[Mind Bastion] was demanding Orrin return to Dey with Ira and Daniel.

Shut up, I’m in charge. I’m not letting these people die.

Orrin felt the logical instance and nagging of his thoughts fall to the back of his mind.

Did I just control the skill?

Orrin didn’t have time to ponder long, as another two Fetid Canines appeared nearby. Orrin didn’t have time to react before one suddenly looked like a porcupine, with arrows sticking out of it at all angles. The other was hit by two axes, a javelin, and half a dozen knives that disappeared a second after lodging into the dog’s flesh.

Howls of pain and anger rent the forest air.

“Orrin, I can help them. You can help them,” Daniel pleaded.

“I’m staying,” Ira had picked up a large branch and was using it as a half crutch-half walking stick to shuffle around. “I’m more help here than in Dey. Give the report kid.”

He tottered away, using his flowing metal trick to cut up another canine that just appeared.

Daniel was still looking at Orrin with fear in his eyes. Fear that Orrin would try to take him back.

“We are going to have a long talk after this,” Orrin said as he pulled Gertrude from his [Dimension Hole] and started casting his max level increase spells on Daniel and himself. “If I survive...”

“What do you mean?” Daniel smiled as he picked up the thick slab of metal. “I’m not going to let anything hurt you?”

“I’m cycling. I have been for a few hours now. This fight is going to cost me a few days throwing up and fever-high if I’m lucky.”

“What? No. Why?” Daniel stopped spinning Gerty and looked aghast at his friend. “Orrin, how much mana have you used?”

“Enough that a little more won’t hurt,” Orrin said and yelled over to Bin. “Big guy, I can make you stronger too, but you might feel sick after. You want it?”

Bin fought with his fists and pulled a gore-covered hand out of a Fetid that had stumbled in by itself. He nodded once.

Orrin cast [Increase Strength] and [Increase Dexterity] at his highest levels on Bin.

He looked into the distance and then took a step forward to punch the side of a tree. He splintered the trunk.

“How many times can you do that?” Sof asked as Bin let out a slow smile.

“As much as needed right now. Which stat do you want?”

“What stats can you do?” Sof responded in kind.

“All of them but Constitution.”

“Will and Intelligence?”

Orrin nodded and cast. Better they survive and kill this thing, then trying to keep my spells secret. Maybe if we all make it through this, I can ask them to keep it quiet. Or get Silas to pull strings.

“Can you do the whole team?” Sof was staring into the distance, checking his own status with buffed stats.

“Yeah, gather them up.”

“Everyone gather, quickly,” Sof demanded and nodded at Orrin.

Orrin let loose as they all approached.

A small part of his logic skill kept him from simply using all four stats on every person. Instead, he pulled up a quick [Identify] on each member of Dragoon team and made judgment calls with only a few questions to clarify. Orrin couldn’t read anything beyond names and class titles on any member of Dragoon team.

Bin

Fury Fist Level 53

Increase Dexterity and Strength.

Sof

Arborist Druid Level 55

Increase Intelligence and Will.

Noah

Pain Drinker Level 49

That sounds absolutely terrible.

“Noah, favorite two stats?”

“Con and Strength,” Noah replied, hefting his tower shield like it weighed only a few pounds.

“Pick something other than Constitution.”

“Dexterity.”

Orrin cast.

Al

Returner Level 42

What the hell? Can he come back over and over? Have we met before?

“Al, same question.”

“Intelligence and Dexterity,” the twin said before throwing a hand axe into the woods. It reappeared in his hand a second later, and he threw it again.

Gracie

Mauler Level 51

Gustaf

Sword Dancer Level 39

Increase Strength and Dexterity for both.

Clifford

Trickshot Level 47

“Clifford?”

“Intelligence and Dexterity, please?”

Maya

Wind Singer Level 44

Ira

Steel Ravager Level 52

Increase Will and Intelligence for both.

“You’ve all got ten to twenty minutes. I’ll try to [Teleport] you out if you get hurt.”

“What kind of build gives that much mana?” Orrin heard Maya whisper to Ira.

“And he already healed me today for a few hundred HP at least,” Ira whispered back.

Sof walked to a nearby tree and stuck half his body into it. “Dragoon team. Let’s thin that bastard’s army.”

Sof disappeared into the tree.

Bin, Noah, and Gracie started running to the northwest with Ira limping behind.

Al and Gustaf headed southwest, with Farah, Clifford, and Maya trailing behind them.

Daniel ran after Ira and picked the man up under his arm. “I’ll carry you until we see something.”

“Shit. Fine.” Ira relented.

Orrin took a look at his [Map] and then headed after Daniel. The team to the south had fewer red dots anyways.

Fighting Fetid Canines in the trees would be difficult, but Orrin wasn’t there to fight. Daniel could get all the XP he wanted, but Orrin just wanted to keep this small family of fighters alive.

Then the first wave hit.

Orrin watched Sof step out of a tree and dance to another. His movements were quick but his arms moved in a slow rhythm, pulling roots out of the ground toward the sky and tree branches down to touch the earth. Every time he appeared, a canine was tripped or grappled.

Noah had grabbed two water skins off his chest and chugged the contents. Orrin smelt the distinct tang of alcohol in the air. When two dogs jumped at the man, he turned his tower shield sideways and batted them both at the same time. A few hundred pounds of moving mass repelled without stopping his run.

Gracie followed behind Noah, crushing skulls with her club. Ira caught any stragglers with his quick moving metal attacks.

Daniel was using [Shooting Star] and [Gravity Strike] with abandon. Orrin saw [Side Steps] activate once or twice as well...until the first Kniferunner appeared.

Just as Brandt had described, the Kniferunner was a spider the size of a small horse. All eight legs ended in sharp, tapered points and Orrin watched one leg rub against a tree and leave a long gash in the bark.

The monster rushed Gracie. Noah stepped in front and held his shield up. He let out a yell and a blue bubble surrounded him.

The Kniferunner changed targets and tried to spear Noah with its long spear-like legs. As Noah slapped the attacks to the side with his shield and even once with his hand, Gracie began raining blows down on the monster’s back.

Bin dropped two dogs he’d caught by the collar. The resulting sound of their heads being struck together was still ringing as he ran to help the shield and club wielders. The giant spider never took its eyes off Noah and his blue halo, even as Bin grabbed a leg and, with a heavy twist, pulled the limb clean off.

Orrin didn’t attack anything with magic, as he tried to reserve using any more mana than he had to. He did take the odd swipe at Fetid Canines, although most were now running at Noah. The blue bubble skill was like Daniel’s aggro skill. Orrin watched as Noah took a few shallow cuts from the Kniferunner that scabbed over quickly. Noah didn’t do much damage, but he was soaking up the attacks while Bin and Gracie removed limbs, crushed in the monster’s carapace, and generally just destroyed it.

The fight lasted only thirty seconds once all three were on it.

Ira and Daniel kept two canines occupied until Daniel slipped through and decapitated one. A quick step and he batted the second into a tree hard enough that the resulting snap of bones pulled Bin’s attention from the dead Kniferunner.

Sof stepped out of a tree a minute later and squatted, taking big breaths of air.

“Sixteen...knives...and sixty canines left,” he announced.

“Any sign of the Fogbinder?” Gracie asked. Her voice was gentle and soft, which was an odd contrast to her actions. She had grabbed a leg of the dead spider and snapped it off, before shoving it into the center mass.

“No, but there’s a small clearing a quarter of a mile north of here. I’ll draw them in and you four do your thing. Knock a few into the trees for me too,” Sof said and put a hand on Bin’s shoulder.

“Careful,” the big man mumbled in a voice low enough to make Darth Vader jealous. Orrin realized he hadn’t talked in front of him either.

“You too,” Sof put his hand on Bin’s cheek and then walked back into a tree.

“Let’s go,” Ira said and started to hobble off. Daniel sighed and picked him up again.

They got to the clearing, which was only large enough for them all to swing their weapons without hitting each other, and waited. Two minutes later, they heard the barking of Fetid Canines and saw the trees moving.

Orrin cast [Ward] on the team, himself, and Daniel but didn’t announce it. They’d figure it out when they didn’t take damage.

Ira stood in the middle of the clearing, with Noah in front of him. Gracie and Bin flanked Noah. Daniel stood guard at the back with Orrin.

Hopefully seeing these guys demolish the monsters so easily gives him some perspective, Orrin hoped to himself.

Fifteen dogs ran into the clearing, frothing and slobbering their poisoned drool as they rushed the targets ahead. Orrin saw a single canine get dragged up into a tree before the fight began.

Noah started his blue shield up again and a full dozen of the monsters tried to bite him as Noah and Gracie waded through with death in their swings and punches. Ira sent out his spells, cutting a foot out from under one and slicing into the neck of another. Daniel darted forward to let Gerty crash down, cleaving one in half for every four the Dragoons took out. The fight was quick with only Gracie taking a scratch to her arm.

“It’s fine,” she pushed Noah back as he tried to look at it. “Somehow, I didn’t even take damage. I must have scratched it on a tree.”

Orrin had watched the dog’s paw come down on her arm just as she smashed it into the ground. It had scratched her, but [Ward] had stopped the damage.

Daniel smiled over his shoulder and nodded at Orrin. “Good job.”

Ira looked between the two. “What? He’s just standing there. I appreciate the spell you cast, but at least try and use that sword.”

“Oh that’s a terrible idea,” Daniel laughed. “He’d probably end up hitting one of us.”

“There’s about sixteen more coming,” Orrin announced. He could see Sof as a small grey dot that disappeared from one spot to pop up at another. The dot darted between the red monsters and then came in a straight line back to the clearing.

Sof fell out of a tree at the edge and ran to the group. “Five more canines, but we’ve got eleven Kniferunners coming our way. Two minutes out.”

Orrin asked, “How many can you comfortably take out?”

“Canines? We could go all day,” Noah slurred his words. “Knives...maybe two if we’re lucky.”

Orrin fumbled his sword and let it fall to the ground, he pulled his bestiary from his [Dimension Hole].

Please be something useful. Please be something useful.

Kniferunners roam the lands beyond the Pass and are found in underground caverns. They grow to enormous sizes for arachnids and subsist on a diet of meat and metal. Their bodies are prized by Alchemists and Weaponsmiths, as they digest the metals to harden their legs into weapons. Kniferunners sharpen these legs into sharp blades, running over enemies, which gives them their name. Five Star (*****)

“Shit,” Orrin murmured. “Sof, are Kniferunners strong or quick?”

“Both. We need either Bin or Gracie to pierce their armor too.”

Orrin turned to Daniel. “I’m going to try and slow them down. Daniel, use your aggro skill on one side of the clearing.”

Orrin glanced over his shoulder to Noah. “Noah, you go over to the other side. Maybe we can make them split up. Bin and Gracie, pick one side each. You both will need to move quickly. Ira and Sof, back them up.”

“What are you planning?” Sof asked.

“I’m going to do what I did to Bin and try making them slow. If it works, great. If not, we’ll have to run.”

Sof shrugged. “It’s a better plan than any I have. If we survive, maybe you can explain just what these skills are. I’m getting a bit jealous.”

“Or maybe we can all just act like I was never here?” Orrin gave Sof a long look and held eye contact. “I would prefer to keep my life quiet and private.”

Sof didn’t answer. He didn’t have time. The sound of a hundred clicking legs echoed through the forest.

The enemy had arrived.