Brandt shook his head. “No way. We can stay here and-“

“Yes,” Daniel interrupted. “I want to take a look at the Pass. How far can you teleport?”

Brandt looked with panic between the two boys.

“Ten miles per jump,” Orrin answered. “But with all three of us, I would need a minute or three between jumps.”

Brandt stood up and started to walk out. “If you really mean to do this, I must report before we go. Lord Catanzano will want to talk before-“

“Brandt, if you leave, we will just go alone,” Daniel teased the knight.

Brandt stopped and turned back. His duties conflicted, he decided to do his best to keep the young [Hero] alive.

“Jude said the pass is about eighty miles long,” Daniel chatted as he retightened his armor. “Do you think we can make it all the way?”

Orrin pulled his armor out of his [Dimension Hole] and started pulling it on. “We have about fiftyish minutes. If I can get three or four [Teleports] off every ten minutes, that’s about fifteen to twenty jumps. We might be able to make it to the end, especially if I keep my Intelligence up.”

Brandt was still floundering.

“We could always just camp out in the woods overnight if we don’t make the full distance,” Daniel joked, giving Orrin a wink at Brandt’s unease.

“Yeah, if we brought Madi along we could-“

“No,” Brandt demanded. “Lady Madeleine will not be coming on this trip.”

Orrin chuckled. It was rare to get Brandt so worked up.

“Alright then, let’s go do some scouting. Maybe we can find this Horde that’s supposed to be coming,” Daniel said as he strapped his old sword to his back. Gertrude was still too big to carry around for daily use yet.

Brandt, Daniel, and Orrin left the house through the side door. Brandt’s neck swiveled as they walked through the house, trying to find Silas. He had no luck.

Once they were outside, Orrin cast [Teleport] on all three of them and directed his thoughts to past the western Wall.

With no sound, the three disappeared.

There was also no sound as they appeared in the tall grass outside the city. Orrin could see the Wall in the distance.

“This isn’t ten miles, O,” Daniel complained.

“Shit,” Orrin sputtered as he realized his mistake. “I can only teleport to a known point. I think this is far out as we went last time.”

Brandt had drawn his sword and was watching the nearby forest. Orrin reacted quickly and pulled up his [Map].

“There’s nothing there, Brandt,” Orrin comforted the man. “I took a look with [Map].”

“There are monsters than can hide from scrying spells,” Brandt said. He didn’t lower his sword but his posture relaxed a little.

“If we can’t teleport to the edge of the Pass, want to try and find some monsters to fight,” Daniel asked, eager to gain some experience.

“That is well outside what I agreed to,” Brandt replied. “We should head back now. Or go to the Untamed Forest.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Orrin admitted.

Daniel had other ideas, though. “Brandt. Hey, Brandt, look at me.”

Brandt turned his eyes off the forest line and looked at Daniel questionably.

“If I share a Quest with you, will you be cool?”

Brandt’s eyes widened in excitement, then narrowed suspiciously. “I won’t betray my House.”

Daniel laughed. “I’m not asking you to do that. I just want you to cut loose a bit. Let’s kill some monsters and have some fun. If there is anything too crazy, Orrin can [Teleport] us away.”

Brandt thought only a moment before giving a curt nod.

Daniel flicked his hand and threw his level twenty quest to Brandt.

“This says the reward is unavailable,” Brandt read aloud.

“Yeah, I’m hoping the system gives you something anyways,” Daniel said and shrugged.

Orrin kept his eyes on his [Map] and set a [Utility Ward] on them all. He followed up with a personal [Ward] on all three of them. As they neared the woods, his MP was almost full again.

I’ve probably got 45 minutes left, he thought. This Regen potion is the best.

Ever since finding out the downside to cycling with [Blood Mana] and [Mind Bastion], Orrin had been bummed. Not being able to use a cheat really grated.

A red dot passed by the edge of his [Map].

“We got something at the northwest,” Orrin said and pointed in the direction. Then, he cast [Camouflage] on himself.

“I hate that spell,” Daniel muttered. “It gives me a headache trying to keep track of you.”

Orrin whispered directions and stayed between the two fighters as they moved in the direction of the red dot. Orrin watched his [Map] until he spotted something different.

“Five red dots surrounding a white dot,” Orrin whispered. “About three or four hundred yards ahead.”

Daniel and Brandt nodded. Orrin recast all his highest level buff spells on each of them, trying to keep his own mana pool at least halfway full.

As they crept closer, Orrin gagged at the sight in front of them.

A body was being pulled apart by large dogs. One arm had already been snapped at the forearm and two of the dogs were tearing into it with their teeth. One dog shook a leg in its mouth, while the fourth kept a tight grip on the neck.

The dog that had led them here was circling the pack.

Orrin used [Identify].

[Fetid Canine] HP 80/80

That poor adventurer, Orrin thought. He wondered if he could get a name to report the death back at the Guild. He cast [Identify] again.

Elliot Joyce

Pathfinder

Level 35

HP 3/130

MP: 0/150

Strength: 14

Constitution: 13

Dexterity: 19

Will: 15

Intelligence: 14

“He’s alive!” Orrin yelled as he cut off [Identify] before the skills and spells started rolling in. He ran past Daniel and Brandt and cast his highest [Heal Small Wounds], which dropped his [Camouflage].

“Orrin. No!” he heard Daniel yelling behind him. But Orrin hadn’t been using [Mind Bastion] for over a week. He hadn’t been able to drown out the dead bodies or stop the dreams of the man in the street bleeding out.

I have to save him, Orrin thought, his emotions overriding every bit of logic.

The dogs gnawing on his extremities let go and sniffed the air, then turned towards Orrin. The latest to join the circle was already running his way.

[Inverse] through [Increase Dexterity] five times, dropped the charging dog’s dexterity. With his Will and Intelligence boosted, the cost was only thirty-five MP for the actual spells and an extra twenty MP for inverse. The dog tripped over its own feet.

Orrin hit it with [Lightstrike] and kept moving. The dog stayed frozen on the ground.

Some small logical part of his brain yelled at him, while another realized his boosted spells had taken away over twenty points of dexterity from that dog.

I don’t have to fight them if they can’t move. Orrin’s grin was feral.

In moments, another three of the dogs were lying on their side, whining. Orrin’s MP was nearing single digit but quickly ticking back up.

The final dog was too close. Orrin’s MP wasn’t high enough to cast the full five inversed dexterity debuffs. He got one off before the Canine jumped.

[Side Steps] activated and the dog sailed past him.

“What the...“ Brandt trailed off as he approached. He swung his sword and took the Canine across the face. Another few quick swings and it was dead.

“Are those dead?”

“I zeroed out their dexterity,” Orrin explained.

Daniel was only a few seconds behind Brandt. He squatted by the first frozen dog. “How long does this last?”

“Should be ten minutes,” Orrin said as he plunged his sword into the head of a Fetid Canine. It died without a sound.

Experience Gained: 100 XP

“Kill them all,” Orrin demanded.

Daniel shook his head. “This is all your experience. We’ll check out the body.”

“He’s alive.” Orrin didn’t argue and stabbed another frozen Canine. “I tossed a heal on him.”

Experience Gained: 100 XP

Daniel and Brandt knelt near the fall man, while Orrin killed another two Canines.

Experience Gained: 200 XP (100 XP x 2)

Level 9 Obtained!

+10 AP

Level 9: 50/900 XP

“Hey, Brandt,” Orrin called out. “How close are you to level twenty?”

Brandt looked up from the unconscious man. Despite Orrin’s healing, the man’s arm was still shattered and his legs were cut up something fierce.

“A few hundred, why?” the knight asked.

“Just wondering if you completed the quest,” Orrin answered. He started walking towards the man they’d saved. “I need to heal him up.”

“Do you have enough mana left?” Daniel asked. “You... you kind of went a little wild there. Are you- Are you okay?”

“I’m not using [Mind Bastion] if that’s what you’re asking.”

Daniel put his hand on Orrin’s shoulder. “No. I’m asking if my friend is okay. You scared me running in like that.”

Orrin shook himself and took a deep breath. “Sorry. I saw him laid out there and just... I lost it.”

“More like found another cheat. I didn’t know you could just take down an army of monsters,” Daniel said as he nudged Orrin and tried to lighten the mood.

“If it weren’t for the potion, I couldn’t have done it. The buffs really start stacking the higher in level I get them,” Orrin put another two heals on the man and then realized his zeroed out mana was probably the reason he was unconscious now.

[Increase Will].

The man’s eyes fluttered and he let out a long groan.

“You’re safe.” Orrin remembered some of his mom’s first aid training. “We took care of your wounds, but you shouldn’t move yet. Stay still while we-“

His eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up.

“Let me up,” the man yelled as Daniel held him down. “I have to get back to Dey. There’s a Horde coming. A Fogbinder is leading a small army of Kniferunners and Fetid Canines.”

“What?” Brandt pushed in closer. “Did you say a Fogbinder?”

The man nodded and tried to push Daniel with his broken arm. He let out a pained gasp.

“You’re still not fully healed,” Orrin tried again. “These wounds are closing up slow and I can’t get your bones to set.”

“Daniel. Orrin. We need to get back to the Wall, now,” Brandt talked over Orrin.

“We just took out those Canines,” Daniel argued. “We’ve got some time. Just let Orrin heal him u-“

“You don’t get it,” Brandt interrupted him again. “You just fought Fetid Canines. They aren’t much on their own, but their bites are slow to heal and can spread necrosis if not healed. A Kniferunner is just a big spider, about the size of a horse. Its legs are sharper than swords and they generally just dash over adventurers, stabbing them multiple times.”

Brandt paused and made sure both were looking at him. “Fogbinder is a type of demon class. It means we need a full Wall response army set up now. One of those could kill every person in Dey.”