Chapter 15

Watching Clarice and Lash fight was almost too painful to justify letting it continue. Lash was easily around eight feet tall and her biceps were thicker than Clarice’s thighs. Her superior reach proved to be a nightmare for Clarice’s attempts at closing to go on the offensive. Furthermore, without the synergies to level the playing field, Clarice was unable to land a blow hard enough to slow Lash down. The only thing keeping her in the fight at all was the benefits of Brutal Momentum, making Clarice’s attacks faster and hit harder than they otherwise would have been capable of.

However, even without her armour, Lash seemed more than capable of weathering Clarice’s hit and run tactics, her dense muscles soaking hit after hit with no signs of slowing down. Meanwhile, Clarice was slowly but steadily being worn down and had begun to slow.

“Aren’t they just meant to punch each other a few times for Lash to unlock Brawler?” Nadine demanded, clearly somewhat exasperated by the prolonged bout.

I nodded in agreement but said nothing. Technically, Clarice should have shown Lash proper form and technique first, then started the fight. But Clarice had been impatient and insisted on ‘sizing her up’ first. However, I didn’t think it would matter too much in this particular instance since Lash had taken the initiative and was copying Clarice as much as possible. This would actually be a good test to see whether there were different ways to unlock the classes besides those we already knew of. It had nothing to do with the fact that the Amazon warrior was dressed only in a loincloth and chest wrapping...

I was still rather curious about why none of us had unlocked a Class like Slinger or something while crossing the desert on the second floor. Tobi had the Archer class, or something similar, so I would have assumed he at the very least would unlock a relevant class from transferable skills and knowledge. But I guess I was wrong.

The class training session and impromptu bare-knuckle sparring bout were actually providing a great deal of entertainment for the gathered crowd of Serpent-Kin and Deep Orcs alike. Maybe there was something to Clarice’s insistence on a tournament after all? So long as we had firm rules of engagement and used blunted weapons, it would actually provide everyone with some much-needed combat experience against a challenging opponent.

However, it would definitely have to wait until the hospital was finished. Hana was doing her best, but it was still going to take a couple of days.

*Thump*

“Euf!!!” Clarice staggered as Lash delivered a punishing kick to Clarice’s stomach.

Giving her no time to recover, Lash stepped in closer while Clarice’s guard was broken.

*Crack*

Lash’s right fist slammed into Clarice’s face, sending her tumbling backwards with blood running from her nose.

Clarice staggered, trying to bring her guard back up and buy some distance between them, but she stumbled and fell to the ground instead.

“Enough!” Nadine called out loudly and rushed into their sparring ring to check on Clarice.

To her credit, Lash immediately backed off and even looked somewhat concerned. Although she was covered in sweat, Lash seemed none the worse for the brawl.

“Gah, fuck...” Clarice struggled into a sitting position and shook her head, “Youw kigh ligh ga muwle!” Clarice nasally exclaimed with a smile while pinching the bridge of her nose. (TN: You kick like a mule!)

Seemingly put at ease, Lash grinned back, “And you dart about like a deep hunter!” She replied, her tone implying a compliment rather than an insult.

Clarice, just like myself and most of the audience was a little confused by the comparison, but she took it at face value and grinned wider. “Wewl, youw godda fide Tib negst!” Clarice insisted as she was helped off the field with a helping arm from Nadine. (TN: Well, you gotta fight Tim next!)

“Ah...” I gulped hard and tried not to panic. “That may not be a great idea...” I tried to refuse diplomatically. Besides the fact that my Mum taught me not to hit girls, being around Lash made me uncomfortable...

Lash’s eyes lowered slightly and her shoulders slumped somewhat as if she was disappointed.

Clarice pulled Nadine in closer, just about holding her in a headlock as she animatedly began explaining something to Nadine while interchangeably pointing between myself and Lash.

Sensing a trap, I knew that I had to leave, now. Pivoting on the spot, I only made it a dozen or so steps before Nadine called out after me.

“Hey, Tim! Wait up!” The slightly amused tone of Nadine’s voice was at odds with her annoyance from earlier and I did not like what it entailed.

Should I pretend I hadn’t heard her? Or should I fully commit to just running as fast as I can? I’m a pretty fast runner and there is no way they would be able to keep up with me. But where could I go? The swamp? Was it really worth that level of risk?

“Tim? Didn't you hear me?” Nadine demanded, suddenly rushing ahead of me and barring the way with an inappropriately amused grin on her face. Apparently, she had abandoned Clarice’s near deadweight to corner me while I was distracted.

“I have things to do-” I began to lie.

Nadine raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but her overall expression made it clear she didn’t believe me in the slightest. “Oh? What things?” Nadine demanded suspiciously.

“Uh, Settlement stuff,” I shifted uncomfortably and struggled to look her in the eyes.

“Ahuh,” Nadine cocked her head slightly and gave me a look that suggested I might as well come clean because she wasn’t buying it. “Well, how about you postpone that ‘stuff’-” Nadine emphasised her disbelief with air quotes, “-and teach Lash the advanced class since Clarice is out of commission?”

“Uhm,” My throat felt parched and I was beginning to sweat pretty bad.

“Good! I'll let Lash know to expect you in about a half-hour after you are done with that important ‘stuff’,” Nadine insisted, air quoting and turning on the spot as she headed back to the training grounds with a broad grin on her face.

Watching Nadine walk away, I caught sight of Clarice, who was being tended to by one of the Serpent-Kin Surgeons. She looked entirely too pleased for someone who had been beaten half to death a few minutes ago.

Noticing me staring, Clarice’s mouth slowly split into a wide grin that matched Nadine’s.

I am betrayed...

Spending most of the hour desperately trying to wash the smell of sweat and swamp muck from my tunic, I met with only marginal success. Ultimately, I decided to forgo wearing it entirely. Going shirtless wasn’t a big deal right?

Unbidden, images of Lash wearing only the sweaty chest binding and loincloth she had worn during her bout with Clarice came to mind.

I had to clench my fists to stop my hands from shaking and clench my jaw to stop my teeth from rattling. What was the big deal?! I had taught Clarice before and hadn’t felt anything like this, and Clarice had been incredibly handsy!

Gulping down another mouthful of water, I took one last rinse under the public fountain before heading for the training grounds.

Seeing Lash already waiting for me, I gulped hard and took several deep steadying breaths as I finished making my way over. “Are you ready to begin?” I asked, trying not to show how nervous I felt.

Lash nodded, her eyes flashing determinedly as she tensed and untensed in preparation for the training.

Gulping hard again and narrowly avoiding a coughing fit, I tried to mask it by roughly clearing my throat. “Well it would probably be best to get to it,” I said awkwardly.

Lash silently nodded again and seemed eager for the lesson to begin.

“I guess first things first, I should, uh, show you some of the exercises you can do on your own,” I sighed in relief and made a mental note to thank my brain later. I was so nervous that I could barely string two words together at the moment, let alone form a coherent sentence. I was flying by the seat of my pants and easily could have made an ass of myself there.

After demonstrating the break fall and some limbering stretches, I then motioned for Lash to try.

Lash diligently took to the exercises, and despite a few expected failures with the break-fall, she had no problems since she was very obviously in great fighting shape.

“Uh, next I guess we should try some basic grapple techniques,” I suggested, feeling a little less nervous than earlier. “I’ll demonstrate them with one of Clarice’s student’s. Just try to watch what I do.” I waved over one of the loitering Serpent-Kin and settled into the starting stance.

Demonstrating as many of the grappling techniques, defensive measures and counters as I could remember, I had Lash perform each of them on the same student.

Feeling like a great weight had lodged in my stomach, I realised that the last step would require me to be much more hands-on rather than just providing advice from the sidelines.

Clarice was not a particularly good instructor and none of her students had unlocked the Advanced Class yet because they had not properly learned the pinning and hold techniques. This was very likely the reason they were all excitedly watching this training session with avid interest.

“Hrm!” I cleared my throat far louder than I intended to. Doing my best to ignore my sweaty palms, I somehow managed to maintain eye contact with Lash. “Right, so, next we will practice pinning and holds.” I shifted nervously on the spot as a sudden spike of adrenaline hit my system, “To demonstrate counters effectively, I will need to make sure you learn the pins first. So try to pay attention alright?” Through some miracle, my voice hadn’t cracked despite my mouth and throat suddenly going bone dry.

Lash nodded determinedly and settled into the wrestling crouch I had taught her earlier.

Trying to keep things as professional as possible, it became increasingly difficult as Lash’s labored breathing kept forcing her bust into prominence. With my blood up, it only made demonstrating the pins and holds even more awkward due to the nature of wrestling making use of every available hand hold...

It really didn’t help that Lash was much stronger than Clarice, so I was forced to take it seriously and wrestle properly, which led to some very embarrassing and awkward positions.

After about an hour of awkward drills and practice, I was just about at my limit and determined that Lash probably knew everything she needed to unlock the Advanced Class. “Now, you should just need to pin and choke out an opponent,” I explained a little breathlessly.

Lash nodded, smiling as she wiped the heavy sweat from her brow and then readjusted her chest bindings.

With my adrenaline up, I was following every movement without meaning to. Seeing the dishevelled and rather unravelled state of her chest bindings, unbidden memories of firm yet yielding flesh amidst the struggle of our wrestling made me blush as I now recognised the association.

“You!” I barked, choosing one of Clarice’s students at random and doing my best to hide my embarrassment by wiping the sweat from my face. “You will be her opponent.

Unsurprisingly, the comparatively anemic build of the female Serpent-Kin was no match for Lash and she was pinned and choked out by Lash within a few minutes.

Lash looked confused and was staring ahead in such a way that she had to be looking at a status alert.

After making sure that the unconscious Serpent-Kin was seen off to the hospital, I nervously approached Lash. “Is something wrong?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the reason.

Lash’s cheeks flushed, but she nodded and shifted her attention to stare me dead in the eyes, “Can’t understand,” she admitted bluntly.

“I thought so,” I commented, trying not to sound condescending. “If you say, accept, you should get the class,” I explained. The Serpent-Kin had been able to gain classes this way, so I assumed it would be no different for the Deep Orcs.

Lash nodded determinedly, “Accept!” She barked. Lash frowned slightly and looked a little uncertain.

Right, she had no way of double-checking whether she gained the class or not.

“Party invite, minion Lash. Status.” I panned my view to bring up Lash’s status information.

[Lash - Deep Orc Drudge: 5 ] [HP: 35/35 ] [MP: 26/26 ]

[Class: Grappling Pugilist. +1 Strength, +5 HP. ] [Exp: 0/5000 ]

[Party: Tim’s Party]

[Strength: 14*(15*) ]

[Agility: 14 ]

[Toughness: 15* ]

[Intelligence: 8 ]

[Willpower: 14* ]

[Presence: 5 ]

[(Racial Ability: Bloodlust {Rank 2}): Deal additional damage while {Bloodied}. {Willpower} increases the amount of bonus damage.]

[(Racial Ability: Contempt {Rank 3}): Takes less damage from smaller enemies. {Toughness} increases the level of damage resistance.]

[(Racial Ability: Brute Strength {Rank 2}): You deal more damage with {Primitive} and {Heavy} weapons. {Strength} increases the amount of bonus damage.]

[(Class Ability: Brutal Momentum {Rank 0}): Increases the momentum of your attacks. {Strength} increases momentum.]

[Group Synergy: {Thick Hide: - }, {Brute Strength: -* }, {Irongut: - }, {Venom Resistance: 3 }.]

I couldn’t help but stare at the status screen for a good few minutes, just to confirm what I was actually reading was correct. Lash had the highest stats of every monster I had seen so far. Well...excluding myself I suppose. If the Orcs on the first floor were anything like her, it was hardly a surprise the adventurers had gotten such a thrashing out in the fields.

Like, what the hell was Contempt?! It seemed like little more than institutionally sponsored bullying! If Goblins didn’t have the natural counter to it, I would really have suspected foul play. As for the other two racial abilities, I guess I sort of anticipated them. If it made sense for me to have Brute Strength, then it made just as much sense for Deep Orcs and Orcs in general to have it. Even Bloodlust generally fit in with what little I had been able to observe of the Orcs on the first floor.

While taking a few minutes to cool off, I was drawn back to the top of the status screen again. Deep Orc Drudge? Unlike Toofy and myself, who had the suffix of Runt, Lash had Drudge. Is that the next stage of the evolutionary path? Since she was unable to read her own status, I figured Lash would not really know the reason behind the naming scheme. Similarly, Hana’s evolution had a different naming scheme altogether, so I wasn’t really sure what was going on.

Lash was incredibly close to her next evolution though, so perhaps that would be a good opportunity to find out? “Lash?-” I was surprised to find she was already staring at me intensely with a determined expression and momentarily forgot what I was doing.

“Yes?” Lash leaned closer, inadvertently angling her chest and revealing more of her cleavage. Not that I noticed of course, because I was dazzled by her eyes.

“Ah, just make sure you speak with Ushu and Gric to learn the rules,” I coughed to clear my throat and decided it might be a good idea to take a lie down. I was clearly not well. “I gave orders to Gric to begin teaching the children how to read, but you have my permission to sit in on those lessons if you want,” I caught my eyes attempting to wander again and decided I had better go.

Lash watched me leave, and seemed...disappointed?

I shook my head and headed for the Grove. I probably had heat exhaustion or something. Hopping into the cool water of the fountain, I felt a fresh wave of clarity flood through my senses. “Definitely a fever,” I muttered distractedly and dunked my head below the water.

Raising my head out of the water again, I was surprised to see Ushu lingering by the stairs. I hadn’t noticed him there earlier and judging by the determined look on his face, Ushu clearly wanted something. Seeing that he had my attention, Ushu hurried over and knelt down beside the fountain, putting us roughly at eye level with one another.

“Lord, I would assk a favour,” Ushu prostrated himself with his arms outstretched in front of him, like I was some sort of mythical god-king.

“What is it?” I asked, trying hard not to sound too annoyed, certain that he would take it the wrong way.

“Lord, I seek the usse of the mana-well to hatch the eggss,” Ushu requested determinedly.

“Oh,” That was not what I had expected. “Sure,” I agreed, then remembered something, “I don’t want parentless children Ushu. Every egg must be claimed and cared for.”

Ushu rose back into a kneeling position, an intense look of gratitude on his face. “Of coursse, Lord.”

“There will need to be a creche or something organised as well. It won’t be safe to have so many children running around all over the place. Besides, I asked Gric to provide lessons on reading and writing the Daemon language so people can read their stat screens,” I explained.

Ushu nodded obediently and looked like he would just about accept pretty much anything at this point.

“And, uh, I hope this isn’t offensive but...your young don’t try to eat one another right?” I asked worriedly.

While not seeming to be offended, Ushu’s silence was rather telling.

“Okay. New Rule, no mass hatchings allowed!” I insisted. “At least one family member, adoptive or otherwise, must be present, per egg, and provide sufficient food to give a designated Settlement leader, most likely yourself or Gric, the opportunity to recruit the child. Understood?”

Ushu nodded with a mixxed expression of determined relief on his face, “Yess Lord!”

I took a minute to think of anything else we may have missed. Since nothing sprang to mind, I shrugged and gave Ushu a dismissive wave and settled back into my impromptu bath.

Ushu wasted no time in bolting from the Grove, and only then did I realise my mistake. Every one of the Serpent-Kin would be wanting to hatch an egg...

Damnit...

As I had expected, within the short span of a few minutes, the first of the prospective parents began arriving outside of the Grove. They each tightly yet gently held an egg to their chest and bore a look of determined yet constrained excitement as they quietly conversed with one another in hushed whispers. Unfortunately, while their whispering was probably made with considerate intentions, it largely defied the point when a few dozen people did so simultaneously.

Letting out a deep sigh, I figured that my bath had probably dragged on more than long enough already, so I reluctantly prepared myself to bring some order to the inevitable chaos.

Stemming the tide at its source, I went looking for Ushu and once I found him, very calmly explained that it would probably be best for no more than ten eggs to be hatched at a time. There was no special shelter arranged yet, so it would have meant a great deal of crowding in the storeroom, and many aspiring parents left out in the rain that would be arriving sometime this afternoon.

There was also the matter of the expedition to consider as well. Clarice would likely need the rest of the day to recover, but the longer we delayed, the more likely it would be that there would be no one left to find. Unsurprisingly, Nadine agreed, so it was decided that the expedition team would leave early tomorrow morning.

Since Ushu would be gone for a week or longer. It meant Gric, Hana or Myself would be responsible for inviting any newborns to join Sanctuary. Since Hana was going to be busy for just about the entire foreseeable future, that really only left myself and Gric.

*****

Standing atop the deck of the small fishing boat, Kirk could hardly believe what he was seeing. A small fleet of tribal outrigger boats was racing towards the direction of the abandoned foothold. At their head was the “Sunstrider”, one of the three trading ships allowed on this floor of the Labyrinth, by special permission of the adventurer’s Guild. It was riding low in the water, so it was almost certainly bristling with goods for trade.

Sunstrider belonged to the Forest Goblins of Sunrock. Unlike the Goblins of the first floor, the Forest Goblins of Sunrock had a reputation for being peaceful and even rescuing adventurers, mercenaries and merchants. It was the primary reason they were ‘allowed’ to have such a large ship. Propelled by a combination of oars and sail, the Sunstrider was crude and somewhat primitive in design compared to the grand sailing vessels employed in other floors of the Labyrinth. However, the arrival of the Sunstrider and its accompanying trader fleet was a good sign.

The emergency flotilla was starting to run desperately low on supplies, and the supply runs to scavenge the foothold and surrounding area were growing more dangerous by the day.

Pulling out the borrowed spyglass lent to him by the flotilla’s council, Kirk took a closer look at the boats. To his surprise, the outriggers were packed with Forest Goblin warriors. Even though it had only been a matter of days, the Sunrock had somehow heard of their plight and were coming to their rescue? That didn’t seem right.

Panning to the small trade fleet, Kirk was surprised to see one of the outrigger’s break from formation and perform a one-hundred and eighty-degree turn, now heading back the way it had come. Those warriors aboard strangely bore expressions of grim determination and acceptance.

Confused, Kirk directed the spyglass further northward.

“Oh fuck...” Kirk very nearly dropped the borrowed spyglass into the river.

“Wha’ is it?” The wizened fisherman asked. A retired adventurer himself, he had a second sense for danger.

“It’s a warship...” Kirk answered breathlessly.

The second ship was similar in design to the Sunstrider, however, it bore no sails at all and was only driven by oars. Less well made, the warship was still easily close to twice as large as the Sunstrider and would be able to hold hundreds or even a thousand or more warriors easily.

The outrigger charged straight for the warship, the warriors aboard holding their wooden shields to the front and above in a crude shield wall to protect the helmsman. As they drew closer to the warship, it became painfully obvious why. Narrow projectiles had begun peppering the outriggers crew and one by one they began to fall.

Kirk didn’t understand the point of their strategy, it was just pointless suicide. However, with just one warrior and the helmsman left standing, both of whom were doubtless riddled with all manner of projectiles, the outrigger slammed into the exposed oars of the warship on the starboard side. The outrigger's mast managed to snap over a few oars before the outrigger was bodily flipped end over end by the momentum, crashing through many more oars before being splintered against the hull of the ship.

Numbed by what he had just witnessed, Kirk didn’t notice the outrigger headed his way until it had already closed half the distance between them.

“Wha’ we doin?” The fisherman asked, stoically eyeing the approaching vessel.

Kirk realised he was meant to make a decision and roughly cleared his throat. “Let them approach. We need to find out what is going on and if they have any supplies to trade...”

The fisherman gave Kirk a dubious look but said nothing. However, he did move closer to the ropes and loosen a few knots in preparation for a hasty retreat.

The Goblins aboard the outrigger were waving frantically as a means to get their attention and pointing animatedly to the incoming warship. Drawing closer, the cries of the Goblins could now be heard as well, although Kirk himself didn’t understand a word of it. Glancing back at the fisherman, he was not at all inspired by the suddenly pale and damn near terrified expression on the formerly implacable man's face. “What are they saying?” Kirk asked.

“Sunrock’s gone,” the fisherman gave Kirk a pained look, “They want shelter in the foothold as promised.”

Kirk felt the blood drain from his face as he looked back out over the river. The Sunstrider wasn’t laden with supplies as he had hoped. It was packed full of refugees.

*****

With everything finally sorted out, I headed to bed to take a much-needed sleep. An expected complication had arisen from the Deep Orcs once they found out what had the Serpent-Kin so excited. Thankfully, all it had taken to resolve it was reminding both sides that the limited access was only intended to be temporary. Once Hana had the free time to make a more permanent hatchery or something, then the restrictions would be loosened, provided everyone behaved themselves. Although I was loath to rely on such petty intimidation, it was proving remarkably effective at resolving minor disputes.

Settling onto my bed with a contented sigh, I began drifting off to sleep almost right away.

Almost immediately, I felt someone shaking me by the shoulder, “Tim, wake up,” Clarice grunted. “Nadine wants to talk to you about something before we leave. Also, you haven’t made the quest yet,” She emphasised the second part with a particularly rough shove.

“I’m awake,” I yawned and blearily sat up.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask something else,” Clarice mentioned as she threw me my tunic, “What do you think of that Orc girl Lash?”

Feeling my pulse quicken, I remembered Clarice’s involvement in what happened yesterday. “You did that on purpose,” I accused dryly.

Clarice shrugged unapologetically, “Sure. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that you like her, so I took a couple of hits for the team,” she grinned lasciviously.

“That’s not how the expression works...” I replied dryly.

“And that wasn’t a denial,” Clarice observed with a satisfied grin. “I guess it is kind of obvious that you would have a thing for tall girls.”

“I don’t have ‘a thing’ for-” I spluttered but was interrupted.

“-You really do Tim,” Clarice smirked and shook her head, “Tobi had a crush on Emelia and he was a hundred times less obvious about it.”

“...” My mind was drawing a blank.

“So what is it that you like about her?” Clarice asked mischievously, “Is it just because she is tall? Oooh ooh, it is because she looks strong enough to bend you over her knee and-”

“-It’s her eyes!” I spluttered before Clarice had the chance to finish that sentence.

“Her eyes?” Clarice asked disappointedly. “Not her powerful thighs or abs you could break rocks with-” She gingerly shook her right hand and grimace a little, “-or maybe her big-”

“Shut up Clarice!” I growled in warning.

“I was gonna say heart,” Clarice pouted with a smirk, “Although her tits are pretty big too.”

I glowered at her.

“Just sayin, you spend as much time staring at other places as you do at her eyes,” Clarice shrugged and left my room.

This was not how I wanted to start my morning. Thankfully, Clarice would be gone soon and I would be able to get some peace and quiet. Slowly heading downstairs, I could see Nadine and the others all waiting by the Grove fountain.

Passing by the storeroom, I took note of the prospective parents each attentively cradling their respective eggs and quietly whispering excitedly to one another to pass the time.

“Was Clarice really the best choice?” I asked Nadine as I cleared the final steps.

Nadine shifted a little uncomfortably, “I think you should give Lash a chance,” she insisted, determinedly. “It’s obvious that you find her attractive, so why not spend some time with her and see where things go from there?” Nadine asked as if it were the most simple and obvious thing in the world.

Unwilling to back down, I stared back at Nadine, “Why do you keep trying to pair me off with people?” I asked dryly, “First Hana, now Lash. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

Nadine blushed, “N-no!” She insisted somewhat unconvincingly, “I just want you to be happy.”

Hana rolled her eyes but said nothing.

“She wants to get you laid,” Clarice corrected, “She feels bad that you look, well, like you. So she thinks getting you laid will fix that,” she shrugged unapologetically at Nadine as the latter glowered back at her.

“Look, I’m fine. Just stop meddling in my love life.” I insisted, mortified that I was even part of a conversation like this.

“It may be a bit too late for that,” Clarice chuckled sheepishly, scratching awkwardly at her nose.

Feeling a deep sense of dread in my gut, I turned my full attention to Clarice and glared at her, ”What did you do?” I demanded icily.

“Geez would ya look at that?” Clarice hurriedly backed away, “Looks like it’s time we were heading out!” She called back to the others as she sprinted out of the Grove, Nadine, Tobi and Emelia close behind her.

Hana gave me a somewhat reassuring pat on the back, her expression sympathetic, “I caught her confessing your affections to Lash on your behalf,” she explained apologetically.

“...” I felt like I was having a stroke.

“Lash seemed receptive?” Hana explained uncertainty, “Or at least I think so. It was hard to tell with all that metal in the way...Are you alright Tim? You look pale.”

This isn’t happening. It’s all part of a nightmare, right? Of course, I just went to bed, this has to be a nightmare.

“Tim?” Hana sounded concerned. “Tim?!” She called out more insistently.

Everything went black.

Sitting bolt upright in a panic, I looked around and was relieved to find I was still in bed. “Thank god!” I groaned and massaged my head. I was just glad the nightmare was over. Even for Clarice, that had simply been too cruel. Getting out of bed, I reached for my tunic and found that it was not where I had left it to dry. Looking around the room, I quickly realised that I was already wearing it.

“Oh no...” My heart began racing again. Feeling dizzy, I sat down on the bed to try and clear my head. “Maybe I just put it on in my sleep?” I muttered hopefully.

“Are you feeling better?” Hana asked as she entered my room.

Damnit.

“So it actually happened?” I asked sourly.

Hana nodded, “You fainted, so I brought you back to your room.”

Hana was growing by the day. Not nearly as fast as the Daemons, who had grown by leaps and bounds, but she was almost taller than Nadine and the girls at this point.

I was about to ask how she managed to get me up the stairs, then I remembered that Hana could literally control the plants and probably made the tree do it with branches or something.

“She wants to talk to you by the way, Lash I mean,” Hana explained, “She wants to dig a hole and fight some underground monsters...or something like that. I don’t know, it was difficult to understand the explanation. Basically, she wants to harvest metal for more tools, weapons and armour, I think?” She shrugged apologetically, “I said I would let you decide.”

“How is fighting monsters related to harvesting metal?” I asked incredulously.

Hana shrugged, “Maybe one of the underground monsters is made of metal, or has a high chance of spawning metal as an item drop?”

“Wait...What?” I gave Hana another incredulous look, “Monsters can spawn items when they die?”

Hana shrugged apologetically, “I don’t know for sure. But it is something I have heard before,” her expression grew sombre for a moment before she continued, “Besides, it isn’t the monster spawning the item, it’s the Labyrinth.”

“That...Actually kind of makes sense,” I agreed reluctantly, “If it can make monsters, why not items too?”

Hana nodded and shrugged yet again, “It makes as much sense as anything else.”

“Well, you know. If they do find decent metal, it's going to involve burning a lot of trees for fuel to make the metal workable. Are you alright with that?” I asked, more than a little concerned Hana may not have fully considered the ramifications.

Hana considered the question for a while and then nodded, “So long as they don’t harm or burn my trees, then I don’t really care,” she stated rather coldly, “Besides, Sanctuary will need more weapons and armour than I can provide on my own.”

“Hrm, I guess that’s true,” I agreed somewhat reluctantly. I couldn’t help but feel Hana was making a compromise with ulterior motives in mind. Specifically, that she believed arming the residents of Sanctuary would help her get revenge on ‘The Destroyer’.

“So you will go speak with Lash?” Hana pressed relentlessly, making it clear she wouldn’t leave without an answer. Specifically, the answer she wanted.

“Fine, I’ll go see her,” I agreed reluctantly.

Hana smiled, “Good. Lash is waiting for you by the fountain downstairs.”

Letting out a deep sigh as we made our way over to the stairs, I could see that Hana had told the truth.

Lash and ten of her warriors were decked out in their crude sheet metal armour and waiting for us by the Grove fountain.

“I don’t suppose she mentioned where she wanted the tunnel to be dug?” I asked dubiously.

Hana shook her head.

As I left the stairs, Lash and her warriors knelt down on one knee, their faces directed downward in deference.

Feeling a little awkward, I motioned for them to rise. “Hana told me you wanted to dig a mine to fight monsters?” I asked probingly.

Lash nodded and rose to her feet, “Seek the Rumblers for iron to make tools for making armour and weapons.” she explained.

“The rumblers have the iron?” I asked curiously.

“Broken Rumblers create iron,” Lash nodded, “The Rumblers dwell deep below,” she motioned to the ground.

“Alright. Iron would be useful,” I agreed. The staying power of the Deep Orcs in their desperate stand against the monsters was a testament to how big a difference it could make in a fight against wild monsters. “What other monsters are down there though?”

Lash shifted her weight a little and nodded, “Spikers and Sniffers mostly,” she explained matter of factly as if what the monsters were would be self-evident.

It took a solid half-hour of back and forth before I had a general idea of what each of these three monsters looked like. The rumblers seemed to be stone versions of the Mud Dolls, while Spikers were larger underground variants of the lizards from the desert on the second floor. Finally, and most disconcertingly, the Sniffers sounded alarmingly similar in description to the evolved Vrabbits, the Blood Hunters.

“Where were you wanting the access tunnel?” I asked despite already having a rather solid idea in my mind.

Lash pointed to the southern end of Sanctuary, “Within the walls, stop the soulless from infesting tunnels.”

Yeah, that was just about what I had expected. “What if something happens to the settlement barrier? What will stop the soulless from flooding up into Sanctuary?”

Lash tilted her head in surprise, or at least I assumed she was surprised since her face was hidden by her helmet. “Underground, the iron gates hold back the soulless,” Lash explained slowly but seemed to realise the problem, “No iron for the gate,” she grunted in annoyance.

I nodded in agreement. Without some form of security, I did not want to make a tunnel that would simply funnel more monsters towards Sanctuary.

“What about a well without water?” Hana suggested, “You could use ropes to climb down and I could pull the ropes back up again so the monsters can’t use them?”

“A mine shaft?” That...Actually wasn’t a bad idea, assuming the mineshaft opened up into a cavern or something so the walls weren’t able to be climbed so readily. We could post lookouts at the top to keep watch while retrieving the first batches of materials... “Okay, we could give that a try,” I agreed, ‘Worst case, you could always seal the hole with roots and stuff right Hana?”

Hana nodded confidently, “It would be easy.”

“Well, alright then,” I agreed. As Sanctuary population reached required milestones, the protective barrier would increase as well. So theoretically, it would be possible to establish a smaller and more permanent base down below.

Hana excused herself and left the Grove, assumedly to tend to one of her ever-growing responsibilities and work projects.

Lash and her ten warriors remained however and gave off the impression that the tunnel had been only one of a larger number of requests.

“Is there something else?” I prompted. Even though I technically didn’t have much planned to do today, it still felt weird to just ‘waste time’ with a psycho running around out there.

“We offer thanks for Classes,” Lash bowed her head and her warriors did the same, “Teach us others?” She asked with fragile optimism.

“Oh? Is that all? Sure.” It was only to Sanctuary’s benefit for as many residents as possible to choose a Class. All the more so with the prospective mining shaft being located inside Sanctuary itself. “If you ask around, there are quite a few to choose from, sort of. The Grappling Pugilist is the best close combat class we have, but the Surgeon Classes are important too. Also, the summoner and Pact Binder Classes seem very interesting, and I don’t think anyone has tried Warlock yet...”

Lash’s warriors gave each other uncertain looks, I assumed. It was understandable, the Classes were a pretty big deal, and I was basically giving them away for free.

“I Just have one rule,” I insisted.

Lash and her warriors gave me their undivided attention.

“No revealing the Class unlocks to outsiders. Especially humans.” I had given a great deal of thought to this and was convinced that advertising that my citizens knew how to unlock Classes, especially advanced or restricted ones, would lead to trouble.

Lash and her warriors nodded solemnly to show they understood. Although it was a little strange considering they had probably only seen four humans in their entire lives.

“Was there anything else you wanted?” I asked somewhat apprehensively. The group gave me the feeling like there was an even more pressing reason for their visit.

Lash gave her people a backwards glance.

Without any other signal, they turned and left the Grove, leaving Lash and I alone.

“Where is Leader’s mate?” Lash asked bluntly, her tone both curious and nervous.

All at once I began nervously sweating again. “Ah, what?”

Lash removed her helmet and stowed it under her arm, “Where is Leader’s mate?” She repeated, her cheeks flushed from wearing that stuffy helmet.

“W-what?” I gulped hard and backed away slightly.

Lash dropped her helmet and stepped closer, staring intently at my eyes, “Our child would make the caverns tremble,” she purred.

“Uh...” I couldn’t think clearly and stepped back again to try and buy time.

Lash didn’t let up and even managed to draw closer, her hot breath washing over my face.

Continuing to backpedal, I had no idea where I was going, too fixated on the scintillating amethyst light in her eyes. Feeling my back suddenly press up against something hard, I saw a sudden flash in Lash’s eyes, something akin to a desperate need.

Blood crashing through my veins and heart hammering in my chest, there was only one thought going through my mind, “Her eyes are beautiful...” I couldn’t look away.

Lash leaned in closer, resting her forehead against mine, her captivating eyes less than an inch from my own. Then, all at once, Lash stepped back with a shy smile on her lips. Slowly backing away, she retrieved her helmet, gave me a final lingering stare, then left the Grove.

Incredibly lightheaded and feeling exhausted I staggered over to the stairs and all but collapsed. Okay, Clarice and Nadine might have a point I reluctantly conceded. But now what?

I spent just about the entire day sitting on the stairs or pacing the Grove. Intellectually, I was aware of how flirting works. It was obvious, hopefully, that Lash was interested, but what the hell was I meant to do now?! Besides cliches from television, movies and novels, I had absolutely no idea what I was meant to do.

“Tim hungry?” Toofy and her shadow Ril caught me by surprise. Each of them was carrying a small woven basket with roasted meats inside.

Letting out a deep sigh, I tried to put Lash out of my mind, which proved more difficult than I expected. “Hi Toofy, hi Ril. Yes, I am famished,” I agreed and motioned for the girls to join me on the stairs.

Toofy grinned and hopped up onto the stairs beside me and offered me her basket.

“Thanks, Toofy,” I gratefully accepted the basket and gave her hair a quick tousle. Picking a piece of meat and taking an experimental bite, I was reminded that acquiring more cooking herbs would be a nice long term goal. They really made quite a big difference.

“Why Tim smell like big Orc?” Toofy asked slyly, giving me a dramatic sniff for emphasis.

I tried not to choke on my food and gulped it down.

Toofy grinned wider, a malicious glint in her eyes.

“Maybe it’s time you had another swimming lesson?” I suggested.

Toofy froze, “Uh...”

“Do you want to learn how to swim Ril?” I asked innocently.

Ril took some time to consider the question.

Toofy rounded on Ril and began silently waving her hands back and forth like somehow I couldn’t see it.

“Ril swim,” Ril agreed.

Toofy collapsed and groaned despondently.

“Swim now?” Ril asked, gnawing distractedly on a meaty bone.

“Alright,” I agreed and set down the basket. Stripping off my tunic I hopped into the fountain and waited for Ril and Toofy.

Ril was excitedly dragging Toofy to the fountain, bodily throwing her weight to make headway.

Once Toofy and Ril were both in the water, Toofy didn’t seem to mind so much. What was really surprising though, was how quickly Ril took to swimming, although it quickly became obvious why. The little cheater had grown gills in the side of her neck and chest. As Ril spent longer in the water, she changed still further, growing retractable crimson fins along the lengths of her outer forearms and shins. It was actually a relief, not having to worry about Ril drowning or by extension Toofy, since they were basically inseparable.

For her part, Ril really seemed to enjoy swimming in the fountain and was remarkably fast and agile. It actually gave me an idea for a game. Retrieving one of the baskets of food. I tore the roasted meat into smaller pieces and began tossing them into the fountain for Ril to catch before they were swept away by the cycling current.

Soon Toofy was in on the game as well, although that was probably just a convenient excuse for her to get out of swimming lessons. All the same, it was a fun game and by the time Ril began getting tired, the food was just about gone anyway.

As I had suspected, Ril’s fins retracted and along with her gills, nearly seamlessly sealed themselves, or appeared to. A closer inspection revealed that special muscles were holding either side closed on each seam. “Very clever,” I gave Ril’s soaked hair a few gentle pats.

Ril grinned toothily at me and looked expectantly at Toofy.

Toofy gave Ril some head pats as well, “Good baby,” she agreed with a sombre nod and helped Ril back into her tunic-dress.

Seeing the both of them off, I pulled my own tunic back on and decided to give the hospital a visit.

As I had expected, Hana had made significant progress and would probably be finished sometime early tomorrow. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Serpent-Kin Surgeons teaching a pair of the Deep Orcs the basics. It was nice to see both groups getting along, especially with Ushu gone. I suspected that it may be because everyone was on their best behaviour to have access to the grove. Or more specifically, not to be denied access.

Heading to the training grounds next, I made a mental note to organise Clarice’s students into hunting parties to make sure we had enough food coming in each day. Hopefully, Ushu had arranged something, but I really shouldn’t take it for granted.

As I had expected, just about every one of the Deep Orcs was paired off and either throwing punches at one another or engaged in attempting to pin one another to the ground and choke their opponent unconscious. I wondered if any of them besides those two aspiring to be surgeons, had actually asked about other classes. I suppose it didn’t really matter all that much. I intended for them to choose what they wanted, and judging by the laughter and loud happy conversations taking place, this was it.

It was still quite odd though. Just about every one of them was wearing their crude plate armour. Only those who paired against Clarice’s students were fighting unarmoured, probably out of sportsmanship.

In the midst of it all was Lash. Near as I could tell, she was instructing Deep Orcs and Serpent-Kin alike, focusing a great deal more of her attention on the grapplers than the boxers. To Lash’s credit, she seemed to be doing a pretty good job. Unlike Clarice, Lash didn’t seem particularly pressured into asserting dominance. Although I did notice that she would have others take the submissive roles in more active demonstrations. Besides that though, Lash was doing well.

Using Sanctuary’s registry, I was still quite surprised to see that Lash was making solid progress, More than half of Clarice’s students had unlocked the Advanced Class and twenty of her fellow Deep Orc’s had as well. That actually raised a rather interesting dilemma.

Contrary to Gric’s request, I hadn’t promoted Ril to an Underlord yet. I just didn’t feel comfortable forcing her into a leadership role like that. I had done it to Gric and...well, he turned out a bit weird. If it was something Ril wants, I will give her a chance, but until then, maybe Lash would be a good choice for my third Underlord?

“Hrm,” Watching Lash had made me anxious amongst other things and I needed a clear head for a decision of this importance. Deciding I would leave the decision for tomorrow, I made my way back to the storeroom and retrieved my morningstar.

I had thought that using a spear would be a smart decision. Increasing the distance I could strike at an enemy before they had the chance to return the favour had seemed like an obvious choice. Unfortunately, it seemed to require far more skill and practice than I had realised. It also required more hand-eye coordination than I could muster, so I felt few regrets in swapping back to the cruder morningstar.

Stripping off my tunic and leaving it in my bedroom, I sought out Hana again and had her make a couple of blunted copies as well as rough approximations of the axes the Deep Orc’s use, and some serviceable shields. Carrying the equipment to the training grounds, I brought the Surgeons along as well.

Choosing one of the larger Deep Orc’s to spar with, I took a shield and blunted morningstar, then squared up against my opponent. Adding him to my party, for the sake of fairness, gave a rough outline of the conditions of the bout. No aiming for the head or groin, making a mental note for Hana to make helmets and cups, being knocked down was worth three points, a strike your limbs or body was worth one point and if you reached ten points, you lose the round.

The Deep Orc warrior excitedly agreed and our match began. I lost less than three minutes later. I was playing far too defensively and had allowed my opponent to control the entire momentum of the fight. To say nothing of the difference in skill, I had barely attempted to strike him more than twice.

I lost the next fifteen matches as well, but I was slowly getting the hang of it. A bigger problem than being overly defensive, I was trying to be more agile than the weapon required and both my offence and defence were suffering for it. Forgoing the shield entirely for the next few bouts, I started making real progress on brute-forcing through my opponent’s defence. By the late evening, I felt like I was ready to start using the shield again, but had to call things off there since I couldn’t see nearly well enough in the dark to reliably abide by the rules.

Over the next few days, I fell into a routine of increasingly intensive exercise and sparring. I was improving little by little with each bout, but the most noticeable change I saw in myself was the drastic reduction in my hesitation towards aggressive strategy. Technically, I still hadn’t won a bout yet, but that was partly due to the nature of the rules I established. To put it bluntly, I was a much larger target, which made me easier to hit. Even though I was hit more often, it was actually my opponents that had to keep tagging in and out between bouts. The Deep Orc synergy for Contempt, combined with my own Racial Ability Thick Hide, was ensuring that only the hardest hits actually did any lingering damage.

That didn’t mean I wanted to change or get rid of the rules, far from it. While acclimating to being hit as a part of combat was important, I didn’t want to become too comfortable with it either. The large scars on my shin and calf were a testament to the fact that things could still hurt me and I needed to be wary of that fact.

An interesting development was how others were adopting the same rules for sparring with minor adaptations here and there to suit their own needs. The brawlers assigned points for different areas struck and lifted the ban on striking the head, for obvious reasons. The wrestlers were incredibly happy to learn of the official rules and were roughly abiding by those. Meanwhile, sparring with blunted weapons provided by Hana had become quite popular, particularly since the Surgeons were egging people on.

Even though the sparring matches didn’t provide EXP normally, I had decided it would be worth the expense to create a repeatable sparring quest. Contrary to my expectations, the rewards were not particularly small. I had forgotten about the possible rank disparity between combatants and had underestimated how much EXP the Labyrinth deemed appropriate for the relatively non-lethal quest objectives.

Near as I had been able to determine, if both opponents were the same rank, same Class tier and level, the winner would earn five EXP. However, for each rank difference, the base EXP would increase by five. Similarly, every difference in level would add another ten EXP. If the winner only had a Basic Class and their opponent had an advanced class, the total Exp would be doubled.

Needless to say, the huge stockpiles of EXP generated through Eminence began to be whittled away by the opportunistic fervour of those participating in the sparring matches. Although it did guarantee I had no shortage of sparring partners. As both a much higher-tiered monster and possessing a higher tier class, defeating me in a sparring match generated a great deal of EXP.

Surprisingly though, Lash had kept her distance and I was grateful for it. The training was already hard enough without hot flashes of anxiety to go with it.

Taking a short break, I gave some more thought to Lash’s candidacy for promotion to Underlord. According to Gric, she had proven a driven student of his improvised lessons for learning the written form of the Daemons language and was making decent headway in reading and recognising smaller words.

Lash had apparently been seeking Gric out every evening for personal tutoring since she was busy instructing others during the day and couldn’t attend the classes Gric was holding for Sanctuary’s growing number of children.

It did raise another question though. Should I help Lash unlock a leadership class so she can take a Rulership Class like myself and Gric? On paper, the answer was simple. Lash having a Rulership Class, even if it was the same as mine, would only make Sanctuary stronger, even if her personal combat capabilities dipped somewhat. Unfortunately, there were only two leadership classes I knew how to unlock, Taskmaster and Slaver...

Both were somewhat problematic. Even though I had gotten the Ogre Warchief Rulership Class, I could just as easily see the Labyrinth making Lash a Deep Orc Dominator, or something cringy like that. Even though the slavery mechanics seemed pretty broken, the prospect of enslaving people was still abhorrent to me. But it did give me another idea...

I had been wondering for a long time how Nadine, Clarice, Emelia and Tobi had first unlocked their classes. There almost certainly had to be a trick to it, something incredibly counterintuitive or otherwise implausible that prevented adventurers and monsters from accidentally unlocking the Basic Classes through simple repetition.

It made a sort of sense that Nadine’s Enchanter Class was primarily derived from academic theory and would be incredibly difficult to unintentionally unlock. But Clarice’s Swordsman Class seemed to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. Surely there were enough trainers and teachers for sword training that unlocking the class would be dead-easy and even acquired as adventurers became more proficient with their equipment? But that didn’t seem to be the case either. There had to be a special trick to it, or Lash and the other Deep Orc’s would all be Axemen or something.

Hang on. I thought back to how I had unlocked my first class. Emelia had promoted me to Taskmaster after capturing Toofy. But I hadn’t received a status alert. I didn’t remember seeing it when I first looked at my status screen either, but parts of it had been unavailable to me at the time, so it may have been there and I wouldn’t have known. However, I could feel I was on the right track.

Nadine hadn’t mentioned receiving an alert for unlocking Taskmaster, although I might be misremembering, but I distinctly remembered seeing Taskmaster on her list of unlocked Classes after using the Enslavement ability on her. That had to be it. Being enslaved and meeting the right stat requirements unlocked Taskmaster while using an enslavement collar and successfully enslaving another person then unlocked Slaver.

The Guild probably only needed advanced forms of the classes to tutor or otherwise instruct the prospective adventurers in the basic tier of those same classes. Mentoring was already an obvious component of the other classes I had witnessed being unlocked, so this sort of made sense. I still felt like I was missing something, but this was the closest I had come to determine the method in this madness.

No matter how I looked at it, it definitely seemed like I had somehow bypassed certain rules or restrictions. After all, even though I didn’t have any of those advanced classes unlocked at the time, I was still able to teach and unlock Classes for others.

So I wonder if there are other Classes I might be able to unlock, with the right technical skill and know-how. Removing the slave collar from around my neck, I had an incredibly stupid idea. What if I could unlock the Monster Tamer class?

Enslaving Toofy had unlocked the Slaver Class, so presumably, if I used the slave collar on a wild monster, I would unlock the Monster Tamer Class, right? Hrm. Then why didn’t I unlock it when I took Shady from Tobi?

Thinking on the problem for a few minutes, the best answer I could come up with was that it didn’t count since Shady because either he was willing or far too tame already. Shady was obviously Tobi’s pet, so it stood to reason that he would be at least partially domesticated.

Letting out a deep sigh, I knew there was really only one way to test my theory. Slipping the collar off my neck and stowing it in my pocket, I gathered some rope from the storeroom and headed out into the swamp.

Normally, I would have gathered some help, but there were already hunting parties out and about in the general vicinity, so I figured it would be fine. Making my way towards the closest hunting party, I explained what I wanted to try and do and ignored the awed and incredulous looks they gave me in return. Tagging along, I was waiting for the ideal target. By my approximations, I needed a Rank one Swamp Lurker. Anything larger and the Slave collar wouldn’t fit, as is, it wasn’t a sure thing anyway.

After waiting close to a couple of hours, my opportunity had finally arrived. Roughly six feet from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail, the Swamp Lurker was pretty average by crocodile standards. With the hunting party hanging back in reserve I took deep steadying breaths while watching the Swamp Lurker slowly make its way over from the nearby body of water.

Knowing that crocodiles and alligators had weak jaw strength for opening their jaws, my plan was to try and pin its mouth shut while one of the hunters bound it shut with the rope I brought. Once its mouth was bound shut, I would then be able to secure the Slave Collar and test my theory.

As expected, the Swamp Lurker surged out of the water and charged at its closest target.

Ready for it and having gotten a great deal of wrestling practice in the past few days for excercise, I deftly ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the Swamp Lurker’s jaws as they slammed shut an inch from my shin.

*Thump*

I bodily slammed down on the Swamp Lurker from the side, pinning its body down with my weight while scooping its lower jaw upwards with my right forearm. Feeling the tension in the Swamp Lurker’s spine, I maintained the pressure and slowly shifted myself into a sitting position while couching the croc’s throat in my elbow.

The Swamp Lurker kept trying to wriggle and squirm its way free, but I was just too heavy for it.

Holding its jaws tightly together with my left hand, I quickly added my right hand as well, very nearly puncturing the poor creature's hide as I struggled to maintain a firm hold on its wet scales. “Bring the rope!” I barked, making sure to keep the croc’s head pointing upwards to give my assistant the benefit of an enlarged blind spot.

The Serpent-Kin hunter rushed forward and slipped the prepared slipknot over the Swamp Lurker’s mouth and pulled the noose tight. Then for good measure, she tightly looped the rope another four times before tying it off and grappling the beast's jaws with both arms. Hugging it tight to her chest, it gave me the chance to retrieve the collar and begin cinching it around the croc’s neck.

As if sensing what we were trying to do, the Swamp Lurker began bucking about in earnest. However, the hunter refused to let go, and I was far too heavy for it to dislodge.

Pulling the leather strap tight, I barely managed to feed the farthest hole into the buckle and thumb the pin through the catch. Pushing my other thumb onto the small sharp spike to mark the tag with my blood, I was relieved when all at once, the Swamp Lurker stopped resisting.

A short deluge of status alerts filtered in front of my eyes.

[Bond Successful: Applying Enslaved Status and Effects]

[You have qualified to unlock the {Monster Tamer} Basic Class.]

[You have qualified to unlock the {Beast Trainer} Advanced Class.]

[You have qualified to unlock the {Wrangler} Advanced Class.]

Grinning in triumph I blinked away the status alerts and was surprised to see that the hunter who had assisted me looked positively ecstatic. “You unlocked one or more classes as well?” I asked rhetorically, knowing that the Serpent-Kin language wasn’t sufficient to allow reading the Status information.

The hunter nodded, “Yess Lord, I ssee two boxsess!” she hissed excitedly.

Oh wow, I hadn’t expected that. “What is your name?” I asked, having forgotten it in all the excitement and looking for her information.

“My name is Prittra, Lord,” She replied excitedly, most likely guessing why I was asking.

“Prittra...Prittra...” I mumbled while scanning through the hundreds of statuses. “Here we go,” I skipped through the other information to see what Prittra had unlocked.

[Class Qualifications: Monster Tamer, Beast Trainer. ]

It was admittedly about what I had expected, but it was still rather exciting that we had both unlocked Classes at the same time. I briefly wondered if Prittra would have unlocked the wrangler if she knew wrestling techniques, or if she had been excluded because I had been the one to pin the Swamp Lurker. Putting those thoughts aside, I decided it would be best to inform Prittra of her choices. “You have unlocked both the Basic Class Monster Tamer and the Advanced Class Beast Trainer. Monster Tamer Lets you tame wild monsters like this Swamp Lurker, and I assume Beast Trainer is a more sophisticated version of the same.”

Prittra was positively thrumming with excitement, “Which sshould I choosse Lord?” She asked a little nervously.

Well, that was the question, wasn’t it? Technically, I already knew what Monster Tamer was generally capable of. It was like a less specialised Slaver class, near as I could tell from the book Nadine had read for me. Considering how I really didn’t want that mess causing problems in Sanctuary, the relative unknowns of Beast Trainer sounded more preferable. “I think you should take Beast Trainer ,” I suggested, “But it is your choice. However, be aware that I have no tolerance for enslaving other residents of Sanctuary or other monsters of relative intelligence.” I didn’t have the time to debate sapience and sentience right now, so that would have to do.

Prittra nodded eagerly, “How do I do that Lord?”

I explained the process and a few moments later I could see her status information had changed.

Prittra had gained one extra point of Willpower and five additional MP, which was interesting since both Slaver and Taskmaster got HP instead. Skimming past the stats and racial abilities I was rather impressed by the starting Class Abilities.

[(Class Ability: Tame Beast): Dominate the mind of a Beast and establish yourself as their master. Requires a willing target or a contest of (Willpower) against a target with {Bloodied} Condition. Cannot be used on Humanoids. Maximum number of Tamed Beasts is determined by {Willpower} (0:2)]

[(Class Ability: Command): Issue commands to your Tamed Beasts. 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.]

[(Class Ability: Bestial Vigour): Expend MP to increase the {Toughness} and {Strength} of your Tamed Beasts for a short time. {Presence} increases the duration of the effect.]

Reading aloud the Class abilities for Prittra and the other Serpent-Kins benefit, I wondered if the Deep Orcs would regret being so hasty in their choices. Then again, the available selections for Beast monsters in the immediate vicinity wasn’t great.

“If you want, we should be able to transfer ownership of this Swamp Lurker,” I suggested, “At the moment it belongs to me, but if you concentrate on using the Tame Beast ability, I should be able to let you take it.”

Prittra gulped and nodded determinedly, “Alright,” she agreed, apparently so nervous she forgot to mention my title, not that I was complaining.

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

“Accept,” I agreed and removed the Slave Collar. Carefully and somewhat shakily getting to my feet, I moved away from Prittra and her new pet Croc. I may have been imagining things, but it seemed like the Swamp Lurker was glaring at me vindictively.

As the high of my success began to fade, I wondered if perhaps I was celebrating too soon. I mean, I had just unlocked three more potential Classes, but we only had one Slave collar on hand. So even assuming those who wanted the Class paired up, we would only be able to train two people at a time after finding a suitable sized croc to try it on. Worse than that, it had taken some real doing to get the collar on, so I wasn’t even confident the Serpent-Kin would be able to manage it on their own.

Well, there was something else I wanted to try, which keyed into my theory for unlocking the other Classes. I would need to see if Prittra using her Tame Beast ability would generate the unlock for any of her hunting companions. I wasn’t optimistic, but there was a chance that so long as they otherwise replicated everything but the Slave Collar, that it would work.

With that plan in mind, I explained what I expected of the hunting party and secured another pair of volunteers. One of them would serve as a distraction, while the other tried pinning it down.

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to find another Swamp Lurker until late in the evening, and it was far too risky to try something that dangerous in the failing light. Even so, the hunting party was in high spirits. Most of them had not been particularly keen on Clarice’s teaching methods and were worried they would not be able to secure a combat class otherwise.

Returning to Sanctuary, I was still rather pleased by what we had accomplished. Particularly since now I had a method to teach Lash a Leadership Class that wouldn’t involve enslaving anyone to do it. At the very least, Lash should be able to help the Serpent-Kin unlock the Beast Tamer Advanced Class. Even if the Advanced Class itself doesn’t need to be present, I could at least rely on lash to be able to draw and close the Slave Collar.

Prittra and her Swamp Lurker were getting a great deal of attention by the cooking fires, particularly from Toofy.

“Ahhhh,” Toofy opened her mouth wide, imitating the Swamp Lurker as she threw another chunk of meat into its mouth.

*Thunk**Thunk**Thunk*

The Swamp Luker snapped its jaws and pulled back its head to better swallow the food.

Toofy waved to Ril and animatedly pointed at her own mouth.

Ril nodded and threw a piece of meat underarm into Toofy’s mouth.

“Nyom nyom nyom, “Toofy gnashed her teeth repeatedly then threw back her head to swallow. “Heeheehee,” She flashed Ril a grin, “Ril’s turn!”

Ril opened her mouth wide and waited.

After watching the girls play their little game for a half-hour or so, I decided that I had procrastinated long enough and went looking for Lash. Unsurprisingly, she was still on the training field, but it was just her and two other Deep Orcs fighting a three-way spar. It was an interesting change to the dynamic of the fight, and I wondered if it was an attempt at replicating the chaos of a real battle or if it was just an attempt to generate more EXP.

Sitting down nearby, I watched the fight play out.

Lash seemed to be testing her limits because despite putting up a good fight, she was still the first to be eliminated. The other two Deep Orc’s had ganged up on her almost exclusively until she reached ten points and was eliminated. Not that Lash seemed to mind. She spent her downtime stretching and intensely watching the ensuing fight.

For good reason. The two remaining Deep Orcs kicked it up another level once Lash was eliminated, their strikes coming faster and hitting far harder than earlier. Most of their attacks were deftly parried or avoided by rolling their hips or pivoting to side angle a blow.

It was obvious that I had made a mistake in just assuming Lash was the strongest of the Deep Orcs just because she was the largest and had spoken for them. The two sparring Deep Orcs obviously had hard-earned skill and were making the most of their new Class Abilities.

After about ten minutes of a rather dizzying back and forth, one of the pair began to tire and their opponent began landing hits on their armour, announcing each scored point with a resounding clang. They weren’t playing around either, those axe blows looked like they would cleave unprotected limbs right off.

It was about the same time that Lash seemed to have noticed me watching the bout and made her way over and stared expectantly at me, waiting patiently to see what I wanted.

Explaining that I had found a way to unlock three more classes, I waited to gauge Lash’s reaction before informing her of my intent to promote her to Underlord.

“Monster Tamer, Beast Trainer, they make the soulless fight for you?” Lash asked inquisitively.

I nodded, “The Beasts tamed with the Class Ability fight like loyal companions, and I think you can make them loyal over time.”

Lash thought about this for a moment and nodded, “Loyalty is better than slavery.”

On Earth, you could probably make the argument that these were one and the same in regards to the Taming Class Ability. But the most important difference was that, unlike the humanoid monsters, the beasts seemed single-mindedly compelled to attack humanoids and certain other targets on sight. With domestication made otherwise impossible, the ‘taming’ mechanics seemed significantly more humane. In a sense, it gave the Beasts a choice they otherwise lacked.

I was rather confused by how easy it was to keep my head around Lash at the moment, and the only reason I could think of for it was that she hadn’t removed her helmet. Well...that and most of her body was covered by iron plates.

“I was thinking about promoting you to Underlord,” I explained, “If we can unlock the Monster Tamer Class for you, then I am quite sure it will then unlock access to a Rulership Class like myself and Gric. What do you think?”

Lash just stared at me silently for a while. She remained silent long enough that the sparring match ended and the pair of Deep Orcs made their way over to see what was going on. “You want me to serve as Underlord?” Lash asked, “Same as Gric? She added.

I nodded.

Lash returned to quietly contemplating the question.

Meanwhile, the two other Deep Orcs seemed to be taken aback and briefly turned their visored helmets towards one another.

Lash nodded and knelt down on one knee, lowering her head, “I accept,” she pronounced determinedly.

Realising that she was expecting the promotion here and now, I cleared my throat and did my best to sound important. “By the power vested in me, by me, I hereby raise Lash to the position of Underlord.”

[Settlement Alert {Sanctuary}: {Lash - Deep Orc} has been promoted to Underlord.]

The Status ALert had very likely been sent to everyone within Sanctuary, but I wondered if Ushu and the others had received it as well despite the distance. Granted it had been four days already, but I had the general impression that these kinds of alerts were intended to be a big deal and notify EVERYONE within the faction.

Raising herself up off the ground, Lash removed her helmet and I immediately felt the sudden spike in my anxiety as she stared at me with her intense luminous eyes, “I won’t fail you!” Lash promised determinedly.

I nodded and tried to look far more confident than I felt. “We can head out tomorrow morning to unlock the required classes, alright?”.

“As you will,” Lash agreed with a barely restrained grin.

Giving the three of them a perfunctory nod, I began making my way back to the Grove to go to bed. Shaking off my lingering nerves, I let out a deep sigh. Things had gone better than I expected, and it was good to know I could get through a conversation with Lash without devolving into a babbling wreck.

Hana was waiting for me by the Grove fountain and got up when she saw me coming, “I finished the Hatchery if you want to come to take a look?” She motioned to the far side of the Grove to the huge barrow den she had grown over the past couple of days.

“Sure,” I was actually rather curious to see what Hana had done. The walls, windows and roof hadn’t really taken her much time at all, so the extra time had to have gone somewhere special.

Entering the barrow, it was more or less the same as most of the others, with a few notable exceptions. Hana had made dozens of cradles from branches connected to the barrows' walls. Looking closely I could see a very faint green aura pulsing off of the branches. “Is that what I think it is?” I asked excitedly.

Hana smiled tiredly and nodded, “The cradles should help eggs hatch much faster and relieve some of the hatchlings initial aggressive tendencies.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” I asked curiously, taking a closer look at the cradle noticing a distinctly familiar sensation.

“I have been observing the hatchlings as much as I can,” Hana began to explain, running her hands lovingly over a nearby cradle. “They crave food and mana in equal measure, but they are too young and lack self-control. Using violence to get what they want, it’s not all that surprising,” she snorted quietly and shook her head. “It was actually one of the Daemons that helped explain it for me. They are power-obsessed and all, true, but they were born quite recently and still remember what it was like.”

It was weird to me that a statement like that was to be considered part of my new normal. “Which Daemon did you ask?” I inquired curiously.

“The small one that tags along with your little Toofy,...” Hana stopped to think for a moment, “Ril, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“Oddly clever that one,” Hana mused with a smirk.

“How so?” I mean Ril was no cleverer than any of the other Daemons I had observed. Cuter? Sure, but more clever or cunning? I wasn’t really convinced.

“She has been bathing in the Grove fountain every day. Sometimes for hours, ”Hana observed, as if that were a telling sign of intelligence.

“Sorry, I think you lost me there Hana. What’s so special about hanging out in the fountain?” I asked a little dubiously.

Hana gave me an amused smirk and then smiled, “Have you forgotten what the Grove does?” She asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

I furrowed my brow for a moment, “It’s a mana-well right? The special trees draw mana up from underground and disperse it into the air.”

“Right,” Hana nodded, “But the water from deep below already has mana saturated in it as well, and the high level of ambient mana stops it from dispersing.”

Suddenly a few things began to make sense, “Wait, you don't mean?...”

Hana smiled and nodded, “Bathing in the Grove fountain, drinking its waters, infuses your body with its mana. The process is normally considerably slower than consuming manastones, but it seems that the Daemonling figured out a shortcut. She filters the mana from the water just by breathing.”

“What about mana addiction?” I groaned, recalling how I had encouraged Ril to swim in the first place.

Hana shrugged, “She shows no signs of anything you described to me after your..hrm, experience. In fact, she is far less obsessed than the other Daemons are regarding their manastone consumption. Every other Daemon takes their allotted manastone the literal moment they are allowed,” She snorted quietly and shook her head, “I have seen your Toofy and Ril playing some sort of game with them instead.”

I shook my head and tried to get my head around it. “This is why taking that manastone felt so familiar. I had already been drinking and bathing in that water.”

Hana nodded, “Its effects would be incredibly weak, but given you can see mana, it probably isn’t too unreasonable to assume you are somewhat sensitive to it as well.”

I know Hana was just trying to be supportive, but the prospect of being more sensitive to mana, and therefore more susceptible to addiction, was not a pleasant one. Trying to look past my own problem for a minute I tried to think of the ramifications for Ril. “So swimming in the fountain isn’t bad for her?” I wanted to clear on this, it was too important.

“She will be fine,” Hana confirmed, “In fact, she seems to be close to her next evolution.”

“Really?” I hadn’t been paying nearly enough attention since Ril was so small. She was still shorter than Toofy for crying out loud.

Hana nodded and thoughtfully rubbed her chin, “Gric evolved a couple of days ago, but he seems to be emphasising a different route of progression to his hatchmates.”

“What do you mean?” I asked warily, not sure I would like what I was going to hear.

Hana shrugged apologetically, “I don’t know. All I know is that he evolved and hasn’t outwardly changed all that much compared to say Qreet or Dar.”

“That’s strange,” I agreed, making a mental note to look into it. Perhaps Gric had just been busy?

“I thought so too,” Hana nodded, “But he has been perfectly well behaved, just like all the others.”

“Well you’ve given me a lot to think about,” I sighed ruefully, “I better head to bed though, I probably have an early start ahead of me.”

“Oh?” Hana drew closer, “What are you getting up to now? I heard that you unlocked another Class,” she prompted.

I nodded somewhat tiredly, “Three actually. Monster Tamer, Beast Trainer and Wrangler.”

“Mhm mhm,” Hana nodded agreeably, “So what about Lash?” She asked, checking her nails and feigning disinterest.

“What about Lash?” I countered.

“Oh you know, I was just wondering how things were going between the two of you,” Hana commented innocently, “They must be going pretty well if you made her an Underlord right?”

“I...” I considered lying or dancing around the truth, but what was the point? “I don’t know,” I admitted.

Hana raised an eyebrow quizzically, “What do you mean you don’t know?”

I shrugged and raised my palms exaggeratedly, “I mean, I don’t know,” I insisted.

Rolling her eyes, Hana sighed, “Do you like her?” She asked bluntly.

I felt my cheeks flush in response, “Ah, yeah, she’s nice, I guess,” I admitted evasively.

“Tim, don’t be childish,” Hana chided, “Anyone with eyes can tell you like her. Just admit it.”

My cheeks flushed even more, “Fine, HRM,” I gruffly cleared my throat, “I like her,” I admitted.

“Aaaand? What is it you like about her?” Hana asked, oddly exasperated and amused.

“I like her eyes-” I was almost immediately interrupted by a loud irritated groan from Hana.

“-It’s been like five days Tim, have you seriously not talked to her at all?!” Hana demanded incredulously.

“I’ve been busy...” I muttered defensively.

Hana gave me a pitying look, “Lash really seems to like you, you know. You should at least try to find out more about her.” She calmed down a little and let out a quiet sigh, “Is it really so hard to talk to Lash?” Hana asked.

“You have no idea,” I groaned dejectedly, “When she is around, it feels like my brain is going crazy, I can hardly string two words together at a time, let alone hold an engaging conversation.”

“Really?” This had clearly piqued Hana’s interest, “Why is that?”

I gave Hana an incredulous stare, “Because I find her incredibly attractive and...well...I don’t really have any experience with this sort of thing, okay?”

Hana’s expressions softened, “Gah, right, sorry...” She apologised, “It’s just...I think Lash could really make you happy if you gave it a real chance,” Hana insisted.

“I’ll try, okay?” I agreed.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Hana smiled wryly, “You never know just how long we have left, you know?”

“I know,” I considered the number of dangerous psychos running around the Labyrinth and had to agree.

*****

“INCOMING” The warning came a second too late and Clarice watched as a Goblin warrior was knocked off their feet and pinned to the deck by a ballista bolt.

Too busy desperately fighting off the latest wave of boarders, Clarice pushed the sight of the screaming Goblin from her mind and focused on what her father taught her. “One enemy at a time,” she muttered, sweeping her sword down through the neck of her armoured opponent.

The Deep Orc staggered, blood running down the front of their armour as they stared at Clarice in surprise.

Snapping a kick to the Deep Orc’s midsection, Clarice launched the Deep Orc off the ship and into the river.

Immediately turning her attention to the next enemy, Clarice barely managed to dodge in time as an axe whistled past her head. Snapping her attention to the source of the attack, Clarice could see an Orc easily as tall as Tim and Lash pushing himself through the desperate melee, their gaze firmly fixed on her.

“Well fuck you too!” Clarice growled and snatched up one of the fallen axes herself. Taking only a moment to get a feel for the weight and balance of the thing, she hurled it at the oncoming Deep Orc.

*Clang*

Intending to contemptuously bat the attack aside, the large Deep Orc’s parry came a moment too late, the axe impacted its chest armour with a shower of sparks as it then continued past into the melee. The large Deep Orc just stared at Clarice for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and began stalking forwards again, “YOU!” He declared, “YOU WILL BE SACRIFICED TO BRIGHT LORD!” The Deep Orc howled as he charged.

“Shit!” Clarice swore. There were too many fallen bodies on the deck and too many ongoing melee’s to give her the room she needed to fight a larger heavily armoured opponent.

*Shwing, Twang, Thwok*

A trio of arrows raced past Clarice and into the chest of the Large Deep Orc, unfortunately, the first two ricocheted near harmlessly off its chest plate. However, the third managed to catch him in his relatively exposed neck, biting deep into the crude leather. “Thanks Tobi!” Claricce called out gratefully but didn’t take her eyes off the Deep Orc. He was wounded but far from done.

“RAGH! WEAK HUMAN FILTH!” The Deep Orc roared in anger and barrelled towards Clarice, his axe held high for an attempt at a killing blow.

Keeping her temper, Clarice waited until the last moment to roll to the side, dropping her sword in the process but sending her free and clear of the scything arc of the axe.

Unbalanced by the lack of resistance, blood slick deck and the rolling of the waves, The Deep Orc lurched and began flailing as he nearly fell overboard.

More or less what Clarice had expected, she charged back at the unbalanced Deep Orc and shoved him as hard as she was able.

Tumbling over the side of the ship, the large Deep Orc disappeared into the river, dragged inexorably downward by his heavy armour.

Staggering away from the low railing, Clarice snatched up her sword again and cautiously approached the larger melee.

The Goblin warriors were hopelessly outmatched, their crude bone armour short metal tipped spears no match for the hulking heavily armoured Deep Orcs. But they fought ferociously nonetheless. They still had the Deep Orcs outnumbered five to one, and despite taking some losses, the Goblins were able to distract the Deep Orcs long enough for Clarice and Tobi to try and swing things in their favour.

The boarding actions had been taking place in earnest for the past hour. The larger enemy ship was deliberately keeping its distance while deploying smaller assault craft for boarding parties. The small fleet of ships belonging to the adventurer’s Guild was tied up fighting two other similarly sized ships of their own, so they could expect no help from them either.

When Clarice had volunteered to try and find Millie, Kirk and Rose, she had not expected something like this to happen. Clarice had thought the raid on the first-floor foothold had been crazy, but this was something else entirely.

Taking a quick look to make sure the others were okay, Clarice was relieved to see that their vanguard was more or less holding and even pushing the Deep Orcs back.

Tobi and Emelia were at the far end of the ship along with Beaky, Thunder, Shady and Ushu. Nadine was below decks treating as many of the wounded as she was able, most likely chugging her way through every mana potion the Goblins had in the process.

At first, Clarice hadn’t really understood why Tim had been so willing to surrender himself to slavery to save Toofy. She was just a Goblin after all, there were always more of them. But after living amongst the monsters, had been slowly changing her mind.

When Ushu had insisted they personally support the Sunrock Goblins aboard the Sunstrider, Clarice had been reluctant, to say the least. The memory of the first-floor raid was still fresh in her mind and it had been hard to separate the actions of those wild Goblins from their more civilised kin. Then Clarice had seen the terrified faces of their children...The hold of the ship was damn near filled with the little buggers. Just like Ushu’s tribe, the Sunrock had prioritised the safety of their children first.

Looking into their little snot-nosed faces, the lingering anger and resentment she had felt changed targets. The thought of someone deliberately seeking to harm them made Clarice’s blood boil. Tim really didn’t have a choice, she now recognised the dilemma. At what point does your inaction translate to responsibility?

Shaking her head and focusing on the battle, Clarice charged towards the closest Deep Orc. With Goblins harrying her target from all sides, she limited her attacks to thrusts at the exposed points of the armour under the arms and around the neck. Hardly the most effective use of her two-handed blade, Clarice waved the Goblins away so she could begin her attack in earnest.

Only too keen to help elsewhere, the Goblins obliged, surging into another desperate melee, their added numerical advantage bearing an already wounded Deep Orc down to the deck.

With enough room to properly use her blade without striking allies, Clarice began her own assault in earnest. Most of Clarice’s attacks were stopped short by the Deep Orc’s iron plate armour, but not all of them. Unlike true plate and mail, the Deep Orc design for their heavy armour prioritised outer surfaces and didn’t cover their entire bodies. They had exploitable weak points of exposed flesh at the joints, midsection and neck.

Furthermore, Clarice had the benefit of her blade being made of steel, so she was reasonably confident in being able to strike the Deep Orc’s armour accidentally without the blade snapping or being heavily damaged. Ultimately, this was what gave her the edge. Ducking back from the savage swing of the Deep Orc’s axe, Clarice leapt right back in again with a sweeping blow from above and sheared through the Deep Orc’s right elbow.

Momentarily stunned, the Deep Orc stared at the severed stump for a moment and staggered. However, rather than collapsing to the deck as Clarice had expected, the Deep Orc howled in fury and bodily rushed Nadine with such sudden momentum that she barely had time to react.

Swept up in the Deep Orc’s tackle, Clarice realised with sudden horror that they were tumbling over the side of the ship. Letting go of her sword, she desperately grasped for the railing but was too late.

Crashing into the water, Clarice felt the air forcibly eject from her lungs and barely avoided inhaling a lungful of river water. The Deep Orc was driving them downward, his sheer weight causing them to sink at an alarming speed. Viciously pummeling at the Deep Orc to try and loosen his grip, Clarice began to panic.

They were not alone in the water, dark shapes loomed below and were drawn by the ribbons of blood trailing from the Deep Orc’s arm like a beacon.

Frantically pulling a knife from her belt, Clarice began viciously stabbing at the Deep Orc’s neck. The moment she felt his grip slacken, Clarice kicked off of the Deep Orc, dropped her knife and desperately swam towards the surface. If she was lucky, Clarice would be able to reach one of the abandoned boats the Deep Orcs had been using.

Feeling a disturbance in the water beneath her, Clarice didn’t dare look down, she would make it to the surface or she wouldn’t. Already dealing with a pounding headache and desperately needing to take a breath of air, Clarice knew she would have no chance at fighting anything without drowning anyway.

All but certain now that death was only a matter of seconds away, Clarice kicked harder, she had almost reached the surface!

Something crashed into the water beside her, but Clarice was beginning to blackout and continued struggling towards the surface. “GUH!” She desperately swallowed a lungful of air and coughed violently to expel the small amounts of river water she had swallowed by accident earlier. Feeling the turbulence in the water beneath her, Clarice desperately swam for the nearest boat with all of her remaining strength. Scrambled out of the water and onto the empty boat, her vision swimming.

Clarice couldn’t believe she had made it out alive. She felt exhilerated, more energized than ever and riding the rush of victory. She laughed in sheer glee. She was Clarice! Most fearsome warrior on three levels! No one could best her!

A black alert appeared in front of her, and her glee turned to ice. She stared, uncomprehending, at the party status alert in front of her eyes.

[Thunder has been killed by Hydra!]

Clarice fought the urge to blink, which would have dismissed the alert. She didn’t want to lose the last connection she had with Thunder. "No. No, not Thunder . . ."

Clarice had planned on riding that damn bird all the way to the top of the Labyrinth. They were going to be the first to see what was really up there. Riding Thunder made her feel damn near invincible. Nothing had been able to scratch them without swift and vicious reprisal.

And now Thunder was gone. Thunder had had to fight alone, because Clarice had been occupied with that damn Deep Orc.

And that bastard had brought a Hydra?

She finally closed her eyes and got to her feet, looking out over the battle.

“CLARICE!” Someone was yelling her name, but they sounded very far away.

A dull pain blossomed in Clarice's shoulder as a bolt tore through her sodden gambeson and dispeared behind her into the river. Clarice ignored it. Only a flesh wound. Not important.

Out of the corner of her eye, Clarice spotted movement in the depths of the river. A shadow glided by, easily larger than the twenty foot boat she stood on. It was trailing the Sunstrider like a shark, ready to snap up anything -- anyone -- that fell into the water.

"I'll fucking kill you," Clarice muttered through clenched teeth. She balled her fists so tight her bones ached. "HYDRA!" She shouted at the shadow. "YOU HEAR ME? I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"