Both Mike and Stew where completly controlled by their ogre guards. Thankfully they had stopped torturing my friends to stare at me when I managed to destroy the one that was supposed to be guarding me. Before they could recover I leapt up from the floor and struck at the ogre holding Mike. Since it had been eating Mike's dismembered arm it wasn't in stone form and my blow wasn't strong enough to destroy it in one hit. The shockwave I created with my shatter ability went far enough into its head to make it wobble and let go of Mike. Another one, stone this time, got into my reach and I shattered it's arm. "Fools! Why does he have a hammer! Kill him before I have to." The Ogre Leader slammed it's arms down on it's throne with a thud and squelch. If I wasn't planning on trying to kill them all I might tell him that squelching thrones don't give the right impression. I flipped my axe around and used [Chop] on the disoriented ogre still standing next to Mike. My axe stuck in it's spine and I had to yank sharply to retrieve it before the ogre fell to the ground. With ogres all around I decided the one most likely to be distracted would be the one standing on Stew's leg. It was also already in reach of my attack. I Chopped at it. When it turned to stone I knew my attack would fail. Instead of trying to stop my attack I pushed forward and used the rebound to twist and throw a punch straight at its face. My fist is a more complex shape than my hammer or even my axe so I couldn't create the form I needed to completely protect it. My knuckles shattered while the rest of the bones in my hand fractured in several places. That was nothing compared to what happened to the ogre. Its entire face shattered to at least an inch in depth. The blow hit it so hard that it panicked and turned back to flesh and it fell to the ground overwhelmed with pain. I whirled around just in time to chop at an ogre coming at my back. This time my axe struck clear down to the heavy bones in it's fore-arm. It snarled at me and turned to stone. My axe was stuck. While I tried to yank it out I was hit by an ogre barreling into me. Two of the surviving ogres grabbed me and yanked up. They used their superior strength to control me and force me on my knees in front of the Leader. The ogre that had my axe returned itself to flesh and yanked it out to hand to his leader. "This is an axe," The Ogre Leader's eyes flicked up to me and returned to studying my weapon, "Not even a good one. An improvised one. Your level is lower than even the Tutorial should allow for as well? You shouldn't have access to anything more than some bastardized skill version of it. This world isn't even connected to the greater realms, where could you learn anything like this?" "I just knew." I needed more time. If I was lucky Meagan and Gilberto might be able to get help. "I had an...idea." I started Healing my broken hand and used the pain to push hate at the ogre. I had to hope he was curious enough to give me the time I needed. "An idea?" from the sound I thought he was coughing until he reared back and began laughing even louder. He stopped laughing to ask me a question. "What idea could you possibly have had?" I glared for a few more seconds before I released the image of Heal I held in my mind. I couldn't deal with my bones rearranging while I talked, thankfully though, they were nearly done. "I got it from a Title. It would only work with hammers though. Someone else had it from a club. They both had the same name and description but weren't compatible. I figured there had to be more to it." "Those titles you light worshipers insist on following. They allow you to be so...surprising. Sometimes I wish I followed it, so flexible." He gave a gusty sigh. "I would never be able to give up the...taste...of strength though." The ogres around me started chuckling at his words. The ogres holding me started shifting as they looked at each other. I think all the time I could get from talking had run out. I activated Arcane Might and holding what I had come to think of as the 'rune' for {Heal} in my mind I put a surge of Mana into it. I felt the rune shift from the sudden Mana infusion. ‡ {Minor Regeneration} Unlocked ‡ ‡ {Minor Regeneration} - Recover a set amount of HP over time. ‡

I had hoped that the Heal would get overcharged and recover a bit more health. This new spell though would help even more than a few more HP.

I tilted my head back and slammed it into the ogre holding my right side, activating Shatter as I hit it. I reeled back with my nose now flat against my face. I threw a wild hook at the ogre on my left while I fought the nausea I felt from headbutting a rock. I managed a glancing blow and knocked his hand away.

I stood up and jumped through a gap in the ogre's encirclement. I stumbled as I hit the ground but caught myself before I fell to the ground.

The regeneration was taking care of the nausea but not quick enough.

"Damn you fools! Break his bones!" The Ogre Leader stood up. As he stepped off the throne I saw something behind him. A golden rip glowing in the very air.

I noticed another ogre still in stone form and pushed the glow from my mind as I darted forward and delivered two quick jabs. It stumbled back and I saw a stone heart in the ruins of it's chest.

"Quit using Stone Flesh you cretins! If you can't figure out the timing against one human I will have to kill you all and start over from scratch." He motioned the ogres to ignore Mike and Stew and surround me. I hoped my friends had passed out rather than died. There wasn't much blood but their crushed limbs looked pretty bad anyway.

The Ogre Leader pointed at the one closest to the caverns exit. "You go block the exit so he can't escape when he outmaneuvers one of you imbeciles."

The ogres started giving me dirty looks. I laughed at them. Apparently I was making them look bad in front of their evil overlord.

"What? Did you think I would just lay down and die for you? I saw a baby half eaten on the ground. I'm going to crush you all to dust." I was grasping at straws now and just hoping I might be able to psych one out for an easy kill.

That plan didn't seem to be working. With the ogre in position to block the exit the rest advanced on me without any hesitation.

Things weren't looking good for me. All of my success so far had been a mix of being underestimated and then pulling workable ideas straight out of my ass. The ogres were no longer in stone form, so I could injure them but they were no longer weak to a single strike. Three were now far too tough for me to take on by myself.

Especially with their leader in the background as a final opponent.

I glanced down at Stew and Mike. They had stopped moving and grown pale in the dim light.

I had to try, no matter what.

Darting forward I telegraphed a strike. Behind me I could hear the other two ogres starting towards me. My punch missed as I rolled under the ogres outstretched arms.

A loud crack sounded from the caverns entrance as I saw Meagan fly over the ogres headless body with a flaming spear.

"Kill them!" The Ogre leader shrieked out. He waved the ogres away from me and started towards me.

"Dave! No! Gilberto I need you to prime these three, now!" Meagan yelled.

I had finished my roll next to Stew and Mike. I quickly thrust a hand to each of them and shoved all my mana into two heals. I stood and turned to face the leader bearing down on me.

One, then two, of the ogres rushing Meagan stumbled to a halt with what looked like black ice encasing their head. Meagan thrust quickly and the head of the first fell to the ground in dozens of pieces.

The third ogre saw Gilberto standing in the entrance as Meagan swept her spear at the second. Instead of falling to pieces his head cracked down the middle. His body fell bonelessly to the floor.

Before the final ogre could reach Gilberto an orb flew between them. It struck the ogre on the shoulder and neck freezing the ogres throat. It stumbled towards Gilberto for a few steps until Meagan struck it on the ice from behind. It coughed, blood flying from its mouth, and then attempted one more step only to fall onto the ground and start seizing.

The ogre leader roared and swung a fist at me. I tried to block only to find that using all my mana had left me unsteady. I didn't have enough strength left and my arm was knocked down, broken, and I was swept away. When I landed it felt like half my ribs were broken.

"I will crush you all and use your twisted remains to rebuild my forces! Nothing will stop me from being the ruler of this parasite infested hole!"

Gilberto was standing unsteadily with a sheen of sweat on his face.

Meagan looked at him. "Can you manage another?"

He nodded. "Should hurry though. Your Imbuement is probably about to wear off."

Stomping forward the last massive ogre snarled at Gilberto and Meagan. "Petty tricks are all you have. Strength will overcome."

The ogres body turned to stone. Unlike all the others that had a gray almost cement look he was a dark granite.

"I am a past master of dealing death unlike these fools. No more talking. Only dying is left."

Gilberto stepped closer to the ogre as it began to accelerate towards him. Meagan lunged forward and stabbed towards the ogres groin.

It didn't even slow down just brushing the spear away like it was a fly. The blow did draw the ogres attention for an instant. Gilberto cast the orb as soon as the ogres eyes had flicked to the side.

Even with the distraction the ogre dodged nearly all of the orb. Meagans spear snapped, the threads of fiberglass creating a small cloud.

Gilberto ran to the side with the ogre gaining on him. Looking around I saw my hammer laying on the floor just out of my reach. I flopped over and dragged myself far enough to grab the weapon from the floor.

"Meagan!" I called out weakly as I tossed my hammer towards her.

She scooped it off the floor and ran to help Gilberto. Staying in the blind spot created by the ogres frozen eye she jumped and whipped the weapon around in a fast arc. The head of the weapon struck the frozen area with the full force of her run as well as the whipping motion she had used.

The side of the ogres head shattered revealing a bloodshot eye as the ice fell off. The ice did take the side of the skull with it.

"Tricks do not give true strength!" The enraged ogre turned from Gilberto and began advancing on Meagan.

I had continued dragging myself across the ground while they fought. Finally, I could grab Meagan's broken spear. I forced myself up until I was standing and hurled the broken haft at the visible brain on the side of the ogres head.

It clattered against the side of its head and fell on the ground, doing no damage that I could see. I groaned in pain and frustration as the fiberglass hit the floor.

An enraged shriek came from the ogre as it focused on me. "Why won't any of you die!"

Meagan took advantage of the ogres distraction to duck down and around the massive granite leg, grabbing the spear haft, she jumped onto the ogres back. Before it could reach back and grab her Meagan jammed the spear haft through the hole in its head and started jerking it around wildly.

Pieces of stone brain started falling to the ground. As Meagan managed to force the jagged end of the spear further and further in, the ogre first stopped moving then began trembling.

The ogre stopped moving, finally completing the transformation into a statue, and slowly began to topple to the side. Meagan hopped off as a notification appeared.

‡ Ogres' Den Quest Completed! ‡ ‡ You managed to find the only way to survive and keep the ogres' appetite under control. ‡

‡ Reward - One Gold coin per combatant. ‡ ‡ One Shadow Level is available through Soul-Link. Would you like to accept it? ‡ ‡ Yes ‡ ‡ No ‡

I selected Yes and then ignored it for more important stuff. Like my friends. And horribly broken ribs.

"I need some help with Mike and Stew... I don't have any Mana and I'm...in a lot of pain." I gasped.

Gilberto hurried over to me. "What about Terrance? Where is he?"

I glanced at what was left of his body and shook my head. "He didn't make it. I don't suppose you know any healing magic yet?"

"Sorry that wasn't one of the things I learned in the last fifteen minutes. What should we do?"

"I'm not sure. We need them to last until I get some Mana back I guess. Maybe tournequets?" Looking over at my friends laying on the ground I wished I could do something. Whatever I had managed to do with my heal seemed to have brought a bit more color to them and slowed the bleeding. I still didn't think they could last until I would be able to heal them. Meagan seemed to know the most about first aid out of all of us.

"Meagan. What should we do?" I asked.

I turned and saw Meagan still standing next to the fallen ogre.

Gilberto gave me a questioning look when Meagan didn't answer.

I winced as I tried to shrug then called out again. "Meagan? Is everything OK? We need some help over here."

Slowly, she turned around with a faraway look in her eyes. "Yea, I think it will all be OK. One second."

Before I could ask anything else a small pouch appeared sitting in front of her. She grabbed it and brought it over to us. "One for each of you."

She pulled out two glass vials from the heavily padded interior and handed them to Gilberto. After he took them she gave another to me.

Inside was a black fluid with flecks of light in every color I knew and a few that I had never imagined. Suddenly it bloomed and became a deep red color.

"What are they?" I asked.

"Major Healing Potions. Where's Terrance?" She replied.

"He didn't make it. Where did you get them?" I said.

"And how do you use them?" Gilberto said.

"They're potions so just...dump them in their mouths? What happened to him?"

The question from Meagan was directed at me but I was feeling a little woozy as well as confused by everything that seemed to be happening. I decided to trust Meagan and popped the cap and swallowed the entire contents of the vial she had handed me.

It tasted like air and rainbows with a very viscous texture that almost made me gag. Luckily it dissappeared off the back of my tongue and continued down as a wave of warmth that left behind the feeling of a now whole body. No excrutiating pain from moving bones or anything.

I smacked my lips and looked at Gilberto and Meagan looking back at me. "I don't know if that tasted vile or not but the healing was quite a bit more pleasant than my own. Seems safe enough. Let's get those two healed up." I got up from my position without a twinge from my previously broken ribs.

Gilberto poured a vial down Mike's mouth. "I hope it doesn't go in his lungs or something."

"It would be a crappy healing potion if you could die from aspirating it." Meagan held out her hand and took the other potion back from Gilberto. She poured it into Stew's mouth as Mike started groaning.

I remembered the experience from swallowing the potion that had then turned into a feeling. I didn't think we had to worry about drowning in a healing potion either.

While Mike and Stew began to come around I told the others about what had happened. As I talked I kept my eyes on my recovering friends. I felt a prickling in the corner of my eyes when Mike sat up and tried to run his hand over his head.

"I guess Healing potions don't regrow lost limbs." Meagan said.

"I'm so sorry you guys. I never meant for any of this to happen." I said.

"What the fuck happened to my leg!" Stew yelled out.

"Hey, guys. I'm not sure it's that bad though. There's..." Meagan tried to keep talking but Stew yelled over her.

"You're right Meagan. Maybe I can just walk it off!"

"Stew."

"What is it Mike? Did I stick my foot in my mouth? Good thing I'm sitting down cause I can't do that from a standing start anymore!"

"Dammit Stew. Don't make me slap you!" Mike waved his stump in Stew's face.

Stew looked a little stunned at that and stopped yelling.

Mike motioned at Meagan with his stump. "Please continue Meagan. You had something to say?"

Meagan looked disquieted at Mikes gesture but began talking.

"I don't think you noticed but this place is looking different now. I got a notification when that monster finally went down." As Meagan talked we looked around.

The cavern was looking different, far less fleshy and more like it was made from rock. The torches were the same but the walls looked much closer to worked stone than flesh. Even many of the corpses were fading into floor which was turning into flagstones.

"This place has something called a Fount and when we finished the quest we captured it. We got a Keep as well. Once it's done we can create a village. I have a progress bar that shows it should be done soon. Once it is more people can access the menu. I traded my gold coin for five major healing potions.

"There are more things on it though. Items like restoration potions as well as skills and abilities." Meagan said.

"Why didn't you buy a restoration potion instead of healing potions then." Stew asked.

"Everything is different prices. I could afford healing potions to heal everyone for one gold coin but that same cost only covers one restoration potion. Then you would have been out of luck since it would have gone to Mike. He is far less annoying than you."

After watching the walls I decided to interrupt and ask a question. "How long until this is all the way changed?"

I couldn't see the changes while watching but glancing away and returning my gaze small differences could be seen.

Meagan shrugged. "Half hour? It's gone pretty far while we've been talking."

"We should head back and let everyone know what happened." I looked around at everyone.

"I don't think I can. Someone needs to be here so we have a claim to this place." Meagan said.

"I'm not going anywhere without my leg." Stew said.

"You said it would only be a half hour?" I asked Meagan.