Chapter 4: Food and respite

It's been 2 days since Charlie took on the goblin slaying quest together with a party of adventurers. Liam - The human representative of the Adventurer Guide has recommended him to the party, and luckily, the quest was successfully completed without any major injuries. It came to Charlie's attention that that particular goblin nest had grown too quickly from hunting the wild animals from the forest and started to kidnap villagers and steal cattles. That was how the little elf child Elauthin - Eltoar's son, was caught and on the way to being brought back to the cave before Charlie disturbed them. Charlie also found out that typically, goblin slaying quests are poorly paid because most goblin-related quest givers are villagers and farmers. Their cattles stolen, their crops trampled and their wives and children kidnapped, they have to post a quest at the Guild, but their rewards were meager, so most adventurers would ignore them. 

The remains of the two unfortunate merchants were recovered by a merchant and the clerics of the Lathander church and given a proper burial in the village's graveyard. It was the least that the party could do in the situation. Charlie brought flowers to the funeral, which was humble and uneventful, a funeral of two unfortunate merchants that had no connection in the land of strangers. Their tags were recovered by the Merchant Guild and sent back to their homeland in the mountainous region of Ibeirasia.

The first thing Charlie did when he woke up the day after was repaying the remaining 3 gold to the kind General Store proprietress, filling up his quivers and buying a well made pair of cured leather boots for a total of 2 gold, replacing his wrapping cloth. This was a great investment because his foot was in pain the whole time while battling the goblins when he stepped on a sharp pebble. Moreover, all kinds of liquid can seep through the cloth, so his feet were never dry while traveling in the forest.

When the first guard battalion had retreated to their homes with their flickering lanterns, Charlie went to the blacksmith shop near the village gate to ask if they would fix the battered handgun for him. Unfortunately, the blacksmith dwarf and his assistants refused the piece, saying only the inventors, or more formally, artificers know how to operate one and gave Charlie direction to one stationed in the town. "These things do be more complicated than swords and armors, y'know" The blacksmith slapped him in the back with his broad, callous hand "If you eve' need a trusty blade, come to me."

The artificer's abode was an unusual house near the outskirts of the village. The wooden roofs were punctured by multiple metal pipes with cone-shape crowns, which reminded Charlie of chimneys, on the side of the house were large metal containers assembling a pressure tank, with pipes leading into the house. 

The artificer, an old, hairy dwarf, was unhappy when Charlie knocked on his door, rambling and mumbling the whole time before happily accepting the maintenance job when he showed the handgun. Charlie, however, was not allowed inside the place due to the "hazardous materials and dangerous experiments" of the artificer. He was told that the fixing should take about a day, and if he was willing to prepay, the inventor dwarf would craft a pouch of ammunition for him too. It was certainly sketchy, but Charlie still paid up 15 gold for the repair and a pouch of bullets, hoping that the dwarf wouldn't scam him of his weapon and gold. The blacksmith recommended Charlie to that artificer, so at the very least he had insurance of sorts.

With a brand new weapon to look forward to, Charlie went to the Guild, looking for Liam but was informed that the guildmaster had left for the Capital Niliphy for undisclosed business. Disappointed but not discouraged, Charlie asked the receptionist for information.

"Hey Miss receptionist, do you know who can teach me how to use my class magic? You know, spells and all that."

"Ah, for magical spells, you best read up your class' handbook. Here, come with me."

The receptionist smiled brightly. It seemed like she was happy to be of use, or maybe she was bored of her station and wanted a leg stretch.

The second floor of the Guide was restricted to staff and allowed personnel only, guarded by a locked door and an actual human guard. Inside was a large room, bookshelves covered the whole 4 walls and all kinds of trinkets and rare tomes were displayed there. The receptionist confidently navigated through the shelves, pulled out a green leather book and handed it to Charlie.

"Here you go, sir Fogsorrow. Please remain in this room while examining the book and remember to be gentle with the pages. It is very expensive and we both wouldn't want to get into trouble for it." She giggled.

Charlie nodded. He didn't particularly like the sound of his last name. "Fogsorrow" That sounded terrible and edgy and cringe worthy to Charlie, but it was written on his status scroll, so he must get use to it, sooner or later. But why Fogsorrow? Is there any history related to this name? Shaking off the awkward feeling, he brushed off some of the dust on the book cover.

The book was titled "Those who protect the borderlands". And inside was everything he needed to know about his Ranger class. Apparently, all level 2 Rangers can choose to learn two spells, ranging from taming beasts and bonding with them, creating magical fruits or detect poison and disease, to curing wounds and other physical boosting abilities. To learn the spell and to be able to cast it at will, one must practice it with the intent to learn, and long enough, the spell itself will become a natural knowledge and action that Rangers can cast without actively focusing on it.

Charlie liked all the spells he saw, curing wounds or creating food sounded useful, however, food can be bought and healing he can rely on his party members or potions or herbs. He chose a special Ranger spell called Hunter's Mark, which allowed him to focus on a single enemy of his choice. He could reveal weak spots and even predict the target's movement. Another spell he had taken a liking to was the ability to speak with animals, which could prove useful in many situations that he could come up with in a fantasy world full of magical beasts.

Thanking the receptionist for the great help and promising he would repay her despite her fervent refusal, he set off for the forest alone. He wanted to go with a party, but just for practicing spells, he wouldn't want to disturb whatever they were doing. 

Longbow in hand, he slowly retraced the forest path to the battleground where he and his party fought the goblins. The bodies were later collected and burned by the Guild's workers, a standard clean-up protocol to avoid the spawning of monsters such as ghouls, undeads and filth-attracted otyughs, the only indicator of what was left of the fierce battle were blood splatters. Charlie approached the destroyed goblin nest, took a quick glance to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and moved on forward.

The forest was damp, cold and quiet. There were all kinds of mushrooms thriving in the moist environment, moss hanging from trees and different species of plants on the ground. Charlie thought to himself to study up about herbology and how to make herbal medicine, which can definitely help him cut down potion fees. He might be able to sell them to merchants too, a side-hustle or two, paired with an official quest from the Guild will help him amass money. Money is important, after all. He might find some magical items in the future, and from what he's heard from Roselie, low end magical items could cost up to 500 gold.

After several minutes of silently walking, he found some old tracks of a small rodent: half eaten and chewed on acorns and some dried droppings. 

Squirrels.

Charlie's gaze took to the trees above, but it was dark and too foggy to make out any animal. He moved on, noiselessly dashing from tree to tree, from root to root. And not for long, he saw a moving white patch under a berry bush. A rabbit. Its ears were long and droopy, its fur pure white and fluffy. It was nibbling on some purple-ish berries that grew near the ground, unaware of a hunter's gaze upon its back.

Charlie focused, actively tracking every movement of his rodent prey. He felt that he could even hear the rabbit's breath, its teeth gnashing, nomming on the fruity berries. For a moment, he thought he could feel each heartbeat of the rabbit. A faint light emitted from the animal, only visible to the eyes of the Ranger who just successfully casted Hunter's Mark on his prey. Charlie raised his longbow, trying his best to not make any noise. But his arrow betrayed him, the metal tip clinked when he accidentally tapped it on the wooden bow. The rabbit quickly looked back, registered the danger and dashed into the bush and away before Charlie could lock on. But it was no cause for concern for Charlie, for he had successfully casted his tracking spell on the small rodent. His iris glowed faintly, allowing him to see the movement of the rabbit even through bushes and trees and foliage. He quietly crept along the trees, carefully not to reveal himself to his prey.

The forest was quiet. The air was moist and earthy.

The rabbit slowly poked its head out of the small stone, its eyes glistening, observing its environment. It had eaten enough berries for the afternoon, now, it just wanted to go back to its nest and cuddle up for the night. But it was just a rabbit's simple thought, which never came true. The rabbit's ears slightly raised when a hiss caught its attention, its hind legs were on the verge of pouncing before an arrow perfectly severed its spinal cord at its neck. An involuntary twitch or two, absolutely no pain, no suffering, the rabbit was dead.

===

The Guild's restaurant was closed, which also meant the hall itself was less crowded than usual. Words that the head chef was also an adventurer, traveling with the Guild's pioneering expedition to get access to more rare ingredients. So, once in a blue moon, he would close the restaurant and go on an adventure himself to make a meal out of something he probably shouldn't. Charlie heard he used to make a giant clam porridge, cooked in its own shell and served it to the emperor of the Niliphian empire and was rewarded with a platinum cleaver for the meal. 

But this occasion might serve Charlie well. He was a little bit sick of the food of the town already. Meat, bread, hearty stew,... They were nothing to scoff at, but eating those for every meal everyday was a little bit taxing. There were of course fish and vegetables dishes, but the fish was too smelly to Charlie (although people in this world seemed to love that kind of smell) and the vegetables were basic and there were almost no leafy vegetables. The tables in the Guild restaurant were empty, only a few patrons still hanging around and savoring a cup of wine. Charlie spotted Harrison and the gang, nibbling on dry bread expressionlessly.

They seem to be tired. Must have been a tough day.

Charlie asked the bartender if he could borrow the kitchen while the chef was away, with a promise to clean up properly after he was done and got the permission. He headed towards his party and waved.

"Hey guys. How y'all doing?"

"Hey"

"Hi, sir!"

"... I'm hungry."

Elluin sighed dramatically, supporting her chin with both her hands, her portion of bread barely eaten. The elf archer looked like she would rather starve than eat the stale, tasteless bread. Roselie, on the other hand, ate the bread and drank her share of warm milk without any complaint. She must have been used to the frugal lifestyle while she was still a cleric at the church. Harrison, well, cheap grape wine and bread were not the best food, but they were still food.

All in all, the party was in rough shape.

"Why don't you guys eat at the other bars in the village? Head chef went out for a week, I think."

"Well…" Elluin gave Charlie a wry smile "We can only eat on tabs at the Guild's bistro, y'know. We're currently… poor." Her leaf-shaped ears drooped down, reflecting her current mood.

"What did you spend all the reward of the last quest on? 25 gold is kinda hard to spend all in one place… " Charlie frowned "Don't tell me… y'all gamble?"

"Gambling is not allowed by Lady Lathander, sir Charleston. We pooled in 750 gold and bought sir Harrison full-plate."

"Yea, our party has been facing pretty tough quests lately to try to get our ranks up, so a little more protection goes a long way. Elluin is wearing my old mail shirt, the leather armor we sold to get our weapons maintained and enough food to get by."

"In fact" Roselie beamed a bright smile that would melt anyone's heart, using her thumb to push her adventurer tag out "I just got to iron this evening too!"

"Wow, congrats!" Charlie smiled "This call for a party, you know!"

All but Elluin smiled tiredly, which prompted Charlie to exhale and giggled. When he proposed that he would cook for them and raised the ingredient bags up, he could've sworn he saw twinkles and glitters in everyone's eyes, but his vision was quickly blocked by a whole elf who pounced and hugged his head.

"All right all right. Get off of me and go to the kitchen and help me out, will you? Harrison, Roselie, can I ask you two to try and invite the Guild receptionists to join our table when their shift ends? It should end soon."

The Guild receptionists got their meal from the Guild restaurant to save time, as their post was always busy. But without the nearby food, there wasn't enough time for them to go get something to eat in the village. They were probably starving, waiting for their shift to end. Charlie wanted to do something to repay his receptionist for this morning.

Charlie instructed Elluin the elf archer to chop up potatoes, onions and carrots into cubes, which were found in the kitchen. - The head chef probably went in a hurry because he didn't sell or use the rest of the perishables, which will go bad in a week's time. Meanwhile, Charlie cut up the rabbit he hunted - skinned by the butcher for a cheap price of the fur itself - into chunks to use in a broth. He got a fire on the stove, setted a stock pot with water in and dropped in all the root vegetables with the rabbit. Salt, pepper, bulb of garlic and stew herbs from the shelf. When he was satisfied, he closed the lid and started on making noodles.

He figured out no one in the village heard about noodles, so he wanted to make some noodles with soup and maybe a hotpot with plenty of meat and veggies. Flour, salt, eggs, beaten and kneed repeatedly. After allowing the dough to rest, Elluin flatten them with a wine bottle and cut them into long strips and then into shorter pieces with Charlie's instruction. Charlie, in the meantime, sliced the lamb legs he bought from the butcher with the intention of inviting his party to join into thin slices and settled them on a large dish. The bone, marrow and all, were par boiled and rubbed with salt to rid of the smell and went into the broth pot. The prep work was mostly finished.

"Hey Elluin, how come you didn't hunt for food? I would understand that Roselie and Harrison couldn't hunt, but I know for a fact you could."

Charlie asked as he stoked the flame. He was curious about how the new world worked.

"Ah… you might not know this but in Elven culture, we are not allowed to hunt animals or even fishes for our own consumption. We must follow the cycle, only cull their numbers when they overpopulate the forest and breed them when the number is low." 

"Is that so? Well, can you tell Harrison to get a campfire started outside? Remember to set a strong enough stick over to hold up the pot."

And soon, 4 adventurers and 3 Guild receptionists gathered around a cozy campfire just outside the Guild hall's door. Logs and crates for seats, bowls and spoons ready. Charlie knew no one would know how to use chopsticks, so he made a type of short fettuccine pasta that would be easier to spoon with broth and food. The mutton slices went into the broth pot and stirred for a few minutes before being taken out to keep them from being tough to chew, the pasta boiled, distributed evenly together with a generous helping of the broth.

It was rowdy, everyone traveling the road literally stopped on track to see what was going on. The night fell, the food pot empty, 7 people fed to the brim and satisfied. Warm grape wine passed around, adventure stories began to flow. 

"Never knew you could cook something this good, Charleston." Elluin, who might have over eaten greatly, evident by her untightened belt, exhaled satisfactorily "Never knew a human could cook as good as the halfling head chef."

"Sir Charleston, what are the doughy strips called? I've never had it before."

"Yea, they go well with the light broth." 

"What are they? I've never had them either." The receptionist who supervises Charlie also nodded, taking a small drink from her cup. "They're chewy and delicious."

"Back from where I'm from, these are called pasta noodles. There are many types of pasta and noodles, some can be eaten with broth, some with sauce and meatballs. Some are made into stir fry dishes, and some fried until they're crunchy."

A cute, growling sound came from Elluin's stomach, causing the whole party to laugh out loud. Harrison stood up and jokingly punched her in the head.

"You gluttonous elf! Are you even an elf? Aren't you embarrassed? You had four servings already and still wanted more?" He dramatically howled while pulling on her long ear.

Charlie smiled. This is what he wanted back where he came from, back from the old world. Friends gathered around to share food and stories and jokes. But,...

"Sir Charleston?" Roselie smiled, seemingly content with the atmosphere "Would you join our party tomorrow? We took on a borderline silver ranked quest this evening. Any help is appreciated, and you are very … uh…" She suddenly blushed, "...very reliable."

"It's a slaying quest. Orcs. You in?" Harrison said, one hand still holding Elluin's ear up

Charlie smiled.

For now, his main goal should be getting stronger and saving up money to travel to bigger cities to find more knowledge about his sudden transport to this world.

There was no reason to say no.

They're his party. His friends, even. He had known them for 2 days, but everything had to have a start.

"Count me in."

===

Charlie went to the artificer dwarf house to retrieve his handgun early in the morning. He was quite surprised when he heard the sound of hammer on metal when the sun still hadn't fully risen. 

Did the dwarf even sleep? Was dwarvenkind nocturnal? How would his neighbors sleep?

He knocked on the metal fitted door twice before the artificer dwarf came out. It looked like he was waiting for Charlie as he was holding an object wrapped in rough rags - his handgun. 

"Well, feast your eyes on my work, human hoy." the dwarf said as he revealed the weapon.

"Brand new wooden casing, made from Black Ebony trees, treated with mineral oils and multiple layers of alchemical for the heat and fire resistance. The metal frame was fine as is, I cleaned them and gave them a layer of chemical bath to increase the durability. The nozzle I replaced with one of my own design, made from mixed steel and designed to increase the velocity of your bullets. Heh heh, the blast hole up here, I fixed its lid, now you don't have to worry about the backblast, less blackpowder will stick to your face when shooting now."

Charlie held the gun with both hands. It felt premium, as if it's a piece of product for exhibition only. The appropriate heaviness, the slick casing, he raised his arm and tried to aim with front and rear sight. It felt comfortable.

"Now let's talk bullets." The dwarf brought out a fairly big pouch and a long container made of a yellowed beast horn "This here are your standard flintlock bullets, made of stainless steel for durability. They could even be retrieved from the corpse of your enemy and fired again. And this horn contains blackpowder. To load your gun, you first pour the blackpowder in from this slot here." He said, flipping the gun on Charlie's hand and pointing to a hatch "And then put your bullet in from the blast hole. Pull back the hammer and you're ready to shoot. Well, if I had more time, I could have made an integrated bullet. It could only be used once, but you don't have to load blackpowder in, which is vital in combat. Well, I've said my piece, come back here when you need more ammo, or your gun needs fixing' or something." He handed the items to Charlie and scratched his messy beard.

"Oh and one more thing." He reached into a side shelf and pulled out a small tin box "This is a tinkering tool box. It contains tools to clean and maintain your gun durability, you can also learn how to make makeshift bullets with these tools when you know how to work with metal. Take it"

"It looked expensive… Are you sure you want me to have it?"

"No matter, human kid. Promise me to come back for more bullets. And bring more of these here, even broken ones."

Charlie hesitated for a second, but he steeled his resolve, grabbed the tinkering toolkit and nodded. "I will return. Thank you."

Charlie tied the blackpowder horn with a long leather belt and hung it behind his back. The belt was slack so that he could spin the horn to the front for quick reloading. The bullet pouch he tied to his own belt, which was heavy as there were close to 200 metal marbles inside. He now looked extremely eccentric with a longbow on his back, a quiver on his right hip, a handgun on the front right thigh, a bullet pouch on the left hip, a leather backpack and a shield on his arm. Almost looked like a rack of weapons in a garrison.

In fact, it was too heavy for him to move quickly, so he might have to leave the bedroll or the ropes, but he decided against it. This quest requires his party to travel to a grassy plain 3 hours away, south west of the frontier village Serepike. Ropes are indispensable for any adventurer, but bedroll might also be important, the party might have to sleep somewhere in the wild, and having a warm bed to sleep on is infinitely better than the cold, hard ground. 

The party met up at the village stable when the sun shone its first light down on the village with the intent to hire some horses as the road was long yet they were short on time. The Guild had generously provided the fee for the party to hire 3 war horses - the stronger, more durable type of horse. Typical adventurers would be content with normal beast of labor for their transportation, but war horses, as their name suggested, are ridden at war. They are faster, can run farther without rest and can carry more weight. 

But this also meant that the quest was dangerous enough for the Guild to extend their help. Each party member was also given a potion of healing, alongside plenty of goodlucks from the receptionists.

Charlie had never ridden a horse before, so feeling nervous was to be expected. But he was a ranger, who had the spell Speak with animals. He loaded the side containers on the horses with his rope, torch and bedroll, easing his weight to a comfortable point and went to the head of the horse. He brushed its neck and gave it a carrot he took from the guild's restaurant. After the horse had eaten the carrot, he scritched its chin and whispered "Hey horse, I'll be riding you later, okay. Let's be friends, okay? Me and you, we ride to a grass plain. Grass, okay? Delicious grass."

The horse neighed quietly in its throat. And miraculously, Charlie understood it somehow.

"Yes. Grass. Eat. You ride."

He was perplexed even though he was the one who consciously cast the spell. He couldn't believe that it worked. He was excited at the thought that magic was so readily available for those who could harness them. 

"Hey Charleston, you good?" Harrison asked, "It's almost time."

"Yea, I'm good."

"Oh sir Charleston!" Roselie went to him and smiled, as if wanted to ask him for something.

"Hmm?"

"Can you.. Uh… let me ride with you? I don't know how to ride a horse, so we decided to not hire another…" She scratched her cheeks, which were already red.

I don't know how to ride one too!

He wanted to refuse, a drop of cold sweat ran down his back when he made eye contact with the cleric girl, who was asking him wholeheartedly.

As if wanting to give an excuse, Roselie quickly continued "Harrison's armor and gear is heavy already, and it's uncomfortable to sit with his metal plates… Elluin said she can't shoot her bow if there's another person on the horse, so… you're my only choice… sir."

Defeated. The party left him no choice in the matter, it was predetermined. 

Hope the horse doesn't kill both of us…

The party left by the village south gate, the road near the village was cleared and used frequently by merchants and workers so the party had no difficulty allowing the horses to trot on their own. Roselie sat in front of Charlie, holding her staff diagonally, her golden hair smelled faintly of mint, which made him blush every time it tickled his face.

"So, brief the mission for me, please?" He coughed unnaturally to hide his embarrassment.

A week ago, a traveling merchant left the town of Phaion for Serepike. He was traveling on a wagon with his wife and a group of 3 adventurers, bringing salt blocks and other items to sell to the Guild directly. But he never showed up at Serepike, so the guild sent out a scout to find him. Well, the scout did find the merchant, well, what's left of him anyways. The scout reported that a group of 20 orcs was traveling around the edge of the forest to the south west of Serepike, the merchant was eaten, and the wife with the rest of the adventurers were captured, held prisoner on their own wagon, maybe as a food supply or even as hostages. Our mission is to save the prisoners and slay every last orc. Those orcs have already attacked adventurers, there is a large chance that they might even attack towns and villages.

"Damn… they're that aggressive, huh. Overwhelming the merchant group with their numbers and took advantage of their initiative and surprise attack."

"You're right, Charleston."

"So, these orcs, how equipped are they? How do they fare in combat?"

"Hmmm…" Elluin tapped a finger to her lips, "Orcs usually wear hide armor, some even steal metal armor from adventurers to don. They mostly use greataxe, but they are also proficient at throwing javelin, so both melee and ranged attacks. They are very aggressive and would slay any humanoids that stand in their way. But their bloodlust made them quite stupid, they would directly charge to the nearest enemy they see without any regard for traps or ambushes"

No one said anything, but everyone was worried for the captive prisoners and unconsciously sped up to a gallop. Charlie's hands held the reins tighter. 

The party left the paved road behind and traveled on the grass plain for an hour before Elluin hailed and stopped the whole party. "They're ahead, close to the treeline, I can still hear the wagon wheels moving." She said "We should travel in the forest to hide from their sight." The party led their horse into the forest and slowly crept up to the masquerade of orcs. 

As Elluin said, the orcs were equipped with leather and hide armors, their postures stooped and their facial features were similar to that of a boar: stubby nose and prolonged fangs. They wield great axes and javelins, one could agree on the effectiveness of such weapons when wielded by creatures with such strength. Two orcs were pulling the wagon with the prisoners inside, Roselie silently prayed to Lathander that none of them had died yet as the rescue team was finally here. "It is not their time to rejoin the grand cycle yet, please lend us strength to save them, o' Lady of Birth and Renewal"

Hiding among the trees, the party hesitated. But time was of the essence, the orcs might discover them or their hunger might get the best of them. Slaying apart, the party must somehow save the prisoners while handling a horde of aggressive monsters.

"Alright, how do we get the orcs away from the prisoners?" Charlie asked, "Any ideas?"

"Hmmm, we can attack them directly on horseback, '' Harrison said, releasing his great sword from its sheath. "But I heard they are quite accurate with their javelins so I prefer my horse not dying."

Charlie's horse neighed as he patted its neck. He wouldn't want to challenge the orcs at a distance either. One critical javelin throw might outright kill him, seeing how 2 arrows almost killed him before.

"How about we block their vision and then attack them? They are not very intelligent, so I think we can out maneuver them." Roselie asked, looking back at Charlie.

"Hmmm, block their vision huh? Can any of us cast mass blindness?" Harrison asked "I doubt it. It is way too advanced of a spell."

"Eh?"

"I can do that," Elluin nodded. "I can cast Fog Cloud to blind them for a while, but remember, we are also affected by the fog."

That's good news… 

"I have an alcohol bomb like the one Charleston made last time." Harrison patted his waist bag "Not sure if I can use it without accidentally setting the whole wagon on fire though."

"..."

"I have an idea." Charlie said, pulling out the ropes on his horse's pouch.

===

Krumish chomped on the piece of deer, bone and all, while keeping a keen eye on the forest ahead. As the glorious leader of the Orc Champions, he must stay vigilant and protect his tribe people. Krumish's plan had proven to be effective when his whole tribe attacked the traveling wagon. The petty adventurers were all scaredy cats, immediately dropping their weapons and surrendered when he bit off the human merchant's head and threw the body to his tribesman. Now they had plenty of humans to feast on, held captive inside their own wagon. Krumish had considered breaking their legs so that they wouldn't escape, but bruising the legs made the meat taste bad, so he refrained. But the humans looked like they wouldn't do anything anyways, after he stripped them of their armor and weapons.

The female merchant cried and cried. At first, it was satisfying to hear the whimpers but it got old quick enough. Krumish shutted her up real good when he gently slapped her. Now Krumish would lead his Orc Champions tribe to invade a village, killing all the dwarves and elves and humans there and make the village their own. The dwarves are full of fat, which is delicious, they would eat them raw or grill them on open fire. Elves' meat can be preserved for longer, so he would dry them under the sun, the human bones are brittle, easy to get marrows out of. Human stews.

Krumish wiped the drool from his mouth. The piece of deer had disappeared but his hunger remained. He wanted a piece of the succulent human adventurer girl, but he must wait. He must become an excellent example for his tribesman. They will eat the humans when they reach the perimeter of the village to hype up their bloodlust, and then attack, rip and tear until the village is theirs. That was his plan. 

Can't forget… the accursed traitor…

Krumish also reminded himself of the real goal of his tribe excursion: to take down the half orc mayor of the village. Krumish had planned out how he would humiliate the half-blooded fool who thought he could live with the stinky dwarves and elves and man. He planned out the excruciating torture and let out a low rumble inside his throat.

But his plan didn't involve a thick blanket of fog embracing his horde. The old shaman in his tribe didn't tell him that there would be fog or rain, in fact, the shaman foresaw that the weather would be perfect for Krumish's glorious bloodbath.

What's this? Where did this fog come from?

Krumish's instinct told him that this was no natural fog. He had witnessed the slow creeping fogs enveloping in the swamps, he had seen how fog would rise from lakes when the sun came out and shone its first light. But this, this is no normal fog.

This is magic. The orc leader concluded, his slightly agape jaw gritted.

"HAAALT!" Krumish raised his greataxe up, signaling for his tribesman to stop their advance. He mustn't allow his man to split up and risk getting picked off one by one by the pesky, cowardice adventurers. "ALL WARRIORS! GROUP UP! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" 

As Krumish's horde was lining up and readying weapons for combat, a loud explosion forcefully pushed Krumish to the ground. A red hot flame engulfed Xunug, Murzol and Kulgha, his three brothers who were just behind him. They screamed in pain and surprise, dropping their axes and hopelessly tried to extinguish the flame by clawing at their body to no avail. Their flesh burned and blistered, their face charred and skins melted off showing red muscle below. His tribesman, now shook by the sudden unseen attack, scattered on their own to find the culprit despite Krumish's order.

A loud bang from the treeline. Krumish immediately turned and saw a tuft of fog disturbed. One of his brethren howled in pain holding his shoulder, blood poured out from the wound dyeing his chest crimson. Krumish had never seen this kind of magic before. He gazed towards the treeline again, his bloodshot eyes focused on the dark shapes through the clouds. His ears, trained to listen to every movement amidst fierce battles, filtered out the sound of his own tribesman and caught the sound of humans talking and horses neighing in the forest. His prey. The prey who dared to attack his tribesman.

"OOORCS! THE FOREST!!! CHARGEEE!!!!" He roared, taking the lead of the disarrayed horde of orc warriors. He will slay his enemies. He will feast upon their liver and lungs and quench his thirst with their blood.

==

21 orcs.

There were 21 orcs prowling on the grass plain to the south west of the frontier village Serepike and they had taken 4 hostages with them. Their weapons were throwing javelins and great axes made from metal and bones, their armors hide and leather and dried reeds. Their strength and constitution is no doubt better than Charlie's, who just reached level 2 a few days ago and was almost killed by goblins the day before that. His party would not be able to handle the whole horde of orcs at once.

He had a plan, to disorient and divert the orcs and to thin out their numbers while saving the prisoners at the same time. The risks were certain, getting caught by them would only result in death, but a quick and painless one would not be guaranteed. 

Harrison and Elluin splitted and made a wide turn to flank the horde's back, leaving Charlie and Roselie in the woods. In that time, Charlie showed the little cleric girl how to reload his flintlock and gave her his blackpowder horn and bullet pouch. Her support will be vital for Charlie's next performance. 

The orc horde kept marching forward in a chaotic orderly fashion, their leader seemed cautious and no doubt an experienced fighter. But even he is none the wiser to what's about to unfold. In a blink of an eye, a thick fog cloud surrounded the orc army.

Elluin and Harrison were ready.

Charlie squeezed his handgun tightly, his hand turned white from the pressure. A cold sweat beaded down from his forehead. As if wanted to console him, or to give him good luck, Roselie gingerly placed her hand on his, her eyes not moving from the enemies. 

A loud explosion bursted out from within the rank of the orcs, a crimson flame blew out and blanketed 3 orcs. That was Harrison's improvised alcohol bomb. And that was Charlie's and Roselie's signal.

The cleric girl turned her face to Charlie's and, without any hesitation, placed her hands on his throat and chanted a prayer.

"Oh Revered Lathander, she who observed the Great Cycle, grant us the voice to spread your teachings."

Her hands glowed, her prayer answered and the Goddess of Birth and Renewal had granted a miracle to her worshiper. 

Charlie raised his gun and casted Hunter's Mark on an orc with white face tattoo. His eyes tracked the movement of the orc, of how it swatted the fog to no avail, of how it was terrified of the sudden flame claiming the lives of its own kind. 

Blackpowder packed, bullet loaded, hammer cocked, Charlie exhaled and pulled the trigger. The metal bullet immediately shattered the orc's shoulder blade and cut one of the main arteries, bright red blood full of oxygen spurted out like a fountain.

"Four down." Charlie coldly mumbled, passing his gun to Roselie and pulling out his bow. The orc leader had discovered his location and rallied the orcs to attack. 

Just as expected.

He took as many shots as he could, pulling arrows from his quiver, pulled the bowstring and rained down attacks without any aim. One, two, three arrows struck true, eliminating an orc from the skirmish. But Charlie was not done there. He grabbed the horse reins and galloped out of the forest, while taking a big gulp of air. He screamed as loud as he could, but his voice was unnaturally loud, even louder than the combustion of blackpowder from his gun. 

One could say that his voice was magically loud. Thaumaturgy - a transmutation cantrip of the cleric class, amplified his voice by three times, giving Charlie a booming voice similar to that of a God. With a swift motion of thrusting her staff down and a hurry chant, the cleric girl casted Thaumaturgy again, this time causing the earth to tremble. Her breath ragged, the spells took out a large chunk of her stamina. But she still had her mission, she could not give up now, even if her hands were shaking. I must reload his gun! She bit her lips and opened the pouch of bullets.

"You fools! You dare attack my fellow man, now you will suffer my wrath!"

The orc army stopped right on its track when Charlie's commanding, booming voice filled the air. The ground suddenly trembled, causing some orc to even step back. They hesitated. The horse riding beings before them no doubt were mighty. How come 3 of them were burned to death with a ball of fire out of nowhere? The unnatural fog blinding their eyes too, were signs of a supernatural power. Some orcs were even contemplating dropping their weapons and asking for forgiveness. However…

"ORC! BE NOT FOOLED BY THIS WEAKLING! READY YOUR JAVELINS!!!"

The orc leader roared in a language Charlie didn't know, but he could easily guess that his theatrical performance, although successfully intimidated some orcs, didn't get through completely.

Fuck.

Charlie turned the horse around and ran for it. Javelins rained down from above, one slightly caught his cheek and rendered a deep cut. He could immediately feel blood gushing out and his own heartbeat in the wound itself. 

"Sir! You're hurt!" Roselie cried out, holding Charlie's loaded gun in her hands.

The hail of javelins littered the ground, creating a dangerous field of stakes for any fast moving creature such as their war horse. One javelin came as close as puncturing the saddlebag, just a few finger lengths more and the horse would be severely incapacitated. The orcs, after their ranged attacks, promptly rushed Charlie and Roselie. But Charlie was calm. This was to be expected. He took the gun from Roselie and aimed true.

"Go go go!" Elluin whispered, catching the rope Harrison threw her. The horde of orcs had been distracted and pulled quite a distance away from the prisoners wagon. There were no more enemies around, but the elf archer and the human warrior were still nervous. How could they not be nervous when facing more than 20 orcs? The two of them were iron ranked adventurers and were capable to handle any of the common monster comfortably, but fighting a whole horde at once would be suicide. The elf archer's ears pressed against her head, clearly stressed.

Elluin tied an elven knot on the wagon with the rope and fashioned a loop large enough to be used as a horse wagon strap. Yes, Elluin and Harrison were turning the captive wagon into a functioning horse wagon - this was how the party decided to safely rescue the hostages.

Loud commotion could be heard near them, but her fog cloud - clearly done its purpose gloriously - had completely blocked any possible sight of the grassland. 

"Done!" The elf archer nodded to the human warrior "You drive. I'll support the other two on the carriage roof!"

Quickly understanding each other's thoughts, the pair of adventurers sprung into action. Harrison climbed onto the wagon's front seat and took the reins in his hand while Elluin went into a crouching position on top of the caravan. Her left hand held the elven longbow, her right hand clutched three arrows. A specialty of the elves, master of archery. They could produce an unimaginable amount of attacks in a short period of time with a bow and arrow, as if they were sending them out using magic.

Any perfectly honed technique could be considered magic under untrained eyes.

The wagon moved quickly, pulled by two war horses, through the thick fog. Human warrior gave a wide berth to avoid confronting the orc horde head-on and led the carriage through the field. 

Elluin's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of the piglish, stooped feature of an orc through her conjuration magic. And as fast as the eye could see, an arrow pierced the throat of the orc sideways. The wind speed and the shaking of the wagon could not deviate Elluin's arrow from her target.

Two. Three.

Two more arrows found their marks, both plunged deep into the torso of the elf archer's enemy. The first arrow ripped the liver, causing immense pain and confusion to the orc, the second went in between the ribs and skewered the heart. The orc slumped in an instant.

Charlie and Roselie finally noticed the wagon speeding in the middle of the field. The plan was successful. They took the hostages from right under the orc's noses and weeded down their numbers.

Grinning, Charlie shot his handgun at the orc leader, but the bullet bit into the metal blade of the great axe. No matter. He gave his gun to the human cleric girl and spurred the horse to a gallop. Now they must commence the third phase of his plan. Quickly, their horse caught up to the racing carriage and the party regrouped. 

"You're injured!" Harrison yelled, wind muffled his voice "Though we did it!"

Elluin stood straight with incredible balance and kept shooting her longbow, her stance undisturbed.

"Don't celebrate yet." She said "Now's the hard part. Oh, that should be my fourth kill."

Charlie nodded in agreement. The party went with incredible speed, but the orcs army with their Aggressive nature and great strengths still kept up with them. Some orcs even picked up their javelins and attempted to attack the carriage. Charlie placed his hands on Roselie's slim shoulders, she shuddered in surprise.

"We can count on you right?" He whispered.

Thanks to the harsh, cold wind, Charlie didn't notice the blushing red cheeks of the cleric girl. She nodded reluctantly.

"I… I can.. No, I will!" She said, turning around with his loaded gun. Charlie smiled and called out to the rest of his party "It's time! Let's do it!"

Both Charlie and the human warrior pulled on the reins to slow the warhorses to a stop. Like cogs in a well oiled machine, the adventurers went into position. The cleric girl jumped onto the wagon with her staff while the elf archer and the human warrior leapt down. They knew what to do, they had prepared, although hastily, for this moment.

"Go." Elluin said to Roselie "Go straight, in about 15 minutes in time, you will reach an old ruin of a town. Wait for us there."

The cleric girl nodded and raised her staff. This will be her last two spells of the day before she completely exhausts her ability to cast. This was her mission, her part of the quest. And she will see it carried out perfectly, that was the very least she could do to help the frontlines of her party.

"O mighty Lathander, watcher of the souls, keepers of the cycle, I beg of thee, please bestow upon your children a fraction of your power." [Aid]. Roselie held a strip of white cloth aloft and chanted. The cloth suddenly burst into blue flame and disappeared completely, signaling that her goddess had heard her prayer. Her party's resilience was slightly raised. 

"And this is for you, Harrison." She said, ripping off a page in her ritual tome. "Lend us your caring hand and grant us your protection." [Shield of Faith]. A shimmering layer of holy shield appeared and surrounded the human warrior.

How could Lathander ignore the call of such a pious worshiper? 

Sweats broke out on her whole petite body, soaking her thin vestment and turning it into a gray color. Her breath ragged and heavy, she was exhausted.

"Thanks, Roselie. Now, take care." Charlie nodded, and before she could reply, he slapped the hind of the carriage horse, prompting the wagon to move. 

"Well, it's time to have a good stretch." Harrison pulled his greatsword out and fastened the leather belts on his half plate armor.

Charlie checked his gun. Loaded, ready to be fired. He could feel his marked enemy closer and closer, its rage un-subsided.

Elluin jumped on Charlie's horse and looked to her two companions, her friends. Don't die. She rode off to the side at a breakneck speed, pressing her whole body down on the horse. Her left hand still holds the longbow, ready for the upcoming assault.

The time had come. The horde had caught up to the party of adventurers. A loud warcry signaled the beginning of the battle, but no one knew whose war cry it was.

Harrison the human warrior charged into the onslaught of orcs, swinging his greatsword in small arcs to limit exposing his weak points while still attacking. He dodged a great axe blow, stuck his shoulder out - protected with metal pauldrons, to redirect a javelin head and then, with an intense burst of strength, he lowered his body, put pressure on his right leg and spun his whole body in an arc. His greatsword blade bitten through the well-built body of an orc, severing its spine and neutralizing it instantaneously. A loud gunshot sound behind him and an orc roared, its right eye busted, sinew and flesh drooping down. Seizing the opportunity, Harrison struck the injured orc in the gut with his greatsword handle and pushed it to the right to block out the upcoming enemies. He was the tank of the party, but taking on the blade of the axes would be suicide. He must be smart about this.

Limiting movement, small attacks, Harrison took down another while suffering a deep gash on his thigh. Elluin rained down arrows while riding in a spiral pattern, orcs on all sides were targeted with arrows, some fell down, but most just broke the shaft and continued to swarm the human warrior. 

Twelve more

Harrison suddenly rushed forward and kicked a front running orc back and then took multiple jumps backwards to create space. As if understanding his action, the elf archer rode her war horse through the distance between him and the horde, releasing her last few arrows to buy him some time. The human warrior reached into his item pouch and took out two vials, one red one yellow, and downed them together. A bitter but refreshing sensation took over his body, the cuts and bruises on his limbs somewhat healed and his stamina regained. 

"Swap!" He yelled, rushing forward, branding his oversized sword. Elluin spurred the horse to run back while she herself jumped down and landed with her legs spread out, balancing her aim to fire off another volley of 3, emptying her quiver. 

Harrison practically crashed into the injured orc, stopping his momentum and brought his sword up with a slashing motion. An axe struck him, but suddenly stopped before the rusty blade could bite down on his neck by a thin layer of holy protection. The orc grunted in surprise.

Harrison's greatsword struck an orc's head, splitting it in half diagonally, but he was in a precarious position with his whole torso exposed to attacks.

And it was clear that the orcs will capitalize on his mistake. The orc leader rushed forward, pushing its downed brethren to the side and swung its ax, aimed at the rib of the human warrior. But it was not armor and flesh the axe struck, but wood and string. The elf archer intervened, blocking its full power strike with her longbow. The force of the blow broke her bow in half and sliced her left shoulder, pushing her crashing to the warrior. The tip of the axe went straight to the warrior's stomach, but stopped short by the divination spell. However, the orc leader could not follow up with another strike as the human warrior, still steadfast though visibly shook from the elf's action, pulled the greatsword down with all his might. He let out a deafening warcry, or was it the orc's? The orc leader reacted promptly, raising the handle of his axe to block the attack, however, its left hand lost all strength as a sudden burst of flame snapped its wrist. It gazed at the human ranger behind the warrior, who was holding a  strange contraption with a smoking tip pointed at it. 

And before the orc leader could have another thought or another grunt, the greatsword came crashing down, crushing its skull and spine. A wet whistling sound came out of its exposed windpipe as it took its last breath.

===

Roselie carefully scraped a metal knife into a long rod of flint, creating a burst of burning ember into a pile of tinder. The dry tinder easily caught fire and got transferred to the fuel woods in a campfire setup. The cleric girl then set her metal meal tray on the open fire to make a makeshift pan. She poured in water from her waterskin, a handful of Chamomile petals and a few twigs of dried mint from her ritual material pouch. 

She had performed a thorough medical check up on the adventurers and the widow, administering the healing potion the guild gave her to the female magic caster with a cracked rib and pushed herself to cast a Calm Emotion spell on the overly distraught widow even though she had passed her limit for the day. This had caused her to accumulate more exhaustion than she had ever felt.

The refreshing smell of mint wafted on her face woke her up a bit. She took the meal tray of the heat and poured in a yellow potion that she had saved. It was a quick acting stamina potion, brewed from mostly herb and beans, the type of potion Harrison the human warrior usually drinks before a big battle. Roselie gingerly poured the tea into containers and gave them to each of the hostages. She nodded satisfactorily when everyone had sipped the tea. This ought to help calm their mind. 

Roselie sat down on the edge of the destroyed stone wall, chewing on a chamomile petal. 

A bit of irony, isn't it?

Her mind was currently in a wreck due to stress and exhaustion. She was forcing her eyelids to stay open, the small bite wound on her lip that she inflicted on herself earlier dripped a drop of blood down her chin, but she didn't notice. The sun was already setting, casting a sorrowful deep orange light down the grassland. But they haven't come yet. 

Roselie did not have any doubt on the ability of her companions. In fact, she had traveled with Elluin the elf archer and Harrison the human warrior for a month now, so she was confident in their ability to overcome challenges. They have gone through thick and thin, from slaying a nest of invasive slimes to taking down a whole cave of bloodsucking Stirges. And Charleston, a mysterious human Ranger who almost got killed saving an elf child from goblins. Yet, he improved quickly and even stood shoulder to shoulder with her party in the goblin slaying quest. He had great knowledge on many uncommon topics, he had proficiency on wielding a handgun - a weapon Roselie thought only used by the pirates in storybooks. And he knew how to cook good food, tasty and never seen before food for her party and even the receptionists of the guild. He was a kind and capable man. 

And yet, the three of them were taking quite a while to get to her. Why are they taking so long? Were the orcs too much? No, I must not think of it! I wish I had tried to ask Lady Lathander for more protection. 

Tears were welling up and soon overflowed. The reddish sunlight refracted through her crystal clear tears were blinding to her. She let out a quiet weep of frustration. She wanted to stay back and help them, but they were adamant that she see to the safety of the hostages. Her party members, her companions, her friends - promised to get back to her as soon as possible. But … I can't wait anymore… Where are you guys?

The glimmering light of the retiring sun casted a long shadow of Roselie to the ground, a lonely, wavering shadow. And under that light, some shadows appeared in the corner of the weeping cleric girl. She immediately wiped her tears and casted her gaze to the horizon, fearing that her eyes were deceiving her. But they were not. Three shadows moving towards the ruins where she was, two were walking, one mounted the beast of labor. Those shadows belong to someone she knew. Her friends. She dropped her staff and ran. Her vestment hampered her speed, but she didn't care, her exhaustion was weighing on her body, her breath erratic and short. 

It is them! It is the pointy ears of Elluin, the boxy metallic armor of Harrison and the gaggle of items and pouches hung on the belt of Charleston.

She didn't even let any of them say a word, she didn't get a good look at their face either. She leaped with all the strength left in her small body, throwing her whole body at Elluin on the horse. The horse was higher than the frail cleric girl could jump, causing both of the girls to fall forward. 

"I'm glad… I'm so glad that you're safe…" She mumbled while burying her face into the elf's vestment. The chainmail worn under the leather vest was hard, but she didn't care. They were safe. That was all that mattered.

Exhaustion caught up to her, and in a moment of weakness, she couldn't stop the wave of darkness blanketing over her mind. But… it was a warm and comfortable darkness, as if she were a fetus, still inside the safety of a mother's womb.

===

Crackles and snaps and sizzles.

Incomprehensible chatters and mutters.

The scrapping of metal on metal. 

Something smelled amazing.

Roselie slowly opened her eyes and immediately squinted before the light of a fire. A campfire. The campfire she built while completely exhausted. She tried to move, but found out she was wrapped up inside a thick blanket. People were sitting around the campfire, some even lying down next to it, on the bare ground. She was propped against something hard on her back, the stone wall, and her head rested on someone.

"So you're awake."

A gentle, naturally chiming voice, beautiful as if the speaker was singing. She was resting her head on Elluin the elf archer's thigh. 

"Jeez, you didn't have to push yourself that hard." Elluin giggled "Collapsing in the middle of a band of exhausted adventurers, beaten up like a piece of beef. Charleston had to carry you back, you know?"

Roselie blushed. How could she know? All she knew then was that her friends were all alive. That was sufficient. 

Roselie exhaled and squirmed to face the open sky. It was a beautiful, cloudless night. It was then she noticed the thick and white bandage wrapping the entirety of Elluin's shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" She asked "Your shoulder…"

"It's fine. Just a flesh wound. Thanks to it, Harrison now owes me a new outfit and weapon." 

The elf giggled. "Come on, sit up."

Elluin helped her to loosen the blanket and propped her up. Now she can see the whole camp. Harrison was the one laying next to the fire, hand still holding a metal can on his chest, asleep. The three adventurers and the widow sat next to each other, quietly talking. And…

"You want some soup, miss Sleeping Beauty?"

Roselie turned her gaze to the left. Charlie was standing beside her, offering a wooden bowl. She raised her hands out, to receive the steaming bowl. It was a brownish soup with small bits of dried meat and some kind of hardtack bread. She blew on the spoon and sipped the soup. It was salty and peppery with a hint of sweet fragrance from grape wine. 

"I threw everything in an adventuring ration pack in the pan. It's terrible, I know." Charlie smiled defeatedly, sitting down next to her. 

She shook her head. "That's not true, it's… weirdly good."

"That's just because you're tired, and also, you're way too biased!" Elluin the elf growled "This is a terrible meal! You also owe me a decent dinner, y'know Charleston."

"But of course," Charlie laughed. "Well, Roselie, eat up to warm your body. And then we sleep, for we have finished the quest."

"I'm too tired to sleep on the ground…" The elf archer whined "I want my stuffed bed"

Roselie smiled. That's right, we have completed the quest. 

And now, she will finish this meal and close her eyes. After all, any adventurer would agree that, all they need after a gruesome and difficult quest are food and respite.