His head banged on solid rock. He swore. Tight fissure. Long, cramped night. Pasty mouth. The devs could have done away with that feature.

He tapped on the smooth bulge of his crotch. At least the age rating saved him for a morning piss.

He crawled out of his hidden hole. Legs dangling over the precipice. Uncomfortable spot, but hard to beat as a safe place. A natural cavern, hidden at the top of a seventy feet cliff. Choo had spotted it for him. Had left out how uncomfortable it was, of course.

The Thirsty icon flashed in his interface. Enoch took a sip of beer. Couldn’t run with a -20% debuff on Stamina, couldn’t he? His canteen was almost empty. He really had to get back to the caravan today.

“Wakey wakey nerd. Time to run.” | Tag little bro.

He would have to beat that runt IRL. The sooner the better.

Enoch took out his old crappy notes. Asked Choo to hover over his head. Without shenanigans if possible. Not much hope there, but he needed the light. He retrieved his new Scroll Case. Took his Charcoal Pencil. Started to transfer his terrible drawings to a nicer format on clean paper.

Last night had been good in Safe Haven. Someone had completed his Player Quest. Now he had all the right equipment to draw great maps. Survey 1 would only make a passable job. He didn’t want to waste more skills on that profession. He was a Scout, not a Scribe.

He finished the task. Ate a bite. Tumbled down the cliff. For the last twenty feet, he tried a maneuver he had only done a couple of times in the rare game where he had looted good animated items. His hand held on Choo’s Thorny Spook Bark Shield, from the handle, and glided away from the rock wall.

The core complained all the way down, “Mayday, Mayday, we’re going down,” followed by panicked beeping and clicking.

A relived, “oh,” came out after the smooth landing helped by the low falling damage and Enoch own high Mobility.

Time for a run. Back to the caravan. There where a few alternate paths worth trying. It would expand his map and, maybe, provide decent mobs to farm, loot to find.

***

He came back to an inferno, chilling cries of agony and mad howling. Bright fire burnt his retina. Too long had he delved in the dark. The wall of flames outshining the dimmer surroundings. Didn’t fancy a blind jump so he sent in Choo.

The core came back smoking, “they’re fighting the mutants again. Two big lizardmen, black scales, fire mages.”

That would explain all the fire, wouldn’t it? One resigned sigh. One long leap over the flames. Straight into the oven. Had to give it the mutants’ leader. Overwhelming fire in a tunnel was hard to beat, and impossible to extinguish.

[Burnt | 30 seconds]. That debuff would remove one Health per second. The timer wouldn’t go down until Enoch left the hot zone. Great start.

Proud blacksmiths laid on the ground. Huge spots of discolored metal on their plate armor. Other humans, unprotected, had been scorched into outlines of gray pixels. Further up on what must have been the defender’s front line, ranks of soldiers had fallen in messy, smoking heaps. Two high level mages had vanquished the caravan.

He had a great synergy with the NPCs for once. Enoch had to salvage something. He zipped to the closest wagon.

Andrej’s animated doll harassed the mages, lunging with sharp blades, most of them burning. Fire pillars rose automatically to intercept the attacks. Aura of Fiery Defense. OP spell.

Andrej, Tatiana and a couple of survivors hugged the wagons on its protected side, hanging on handles and ladders, feet raised high, shying away from the flames.

Tatiana shouted, “do something Outsider.”

Enoch nodded with a contrived expression. Great idea. Andrej shrugged apologetically. Two dolls dropped from the mayor’s bag, their wooden forearms gone, revealing hidden blades. They caught fire immediately then disappeared under the wagon.

Enoch waved for Choo. Whispered to the core. His own foot burning in the fire. HIs Spook Peg Leg transmitting heat to his stump. Even with the pain filter set at 5%, it wasn’t comfy.

The smoke choked him. His oxygen bar appeared. Gray instead of the habitual red. Meant that he could partially breathe. The meter going down at half the usual speed. At that rate, his air supply would last for a good 15 minutes. It wouldn’t matter much in that fight.

As instructed, Choo flew away with a spin. Enoch shouted, “push with me,” and strained on the hovering wagon. The villagers dropped and pushed with him. Two stayed on the wagon, panicked.

The mages laughed with creepy lizard noises. Intense flames gushed under the wagon, burning the group’s feet and legs to a crisp, the smell way too realistic for a family friendly game. [- 25 Health].

Andrej’s lanky friend casted a mass heal. It helped Enoch, but it was obviously not enough for everyone. A villager lost consciousness, disappeared in the fire.

Enoch shouted, “Choo Choo human train.”

Choo surprising loud voice answered, “Choo Choo human train.”

The mages laughs turned to a terror-stricken shriek.

Multiple tons of hard steel crashed into each other. One wagon pushed by Enoch’s group, the other pushed by Choo’s group. The humans still clinging to them flew everywhere, although one, impressively enough, managed to hang on. The ones pushing fell backward on their smoky asses. Andrej face planted into a steel panel. He stayed there, immobile, apparently cursing his existence.

The chat showered Enoch with tips.

“Go Go human train.” Tip | 20$

“Stunning.” Tip | 18$

“Spicy sandwich.” Tip | 18$

All good but the fight wasn’t over. Collision damage had been nerfed long ago. Enoch tumbled to the side. Peeked between the wagons. Saw only one mage from this angle, squeezed, eyes bulging, rage distorting his mutant face. A doll jumped on his head, stabbed down. The caster’s expression changed. A spell coalesced around his fingers. Enoch got out of the way as a ray of lava shot pass him. The best part about squishing a mage was their impaired aim. Easiest dodge of his life.

Enoch waved at Choo. The Thorny Spook Bark Shield, already spinning, came down in between the wagons, an animated wheel of death. The mages shouted in fear, then in pain, then in silence. The Outsider smiled.