Eric didn’t bother with any cost versus benefit analysis or tactical or even practical concerns with so many of his assets currently out of reach, and his greatest tool to turn the tide currently so full he constantly felt fit to bursting, no matter what his recently evolved Interface Enhancement might say.

Instead, he was knocking back arrow after arrow, firing pointed death at speeds considerably below Mach 1.

Because he dare not risk bone arrows he couldn’t retrieve with a completely full ESS. And the only other ones he had on hand were most definitely not up to Mach 1, let alone Mach 2 velocity.

Which didn’t stop Eric’s arrows from streaking through the air to plunge deep into the throat of a snarling orc pounding its axe against the saber of a clearly injured elf, the orc’s triumphant roar transforming to a startled howl. Nor did traveling at a relatively sane but still absurdly fast 600 fps at all hider a second arrow that had just plunged under the armpit of a roaring orc about to cleave a shrieking mother holding her child in two, the porcine monstrosity snarling and spinning about to glare all around, a relatively low Perception leaving him clueless as to Eric’s wherabouts as the sounds and cries of battle distracted the orc, even as the dying creature stumbled to massive knees, gazing in confusion at the frothing blood shooting from his snout, while the panicked mother wisely darted towards the largest cluster of valiantly defending elves doing their best to protect the refugee caravan only now clearing the forest in the direction of Freetown.

Eric’s pounding heart slowed to a steady, disciplined thump as fury turned to focus, and inhuman Perception, Finesse, and multiple archery focused titles, perks, and abilities somehow transformed to a brilliant predictive savvy as his arrows began striking not just where his monstrous towering foes were, but where they were going to be.

So when one lurched back from the spear of a desperately screaming female elf, struggling to protect the warrior that could only be her mate, the monster’s skull arched back just where it needed to be to be punched through by a bodkin headed arrow every bit as long and weighty as a longbow shaft, and traveling at triple the speed.

More than enough to crack a poorly made cast iron helm, the giant humanoid hybrid blinking in sudden confusion before collapsing like a fallen oak.

Only then did the band of a dozen or so orcs break off from the caravan they were hitting, a few orderly roars having them form up ranks, raising shields to an unseen threat.

An act that filled Eric with hungry anticipation.

Because now that the beasts were disengaging from a caravan all to eager to dart away while they could, Eric could begin unleashing death earnest.

But first thing’s first, he thought, as he sensed the perfect instant to release his final smooth cast arrow… plunging right between a row of shields, right where Eric knew there would be an opening, before unleashing death at mach 2 once more.

You have critically hit Orc Subcaptain!

Orc Subcaptain has been mortally wounded!

Orc Band senses your location.

Orc Band is charging!

“That’s right, motherfuckers! Come this way! I, Eric Orcbane, welcome your charge!”

You have declared your title to your foes!

Orcs disengage primary target and focus all their killing intent upon you and you alone!

His smile grew as the air exploded with the sound of his bone arrows put into play at last, infused with the Essence of Dominion and Flame, just as his bow was infused with the Essence of Wrath, so that his deadliest missiles didn’t explode on impact after puncturing through the too wide gaps of porcine armor to plunge completely through a second row of charging orcs, and eleven became nine then eight in the seconds it took his foes to close within twenty feet. A gleefully howling Eric quickly tossed bow and tactical backpack back to the forest before taking up his bardiche and charging forward with a roar the equal of his foes.

Eager to meet them on the crimson killing fields of battle and exact a bitter price from their flesh, for daring to invade his home.

You have successfully dodged Savage Cleave!

Double Zwerch has decapitated your foe!

Orc Berserker attempts to grapple you.

You have successfully overpowered your foe!

A new ally joins the fray!

Time slowed to glorious savage effect as Eric weaved and dodged past desperate cleaving axes and spears thrust with clumsy panic before his bardiche’s winding counters tore desperately swung weapons free of surprised grips an eyeblink before ripping open squealing throats in crimson showers of blood.

Until the moment Eric himself was sent crashing to the ground.

Because even massively boosted Strength had its limits, and if the furiously swung axe that had clipped him hadn’t shattered his hip, it had certainly cracked it, Eric turning his unexpected fall into a rolling tumble before springing upright once more.

Sans his bardiche, as the crowing handful of surviving orcs noted, but Eric’s desperate grip in the hilt of his still-sheathed saber turned to a relieved smile as one of the remaining orcs stiffened when a flint-tipped spear blasted through the back of his neck, right below the lip of its helmet, and a powerful feminine shout made it clear Eric wasn’t fighting alone when a Primal Hunter joined the fray, sending a second roaring orc crumpling to death with an expertly thrown javelin as she raced to Eric’s side.

“One of our slaves dares to strike our kind? Kill her! Bring me her head!” One of the survivors roared as the rest raised their shields and charged.

Before losing his own when Eric took full advantage of their distraction to dart forward, roll under a surprised axe swing, reclaim his weapon and wrench his bardiche back in high guard, just in time to parry a massive overhand chop that should have blasted through his polearm shaft like kindling.

And shatter it might have, had Eric not infused his weapon with so much Dominion essence while riding the storm tides of an entire city’s fury the night before. Three feet of razor sharp killing steel fastened onto a sturdy wooden shaft like the bastard child of a battle-axe and guandao, Eric’s beloved tool of dismemberment had absolutely no problem cleaving both skull and steel helm in twain after disarming the orc with a twist and wrench of his weapon right before chopping down with all his fury, this time channeling his rage with discipline and truly keeping his sense of the battlefield fully synergized with his interface.

Perception check made!

You have avoided Lethal Backstab!

Such that when the giant orc waiting in the wings chose that moment to act, roaring and charging forward to slam Eric back, Eric was both ready for him… and the shadowy figure wielding a pair of black daggers who had just positioned himself right behind Eric.

Just in time to be bowled over by the monster Eric tripped and darted away from, as would be assassin and would-be line-backer crashed together in a heap.

“No, you fool, move!” Hissed the would-be assassin groaning under the weight of six hundred pounds of pork, cold sneer instantly replaced be terror and panic as the body of his would-be partner proved unable to respond, missing as it was the head that Eric had just chopped off.

The very human assassin gazed up at Eric with terrified eyes, features blanching under the cold, cold gaze of his judge and jury. “Please… you don’t have to do this. Just let me go. Let me go and I will swear to my employers that you’re already dead!” The compact, saturnine-featured man in coal black leathers flashed a too bright smile as he was washed in the massive orc’s blood.

Eric furrowed his brows. “Who do you work for. And how the hell did you know I’d be right here, at this moment?”

But the man’s desperate gaze hid an icy hardness Eric didn’t need any special perks to perceive. “Irrelevant. What matters is what I can do for you! With my help, I can absolutely guarantee you that the Confederate States will never come for you again! Just let me get this bastard off me… here! A bag of gold, just for you!”

The man’s desperate grimace turned to a snarl as he hurled what Eric was damn certain was a bomb.

Quickness check made!

A bomb thrown with such force that it went sailing harmlessly into the trees when Eric weaved and dodged the missile, the assassin having time only for one final desperate plea drowned out by the roar of black powder explosives shredding undergrowth before his words were forever cut off in a shower of blood.

Congratulations! You have successfully executed Level 24 Confederate States Assassin!

Eric wasted only a moment glaring down at the corpse, the second assassin to come for him in the last couple of days, and didn’t hesitate to absolutely savage the body as best he could do make damned sure no clever Feign Death skill would mean a dagger in his ass when he least expected it.

By the time he tore himself away from his frenzied assault on the now thoroughly mangled corpse, the air filled with a girl’s furious cry and the gurgling grunt of another orc that had met its match as four foes became two and it was Eric and Rica back to back once more.

Eric hissed and cursed in alarm, realizing there were more important things even than covering his back.

And that was protecting the girl who had dared to fight by his side, castigating himself for getting distracted with death all around. And now they were shoulder to shoulder, neither saying a word as their final pair of foes charged in tandem.

Only to be met by furious death as bardiche and spear slipped effortlessly past desperately swung axes to cleave the skulls and hearts of their foes, two more massive bodies crashing to the ground as Eric and Rica spun around, facing each other with panting breaths and wild grins.

And never had Eric felt hungrier for the girl before him than he did at that moment, awed by the fierce display of savagery and strength, and the sheer sensuality his namesake radiated, the scent of her natural musk and the look in her dilated eyes made it all too clear that she felt the same.

“Caravan?”

“Safe. That assassin?”

Eric flashed a hard smile. “Very, very dead.”

“Good.”

No more words were said as their lips locked in a passionate embrace, caring nothing for the scent of blood all around them as they fought a battle of an entirely different sort from which there could be no losers, only fiercest victory and the sweet, sweet joy of prizes too long deferred finally claimed as a now straddling Rica gazed longingly into his eyes as she shifted her hips and welcomed him inside her most cherished prize, a precious warmth that filled him with such rapture he couldn’t hold back the cry from his lips, till her soft, blood-spattered lips locked with his own and they embraced a dance just as fierce as the one they had survived, rutting like the savage warriors they truly were, savoring rapture while fully armed and armored, both knowing even in the heights of bliss that death was forever just a single mistake away.

Yet wrapped in her arms, savoring her kisses, Eric felt filled with a tender warmth, a sense of cherished safety, as they embraced the most primal of all dances, buried in the waist-high grass.

But it was only when he acknowledge that safety with the desperate cry of release, at the outskirts of lands claimed by neither elf nor orc, that his interface flooded him with potency almost the equal of the ecstasy he felt in Rica Lightfoot’s arms.

Hybrid Contender Eric Silver is the First Inhabitant of Subjugated World 6783Y (Earth) to Successfully pull off a GRAND HEIST!

This Epic Level achievement has earned the title: Master Criminal!

Title Boons include a +10 to Perception, +10 to Finesse, and +5 to Quickness! For only the most gifted of confidence men, grifters, cat-burglars, and safe-crackers have the discerning eyes needed to spot the flaws within even the most well protected depositories, or the exquisite coordination and inhuman speed needed to diffuse any trap, slip past any lock, and claim any prize in the blink of an eye!

Your Epic level achievement means that all Rogue classes of Epic tier or below are open to you! All will have at least Silver Tier resonance!

Your natural affinity with the Rogue’s path means that you are a natural with all thief and assassination skills you learn! All such skills are learned 25% faster than they otherwise would be! (All ranged weapons using lethal ammo may be considered tools of assassination! New modified Ranged Weapon learning speed is 60% above baseline! New modified learning speed with all garrotes and melee weapons under 2 feet in length is now 40% above baseline!)

Congratulations! You have transcend your own limitations!

Stealth may now advance without limit as the insights of countless rogues before you becomes your own!

Stealth is now Rank 12!

Being a Master Criminal means you instantly know the score. You’re far more likely to hear rumors or be led by the strings of fate to uniquely profitable opportunities of all types and stripes! Rewards from all elicit activities will be anywhere from 100% to a full magnitude beyond what they would otherwise be!

The Master Criminal also has a Nose for Trouble, and can sense a setup a mile away. You can spot a raw deal like overripe fish, and you now have Tier 1 Danger Sense.

You will automatically spot hostile intentions from sentients with a successful Perception Check! If you ever feel a cold shiver racing down your spine, you know to DUCK AND COVER. So the Sniper aiming for the back of your neck has a really bad day, and you live to see another.

Smooth Criminal – The law doesn’t take kindly to known criminals, but somehow you always come out smelling like roses! Good cops will assume you are either upstanding or believe you when you say you’ve gone straight! Cops who dabble in extralegal affairs will instantly know you’re a person who doesn’t mind greasing palms, which might open all sorts of unexpected doors to you!

“Eric?” The girl in his arms was gazing down at him with a look of awed disbelief. “Did you just earn an Epic tier title?” She flashed a teasing grin. “Was claiming this warrior maiden really such an epic feat?”

Eric let loose a throaty chuckle, already knowing the response that her teasing words demanded, pulling her back down with a growl, cutting off her husky laughter with kisses hot and sweet as she groaned and bucked in his arms, biting her lip with a savage smile marking a desperate hunger just as fierce as his own as they soared in each other’s arms a second time in just a handful of desperately clawed minutes, determined to savor every sweet hot second together that they dared, before obligation and worry compelled them both to duty’s side once more.

And the climax Eric felt left him so breathless and overwhelmed that he could have mistaken the sudden surge of unexpected Strength coursing through his limbs as the sheer joy of releasing himself in the sweet warm embrace of this passionate, beautiful girl only a year older than himself.

But the way she suddenly winced said otherwise, her eyes widening with surprise at the fearsome Strength he had so carefully held in check. Because he had indeed earned a second title, many tiers lower in magnitude than the first, but a welcome enhancement all the same.

No matter that precious stat boosting titles would soon be few and far between for everyone, right now he was certainly savoring their boons in spades.

Congratulations!

You have successfully managed to break into a heavily fortified Federal Reserve building using brute force! Whether inhuman Strength or cleverly leveraging your own gifts, tools intimately tied to you (or at least your essence) helped you get through an impregnable vault the old fashioned way. By smashing that sucker wide open!

You have earned the Lesser Title: Basher!

This title conveys a permanent +5 to Strength and a 25% increased chance of finding the weakness in any object through the application of carefully applied brute force. Whether you’re faced with a tungsten alloyed vault door, or a guard covered in steel plate, you’ll happily smash both wide open!

In addition, you have +1 to all intimidation skill checks beyond what your powerful physique already grants you.

All Breacher and Enforcer classes are now open to you with at least Bronze tier resonance!

You’re not just a brutish thug, you’re an artist! And you’ll pound in the face of anyone who says otherwise!

He flashed Rica a wicked smile. “You might want to be careful before dating this bad boy, beautiful. Turns out I might be something of a Master Criminal.”

She chuckled throatily. “I think I can take care of myself, bad boy Master Criminal,” she said with a tender kiss before biting her lip and gently slipping free of his arms with a sigh, quickly adjusting her armored skirt with an awkward grin. “I can’t tell you how much I wanted to do that.”

Eric grinned, flushing himself as he rearranged his awkward bits. “Me too. From the moment I first saw you.”

She smirked. “Considering the alternative...”

His gently squeezed her hand. “Please, don’t even say it. All that matters is that we’re both hale and healthy, and very much alive.” He flashed a winning smile. “And the cry of a certain frustrated little girl I think I hear off in the distance means the people who matter most to us made it. So let’s just savor and be grateful for what we have, and let the past take care of itself.”

She swallowed thickly, quickly nodding, the unguarded look of hope in her soft brown eyes striking Eric right through his Dominion-infused chest scales. “That meant something… right?”

He didn’t trust himself to speak for a long moment, merely holding her close, kissing the top of her head. “It did. Now go see to your daughter. I have some things to grab. I’ll be right there.”

He spent some moments collecting his thoughts along with his tactical pack, scattered arrows, and his thankfully fully intact bow, grateful that his Interface and what was now an absolutely absurd Perception stat meant that he knew exactly where he had thrown all his shit.

He shook his head in bemused disbelief, still more than a little bit awed to have earned six standard class levels worth of stats, or ten crappy Conscript levels of stats, and some extremely sweet perks besides, the moment he left Sylvan territory and felt safe, even if just for a few moments, in the arms of a girl he knew he was in perilous danger of falling head over heels for.

And he decided he didn’t mind a bit, he thought with a lopsided grin, before wincing when his interface blared with an alarm as he entered the edge of Sylvan territory once more to retrieve the last of his property, a place where his reputation was now decidedly mixed, and a certain commander’s blaring demands flashed across his interface.

WHATEVER THE HELL YOU TOOK WASN’T PART OF OUR AGREEMENT!

“Actually it was,” he muttered aloud, before chuckling softly to himself.

Because maybe it was better this way.

If the ruler of this city-sized territory truly believed he had robbed her, even after the deal they had made… maybe that was the only reason why he had locked in an Elite tier perk at all.

Yet what mattered most was that he had done it. He had gotten his vengeance and saved a city. He had pulled off the most magnificent heist imaginable, and, contrary to the bitter twists he all too often encountered in his favorite progression novels, he had actually gotten the girl in the end.

Of course, few knew better than he just how bitter and sharp an unexpected turn life’s fortunes could take. But for now, he was determined to savor his happy ending like the sweet nectar it was, all too well aware that it could all be torn from him in the blink of an eye.

Which was why he was now more determined than ever to get stronger at all costs.

After making enemies with a major orc faction and with CSA assassins clearly out for his blood, he already knew what his next move had to be.

He had a fortune in gold burning a hole in his metaphoric pocket, and he could only wonder what secrets, treasures, and elite paths to power his windfall might grant him in the weeks and months to come.

Because the one thing he was absolutely sure of was that he had only taken the very first steps along his own path to power, and was still little more than the tiniest tadpole of significance in a sea he sensed was already full of sharks.

He hadn’t even hit level 10 or chosen a decent class yet.

If he didn’t do his utmost to get stronger at all costs, he could all too easily end up a footnote in someone else’s story of ascension.

And that was one ending this Master Criminal with the power to feast upon the locked potency of any territory he conquered would do anything and everything in his power to make sure never happened.

Hard features softened to a warm smile when he spotted Rica waving at him in the distance, Eric not hesitating to cross the windswept plains to be by her side, determined that the trip to Freetown, at least, would be as sweet and halcyon as anyone could hope for, while readying himself for the storms to come.