Alf stumbled onto his feet as shouts, screams, and roars echoed around him. The cave was too dark. He couldn’t see a thing, but it sounded like people were being torn to shreds.

A scream somewhere in front of him was cut short by a wet thunk—the kind of thunk a watermelon makes when it’s dropped from the roof of a house.

He felt his way towards the sound, but a tangle of flailing limbs hit him hard, knocking him to the ground. He pushed the flailing female off of him and struggled onto his feet. Then, just in case, he crouched and cast minor healing on her before continuing towards the roars.

“Blix!” he shouted. “I think it’s by the entrance. Get everyone deeper into the cave!”

A heavy blow sent him crashing to the ground. Tearing claws. The musky smell of wet fur.

He struggled onto his hands and knees and crawled towards the moonlit entrance, but another blow sent him tumbling. His health was already down to 115—that was an average of 55 points per hit. Casting minor healing on himself, he scrabbled towards the light as the sounds of ripping flesh filled his head.

“Hey, I’m over here!” He darted through the entrance and started climbing down the rocky wall. “I’m the one you’re looking for!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “I beat your guards to a bloody pulp, and I’ll beat you too!”

Congratulations! You have learned the skill:

Taunt 1: (Effective Level: 1.6, Basis: CH). You may now force your enemies to focus on you with a 4.8% greater advantage.

A huge shadow exploded out of the cave. Alf barely managed to duck as the monster went flying over his head.

It hit the ground fifteen feet below and whipped around to howl out its rage. Rising up onto it’s hind legs, it stood over nine feet tall. Gleaming white fangs, long snout, bloody claws. It looked like it was straight out of a modern werewolf movie. In fact it probably was straight out of a movie. And not one of those teenybopper romances, either.

Alf hopped down from the wall and faced the slavering beast. His cane wouldn’t be more than a toothpick against the thing. He wished he’d grabbed a sword. While he was at it, he wished he had learned how to use a sword.

The beast leaped, lashing out with a pie-pan-sized paw. And then another roar sounded from the cave behind him. There were two of them?

Alf darted inside the beast’s swing, ducking under its arm. The thing was huge, but it was clumsy and slow. With Alf’s newly raised dexterity, he was able to get behind it and deliver a resounding blow to the side of its knee.

The beast roared, but Alf couldn’t tell that he had done any damage. He healed himself for another 42 points while it spun on its obviously uninjured leg, slashing the air with another set of claws as Alf dodged out of its way.

The ground shook as the other beast landed beside the first. Exchanging a few snarls and growls, they moved to flank Alf.

He backed away from them until he was standing with his back to the pond. These guys weren’t wearing platemail, so drowning them was out. Besides, they looked like they would be really good at dog paddling. He cut between them and ran back to the cave entrance, happy to have a solid wall of rock protecting his back.

The two monsters charged him at the same time, and only then did Alf realize his mistake. The rocky terrain effectively negated what little advantage he’d had. There was nowhere left for him to maneuver.

Both monsters slammed into him, pounding him for a total of 100 points. He managed to squirt between them, but a slash to his back send him tumbling. He was down to 64 HP. He jumped to his feet and tried minor healing again, but it wasn’t off cooldown. Not good. Two more hits would do him in. He turned to run, but was distracted by a series of thuds followed by a pair of stereophonic roars.

A group of shadows on the ledge was throwing rocks.

“Look for bigger rocks!” he cried out. “As big as you all can carry.”

The monsters charged him again, but this time he didn’t even pretend to fight them. He ran around like a greased pig, dodging and ducking and pretty much staying as far away from them as possible until Blix called out from the ledge, “Got ‘em!”

“Wait for it…” Alf pretended to stumble, but rolled back onto his feet and cut to the right as a set of razor-sharp claws came within inches of his head. He weaved and bobbed, moving slower and slower as he worked his way back to the cave.

Then he stumbled for real. One of the monsters swiped him for 40 HP, sending him crashing into the face of the cliff. Another 8 points.

The monsters howled in triumph and pounced.

And were smashed into the ground by two huge boulders. One boulder hit the first beast in the shoulder, and the other boulder hit the second square on top of the head. They writhed on the ground, filling the night with their howls. Grinding, popping noises sounded from the first beast. Its shoulder snapped into place with a meaty clunk. It was... self healing?

Not good. Alf cast another heal on himself and dragged the writhing beast towards the pond, pulling it by its injured arm. It slashed his legs a few times but he managed to dump it in the water before his health hit zero.

Congratulations! You have defeated Adolf.

Reward: 770 EXP

He ran back to the other beast and waited impatiently for his healing spell to come off cooldown so he could take care of it the same way. A sword clattered to the ground only a few feet away.

“Thought you might want to start practicing with a sword,” Blix called down.

Alf nodded and picked up the sword. Adolf. The name tied his guts into knots. It had been a player. If he hadn’t been starving, he probably would have hurled. He walked over to the writhing beast. No, not beast. Player.

Taking a steadying breath, he raised the sword in both hands, blade pointed at the ground. Blix was right. This was war. It was us or them. Self-defense. Eat or be eaten.

“If I spare your life, will you promise not to harm us?”

The beast kept up a steady stream of growls and mewling howls. It showed no sign that it even understood him. But it was getting stronger. The bloody gash in its skull was shrinking at an alarming rate.

“Sorry,” he whispered and plunged the sword into it’s heart.

Congratulations! You have defeated Musashi.

Reward: 770 EXP

Congratulations! You have learned the skill:

Swordsmanship 1: (Effective Level: 1.37, Basis: 2DX+ST). You may now use single- or double-edged swords to 4.11% greater advantage.

Alf’s head rang like he’d been struck by a bell clapper. He was vaguely aware of a loud commotion above him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up from the ground. Next thing he knew he was running. Up the slope, though the hedge. He ached all over, but it wasn’t enough.

“Alf!” Blix’s voice brought him up short. “People need healing!”

Oh. Crap. “I didn’t mean to… I…” He ran back to the cave and plunged inside. “Where are they? I can’t see!”

“Sit by the entrance.” Blix’s voice broke through his panic. “We’re bring them to you.” She shouted back into the cave, “Bring Joseph first. He’s the worst.”

Marie and a big guy Alf hadn’t talked to yet dragged the skinny elf over to the mouth of the cave. A makeshift tourniquet was around his left arm. His chest was hamburger. Alf closed his eyes and cast major healing on the gouges below the elf’s ribcage, embracing the pain in his hands, welcoming its analgesic properties.

Alf healed one patient after another, drowsing during the cooldowns only to be woken up to start the process over again. Pain and sleep. Pain and sleep. And then, after the last patient was healed, he curled up in the back corner of the cave and there was only pain.

* * *

Name: Jane

Level: 5

Class: Paladin

Health: 52/225

Stamina: 195/195

Mana: 214/784

Exp: 1785/2800

Attr Points: 0

Skill Points: 0

ST: 13

DX: 14

CN: 15

IQ: 28

CH: 16

Combat Skills:

Faire du Canne 7: (Effective Skill: 9.45, Basis: ST+DX, Enhancement: 28.4%)

Grappling 1: (Effective Skill: 1.33, Basis: 2ST+DX, Enhancement: 4%)

Swordsmanship 1: (Effective Skill: 1.37, Basis: 2DX+ST, Enhancement: 4.11%)

Non-Combat Skills:

Woodcrafting 1: (Effective Level: 2.1, Basis: DX+IQ, Enhancement: 6.3%)

Lock Picking 1: (Effective Level: 1.3, Basis: DX, Enhancement: 3.9%)

Spells: (Basis IQ)

Minor Healing 5: (EL: 14, Cost: 25, Freq: unlimited, Effect: 42 points)

Major Healing 2: (EL: 5.6, Cost: 35, Freq: 1/hr, Effect: 200cc tissue regen)