I was back in my loincloth, big green juicy caboose hanging out the back. People of all races cowered against the walls of the stadium. Falconites, dwarves, elves, Viv, even a centaur. I appeared to be the only orc. I cleared my throat and then dropped my voice down deep. “I come in peace.” I held both hands up to show I was unarmed and pasted a friendly smile on my face.

“They are not afraid of you genius.” Tootsie laughed. “The Shade just dropped your body off.”

I rubbed the back of my head, “the thing that bit my head like a candied apple? Why did it bring me here?”

“Waste not, want not.” Tootsie answered. “You’re in the leftover bowl now. Only one way out.” She rubbed her belly.

“Get me out of this place now, Tootsie.” I growled.

“Can’t.” She crossed her arms and turned her back on me.

“Why not?”

“Cause you won’t listen to me. You only listen to cat eyes.” Tootsie glanced over her shoulder at me and batted her eyes. “Oh you big strong orc, you should get a spell that makes you invisible so I don’t have to look at your pig face when we kiss.” Tootsie made an exaggerated feminine voice. “Then we can have patchy-haired pig kittens.”

“Where is Mia?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Maybe the Shade kept her. Maybe they are making little vamp kittens right now.” Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “Ew, Ew even better maybe they are keeping her as a kitten kabob.”

“Not funny, you little creepy buzzard. Where is she?”

“She is fine. She is huddled over there with the others.”

I turned to see Mia dressed like eve in the garden. She cowered two goat women. They glared at me when I stared. I turned back to Tootsie. “Fine, what did I do wrong. What should I have chosen?”

“Oh, you’re not ready. Maybe you should try something else dumb like fish breathing or a magic mustache or something.” Tootsie side-eyed me.

“I said I want to know, now tell me.” I exhaled through my teeth.

“Fine. The first thing you should know is all NPC’s rank up at twenty percent the pace you do. By the time they get the experience points they need they have been in need of skill for some time.” She hovered over and sat cross-legged on my shoulder. “You have the skill you need to start, you have the reflexes of a cat when in danger. But…” She glanced over to see if I was listening. “You have the strength of a pup. You don’t need skill yet, you need to develop your attributes. It costs three points to raise one attribute by one point.”

“That is your brilliant plan?” I wanted to snatch her right off my shoulder. This game was beginning to give me a headache. And one more time in the fiery pit would drive me to mass murder. “You want me to spend my six experience points on two points of strength?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Six points.” She laughed.

I narrowed my eyes. “Three points?”

“Try fifteen,” Tootsie smirked. “That will give you five points to strength. Then you will have the true strength of an orc.”

“Fifteen points? How am I going to get fifteen points in here?”

Tootsie looked around the stadium at all the cowering people. “Well, orcs are the most intolerable race. I see an all-you-can-eat experience buffet.” She held out a hand. “Bon a petit.”

“You want me to kill all these people?” I flicked the little hummingbird from my shoulder.

“You will have to do it a few times but you did choose orc, what's the problem.”

“I’m not going to kill a bunch of cowering people.”

“Oh don’t worry, they won’t be cowering much longer. They are afraid of the Shade, not you. Soon as you smack a couple around the others will give you your sporting fight.” Tootsie kept her distance.

“I’m not killing them.”

A loud screech sounded overhead. I looked up to see something blot out the stars and dive into the stadium. Large sharp claws snatched up a lizard man and carried him up into the air. The face of the Shade split open like a slimy flower and rows of sharp teeth dropped drool down onto the stadium floor. A loud crunch cracked across the stadium as the Shade bit into the Lizard man’s head. Then both of them were gone. Out into the darkness.

“Is there any other way to get the experience I need?” I asked not looking away from the stars.

“Yeah.” Tootsie lost her jovial tone. “You can let that thing crunch on your head like a potato chip a few more times and get your experience from the pit.”

“How about I just kill that thing and get the experience from that?” I scanned the sky. “It is a game right?”

“That could work.” Tootsie watched the sky with me. “I once heard of a puppy that killed a mountain lion. Locked his jaw and didn’t let go till they both passed out. The cute little puppy was no bigger than your fist.”

“Really?” I looked over at Tootsie amazed.

“No stupid a puppy can’t kill a mountain lion. Were you raised by keebs or something?”

Orc

Pug

Pig Face

Level 6

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 18

Manna: 5

Constitution: 14

Perception: 14

Exp: 6475

Soul Points: 12

Skills: Furious Feline: cost 2 mana,

Dex: +3, Claws, time: 1 hour

Carapace Skin: +4 Constitution,

Cost: 2 Mana, time: 1 hour

Phantom Cloak: Cover a target area of three square meters for 7 minutes (Stage 2)

Cost: 2 Mana

Coin: