of Gods and Men

Alcor

I looked around, beginning to walk forward into the unknown room. I was silent, as always, and extremely alert. I'd never seen Stephan so badly injured he couldn't walk before- the roguish human always had resisted the pain and put on a mask of confidence- however poor it actually was, and however easily we all saw through it, he still tried. Right now his health was too low for him to even put up a pretense of wanting to continue. Admittedly, he had just had his very soul tampered with by powerful, unknown demonic magic, but still. 

I expected some being to still live in the ancient-looking temple, if all honesty was being used. We slowly explored, even more wary of traps and less likely to sense them. Embarrassingly, it took us a full three days to explore the temple, and finding the pedestal wasn't where we stopped. This dungeon had no traps anywhere, and it was unsettling. 

Despite this, we rested for a few days while healing Stephan. He healed surprisingly quickly, and even managed to get healthier. I've never been jealous of a human's physique, but I'll admit that I'm jealous that he get's more muscle definition every time he almost dies. If I had that same gift, I'd look obscene, and he likely will eventually as well. 

I looked at the pedestal on the fourth day, when Stephan could walk on his own and even spar again. I chose to consider what was happening and why Val hadn't put the orb on the pedestal yet. If she didn't want to do the quest, well it was already over. It would be far more easy to simply put the orb in place, than try to continue in a dungeon clearly meant for adventurers as high a level as us- even if we each averaged twenty or so. 

No, it was more likely we were still finishing the quest. Instead, she must have some reason for keeping it. But what could we gain from still having to fight the monsters in this place? Honestly, we ourselves wouldn't gain anything. It might weaken the dungeon slightly, but except for knowledge, we wouldn't gain anything. Actually... I paused, considering that. 

If we became immune to monster attacks, we couldn't fight the demons and gauge their strength. That would mean bringing incomplete information to the guild and less pay- plus less experience points for us. Those in conjunction would be painful. Even if we got our hands on the dungeons beginning artifacts. So she would keep the orb, threaten it if we were overwhelmed, then complete the quest later. 

Satisfied I'd figured it out, I relaxed and began trying to figure out why Stephan had healed so fast. I'd never heard of healing like that without magic being involved before, and there shouldn't have been any way for that to happen since we didn't have a cleric around. 

He was infected with demon bits- and they healed quickly- but it was too diluted, and none of the powers from the demon bits had been related to healing. On top of all that, this was an underground dungeon- not a tower. Towers had angelic cores, and those dungeons had territories that healed everyone in general as long as they were being affected. Since there was no tower, that was impossible. 

With no obvious answers, I just kept waiting. On the fifth day, I sighed, following Val and the rest as our team headed out. We walked to the sword path, this time more alert and aware of our surroundings as we prepared for the dungeon to try and kill us. There still weren't any traps, but we found the demons- spaced out, waiting for us, and all of them whole and energetically rearing to go. 

None of the was missing a tail, so Stephan's take-down hadn't actually limited the fighting force much at all. That didn't bode well for us. With the demons unable to surprise us, we managed to kill them as we went up the path- though there were a few close calls when I got distracted by how beautiful Auriel was... the way she completely destroyed all of the demons she fought with a brutal efficiency, struggling as the demons blood splattered across her and singed bits of demonic flesh exploded across and past her with each blast of fire she sent their way... 

Stephan killed a demon about to get me more than once, though the girls were too caught up with their battle frenzy-induced carnage to notice- consciously at least. I didn't doubt that they did notice to some degree. Women always noticed- and in an orc tribe, that either got you a wife who was impressed by your carnal savagery, or one that impressed you by their carnal savagery. 

And Auriel was a glorious battle maiden in the flesh. I at least helped when I wasn't distracted, able to more than make-up for those moments. Which was a lucky thing, because one by one, we killed every demon along the path- and it was a very, very long path. Slowly, after hours of fighting and a very short rest to recover, we entered the actual chamber itself. 

We were sweaty, bloody, exhausted, and most of our stamina and magic was spent. Auriel still wasn't slouching, straight-backed and bright-eyed despite her exhaustion, the blood and sweat covering her, and the burns and ash covering her exposed skin. She was so beautiful...

I glanced around the room, Noting that Val was leaning on Stephan who also wasn't slouching- though his stiff back was out of defiance, demonic magic, and sheer force of adrenaline high- mainly from the feeling he'd get if Val passed out in his arms. Most people know the feeling- that 'oh gods above she's in my arms and I'm in heaven, thank you blessed gods above!' kind of emotional high. 

The demon in front of us though, he was something else. He actually looked more human than most Demons, and he was wearing the most odd and sophisticated clothing we'd seen so far- why the demons weren't naked or trying to seduce us was something none of us understood. 

He smiled, somehow attractive even to my eyes, despite his clothing. I huffed, a bit disgusted by that- though it was a demon, and they could be insanely savage when they tried. It made sense I'd feel some attraction. Auriel was my woman, though- I didn't plan on changing that any time soon. Especially for some demon. 

The demon chuckled, smiling sincerely. "You made it! Me and the master weren't sure you could after the third hour. I'm glad you did though- I was hoping to fight you. You are strong, and worthy fighters. I'll let you level up before we fight though- that way you're at your strongest. Take your time." He smiled, unconcerned by their presence as he went back to... gardening?

A warrior who would garden in the presence of his enemies. He was either a fool, or a greatly, greatly unconcerned champion. Possibly a veteran? Either way, he stopped, sitting down and waving his hand to summon his stat screen. The others stared at him as if he were insane, but were even more shocked when he tapped his screen once and seemed to flash with light before seeming perfectly healthy and rested. His equipment didn't get any better, but that was to be expected. 

You couldn't level up if you had anyone in the area who intended to kill or harm you- a sort of safety mechanism, most people assumed. Humans could ignore this barrier if they tried hard enough, which is why human adventurers were still able to see their stat screens and level up, even when the majority of their race had no idea stat screens even existed. 

That he could level up proved the demons words. We hesitantly did the same as him, blinking in surprise. We'ed leveled up once each, and almost reached a second level up. That was terrifying... how many demons must we have killed each? We all leveled up, and Val stood on her own, Auriel not changing much- they hadn't had many injuries originally, and the level-up only restored stamina and healed wounds. It strengthened the body and purged any toxins as well, which was useful if you had accidentally been poisoned, but left things like ash alone. 

I carefully assigned my stat points, glancing at my stats as I already knew where I wanted them. I was rather proud, since I had such an even spread compared to most orcs- my kind fared better as warriors and barbarians than anything else, though sometimes shaman appeared if they were particularly intelligent. 

Name: Alcor Worldbreaker

Age: 78 (Very young)

Gender: Male (I couldn't tell...)

lvl. 23 Orc Ranger (Who lives in a forest and shoots with a bow?)

Stats: 4 unused points. 

Str. 58 (Surprisingly low for an Orc his age...)

Dex. 55 (Wow... not bad...)

Agl. 55 (Fast orc.)

Cons. 35

Int. 25

Wis. 76 (surprisingly high for an orc his age...)

Char. 25(Appearance) +5(Speaking and persuasive ability) (Oh... rough. Poor guy... the average orc is 35 by his age- minimum. After a certain point each charisma point has a chance of being either related to the appearance, or the social skills. Poor man wants to look good and isn't getting what he wants...)

Luck 65 (decently lucky.)

Fth. 35 (An average score- This connection with his god is likely why he is so fixated on Auriel's savage coldness. )

Skills: Tracking lvl. 25, Ranged Weapons lvl. 85, Small Blades lvl. 20, Observation lvl. 138/150, Magic lvl. 2, Carnal desires lvl. 34/35, etc*...

Abilities: Speak with Animals, Lesser Might, Unrequited savagery.

Speak with Animals: Gained from a dungeon, allows the passive ability to understand all languages used by non-sentient creatures- especially body-language. 

Lesser Might: strength is gained half as easily as a normal member of your species- instead, that strength goes towards increasing your endurance directly, letting you outlast all of your peers, though you will always be weaker than they are. 

Unrequited Savagery: You lack the savage nature needed to be savage. No Orc woman or man will ever love you once they see you fight. You, however, will see and desire the savagery of others in your partner, just as every orc should. 

Mana: 1500/1500

Mp regen: 35.1 per sec.

Stamina: 100%

Orcs receive four points per level in addition to two in strength, as well as one in wisdom- forcing them into certain specializations and limiting their options. Of course, their gods need for savagery and war only adds to that.

I paused, glancing at my sheet again. Looking at the others, they were confused as well. I'd never seen that description next to my stats before... it was like someone was mocking me- and when I realized they were talking about Auriel and my feelings for her, I blushed- an embarrassing feeling and look. It made my cheeks pink, not grey like the rest of me. 

Everyone noticed, and Stephan covered for me again. Thank Azzugrau for that man. He started shouting about how stupid whatever dungeon fairy was messing with his stats was, because ehe clearly wasn't stupid- that was entirely the fairies imagination! I managed to recover myself shortly before Val punched him in the face, shutting him up and making the demon chuckle. We turned back and looked at him in unison, Stephan's nose bleeding- I suspected for more than just one reason. 

"Did... did we forget there was a demon boss here?" Stephan summed up my thoughts perfectly. We stood, getting ready. I quickly assigned my points, adding four to wisdom and closing my stat screen. Everyone else closed theirs as well. It was time to get started, and now was as perfect a time as any. 

We readied our weapons, and the demon smiled at us, setting down his gardening tools and looking hungrily at us. As he approached, we could feel his intent to kill in the air, and the room gained a reddish hue. A demon with a territory... that wasn't good.

"Let's show the master how well this worlds people can fight, shall we?" He grinned, then shot forward so fast only Stephan could react to it. A few slashes later, and Stephan was standing guard in front of Auriel, and had his demonic inheritance out. The demon was a little further back now, a long, deep gash on his arm. 

"So you can keep pace- let's slow this down for the rest, shall we?" He grinned, and then ran forward at a normal run- faster than any human, yes, but easily slow enough to keep my eyes on. I would need to improve my wisdom even more now- I still didn't have good enough senses to keep track of my opponents. 

Finally, as he reached us, I fired an arrow that his tail knocked out of the air- as that happened, Stephan appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back, and Auriel summoned her flames, firing them at the demon without even waiting for Val to finish. She was chanting, which meant a long spell- which meant a powerful spell. And that was a chance. 

We needed to protect her, so I activated rapid fire- and my mana flew into the arrows to add piercing and bludgeoning damage. It wouldn't do much at my low level of that skill, but it was so worth it. He was forced to avoid my arrows while dealing with a rogue human constantly appearing and vanishing, while a pyromancer prayed to her goddess and added bits of holy damage to the fire she was constantly throwing at him. 

We were driving him back, and he was looking more and more angry with every unwilling step- proving that we were the ones doing it. We had fought literally more than one hundred demons to get to this point, and had all been suffering constantly since first entering this dungeon, and I was even praying for the blessing of war from my own god to enhance my arrows, and yet, despite all of that...

I really, really didn't like our odds. 

(Angel)

//Angel entered the time flow of Panharmonica, looking down on her anchor. He really was bad at being a dungeon, but he didn't need to be great right now. She would fix him up when she finally completed her body, she just needed to get the sizes all figured out. She was thinking ridiculously gorgeous; curvaceous in all the right areas. 

Angel 1.0.4. glowed more brightly as Angel had these thoughts, others dimming marginally. They were at it again, their only real source of entertainment. The demon her anchor had created was not having an easy time of it. The adventurers were not going to give up easily. 

Angel had been here for so long, she was ready to get out. But the time just wasn't right.