I was exhausted. Frost huffed out of my throat in quick and voluminous puffs of cloud, dissipating in the air as I surveyed the battle situation. It seemed that seeing their leader fall had taken all of the fun out of the fighting, I noted, as I watched the back sides of the orcs disappear into the forest. Around me none of my companions had been felled, though a few of them sported wounds.

Wounds that it quickly became obvious would not be there for long as Brandosyeus put panpipes to his mouth and began to play.

 

Battle Completed. Party experience Gained: 2000XP

 

As Brandosyeus sang a tale of Orrin the Orcsmith, the idiot-god of the greenskins, we began to sift through the belongings of our fallen foes. Gold coins, hide armor, and an assortment of stone and bone weapons lay scattered around. The gold we all pocketed, but none of the rest of it was worthwhile. And even the shaman seemed to be a bust on good treasure.

That was until I spotted an eye socket. The extreme strangeness of seeing the removed and smoothed out portion of skull that held a single eye socket bereft of any other skeletal feature was bewildering. I turned it over in my hand, appraising it.

I reached out and gripped it, then focused my mind on its contents.

 

IDENTIFIED!

 

Information flashed across my mind, like before, but this time I was more relaxed as it rolled over my consciousness.

 

Skeletal Summoner Talisman:

Effect: Allows the wielder to summon one skeletal minion per day. The summoned minion remains loyal and follows the commands of the summoner for a duration of one hour. Requires the presence of an enemy corpse to cast.

Usual Cost: 2500 gold pieces

Appearance: A section of human skull holding the eye socket

Color: Bone white with faint ethereal glows radiating out from the socket

 

I peeked over at one of the orc bodies while my companions continued to loot, curious. Spotting one that looked like a green-skinned version of Hulk Hogan, I thought about him rising.

The body began to smoke, the skin and flesh sloughing off.

“Holy Hells, we’ve got another encounter!” Ike yelled, rushing up and kicking dirt on its face. Brandosyeus changed his musical tune, and I grinned at the skeleton rising from its body as the rest of the party wielded their arms.

I laughed and raised my new item high for all to see, just in time to see Jon destroy my skeleton with a glowing and super large magic fist.

“Woah!” I bellowed, watching my new creation fly to pieces before me. Jeldorain pealed laughter from inside my soul. The party turned, regarding my new toy, then turned back to the shattered bones that now lay fanned out against the edge of the campsite.

The campfire's glow illuminated the faces of my companions, each one trying to stifle their laughter. Brandosyeus, with a mischievous glint in his eye, was the first to speak up. “Ryan, next time you find a magical item, maybe give us a heads up? It would save us from... unexpected surprises.”

Ike, the kobold warrior, chuckled, “Especially if it involves summoning the undead. Those things freak me out!”

I laughed and was about to respond when I noticed Schustak, the goblin swamp druid, slinking back into the campsite. His usual mysterious demeanor was intact, and he seemed unfazed by the recent events. “Evening,” he greeted nonchalantly, as if he hadn't been absent during the fight.

“Welcome back!” Jon called cheerfully. “I just got to one shot a skeleton.”

The others greeted him in kind, with no hint of concern or surprise at his sudden reappearance. I felt a growl build in my throat, but refused to let it pass.

Do you see it? Do you understand my concerns, oh great grand champion?

“Not in the mood,” I whispered, all hilarity pulled from my body. I liked these guys, and I hated that Jeldorain might be right. “Hey everybody, how about we let Schustak take a break and I’ll head up the rest of the watch for tonight?” I asked. Kevinar cocked his head, his velvet eyes curious, but the rest took it in just as much stride as they did Schustak.

“Yeah, sure, just make sure you wake us up if some more orcs come by,” Ike said, the rest already getting set to sleep in their assigned spots. Schustak cocked his head, but he said nothing and took over my former position around the embers of the fire, falling asleep in an instant.

Kill him, Jeldorain said.

I stared at his head, thinking of the deadly stomp I’d orchestrated not so long ago. I couldn’t though. Not yet. It’d be my own death sentence if Jeldorain were wrong about them all being in thrall. I needed to know for sure that it was what he said it was.

Jeldorain sighed inside of me, and his presence faded slightly as if he, too, were going to slumber.

“Come on,” Kevinar whispered. “The night awaits our presence.”

The two of us left the camp and moved back out into the woods. The coolness of it all felt incredible on my frosty skin, and I found myself reveling in the absence of the fire. The hoots of owls and the chirp of crickets wove themselves into a pure and primeval world around me, and so lost was I in the beauty of it all that I jumped when Kevinar touched my arm.

“Something on your mind?” he asked, purple penetrating into my icy blues. “Your family?”

My mind raced, thinking of what to say. I’d already mentioned my concerns about Schustak before, so I’d have to bring up something else instead.

“Orcs,” I lied. “Why are there bands of wild orcs rolling through the forests of this empire? I thought the goblins had it all conquered?”

Kevinar nodded and turned away, looking into the brush. “It’s a good question. The orcs are an enigma. They could be a part of this empire and hold great position and titles. Some of them do. But despite the invitation, most of them stick to the ruins of old cities and palaces, or else to the forests and swamps of the exterior. If you ask one why, and they don’t first try to jelly your head with a club, they will say because of freedom. Without the cities of the empire, the soldiers and taxes and commerce, they are free. And that is how they want to be.”

“Freedom,” I repeated, thinking of nights spent around a campfire on a sandy beach with barbecue grills and the golden hair of my lovely wife. “I can respect that.”

Kevinar chuckled. “It is about as opposite as you can get to the place where I come from. Yes, freedom is something to be appreciated, even if you can truthfully say that the orcs maybe take it to an extreme.”

We walked on in silence, scanning our surroundings for trouble. After 30 minutes of this, a question formed in my head. One I’d asked many times when I’d first started Lords of Chaos.

“Hey Kevinar. When do I level?”

He stopped, and stared at me, his eyes seeming to drill their way into my soul. “One more kill should do the trick if my appraisal check was successful.” He nodded and smiled. “Indeed, I think we might be able to get this taken care of tonight. Follow me.”

I paused, startled, looking back in the direction of the camp. “Aren’t we supposed to be protecting them?” I asked.

Kevinar cocked his head. “I have been in communion with Schustak. He will guard them tonight.”

Gritting my teeth on his words, I followed along, letting Kevinar lead the way. His movements were a real marvel, completely silent despite the debris of the forest floor, and I found myself trying to copy his movements, failing miserably as I did. Still, a +1/10 Stealth notification appeared as we walked, and I marveled at the simplicity of this world.

After what felt like an hour, the dense trees gave way to a clearing, at the center of which stood the entrance to a dark cave. The rock around the opening was scored with claw marks and scattered bones, hinting at the presence of a formidable creature within.

Kevinar turned to me, his purple eyes gleaming with excitement. “There is a ritual where I come from, in which a warrior may prove his greatness in the arena against a giant beast of his choosing. It is fun to watch, though sometimes fatal to take part in. This is the lair of a cave bear. A formidable beast that I spotted on my rounds. Not dangerous to the party given our distance from the cave, but I believe a battle with it here and now might well be in your favor.”

Jeldorain stirred. The meat is greasy and juicy. They make a wonderful feast. Plus you can gain a level. Take this fight. But do remember that Kevinar is enthralled, and this fight is simply training for our place in the Goblin Empire. We take the training, gain the levels, then slaughter them all.

We’re still not sure on that, I said. I could feel his presence pulsing, excited, threatening to breach the bounds of my massive body. Save that energy for the cave, Jeldorain. Tonight we feast.

With a swift motion, Kevinar threw a rock into the cave, causing a deep, guttural growl to echo from within, then lightly hopped up to the first branch of a tree, climbing it to the top. “Good luck!” he yelled.

Jeldorain laughed. Enthralled or not, I like Kevinar.

Moments later, a massive cave bear, much larger than I was, its fur matted and eyes glowing with rage, charged out of the darkness, swinging a paw large enough to bat the head off a human. Above me, a boss hit point bar appeared, stretching left and right across my vision.

“What the hells, Kevinar?” I asked as I barely ducked under the attack.

Jeldorain bellowed laughter inside of me.

The cave bear roared at me, and I felt sparkly needles of pain lance over my face and arms. Moving fast, I cased the scene before me, checking all of the higher ledges and angles, before settling on the bear’s neck.

“Want me?” I asked, backing up slowly. “Come get me!”

Jeldorain chortled from inside.

The gigantic ursine galloped, his jaws wide with obvious culinary intent, and I put my plan into action.

Swing I thought, engaging the ability as the bear drew near, and looping my Titan-Ax-icearigama around the monster’s upper jaw, charging forward as I did so. My momentum, its momentum, and the abilities of my special attack swung me in a wide and terrifying arc, landing me on the back of its neck.

“Well done!” Kevinar called from above, clapping and cheering.

I smashed my weapon down against the bear’s spine once, and then again. It roared and stood on its hind legs, a height at which it was now eye-to-eye with Kevinar, I noted, as I hastily stopped myself from falling by digging my blades into the bear’s thick hide. It bellowed again, swiping at Kevinar’s tree and knocking it over. But not before he managed to leap to another one.

“You’ve got this victory in hand, Ryan. I believe in you!” he called. I simply groaned, pulling one of the ax blades from the bear and this time activating my Soul Sync. Torrents of cold rolled off my body in waves of shrieking frost, billowing over the bear and causing it to shudder.

HELLS AM I ALIVE. STRIKE NOW, AS MY POWER IS AT ITS PEAK!

Following the shrieking infernal’s instruction, I smashed the ax blade back into the bear, then watched in mystified horror as the new wound froze over, driving a massive icicle through the cave bear’s body. His health bar was at 20% now, and I was absolutely stunned.

This body really was OP as hell.

The bear, though wounded, was not defeated. It roared in defiance, tearing its body off of the massive icicle and losing another 10% of its health, before dropping backwards to pancake me into oblivion.

Tearing the blades out and activating Swing, I narrowly lassoed a rocky outcropping towards the top of the bear’s home, swooping through the air into safety. As the dazed bear looked up at me with jaws open, blood trickling out the side of its mouth and frothing from its nose, I felt a bit sorry for it. I had been the aggressor here, not it.

Leaping down from my perch, I cut through its snout, and ended its life.

The forest returned to its eerie silence. I panted heavily, looking at the bear, relief and sadness swarming through me, mixed with nearly unfightable hunger. A bright light enveloped me, energy coursing through my veins and rejuvenating me. When the light faded, I felt stronger and more powerful.

 

VICTORY! 300 XP rewarded!

Kevinar approached, clapping me on the back. “Well done! I knew you had it in you.”

I turned, barely able to keep saliva from spilling out of my mouth. “You should leave, now, Kevinar,” I groaned. “This will not be pleasant.”