Jake hurled another fireball down into the pit. A swarm of damage dealt messages came back, reinforcing just how many of the damned goblins were climbing out of the ground to kill them.

And that was only the ones he’d hit—now they were spreading out more, he couldn’t get them all. He readied another fireball and asked, Are you there yet?

Nearly, Luther said.

The dwarven soldiers thrust their spears down at the surviving goblins, a mere dozen dwarves against a constant flow of climbing foes. Jake hurled the third fireball down and switched attention to the growing number of goblins reaching the top.

Fire magic skill increased 4 → 5!

No way they could stop them all. They had to destroy the tunnel fast. Jake readied a blastbolt in each of his hands and retreated to what would be a safe distance. Crescent formation, on me! Luther, how long?

Oratory skill increased 2 → 3!

Twelve seconds.

The dwarven soldiers barreled through the much lighter goblins and formed a semi-circular wall around Jake. He fired off both blastbolts, dropping two of the growing number of goblins filling the square.

Too damned many enemies, not enough mana. Jake knocked back his last mana potion.

60 MP restored!

He winced at the diminishing returns and dropped a twenty-second Protection/Area-Aegis/Armor. No need for longer—either this worked or they were all dead anyway. That twelve seconds better have been accurate.

Six seconds.

Jake weaved the Force/Beam/Telekinesis spell in his hands. He poured mana into the spell and ignored the goblins as best he could. They gathered just outside the reach of the spear wall, braying and hissing. Not so brave without the teal shimmer of an Armor buff, were they?

Or they were just waiting for their friends. More goblins swarmed out of the ground. They sprinted left and right, encircling the crescent wall. Jake’s chest clenched tight around his pounding heart. Where were those damned reinforcements?

He fired the Telekinesis beam at the statue and lifted it as high above the tunnel as he could. As tempting as smashing the statue down headfirst was, he kept it upright. Blunt force was the goal here, not penetration.

Goblin braying closed in behind, forcing the soldiers to pull back into a tight, spiky circle with a mere three spears per quadrant. The knot in Jake’s gut twisted. Even if this worked, they’d probably still die. He pushed the statue higher into the air. Luther…

Now!

The protective magic permeating the square floor vanished. Jake pulled the statue down, adding his spell’s might to that of gravity.

Everything shuddered. An almighty bang assaulted Jake’s ears, and he struggled to stay upright. The stone at the impact point shattered and the statue crashed through it. The surrounding ground slumped into a crater, with the statue upright at the center.

Jake’s fists clenched tight. Even after all that, the statue was pristine. His father’s face stared back at him, mocking him.

All the hundred or so goblins fell silent. They glanced at the statue, at the crater, at the now tunnel-less gorge their mages had made. Their mages had to have been close enough to buff them. That meant they were dead, right?

MP: 19/320

A whole lot of goblins and no mana to kill them with. Why were they hesitating? They had all the numbers they were going to get. This was the opportunistic little bastards’ best shot. Jake glanced around at the soldiers around him.

Dwarven steel and high-quality blacksmithing made for impressive armor. The goblin’s dinky little swords weren’t cut out for that. They were light cannon fodder sent to establish a beachhead for the now-dead mages. Yeah, no wonder the runts were hesitating.

That, or they were waiting for orders that would no longer come.

A fireball landed in their midst, incinerating every single goblin it hit. The others roared and charged. A few headed for the origin of the fireball, but most swarmed the vulnerable circle of spears.

Jake drew his bow and opened fire, grateful for the angle his relative height provided.

62 piercing damage dealt!

The dwarves held the line, knocking back the goblins that got too close with their hefty shields.

81 piercing damage dealt!

Four goblins pounced on a single dwarf. She cried out as they pulled her to the ground, searching for any opening to shove their nasty knives.

131 piercing damage dealt!

His arrow killed one and a double volley of firebolts incinerated the other two. The soldier hurled the fourth off her, leaped to her feet, and impaled it on her spear.

But more goblins had already pushed through the gap, swarming the adjacent dwarves. A grinning goblin lunged at Jake with a knife. He dropped his bow and stepped to the side, too slow to evade the attack.

21 piercing damage received!

Jake’s Armor effect took most of the damage and promptly expired. Shit. He drew his falchion and stabbed at the goblin’s head.

It easily evaded his blow, but not Luther’s point-blank firebolt.

Thanks.

A dwarf cried out and was cut off mid-scream. Jake glanced around and his gut twisted. A knife handle protruded from the soldier’s throat. Jake roared and lunged at the jubilant goblin standing over the corpse.

70 slashing damage dealt!

The goblin tumbled away, lifted a sword from a fallen comrade, and turned. A sneer spread across its lips and it lunged for Jake’s head.

Jake parried thin air and a dull pain thudded against his gut.

178 piercing damage received!

Injury received (Bleeding Heavily)!

Adrenaline surged through every inch of his being. He downed a health potion and swung at the bastard’s neck.

100 HP restored!

It ducked under the blade, pounced in close, and stabbed again at Jake’s chest.

55 piercing damage received!

HP: 70/225

Jake jumped back and raised his sword into a defensive posture. Even glancing off his robes, that had nearly killed him. Help me!

A firebolt struck the goblin in the face, incinerating it. Jake’s heart pounded, and he glanced around the battlefield. Luther was hurling out fiery bolts of death, while new dwarven soldiers decapitated goblins left and right with their battle-axes.

Jake keeled over and clutched his side. About damned time those reinforcements showed up. He watched as they rapidly cleaned up the last of the goblins.

7594 XP received!

HP: 68/225

The weak Heal effect on Jake was fighting a losing battle against the heavy bleeding, and it would only get worse when the buff expired. Jake hobbled over to Luther. “How goes the battle?”

Luther paused and his eyes glazed over for a few moments. “The assault has stopped on all gates.”

Tension flooded out of Jake’s body, only for pain to flare up again in his wound. Jake winced. Bleeding out again after winning wasn’t ideal. “Any chance of a heal?”

Green magic flowed into Luther’s hands and he cast a Heal upon Jake. “Let’s get you to the infirmary.”

Jake looked around the broken square. What was it all for? Pain twisted in his stomach. Two of the twelve dwarven soldiers he’d fought beside not a minute ago lay dead on the floor.

He bowed his head toward each of the corpses. “We lost two.”

“Aye, lad, and we’d have lost a mine-load more without your aid today.”

Jake’s teeth clenched together. Two lives, full of their own meaning and purpose, snuffed out, just like that. If he’d been quicker, smarter, better, then they’d have survived.

The statue stared down at him with a pristine smugness. Was it any surprise he hadn’t come home?

A hand grabbed Jake’s arm, jolting him back into the moment.

Luther stared up at him, his head cocked. “You’re coming to the infirmary, and that’s an order.”

Jake scoffed, but didn’t resist. “Don’t you have better things to do than look after my sorry ass?”

“Indeed. I have duties at the keep.”

Yeah, duties like getting blamed for saving the entire town. “Think Ardic will forgive you?”

No response. Did Luther even know? Not that it mattered much now. They’d done what had needed to be done. Jake put his Fire perk point into Power and checked out Oratory properly.

Eloquence (0/5): Increases skill in impressing others using Oratory.

Leadership (0/5): Increases skill in leading others using Oratory.

Persuasion (2/5): Increases skill in persuading others using Oratory.

Deception (0/5): Increases skill in deceiving others using Oratory.

Misdirection (0/5): Increases skill in misdirecting others using Oratory.

Intimidation (0/5): Increases skill in intimidating others using Oratory.

Deception, Misdirection, and Intimidation were still out. Regardless of how useful they might be, that was a dark road to walk. Getting people to trust him was problematic enough without throwing lies or threats into the mix. Eloquence wasn’t happening, either. When did pompous preening ever get anything done?

That left Leadership and Persuasion. Persuasion had proven its worth several times already, and doubtless would again. But what about Leadership?

No. He chuckled to himself. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t a leader. Better to leave that to the professionals. He put the point into Persuasion and followed Luther in grim silence.

The closer they got to the keep, the more dwarves they shared the street with. Mostly soldiers, many bleeding, hobbling, or missing limbs. A few civilians, too. Thankfully, almost none of them were wounded. Were they craftsmen carrying out repairs, or just ordinary dwarves looking to return to the daily business of living?

A chill ran down Jake’s spine. Helmets had caused a big spike in head injuries. Were the civilians uninjured because the dungeon spawn hadn’t gotten to them, or because none had survived their wounds? How many dwarves had died?

Too many.

“Any news on the battlemages?” Jake asked.

A long pause, and Luther grunted. “Most survived. They left their thanks and headed deeper, in search of a wolf.”

“The Shadow of Fenrir. They’ll get more fight than they could possibly desire with that one.”

Luther raised an eyebrow. “I have heard tales of such a beast. Having seen them fight, I would not discount them so easily.”

“That almost sounded like respect.”

“Some might say ten-thousand years is a long time to hold a grudge.”

Jake bit back a snarky response. That was better than he could have hoped for from a dwarf. Best to quit while he was ahead. “Who was Marshal Ortwin?”

“A dwarven general in the Age of Heroes. Fought against the Divine Empire, and died saving some orc noble or king or someone. Yesterday, I’d have called that a damned fool way to go.”

“And today?”

More silence, at least from Luther. Agonized groans and the stench of death filled the air as they approached the infirmary. Luther recast the Heal upon Jake and headed up the steps to the keep, barely glancing at the pile of corpses.

A cold void took over Jake’s stomach. So many dead, and the wounded filled every one of the hundred or so makeshift beds.

“Jake.”

If this was the price of victory, what was the point?

Frieda walked up alongside him and spoke again. “Jake? We need to get that wound looked at.”

Wound? He looked down at where he was clutching his side. Still bleeding. “Right.”

The cut in the robes had already repaired itself, and any blood that soiled it vanished. If only the magic to fix people hadn’t been locked away by a Divine Empire seal.

Frieda directed him to a wrinkled dwarf. The medic—assuming he really was a medic—grunted at Jake, lifted his robes, and tightly wound a bandage around Jake’s chest.

It hurt, but what was a little more pain?

Heavily Bleeding injury removed!

The dwarf pulled the robe back down, nodded curtly to Jake, and shoved him away. The instruction was clear—anywhere but the infirmary.

No complaints about that. Jake headed for the keep. Whether Ardi liked it or not, the young lord owed him, and the wood elves needed aid.

How were the wood elves doing? Jake stopped by the portal room first. There were guards there now, but none barred his way. A shame that the portal on the other end was in Erinbar instead of Tolabar.

He messaged the wood elves, and Eloran Erinbar So’aroaska responded. Not much news—the threat still loomed, but only minor skirmishes so far. Communication across the Forest was spotty, but if there had been any major battles, they would have felt it in the tree-song.

A knot twisted in Jake’s gut. He could teleport back and head straight for Tolabar, but what if the Emperor could help? No matter how shit the odds, a single low-level mage being absent for another day was worth the risk.

Less than a day.

Pins stabbed at the back of Jake’s eyes. Ardic first, then sleep. The battlemages had helped save the town—how pissed off could the dumbass be?

Jake snorted and shook his head. Never underestimate the ability of the incompetent to be pissed off by competency. He headed back up, strode into the war council room, and wrinkled his nose. The splattered flesh was gone, but the stench was not.

Luther, Ardic, and several unhelmed soldiers stood hunched over the map. Orlanda stood apart from them, staring off at a wall. She startled upright, glanced at him, cleared her throat, and turned away.

The others straightened up and stared at him as he approached. At least Luther had the decency to acknowledge him with a nod.

“Jake,” Ardic said, pushing the words out like it was torture, “thank you for your aid.”

Diplomacy prodded at Jake’s mind, and he indulged it with a forced smile. “Happy to help an ally.”

Luther looked between Jake and Ardic, glaring a warning at both. “Strange times make for strange allies. I was just congratulating Ardic on his plan to seek the aid of the Order of the Battlemage.”

Heat flared in Jake’s chest. The two-faced bastard! “That—” Jake bit his lip, wishing Diplomacy’s parade of red flags didn’t make so much damned sense. “That was a great plan. I’m glad I was able to pull it off.”

Trust politics to get in the way of recognition. It made sense—no Lord could let a subordinate undermine them like that—but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Ardic bowed his head. “Thank you. You played no small part in this victory. For that, you deserve to be handsomely rewarded.”

Well. Jake smiled properly. Why hadn’t they led with that?