The next nights were the longest of Don's life. Kat made good on his promise to whip Don into shape. Each evening was spent dodging flying green missiles as Kat’s eager recruits launched themselves at him in the cave. With the promise of an extra share of fox meat for the gob who landed the most hits, there was a steady stream of volunteers, literally. The first night Don was jumped and struggled for breath under an avalanche of bodies. He lost half his health before Grey broke up the scrum. Kat decided to limit the volunteers to only those who helped track down the foxes from then on. With three gobs launching themselves at Don, he had to rely on his hearing to catch the telltale sound of a leap from outside his vision. The unfair part was that Kat instructed him not to strike back. All Don could do was shuffle out of the way a half step too late to avoid getting a new scratch as the rest of the tribe hooted and applauded at their new entertainment.

The numbers of gobs only increased as Don started tracking more foxes each day. Kat compounded his problems by spouting useless advice at every opportunity.

“You need to move faster” he tutored as Don failed to avoid an enthusiastic attacker.

“Stop letting them hit you” he scowled when Don’s legs were streaked with blood seeping from countless scratches. Grey even got involved with the torture, making sure Don had all the health potions he needed. Though she didn’t seem too eager to get them to him. He hovered at around a fifth of his health as Grey rationed the potions.

The early hours of each night were filled with river-sprints as Kat named them. They were simple but almost as cruel as the nightly ‘sparring’. All Don had to do was run down river, doing his best to stay out of the water, then run back upriver, carrying the heaviest stone he could grip.

In practice, he would make it two, maybe three steps before slipping off a stone and, if he was lucky, splashing into the frigid water but more likely falling onto something harder and just as cold. The trudge upriver was safer but the slimy algae covering the rocks Kat selected and his numb fingers made him drop his rock fairly often.

For the first two days, this torture was only interrupted when a fox was spotted. Now with an enforcer to call in, the gobs didn’t stop at painting a general area to avoid in the tribe-map. Instead, they tracked the foxes down and kept tabs on them so all Don had to do was run straight to the animal, skipping the time-consuming tracking process. Even with double the exp requirement, bagging three foxes a night had Don knocking on the threshold of level 2 in no time. He probably could have made it in a single night if that was his goal.

As brutal as the training was, Don had to admit it was worth it as he checked his stats, picking at the layer of dried blood on his legs after another prolonged morning of trying to avoid the sharp claws of his tribemates.

Being set upon by at least three gobs each morning netted him a point in agility, a level in brawling and a new skill, aptly named ‘dodge’ which reached level three.

The river sprints boosted his agility, strength, and endurance each by a point a day. He didn’t gain any skill levels but he was happy with gaining the equivalent of nearly a level worth of stat points for a relatively safe activity.

Finally, hunting foxes only gained him a single point in agility but it was by far the best for his skill progression. He gained two levels in both brawling and stealth. He even increased his shadow cloak by another level.

Unrelated to the training menu, Don kept up his practice with ‘manipulation’ whenever he had full mana bringing the skill up three levels and increasing his stagnating wisdom by a point. Don didn’t have the stamina to keep up his near-constant use of ‘focus senses’ during the river-sprints but he kept it up the rest of the time bringing him all the way to level ten in that skill. The side effect was steadily becoming worse but the enhancement was too good to pass up. He took the rare chance to forage plants on his way to a fox-sighting and increased that skill by a level. Finally, his training dummy increased a level and Kat reported that his ‘scoutmaster’ skill reached level 3.

On the third night, Don was finishing his eighty somethingth river sprint, having gained another two points in strength, a point in endurance, and one in agility when the tribe chat vibrated with activity. Don ignored it most of the time but was attuned to it enough to sense when something had his tribe’s attention. He opened himself up to the communication channel.

“-on the eastern slope”

“How many are there?”

“Four”

“What are they doing in our forest?”

“Does it matter? Just stay out of sight and they will blunder off eventually.”

With Don’s concentration split, he missed a step and took another plunge into the icy water. Kat didn’t even insult him this time, paying attention to the new development too. The tribe-map popped open with a thought and Don watched as a tight knot of humans slowly made their way through the forest. The leader used a long blade to hack through brambles and he stomped the remains into the dirt with thick boots, clearing a path for those behind him. They wore mismatched clothes but Don couldn’t really fault them for that. He still hadn’t found a proper pair of pants, not that it mattered as much with his thickened skin.

The troop clutched to a variety of weapons. There were a couple of daggers, a club, and the leader kept swinging his long blade at the bushes like they had insulted his mother. Without any hunting on the menu today, Kat was working him to the bone and Don seized on the excuse to take a rest, even if it was dangerous.

“It might,” he thought to the tribe “What if they’re looking for the cave?”

“They shouldn’t even know there is a cave” retorted Gat, He was right but admitting that wouldn’t get him out of the damn river.

“The point is, we don’t know why they are here. We need to find out what they want before we let them go wandering around our territory.” As don made his point the group hacked through a berry bush and ground it into mash under their boots. “Are they talking to each other?”

“Constantly, they won’t shut up. The noise is going to scare away all the rabbits for a mile” complained the gob watching their movements.

“Okay, I’ll come by to see what they have to say” he said into the chat before meeting Kat’s eyes. His trainer nodded thoughtfully.

“This is a good chance to see how far you’ve come with your stealth. If it’s not good enough, you’ll get to practice running away” he said the second half with a lilting cadence, almost songlike as his face split into a grin. “Watching you fall over and over is getting boring anyway.”

The pair made their way through the forest. They set an easy pace to allow Don’s stamina to regenerate as they neared the trespassers. By the time their path intercepted with their targets, the steely light of predawn was creeping into the sky. Don’s stomach tied itself in knots as the group moved closer. He hadn’t seen any humans since entering the forest and he was wondering what could have possessed him to leave the safety of the river. He was here now though and he couldn’t run without even trying to listen to them. He had a new reputation to maintain after all.

Don checked his skills to make sure he was as hidden as possible. His stealth was always active as long as he was trying to be sneaky. He was saving his shadow cloak until they came within sight but his eyes fell on a skill he hadn’t used yet. The high stamina cost of ‘forest walk’ kept him from using it during his exhausting training but the 5% bonus to concealment might just make all the difference here. He settled into a particularly large and leafy tree and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. He heard the intruders well before he saw them. He focused on his hearing and parts of sentences began to make their way to his ears, filtering their way through the tramp of ten booted feet and a sword thrashing their obstacles.

“I still don’t get why we had to set out so damn early” a gravelly voice softened by a yawn complained.

“Damnit Stanley, If you complain again I’m going to send you back to town.” Growled a second speaker. The claim was followed by a loud thunk.

“Shit, look what you made me do. I lost another durability on this damn sword. This better be worth it. Are you sure he went this way kid?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” this voice dripped with venom. “He is somewhere in this forest. Everyone I’ve asked agrees this is the only place around where a new-b could possibly survive.” Don recognized that voice as a feeling crept up his spine like spiders made from ice. “Besides, I have it on good authority that he was spotted at the edge of this forest.”

“And I’d be a lot more inclined to believe you if you’d share who your mysterious source is.”

“And I told you that’s not going to happen.”

The group was nearly in sight and Don cast shadow cloak and forest walk, doing his best to stay silent and blend into his surroundings. The shadows slid over his body as usual but a new feeling came over him as well. He could almost feel a pulse from the tree beneath him. A subtle life force emanated from everything around him and he felt momentarily at peace, the knots in his stomach relaxing a bit. The feeling only lasted until a sword crashed into view below, the group stumbling along in its wake.

“Will the two of you please quiet down? There’s no way we’ll ever find him if he hears us coming from a mile off.” a lithe woman clutching a bronze dagger tried to quell the budding argument before it could get off the ground. The leader stopped his tireless hacking and turned back to face the group, pointing his blade at the woman. “I don’t want to hear it from you, Celia, I thought you had a tracking skill. Why are we just wandering randomly through the forest?”

The woman looked lazily at the man, dismissing the threat by gently pushing the blade aside with a finger. “Because I can’t follow a track until I find one and you are doing your best to destroy any path I might find.” She thumbed over her shoulder indicating the hacked and trampled vegetation behind them.

The leader bristled “How the hell else are we supposed to get past all these damn plants?” he complained, sinking his sword in a nearby bush out of frustration.

“By not being a giant fucking pussy” replied the sandy-haired youth clutching a black dagger. Don knew that dagger and it confirmed his earlier suspicion. This was grant’s kid, the same asshole who was so eager to hurt Don on the night he was smuggled out of town. He demonstrated how not to be a giant pussy by launching himself at a tree, rebounding off of it and landing on the other side of the tangle of brambles with the sword embedded in it.

“And you expect Stanley to pull off acrobatics like that? He’s only got 12 agility.”

“I expect you to cope, quit complaining about some fucking bushes and get a move on. What will you do if an actual monster appears?”

“I’ll use this,” the leader said, pulling his sword out of the ground and giving it another swing for emphasis.

“Quit playing with that before you go blind” quipped the dagger-lass with a smirk.

“You’re just jealous you don’t have a big long sword to play with.” The leader said waggling the blade in front of his companion.

With a condescending look, she replied “You need my skills to pull this off and I expect to be paid handsomely for putting up with your shit Harry.”

“So long as Jack’s information is as good as you claim to be, we’ll be rolling in the coins as soon as we kill that Shepard fucker”

Don paled. They were out here searching for him. It was a mistake coming to investigate.

“Do you really think it’s going to be worth it?” asked Stanley “With the other one at the church, why would people pay to get a turn with the one who got away?”

Don was frozen now. Stanley’s words sent a spike of horror deep into his chest where it constricted his breathing. He said ‘the other one’ and that could only mean one thing. His hands began to shake as the implications came crashing down on him like a waterfall of guilt.

“Because” sneered Jack “he is the one who got us stuck here. Haven’t you been in any of the alleys in town? They’re stuffed with pricks who do nothing but stew about how bad things are here. All they talk about is what they would do if they get their hands on that fucker. The girl is just a consolation prize.” His hands flexed as he no doubt was seeing a happy fantasy which involved torturing Don.

Jack’s response removed all doubt, they had Sam.

Don was so shaken by the revelation, he let his forest walk lapse. Celia’s head snapped up immediately, looking Don directly in the eyes.

Spoiler: stat changes

Stats:

STR

14 --> 18

AGI

14 --> 18

DEX

15

INT

12

WIS

17 --> 18

CON

27

END

15 --> 18

Spoiler: Skills skill Rank Level Effect cost range duration Combat Punching Bag Apprentice 2 17% unarmed resistance Brawling Beginner 4 8% increase to unarmed attack and dodge Dodge Beginner 3 7% increase to speed when dodging Utility Training Dummy Apprentice 3 19% training increase Goblin Language Special 7 Advanced complexity Night Vision Beginner 9 13% increased light Focus Senses Beginner 10 14% increase and decrease 1 stamina self 1 minute Stealth Beginner 6 10% sneak and sneak attack Forest Walk Beginner 1 10% movement and 5% concealment in forests 1 mana + 5 stamina self 1 minute Support Diagnose Beginner 4 assess the targets visible injuries 1 mana touch instant Crafting Alchemy Beginner 9 13% potion effectiveness Forage Beginner 5 9% ease and effectivness of resources Illusion Magic Manipulation Beginner 8 Manipulate light to form intangible constructs 1 mana 8 meters 45 seconds Shadow Cloak Beginner 4 21% increased visual concealment in darkness 10 mana touch 4 minutes