Eric's heart began to pound with a killing fury.

Bone bow clenched firmly in hand, he spun around the corner to behold a city square that was every bit the vile hell-pit his nose had made all too clear he was approaching.

Though even he was shocked by the sight of the massive orc chieftain himself, ten feet if he was an inch, sitting his bloated armor covered ass on a throne of twisted car parts and bone, chuckling gutturally at the screams of children as their parents were thrown into the wildly thrashing pod Eric had just known he was approaching.

A pod Eric suspected had already been driven insane after Eric had crushed the realm it had sought dominion over, tearing free every essence it had claimed as well.

And perhaps it could sense Eric even now, as the monstrosity began writhing in a chilling frenzy as massive twenty-foot long stalks began thrashing and tearing apart asphalt, orcs, and victims alike, earning a guttural laugh from the chieftain wearing his lamellar armor of bone. "The Pod is ready to ascend, Shaman. Can you not feel it?"

The mail-covered orcs to either side of the chieftain wielding vicious-looking battle axes pounded the ground and laughed at their king's mirth. The shaman, for his part, hissed and frowned.

Eric's heart swelled with a furious storm of hate, knowing that what he was about to do was madness, as he spied no less than a dozen orcs just from his narrow view of the square beyond the alley he hid within.

He had no doubt there were dozens of other orcs nearby, and that a fair number of them would be wielding their deadly flintlocks which might have shit range, but he already knew close up could shred a man like a shotgun firing steel bearings.

And he already knew what the results would be when his bow thrummed with the crack and boom of oblivion, and he happily welcomed incoming death with a smile.

You have critically struck Orc Shaman!

Orc Shaman looks in surprise at Essence Infused Arrow that has successfully pierced his ward!

Orc Shaman screams his death curse in your direction.

Curse Disrupted!

Orc Shaman fails to save versus excruciating agony!

Orc Shaman has burst into flame!

And Eric was already running as the ground warped and twisted where he had been standing, just a moment before.

Dashing for his life as the square behind him echoed with the roar of countless scores of orcs, the air cracking with the sound of impulsive shots fired into the alley wall before ricocheting madly, a single depleted pellet bouncing harmlessly off his armor, and furiously exultant Eric found himself delighting in the madness to come.

Perception check made!

Frantic eyes quickly found what he was looking for, a fire escape mostly hidden in an adjoining alley offering enemies that spotted him a poor line of fire, Eric thinking nothing of leaping up high enough to catch the elevated stairs and monkey climbing his way up to the first tier landing, quickly glancing back the way he came and catching sight of a few confused looking orcs as he rapidly and, as silently as he could, ascended the fire escape bolted onto the weather-worn brick building.

His heart raced with excitement and the iron tang of dread, fearing a sniper each time he caught sight of the ground far below.

Until he was on the rooftop at last, rolling before springing to his feet, scale shield and saber held at the ready in case of ambush, but there was no threat in sight.

Only the empty blacktop roof, with several small garden plots framed by two by fours and filled with topsoil and remarkably healthy-looking peppers, tomatoes, and zucchinis, in addition to the marijuana nearly crowding out everything else, like the weed it ultimately was. All of it was being tended to by a wide-eyed girl who couldn't have been older than 19, arms wrapping protectively about a baby sleeping in a little papoose, soil-stained hands making it clear what she had been doing.

“Please don’t hurt me. I’ll do whatever you want...” The girl lowered her head. “Just please don’t hurt my baby.”

Eric blinked, frozen for a second he really couldn’t afford to waste.

“I take it this building is occupied?”

Her eyes widened. “Wait, you don’t know?”

Eric slowly shook his head. "I only know you got seconds to get the fuck out of here, because ware is about to commence. Now, what should I know?"

She swallowed. “This building was claimed by one of the… um… well, champions.”

Eric froze, gazing at the girl for long moments. “You mean an adventurer who joined forces with the orcs.”

Her eyes blazed with sudden heat. “I mean a man who will do whatever it takes to take care of his family, even if it means getting into bed with a boss he hates.”

Perception check made!

Eric spun around, sword and shield replaced by Bardiche in the blink of an eye, catching a hulking giant of a youth not much older than him, wearing orc chain mail and wielding shield and javelin, glaring at Eric.

“Get the fuck away from my girl!”

Eric slowly nodded, even as he exchanged bardiche for shield once more. "Sure, man, no sweat. I was leaving anyway."

The man just glared as Eric quickly glanced around, detecting a nearby building that was an easy running leap away.

He turned back to the still glaring Javelineer. “Let me guess, you two were college sweethearts before the world went to hell and our city was overrun by our sworn enemies in every RPG game we ever played?”

This alone earned a bitter flash of a smile. “Maybe. Sure. We’ll go with that. Now how about you fucking leave our home?”

Eric held the man’s eyes, showing nothing but respect in his gaze, though careful to keep the girl between himself and the javeleneer as he eyed his target. “Will do. And if it’s worth anything, I don’t blame you a bit for working for those bastards. After all, what choice did you have than to work for homicidal monsters butchering humans more savagely than the nazis? You’re trying to survive. And no one can fault you for that.”

The man’s eyes flashed with sudden heat. “If you think you have any right to judge me...”

Eric adamantly shook his head. “No way, not a chance in hell. But if my guess is right, you hate these bastards, but you’re doing what you need to in order to survive. And of course their half-sentient abomination of a pod isn’t going to give you any classes that they don’t approve of.”

“If you know that already, then you know why we can never leave, and why you’d best get the fuck out. Because I hear trouble coming, and if you’re on my building when they come this way...”

“Join me,” Eric quickly said.

The man, who could have been a linebacker on any varsity team, just chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry, not ready to suicide yet, buddy.”

Eric smirked. “Then swear an oath that you won’t deliberately attack me or mine unless you’re actively being threatened, and I’ll do the same.”

The javeleneer stiffened, when Eric raised a palm now flickering with flame. “You’re a mage, huh?”

“If you like,” Eric said. “Now swear the oath and I’ll get out of your hair. Hell, I’ll do you one better. I’ll leave you a hundred pounds of meat, and if you ever leave for Freetown, I swear I’ll put in a good word for you, doing my part to let people know that survivors of this city had no real choice about what class they picked. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there are any number of humans sporting orc classes in Freetown even now, who would love nothing better than to cut every orc throat on this planet,” Eric finished.

The youth furrowed his brow. “You’re saying you got a hundred pounds of meat on you, and you actually carry weight in Freetown?”

“Take the fucking Oath, Jerry!” The girl hissed. “Please!”

Jerry’s scowl deepened, before he jerked a nod. “I swear it, so long as you can actually give us some meat!”

“Deal,” Eric said, clamping shut his fist and pulling free the heat from his drop of blood in what had been a bluff based on a fiery flash of nothing. But so long as Jerry believed that there were consequences to striking Eric in the back, so long as he believed it for a single day at least, that was enough for Eric, and he really would put in a kind word if the opportunity ever presented itself, as unlikely as that might be.

"Take care, guys, good luck with the fam," he said, earning an awed curse when he dropped not one but several hundred pounds worth of meat in the form of rat carcasses before taking a running jump for the roof a good distance away…. And all but flying through the air as he cleared the distance with a speed and power he would have thought inhuman, just a year ago.

And just as pleased as he was with his graceful tumble and spring back to his feet was the feeling in his back. Absolutely pain free, and not at all perforated by javelins. He looked back at Jerry and dared a wink before sprinting and leaping across half a dozen rooftops, half-covered in communal gardens similar to the one he had left, before finally maneuvering himself back in position, now looking down at a milling swarm of orcs roaring and cursing in the central square, over half their numbers having flooded down the alley he had first darted down.

Eric knew he was flashing a feral grin when he peered down at his foes from the rooftop ledge, drawing the sinew string of his bone bow up to his cheeks as his body trembled with the essence of Wrath rippling through his muscles and draining his soul reserves. Draining them surprisingly slowly, and the trembling in his limbs was almost perfectly muted. He decided right then and there that choosing the Path of Mastery with Burst of Strength had indeed been the correct path.

Because accuracy and control were everything at times like these, he thought, right before he let a second arrow fly with a crack and boom, glorying in the sight of the monstrous chief squealing in surprise when he was lifted right off his throne of car parts and bone and sent tumbling face-first into the asphalt as every single ward protecting him ruptured in a cacophony of sound and light.

Burst of Strength is now Rank 11!

You have successfully struck your opponent!

True Strike has been mitigated to Stunning Blow!

Infravision (Magesight) skill check made! You sense multiple wards rupturing!

Eric flashed a feral grin drawing his bow to full extension once more... before being forced to pull back with a hiss when the air echoed with the crack and boom of a score flintlocks firing in his direction.

Eric darted back with a hiss and snarl as lead shot shattered bricks, forced to hunker down and close his eyes for several precious seconds as he found his increasingly acute ability to visualize manifesting his quickest summons yet, soon surrounded by a pillbox of thick toughened meat, reinforcing ribs, and most importantly, near impervious scales, both in front of him and under his feet as he stepped forward, so even shrapnel tearing through the floor would find him a tough target to penetrate.

Only then did he dare steal a glimpse through one of three arrow slits he had placed in his bulwark, knowing that the narrow incision would be a tough shot for even a scoped hunting rifle, especially if firing from the frenzied mob below, as opposed to a fortified spot like his own. Against black powder flintlocks shooting iron balls and lead shot, he had hardly any worries at all.

Even if he did flinch and dart away twice when shot ricocheted off his pillbox, and he was forced to accept that no, he wasn’t getting another Burst of Strength essence infused arrow off like this.

But crossbows on the other hand…

That he found no problem sighting along and using in the blink of an eye.

You have critically struck five musketeers!

You have failed to spot Orc Chieftan!

He gloried in the subtle kick, smoother than any rifle, that presaged yet another orc's shrieking death as fiery bolts streaked through the air, thin bodkin heads effortlessly plunging through the gaps between chain mail links and either searing right through his prey, tearing through lungs and hearts and killing within seconds, or ricocheting off chain links resulting in deaths that were even more cruel as 4000-degree bodkin heads lodged in numerous torsos, puffing Eric's center-mass targets up into bloated caricatures of themselves as all the liquids in their body boiled so furiously that they either outright exploded or ruptured in flames less than a minute later, killing orc after orc choking up fire as they silently thrashed upon the ground for endless moments before death claimed them at last.

Vicious kills which did wonders for shattering morale, a dead shaman and fled chieftan leaving orc bands to act as disorganized mobs, musketeers roaring and firing their shots at once, and suddenly they were all in the awkward position of crouching down and reloading while a laughing Eric rained fiery death down on them from above.

Before shrieking instinct demanded he duck NOW!

Darting down just before a massive javelin that pierced even his undead lizard hide fort could run him completely through.

Perception Check made!

Only later was he able to parse the sudden spike of dread in his gut compelling his abrupt lurch and tumble, somehow sensing killing intent, shifts in air pressure, and the slightest tingle of unwanted connections forming between him and his would-be killer as one inescapable surge of dread.

Sensing that now he was the one being hunted, as the swoosh of deadly javelins filled the air.

Eric, not being a complete fool, felt absolutely no shame in sprinting in a zig-zag fashion across the entire roof before leaping to an adjoining building with a tumbling roll, continuing his weaving dance, feeling both vindicated and terrified when one of his foe’s weapons pounded through the blacktop, just inches from his foot.

Though he was brazen enough to stop for just a heartbeat and claim his enemy’s killing tool for his own before twisting around and leaping off the side of the building to a neighboring edifice, not daring to stop for even a second as he leaped from building to building, leaving the roaring squeals and shouts far behind before abruptly racing for a rooftop door that opened to his touch and darting inside.

He spent long moments panting for breath, sensing no foes in the darkness before carefully closing the door behind him and slipping down the hallway that smelled of stagnant air and damp mold on light feet that flowed from step to step, clenching his jaw and girding himself for any ambush.

And though his Infravision detected a handful of hunched figures through the too-thin walls covered in peeling floral wallpaper that were most definitely people, probably cowering in fear from the commotion outside that was already fading away, he paid them no mind, eyes focused entirely on any orc-sized heat signatures or humans that might be seeking to ambush him just on the other side of their doors.

The few times he sensed just that, a quick diving roll and he was well past the ambush points, and not once did anyone dare to leave their domiciles to confront him.

He made his way to a staircase and had descended several flights when he found himself on an entirely abandoned floor. He didn’t hesitate to pick an apartment and slip inside, stepping carefully around worn and well cared for wooden furniture, portraits, and knick knacks as he loped to the window, cracked a blind, and peered outside. He flashed a fierce smile of satisfaction when he spied nothing more than a small handful of disorganized orcs, roaring and shouting their frustration as they continued their search.

After securing the front door by the simple expedient of dragging the fridge in front of it and making sure it had traction on the rug, then verifying an emergency escape route via the fire escape that thankfully ended with a final retractable ladder well above the first floor, Eric darted into the master bedroom, had himself a quick power meal before sitting down in the lotus position, determined to rejuvenate himself by meditation alone, noting the messages he hadn’t had time to scan during the pitched battle, now eager to embrace the embers of flame he sensed flaring so brightly in his core.

Congratulations! You have killed 15 orcs.

You have killed one Orc Shaman.

Infravision is now at Rank 12!

Stealth skill continues to over-saturate!

Find Weakness is at Rank 8!

Crossbow is now at Rank 15!

You have achieved Rank 15 with all Bows!

You are currently at 75.6% of maximum core density!