Well, the situation went to shit even faster than Prof feared.

Mini probably had a reason for shooting Foxy in the back twice, same as Foxy probably had a reason to start a discussion with the one Elf they were chasing for how long? Not that any of those mattered, they were thrust into a battle against a stronger foe. Prof just hoped, the other Humans would side with them and not their former masters.

At the same time Mini shot Foxy, Sharpclaw also made her presence known. Since her first attack was from stealth and the back, the damage was five times higher – if Prof remembered the math correctly than normally. She made absolutely sure and triple-tapped her enemy. Maybe even the first attack would have been enough, but with the two further stabs, the Grey Elf left for eternal hunting grounds. Or forest or boot camp or wherever Elves went.

Not that Prof had time to contemplate metaphysical questions of Elven spiritual transcendence, he had to engage with the duellist female. More likely defend against her, it was all he could do. Again. It was getting boring. He was a DPS warrior, not a Tank! Then again, the most versatile spell in all gaming history, Autosave, was not enabled on Arkadia, if he died, it was the end of the game for him.

If he survived the whole ordeal in the Valley, he would have to do something against being continuously outclassed by nearly everyone. Well, Levels would certainly help. And a few Perks, and Skills. Maybe some better gear.

While Prof occupied the duellist, Mini exchanged bolts and arrows with the bow-wielding female, Binky was chasing the shifty-looking Grey Elf and Guillermo started slaughtering his Humans. Sharpclaw was nowhere to be seen.

Not that Prof had time to survey the battlefield in detail or have a nice meal while fighting.

No matter how good he evaded, the duellist still managed to land a few hits, while Prof only managed but one. Even that was just a slap on the wrist. This time it was Sharpclaw who saved him – with a well-placed backstab. The duellist didn’t die, but the surprise attack gave Prof an opening to knock her unconscious.

Looking around, Prof took stock of the battlefield. The Grey Elf archer was dead, with a crossbow bolt sticking out of her head – headshot! Mini, on the other hand, was decorated with a few arrows too. Being technically dead had its good parts – for example not being allergic to an arrow sticking out of one’s lung. And tight. Probably she will need some feeding later, though.

Binky was peacefully munching on something that was probably not too long ago a shifty-looking Grey Elf.

From the Human mercenaries only the large fellow was still standing, everyone else was lying in heaps, dead or dying. Guillermo was a dangerous enemy, maybe more deadly than the other Grey Elves combined. Prof tried to observe him, but the return gave nothing concrete. Probably higher Level than 10, maybe even higher than 15. He could be even above Level 20. How would they defeat such a foe?

Oh, Binky.

Nothing better than to sic the overpowered pet of your friend on the stalker in the neighborhood. Prof tried just that. Tried was the keyword.

“Binky, bite!” “Binky, attack!”, “Hello, nice boy! Eat that Elf!”, “Stupid dinosaur! Fetch!”

Nothing worked. Either Prof's [Taming] was too low, or Binky didn't understand Bergian. Or didn't give a shit. Most probably the last, most dogs were the same: you gave them something to munch on, and the burglar could enter the house without a care in the world. Well, Binky was almost like a dog. He had four legs, a tail, and a head with sharp teeth – enough of a similarity, no?

Next idea. Someone had to occupy Guillermo till Sharpclaw did another assassination or Mini headshot him. Prof looked around for a volunteer. Yeah, right, they were fresh out of those.

What else?

“Prof, what are you waiting for? Get there! I will send Binky too.” Mini finished pulling out the arrows and took command. Fantastic, Prof was now the volunteer… Yeah, send the transmigrated Central European guy to die gloriously for his masters! Go, wash my dishes, bitch! Almost like at home.

Prof steeled his resolve and entered the fray. More precisely, he evaded Guillermo’s attacks, without even trying to attack – it was not about survival of the fittest, but that of the guy with the most friends still standing. Including an overleveled Scorpionlizard. Prof just needed to stay alive till Binky ate the Grey Elf.

The last mercenary obviously wasn't so versed in the intricacies of pseudo-Darwinian survival. He removed himself from the gene pool in short order by attacking Guillermo without holding back all that much. He still managed to evade, parry or block a lot of attacks, so he was probably a high Level himself, but in the end, he joined his party members on the ground. Dead. Missing your head usually guarantees a quick and assured death.

Maybe not with the undead, though. Prof needed to ask Mini about that.

With the large fellow dead, Guillermo's attention shifted fully to Prof. Despite his high [Evade] the first attack connected and shaved thirty HP off, going through his armor like butter. With the previous battle, Prof was already well below 50%. One or two such hits and he would be dead! No surprise, that the mercenaries were defeated so quickly if even Prof with his high Skill and expensive gear was so outclassed.

Sharpclaw tried an assassination but was noticed – how Guillermo managed that, Prof couldn't fathom – and was summarily kicked away. But, where was the relief force, consisting of Mini and Binky, the world wondered. Well, the world didn't wonder, probably no one knew what was going on, or gave a damn about a turkey trotting the water, but Prof did. It was about survival!

Guillermo landed the next hit, no matter what Prof did. Another thirty-two HP was gone. With all of his, and everyone else's potions gone, he had no way to replenish his health. It was do or die now.

“Yeeeee-Haaaa!” the cavalry had arrived.

Literally.

Mini was riding Binky with her saber held horizontally and grinning like crazy. Well, she was crazy, even her Character Parchment told everyone so. It was still a sight, seeing a chick riding into battle on a huge lizard! Prof hoped, he remembered the sight till he managed to get [Art: Drawing] and [Art: Painting] to a high enough level. This was the only thing he missed from Earth: being able to take pictures whenever he wanted.

Obviously, he could not take pictures while being in mortal danger, but the thought was what counted.

Guillermo was able to dodge the barrelling lizard, but that put him in the direct trajectory of a vampire. Still, he was able to parry her saber. Even that wasn't enough not to get his face full of angry – and possibly hungry – vampire. Mini let go of her weapon and attached herself to the Grey Elf's neck, fangs first. Guillermo let a little girly scream fly and tried to stab Mini in the back with his dagger. He let go of his axe to try to pry her loose too.

Prof couldn't really attack the Elf with Mini in the way, but he at least could prevent any stabbing from happening. Obviously, not stabbing with fangs in the neck, but with a dagger in the back. At least that happening to Mini. He very much hoped, there would stabbing in the back happening by Sharpclaw.

His very first tries to divert the dagger weren’t all that successful, he almost hit Mini instead, so he settled on dropping his weapons and grabbing the arm.

Who would have guessed, that his [Hand-to-Hand Combat] didn't cover grabbing, grappling, and wrestling? Well, there was a Skill for that too, named [Wrestling], in which Prof had exactly 32%...

He realized his mistake – but not the reason for being unable to grab the arm – relatively fast, and altered his plans. Now, instead of trying to grab the arm and wrestle with the Grey Elf, he resorted to punching and kicking. He didn't do much damage this way, but at least disturbed Guillermo enough that he couldn't concentrate on stabbing. Much.

While Mini and Prof piled on the Grey Elf, Binky slowed down, tuned, and finally munched down on the Elf's left leg. It was most likely a Critical Hit since the leg came loose from the hip downward. Guillermo fell down, pinning Mini beneath him, and that allowed Prof to start kicking him in the head.

Sharpclaw limped back too and unceremoniously stabbed the Elf in the back.

The battle was won.

“Hey, Prof, next time don’t kick the guy in the head I’m feeding on! I think, one of my teeth came loose! And see, my mouth got bruised!”

Yeah, next time when they are fighting a pitched battle, Prof promised to let Mini have a nice meal in peace. Maybe he should provide a blanket too, to have the real picnic feel? Because why not – in games you could eat a whole five-course dinner while fighting dragons. If it worked in games, why not in reality?

Oh, wait, reality is not a game…

Looking around the battlefield, only three others were still alive: Shinead, the duellist, and the only female in the mercenary band. Prof mentally deleted the duellist from the list, she wouldn't survive much longer. Either someone ate, or just killed her. The female mercenary was questionable, Shinead would kill her most likely, but she fought for them in the end.

Surprisingly it was Mini who decided on the matter; she found a potion somewhere and fed it to the mercenary. Sharpclaw also took matters into her claws, and while Prof checked on the mercenary, she executed the Red Elf before Prof could do anything.

“Why have you done that?!?!”