Getting the loot wasn’t easy. John didn’t know how to haggle for the reduced share that everyone was trying to get at. Good thing he had help from Nek Necktaker’s chief, Szi Headsplit.

The exceptionally tall female gnoll moved with a grace that seemed unlike the rest of her people. Gnolls had a more quirky, twitchy, savage movement to them. They seemed a little crazed to John. Not altogether there. But Szi moved like a ballerina, and she had the figure of one that was crossed with a strong woman that could rip your head from between your shoulders.

“This hero deserves more,” Szi said simply to a gnome aid.

“I’m telling you, this is a fair share for the work done,” said the gnome.

“I said this hero deserves more,” Szi repeated.

The gnome shuffled nervously while under the chieftess piercing gaze.

John looked over to Betsy, who stood idly by. A couple of urmatians were chatting with her excitedly, and she seemed engaged with them.

John imagined she had to do this a lot wherever she went. Thanks to Xanhilt’s case, not many urmatians wanted to get close to his party. Well, except for the gnolls.

“I fought with him side-by-side, and it was amazing!” Nek roared, slapping John’s back. “Every time I swing my axe, John the Brawler killed five shamblers! I’d kill two. He’d kill ten! He fast. He fierce. He brawler!”

The gnoll got so excited telling his experience his use of language deformed to something more chaotic. The gnolls surrounding them giggled, howled, and laughed with a manic energy that was a little nerve-racking.

John was still getting used to the idea that he was sharing the same space with fantasy creatures. Every time he felt Nek’s hand against his back, it was a reminder that Nek was actually real. All of this was real.

Crazy how quick I can adapt to fighting here when it’s still hard to grasp that a hyena-looking guy is real.

Then again, he was still getting over the shock of reaching their destination. This was also the first time he came out of a huge fight without suffering the slump. He was more alive than ever before. He felt so alive it was almost dream-like.

He was connected to his body in a way that felt different. Better. Greater. He felt tougher, stronger, and faster. The attributes weren’t just for show, apparently. They really did feel like they were improving him somehow. Inside. Maybe even outside. It was… magical.

Would I have to be careful with how I handle things?

He could break stuff by accident with his newfound strength. Maybe they had a trick to reduce the risk of accidents somehow. There were many things John had to figure out, and having so many new sights and sapient creatures around him was making him anxious about the learning curve. It was thrilling. But almost too thrilling.

“Hey,” Noname said, her fingers on his arm. It was a soft touch that gave him a slight tingle. “Relax. Looks like other people can take care of things for you.”

“So, what do I do?” John asked.

“Relax,” she repeated.

He took her advice. It helped a lot.

Eventually, Szi came away with five knapsacks of loot. “I made them give you your entire share.”

“The chieftess wins again!” Nek hooted. The other gnolls of Nek’s tribe cheered with him.

Szi seemed annoyed, her tail straightening. “I am not chieftess. I am chieftess daughter.”

“Are all of the defenders young?” Xanhilt asked.

Szi regarded the saurian carefully. “Young or weak. Rank 2 campaign gives urmatians who were raised to fight a chance to grow stronger. Most urmatians are Rank 3. Some are Rank 4. Above that are usually very special urmatians or heroes.”

“Or elves, who have a long time to grow as we please,” said an elf girl that was passing by.

“I wouldn’t rely on an elf for their levels,” said a nearby dwarf. “Most of it comes from frivolous elf things.”

“Like playing the lyre,” said another dwarf.

“Terrible instrument played by terrible players, I’ll say.” The dwarves chuckled.

The elf raised her head, dignified, and went forth to acquire her share of the loot. The gnomes had a monopoly on the loot distribution, and everyone came to them in chaotic lines.

“You look like you have a lot of questions,” Szi said, noticing John’s wandering eyes.

“No more than what’s in Xanhilt’s head, I bet,” John said.

“You would win that bet ten out of ten times, John,” Xanhilt said.

“You are with [Tower Smasher]. I’m sure you will be taught what you must know soon enough.” Szi gestured for a group of gnolls to pick up the loot bags. “My gnolls will deliver them to [Tower Smasher]’s ship. They can go now. But they can also accompany you if that is not your direct destination.”

“We’ll probably have to delay a bit before we get to the ship,” John said.

“And they can delay with us,” Noname said.

“I don’t want my loot to hold them up,” John said.

“They can delay with us,” Noname repeated.

“This one is understanding of the dangers of loot,” Szi said, regarding Noname with something akin to respect. “Yes, my gnolls can deliver right away. But this is a lot of loot. Without hero being near….”

John caught on to what she was trying to say. He glanced at the gnolls who were charged with carrying his loot. It was strange for him to have this high level of assistance. He’d never gotten help like this before. More often than not, he was in the service of other people. His mom made him volunteer a lot in between school and boxing. Mom’s way of living was to serve directly whenever possible.

“You’re important, John,” Noname said. “Let’s enjoy it.”

“Um, yeah, okay.” John nodded. “Thanks, Szi.”

Szi seemed to have a cold and quiet deposition compared to the rest of the gnolls. But for a brief moment, her gnollish side came out with a whopping bark. “It is a pleasure.” Then she went back to being cold and serious.

“Y’all ready to make a move on or what?” Betsy asked.

“We are ready, miss,” Xanhilt said politely. “Hopefully, we’ll find Daniel and Samantha near the gate.”

“Let’s hop to it,” Betsy said.

Leaving behind the battlefield was another point worth considering for John. He wasn’t just leaving the work he’d done. He was leaving behind his week spent out there in the misty forest. A week spent running from one issue to the next and surviving by the skin of his teeth. The transition wasn’t exactly smooth. But at least he didn’t have to suffer the slump.

The wall itself looked intact from the battle. It was thirty feet high. It was wide enough to reach all the way around town until it hit the water. It was mostly made of wood, which might’ve been sourced from the nearby trees hacked down to build the town.

They probably made this hastily, too, from what John could tell. If so, he figured that was kind of impressive. He didn’t know all the details that what went into making fortifications. He just knew a couple of names for them, such as the spiky palisades that worked as shambler blockades. Ditches and moats added more defenses to the walls at certain positions.

There was a bottleneck at the gate. Reveling urmatians were singing and drinking as they paraded into town. The battle camp was getting broken down while merchant stalls were being set up quickly.

John saw gnomes and goblins starting to compete with each other as they hawked out stuff to sell. The goblins were a curious sight for John. He hadn’t seen much in the fighting. Maybe one or two. But so far, they all seemed taken to menial work. A lot of them ran around under the orders of a few gnomes, in fact.

Maybe they work under the gnomes just like the gnolls seemed to be under the elves. However, John could see there was some competition between the two races. Not all of the gnomes and goblins worked together.

“Affordable goblin spirit! We got affordable goblin spirit. Celebrate your victory without spending all of your hard-earned coin!” yelled a goblin girl. Like other goblins, she was three feet high and green-skinned. They were incredibly small creatures with huge, point ears. Most goblins were slim from what John had seen. This one was a curvier goblin, which might mean she sold well enough to eat well.

The goblin noticed him looking and zeroed in on him like an expert saleswoman.

“Wanna try, hero?” she asked with a wink and a smile. “We got a special for heroes. Especially for you, John the Brawler. Good quality, I promise.”

“Tempting,” John said.

“Don’t take to that foul swill,” a male gnome said at a stall across from the goblin. “I got a real drink over here. A fine, Great quality-made drink. Why dump coin on the cheap stuff when you should celebrate in style. A gnome’s brew is the way to go!”

“A gnome’s brew would cost you a leg!” shouted the goblin.

“At least they got another leg to help them come back for more!” the gnome yelled back.

“These creatures are very competitive,” Xanhilt said.

“Wait until Hogball season comes around,” Betsy said, chuckling.

With a Rank 6 Hero leading their party, John didn’t have to wait at the gate for long. Urmatians parted. Other heroes parted. John stared as other humans stared back, surprised to see they were unfamiliar faces. Victor and his cronies must’ve gone ahead already.

John wondered if the other heroes were humans of this world, but when he couldn’t identify these new faces, he knew they were just like him right away. There was a mix of them. Boys and girls of different skin colors, all around his age. Some had weapons. Others didn’t and looked as green as John had when he first woke up in the misty forest. They might’ve been helping out back here instead of fighting.

“You’re crazy, man!” yelled one guy with a giant crossbow on his back. He was on the stairs leading up to the top of the wall. Goblins sat next to the crossbow guy and leered at everyone reentering town.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” the crossbow guy said.

“Maybe when you learn to use that thing on your back, I can stop carrying the team,” John replied.

The crossbow guy shook his head as his goblin companions snickered and gossiped. John didn’t give it much mind. He turned toward the revelry happening right in front of him.

There was a haze in the air. It smelled heavy with roasted meat, herbs, and spices. Brewers pried open their caskets of aged alcohol, infusing the air with more enticing delights. Music filled John’s ears. A joyful ensemble of instruments played an energetic song that made him think of pubs that liked live music. He had only gotten to go as a kid when his parents wanted to eat out and listen to live music on certain nights.

With the sun setting, various lights illuminated the dark. Metal-incased torches hanging from the awnings. Magical orbs of light similar to [Brightlight Orb], but in different hues. John even saw glowing mystical avians circling above a stall run by orcs selling fried fish. He had to touch his jaw to make sure his mouth wasn’t hanging open. This truly felt like he was having that Dorothy moment.

“We’re really in a fantasy made real,” John said.

“Heh heh heh,” Betsy said, stealing glances at him and the others.

John looked from the veteran hero to Xanhilt. The saurian’s mouth was hanging open. Rows of sharp teeth glistened under the various lights as Xanhilt drooled openly.

Ever so carefully, John tapped Xanhilt on the chin.

The saurian shut his mouth. Embarrassed, he glanced down and gave John a quiet “Thanks.”

John nodded, turning his attention to Noname. The look on her face was even more priceless. It was that wide-eyed, child-like expression of wonder that came across as precious to John. Almost cute, even. The only thing ruining this moment was how filthy and wild they looked. Yeah, they desperately needed a shower. A deep scrub. But John saw past the filth that caked their bodies and saw the girl underneath.

He reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. “Could’ve made for a decent story if it wasn’t so Rated R most of the time.”

Noname subdued her expression, turning her face away from him slightly. “It’s because of the Rated R parts that this feels more special.”

“Can’t argue with you there,” he said.

“Look.” Xanhilt pointed off the main dirt road that was occupied by a mob of urmatians. In between two wooden structures, one that looked like a bar… or a tavern… and the other that looked like a decent inn, were the two humans they were looking for. Daniel waved at them while Samantha looked around furtively at the parade of creatures.

Daniel clapped his hand into John’s hand and shook it vigorously. John focused on trying to match Daniel’s strength and found it a little awkward. He had to make his arm limp and his grip weak. That was how it felt. Is there a trick to this, or I should just base it on intuition.

“They’re singing praises of you, John,” Daniel said with a big grin. “In the back of my thinking cap, I was wondering to myself if we damned you by letting you go off on your own. But look at you. A bonafide hero.”

“I don’t think it’s very praised worthy,” Samantha said, glancing away from John rather than meeting his eyes. “All we’re doing is playing into the hands of the people using us.”

“That’s sure enough true, little miss,” Betsy said. She doffed her hat at Daniel and Samantha.

“And you are?” Samantha asked, looking at the veteran hero strangely. Daniel nodded his head respectively back.

Betsy grinned. “You’ll get to know more of me soon, but for now, I’m Betsy.”

“The [Tower Crasher],” one of the loot-carrying gnolls called out.

That only puzzled Samantha and Daniel more.

Meanwhile, Xanhilt and Noname pulled aside the loot that Daniel and Samantha carried for them. They sorted through it, piling coins and magic stones into select pouches to give to Daniel and Samantha.

“Wait now, I don’t remember this being part of the deal,” Daniel said as Noname passed him a few pouches.

“We’re loaded,” Noname said.

“And this is in good faith that we shall continue to be friends in the future,” Xanhilt said. “I would like for us to communicate and collaborate no matter where our journeys take us.”

“And if you need any help, you know who to call,” John said.

Samantha sighed. “You’re a superman, John.”

“Not yet, he is,” Betsy said. “But I can see the potential.”

Again, John had an inkling to say something risque. He turned away from the veteran hero instead and faced the gnolls that were lugging the extra loot.

“Thanks, guys,” John said.

“If heroes need urmatians for adventures, call gnolls,” one of the gnolls said.

John smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“These three are going to hang with me because of some special circumstances,” Betsy told Samantha and Daniel. “But right over here is a decent spot with bedding and separate showers. It’s pricy, though, especially for heroes.”

“Why is that?” Samantha asked.

“I’m assuming it’s because we have an easier time acquiring more loot,” Xanhilt said.

“We don’t just have an easier time. We actually generate more loot,” Betsy explained. “Everything you guys found out there is probably 50% more than what an urmatian would find. We got the favor of the gods, and as sorry as a clod Yoven is, he does good with the loot most of the time.”

“These gods… are they…” Xanhilt hesitated.

“A bunch of fuckups barely keeping it together?” Noname asked.

John pressed his lips into a thin line. Noname said it best.

“... … ….” Betsy turned from Noname to Daniel. “Take care, y’all. We’ll be having a hero meetup in a couple of days. If you have some trouble, find me at my ship.”

“She ignored the question,” Xanhilt said.

“Yup,” Noname said.

“She really has been at this for a while,” John said. “That’s a helluva politician move.”

Betsy led the way back down the busy main road. The gnoll helpers followed. John, Xanhilt, and Noname waved Daniel and Samantha goodnight before continuing the trek to the docks.