Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 01 - Slave to circumstance - Part One {Rewrite}

Waking with a start, I frantically began pawing at my face and chest. Expecting my hands to come away covered in blood, I was surprised when my hands came away clean instead. With deep heaving breaths, I took a handful of seconds to appreciate the fact that I was alive and seemed to be in good health.

 

The last thing I remembered was wrestling with someone who had broken into my house in the middle of the night. I distinctly recalled being stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen, so I couldn’t understand how those stab wounds had simply disappeared without a trace. The mystery deepened further as I realised all of my clothes were missing as well.

 

I briefly entertained the possibility that I might be having a reaction to anaesthesia and that I was actually lying on an operating table at this very moment. However, it was incredibly difficult to believe due to the profound realness of the sensations I was feeling. I had never had a dream so vivid in all my life.

 

Pushing myself up into a sitting position, I was surprised to feel moist dirt and grass beneath my fingers.

 

“What is this?” I wondered aloud, now taking a moment to take in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a forest, but the closest forest I knew of had been hours away by car and wasn’t nearly so wild and lush.

 

Keenly aware of my nakedness, and driven by an immediate desire to resolve that issue as quickly as possible, I awkwardly began hunting through my immediate vicinity for where my clothes might have been hidden. For whatever reason, I became convinced that rifling through the next bush or tossing aside another fallen branch would reveal my missing clothes.

 

Somewhat surprisingly, in spite of my manic activity, I didn’t overheat like I usually did. Once I realised that, I felt a stab of momentary panic when I realised that I didn’t have my inhalers for treating my asthma. That panic gave way to confusion as the obligatory panic-induced asthma attack failed to materialise.

 

Tentatively taking several deep breaths, I was surprised to find that my asthma seemed to be gone entirely. Still confused, but feeling increasingly optimistic in spite of myself, I began giving myself a proper examination to see what else about myself had changed.

 

As best as I could tell, I was still freakishly tall but had no true frame of reference to be certain. I was still overweight with the same ‘beefy’ build ascribed to strongmen of the nineteen hundreds, possessing fat and muscle in relatively equal measure. My thick skin was the same grey almost green mess it had always been, thanks to a rare nerve condition that was also responsible for my complete lack of body hair.

 

Besides being naked and no longer seeming to have asthma, there didn’t seem to be any further changes.

 

For a moment, I was tempted to believe the change in environment was responsible for subduing my asthma. My home was within striking distance of the sea and a whole mess of sand dunes, so it wasn’t impossible.

 

A woman’s cry of surprise from somewhere nearby caught me off guard. The sudden realisation that I wasn’t alone gave me a moment of reassurance before transitioning rapidly into fear and embarrassment.

 

Mortified at the prospect of being mistaken for some sort of sexual deviant running around naked in the woods. I began hurriedly making my way in what I sincerely hoped was the opposite direction.

 

“*** ***! ***! *** *** ***!” The same woman cried out in fear from somewhere close by in a language I didn’t understand.

 

I quickly covered my crotch with my hands and looked around my immediate surroundings from the cover of a large bush. I still couldn’t see any sign of the woman that had cried out.

 

A few moments later, I realised that perhaps there was someone else in a similar situation to myself, and that maybe this woman had caught the perpetrator in the act.

 

Although I had always been ashamed of my bad looks, and the thought of being seen naked was mortifying, it only served to fuel my anger.

 

Leaving the relative safety of the bush, I charged towards the sounds of the struggle.

 

Crashing through the treeline, I found a large naked man with dark skin and huge muscles assaulting a young woman. My eyes were immediately drawn to the footlong knife he was holding against her bare throat.

 

“HEY!” I shouted angrily, raising my hands from my crotch and balling them into pudgy fists. My size and general appearance had always frightened people, so I hoped this would be enough to cause the man with the knife to back off.

 

The man suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned around. Initially angry, his expression quickly became fearful. Something was seriously wrong with his face. It almost looked like someone had cut off his nose.

 

Despite holding a large knife, the noseless man quickly stumbled away from the woman and began backing away with his hands raised. “No hurt! Yours! I leave!” He then turned and ran off into the trees.

 

Revolted by the man’s face and with the memory of being stabbed still fresh in my mind, I felt no desire to chase after him. I was confident that his distinctive features would make it easy for the police to catch him after I gave them a general description.

 

“***** ******,” the young woman stammered in a language I don’t understand, her distressed shoulder-length blonde hair obscuring most of her face. Perhaps she was a backpacker or tourist that the man kidnapped. However, the boiled leather armour and sword hanging from her hips made me reconsider. I was aware that LARPING and Cosplay were a thing and seemed to make more sense. A fake sword wouldn’t have done much good, so calling for help had clearly been the way to go.

 

Suddenly quite embarrassed again, I cupped my hands over my shame and tried my best not to look at her. My mother raised me to be respectful, and flashing my privates in public was anything but that.

 

However, hearing the sound of a knife being drawn quickly caused my chivalry to evaporate. Glancing back towards the blonde, I was surprised to see that she had drawn her sword and was now pointing in my direction. The sword did not look as I had expected it to and seemed quite real.

 

Raising one hand and doing my best to not look at her exposed chest while still keeping an eye on that sword, I slowly backed away. “I-I d-don’t mean you any harm!” I stuttered nervously, “Someone stole my clothes and dumped me out here in the woods! I swear!”

 

When the young woman made no attempts to follow after me, I breathed a deep sigh of relief, “That could have gone really ba-”

 

“******* *******,” The young woman shouted forcefully.

 

I immediately felt an immense pressure inside my head, and words suddenly appeared in front of my eyes,

 

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

 

“The hell is this?!” I groaned.

 

More words suddenly appeared under the first.

 

[(Bond) takes many forms. It is a connection between two or more individuals that bestows benefits upon one or more participants. The most common benefit shared by participants is the (Symbiotic Communication) effect. ]

 

“******* *******!” The young woman repeated again, this time more forcefully.

 

The same original message appeared again in response,

 

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

 

“Did someone install a computer chip in my head or something?” I groaned weakly, fumbling at my temples, trying to find a scar or incision, “Or maybe I am having a mental breakdown?”

 

“******* *******!!” The young woman repeated again anxiously, gripping her sword tighter with a determined look on her face.

 

Was she planning on stabbing me if I refused?! Wait...was she just trying to communicate? Is that what this is all about? Although I thought I was behaving as non-threateningly as possible, she was probably more frightened than I was. If whoever did this to me also did it to her, wouldn't it make sense for her to be so on edge?

 

“******* *******,” The young woman repeated again, a determined and dangerously desperate look in her eyes.

 

“ACCEPT!” I shouted, unwilling to run around the forest with two armed psychos after me.

 

[Bond accepted: Applying Enslaved Status and Effects. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 1): You are able to understand all spoken languages of your master. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 2): Your master understands all your spoken languages. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 3): Disobeying direct commands of your master will require a contest of {Willpower}. Failure will result in pain being administered until the command is obeyed or the command is rescinded. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 4): While following direct commands of your master, bonuses are applied according to your master’s level. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 5): Your master’s brand has been applied to your body and soul.]

 

“Wait...what?!” I demanded, feverishly reading through the wall of text, “This can’t be real?!”

 

“I...can’t believe it actually worked...” The young woman muttered in disbelief.

 

“What is this?! Why did you do this to me?!” I demanded, ”Didn’t I save you from that guy?!” This wasn’t the first time helping someone had turned out badly for me, but I would have thought she would be more grateful.

 

The young woman was taken aback for a moment, but her expression quickly changed from shock to delight, “HAHA! It works, I can understand it now!”

 

“It?” I mumbled numbly, seriously reconsidering if the man from earlier had not perhaps been justified in assaulting this psycho. Turning around to leave, I wanted to get as far away from this crazy woman as fast as possible.

 

“Hey!” The young woman snapped suddenly, “Where do you think you are going, Ogre?!”

 

I stiffened immediately. “OGRE?!”

 

Because of my pasty skin and large but heavy build, this was the hurtful nickname I had been saddled with since primary school.

 

Snapping off a nearby tree branch to serve as an improvised weapon, I rounded on the woman and glared angrily at her. I had no intention of striking her, but there was no way in hell I would just let her stab me either.

 

“What did you call me?!” I demanded angrily.

 

The young woman took a couple of steps backwards and nearly fell over into a nearby bush. “Ah, an Ogre?” She replied with a confused expression on her face.

 

Misjudging my own strength, the tree branch snapped in my hand.

 

“That is what you are, right?” She continued hurriedly, “An Ogre, that’s what the status screen says.”

 

“Status screen?” I snorted incredulously. “What are...” The words caught in my throat as large blue panels obscured my vision.

 

[Tim - Ogre Runt: 1 ] [HP: 45/45 ] [MP: 0/0 ]

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

[Strength: 15* ]

[Agility: 8 ]

[Toughness: 20* ]

[Intelligence: 10 ]

[Willpower: 15 ]

[Presence: 3 ]

 

[(Racial Ability: Thick Hide {Rank 0}): You have an abnormally thick hide that will shrug off minor damage. {Toughness} increases the level of damage resistance. ]

[(Racial Ability: Brute Strength {Rank 0}): You deal more damage with {Primitive} and {Heavy} weapons. {Strength} increases the amount of bonus damage. ]

[(Racial Ability: Iron Gut {Rank 0}): Consuming food accelerates {Healing}. {Toughness} increases the rate of digestion. ]

 

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 1): You are able to understand all spoken languages of your master. ]

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 2): Your master understands all of your spoken languages. ]

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 3): Disobeying direct commands of your master will require a contest of (Willpower). Degree of failure will result in pain being administered until the command is obeyed or the command is rescinded. ]

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 4): While following direct commands of your master, bonuses are applied according to your master’s level .]

[(Enslaved Status Effect: 5): Your master’s brand has been applied to your body and soul. Resistance is futile. ]

 

“What the hell?...” I groaned in despair. Although I didn’t want to believe it, this all seemed eerily familiar to those light novels and anime I had read in my spare time.

 

A chill ran down my spine as I realised that the man from earlier was probably a bloodthirsty monster, and I had confronted it stark naked and barehanded. Without even a weapon to defend myself with, I winced as I realised how badly the situation could have become.

 

The tree branch slipped through my numb fingers and by my legs buckled beneath me. Falling hard to the ground, I desperately clutched at my head and began rocking back and forth. “This can’t be happening!” I demanded, “I wanna go home!” Tears were stinging at the corners of my eyes.

 

“Emelia!” Another woman cried out from somewhere nearby, “Emelia!”

 

“I am over here!” The young blonde-haired woman, apparently named Emilia, called out in reply.

 

Less than a half minute later, two people dressed in similar cosplay outfits entered the clearing with weapons drawn.

 

The first was another young woman in steel armour and wielding a two-handed sword. The second looked slightly older than Emilia and wore an open sleeveless robe cinched at her waist with some sort of leather armour beneath it.

 

“OI! Did that monster do this!” The woman with the two-handed sword demanded, edging closer to me and raising her sword to strike.

 

“Wait!” The second woman cried and grabbed the first woman’s arm, “It has her mark, see?” She said with a scolding tone and pointed towards my head.

 

“Clarice! Nadine!” Emelia cried in relief, “When we got separated, I thought I was a goner for sure!” She sheathed her sword and began retying her shirt and affixing her leather breastplate.

 

The first woman snorted irritably, “I told you not to go running after that Goblin! But you went and did it anyway, didn’t you!?”

 

Emelia flushed with embarrassment, “W-well, I am a Monster Tamer after all! Without a monster, I can’t really do much!”

 

“HRMPH!” The first woman snorted angrily, “That’s still no excuse!”

 

“Ah, but didn’t it all work out, Clarice?” Emelia replied hesitantly, “I did manage to tame an Ogre after all.”

 

The first woman, Clarice, was taken aback for a moment, “An Ogre?!” She cried incredulously, “I thought it was just a big pale Orc!”

 

The second woman moved closer to me to take a better look, “Oh!” She exclaimed in surprise, “Emelia is right! This is an Ogre, albeit a small one.”

 

“The stats say it’s an Ogre Runt,” Emelia explained, “That’s like the lowest evolution tier of Ogres, right?”

 

The second woman nodded, “But why is it curled up like that?” She asked curiously.

 

“Ah...” Emelia bashfully rubbed the back of her head, “I think it was having an identity crisis or something. It didn’t seem to like it when I called it an Ogre.”

 

“Really?!” The two other women exclaimed in surprise.

 

Clarice suddenly lowered her sword, “Hey! Emelia! Does it have a name?” She demanded eagerly.

 

Emelia was quiet for a moment before replying, “IT DOES!” She exclaimed excitedly, “I didn’t just tame an Ogre! I tamed a specially named Ogre!” She declared triumphantly.

 

I couldn’t help but flinch every time they said the word. The decade of social isolation and humiliation associated with the word was too much.

 

“Ah, Emelia, Clarice, perhaps you should stop using that word?” The second woman suggested softly, “It doesn’t seem to like it.”

 

Clarice snorted in contempt, “The monster is already tamed. Why does it matter what we say?” She demanded.

 

The second woman gently cleared her throat, “Ahem. It matters, Clarice, because Emelia was already insanely lucky to tame it in the first place. Toying with its emotions is not only cruel but also incredibly unwise. Given her low level, it is quite possible that it could break free if given sufficient motivation to do so.”

 

Emelia paled, and Clarice took a step back.

 

“Eh, that’s not true, right? Nadine is just joking, yeah?” Clarice asked Emelia.

 

Emelia gulped hard and shifted uncomfortably, “I think the trainer at the Guild did say something about that,” she admitted nervously.

 

Clarice backed further away and raised her sword again, “Maybe we should just kill it for the Exp?” She suggested shakily.

 

The second woman, Nadine, unexpectedly stepped between myself and Clarice, “That would be incredibly foolish and shortsighted,” she stated sternly.

 

“Why’s that!” Clarice demanded rudely, “You said it yourself. The thing could turn on us at any moment!”

 

Nadine sighed and shook her head, “I meant that it might break free if you deliberately antagonise it! The same is true of any monster Emelia would be able to tame. Only the most powerful monster tamers can eliminate the possibility of the monster breaking free entirely.”

 

“So we should kill it!” Clarice repeated, moving closer.

 

What was with this woman and wanting to kill me? What the hell had I done to her?!

 

“No!” Nadine stated coldly, “We should not!” She glared frigidly at Clarice as she began speaking again, “Realistically, the best we could have hoped for Emelia to capture is a wounded Goblin. Goblins have very limited combat ability and stunted evolution potential. So even assuming that the Goblin manages to survive a single outing in the Labyrinth, it would not be worth funnelling a single mana core towards its development.” Nadine suddenly shifted her focus from Clarice to me instead, “Now this monster, on the other hand, has high combat potential and a multitude of powerful evolutionary paths available. Quite frankly, it would not be unrealistic to assume that it is already considerably stronger on its own than we are as a group. Imagine how easy it would be to farm experience, mana cores and magic items with this powerhouse leading the charge!” She declared zealously.

 

“We should do it!” Emelia agreed eagerly, “So long as we are all in the same party as my monster, we can just leech Exp shamelessly!”

 

“Eh! You too, Emelia?!” Clarice demanded.

 

“Of course!” Emelia rubbed her hands together in a shameless display of greed, “This is why I chose the Monster Tamer class after all! Hard work is for suckers!” She laughed childishly.

 

“Don’t work hard, work smart!” Nadine agreed and laughed along with her.

 

Clarice slumped her shoulders in defeat and let out a deep sigh, “Why did I even agree to make a party with you two?” She muttered in exasperation.

 

I had heard everything, of course, but frankly, I wasn’t paying much attention. My existential crisis made that sort of thing difficult. Near as I could tell, I was either in a hospital bed hallucinating a fever dream nightmare, or I actually died and was being punished for some reason. Neither option seemed particularly appealing, yet I had no evidence to dismiss them as possibilities.

 

“It has a name, right? So what do we call it?” Clarice demanded brusquely.

 

“Oh, let me check my status again,” Emelia replied eagerly, her eyes moving side to side as she read something no one else could see. “Ah, here it is, wait, what?! Tim?!” Emelia snorted in surprise, “Eh! Isn’t that strange?!” Emelia demanded, “Why did the Labyrinth name an Ogre Tim?! That’s not monstery at all!”

 

“Tim?!” Clarice snickered incredulously, apparently just as surprised as Emelia.

 

Nadine simply stroked her chin thoughtfully before nodding, “I suppose that makes a sort of sense, given its behaviour,” she said.

 

Emelia and Clarice stared incredulously at Nadine and waited for her explanation.

 

‘Well, it is behaving rather strangely, isn’t it?” Nadine pointed out, “Perhaps the Labyrinth made a mistake? Maybe it tried to spawn two different monsters and crossed them over somehow? It has happened before. Remember the stories about those chimeric creatures on the higher tier floors?”

 

Emelia and Clarice nodded.

 

“If Tim is a mixed-up monster, that could explain the weird behaviour from earlier,” Emelia muttered.

 

“Weird behaviour?” Nadine asked curiously.

 

Emelia stiffened slightly, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, “Ah, well, after I lost track of the Goblin-”

 

“Of course,” Clarice interjected with a derisive snort.

 

“-I was ambushed by an Orc with a knife!” Emelia growled, glowering at Clarice, “I think it's the boss monster for the floor! Ah, but anyway, Tim shows up out of nowhere, roars at the Orc and makes it run off! So I am thinking that this Og-erm, Tim, is going to kill me or have its way with me, but then it growls at me and starts backing off while covering its tackle.”

 

“No way...” Clarice grunted incredulously.

 

“Yeh-huh,” Emelia protested, "It just kept growling and backing off, so I figured, what the heck? And cast my monster taming ability on it. The status prompt said that it was too strong or something, so it had almost no chance of working. But I was panicking, y’know? I thought maybe it was just waiting for me to let my guard down or something, so I used the monster taming ability again, and again and then suddenly, it worked! But then it tried to walk away, and when I called it a..Y’know, it got REALLY mad and started coming at me with that branch,” she pointed at the abandoned branch beside me. “Come to think of it, it seemed to get really upset after accidentally viewing its own status window...”

 

Nadine was quiet for a while before nodding her head, “I think perhaps the Labyrinth crossed over one of its lower floor merchants or quest givers with an Ogre. It would explain the body dysmorphia it is experiencing and the strange name.”

 

“Aww,” Emelia seemed disappointed, “So it isn’t a specially named monster?” She asked dejectedly.

 

“Well, it still might be,” Nadine offered sympathetically, “What are its stats and racial abilities? Can you share the status window so I can take a look?” She asked.

 

Emelia nodded and waved her hands around in the air for a moment, “Done, you should be able to see his stats now.”

 

Nadine nodded, and then her eyes began panning back and forth, “Oh my!” She exclaimed suddenly.

 

‘What?” Emelia and Clarice demanded anxiously.

 

Nadie gulped and took a breath to steady herself, “It’s Intelligence stat is way higher than normal,” she declared excitedly.

 

Emilia stared blankly for a moment and had a confused expression, “But it is only ten though?”

 

Clarice baulked and nearly lost her footing, “W-What?!” She stammered worriedly.

 

“Ten is incredibly high for most dungeon monsters,” Nadine pointed out dryly, “Look at your own status screen Emelia, compare it to your own Intelligence stat,” she insisted.

 

Emelia seemed to do as she was told and a few moments later, she blushed profusely, “Oh...” She murmured.

 

Nadine nodded and smiled, “Most human adults are around nine or ten Intelligence. The more evolved Goblins can have about seven and Orc chieftains cap out at around six or so. Ogres, barring one exceptional late-tier mutation, do not have an intelligence higher than three and could be outsmarted by toddlers! To have an Intelligence stat of ten is just ludicrous!”

 

Emelia had an awed expression and was looking at me in a new light.

 

Clarice was less convinced, “So it has human-level Intelligence, big deal. How is that better than extra Strength, Agility or Toughness?” She demanded.

 

Nadine’s right eye twitched, “Because it can understand EVERYTHING we are saying,” she pointed out irritably, “With a monster like this on our side, we can devise and execute elaborate plans and ambushes! It is also that much harder for it to fall for those same actions undertaken by other monsters. To call a mutated Intelligence stat like this top tier would be a disservice!”

 

“Ehhhh,” Clarice still seemed unconvinced.

 

“Consider this then,” Nadine offered, “Tell me, what is your Strength, Toughness and HP.”

 

Clarice was quiet for a moment before cagily replying, “Twelve, eleven and twenty-two...why?”

 

Nadine grinned, “It is stronger than you, much tougher than you, has almost twice your hp, racial bonuses to dealing damage, reducing the amount of damage it takes from potential injuries AND has roughly the same level of Intelligence as you!” She declared viciously, “Now factor in its additional racial ability to allow for fast recovery. How confident are you in keeping up with such a powerhouse? Let alone fighting it.”

 

“Tch!” Clarice looked away and chose not to answer.

 

“So it is really that strong then?” Emelia asked eagerly.

 

Nadine nodded, “Definitely,” her expression grew a little concerned, “But we need to be careful.”

 

“Careful?” Emelia asked, somewhat confused.

 

“It’s as smart as a human, remember. It understands everything we say, everything we have been talking about. We can’t just treat it like any other monster, we need to be careful. If we treat it well, then I am sure Tim will be a great benefit to us, But I am also somewhat concerned about Tim’s body dysmorphia. It might need some training to overcome some mental blocks before we can use it to fight for us. Remember what it was like when you tried attacking your first Vrabbit?” Nadine asked with concern.

 

“So what should we do?” Emelia moved closer and leaned down to take a closer look at me like I was a puppy in a pet store.

 

“We need to talk with it,” Nadine replied matter of factly, “But not here. If that Orc is still around it could be real trouble. We should bring Tim back to basecamp and rent a room.”

 

“Alright,” Emelia agreed eagerly.

 

“Whatever,” Clarice conceded.

 

Nadine knelt down beside me and softly cleared her throat to get my attention, “Ah, Tim is it? We are going to head back to basecamp now. I am sure that you are confused, but it will be safer if we go there first before answering any questions you may have, alright?”

 

I knew that naked and alone, it would probably only be a matter of time before that Orc came back and killed me, so I had to go with them for the time being. Maybe I would be able to find out what the hell was going on.

 

“Okay,” I agreed quietly and awkwardly got to my feet while trying to keep my groin covered.

 

Clarice took another step back and lowered her sword, “Bloody hell...” She exclaimed.

 

I cringed and tried to make myself look shorter. My freakish height had always been a sore point of mine. Considering Clarice was the tallest of the three women at around five and three-quarters feet tall and still didn’t reach my shoulder, it only made me feel more awkward and out of place.

 

“Oh,” Nadine removed her backpack, unstrapped the bedroll from the top and offered it to me, “You must be, erm, cold,” she whispered apologetically.

 

I nodded and fumbled to wrap the bedroll around my waist like a towel. Once I had my crotch covered, I rewrapped the quilted fabric more tightly like a sarong. Although it constricted my movement somewhat, there wasn’t much that could be done about it.

 

I didn’t say anything while following them through the forest. I was too on edge to really think of anything to say and honestly afraid that the noise would attract danger.

 

After a surprisingly short walk, we suddenly left the forest behind and entered a large open plain. There were other groups of people walking around in the distance. Some of them even appeared to be fighting things that were hidden in the grass. All of them were dressed in similar outfits to the three women and openly carried mediaeval weapons.

 

The other groups made a point of coming closer to gawk at me and it made me feel like even more of a freak. I had to cover my ears and stare down at the ground in order to try and ignore them.

 

Before I realised it, we had arrived in what looked like a small town. Thankfully there were fewer people about, presumably because they were all out in the forest and the plains.

 

The buildings looked similar to those I had seen showcased in European historical tourism documentaries. Predominantly made of wood and plaster, some of the buildings were made with layered stones and mortar for the lower levels.

 

The group suddenly stopped in front of a large building with a sign featuring a vicious looking rabbit with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

 

“You two wait out here while I make sure we can get a room,” Nadine suggested and went inside.

 

“Whatever,” Clarice kicked at the dirt road irritably and hooked her thumbs through her sword belt.

 

Less than a minute later, Nadine returned and motioned for them to follow her inside.

 

The inside of the building looked and smelled like the tavern at the ren-fair I had visited once. There were, of course, far fewer smartphones and drunk university students...Well, there were no smartphones anyway.

 

Nadine led them to the stairs, but Clarice hung back, “I’m gonna go find a group to hunt some Vrabbits, so at least today isn’t a complete loss. I’ll catch you guys later this evening.” She said, leaving the inn and heading back the way they had come from.

 

“Alright!” Emelia called out loudly and waved after her light-heartedly.

 

“Vrabbits?” I mumbled. Does she perhaps have a speech impediment?

 

Nadine smiled and nodded while leading them down the hall at the top of the stairs, “Vrabbits are the most common monster on this floor of the Labyrinth. Unlike normal rabbits, they have sharp teeth and like to drink blood like a vampire.”

 

My insides squirmed as I recalled our otherwise quiet walk through the open plains outside of the small town. There were such vicious little rodents hiding in the grass? What would have happened if I was attacked? I don’t even have anything to defend myself with!

 

Perhaps noticing my sudden distress, Nadine smiled reassuringly, “Ah, it’s alright. Your racial ability would stop such a weak monster from being able to deal any damage to you,” she stated confidently.

 

After stopping at the door halfway down the hall, Nadine withdrew a key from her pocket, unlocked the door and motioned for them to follow her.

 

The room beyond was somewhat small for me, my head was close to grazing the slanted ceiling near the window. Sitting down on the bed, I anxiously wondered if I would be able to get any real clothes. After all, I didn’t have my wallet or anything besides the padded fabric wrapped around my waist, and that wasn’t even mine.

 

Nadine politely cleared her throat to get my attention, “You must be confused and have all manner of questions for us," she prompted, “We will answer them if we can. Just please understand that if we can't answer something, it is probably because we ourselves don’t know the answer. Okay?” Nadine smiled warmly and brushed her hand over my shoulder before retreating a short distance and sitting on a chair that had been by the window.

 

Emelia nodded enthusiastically and took a seat on the floor.

 

Scrunching my brow, it only took half a second to realise which answer I needed most, “Where am I?”

 

Nadine nodded understandingly, “We are currently on the first floor of the Hurst Labyrinth. Specifically the basecamp of the first floor, a safe zone where monsters are unable to enter barring extenuating circumstances.”

 

The answer only raised more questions, “This Labyrinth, which country is it in?” I asked, desperately trying to get some sort of grip on the situation.

 

“The entrance to the Hurst Labyrinth is located within the city of Hurst, so named for the Labyrinth and the wealth it brings. The country is the kingdom of Asrus, so named after the royal family. Is this what you wanted to know? Or did you intend something else?”

 

I just groaned and shook my head, “What is this status-” I was interrupted by the wall of text blocking my vision and I jumped backwards on the bed with a start.

 

Nadine nodded sympathetically, “I am sure it must seem quite alarming. I would suggest this simple trick to avoid further distress. Instead of saying status,” she very deliberately blinked immediately after saying the word herself, “Try saying stat screen or information pane. Most people should know what you are talking about and it will not inconvenience you by summoning your information. If you do say it accidentally, status, you can simply blink to dismiss it again like so,” Nadine blinked again by means of demonstration.

 

“S-status,” I stammered, gritting my teeth as the wall of information suddenly appeared in front of me. Squeezing my eyes shut for a good few seconds, I slowly opened them and was relieved to find that my vision had returned back to normal.

 

“You were asking what the stat screen is,” Nadine continued after waiting to make sure I was listening again. “At its most fundamental level, the stat screen has all of your personal development and characteristics regarding class progression and racial abilities. It also shows you various positive and negative conditions, such as poisoning or the beneficial effects of a spell. For you Tim, the most important parts to pay attention to will be your statistics, such as Strength and Toughness, as well as your health points or HP, and your Mana Points, or MP.”

 

“Why?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

 

Nadine smiles sympathetically, “Your maximum MP value is an indicator of your progress towards evolution. You can increase your maximum MP by consuming magic stones from monsters. Strength determines how much damage you can deal in combat and Toughness reduces the damage you take while also improving your endurance and increasing your HP. Also, If your HP reaches zero, you fall unconscious. If it reaches a negative value equal to your Toughness stat, you die. So to have a toughness as high as yours is incredible.”

 

I felt like someone just dumped ice water over my back and shivered. I could tell that she wasn’t lying to me, not knowingly anyway. So being told that these abstract numbers literally dictated whether I lived or died was terrifying.

 

“Ah, I think I may have been a little too heavy-handed,” Nadine said remorsefully.

 

“It’s okay, I got this,” Emelia chimed in, “Hey, so Tim, you’re probably freaking out right?” She didn’t wait for an answer and just ploughed ahead, “Compared to the rest of us, your HP and toughness are huge! You really don’t have to worry about it so much. Besides, I bet your racial Evolutions increase your Toughness as well, so you're basically a bulwark even without any of the Classes!” Emelia exclaimed excitedly.

 

Nadine placed a steady hand on Emelia’s shoulder and gave her a mildly exasperated look before turning her attention back to me again. “Emelia is mostly correct, although I am sure that some of what she said lacks the context for you to understand properly,” she stated apologetically, “Your racial advantages does indeed make your survival far more likely than our own in the Labyrinth. That is part of what we wanted to talk to you about.”

 

I couldn’t help but shake my head. Recalling what they had spoken about earlier, it was clear that they wanted me to fight for them. “I can’t do it! I have never even hurt a fly!” I protested before they could even ask.

 

“Huh?!” Emelia exclaimed incredulously.

 

Nadine, on the other hand, was much more composed, “It’s alright, we will teach you,” she replied in a tone that made it clear she understood what I meant and disregarded it. “As Emelia’s tamed monster, we could force you to fight. However, I think it would be much better for all of us if we could instead come to an agreement without resorting to such crude methods.”

 

Basically, she was telling me I could fight for them and get a few perks, or fight for them as a slave. The choice was obvious, but it was still ultimately no choice at all. The status screen said it all, I was already their Slave. “Fine, I’ll do it,” I groaned, burying my face in my hands and fighting back tears.

 

“It’s not as bad as all that,” Nadine said reassuringly, “It is difficult for most people when they first start out. But it is also something everyone just gets used to over time. Besides, I meant what I said, is there anything, in particular, you want in exchange for fighting on our behalf? Assuming that food, shelter and clothing are already a given, of course.”

 

I just sat there for a while and couldn’t really think of anything. If this really was another world, I sort of knew what I should ask for, but I wasn't sure they would accept it. “Money of my own to buy things with?” I asked dubiously, expecting an immediate rejection.

 

Emelia frowned and crossed her arms, but Nadine just smiled.

 

“Although I am sure Clarice will object at first,” Nadine admitted with a wry smile, “I have no doubt that once we have addressed your mental block regarding violence, you will more than adequately offset your share in coin. Coin is actually a good choice from our end as well, given that you would share in our own motivation for pressing deeper into the Labyrinth.”

 

Emelia seemed mollified and had an understanding expression on her face, “Hey that’s right! It basically makes Tim one of us!”

 

Nadine nodded, “If somewhat stronger and tougher, indeed. With Tim at our side, our survivability just got a whole lot higher.”

 

After their little chat, Nadine and Emelia took me back outside and to another building. Walking inside, it appeared to be a tailor's shop. There were piles of neatly folded clothes of varying colours and styles, many of which I only vaguely recognised from television and movies.

 

Rather than looking at the clothes on display, Nadine approached the woman behind the counter directly.

 

“Good afternoon customer!” The middle-aged woman greeted them warmly.

 

“I want a Niffleweed tunic, pair of pants and underwear as well as a Bristleboar hide belt and apron for my companion,” Nadine politely demanded while pointing at me.

 

“Of course,” the woman agreed and a few moments later, a neat pile of clothes appeared on the counter. “That will be one silver and five copper coins please.”

 

Nadine removed the small pile of coins from a leather pouch at her belt and deposited them on the counter before taking the pile of clothes. She handed me the pile of clothes with a somewhat sympathetic look on her face, “We don’t have enough spare coin at the moment to buy you armour, but your racial ability and natural toughness are already far better than anything we could buy on this level of the Labyrinth anyway.”

 

There wasn’t really anything I could do about it, so I just accepted the clothes and nodded. Better to have the leather apron than not. If it was made of boarhide, I figured it had to give at least some protection.

 

The next store we entered had walls crammed full of all sorts of mediaeval weapons, although I honestly didn’t recognize many beyond the staples of modern cinema, such as the longsword, various bows and crossbows.

 

Nadine proved me wrong a few moments later when she retrieved a thick knobbled tree branch from a nearby barrel. It was obviously intended to be a crude cudgel or club. Similar to a larger thicker baseball bat, I was under no delusions as to why she chose it. A club was easy to use, required little skill and was very likely incredibly cheap.

 

Placing the club on the counter, Nadine smiled and addressed the shopkeeper, “Just this please.”

 

The shopkeep smiled and nodded, “One copper, please.”

 

I didn’t feel great about guessing correctly. A part of me had hoped that perhaps the club would have special properties or something. But since the club only cost one copper coin, I now doubted such a thing was possible.

 

Depositing the copper coin on the counter, Nadine withdrew the club and handed it to me with another apologetic smile. “I am sorry, but until we earn more coin, this ironwood club is the best weapon I can justifiably afford. Until we have a bit of a cushion, I don’t want to risk you breaking something we can’t replace,” she explained.

 

I sighed and nodded. I could understand where she was coming from. I wouldn’t want to spend a whole lot of money on someone with dubious combat ability like myself either.

 

After leaving the weapon shop, we returned to the inn and Emelia and Nadine left me alone to change into my new clothes.

 

Surprisingly, they were a good fit! Arguably the best fitting clothes I had ever worn in my entire life. Even the underwear, a pair of linen boxers with a drawstring cord to hold them in place, fit as if the tailor had made them just for me. Although the tunic was quite large and baggy, it seemed more like a style preference than a fitting issue, so I let it slide. Honestly, it just felt so much better to be wearing underwear again. Particularly with the prospect of sharp-fanged rodents hiding in the grass.

 

Tying the boarhide apron over my front, I actually felt somewhat reassured by how tough it felt. If I could get boots and gloves made of the same material, I would feel a whole lot better about setting foot in the open plains again. With that thought in mind, I opened the door and rejoined Emelia and Nadine.

 

“You’re looking much better already,” Nadine remarked cheerfully.

 

“He sort of looks like a blacksmith,” Emelia giggled.

 

I did my best to smile. “Uh, but I don’t have anything to wear on my feet? And wouldn't gloves be a good idea if I am hunting rabbits with so many teeth?” I asked hopefully.

 

Nadine sighed and shook her head, “I’m sorry, but we just don’t have the coin for it at the moment. I can promise that we will make it a priority, but you honestly won’t need them fighting Vrabbits. Your Racial Ability to reduce damage taken is a little overpowered against such weak enemies. You more than likely will not even take any damage fighting them at all. Even if they bite your fingers and toes, their teeth shouldn’t be able to break your thick hide.”

 

I nodded, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and more than a little worried. So far as I was aware, most of what she was saying was pure guesswork.

 

“I am not expecting much, but we should try and find Clarice so we can work on your ability to fight monsters,” Nadine suggested.

 

Emelia eagerly agreed, “Yeah, let’s do that! Everyone was so jealous when they saw my monster earlier!”

 

Nadine frowned slightly, “Emelia, try not to antagonise anyone. We don’t want any trouble and Clarice causes enough problems as it is.”

 

“I know, I know,” Emelia smirked and waved her hand dismissively.

 

Hearing the brief exchange between the two of them, I had a bad feeling. But I didn’t really have much of a choice but to follow them. Until I had sufficient savings of my own and a better understanding of what was going on, I was dependent on them for my survival.

 

Leaving the small town again, we began wandering around the plains.

 

“You don’t have to worry about encountering Vrabbits just yet,” Nadine said reassuringly, “They are mostly drawn to the smell of blood and with so many adventurers active at the moment, they will be drawn towards them instead.”

 

I sighed in relief, feeling a little better. However, a short while afterwards, I became quite anxious again as I realised something. If they are drawn to blood, wouldn’t that mean after fighting even just one Vrabbit, you would then be attacked by greater numbers of them over time?

 

Emelia suddenly began waving and calling out loudly, “Claaarice! Hey! We're here to help!”

 

Looking in the direction Emelia was waving, I quickly recognised Clarice by her armour. However, her chest and arms were spattered with fresh and drying blood, giving her the appearance of a b-grade horror movie villain.

 

Without even turning to face us, Clarice waved one arm to show she had heard Emelia while swinging her sword with the other. There was a hair-raising shriek and a fresh spatter of blood on Clarice’s armour.

 

Nadine and Emelia already both had their smaller swords drawn and were cautiously making their way toward Clarice. Not wanting to be left alone with the vicious rodents around, I quickly followed after them.

 

“I...didn’t...think...you...were...coming...out...today?” Clarice panted, evidently more tired than she first appeared. There were a dozen bloody rabbit bodies scattered in the grass around her though, so perhaps that was to be expected.

 

Nadine nodded, “Tim is proving more cooperative than I expected. But weren’t you going to join one of the other groups? Fighting Vrabbits on your own is dangerous, even for a Swordsman like you.”

 

Clarice nodded and growled slightly in annoyance, “It’s that bitch Jacky again. Apparently, no one wants to group up with me after that stunt she pulled last time. How was I to know she would do something crazy like that?!”

 

Emelia, who was watching the grass around them, sighed and shook her head, “She is messed up in the head alright. What kind of psycho dumps a bucket of blood on someone for bait?!”

 

“I hear Thomas retired after that incident, not that I blame him,” Nadine winced and shook her head, “Just because a Bard doesn’t have much combat potential at these low levels, it doesn’t mean you should treat them like they are expendable.”

 

I listened to their conversation with mounting dread and horror. From what I could tell, this Jacky person was bad news. My opinion of these three women rose dramatically in comparison as I realised things could be far worse.

*****

Toofy slowly crept her way through the Orcs' camp, dashing from cover to cover as the opportunities presented themselves.

 

The four Orcs had managed to ambush a group of humans and were now pawing through their belongings. The armour would be too small for them, but it was also unfortunately too large for Toofy. However, Toofy wasn’t interested in the humans' armour, she wanted the shinies from the pouches they kept on their belts.

 

The Orcs spent a while longer stripping the bodies and making a pile of gathered equipment before starting a fire to cook their food.

 

Reminding her stomach that she already had food back in her hiding place, Toofy settled in to wait for her opportunity to pilfer the shinies from the pile of equipment.

 

Knowing she had precious little time to make it back to her hiding place before the biters began their nightly prowling for food, Toofy cautiously left the cover of the bush. Creeping as silently as she could manage, Toofy made her way towards the discarded pile of human equipment.

 

Quietly rifling through the contents, Toofy grinned as she uncovered a pouch of shinies. Suppressing a squeal of delight, Toofy began hurriedly looking for more.

 

Toofy’s ears twitched in reaction to the sudden silence and she leapt ahead and to her right, scattering the pile of equipment in her haste.

 

*Whump*

 

Toofy felt the ground shudder behind her but refused to look back, already certain that one of the Orcs had just attempted to surprise her.

 

Sprinting as fast as her legs could manage, Toofy ducked and darted through the underbrush to break their line of sight from her pursuer. Repeating this strategy several times in rapid succession, Toofy slowed her pace and began cautiously making her way back to her hiding hole.

 

Cries of anger and alarm had begun echoing through the forest, signalling that the biters had begun their nightly hunt early. Usually preoccupied with hunting the humans, Toofy figured that the Orcs' ambush must have scared the other humans enough to make them run away behind their walls earlier than usual.

 

With no humans to hunt, and with nighttime quickly approaching, the biters would soon be entering the forest in greater numbers.

 

With the nicks in her ears and scars on her arms to serve as a reminder of the last time she didn’t make it back to her hiding hole in time, Toofy decided to redouble her speed.

 

Hearing movement up ahead, Toofy dove into a nearby bush and remained completely still.

 

Three humans with bloodied equipment but who were otherwise uninjured passed through her field of view headed towards the direction of the human encampment.

 

As weak as humans could be, Toofy knew better than to fight any human that hunted in the forest. Unlike the humans in the open field that killed biters, the humans who hunted in the forest could kill Orcs.

 

Only a Goblin, and completely on her own, Toofy felt confident she could lose human hunting packs in the forest. However, she had seen mobs of Goblins cut down in open combat and ambushes often enough to understand that fighting meant death.

 

Carefully holding the pouch of shinies so they wouldn’t give her away, Toofy hunkered down lower to the ground, refusing to move until the humans were gone.