unintelligible. Judging by the effect it had on the surrounding warriors, it had to be a call to battle of some kind. Maybe an attempt to raise faltering morale.

I could see Clarice, Nadine, Tobi and Ushu desperately trying to hold their own up ahead of us. If it weren't for the lack of monsters coming from our direction and the feckless loyalty of the carnivorous fish in the water, their stand would have been impossible.

“Fighters stick close to your charges! Porters and Surgeons prepare to receive the wounded!” I called out and began rushing forwards along the winding path, the column of our motley band following close behind.

The Gric’s copies readily overtook me, roaring in challenge as they barrelled headfirst into the closest monsters assaulting the expeditionary force’s position.

Rushing past them and towards the refugees, I gored a giant toad with my spear and flung the wounded monster off and into a nearby body of water. “CHARGE!!!” I bellowed and to my surprise felt a sudden flood of energy coursing through my veins.

A large Swamp Lurker launched itself from the water to my left, but I wasn’t the least concerned.

*Crunch*

[You have slain {Swamp Lurker: 5 } +1500 Exp]

My left fist collided with the side of its head and sent the Swamp Lurker flying back into the water. I barely even felt the impact and was even more surprised to see the death notification filter through my lower peripheral vision. A quick glance at the group status showed me why.

[Tim - HP: 20/20 - Fearless, Indomitable, Battlelust, ]

It suddenly clicked, I must have used my new Class Ability, War Cry. However, I hadn’t used it intentionally...Was the ability just meant to activate on its own? Or was it because of something I did?

I didn’t really have time to think about it though, there were plenty more wild monsters ahead of me before I would make it to the refugees’ defensive line.

For their part, the refugees had very likely been aware of our expeditionary force but now seemed to be fighting with renewed vigour as they saw us fighting to clear a path for them to escape. They were already in the process of reforming their lines, the large warrior woman throwing herself into the fray and contrasting just how much taller she was than the other warriors, easily a whole afoot or more at the least.

“FIGHT!” Gric growled, “FIGHT!!”

The swarm of Daemons worked themselves into a frenzy and began launching themselves at every monster in sight. Many of them were no larger than children, but they seemed near impervious to harm. I even saw one ‘unlucky’ Daemon get swallowed whole by a giant toad, only to rip itself free from the toad’s belly a few seconds later. Interestingly enough, Gric’s copies seemed to be similarly affected and were leading the charge.

Charging through the throngs of Daemons, I was soon on the front line again, only there were no more monsters between myself and the refugees. Quickly moving over to their lines, I was grateful when they allowed me to pass through. Heading straight for the amazon warrior that I assumed would be the one in charge, I tried to picture gathering mana into my right hand like I had seen Ushu, Gric and Hana do when recruiting people to the Settlement.

A vibrant violet light glimmered into being around my hand.

The amazon warrior promptly disengaged from her own melee and rushed towards me. Unable to see her face because of her helmet, I could still tell that she was incredibly worried but meant me no harm. For now.

I offered my hand as if I were offering her a handshake.

The amazon warrior was already carrying her axe in her left hand, so she reached forward and clasped my forearm. She nearly let go and gripped my arm tighter as she stiffened in surprise. “**** ** ****?” The amazon warrior asked, her gruff words nothing more than unintelligible gibberish.

Resting my spear against my shoulder, I then motioned to my mouth and ears with my hand, “So we can communicate,” I repeated the motions and then finished it by pointing to our clasped arms.

The amazon warrior nodded in understanding, “******.”

[Settlement Alert {Tim’s Settlement}: {Lash - Deep Orc} was recruited by {Lord Tim} as a minion.]

Deep Orc? I was a little thankful for the helmet now. It probably wouldn’t have made a great first impression if recoiled in disgust. Then again, she hadn’t recoiled either, so props to her self control.

“You are here to save us?” Lash asked intensely, gripping my arm even tighter.

I nodded, forcing those other thoughts to back, where they belonged. “Yes. My Settlement is only a little farther back the way I have come. You will be safe from wild monster attacks there.

Lash nodded and released my forearm, “LISTEN UP! EVERYONE HEAR ME!” She bellowed like an army sergeant, “OUR DELIVERANCE IS AT HAND!”

There was a ragged cheer from the ragged band of refugees in spite of the fighting.

“SEE THE WOUNDED AND CACHE OF EGGS THROUGH UNDER HEAVY GUARD! FIGHT HARD AND WE WILL SURVIVE THE NEXT GLOAMING!” Lash roared, brandishing her axe and directing it towards the furious pitched melee of the Daemons desperately holding back the wild monsters. The sled with porters and surgeons had broken through and was shepherded through the front rank of warriors.

“Patch jobs only!” I called out to the Surgeons, “We can worry about being pretty when everyone is in the safety of the Settlement!”

The surgeons nodded in acknowledgement and were pulling out bandages, clumps of moss and lengths of cord.

“You have healers?!” Lash exclaimed incredulously as she witnessed the first flash of golden light healing one of her warriors.

“I do,” I agreed, “You mentioned eggs?” I pressed. I was aware of how important they were and was already rather worried by the absence of children in their group.

Lash nodded vigorously and motioned to four burly warriors almost as large as she was. They were pushing and dragging a metal banded sled of their own. They were flanked by six more warriors in heavy armour. “All that remains of our clan,” she commented, her voice quavering slightly.

How much devastation was that psycho responsible for?

“Then we need to make sure it makes it back safely,” I insisted. I pointed over the heads of the warriors and towards Nadine and the others, “My minions over there. They are my elite and will make sure the egg cache makes it back in one piece. Just tell them I said so.” It was technically true. With the exception of Gric, I suppose, but he was needed here.

Lash dipped her helmet roughly and ran off towards the sled.

“I have mana for ssixs more!” One of the surgeons called out loudly.

“Eight!” Called back another.

“Two!” Called back yet another, “Heading out with the sled!”

Hearing them communicating with one another despite the chaos, I was genuinely impressed by how well they were holding up under the pressure. If I could award medals for this sort of thing, I totally would.

The Deep Orc warrior lines were rapidly tightening up and readying to pull out entirely. It was amazing how disciplined they were. Even though they didn’t have shields, the warriors would bodily block errant monsters like American linebackers to stop them from breaking through the lines and running amok.

“WE ARE PULLING OUT!” Lash roared, “PREPARE FOR RETREAT!”

“OOH!” The warriors roared back as one, battered but still unbroken.

That reminded me that I should be helping more to make sure as many people make it out of this as possible. “SANCTUARY AWAITS!” I bellowed, feeling the familiar rush crashing through my system.

Judging by the sudden spike in their performance, the Deep Orc warriors clearly recognised me as an ally, much to my relief.

“Time to get stuck in!” I grunted and made my way over to the slowly withdrawing backline. The warriors made room for me and seemed startled to see me, likely having expected someone quite different. Well, compared to them I looked very strange I suppose.

Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I began stabbing and bashing at the monsters attacking the rear defensive line. To my immense relief, my skin proved too tough for the venomous water snakes to pierce. It was a good thing too because I was focusing most of my violent attentions on the large crocs and giant toads. The mud dolls were barely a threat and I had yet to see one manage to successfully hit anyone with enough force to inflict an injury.

“FIGHT!” Gric bellowed, and a few seconds later a trio of his doppelgangers joined the rear guard and then began pushing through into the enemy lines. Shortly after that, a small swarm of adult-sized Daemons rushed to join them. “Lord!” Gric called from nearby.

Looking back, I could see it was just Gric, myself and what remained of the rearguard, which was only a small handful of warriors. Everyone else has left. “Got it!” I called back, “RETREAT!” I roared, spending another point of MP to give the warriors a buff.

We hurriedly disengaged, turned and ran, Gric and I taking the rear. Having fought through seemingly endless waves of monsters like this during the mandatory quest, I knew that the Daemon doppelgangers wouldn’t hold for long on their own. We had already been fighting for a half hour or more, and without fresh reinforcements, they would be worn down by attrition tactics. All the more so since the Daemons used natural weapons, such as their claws and teeth.

True to her word, Hana, with the help of her Druid’s had made rather drastic changes to the Settlement’s approach, making it much easier to move at a higher speed the closer you came to the settlement itself.

Much to my relief, it looked like everyone else had managed to make it back. Better yet, the porters and a couple of the Surgeons were assessing latecomers and directing them to the mostly renovated hospital. Serpent-Kin were distributing food and clean water, helping those in relatively healthy condition towards the fountain or the cooking fires. Most of the warriors were leaning heavily on one another or on their accommodating guides. They seemed just about dead on their feet.

Spotting Lash amidst the bustling throng, I began making my way over. While I knew I wouldn't like what I would hear, I needed answers. Seeing her remove her helmet, I slowed somewhat to make sure I wouldn’t freak out and cause an incident.

Huh?

Lash looked pretty much nothing like the Orcs I had seen on the first floor. She had incredibly pale green skin and short shock white hair. Lash also had what was a mostly flat nose, exposing her nostrils, but she had pointed ears like Toofy, only larger. Yet the most striking thing was her eyes. Lash’s iris’s were a bright amethyst and shimmered like jewels in the last of the evening light filtering over the briar wall.

With my mouth and throat suddenly feeling quite dry, I felt quite flustered. Realising Lash had seen me staring and was now making her way over, I started to panic. Trying to dry my sweaty palms against my pants, I nearly freaked out as my hands came away muddy and bloody. and I remembered how filthy my clothes were.

Lash stopped a few paces away and I noticed that she was also at least a few inches taller than I am. Lash held out her right hand expectantly.

Unable to think clearly, I reached out and shook her hand.

FUCK!

Lash looked surprised but didn’t seem to mind. “My thanks for saving my people,” She bowed her head.

“d-HRM,” my voice came out pitchy, so I quickly cleared my throat, “Don’t worry about it,” I let go of her hand and tried to wave it off nonchalantly.

Lash gave me a curious look but nodded slightly, “All the same, we will strive to repay this debt.” She bowed roughly and began making her way back over to the egg cache.

“Ah! I mean, ah, I have some questions, if you don’t mind?” I asked awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that my back was now sweating like crazy.

“Of course,” Lash walked back over again, “What do you wish to know?”

I gulped hard and was confused as to why my mouth was now practically overflowing with drool, even though my mouth had been bone dry moments earlier. “Ah, where did you come from? Why were you coming here?”

Lash slowly exhaled and avoided eye contact for a few moments before clenching her statuesque jaw and staring me in the eye again, “We come from caverns below,” Lash pointed to the ground, “Exiled from Clan. We would not serve Bright Lord. Hekara, Shaman, sensed mana-well, promised a new home...” her expression turned dour, “Dark spirit ambushed Hekara, killed many. We escaped, but no Shaman to confuse soulless.”

“Dark spirit?” I asked, “Long spindly arms and claws, pitch-black eyes?”

Lash stiffened before getting a grip on herself and nodding with a concerned look on her face, “Yes, this dark spirit stalks the swamp?” She asked worriedly.

“Not anymore,” I pointed over at Ushu, who was making the rounds inviting Lash’s warriors to the Settlement, “Ushu banished it. We have contained its vessel and Warded it in a prison to stop the dark spirit from coming back.”

Lash seemed conflicted. Visibly relieved, she also seemed burdened by grief and anger. Understandable, we had only imprisoned the vessel, the dark spirit was still running around out there somewhere.

“I...I didn’t see any children amongst the survivors...did...did the spirit?...” I couldn’t bring myself to say it, the thought was so repugnant that my mouth refused to form the words.

“No,” Lash shook her head and looked somewhat relieved, “We brought no children, only eggs made in exile.”

That was a relief. Small miracles and all that. But there was something else Lash had mentioned that bothered me. “Who or what is the Bright Lord?” I asked curiously.

Lash frowned and wrinkled her brow in anger, “Another dark spirit!” She spat on the ground, “Cruel and evil, he burns those who do not serve. But those who serve are slaves or worse,” Lash spat on the ground again.

“So your old clan serves the Bright Lord?” I did not like the sound of this latest development. Especially since the Bright Lord may very well be The Destroyer operating under a different alias.

Lash nodded, “Hekara led us into exile. We left while others slept. Collapsed tunnels so they can't follow.”

Well, at least that's something. Even though that pretty much guaranteed that we had another enemy out there somewhere, at least they didn’t know where Lash and her people were. Sort of. While the mana-well effect created by the Grove was useful as a beacon for refugees, it was doubtless functioning the same for anyone else with darker motives too. Maybe Ushu could think of something to help with that?

“I need rest,” Lash stated, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry! Don’t let me keep you,” I replied awkwardly.

Letting Lash go, I fought the impulse to check out her ass.

The hell is wrong with me today?!

The heavy hide and plated metal armour left almost everything to the imagination anyway, so what the hell? Shaking my head, I saw the quest completion status alert hovering in my peripheral vision. It had not taken long to unlock it at all. I had gained two levels as well, earning another point of Strength and Toughness.

There was a small chance the next phase of the quest would be time-sensitive, so I decided to wait until tomorrow morning to complete the first stage and collect the reward.

That did remind me of an idea I had during the rescue mission. The Settlement needed a real name, and I think I had come up with something pretty appropriate. Sanctuary. It was perhaps a little on the nose, but weren't most town and city names from Earth? They were either named after someone, the things the town was known for, or a combination of both. “Change Settlement name to Sanctuary. I declared firmly. Like most of the Settlement functions, it was ninety percent intent.

[Tim’s Settlement has been renamed Sanctuary by order of Lord Tim. ]

Suddenly everyone grew quiet and began looking in my direction.

Right...I should have figured that would have an announcement.

Silently making my way through the crowds, I headed for the Grove so I could wash myself and my clothes.

Stripped down to my boxers and just about to hop into the water, I was interrupted by someone stepping out from the shadows.

“Sanctuary huh?” Hana asked goodnaturedly, “I like it.”

“Me too,” I agreed, “It might be a bit on the nose, but I think it sends the right message, you know?”

Hana nodded with a small smile, “I do Tim. But I’ll leave you to your bath, things to do, Barrows to grow. Busy busy busy.”

“Bye Hana,” I called out after her as I slipped into the water. It was pretty damn cold, but at least it was clean. Tearing off some of the dawnmoss growing on the outside of the fountain, I used it to both scrub off the filth as well as lather up my skin by squeezing out some of the sap.

Draping my tunic and pants over the tree to air dry, I trudged upstairs and all but collapsed on my bed and pretty much fell asleep immediately.

Waking up relatively late for once, the sun was actually out when I started walking downstairs. Retrieving my pants and tunic from the fountain tree, they were still a little damp, but they shouldn’t take too long to dry out from my body heat, so I pulled them on and began meandering over to the cookfires.

Hana had been incredibly busy indeed. There were MANY more barrows than there had been yesterday. Which I suppose made sense. With pretty much all of the Daemons now adult-sized, and fifty or so Deep Orc refugees in need of housing, there actually may not be enough barrows even now.

Unsurprisingly, Toofy, Asra and Ril were sitting near one of the cookfires and chatting animatedly. Well, Toofy and Asra were, Ril was just eating and staring at whoever happened to be talking.

“-got sso many levelss! Underlord Gric even ssayss I unlocked another ability!” Asra declared excitedly, “We make ssuch a good team!”

Toofy grinned and nodded, “Toofy tell Asra,” she flashed Asra a wider smile.

Asra blushed but nodded, “You did," he agreed somewhat quietly.

“You both did really well,” I agreed, smirking a little as Asra very nearly leapt out of his skin. They had been so involved in their conversation that they hadn’t seen me walking up behind them.

“Tim!” Toofy leapt up and jumped at me for a hug.

Effortlessly catching her, I gave Toofy a very light squeeze, remembering that she no longer had my synergies. Feeling a tug on my pant leg, I looked down and saw Ril reaching up with both arms expectantly.

“Ril...Up!” Ril smiled broadly, revealing her teeth.

Unsure whether that was intended to be cute or threatening, I decided that it didn’t really matter either way and scooped her up for a hug too.

Ril grinned, “Hehehe,” she looked happily at Toofy and then looked around the area from her new vantage point.

Ril had done some growing and would probably be close to Toofy’s own height soon. It was a little surprising that she wasn’t as large as the other Daemons. She was obviously eating enough, but perhaps it had something to do with her not ‘adapting’ like the others were. Ril’s appearance had not changed much since she had hatched, other than looking slightly more like Toofy. Which was a little weird. Somehow, Ril looked more plausibly passable as Toofy’s daughter each time I saw her.

“Toofy?” I asked warily, intending to get to the bottom of this.

“Yeah?” Toofy replied happily.

“I think you have been doing an amazing job looking after Ril,” I let Toofy have her moment of self-indulgent pride before moving on, “What have you been feeding her?”

Toofy grinned and wriggled excitedly, “Toofy feed Ril Meat and Toofy milk.”

“W-what?!” I felt like I nearly had a heart attack.

Toofy gave me a patronizing look and shook her head, “Toofy milk,” she repeated raising her right index finger to her mouth, breaking the skin with her teeth and offering her now bleeding finger to Ril.

Ril greedily grabbed Toofy’s hand and latched onto her bleeding finger like a leech.

Apparently seeing nothing wrong with what she was doing, Toofy gave me a very condescending look and shook her head disappointedly.

I had no words...It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but was also somehow worse and explained everything...It was only natural That Ril wasn’t growing as large as the other Daemons if she was actively modelling herself after Toofy. It was also why she looked more like Toofy every time I saw her...

“Toofy...” I couldn’t find the right words to make her stop, my brain was in free fall.

“What?” Toofy demanded suspiciously.

I caved, “It’s blood, not milk...Milk comes out somewhere else. Ask Nadine.”

“Ohhhh,” Toofy nodded sagely and then shrugged. “Just Toofy blood. Why Tim mad?”

“It’s just a little weird,” I admitted and happened to notice Asra slowly slinking away, “Toofy?”

“Yeah?” Toofy asked while combing her free hand through Ril’s hair.

“If Asra tells you to put something of his in your mouth, bite it,” I told her, “Hard!”

“Kay! Toofy do!” Toofy grinned, revealing her razor-sharp teeth.

Asra paled.

*****

Waking up in an unfamiliar place, Lash sprang up and into a crouch, her eyes exposing every nook and cranny of the barrow. Used to functioning with almost no light, Lash was nearly blinded by the light streaming into the barrow from the entrance on the far side. She had opted to rest in the same place they had stored the egg cache and their most elite warriors. Not only had that meant that she would be protected from treachery while she slept, Lash would also be able to help defend the eggs if needs be.

However, judging by the relaxed state of the guards, Lash had to conclude that no such treachery had taken place.

“Underlord Ushu says cookfires for food if hungry,” Roch, one of the elite warriors on watch commented and pointed to the skewered meat being eaten by another guard.

Lash nodded and began donning her armour. Armour was a Deep Orc’s second skin and those who ventured out of dwellings without it often died shortly after. Which reminded Lash of the Settlement leader. He had charged into battle without a single scrap of iron and walked away unscathed, not even scratched. There had been warriors claiming to have seen him kill the soulless with his bare hands!

Donning her helmet, Lash decided to leave her axe behind. It would send the wrong message, besides, she still had knives in her belt anyway.

Suitably shielded from the near blinding light of the surface by her helmet, Lash left the barrow and took a moment to take in her surroundings. This place was so strange. There were plants everywhere, but few of them were edible. Lash understood that the outer wall of strong and sharp plants was for defence. So it made sense to be inedible. The same was true of the roots that formed the barrows. However, the lichen carpeting the ground was not just inedible, it was toxic! And they had grown it just about everywhere they could!

Then there were the tall plants growing from the roots. Lash had never known that there was more of a plant above the roots until she came to the surface. The plant was so strange, it grew from the roots, thickened into a single root, then diverged into many roots again with strange green things growing from those roots in turn. Somehow, they had grown a wall of these plants in the middle of the Settlement and the leader lived there.

Wandering towards the cookfires Lash was awed by the extravagance of it. While they had no forges, these surface-dwellers had huge fires for cooking food. Lash could see the leaders’ elites intermingling with those of lower status and also actively encouraging her own people to take what they needed from the cookfires or join in the butchering of the bodies of the soulless to provide meat for the fires. While both sides were somewhat wary of one another, the leader’s people showed no signs of hostile intentions.

Approaching the cookfires Lash was surprised to see the leader himself was in attendance, carrying what looked like two children. Well, that made sense, a male of his status and strength was bound to have many children. Lash looked around for a sign of his mate or indeed, mates as would be only fitting. After searching for a decent length of time, she had to admit defeat, Lash had seen no sign of them.

Perhaps the females in the elite warriors were his mates? No that didn’t seem right either, none of them looked like the children. If Lash and her people were going to stay on his lands, she needed to know more about the leader.

Taking a moment to adjust her armour, Lash took a deep steadying breath and approached the leader directly. He saw her coming and set his children down to play or continue feasting.

Lash nodded approvingly at the demonstrated appetites of both children. A strong appetite meant a strong child.

“Hrm!” The leader loudly cleared his throat, probably to get her attention, “Ah, is there something I can help you with?” He asked.

Lash had forgotten how tall he was. Their brief meeting during the battle and short conversation afterwards hadn’t really given her time to internalize it. Lash herself was seven and a half hand lengths tall, a full hand length taller than most of her people. It was a sign of her strong bloodline. However, he looked to be less than a finger length shorter than her at most and considerably wider in the shoulders and hips. A powerful bloodline indeed.

“Is something wrong?” He was looking at her expectantly and Lash realised she had not been paying attention.

“Apologies,” Lash dipped her head contritely, she knew she was not making a good impression and was becoming worried. “I was comparing our height,” Lash apologised, hoping he would take it as a compliment.

“Oh, uh, okay?” He replied, seeming a little confused.

Lash bit her lip as she realised her mistake. He had probably seen her comparison as an insult or perhaps a threat. After all, Lash was the closest match in terms of height, even if she was still far from being able to match his build.

“I was just saying that we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Tim,” He held out his hand expectantly.

Seeing a chance to get things back on track, Lash reached out and tried to take hold of his hand in the same way he had done yesterday. It was important that she showed him that both she and her people were willing to learn his customs. Unfortunately, Tim, as he preferred to be known, had intended for a traditional warriors clasp, probably to demonstrate his respect for Lash as a warrior, so they accomplished neither gesture and fumbled their hands awkwardly for a few moments before settling for the warriors clasp.

Lash was sweating bullets now. Things could not go any worse.

“Oh wow! I forgot how tall she is!” The fire-haired female Lash recognised from Tim’s elites had joined them and was sizing her up for a fight.

Lash had seen Fire-hair in action and would not underestimate her. She had demonstrated herself as being far stronger than her small stature should have been capable of. Fire-hair was dangerous, and Lash could tell by the look in her eyes that Fire-hair knew it and knew Lash knew it too.

“I don’t suppose you wanna wrestle?” Fire-hair asked innocently, her eyes like glowing embers.

Lash didn’t know what rest-ling was exactly, but she had little doubt it was some form of fighting.

“Clarice,” Tim glared warningly at Fire-hair and her expression changed almost immediately.

“Aw come on Tim! None of these other guys is a real challenge and you won’t wrestle me anymore. So why not let me and the new chick have a go?” Fire hair, or as Tim called her, Clarice, whined like a child in need of discipline.

“No!” There was iron in Tim’s voice and Lash couldn’t help but shiver. There was no way he did not have a mate. As Tim turned his attention to Lash, she felt weak in the knees. “Sorry about that,” he glared pointedly at Clarice for a moment before returning his attention to Lash, “Clarice is a bit much sometimes.”

“Hey!” Clarice glared back and crossed her arms defiantly.

“You are,” Tim insisted, “And you know it!”

Clarice broke eye contact, “Ya don’t have to be rude about it,” she muttered.

Tim shook his head and took a deep breath before exhaling again, “Sorry about that,” he apologised to Lash, completely disregarding his prestige as a warrior to save Lash’s own. Clearly demonstrating that he had so much prestige that this was of no real consequence.

“She big,” the taller of the two female children Lash assumed was Tim’s daughters complimented.

The smaller one nodded, “Big...”

Lash stood a little straighter to show off her full height.

“Was there something you wanted?” Tim asked, sounding a little wearied by the audience and perhaps signalling Lash that she had taken just about enough of his time.

Lash quickly cleared her throat, “Wanted to give respect to you as leader,” she explained, making sure not to rush and show disrespect, bobbing her head to show subservience and submission. “We serve,” Lash stated simply, making it clear that she accepted Tim was the undisputed leader.

Tim nodded and smiled a little before roughly clearing his throat again and looking over at something that must have caught his attention.

Following his gaze, Lash was surprised to see that a large number of the snake-men were brawling with one another. However, it was not the demonstration of lax discipline she had expected. The males and females had paired off with one another and were brawling like it was some sort of weapons training. Lash could swear she recognised some of the snake-men from the battle, but it was difficult to tell them apart, so she could be wrong.

“Oh, right. That was something I was going to ask you. Have you or any of your people unlocked any classes besides Shaman?” Tim asked rather bluntly.

Lash gulped and shook her head, suddenly realising why his people were so much stronger than they should be.

“Do you want to?” Tim asked with a wide smile.