A fortress could mean many things, but I was less worried about what kind of fortress they had, than I was about what having a fortress actually meant. These orcs living on the fourth floor were much more organized than I had been hoping for. Furthermore, based on the level notification I'd gotten before, the average orc could take on multiple skeletons at a time. Hell, I'd only gotten lucky enough to kick him where it hurt. Otherwise, I might very well have died.

Regardless of how worried I was, the expeditionary force was already heavily damaged, having lost over half of our original force. We couldn't get into another fight with any orcs, nor could we risk searching for equipment chests on the fourth floor.

Instead of simply abandoning the floor, I chose to send one of the scouts back up to the third floor to report on what's happened. I told him to relay that we would need reinforcements, but not untrained. To remedy that issue, I wanted Lilith to experiment by having some newer skeleton recruits kill some goblins in an attempt to gain levels. It would be doing the same thing that dungeoneers did to grow in strength, but in order to eventually push them out, sacrifices needed to be made.

While those on the third floor would eventually send us help, those that were staying behind would have to survive as long as possible, while also preparing to receive reinforcements. We couldn't build a fortress of our own, but we could at the very least make the orcs suffer for awhile, to pave the way for our own troops.

With the scout leaving to deliver the message, I turned to the remaining eleven skeletons. We were situated inside one of the larger huts at this point, standing in a circle, with two of us watching the door. If I could see an expression on their faces, I'd imagine it was grim. I calmed my emotions, and spoke, my voice heavy. I couldn't tell if it was from determination, or resignation.

"You all know our situation. We can't count on getting reinforcements any time soon, but we also can't simply abandon the fourth floor. Not like this. We can't gather equipment unless we get lucky, or kill for it. Goblins won't provide the kind of weapons and armor we desperately need. We can't fight orcs directly, unless we want to either suffer more casualties, or be wiped out completely." I wouldn't sugarcoat my words for those around me. Our lives down in the dungeon had been brutal and bloody, so attempting to soften my words would only insult everyone, including myself.

"Eventually, reinforcements will come. When they get here, they're going to be expecting a shitshow. They might even be expecting us to all be dead and gone. What needs to happen is the exact opposite. We need territory we can successfully hold. To do that, we're going to have to become stronger. Much stronger. As such, we're going to begin moving as quietly as possible. If we kill, it must be quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood. If they scream, you will abandon their body if you've managed to harm them. If they are unharmed, you must either kill them, or disappear. This is the only way we can grow in strength, and prepare for the arrival of whoever gets sent down to aid us."

I looked around at the others, but none of them asked any questions. A few of them were simply staring at the pile of bones that had been amassed in the center of the hut. We'd taken their equipment off of them, knowing full well that we'd probably end up needing to make use of it. I'd already grabbed a leather strap so I could have my shield on my back, instead of stuck to my upper arm.

"We'll be going after stragglers, and those that are obviously weaker than the rest. While eventually they'll probably catch on, we should be fine so long as the bodies aren't discovered. To that end, we'll need a place to dump the bodies where they won't be found." I looked to the scout, who nodded to me before leaving. "Once this area is found, the body must be brought there every time you kill an orc. This will let us kill more of them over a longer period of time. Before we begin, however... If there's any of you that want to back out and head back to the third floor, step forward now."

I waited roughly thirty seconds. Two skeletons stepped forward, their heads looking down, presumably in shame. One was a member of the E.P.T. while the other was a combatant. Once the thirty seconds were over, I gestured for them to leave. "You're excused. Head back to the third floor, and report the situation to Lilith." The others stared after them as they left, but nobody else followed them. Now we were down to nine skeletons total. Just a little less than a third of our original force.

We probably can't even fight against a single group of orcs at this point. Damn it all.

"For now, those of you that don't already know it will be learning [Stealth] from me. Pay attention, because this can and will save your life." I activated [Stealth] and began showing off generally how it muffled my overall movements, as I'd managed to level it to level two awhile ago, although strangely enough, there was no notification for it. I'd only discovered it during the week where I'd been trying to organize the shield wall formation.

Thank whatever passes for a god or gods in this world that I got a stealth skill.

With everyone paying attention, and with how few skeletons there were to teach, it only took about three hours for all of them to learn [Stealth]. While it might not be particularly powerful in the beginning for them, it might just be the difference between being discovered, and making the kill. To assist them in muffling their footsteps at least, we used what little cloth we could get together from the leftover equipment and wrapped them around our feet. While it wasn't perfect, it did help muffle our footsteps ever so slightly.

From there, anyone who was wearing chain shirts or clinking metal armor discarded it, changing them out for less protective, but also less noisy, leather armor. It was several times more sturdy than what we'd previously had, and it could even stop a blow or two, compared to the previous armor that had been worn. We'd at least managed enough to make the armor switch possible for everyone who remained. Weapons were also exchanged between the living skeletons and the dead ones. An axe became a sword. A spear became a dagger. A club became a cleaver.

I wasn't going to have us chasing after any dungeoneers on the fourth floor. Not only would they be stronger, but none of them would be alone. It would simply be suicide to attack even a single one right now. So for the fourth floor, we would be hunting exclusively orcs until more skeletons showed up.

Looking at the others, it seemed they were all prepared for what lay ahead. Of course, that's how it seemed. I knew that when it came down to it, they might mess up on their first attempt at sneaking up on an orc. To help negate or at least minimize the chance of that happening, we started training [Stealth] to the best of our abilities. It might not have been a perfect solution, but at this point, I was willing to take anything I could get that might help me pull through this.

We need that equipment. I can't go back to the third floor with nothing to show for it. I refuse to go back with nothing to show for it.

It took another several hours before the scout returned, having found a hole far from both the dungeoneer and the orc fortresses. He couldn't see how far it went down, so I figured that it would be at least deep enough to hold several dozen corpses. It seemed there weren't any orcs in that area either, so it would work well enough as a place to dump the bodies after stripping them of their equipment. We were all subsequently led to that exact area, so that we'd be able to find the hole after going off on our own, or in pairs. We couldn't move as a single unit, since that would attract too much attention. Some of us went off on our own. Others split into groups of two.

I split off from the group on my own, trusting that they'd at least manage to get one or two kills if they were careful. All I needed to do was figure out what made orcs different from each other, so I moved towards where I had seen orcs around previously, hoping to spot a small enough group that I'd be able to see if there was a definitive difference between a novice and an average orc.

I ended up observing a small group of three orcs that were using a hut for shelter. I was hiding between another two in the hopes that I might be able to see something that could serve as an identifying trait the weaker orcs carried. Naturally, this also meant that I had to sit there for quite some time, only managing to see them occasionally grunt a few words to each other, eat what I assumed to be the leg of a dungeoneer, and two of them get into a fist fight which ended when the third intervened and cut off a finger from both orcs, using a small cleaver. Either the pain worked, or both orcs feared the third one enough that they didn't bother attempting to retaliate. He was definitely their boss.

If I was going to kill any of them, I'd have to know exactly what I was up against. I used my axe to start quietly digging a hole for me to hide in, so that I'd be able to observe while simultaneously going unnoticed. In order to kill quickly, quietly, and efficiently, I settled in for the long haul.

I'm not going to die down here. No matter what I have to do. I'm not going to die down here.