Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 06 - Master of disguise - Part Two {Rewrite}

As we cleared the foothills and reached the mountain, it actually started to get a little easier, for me at least. The steady incline meant I just had to lean forward.

Clarice was having a worse time of it though, apparently having spent most of her flagging energy to get even this far.

Thankfully, Jacque had stopped just a little further ahead.

As I caught up to her, I saw why Jacque had stopped. She had found a shallow cave in the mountainside.

Setting down Tobi and dislodging the Shadowcat, I began taking deep breaths to try and clear my head. I wasn’t sure if it was the almost definite concussion from the blow to the head, insufficient oxygen from limiting my breathing because of the claws in my back, the veritable stranglehold Toofy had around my neck, or maybe from running for close to an hour, but I was feeling quite lightheaded.

“Toofy can you hop down for a minute?” I asked somewhat woozily.

Toofy reluctantly let go, staring up at me with a mixture of concern and suspicion.

“Not going anywhere,” I panted, stretching and trying to slow my breathing.

Clarice came staggering over a few moments later, clutching tightly onto my arm for support to stay standing, “Ah! Ah! Please-tell-me-we-are-done-run-ning,” she gasped between deep breaths and clutching desperately at her side.

Jacque nodded, “We can take a break here, but we will need to get moving again soon. Even assuming that the Goblins don’t chase us into the mountains, this is the Orcs' home turf and I doubt they will be more hospitable than the Goblins.”

Putting down my shield, I shrugged the pack off my back and gave Clarice four of the parcels of food and one of the waterskins.

Clarice nodded in thanks, slumping down into a sitting position and began gulping down water.

Next, I gave Jacque two of the food parcels and the other waterskin.

Jacque accepted them with a nod and moved to a higher position to keep a lookout. The ridge we were resting on would hide us from the sight of those below, but it also made it much harder to see anyone coming.

Untying one of the seven remaining parcels of food, I put it on the ground next to the Shadowcat.

The Shadowcat immediately pounced on the food with desperate abandon.

Watching the Shadowcat eat made me realise how incredibly hungry I suddenly felt. I could barely untie the parcel of food because of how badly my fingers were trembling. Without even thinking, I stuffed the contents into my mouth before even managing to tell what it was. Without chewing, I swallowed and felt the lump of food as it travelled down to my stomach and disappeared. I somehow felt hungrier than before, positively famished, I couldn’t remember the last time I had anything to eat.

Eyeing the remaining parcels of food greedily, I reached out to take another. But just as I was about to take one, I stopped. “No,” I muttered quietly, “I am not hungry.” My stomach writhed in protest, a deep ache settling in my abdomen. “I’m not hungry,” I repeated adamantly. The pain began to subside and all too quickly disappeared entirely, and with it, my hunger.

I had been strictly dieting since childhood, did my stomach really think that it could defeat me so easily?! Impossible!

Contrary to my own restraint, Clarice wolfed down her food in no time and appeared to have drunk all the water.

Turning my attention to Tobi, I could see he was still in a great deal of pain. “Do you mind if I check your injuries?” I asked.

Tobi nods with a pained expression on his face. Being carried so roughly had most likely exacerbated his injuries.

Giving Tobi a once over, I was fairly confident that he had a couple of cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. On the upside, I could fix the shoulder. On the downside, it would hurt, a lot.

Tobi grunted loudly from the pain as I popped his left arm back into the shoulder socket. The surrounding muscles were badly bruised from whatever hit him and dislocated it in the first place, and the muscles were likely torn as well. I made Tobi a wrist sling from one of the bandages to at least make him more comfortable.

“Thanks”, Tobi groaned weakly, looking a little pale from the pain, “Would you mind if I had something to eat?” He asked, looking like he expected me to say no.

“Okay,” I agreed somewhat reluctantly, handing him one of the food parcels.

I turned my attention to the Shadowcat. It was in pretty rough shape and I could hear a wet rattling sound with every breath it took. Running my hands gently along its sides, I quickly found the problem. The poor thing had two broken ribs and I suspected that one of them had pierced a lung.

“Is it bad?” Tobi asked, the depressed tone in his voice giving away that he knew the Shadowcat’s general condition already.

“Broken ribs and a pierced lung,” I shook my head. I was not a veterinarian, a doctor, or even a certified nurse, but even I could tell that the poor feline likely wouldn’t make it.

Tobi nodded, his expression darkening, “Thanks anyway,” he said quietly, feeding the Shadowcat despite the likely futility of the gesture. Tobi’s relationship with the monstrous feline was closer to a pet owner from earth, despite the ferocious feline being many orders of magnitude larger than a house cat.

There was a chance that the Shadowcat could be saved, but I honestly wasn't sure it was worth the risk of exposure.

Climbing up to Jacque’s vantage point, I sat down next to her and before I could say a word, Toofy innocuously sat down on my lap.

Jacque sighed and gave me a telling look, “Look, Tim, we have finite resources and are currently deep behind enemy lines. I understand you wanna save his pet, but I am far more concerned with getting us back to the foothold in one piece. I’m sorry, but I don’t think inviting Tobi Into the party is worth the risk.”

I nodded, that was a pretty fair assessment. I stared out at the rolling foothills below us, there was no sign that the Goblins had followed us, but they could very easily be hiding just beyond the forest treeline. “Are there any Orcs nearby?” I asked, trying to take my mind off depressing thoughts for a moment.

Jacque shook her head and had a slight frown, “I would have expected to find at least a few foragers by now. The fact that the Goblins appear to be working independently of the Orcs should have meant that there would be more Orcs in this mountain range, not fewer. But there was something about those Orcs earlier...” She grimaced and shook her head, “Something happened that broke their unity. I think maybe the Goblin chieftain managed to kill the Orc chieftain. It’s the only thing I can think of that would explain all this.”

Reminded of the sack with three decapitated Orc heads at our feet, it gave me a somewhat gruesome idea.

“Oh that’s nasty,” Jacque grimaced.

“It would work though,” I countered unenthusiastically with a similarly disgusted expression.

Jacque nodded, “Assuming he agrees, which he probably will. Tobi really loves that cat of his. Apparently, he was a gift from Tobi's older brother. He is all Tobi has to remember him by. Wow, now that is just sad.”

I had thought Jacque knew the backstory herself until it became obvious that she was just perusing Tobi’s thoughts. “Then I will go suggest my plan,” I replied, taking hold of the sack and gently taking Toofy off my lap. Walking back down to Tobi, I tried to think of a better way to phrase what I intended. “I might be able to save your cat,” I explained hesitantly.

Tobi was stunned for a moment as a result of the emotional whiplash. “Wh-what?! How?!”

“I have a Racial Ability that accelerates healing. If you let me claim him, he will get the group Synergy and maybe recover fast enough to save his life,” I explained somewhat awkwardly.

Tobi was justifiably hesitant, “Why can't the party leader invite me into the party?” He asked suspiciously.

“Jacque doesn’t trust you,” I replied bluntly. It was true enough and honestly, I didn’t trust Tobi all that much either. But our odds of survival would improve with more of us in fighting shape and since Tobi was just too much of a risk to have in the party, his pet Shadowcat would have to join on its own.

Tobi looked like he was about to say something else when the Shadowcat coughed up a rather sizable amount of bloody phlegm. “Fine!” He agreed hastily, staring fearfully at the Shadowcat.

Wetting my thumb with some spit, I rubbed off some of the blood crusted on my face and knelt down next to the Shadowcat. As I had expected, the collar around its neck was very similar to the one I was currently wearing myself, so I smeared the reconstituted blood on the tag area.

Tobi stiffened for a moment, “Accept.”

[Bond Successful: Applying Enslaved Status and Effects]

[Shady - Shadowcat: 2 ] [HP: -3/22] [MP: 1/8 ]

[Tim’s Slave*] [Class: ??? ] [Exp: 0/0 ]

[Strength: 12 ]

[Agility: 13* ]

[Toughness: 11 ]

[Intelligence: 3 ]

[Willpower: 5 ]

[Presence: 3 ]

[(Racial Ability: Shadow Step {Rank 1}): Move between shadows by consuming {MP}. {Agility} increases the maximum distance per point of {MP} spent.]

[Group Synergy: {Agile Reflexes: - }, {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 1 }, {Thick Hide: - }, {Brute Strength: - }, {Irongut: - }.]

[(Enslaved Status Effects: {Hide/Expand})]

Not exactly the most imaginative name I noted, struggling not to roll my eyes. Shady was doing about as poorly as I had expected. His stats were somewhat interesting but made sense given that it was an animal. What really gave me pause was the Shadowcat’s Racial Ability Shadow Step. It sounded pretty amazing if it did what I thought it did.

Hearing Shady’s stomach gurgle, I knew that I didn’t really have time to procrastinate. Upending the sack, the three Orc heads tumbled out and onto the ground.

Shady eyed them hungrily and licked his lips, now suddenly much more alert and energetic.

Unfortunately, besides the neck, the Orc heads did not have much meat on them. However, the inside was a different matter entirely.

Stealing my nerve, I raised my right foot and cursed the fact that I didn't have any shoes.

*Crunch*

My foot drove through the Orc’s head like a rotten melon, spattering blood and brain matter around the immediate vicinity. Very nearly throwing up, I Clenched my jaw and tensed my abdominal muscles until the initial wave of nausea passed. “Eat,” I commanded, looking pointedly at the Shadowcat and snatching Toofy as she began reaching for a chunk of brain. “Not you Toofy,” I insisted, trying to hold down a fresh wave of nausea as I realised what she had been trying to do.

Shady began wolfing down the splattered Orc head as fast as it was able, which was actually not very fast considering his injuries, but he was still enthusiastic about it.

“Nasty,” Clarice commented disdainfully, but couldn’t seem to bring herself to look away.

Tobi apparently couldn’t handle the sight of what was going on and began dry heaving as he scrambled away white as a sheet.

Lining up my foot above the next Orc head, I did my best to try and convince myself that I was doing something less heinous.

*Crunch*

It didn’t work. My imagination just couldn’t compete with the grotesque reality of the situation. It didn’t help that there really weren’t many similar activities to what I was doing and those I could think of were either worse or just as bad.

*Crunch*

Holding down the bile through sheer force of will, I walked a short distance away and took a few deep breaths. Determinedly not looking back, I instead concentrated on assessing everyone's condition through the group status.

[ Jacque - HP: 35/35 - Normal ] [ Clarice - HP: 20/29 - Normal ] [ Tim - HP: 45/45 - Normal ] [ Toofy - HP: 21/21 - Normal ] [ Shady - HP: 0/22 - Bloodied ]

Surprisingly, both Jacque and I seemed to have made a full recovery.

Gingerly pressing my finger against my brow, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the swelling had disappeared along with the residual pain and bruising. Even Clarice was on the mend, very nearly in the same condition she was in before we got ambushed. Still, I would need to give her a checkup once my stomach has settled down again. The way she was clutching at her side was likely another rib injury.

Thankfully, Shady was recovering as I hoped he would. Following the logic of what Nadine had told me, I had strongly suspected that such a nutrient and fat-rich...meal, of a higher level monster, would allow the Shadowcat to recover hp much faster than the packaged Vrabbit meat the rest of us were eating.

“Clarice?” I called out, motioning for her to come over while avoiding looking at the Shadowcat and its ‘meal’.

“Yeah?” Clarice asked distractedly, apparently still unable to look away from the spectacle.

“I noticed you were clutching at your side. Were you hit? Or was it just because of the exhausting run?” I asked pointedly.

“Yeah, one of those rocks caught me on my side,” Clarice admitted.

“Do you mind if I take a look?” I asked, “To make sure you don’t have any broken ribs,” I added hastily.

“Ah, uh, I guess...” Clarice agreed, raising her arms and wincing slightly.

“Ah, Clarice, I won't be able to check through your padded armour...” I pointed out awkwardly.

“Oh...” Clarice’s cheeks flushed and she began awkwardly unbuckling the front of her armour.

.

Doing my best to ignore Jacque’s inappropriate and UNWELCOME comments, I gingerly pressed Clarice’s ribs with my fingers and confirmed that none of them were broken. I would have asked Clarice to raise her tunic so I could judge the extent of the bruising, but the presence of the telepathic voyeur made me too nervous.

“You can lower your arms now,” I told Clarice somewhat awkwardly, “Nothing appears to be broken, so it is likely just severe bruising and maybe some fractures. Either way, I want you to have these to keep your strength up,” I handed her five of the packaged meals, leaving only one in reserve.

Clarice accepted the food gratefully and moved off to enjoy her meal where she wouldn’t have to watch the Shadowcat enjoy his.

Jacque teased.

I‘m not listening.

Setting down on the ground, I removed the bandage from my forehead and used it to scrub at the dried blood caking the right side of my face. Since Clarice had finished off the waterskin I had given her earlier, and I was ignoring Jacque, I had to use saliva to clean the remnants around my eye. I would have preferred to flush my eye out with water as well, but I was content with my results for now.

I decided to tie the soiled bandage back onto my forehead again for the time being. I was hoping that I could keep it there as a sort of sweatband and quickly shift it if I was injured on my brow or forehead again. I was not particularly well-coordinated on my best day and losing my depth perception, as well as a full third of my field of view, had made moving quickly an arduous task.

“Tim okay?” Toofy asked worriedly, leaning in close and staring at my right eye.

I smiled and nodded, “I am okay,” I reassured her.

Toofy pursed her lips and traced the fresh scar on my brow with her left index finger while touching her own scar with her right hand.

“I am okay,” I repeated, “No pain, no hurt.”

Toofy nodded to show she understood and gave me a small smile before sitting down on my lap.

Roughly an hour passed before Jacque insisted that we get moving again. There had been no signs of the Goblins that ambushed us earlier, perhaps content to let the Orcs finish us off rather than give chase.

Shady looked to be doing much better or at least wasn’t breathing with so much difficulty anymore. Taking a quick look at his status I could see that besides increasing his current HP he had also gone up a rank as well. Apparently, Shadowcats were tier one monsters, otherwise, the rank one Orc mana stones shouldn’t have been so effective in increasing Shady’s maximum MP. Curiously, I had also noticed that unlike Toofy before her tier evolution, Shady’s MP appeared to be slowly recuperating as well.

On the move again, we maintained a relatively slow pace to accommodate Tobi and Shady. Jacque had decided that it would be best if we tried moving through the mountain range for a while before trying to head back to the foothold through the forest.

I wanted Toofy to be less of a target, so she was walking alongside Clarice just ahead of me. That blow to my head earlier could have hit Toofy and the thought of it was deeply unsettling.

As we travelled across the mountain range, we found signs of the presence of the Orcs, such as broken and discarded weapons, bone pits and even weathered skulls mounted on wooden stakes. But we still hadn’t seen a single Orc. The whole experience was quite eerie.

My imagination couldn’t seem to decide whether we were walking into another ambush or through a haunted ghost town.

After travelling for the better part of an hour, Jacque motioned for the group to halt. She appeared to have found another cave, the entrance prominently marked by grinning skulls hanging from the entrance.

Jacque carefully made her way back to our main group, her expression somewhat disturbed.” I know why we haven’t encountered any Orcs,” she stated flatly, “The Goblins are exterminating them.”

It took a moment for what Jacque had said to sink in, giving credence to the feelings I had over our journey so far.

“This is very bad. We need to bring this news back to the foothold as soon as possible,” Jacque insisted.

“Isn’t the Orcs not being part of the raid a good thing?” I asked, clearly missing an important detail on how this was in any way a problem.

Clarice nodded in agreement, “It’s fewer monsters we need to fight, so what's the big deal?”

Jacque shook her head and sighed, “The problem is that Goblins are smarter than Orcs and will use better tactics. The problem is that a whole mess of those otherwise weak Goblins are going to have increased in rank, making them even more dangerous!”

Jacque made two very compelling points on how this was indeed a pretty big problem.

*****

Nadine fidgeted restlessly. Even with Rose for company, Nadine couldn’t help but quickly check the group status panels every few minutes. Although she couldn’t be sure of the specifics, it was obvious that they had been through a particularly gruelling fight. Even Tim had taken damage on a similar level to when he rescued them from the Orcs' ambush on the plains.

What Nadine couldn’t fully make sense of, was how Clarice had rapidly healed from her lingering injuries from the ambush, been wounded badly again and then seemingly healed most of that damage as well.

Nadine let out a frustrated sigh. She felt so helpless just sitting here doing nothing. Nadine had tried helping Rose cut vegetables, but with only one hand, she had ultimately hindered more than helped.

Truthfully, Rose didn’t need Nadine's help at all, but was keeping a close eye on her after ‘the incident’. So far as Nadine could tell, it wasn’t out of suspicion or anything, just to make sure she was alright and that Byron and his flunkies didn’t try anything.

Nadine had felt bad about using Byron as a distraction and alibi. That was, right up until four sleeping philtres similar to the one Jacque had given Nadine, were found in a hidden pouch sewn into Byron's pack.

She now understood why Jacque had chosen Byron in the first place. It was true that some adventurers used sleeping drugs on bait to make monsters easier to kill or capture. However, given how he went out of his way to hide them and his lack of reservations in attempting to take advantage of her, it was clear what Byron’s intended use for them had been.

The Guild manager had postponed the inquiry into Byron's actions until after the raid, but they had seized all of his belongings under the pretence of collateral to make sure he didn’t try running away the moment the portals reactivated.

That was how they had discovered Byron’s secret stash. In addition to the sleeping philtres, a small pouch of illegal and highly addictive narcotics had been uncovered as well. Assuming the foothold survived the raid, Byron was all but guaranteed to be blacklisted from the Guild and very likely imprisoned.

Nadine had learned all of this from Rose, who of course was well informed of just about all the goings-on in the foothold. Before spending the past couple of days with her, Nadine had severely underestimated just how many people Rose would talk to on a daily or even hourly basis.

“Don’t worry, I am sure Tim is keeping your friend Clarice safe,” Rose said reassuringly, she had guessed at the purpose of Clarice’s absence shortly after Clarice left with Jacque.

“That’s not what’s bothering me...well, it’s not the only thing,” Nadine conceded.

Rose nodded, “Then you are worried about what the manager will try when Tim returns,” she guessed astutely.

Nadine nodded, “It’s obvious that Tim’s Willpower is more than a match for him and can break free whenever he wants. But what if he tries to take Toofy hostage again? All the manager has to do is offer some of the higher-level adventurers a reward and there would be no shortage of volunteers.”

Ironically, it was the manager’s heavy-handed tactics that drove Tim away in the first place. It was obvious that attempting to kidnap Toofy again would push Tim over the edge, only, whoever attempted it wouldn't live long enough to regret it.

Tim had initially been an enigma to Nadine, a jumble of contradictions and unexpected neurosis. But there was more to him than could be explained by his disproportionately high Intelligence alone. Just like the other monsters created by the Labyrinth, Tim had an established foundation of knowledge to draw from as a reference for learning. The problem was that Tim seemed to know nothing about the Labyrinth at all, but had adapted to human behaviour and customs like a fish to water.

In many respects, Tim had been more afraid of Nadine and the other humans than they were of him. It was an absurd notion for a hulking brute to be scared of the barely qualified adventurers. That was until she factored in Tim’s reluctance towards violence.

However, Nadine knew better than to confuse his reluctance with a lack of ability or conviction. She suspected that if anyone had attempted to mistreat Toofy by mundane means, things would have turned out VERY differently.

“You can rest somewhat easy on that front,” Rose said reassuringly, “My husband and I have already informed Gilbert that any further attempts at unjust seizure of property and employees will meet with dire consequences for his career,” she explained with a malicious glint in her eyes.

Nadine was surprised that Kirk And Rose would go out on a limb like that for Tim. After all, they had only known him for a couple of days. Then again, that was just as true for Clarice and herself as well, not to mention Jacque.

Rose noticed the way Nadine was looking at her and huffed irritably, “It’s the principle! He has been nothing if not courteous and helpful and...and...there is a sadness in his eyes...”

Nadine nodded. She had seen it too. It was more prominent just before they had freed him, but it had been there before as well. Intuitively, Nadine understood it was a primary motivation for his severe aversion to violence. But for whatever reason, it seemed unrelated to his actual enslavement.

“You make sure to treat him proper!” Rose insisted, dabbing surreptitiously at the corners of her eyes with her apron, “Gah, blasted onions!” She cursed quietly.

Nadine nodded, taking great care to avoid looking at the still very much intact onions resting on the chopping board.

*****

We had some near misses but had passed through the forest without getting into another fight or being ambushed. However, now there was a new yet familiar problem. Crossing the plains without the wounded being torn to shreds by Vrabbits.

Granted, only the Shadowcat and I smelled of blood, but it was Shady and his rightful owner Tobi that were in the most danger with the Bloodied Condition. Jacque and I had silently argued about retreating to the bunker, but she was adamant about returning to the town. Jacque honestly seemed pretty scared.

Jacque glared at me.

I rolled my eyes, “Then, what is the plan exactly? Are you going to go back to town like last time and fetch the sled again?” I asked.

Jacque shook her head, “No, that’s too dangerous. It will take too long for me to retrieve the sled and bring it back. It would just be better if you carried Tobi and the Shadowcat and we all ran across the plains instead.”

I grimaced recalling the unique sensation of the pain from the Shadowcat’s hooked claws anchoring in my skin. There was another problem too, carrying both of them would slow me down considerably, and there was no guarantee that I would still be fast enough to outrun the Vrabbits. Remembering the literal swarm of Vrabbits that had given chase last time, I was not a fan of this plan.

“I don’t think I would be fast enough while carrying so much weight,” I immediately countered.

Jacque frowned, “Do you have a better idea?” She asked somewhat testily.

I shrugged and thought about the problem for a moment. The biggest issue was the collective weight and not being able to use my arms. Even if I threw away my shield, it would only make carrying Tobi and his cat a little easier. Maybe that was something I could work with? “Do you still have those ropes?” I asked Jacque.

Jacque was already shrugging off her pack and searching for her lengths of rope, “No self-respecting adventurer should ever be without it,” she replied, tossing me the coils of rope.

Tying the rope around one end of the door-shield, I then tied the rope around my waist. “Alright, Shady, go onto the sled,” I pointed at my shield now turned sled.

The Shadowcat limped over to the improvised sled and mounted it uncertainly. It would be a bumpy ride, but the feline’s reflexes and balance should be enough to compensate for it. If those both failed, there would always be his claws.

Lifting Tobi up onto my left shoulder and letting Toofy sit behind my head, I moved about a little to get a sense of my altered balance.

“It’s pretty crazy how much weight you can carry,” Clarice commented, clearly impressed.

I shrugged, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Alright, we will go first,” Jacque gave Clarice a playful nudge with her elbow. “Give us a half-minute head start alright?” She grinned and set off at a light jog.

Clarice flashed me one final smile and ran after her.

After giving them both the requested head start, I slowly began walking out onto the plains, building speed until I was just short of an outright run.

[ Shady has slain {Vrabbit: 1 } +1 Exp ],[ Shady has slain {Vrabbit: 1 } +1 Exp ], [ Shady has slain {Vrabbit: 1 } +1 Exp ]...

Unsurprisingly, the Vrabbits began homing in like sharks and I could hear Shady viciously ripping and tearing any of them that managed to make it onto the sled. I was pretty sure I could hear the Shadowcat eating some of them as well, but I was trying my best to ignore it.

I caught up to Clarice and Jacque rather easily and had to deliberately hang back a little so I wouldn’t overrun or outpace them. Even though the Vrabbits would be drawn to Shady and Tobi as priority targets due to being Bloodied, it didn’t mean that the gathered hoard of Vrabbits wouldn’t just turn on Clarice and Jacque after I pulled ahead and out of range of their Ability.

All things considered, the dash across the plains wasn’t all that bad. I would have preferred it if Toofy hadn’t slapped the top of my head so much, but I could understand the cause of her excitement.

Just like last time, the Vrabbits suddenly stopped as they hit the invisible wall. I actively avoided thinking about what would have happened if I had bounced off that wall. Similarly. Jacque and Clarice wound down their run into a jog and then a walk.

“Bloody hell,” Clarice cursed, “Remind me never to do that again!”

Jacque grinned, “This is the second time for me, but I have to agree with you, running the whole way sucked.”

“Huh?” Clarice didn’t understand.

“We rescued that party of adventurers with a sled-” I began to explain.

“But I got to ride it and fend off the Vrabbits like a badass!” Jacque interrupted happily.

“Ugh,” Clarice groaned and nodded while stretching her legs, “That sounds way more fun,” she agreed.

Setting Tobi down, I untied the rope from my waist and shield. After returning Jacque’s ropes, I strapped my shield to my arm again and noticed that Shady was looking somewhat plumper than before the mad dash across the plain started.

Circling around the outer wall, I couldn't help feeling more anxious as we drew closer to the gate. There was a very real possibility that the Guild manager or one or more of the adventurers would try something and I would need to run from town again at very short notice.

However, the reality was somewhat anticlimactic. The pair of adventurers by the gate were surprised to see me, but neither of them ran off to deliver a message or made any move to attack me as I had expected. Fairly convinced that it was thanks to the collar, I still made sure to stay close by Clarice just in case.

Once we were through the gates, I turned my attention to Tobi, “You can take your cat back now,” I told him.

Tobi looked relieved, perhaps thinking that I would try and steal the Shadowcat or claim it as compensation. Tobi bit his lip and thumbed the blood onto the collars tag.

[Warning: Bond has been forcefully attempted. Accept? (Y/N)]

“Accept,” I agreed somewhat hesitantly, a part of me worrying that I was transferring ownership of myself and not the cat.

“Thank you for all your help,” Tobi said earnestly, “I swear I will repay you when I am able,” he promised.

I shrugged, honestly not expecting much.

Entering the inn, I was surprised to find that it was now considerably busier than the last time I was there. A combination of the lightly wounded adventurers having already recovered, and moderately wounded adventurers being too stressed to lay around all day with the approaching raid, had resulted in the busy common room.

“Tim!” The innkeeper Kirk came out from behind the bar and slapped me affectionately on the shoulder, “it’s good to see you in one piece!”

I smiled somewhat awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Kirk’s eyes narrowed at the collar around my neck briefly, but the faintest of nods made it clear that he had guessed half of what was going on. Perhaps believing the collar to be fake or inactive.

“Tim!” Nadine and Rose had just left the kitchen to see what the commotion was and found that their group had returned. It was Nadine who had called out, rushing over and stopping just short of hugging me.

“Hrmph,” Clarice crossed her arms and frowned, perhaps unhappy that I was receiving all the attention.

Jacque smirked but said nothing, slipping quietly back out the door.

“Such a brave young woman to go after Tim in your condition!” Rose declared loudly, drawing Clarice into an affectionate hug.

Clarice flushed with embarrassment but seemed glad of the attention she was now getting.

“I want to hear all about what has happened since you left,” Nadine insisted, motioning with her head towards the stairs.

I nodded and gave Kirk and Rose a small wave before heading upstairs to Clarice and Nadine's room.

Clarice was only a few steps behind me but seemed reluctant to leave the limelight.

Sitting down on the floor, Toofy shifted off my shoulders and into my lap, “Food?” She asked inquisitively.

“Alright,” I agreed, shrugging off the pack and handing the remaining parcel of food to Toofy.

Toofy looked at me expectantly for a moment and then back to the parcel, obviously thinking that I was meant to untie the knot for her so she could eat.

“I want you to try untying it,” I explained.

Toofy nodded, “Toofy do,” she placed the parcel on the ground and began experimentally pulling at different parts of the knot with her fingers and claws.

Since Toofy wasn’t ravenously hungry, I thought it might be a good learning exercise for her to work through the unfamiliar knot, so I left her to it.

Once Clarice and Nadine entered the room and closed the door, I was not surprised to see that the former had a large platter of roasted meat. Clarice was still missing HP and likely felt ravenous.

Toofy eyed the platter briefly, but surprisingly returned to puzzling through the parcel in front of her without complaint.

Before saying a single word further, Nadine yanked off the bedsheets and blanket and threw them down at the bottom of the door, “So? What happened?” Nadine insisted quietly, her expression equal parts curiosity and worry.

I explained what had happened as best I could while omitting Jacque’s secret and by extension my own. Starting with Toofy’s tier Evolution, Clarice’s enslavement, briefly explaining how she was receiving the group Synergies, our encounter with Tobi and our escape from the Goblin ambush before eventually managing to return to town.

Nadine seemed quite distracted after learning of Clarice’s benefit of the group's Synergy effects and now seemed to appreciate why Clarice was wolfing food down like a glutton. “But that shouldn’t be possible...” She muttered.

“I thought the book said Slaves and tamed monsters share synergies?” I asked, now a little confused. I was pretty sure that’s what Nadine had told me.

Nadine shook her head, “They do Tim, but only monster Slaves,” she amended.

I could now see why she was treating this like such a big deal.

“Maybe it is because you enslaved a human as a monster?” Nadine suggested thoughtfully before shaking her head, “No, the colosseum has had monster Slavers before and someone would have noticed something...”

I did not find the existence of that particular pastime reassuring given my disguise as an enslaved monster. As for why the group Synergy was applying to Clarice, Iwas fairly certain I had a pretty good idea as to why it was not behaving normally.

The less likely reason was that Jacque was the party leader, and her being a monster might blur the normal rules somewhat. However, I was almost certain that the actual reason was because of me. As both a human and a monster, or ‘Awakened’ as Jacque put it, I had to be forming a sort of bridge and messing with the enslavement system.

Nadine appeared to have arrived at a similar conclusion, “I think what makes you different is responsible for this,” she explained excitedly. Nadine gnawed at her lower lip and became lost in thought.

“Ha!” Toofy cried triumphantly, having managed to untie the double-knot that had originally been a bow-knot. She grinned happily up at me and directed my hand towards her head.

I smiled and gave Toofy a thorough hair tousling, she had earned it. Besides, If I was going to begin teaching Toofy basic skills and eventually literacy, I needed to support a positive association with learning. “You did very good Toofy,” I said encouragingly.

Toofy’s grin broadened and she happily began eating her food.

“Tim?” Nadine asked timidly.

I shifted my attention from Toofy to Nadine and found that she was fidgeting nervously.

“Ah, I was thinking that maybe...Just for a while or...That is...” Nadine’s cheeks reddened and her hands worried at the hem of her tunic.

I frowned slightly, “Wouldn’t two of you having the matching Slave mark ruin the disguise?” I asked pointedly, reminding Nadine why Clarice was enslaved in the first place.

Nadine perked up a little at that, “Ah, actually, no. Shared ownership of slaves is uncommon but not unheard of...” She explained hurriedly before losing steam.

I still didn’t like the idea of having another person as my slave. With Clarice, it was purely for the disguise, despite Jacques unwelcome insinuations.

Nadine could obviously tell I don't care for the idea and seemed to be working on an argument to change my mind.

“Eh? Do you not want Nadine to survive the raid?” Clarice observed antagonistically, now having finished her meal and ready for some after-dinner entertainment.

I flinched. Even though I knew what Clarice was doing, I couldn't help it. The truth of the matter was that Nadine’s chances of survival would drastically increase with the group Synergies compared to without them.

“Just for the raid,” Nadine pleaded, capitalising on the opportunity Clarice provided.

I shifted uncomfortably.

“It's not like you would do anything bad, right?” Clarice goaded.

I flinched again, reminded of Jacque's taunting.

“Tim, please!” Nadine insisted, her expression worried and afraid.

I knew that she was acting, but there was an unmistakable kernel of truth to her act as well. Nadine had already told me about her distinct lack of combat potential before and it wasn’t hard to imagine how vulnerable she would be during the raid with how injured she was.

Damnit...

“Fine...” I relented, “But I want to be clear that this is under protest!”

“Sure it is,” Clarice snorted, “You men are all the same, always enslaving vulnerable young women to make your harems!”

I flinched for the third time and seriously began reconsidering the whole thing, disguise and all.

Nadine elbowed Clarice hard in the ribs with a scowl.

Clarice shrunk back with a somewhat cowed expression, “I was just joking,” she muttered unconvincingly.

Not at all happy about the fun, Clarice had been making at my expense, I shifted my attention to Nadine, “Enslave,”

“Accept!” She agreed eagerly, “Status!”

[Bond Successful: Applying Enslaved Status and Effects]

[Nadine - Human ] [HP: 8/18] [MP: 5/5 ]

[Tim’s Slave*] [Class: Enchanter 1. +2 Presence, +5 MP. ] [Exp: 1126/2000 ]

[Strength: 8 ]

[Agility: 10 ]

[Toughness: 9 ]

[Intelligence: 12 ]

[Willpower: 11 ]

[Presence: 13* (15*) ]

[(Class Ability: Soothe {Rank 0}): Reduces anger and anxiety in the target at the cost of MP. {Presence} increases the effectiveness and duration of the ability. Contested by targets {Willpower}.]

[Group Synergy: {Agile Reflexes: - }, {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 1 }, {Thick Hide: - }, {Brute Strength: - }, {Irongut: - }.]

[(Enslaved Status Effects: {Hide/Expand})]

[Class Qualifications: Taskmaster. ]

Looking at Nadine’s status, I could now understand why she had been so worried. Nadine wasn’t suited for combat at all. At least Toofy had a high Agility to offset her low Strength and Toughness, Nadine didn’t even get the bonus HP I had thought was standard to all Classes.

Reading through the Soothe ability, a few other things began to make sense as well. Nadine had probably been using it on me every time she had the chance.

I wasn’t sure if I should feel angry or grateful about that.

On the one hand, it may have eased my transition. But on the other hand, she may have been blatantly manipulating me for her own benefit.

Noticing something new at the bottom of Nadine’s status quickly dominated my attention. Neither Toofy nor Clarice had the Class Qualifications entry on their status, so I wondered what made Nadine so different.

“Oh!” Nadine appeared to be just as surprised as I was, “You see that too right?” She asked nervously.

I nodded, “Was that not there before?” I asked.

Nadine shook her head, “Normally when you qualify for a class it will be added to the bottom of your status. If it is a higher mastery level than your current class, you can change Classes right away. But if the mastery level is the same or lower, you need to pay for a specialist to remove your class first. We went through something similar to this at the Guild training centre after they determined our aptitudes and assigned us a teacher,” Nadine explained.

“So you can teach people and they can unlock a Class?” I asked curiously, considering the ramifications of such methods.

“More or less,” Nadine agreed, “For most Basic Classes, the instructors just need to explain some things and combine it with some hands-on lessons and that usually does the trick. Spellcasting classes are more theoretical, while combat Classes are more practical, but it's fundamentally the same.”

Clarice nodded in agreement.

But that raised another question that had been bugging me, “Why is it that none of you knows First-Aid?” I demanded incredulously.

Nadine looked confused, “First, aid?” She asked uncertainly.

“How to treat and bind your own and each other's injuries,” I insisted.

“Oh,” Nadine frowned unhappily, “They do teach us some of that sort of thing, but there is a pretty heavy emphasis on getting the injured back to the foothold so someone more qualified can do the treatment if required.”

“That’s stupid,” I snorted disapprovingly, “If you bound your injuries first, they wouldn’t be so bad by the time you returned to town.”

Nadine nodded, “Rose and Kirk are both retired adventurers and have a fair bit of experience binding wounds, but neither of them has unlocked the Surgeon or Field Surgeon classes, despite running this inn for a couple of decades,” she explained ruefully.

“So you think that they are missing the theoretical component for qualifying for those classes?” I asked curiously.

Nadine nodded, “It is why the surgeon’s Guild charges such exorbitant fees for treatment and have strict entry requirements and oppressive confidentiality contracts for their members,” she explained bitterly.

“You wanted to be a surgeon?” I guessed.

Nadine nodded and sighed despondently, “But the tuition fees are ruinous and I didn't qualify for the scholarship.”

As an orphan, I couldn’t imagine the surgeons Guild would look very favourably on her without ulterior motives.

“That’s why I wanted to raise the money by adventuring,” Nadine explained, “But then this all happened,” she stated glumly.

“I could teach you what I know,” I offered sympathetically. Besides knowing advanced First-Aid, I had been taking classes at University to become a registered nurse, so I was probably considered rather knowledgeable by this world's standards of medicine. Unfortunately, I realised there was something of a problem.

How do I explain what I know?

“Could you?” Nadine asked somewhat optimistically.

Regardless, I was committed now. I nodded.

Nadine smiled and was about to say something when her stomach began gurgling loudly. She flushed with embarrassment and Clarice snickered.

“Maybe Clarice should go fetch another platter of food?” I suggested flatly.

Clarice stiffened for a moment and then relaxed when the expected pain didn't materialise. Apparently, she had forgotten that I deactivated the command ability. Getting up off the bed and heading to the door, she almost seemed disappointed.

Nope nope nope.

I turned my full attention to Nadine and pulled out the bandages from my pack and began explaining the basic theory work behind First-Aid. I had to simplify certain concepts and omit details that were only confirmable with modern earth science, but Nadine seemed more than capable of keeping up with the basic principles.

We stopped so Nadine could eat her fill before continuing again.

Without the practical elements, the theory side of things didn’t take very long to adequately explain. After covering theory, we used Clarice as a modelling dummy so I could teach Nadine hands-on practical skills. However, I quickly encountered a problem when explaining to Nadine how to do chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The fact that doing chest compressions would very likely crack or fracture anyone’s ribcage she practised it on, meant that we had to ask for even more food, just in case Nadine accidentally hurt Clarice.

The fact that Clarice was not phased by the prospect of being injured was more than a little disconcerting. With emergency food supplies on standby, I had Nadine begin by going through the motions without actually making contact. After correcting her until I was confident she had it right, I let Nadine try it out for real. To her credit Nadine got the hang of it quickly, finding her rhythm and remaining professional despite Clarice’s attempts to embarrass her.

After taking another food and toilet break, I decided that Nadine needed more hands-on experience with binding and cleaning real injuries. So I asked Kirk if we could help redress the wounds of the more injured adventurers still confined to their beds. With the provision that Rose accompany us for supervision, he agreed.

Nadine struggled at first, unused to the sights and smells, despite having hacked apart who knows how many Vrabbits. However, by the late evening, she had gotten over the worst of it and was making fewer mistakes. The commands function was something like a cheat or training wheels in that regard. Giving her a sting when she would otherwise make a mistake. I hadn’t wanted to use it, but Nadine insisted and the results spoke for themselves.

Since Toofy didn’t have anything to do and was otherwise bored. I had been teaching her a counting song she could sing and follow with her fingers. Toofy seemed to enjoy it well enough, even if she frequently needed me to remind her of the words.

The last Adventurer we visited was the worst case so far. I vaguely remembered him and his injuries. He had been savagely stabbed repeatedly with a knife or maybe a bladed spear or sword. Observing Nadine removing the bandages, I could tell that a couple of sets of stitches had torn and would need to be redone.

Unfortunately, this was not something I would be able to demonstrate very well for Nadine because of my fingers. Instead, I had to talk her through it. I was concerned for a few reasons at first, but things weren’t as bad as I had first assumed.

My first concern was related to the material used for performing the stitches. It was the same Thistleweed thread I had bought from the tailor, so I was concerned that the stitches would need to be pulled out once the wound closed. However, since Thistleweed was a type of plant monster and the thread made from its remains would be degraded by adventurers’ bodies in a similar fashion to modern earth degradable stitches, there wasn’t really anything to worry about. My second concern was with performing the stitches without anaesthetic. But Rose had brought a sleeping drug that would keep him unconscious.

My final concern was that while I had a firm grasp of the theory for suturing external injuries, I had no personal experience performing the procedure. I hadn’t gotten that far in my course at University yet, we were not scheduled to start classes at the adjoining medical school until next year.

Doing my best to coach Nadine through it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had something of a knack for it. Unlike me, Nadine did not recoil from inflicting harm and was calm throughout removing the original stitches and replacing them as I instructed.

I was rather appalled at the original sloppy stitching done by the alleged surgeon. It was honestly somewhat surprising that other stitches had not torn or failed outright earlier.

As Nadine finished with the final stitch and tied off the final knot on the second wound with torn stitches, a large status pane appeared in front of my eyes.

[Conditions have been met for {Nadine} to advance to the Advanced Class: {Field Surgeon}. Accept? (Y/N)]

I glanced at Nadine and could tell that she was looking at a similar message herself.

“Is something wrong?” Rose asked worriedly, taking a closer look at Nadine’s needlework.

Nadine grinned and shook her head, “I unlocked the Field Surgeon advanced class!” She cried happily.

Rose was as stunned as I had been, “Wh-what?!” She demanded, “But how?”

“Accept!” Nadine declared eagerly, giving me a vigorous nudge in the ribs.

It took me a moment to realise that I was the one that had to accept the class change, being her master and all. “Accept,” I whispered quietly.

Nadine’s grin grew wider as she eagerly read through her status.

“Status” I whispered quietly, rather interested in taking a look myself.

[Nadine - Human ] [HP: 8/18] [MP: 5/5 ]

[Tim’s Slave*] [Class: Field Surgeon 0. +1 Intelligence, +5 MP. ] [Exp: 0/5000 ]

[Strength: 8 ]

[Agility: 10 ]

[Toughness: 9 ]

[Intelligence: 12* (13*) ]

[Willpower: 11 ]

[Presence: 13 ]

[(Class Ability: Field Dressing {Rank 0}): Expend MP to accelerate {Healing} of adequately treated injuries. {Intelligence} increases the duration of accelerated {Healing}.]

[Group Synergy: {Agile Reflexes: - }, {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 1 }, {Thick Hide: - }, {Brute Strength: - }, {Irongut: - }.]

[(Enslaved Status Effects: {Hide/Expand})]

[Class Qualifications: Enchanter, Surgeon, Taskmaster. ]

The Field Dressing Ability was definitely worth getting excited over. Adventurers already healed from injuries at a rather phenomenal rate, increasing it even further was bound to make Nadine very popular indeed.

Nadine had also unlocked the Surgeon Class, so I assumed that because only Field Surgeon had been announced, that Surgeon was probably just a basic class and inferior to Field Surgeon. Otherwise, the alert would have announced them both.

Nadine shifted her attention to the poor bedridden adventurer and pressed her hand against the recently re-stitched wound. Nothing happened at first, but a pale light began peaking through Nadine's fingers. Withdrawing her hand revealed the light was coming from the stitches and that the wound itself was very slowly but visibly healing shut in real-time. After The wound closed entirely, the stitches disintegrated and disappeared, leaving only a pale scar. Just as soon as the first set of stitches disappeared, the second set of stitches began glowing as the first had done.

This process continued through the adventurer’s other injuries but stopped before making it through more than half of them. As the final set of stitches disintegrated, a Gold coloured status alert appeared.

[ Nadine has healed a {Heavy Wound} +100 Exp ]

Wait a minute! You can get Exp by healing people?!