Rook’s health bar blinked fervently in the corner of his vision. You know, at least I’m not dead.

  “If you need a place to stay in Ollar, I will hold you up,” Brianna said, then thought better. “For at least a few days…On second thought, I’ll just give you a discounted rate per night.” She eyed the potion. “If it were me, I would find a health potion and save that cure-all for a bad day. They’re hard to come by.”

  “Take this instead,” Roran said, handing Rook a health potion. “It should heal you most of the way.”

  “My offer about the Sentinels will be open as well; we could use an initiate who isn’t afraid to speak his mind,” Phane said, straightening proudly. “I have influence as a former Sentinel lieutenant.”

  The thought of joining the Sentinels became more enticing by the second. A group of fighters with the resources and strength to do something about the Bloodstone. The one thing he had going for him was his status as a Conjured, one outside the bounds of the contract. One more look at the city guard captain filled his resolve. Damn it, if that elf magic didn’t mess me up. Rook pressed a thumb into his temple. It was so damned easy for the elf to paralyze him, make him feel that deep burden that lingered, like a bad cold. Phane popped his helmet off, revealing a fresh crew cut, and wiped his sweat-stained brow.

  “Thanks, Phane, but we should go to the Stumbling Ogre and rest,” Reina said, patting Rook on the shoulder. “He needs to recov–.”

  “Need? I need to get stronger and fast,” Rook said, cutting Reina off with a harsher tone than he intended.

  Reina stared at him, they all did. All around him were the concerned looks, filling him with that damned burden. The same ones the teachers and faculty gave him when he transferred to Pineville Elementary, so many years ago. Everyone, let’s feel sorry for little Sam. His parents are dead, and he lives with his crazy vet grandpa and his sick wife.

  “I’m sorry,” Rook said, lowering his head. “The next time they could be holding a child, or an elder, or yours.” He paused, frowning at his friend. “They don’t care, worse yet, they’re more powerful than I can dream to beat right now. It’s going to take a long while, but I’ll take them down.” He sat up with Reina and Roran’s help. “I’ll start with Jinxor’s suggestion during the night to read and train during the day.” Rook looked around. “I just gotta find a place to train.”

  “The dome,” Phane said, pointing to the coliseum-like structure in the distance. “There’s fights yes, but, training grounds as well.” His mouth split into a wide grin. “Look, just say the word and I’ll get the Sentinel Commander to accept you into the initiation.” He flicked his gaze towards Reina. “I can get you into it as well, so long as you want to scribe.”

  Reina looked unsure and glanced at her father.

  “You know, Scribes get unfettered access to the Sentinel libraries,” Roran said to his daughter.

  She beamed. “I think I can do that,” Reina said, then turned to Rook. “How about it?”

  “Let’s do it,” Rook said.

  “Perfect. Listen, there’s weekly initiations held here in the city. One of the perks of having the Sentinel Commander stationed here. Meet me at the city guard barracks in three days, morning at first light.” Phane placed his iron helm back on. “Time to disperse the crowd.” He disappeared into the throng of people.

  “Three days from today,” Rook said to himself.

  “By the way, Rook, it was difficult to remember the fake name that you used,” Roran said, with a chuckle. “Did you know that Ben Dover sounds an awful lot like a bend over.”

  The rest of the group broke into laughter. Strangely enough, this feels like family. The found family, like the Army, gave him. Rook couldn’t help but think of Knox, and how he was probably stuck laughing with minotaurs and ghosts or worse, while Rook had the Ollar crew.

  Quest Accepted

  Join the Sentinels 0/1

  You have been invited to become a member of the Order of the Sentinels by Phane. Meet with him in three days for the next steps.

  * * *

  It took some time to regain his bearings, but once he did, they backtracked until Reina and he were back in the Stumbling Ogre. Brianna had her servants bring a healing potion and a smorgasbord of different fruits and meats to the table. After dinner, Rook and Reina found themselves sitting back in the same room they had slept in the night prior.

  “Tomorrow we train. Maybe we can level a few skills. For now, though, walk like a duck,” Reina crossed her legs and sat back.

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  “Easy for you to say, you look like someone is about to paint you like one of their French girls,” Rook said with a grunt as he got into position.

  He read. For Sergeant Rix, my beloved warrior. Signed Chief Rixgor. The first three pages were a dedication of scribbled writing towards the goblin he killed. Oh yeah, I’m boned. I killed mommy’s favorite son. He continued to duck walk towards the other side of the room. One full lap done. The boards creaked unpleasantly with the shifting of his weight. He figured that if he snuck up on someone now, they would immediately hear him. Cause if I were a guard and there was a noise like two mice banging in a shoe box, I’d probably turn towards the noise.

  Stealth: 10 of 250

  +2 experience gained

  266 of 350 experience until level 7

  Rook stood and tightened his grip on the goblin journal. There’s no way that just happened. I didn’t just jump two points of stealth duck walking in the room. He started duck walking again, and logic be damned, his stealth went up another two points. Slowly, his stamina bar began to drain, and after another lap of there and back, his stamina was depleted, leaving his legs aching. A warm sensation hit his core, and his stamina bar regenerated to full.

  Reina smiled. “A little better than a French girl, right?”

  “French girl, it’s a movie reference. Maybe one day, I’ll show you the movie.” He gazed at her confused eyes and shrugged. “Never mind.”

  They repeated the process, over and over. Rook walked, and Reina refilled his stamina every few laps.

  Stealth: 12 of 250

  +2 experience gained

  268 of 350 experience until level 7

  He actively tried to convince himself he was in better shape. It wasn’t that long ago when he was regularly running fifteen miles a week with his platoon. He took a long drink from his cup and placed it back on the nightstand beside his bed, watching as the stamina slowly refilled. Strangely enough, he didn’t notice it before, but above his health bar were three others, which must have been Reina’s.

  Rook was never one for glitches and exploits for video games; he believed in hard work and grinding for levels, but he’d never been in a video game and could appreciate it now. In Yorthon, so far, he’d encountered minivan-sized crabs, boars made from nature, and an Elvish boy band from his nightmares. All of these at one point wanted to kill him, and using an exploit to help him sneak around better seemed like a good tradeoff. Reina watched him diligently and as his stamina dipped below 25% she restored it with her magic touch.

  Stealth: 120 of 250

  +212 experience gained

  You are now level 8

  130 of 400 experience until level 9

  Another notification box popped into his vision.

  You’re training in sneak allows you to stalk closer to an unsuspecting target without detection.

  “Holy shit,” Rook muttered to himself. That’s a nice way to say I can creep better.

  2 skill points received

  Might as well put these points into force multiplier. Nowhere else it can go.

  Force Multiplier 4 of 15

  Winds of change upgrade

  +6% gain to offensive skills for each party member

  The boards below gently shifted with his weight as he crept back and forth; the creaking wood became more of a silent groan. No more banging house mice. Instead, just the gentle crepitus in his ankles.. A tapping on the window broke his concentration, and he stopped reading. When they began training, the sun was at midday; now, patchy grey clouds littered the night sky. He bent back the page of the journal and placed it on his nightstand. Almost done with this gobbledygook. He took a step, and his legs began shaking like a bush in a hurricane. He was forced to fall into his bed, unsure if his legs had ever been this tired. Reina laughed, but she looked no better than he felt. They were both covered in sweat, and now that he noticed, smelled.

  “Meet back in the hallway after a bath?” Rook asked.

  “Yes.”

  Rook entered the baths and was pleasantly surprised. Empty. Personally, he hated the feeling of being rushed; that was his daily life in the Military, and if he was vacationing in this nightmare world, he didn’t want to rush to his death. He sank deeper into the tub. Probably not a smart idea to read the journal in the tub. He thought of flipping through the grimy pages. Some were stained with old blood, and there were more than a few with mysterious food bits. He didn’t envy the tough life of a goblin sergeant. Even more, he didn’t envy him and Reina for killing said sergeant.

  As he exited, he was faced with a refreshed Reina.

  “I thought maybe you decided to take a post-bath nap,” she said, coming off the wall she was leaning on.

  Within the next few hours, they grabbed food from some of the smorgasbords brought to the room. Rook tried more of the cuisine, this time a fish with growths resembling octopus tentacles. When they sat back on their beds, he summoned the journal from his inventory. The small book appeared in his hand.

  “That never ceases to amaze me,” Reina said. “It’s as if it is an illusion. In fact, you would make a lot of money as a magician.”

  “I don’t think it’s humane to pull a rabbit from my inventory.” Rook massaged his sore quads. “You know, it seems the Goblins have a very similar society to us.”

  “Not according to what we know about them,” Reina said matter-of-factly.

  “Hmm. Within what I read so far, the Goblins answer to Chiefs who control a tribe. Each tribe answers to the Goblin Commander. The Chiefs vote on a new Commander every four years. Not to mention the Black Daggers have a chokehold on the goblins, since the current commander is Rixgor Sergeant Rix’s mommy dearest,” said Rook with a long sigh. “I feel like they’re plotting my death as we speak… This journal is actually a fairly detailed account of Rix and his fighting ability, dunno how we killed him so easily.”

  “You set a charge with gunpowder that exploded in his face,” Reina said with a grin.

  “I guess you’re right.” Rook laughed. “I hope we can pass the Sentinel initiations,” Rook said, hesitant about the upcoming week.

  He continued briefing Reina about Rix, his journey to sergeant, and the life he had lived before his explosive end. Strangely enough, he was on his way to becoming chief, but something made him fall to patrolling the Woods of Sorrow. But dammit, Rook was invested. Treating the journal as a fantasy story made the fact that he turned him into stinky goblin barbecue, a little easier to digest. Leaning back into bed, he closed his eyes, letting the bone deep aches settle.

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  Rook: Copper Rank

  Level 9

  Experience: 130 of 400

  Challenge Coins 1/8

  Skills learned: Force multiplier 4 of 15 skill points

  Current party, Reina Jax enhancer level 10

  Location Ollar city Brianna’s Tavern, The Stumbling Ogre

  Current quests:

  Find the Sacred Cipher

  Join the Sentinels

  Join the Circuits