The freed slaves had been correct. I was looking over the railway overpass from the second story of a house. Four individuals were lounging behind the sandbag bunkers on the far side. There were, however, no mounted guns.

I couldn't see any guns from this range, which was not necessarily a good thing. It probably meant these individuals had power enough to not need firearms. There were two possible ways across the bridge, quietly, or loudly. We would try the quiet approach first.

"You ready for this?" I asked Fiona.

She had argued against the plan, well one part of the plan. She had been pretty insistent about not wearing the armband. I managed to convince her it was the only quick option we had. We needed to get across, to the city, and determine what happened to the locals. If we could save them we would.

"Not really, but what choice do we have?"

I just grunted in response. Plan B was in the back of my mind. If this plan failed I could probably blitz across half the bridge before my spell wore off. If we got stuck on the bridge I don't think the battle would end well for us. I said a quick prayer to Lady Luck. We stepped out of the house and walked down the street like we belonged.

Making it to the bridge had been simple, it didn't even rouse the group from the other side. That changed as we made it about a quarter of the way across. I saw one of the men notice us, slapping his companions awake. By the halfway point all four had gotten to their feet and were eying us suspiciously. They were content to wait on the far side though.

"Shit," I whispered to Fiona, "I think they suspect something. On three I will bolt across the bridge to hold them off. Try to get there as soon as you can."

I glanced over and she just nodded.

"1...2..."

Before I got to three one of the men waved, "Bout damn time they sent some replacements, we have been here all damn day."

I could hear the other men grumbling about their shitty assignment as we got closer. When I got close enough I checked their status.

Brawler | Level 8

Hoplite | Level 9

Artificer | Level 7

and the last and seemingly leader of this group of Black Dragons

Evoker | Level 10

Unfortunately, the Evoker noticed my spell, you ask how I knew this, well...

"Wait, did you just scan me..., oh shit these aren't members. Kill them," the man yelled.

He wasn't the most eloquent linguist I had ever heard but his warning did what it was intended to do. The four pulled weapons from storage items. It was too bad for them I already had my weapon out. I crossed the remaining distance in less than a second.

This time I didn't pull my punches, slamming my staff full force into the Evoker's gut.

The staff met something that resisted it for a bit. Whatever it was managed to reduce my blow but not nearly enough. The man was sent tumbling backward a few feet, a flash of light sparking between the end of my staff and the Evoker. My staff still crackled with electricity from the fight earlier. He lay on the ground twitching as the current flowed through his body.

I dodged to the left as the Hoplite tried to spear me in the head, managing to only take a glancing blow across my cheek.

I wanted to quip at him about how I got my scar but the Brawler came in next, trying to tackle me as the Artificer pulled out some sort of wand.

I slammed the butt of my staff down, I had already been channeling the word of power for Seismic Strike. The Brawler, already off-balance from trying to lunge at me fell on his face and the Artificer had to drop his item as he clung to the sandbags to stay upright. I couldn't see the Hoplite so I did the smart thing and dove to the side.

A searing pain erupted from my side as the sneaky bastard speared me from behind. It was a painful blow. My quick reaction the only thing keeping him from hitting anything vital. I cast Rejuvenate as I rolled to my feet, facing the four. I was pissed, more at myself than the Hoplite but he wasn't free from my wrath. I activated Flurry, using the last second of Blink Step to show the hoplite what a real thrust was.

I appeared in front of the stunned man, hitting him with my attack. My staff pistoning into his chest twelve times in less than a second. He was nowhere near fast enough to react, his shield and spear falling from his hands.

Three of my strikes activated Impact and a fourth one activated my weapon's critical. My attack blew a hole through the man's torso. A glance at my damage notice showed I did over 1300 damage to the man. Whoops, a bit overkill and also painful. My abused muscles and open wound protesting from the rapid attacks I had just performed.

I turned to take on the other three men, after seeing what I did to their buddy they started running.

Fiona managed to catch up to the injured Evoker, easily cutting him down. In a last-ditch attempt to save himself he threw a fireball at her. She redirected the attack towards the other two, hitting the Brawler in the back. The spell exploded, knocking both him and the Artificer to the ground.

I could see both struggling to rise, smoke and charred flesh covered their backs. Fiona was close enough to shackle both of them. With their injuries, they didn't have enough strength left to fight off the spell. She approached them both, sliding her sword through their backs and into their hearts without a second thought. After she was done she flicked her blade to remove the blood.

I had no complaints about her actions. All four of these men wore the Black Dragon armbands.

While she checked the other bodies I looted the Hoplite. Other than his spear and shield, which I tossed into the storage ring he was wearing, he just had a few miscellaneous other items. Some food, a few of the slave collars, a pack of playing cards, and 500 credits.

All in all, we collected four storage rings that we split between us. I tied mine to a strap of leather inside my armor since you couldn't store storage items inside other storage items. The 2250 credits we split evenly between us. In total there was another dozen slave collar along with some food, rope, and a pistol. I pocketed the pistol and ammo into my ring because you never know, it might come in handy someday. I also had an evil idea on how to use these collars.

"Let's hide these bodies and find a safe place for a few minutes, I want to try something."

Fiona agreed. We hauled the dead bodies to a convenient nearby dumpster. 'It was nice that we were putting these men where they belonged,' I mused, heaving the last man in and closing the lid.

We found a small shop that was surprisingly unlocked. After we made sure it was clear we moved to the back room.

"So what is so important that we need to stop now that our goal is in sight."

"You remember when I was testing the collars to remove yours?"

"Yes," she said, shivering at the memory.

"Well, one of my tests exploded. Thankfully it didn't do much damage, probably because I hadn't been aiming for that effect. The thing is, I think I can enhance that effect."

"But how are you going to keep them stable...," she started to say, but stopped to think about it, "You're hoping the storage rings will keep them in stasis until you pull them out. That's an awfully dangerous plan. What if they go off as soon as you take it out?"

"It may sound weird but I can almost feel how long it takes the power to build up before catastrophic failure occurs. It may not be perfectly accurate. I believe with my improved rune crafting skill I should be able to keep them stable enough to last 10 to 15 seconds but that's why we're here. I need to test that theory."

"Fine, but let's be quick about it. I will keep watch at the front of the store. Try not to blow yourself up.," she said as she walked out of the back room.

I didn't waste any time. Pulling out three collars, my carving tools, and one of the other storage rings. I sure as hell wasn't going to use my larger ring for this test. No these piddly one cubic foot rings would work fine. As an afterthought, I decided to transfer my old staff to the other ring tied behind my armor, then got to carving.

Sweat beaded my brow and I flew through the carving process as quickly as was safely possible. My first attempt had to tossed into a ring immediately, as soon as it was finished it gave off an imminent feeling of exploding. The ring idea worked since I was still alive. After that, I decided to take a little more time making the last two samples. I could feel the power building inside the collars but at a slightly slower pace so I put them in the other ring I had tucked away.

My runes had converted the magical energy meant to compel a slave into a fragmentation grenade. I didn't expect them to be all that useful, more of a surprise for anyone that came across them. I figured they might be enough to confuse or disrupt a few enemies. Plus they were super easy to throw. Almost acting like frisbees.

The unstable one was in one ring, I didn't want to accidentally pull that one out and have it go off in my face. It's not like the storage could differentiate between the collars. To the System, they were still all the same items.

I wondered why that was. The System recognized my rune crafted armor, but not the rune modified collars. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were already magically enhanced. It was just another thing to test in the future.

Despite my failure with the first ring, I had an idea of how it could be used. I chuckled just thinking about it.

Fiona came back into the room, "We have more company, they are a few blocks out, heading this way."

"Perfect, you remember that building near the bridge?"

"The large blue one?"

"Yup, go meet me in there; I gotta go leave a gift for our friends."

She huffed, "Ok, fine, just be careful, ok."

"Won't take me but a minute," I said, smiling.

I set the ring down in the pool of blood left by the Hoplite. It was very conspicuous, all shiny, surrounded by congealing blood. Hopefully, it would be enough to draw their attention.

After placing the ring I ran off to meet Fiona. She should be waiting in the blue building, a good hundred or so feet away.

"So care to tell me what you're up to?" she asked as I entered the building.

"So, in essence, I turned the collars into powerful grenades. Using the innate magic and my runes to cause the power to build, until I either say the trigger word or the energies can't be contained anymore. Either outcome would work fine for me. They should be enough to kill or severely injure anyone within ten feet of the blast."

"But what if they detonate other magical items, won't that enhance the blast?"

I had to think about it for a second, "It's not likely..."

***

Rosko was bored. After the initial push into this town, there had been little in the way of fighting which meant little in the way of leveling. That meant the three slaves he had painstakingly acquired, using his three allotted slave collars were practically useless. He could purchase more from the bazaar but wouldn't gain the same benefit as the ones from the Black Dragon. More of those enhanced collars would only come if he ranked up within the organization.

This was why he was in such a foul mood. He couldn't rank up unless he leveled up, and he couldn't level up unless his slaves had something to fight. His foul mood caused even Dimitri to avoid speaking to him. And to top it off he had a full six-hour rotation at the least likely checkpoint to be used. Of course, he dragged his feet getting here. He knew the crew on duty, they wouldn't dare report him.

As they approached the barricade Rosko sensed something was wrong. The first thing he noticed was nobody was manning the post. He stopped well clear of the sandbag bunker, putting his hand out to stop his friend Dimitri. They stood in the open, while pre System this would be a terrible idea. Post System it gave him a clear line of sight to everything around and more than enough time to activate his mage shield. Most spells had limited range, and even with enhanced abilities, it would take time for anyone to clear the two hundred or so feet to where they stood.

"You three go check it out," he said to the three slaves.

All three were below level five but even their paltry skills had pushed Rosko, to level eight, almost level nine. Unlike Dimitri, who was a Scout/Sniper that utilized his bow, Rosko was a Geomancer that specialized in close combat, with magical rocky armor. It made him nearly indestructible but extremely slow. At least until he got his upgraded skill at level ten.

He could see the slaves hurrying back, one was holding something in his hand.

"We found a pool of blood and signs of a fight. Also, this ring, master," the one slave said, handing him the ring.

Dimitri walked over to see.

"You three spread out and keep your eyes open, let me know if you spot anything."

All three complied as they should.

"Well, what is it?" Dimitri asked in his thick Russian accent.

"Feels like a storage ring, I bet whoever attacked here missed it. Let's see what's inside."

"Hmm that's odd," Rosko said, a frown forming on his face. He had expected to find credits, food, and three collars, but there was only one collar. He didn't recall anyone from their team capturing slaves. Perhaps they had managed to collar two, but then where were they?

"Well?" his Russian friend said eagerly.

Rosko pulled the collar from the ring and regretted doing so almost immediately. He could feel the raging power inside, even see it, as the disk began to glow. He tried stuffing it back inside the storage device when it went off.