Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 10 - Do or die - Part One {Rewrite}

Continuing our travels across the arid scrubland, I wondered if helping Clarice secure her new mount was in fact a good idea. Putting aside the time and effort to recover its missing HP, Clarice had now begun taking Thunder Thighs out on ‘scouting’ missions. However, the stream of EXP notifications and the fact that we could still generally see what Clarice was up to, made it obvious that she was just riding around on the Desert Raptor ganking Razortooth’.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since it was EXP we probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise and it was keeping Thunder Thighs fed and in top health. However, constantly kicking up dust was bound to attract attention and we still had no idea if anyone else from the Guild was in the area or not. There was also the distinct possibility of another type of monster we hadn’t seen yet was in the area and would investigate.

Since Nadine had not wanted to go ‘scouting’ with Clarice, it was just the two of us on foot. Shady was as well, but short of being able to make a sled, that wasn’t going to change any time soon.

Toofy really seemed to be enjoying riding Beaky, and I regretted not having the opportunity to make a cloak for her to have flapping in the breeze.

The circulation of air was another thing I found weird about the Labyrinth. Even though meteorology and science, in general, were not my area of expertise, I honestly wouldn’t have thought worlds so small could circulate air so neutrally. Short of hidden air ducts circulating air behind the scenes, I couldn’t manage to wrap my head around it.

“Uh, guys?” Tobi called out worriedly, “I think we might have company,” he was leaning back on the saddle and to the left pointing in roughly the same direction while tightly hugging Emelia’s waist with his other arm.

Slowing down a little so Beaky would pass us by, Nadine and I looked off in the direction Tobi had indicated and noticed a number of small dust clouds on the horizon. They were too far away to make out much of anything, but it was very likely to be more Desert Raptors judging by how fast they were moving.

“Catch up to Clarice,” I told Emelia, “Tell her that we might have a fight on our hands and to come back right away,”

Emelia nodded and flicked the reins before Tobi had the chance to begin to dismount.

“We should probably try to close the gap a little too,” I suggested to Nadine.

Nadine glanced briefly at the approaching dust clouds and nodded, “I think that’s a good idea,” she agreed.

The three of us broke into a light jog trailing along behind Emelia.

The scrublands were not particularly hot but were definitely on the warmer side. So I was fairly impressed by how well Shady was holding up. Even with the Hardy Synergy bonus, his black fur was a distinct disadvantage for regulating body temperature in full exposure to the sun.

After jogging for around five to ten minutes, Emelia and Clarice had both circled back for us.

“Should I go take a look?!” Clarice asked excitedly, no doubt keen to do some actual scouting.

Nadine seemed conflicted, “Alright,” she agreed hesitantly, “Just a quick look though!”

I nodded in agreement. The last thing we wanted at this point was to get drawn into a fight after splitting the party.

“Be back in a few!” Clarice called out excitedly as she drove Thunder Thighs into a sprint.

We continued on ahead towards the rocky outcropping at a decently fast pace, just to make sure we would keep enough breathing room to make a decision once we knew what we were dealing with.

True to her word, Clarice returned a couple of minutes later and looked quite badly shaken. Bringing Thunder Thighs to a halt, Clarice waved urgently at Nadine “Get on! Get on! Hurry!”

Initially a little shaken by Clarice’s panic, it took Nadine a few moments to react. “What is it?” She asked insistently as she accepted Clarice’s help in climbing onto the back of the Desert Raptor.

“Spiders!” Clarice croaked, unconsciously shivering, “Bloody huge spiders!”

Looking back at the dust clouds headed in our general direction, I could now vaguely make out Desert Raptors with riders. I couldn’t see any spiders yet, so I had to assume that the spiders were trailing along behind them.

“Should we change course?” I asked hurriedly as Nadine finished slipping her boots into the stirrups.

Nadine shook her head adamantly, “They would probably just chase us anyway. We just have to hope we can lose them.”

I nodded and motioned for the others to begin moving, breaking into a sustainable jog myself with Shady loping along at my side. Realistically, I assumed that I would need to break into a long sprint at some point, but doing so prematurely would leave me tired and limit my options if the situation were to change. I was actually waiting to see if I would need to snatch up the Shady and carry when he began to tire or overheat, and I wanted to avoid the extra weight for at least a short while longer.

After a few minutes of running, I looked over my shoulder and was relieved to see that the raptors and their riders had stopped heading in our direction and were instead peeling off far to our left. It also gave me my first look at the giant spiders Clarice had mentioned, and I was incredibly grateful that they were determinedly chasing the unknown Desert Raptors’ riders.

Each of the giant spiders was the size of a small car and vaguely resembled a few pictures of camel spiders I had seen once. They were like large scorpions with large mandibles and without the stinging tail, but I could have sworn I could see something resembling a stinger on its abdomen.

With a fresh shiver running down my spine, I forced myself to look away and keep moving.

After running for another ten to twenty minutes, Shady began flagging behind and with only the options being me carrying him or stopping for a rest break, we chose the latter.

“Those things were fucking huge!” Clarice complained, shaking slightly as she awkwardly dismounted from Thunder Thighs.

Tobi looked quite pale and nodded. An impressive feat for his normally dark complexion, “I don’t think I will be able to sleep tonight...”

“Were they really that bad?” Emelia asked nervously, glancing back at the way we had fled.

“You didn’t look?!” Clarice demanded incredulously.

Emelia shook her head, “Riding is pretty hard...” She mumbled defensively.

I was actually fairly impressed by how well both Clarice and Emelia had been able to ride the Raptors at all. The ‘saddles’ I had made for them were honestly not that good, and I could see that some of the ropes had begun slipping and would need to be adjusted before we set out again.

Clarice just stared at Emelia with a strange look and shook her head.

Nadine hadn’t joined in on the conversation at all, instead fixedly staring at our destination with a thoughtful yet troubled expression.

More concerned with what was bothering Nadine, I wasn’t paying much attention to what the others were getting up to besides keeping an eye on Toofy. Thankfully, Toofy was happily taking advantage of Shady’s momentarily exhausted state and was playing with his tail. Giving Shady a meaningful stare for a moment, I felt confident that the Shadowcat wouldn’t do anything too outrageous.

“Tim?” Nadine asked quietly, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure, I guess?” I agreed somewhat apprehensively, unsure what she wanted to talk about.

Nadine didn’t ask her question right away, instead continuing to stare thoughtfully at the distant horizon. “Is there something you want out of life?” Nadine asked rather abruptly.

“Uh...” I didn’t know how to answer that.

On Earth, I had intended to become a registered nurse and work in hospice care, but that really wasn’t an option anymore. I had honestly never really given my future all that much thought before, always being distracted by the present. The main reason I had gravitated towards nursing was because of Gina, Mum’s home care nurse. Gina did so much for my Mum.

I just...I just wanted to feel useful.

“I don’t know,” I admitted a little gloomily.

Nadine gave me an openly appraising look, and after a few moments, she nodded as if coming to a decision. “I have just been thinking about ways we could try and pay you back for helping us, but I realised that I had never asked you what you even wanted, I mean, long term.”

“Oh...” I didn’t really know what to say to that. I guess I had just kind of resigned myself to doing whatever they had wanted to do.

That was pretty depressing now that I thought about it. Oh, right, I hadn’t taken my meds in about a week, of course, I was slipping into old habits...

“Tim? Are you alright?” Nadine asked, looking a little worried.

I sighed and stared soberly at the horizon, “I don’t know,” I admitted, feeling more than a little conflicted over the question.

On the one hand, I certainly felt far more alive than I had in a long time. But the stress of being hunted...of being a literal monster...it just kept piling up, and I was becoming worried about what I would do when I couldn’t handle it anymore. The problem was that I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about anything. Toofy helped, the little goofball and her child-like antics were keeping me grounded. The fact that she needed my protection gave me the purpose and direction I otherwise lacked. I was grateful to have her in my life.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nadine asked quietly, her expression making it obvious that she was more than a little concerned by my lacklustre responses thus far.

Mulling it over for a couple of minutes, I released a long sigh.

Fuck it.

“Do you think I am a monster?” I asked pointedly.

Nadine seemed somewhat thrown by the question but quickly collected herself, “Ah, well...” She gnawed at her lip and looked away for a few moments more while trying to think of a suitable answer.

This was pretty much the reaction I had expected. After all, I very obviously was a monster.

“No...” Nadine replied, shaking her head and looking at me thoughtfully, “No, I don’t think you are,” she repeated confidently if in a somewhat subdued tone. “Everything about you, everything you do...It’s far too...different. The way you talk and behave, it’s too...normal. If I hadn’t seen your stats I would have...I would have thought you were no different to the rest of us, that you were human,” Nadine stared at me questioningly as she continued, “There are a few different special creations of the Labyrinths that I had thought explained why you were so different. But none of them felt quite right. Also, when you came back to save Toofy...when you became the manager's Slave... That isn’t something a monster would do. Even if what Rose told me about the specially named monsters is true, I still doubt that they would trade their free will away to save someone outside of their community. So no, I don’t think you are a monster. I think...I think you may be human.”

I nodded in silent agreement with her explanation. Just as Jacque had pointed out a couple of days ago, I was not hiding very well and Nadine was a rather observant person. In hindsight, it would have been only a matter of time before she figured it out on her own. My leading question had merely caused her to reach the answer a little bit sooner.

“I am,” I confirmed quietly, “Or I was,” I stared at my hands and sighed. Very little regarding my physical appearance had changed. I had confirmed it twice using my reflection in the bathwater to do as thorough an inspection as possible. “The last thing I remembered before suddenly appearing in the forest where I found Emelia, where you found me, was being attacked late at night in my house and falling down the stairs.”

Nadine stared intently at me for a few moments before nodding, “I believe you,” she stated firmly and then averted her eyes as she winced, “I’m sorry, we should have treated you better.”

I remembered our first meeting in the forest, shook my head and sighed, “No, there is no way you could have known.” This was something I had already thought about a great deal. Given the circumstances and what they had known at the time, Clarice, Emelia and Nadine had treated me better than I could have expected from just about anyone else in the same position.

“Still...” Nadine shifted uncomfortably, “It has probably been tough enough adjusting to your new body, let alone being treated like a monster.”

“Ah...” I hesitated for a moment and smiled a little awkwardly, “Actually, this is how I looked before...”

Nadine looked surprised, “Wh-what?!” She stammered incredulously.

Feeling more than a little embarrassed, I looked away, “I have always looked like this. The doctors, erm, Surgeons, called it an unfortunate instance of inherited recessive traits. Basically, I was unlucky.”

Nadine was quiet for a moment, “Unlucky?” She asked curiously.

“To be born this ugly,” I muttered bitterly.

“Oh...” Nadine mumbled awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to-”

“-It’s fine,” I interrupted, “There's nothing I can do about it anyway.”

“I don’t think you’re as bad as you make yourself out to be,” Nadine insisted, “You have a good heart, I can tell by the way you take care of Toofy, the way you have looked out for all of us...”

I shrugged. I made my peace with being ugly a long time ago and did my best to avoid thinking about it too much.

Walking over to Toofy, I sat down next to her and tried to unwind a little. I had basically just told Nadine my biggest secret, and now only time would tell if it was a colossal mistake.

After everyone was well-rested again, we continued travelling at a brisk pace until the late evening and then we made camp again. Feeling emotionally exhausted, I didn’t put up much of a fight when Nadine argued that I should be allowed to rest uninterrupted until dawn. After all, I had been the one walking for most of the day while they all rode the Raptors. Or at least that is what she had said to convince them anyway.

As I closed my eyes, I held onto a faint hope that I would dream of the beach again and that perhaps maybe this time, my mum would be waiting for me.

*****

Watching Tim sleep, while still doing her best to keep an eye on their surroundings, Nadine had a lot to think about. Things were far more complicated than she had expected, and Tim’s revelation had only made them more so. The fact that Tim was human, and knowing his origins, it changed everything.

Tim wasn’t just a sophisticated creation of the Labyrinth, he was many other things, a victim of circumstance. The fact that the Labyrinth could revive someone and alter their status was incredible and terrifying. It begged the question of whether other special named monsters were the same.

Was Toofy in fact a child revived and altered by the Labyrinth? Or perhaps even a child of one of these monster Settlements? Surely if the Labyrinth could revive humans, it could do the same for its own monsters, right?

The fact that Nadine had no ready answers was frustrating. She briefly considered waking Tim up to see what else he knew, but everything he must have been through, Nadine thought better of it and let him sleep.

Recalling Tim’s odd behaviours, his hesitancy and fear, how they had forced him to fight and kill. It made Nadine feel sick and ashamed.

Growing up in an orphanage, there had been a very real possibility of being kidnapped, turned into a Slave and sold on the black market. Nadine’s fair appearance had only made her more of a target, and the prospect of being made into someone's Slave had terrified Nadine to the point that she barely slept some nights. So the fact that she had willingly participated and encouraged the others in the activity herself...it disgusted her.

Nadine’s whole life, she had considered herself a good person. Perhaps not the best, but still fundamentally good. But Tim’s true identity changed things. What made things worse was that Tim had already seemed to forgive them for what they had done to him.

While it would be easy to accept that forgiveness at face value, Nadine knew there was more to it than that. She had always prided herself on being able to read people, to understand their driving emotions. This was one of the reasons why her aptitude for the Enchanter class had been so high. However, this was also why Nadine was now thoroughly convinced that Tim was depressed and very likely had been for a long time.

Tim had not forgiven them simply because he was a good person. He had forgiven them because he thought so little of himself that he didn’t consider what they had done to him to be wrong. Recalling Tim’s interactions with Toofy, it was obvious that he was living vicariously through her. Only allowing himself to feel happy when she was happy. It was also partly why he was so fiercely protective of her. Toofy very likely represented the one thing in his life that made it worth living.

Now that Nadine knew the truth, she had to decide how best to break it to the others. Assuming Tim agreed, which was not guaranteed considering how reluctant he had been to admit it in the first place.

Clarice would probably be the easiest. Nadine knew that her family was descended from gladiators of the fighting pits and colosseum. It was probably why she had a rather interesting attitude towards the concept of Slavery in the first place. Similarly, she had a strong moral compass regarding her ideal of honour. Clarice hadn’t hesitated at the prospect of becoming Tim’s Slave in return for saving her life. There seemed to be a little bit more to it than that, but it was obvious that Clarice would probably accept Tim being human better than Nadine had.

Emelia on the other hand...

Emelia was more difficult to get a read on. Nadine had thought she knew Emelia reasonably well, but then she handed Toofy and by extension, Tim, over to the Guild so readily that Nadine wasn’t sure what to think. Nadine’s initial impression of Emelia had been that she was impulsive, somewhat reckless and slightly dim. However, Emelia had not demonstrated any behaviour that would have suggested what she was truly capable of. In fact, Emelia had been shocked when confronted by Nadine the amount of pain her unwitting commands were causing Tim. It was almost like Emelia hadn’t known how her own Class Abilities worked...

Nadine’s brow furrowed in concentration. There was something to that line of thought that bothered her. Glancing over at Emelia, Nadine began actively recollecting everything they had done together since first being introduced at the Guild.

Emelia had been prone to wandering off the wrong way, allegedly ‘exploring’ despite the signs and directions provided for them. She also frequently asked Nadine's opinion when selecting her equipment, despite everything being clearly labelled. Then there was the fact that Emelia had left Nadine to fill out the majority of their initial paperwork for finalising their adventurer identification to receive their way-stones.

At the time, Nadine had just thought Emelia was lazy. But now...maybe there was more to it?

Putting her theories regarding Emelia aside, for the time being, Nadine considered what to do regarding Tobi. She honestly knew very little about him and most of that was what she had heard secondhand from Clarice.

Tobi definitely seemed grateful to Tim for saving his life, but it still didn’t explain why he was so willing to help them. Tobi had to know that he was making a powerful enemy of the Guild branch manager.

So why was he helping them?

Nadine hadn’t sensed any guile from him and he had seemed earnest enough when he insisted on helping them out. So far as Nadine knew, Tobi’s Class was some sort of archer or tracker, so it wasn’t like he was using a charm or enchantment on them all either.

Since Tobi’s turn on watch was next, Nadine woke him up a little early so they could talk. It was selfish, but given the situation, she felt it was the right call.

*****

Waking up early, I stretched and tried my best not to wake Toofy.

However, my efforts were in vain and Toofy’s eyes promptly snapped open and fixed on me expectantly, “Breakfast?”

Smiling, I nodded and pulled over the pack I had used as a pillow. Knowing that Toofy seemed to like sausages the best, I searched amongst the food parcels until I found one with the sausages. “Just try to savour them, okay? There aren't many sausages left.”

Toofy accepted the food parcel with the solemn dignity of a priest handling a holy artefact, before hastily pulling apart the knot and shoving the first sausage in her mouth.

It took a great deal of restraint to hold myself back from laughing after watching Toofy’s newfound piety descend into hedonistic barbarism.

Well, I suppose we all have our vices.

I wasn’t feeling hungry, so I buckled the pack and took a look around the surrounding scrubland.

Nothing had changed since last evening, well, nothing I could see anyway.

We did appear closer to the rocky outcropping than I had initially expected, but I suspected that had more to do with favourable lighting than actual progress. Even so, it was possible that we might reach the cave sometime in the evening if we pushed a little to make a good time while travelling today.

“Awww,” Toofy was staring dejectedly at a scrap of parcel cloth and waving it as if expecting more sausages to appear from thin air.

I sighed, surreptitiously removed what was now definitely the last parcel of sausages in the pack, and held out my open hand to Toofy expectantly, “Do you want to see a nice trick?” I asked cryptically.

Toofy narrowed her eyes, “Trick?” She asked suspiciously.

I nodded solemnly, “Hand me the parcel cloth,” I instructed.

Toofy obliged, still looking very suspicious.

Closing my fist and bringing my hand behind my back, I quickly swapped the empty parcel cloth with the last remaining parcel of sausages. “Now I need you to count to five,” I instructed Toofy.

Toofy gave me an intense scrutinising look before promptly turning her attention to her hand and began silently counting out the numbers. Nodding to herself, Toofy then began counting aloud, “One, two, three, f-four,” she paused and furrowed her brow in concentration before nodding again, “Five!”

I withdrew my hand from behind my back to reveal the parcel of sausages.

Toofy stared in open-mouthed amazement, for all of a second. Quickly regaining her composure, Toofy snatched the parcel of sausages and began eagerly pulling apart the knots to get at the delicious cases of meat inside.

“You're spoiling her, you know that right?” Clarice commented with amusement. She had taken the final watch, so it was just the three of them awake at the moment.

I shrugged. I figured so long as I reined in her less desirable excesses, allowing her to indulge in relatively harmless vices was alright. Besides, I had noticed something over the past couple of days and wanted to confirm it, “I think Toofy is still growing,” I explained, drawing Clarice’s attention to the pants and tunic that now looked slightly too small for Toofy.

“Huh,” Clarice moved in for a closer look, even going so far as to risk lightly pinching Toofy’s cheeks. “I think you are right,” she agreed, more than a little surprised by the revelation. “Is it because she is growing into her latest evolution you think?” Clarice asked, scratching her head thoughtfully.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, “I did think it was a little strange that she didn’t immediately grow after evolving like she had when increasing in rank. Maybe Nadine has the answers?”

Clarice rolled her eyes, “You mean Emelia’s book, has the answers.”

I shrugged, “Nadine’s the only one who has read it though.”

Clarice made as if to answer, paused and nodded slightly, “Forgot about that,” she admitted. “Still though! You know I can read too right?!” Clarice insisted as she knelt down by Nadine’s pack and began rummaging around for the book. “Here we go,” Clarice muttered, pulling out the book and flicking through the pages until she found what she was looking for. “Hrm...nope, nothing in here about that. I mean, this book is for beginners. Not really surprising it doesn't have all the answers,” Clarice replaced the book in Nadine’s pack.

I nodded thoughtfully.

She had a point. But there was perhaps another reason why the information wasn’t found in the book as well. Toofy had told me that another monster, Leafy, had taken care of her before we found her. If Leafy was her mother, then it made sense that Toofy was quite probably still young enough to be experiencing growth spurts.

Factor in her recent evolution and it was also possible that her gradual growth was now observable because Primaeval Goblins were a larger species, making the gradual growth more obvious. It kind of made sense that if eating other monsters accelerated the healing process, that it could do the same for growth as well. My own Racial Ability artificially accelerated my metabolism, so this wasn’t all that far fetched.

Actually, perhaps that was it? Maybe my Iron Gut Synergy was responsible for accelerating her growth?

“What is it?” Clarice asked shrewdly.

“I think I figured it out. I am pretty sure Toofy is still an adolescent, she is still experiencing growth spurts. Or maybe is experiencing it again now that she has Evolved into a similar species. It’s entirely possible that my Iron Gut ability is responsible for her accelerated growth,” I explained.

Clarice raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, “Why would your Racial Ability do that?” She asked sceptically.

“Well, firstly, my Racial Ability description specifically states that it accelerates healing. Growing is just another form of self-repair or ‘healing’, so it makes sense that my ability would accelerate it,” I explained excitedly.

Clarice looked more than a little confused and was not particularly convinced. However, she doesn’t seem willing to put up a fight over it, “Okay, so why is that a big deal?”

“Well...It isn’t really. I just thought it was pretty amazing,” I admitted.

Clarice shrugged and began tending to her equipment.

Travelling across the scrublands gave me a great deal of time to think. Particularly since the elevated position of the others on the backs of the Desert Raptors gave them a better vantage point for spotting trouble. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anything I wanted to think about. This made time seem to pass painfully slowly. The only upside was that the rocky outcropping was growing noticeably closer with each passing hour.

With the sudden boost in morale, we decided to keep pushing ahead after taking only a very short break around midday.

It was perhaps for the best because sometime in the early evening, Tobi spotted familiar dust clouds headed in our direction again. Since there was no real possibility of the encounter being a positive one, we immediately quickened our pace.

Having a decent headstart on whoever was headed in our direction, we arrived at the cave with a decent lead but encountered a serious problem. Another group was already staking out the entrance to the cave and appeared to be waiting for us.

There were five young men and women blocking the entrance to the cave with a makeshift barricade made from an overturned wagon. Four of them were standing behind the barricade and had crossbows aimed in our direction, while the last, presumably their leader, was riding a Desert Raptor and waiting outside. All five of the adventurers seemed to be wearing steel or iron breastplates and helmets in addition to their padded armour. So things were not looking good.

“What should we do?” Nadine asked worriedly, “If we get any closer, they will probably open fire on us.”

“We should just outflank them and sweep in from the side!” Clarice insisted angrily, “That way they won't have the chance for more than one shot at it!”

“We could siege them with our slings to force them out,” Tobi suggested hesitantly, glancing back at the approaching dust cloud.

Clarice followed Tobi’s lead, “Shit!” She cursed angrily, “We don’t have time for this!”

Three Desert Raptor riders were closing in fast from behind, the riders swinging slings above their heads as they suddenly accelerated towards us. Even though they had not thrown any stones yet, it was only a matter of time.

I loaded a rock into my sling. I doubted I would manage to hit any of them, but I hoped that the size of the projectile alone would make them back off. Targeting the rider in the middle, I released the rock and watched it tumble through the air. Poorly weighted and unbalanced, the rock veered off target and exploded slightly ahead of the rider on the left flank.

Even though the rock had missed, the shrapnel must have injured the Desert Raptor, because it tripped and crashed into the ground a couple of moments later, flinging the rider off its back.

Tobi had now taken my lead, dismounting and preparing his sling, “Watch out! They have bolas!” He cried out in warning.

Bolas?

I didn’t know what that was, but the fact that it had Tobi worried was rather disconcerting. Slinging another rock, I missed so badly that it could have only been further off-target if I had managed to throw it backwards.

Tobi had far more success, hitting a Desert Raptor in the chest and quickly preparing to throw another stone at the same target.

“You better hop off!” Clarice growled, “Looks like their leader is gonna charge!”

I glanced back briefly and saw Nadine hurriedly dismounting. I also saw Toofy almost lazily twirling her sling as she slowly walked over to join me and Tobi.

Hurling a larger rock, I managed to cause the lead rider’s mount to baulk when the rock thumped a few feet ahead of them, narrowly missing the Desert Raptor’s beak.

Tobi scored another hit, but it appeared to have only been a glancing blow.

Toofy continued twirling her sling, gradually building up speed as she continued staring at the approaching riders.

Hearing cries from the direction of the cave, I briefly glanced back as I loaded another rock.

The crossbowmen were firing at Clarice and Thunder Thighs as she counter-charged the group's leader.

However, just as the crossbowmen fired, Clarice and Thunder Thighs disappeared in a burst of black smoke. They reappeared a moment later next to the leader’s mount. Clarice and the leader both appeared just as shocked as I was. Thunder Thighs was unaffected and slammed his beak into the leader’s gut hard enough to dismount him outright and send him tumbling awkwardly to the ground.

*Crack*

[Toofy has slain {Desert Raptor: 3 } +600 Exp]

As stunned as I was, I turned around just in time to see that one of the Desert Raptors that had been charging to attack us was skidding into the dirt. Its rider was sprawled awkwardly a short distance ahead and wasn’t moving.

The rider at the rear with the wounded mount decided to withdraw. Unfortunately, the remaining rider, still fresh and uninjured, did not appear to be so easily cowed and was finally in range for a counter-attack. The rider hurled what I had initially thought was a sling, but Tobi had identified as a ‘bola’. The leather strap flew through the air and caught Tobi around the chest, rocks tied to its ends causing the strange weapon to bind his right arm securely to his chest as the rider continued charging past us.

Unfortunately for the rider, Shady suddenly appeared next to his mount, leaping from the shadows and tearing him from his saddle. The rider screamed in terror and pain as Shady began biting and raking into his chest and gut through his armour.

*Thwack*

Toofy hurled a stone into the back of the now riderless Desert Raptor, causing it to stagger and barely remain upright as it tried to flee the battle.

“TELL YOUR MEN TO STAND DOWN!” Clarice roared angrily. She had dismounted Thunder Thighs and was holding her sword above the prone form of the adventurers’ leader. Apparently not getting a satisfactory answer, Clarice pressed her sword against groyne, “I said do it!” She threatened coldly.

“P-PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!” The leader cried fearfully, “D-DO IT! PUT THEM DOWN!” He sounded truly terrified.

Clarice yanked the leader up onto his feet and shoved him forward in the direction of the cave, keeping her sword pressed against his backside. “OUT OF THE CAVE NOW!” Clarice demanded, “GET ON YOUR KNEES AND WE WON'T HARM YOU!”

It was weird how this scene was playing out like some fantasy police drama and I almost expected Clarice to begin rattling off a fantasy version of the Miranda rights.

The four adventurers quickly scrambled over their makeshift barricade, nearly tripping over one another in their haste to comply. Considering how rapidly the fight had turned in our favour and how it had happened, I couldn’t really blame them.

The rider Shady had been so affectionately mauling was a bloody mess. Unlike the adventurers in the cave, he did not have a breastplate to protect his torso and his padded armour was torn to bloody ribbons and soaked in his blood.

Looking away from the gruesome sight, I could see Tobi needed help freeing himself so I moved over to help.

Now that I had a closer look at it, I now realised that I had seen something like the bola before in movies. The stones tied at each end of the three lengths of leather cord would not only give the cord sufficient mass to drive it forward but would also provide the necessary momentum to bind the target on a successful hit. Objectively, it was a pretty terrifying weapon when I stopped to think about it. Without help, Tobi would have been relatively helpless for at least a couple of minutes before managing to free himself.

Nadine spared a moment to try and save the bloodied adventurer's life, but the lack of glowing light made it clear that he was already dead.

“YOU GUYS COMING?!” Clarice demanded impatiently, already halfway to the cave and still escorting her prisoner while flanked by Thunder Thighs.

We all quickly moved to catch up to Clarice and her prisoner.

“P-please d-don’t k-kill m-me!” The young man sobbed pitiably, “H-he m-made us d-do it!”

Getting a closer look at the adventurer, I was surprised to see how new most of his equipment looked.

Was this why the fight had been so easy? Had the Guild managers just conscripted some nearby adventurers, thrown some equipment at them and expected things to just work out? Why hadn’t they just sent higher-level adventurers? Come to think of it, I think I saw Slave collars on at least one of those Desert Raptors they were riding as well...

When we reached the cave, Clarice began tying up the adventurers. Given that they seemed to have been coerced, I was glad that we weren't doing anything too drastic. Somewhat surprisingly, Nadine and Clarice had both readily agreed with one another to leave them the lion's share of their gear too.

“The Guild can track certain items,” Nadine explained while rifling through the adventurers’ supplies from the wagon. “If it is valuable enough, they will have marked it. So anything with the Guilds mark on it is out.”

“Can we keep the wagon?” I asked curiously.

Nadine paused to think for a moment before shaking her head, “No, it’s better not to risk it. There is too high a chance that there is a mark hidden on it somewhere.”

This whole mark tracking business had me more than a little worried. Before Nadine had mentioned it, I was seriously considering scavenging one of those collars and a saddle from the fallen Desert Raptor.

“We gotta go!” Clarice called out suddenly, sounding more than a little worried.

Looking out at the scrubland, I could see another dust cloud on the horizon.

“Toofy,” I waved to get her attention and motioned for her to follow along beside me.

Toofy obediently rushed to my side, somewhat jumpy with nervous energy.

“Just stick close to me, alright?” I tried to reassure her.

Toofy nodded but didn’t say anything as we entered the cave.

The cave was large enough that Emelia and Clarice could have ridden the Desert Raptors inside. however there were some dangerously low-hanging stalactites, so neither of them seemed willing to take the risk.

I had actually expected to encounter some sort of monster in the cave, but it was apparently empty. I had to assume that those adventurers outside had lured them out earlier because I couldn’t think of any other way to explain it.

After a couple of minutes of following the winding tunnel downward, we entered a large cavern. Illuminated by the flickering light of the portal at the far side, I couldn't see any monsters here either.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” Nadine observed warily, “Still, let’s try to stick close. I am not sure how long those reinforcements will take to get here, so we may not have much time.”

Following her advice, we all cautiously approached the portal and anxiously waited for Nadine to give the word. After waiting for a while, we watched the portal cycle through at least three different landscapes. One was a forest similar to the first floor, while another was a frigid hinterland. The final and current area displayed by the portal was a foggy swampland.

Shady became agitated and began growling in a warning tone.

“Uh, I don’t think we have much time,” Tobi stated worriedly, glancing pointedly down the passageway.

“I say we just take the portal next time it changes,” Clarice insisted.

Nadine winced but nodded, “Agreed.”

Emelia shifted nervously, clutching Beaky’s reins tight as she kept alternating her attention between the passageway and the portal.

“Damnit...” Nadine cursed as the portal changed again but displayed another stretch of swampland.

“We gotta go!” Clarice insisted urgently, roughly taking Nadine’s arm and dragging her through the portal while leading Thunder Thighs with the reins.

Emelia quickly followed next with Beaky, while Tobi, Toofy, Shady and myself were not far behind her. Even though the portal would remain open for at least a few minutes before changing, none of us was eager to encounter the adventurer's reinforcements.

There were three things that immediately caught my attention upon crossing through the portal. The first was the smell, and it was not pleasant, reeking of rotten vegetation. The second was the humidity. Lastly, A large black alert panel with blood-red text appeared in front of my eyes and made it incredibly difficult to see.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Active}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: Designate a Totem/Flag/Marker to designate the heart of your domain. You must complete this task within 1h. {Success} will bind the territory to your will and unlock the next stage of the quest. {Failure} will result in your death. Good luck!]

The black panel disappeared the moment I finished reading it and was replaced with another much smaller panel at the top of my peripheral vision.

[ 0d : 0h : 59m ]

Seriously?!

“Woah! What the hell?!” Clarice demanded, “You guys seeing this?!”

“Y-yeah...” Tobi stammered, obviously shaken.

Emelia just gulped and nodded.

“Toofy see,” Toofy nodded, but seemed confused.

“We need to get out of here!” Nadine insisted, “Those reinforcements might enter the portal chamber at any moment, and I would prefer it if they didn’t know we were here!” She began determinedly setting out in the opposite direction we had originally been facing upon exiting the portal. “Remember to keep an eye out for monsters!” Nadine reminded everyone grimly, drawing her sword and regarding the swampland warily.

As a positive to this mess, we had at least arrived on a rather sizable landmass and were a decent distance from the murky pools of water slightly further out. However, heavy as myself and the Desert Raptors were, our feet sunk noticeably deeper into the ground than those of our human party members. Toofy probably wouldn’t have had many problems, but I wasn’t willing to put her at risk, so I was carrying her on my shoulder.

“So you all saw that quest panel?” I asked anxiously as we continued walking along the landbridge, heading deeper into the swamp.

“Couldn’t miss it,” Clarice grunted angrily, “What sort of bullshit quest has an auto-kill feature for failure?!”

“I didn’t even know they could do that,” mumbled Tobi dejectedly.

“Mandatory quests shouldn't even appear until the twentieth floor at the earliest,” Nadine agreed, more than a little freaked out and on edge.

Emelia just confused quietly following the group and warily keeping an eye on the murky swamp water.

After walking for a few minutes, Nadine looked back at the way we had come from and seemed satisfied that we weren’t followed, “Well, that’s one problem dealt with,” she sighed wearily.

Clarice snorted, “Yeah, now we just have to deal with this bloody quest! It doesn't even tell us what the reward is!”

“We should try to find somewhere fast and just get rid of it!” Tobi suggested hastily.

Nadine shook her head, “This is a chain quest, it said part one, there is going to be at least one more part to it. Considering that this quest is labelled Conquest, it will probably involve a subjugation quest type or perhaps even...a raid,” she gulped hard and shivered, “S-so we need to choose the place carefully!”

No one argued with Nadine and thankfully, after spending another fifteen minutes walking in roughly the same original direction, we would soon be leaving the wetlands of the swamp behind. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, but the patches of land were becoming much larger and there were now small hills and many more trees and shrubs.

What was disturbing, was that we still hadn’t seen any signs of any wild monsters. This just made me more nervous every time we were forced to move closer to the water before being able to continue pushing ahead.

[ 0d : 0h : 13m ]

“Okay! We really have to decide on a place to do this!” Clarice insisted urgently, “We haven't seen a single monster since we got here, and I don’t wanna die just because you ‘think’ we might find somewhere better.”

Looking rather pale, Nadine nodded in agreement, “We should just mark one of the trees to serve as the Totem. Since we don’t know who the primary target of the quest is, we should all just carve a symbol into one of these trees.” She then pulled out a knife, approached a nearby tree and gauged a line into it.

When the timer continued counting down, we all moved off to do the same. We were a decent distance from the closest body of water, so it seemed relatively safe. Toofy carved a big toothy smile into the tree, or she tried to. The end result was just a jagged line. Seeing what Toofy was going for, I borrowed her shiv and carved out a closer approximation of her smile and then at her insistence, added a pair of slitted eyes to match her own above it. The carving pulsed with an eerie red light and a black status panel appeared in front of my eyes again.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Active}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: {Success} Totem has been established]

[Conquest! {Stage 2}: Select a compatible {Racial Ability} to strengthen {Minions} through your {Totem}. You have 10m to decide! {Success} will imbue the {Racial Ability} into your {Totem} and unlock the next stage of the quest. {Failure} will result in your death. Good luck!]

Just as before, the panel collapsed and was replaced with a familiar countdown timer.

[ 0d : 0h : 9m ]

“Pretty sure it means me!” I called out nervously, “Which ability should I pick?”

The others quickly gathered around our new ‘Totem’, which was still shedding the same eerie crimson light and pulsing slightly as if it had a heartbeat. The combination of the face and the lighting was definitely creepy, add to the fact that it was starting to get dark, that we were all alone in a swamp, and it was getting a bit much.

“Does it really matter? Just pick one!” Clarice growled irritably.

“Y-yeah!” Tobi agreed anxiously, more than a little frightened by the repeat of the enforced auto death on failure.

“Wait!” Nadine stated sternly, motioning for everyone to calm down. “This is obviously some sort of quest to form a Settlement or maybe even a foothold! We need to think long-term!”

Clarice and Tobi calmed down somewhat.

“A Settlement?” Emelia asked uncertainly.

Nadine nodded, “Notice the name of the quest? Conquest! That suggests we are claiming a territory for occupation. Even the quest descriptions support this theory. If I had to guess, the minions that the quest is referring to are us,” she gestured to herself, Tobi, Emelia and Clarice, “This might be a divergent quest chain that became available only because Tim is party leader! We could be part of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here! So we need to think LONG-TERM!” Nadine's emphasis on the potential benefits somewhat calmed the others down, but I was still staring fixedly at the timer.

[ 0d : 0h : 7m ]

“Ah, so which one?” I asked again, trying not to panic. Knowing I had seven minutes or less to make a decision or die was not doing wonders for my long-term planning skills.

Nadine and Clarice shared a somewhat telling look with one another, before warily considering Tobi and Emelia.

“I think we should go with Iron Gut,” Clarice firmly suggested. “Extra damage and damage resistance won’t mean much if we run out of bandages or mana, and if we are getting hurt, then there have to be monsters to eat.”

Nadine nodded in approval, “Iron Gut is the safest choice,” she agreed.

Tobi seemed more than a little flustered, no doubt watching the timer as closely as I was. “Iron Gut? That was the healing one right? Yeah, okay, I’m fine with that!”

Emelia was far more composed, “yeah, I think that would be safest!” She agreed, albeit a little hesitantly.

“Ah, so I wonder how I am meant to do this?” I wondered aloud, momentarily drawing a blank.

[ 0d : 0h : 5m ]

“It is probably something like. Quest objective, select Iron Gut, Confirm,” Nadine suggested helpfully.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Active}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: {Success} Totem has been established]

[Conquest! {Stage 2}: {Active} Your {Minion} {Nadine} has selected {Iron Gut}. Accept? (Y/N)]

“Accept!” I confirmed, more than a little relieved.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Active}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: {Success} Totem has been established]

[Conquest! {Stage 2}: {Success} Your {Totem} has now been successfully imbued with {Iron Gut} and will impart its effects to nearby {Minions}.]

[Conquest! {Stage 3}: Defend your {Totem} from monsters in the contested territory! Your {Totem} will periodically attract monsters within 1 mile for the next 24h. {Success} Complete the Conquest! Quest and receive a reward equal to your achievements. {Failure} will result in your death. Good luck!]

“OH COME THE FUCK ON!” Clarice swore loudly.

Reading the third and final stage of the quest, I was inclined to agree.

[ 0d : 23h : 59m ]

When the large black panel was replaced with the timer, I could see that the expressions of the others fully encompassed the myriad of emotions running through my own mind. Anger, fear, and strangely enough, determination.

So long as Toofy had a chance at survival, I wouldn’t give up.

“We will need fire,” I stated firmly, moving over to one of the smaller trees and leveraging my weight against it, yanking back and forth until I uprooted it out of the loose soil. Throwing it to the side, I moved over to another three to uproot another.

“Tim is right!” Nadine stated loudly with far more confidence than I currently felt, “We need to get busy and prepare! It will be dark soon and we need fire!”

Leaving Beaky, Thunder, Shady and Toofy to keep watch on our surroundings, we all began gathering together as much flammable material as quickly as possible. It would be nightfall within a few hours, and the prospect of fighting completely unknown monsters in the dark was intolerable.

[ 0d : 19h : 34m ]

We had managed to set three large bonfires a couple of dozen feet from the tree serving as the Totem before the sun began to set and the swamp was dimly illuminated by moonlight. Nadine seemed confident that we had enough wood stockpiled that we could keep all three bonfires burning all night, but given the lack of clouds in the sky, I was now beginning to wonder if we had made a grave mistake.