‘Wakey, wakey, sleepy head,’ Val said. ‘Enemies approach.’

  My eyes darted open. I couldn't hear or see anything, but Val’s sensors had a reasonably long range.

  “How many and how far?”

  ‘Five. Two hundred yards to the north.’

  I was only a few feet away from Prajio and gently tapped him awake.

  He jerked but calmed when he saw it was me. "I presume you have a good reason to wake me?"

  "The bad guys are on their way. I, uh, noticed them a couple hundred yards to the north."

  He raised a hairless, nubby eyebrow. "We will discuss how you know this another time. Did you have anything else to share?"

  "No. Shouldn't we prepare or something? This is your mission, so I’ll follow your lead."

  "I was hoping they would attempt to abduct us and escort us to their master, whom we could then kill. Unless, of course, Deek is with them. We'll just kill him here if that is the case."

  "How do you know they'll try to abduct us?"

  He shrugged with only one shoulder as he was still lying on the ground. "It's only a small chance. If they do not attempt an abduction, I will kill all but one and force him to lead me to the main camp."

  Either Prajio was dangerously strong or dangerously self-confident.

  "Is that what you want to do?" I asked. "Pretend to be asleep and hope we get nabbed? What if someone just stabs me?"

  It looked like he rolled his eyes, but it was hard to see in the dark. "You will be awake. Don't let them stab you."

  And so, we pretended to be asleep and waited for whatever was to come.

  It took longer than expected. These supposed ruffians took their time while we played pretend for thirty minutes. But eventually, we heard them whispering loudly like idiots.

  I couldn't figure out what they were saying, though. “Val, I can't hear these guys. Can you?”

  ‘Of course I can; they are exceedingly loud. In one moment, I'll send the electronic vibrations directly to your cochlea.’

  “You'll do what now? I don’t know if I want you messing with my cochlea or whatever!”

  One second later, like magic, I could hear everything—not just the voices but the sound of each step they took. I could hear a bird fluttering its wings fifty feet above. I could hear the wind as it cut through the trees in the mountains above us.

  This was extraordinary…and overwhelming, so much so that it took me some time to focus on the conversation and drown out all the surrounding noise. Val's trick was potent but not something I would want to use frequently.

  After a moment, I had my ears focused on the interlopers.

  "...two of 'em. Don't see much in terms of loot, though," said a deep voice.

  A higher-pitched voice answered. "The lizard has some fine steel on him. Bet it's worth a pretty penny."

  "You know what's worth more than just a pretty penny," whispered a lackadaisical voice. "A Kurskin prisoner. We could ransom it back to its kind. There's an embassy in Danver. A hundred gold for it, easy."

  I heard whispers of agreement all around.

  Holy cow. Prajio had these idiots nailed from the beginning. They were going to kidnap us. It beat fighting if you asked me.

  And so it went that both Prajio and I were 'woken up' with swords to our throats and surrounded by very dangerous-looking men.

  For his part, Prajio acted marvelously.

  He froze in fear, eyes wide and horrified. He stammered but couldn't find any words.

  "Shut your yapper," the one with the deep voice said. "You have two options. Die or come with us." He pressed his sword against Prajio's neck. "You have three seconds."

  "We'll come with you, of course," Prajio said. "My good man, I apologize if we have camped on your property. I'll gladly pay any fines."

  "Shut it!" the ruffian yelled. "You're going to stay right still while the boys here disarm you." He looked at me. "The both of you."

  We did as requested, and I tried to match Prajio's frightened energy. They took my sword, which I had kept on the ground nearby.

  Prajio had to give up his dual blades. He protested, saying they were a family heirloom, and claimed he barely knew how to use them.

  They responded to that by slapping him in the face and calling him a hellspawn. It appeared these guys entirely disagreed with the church canon. I had to admire them for that.

  In short, we had our hands tied behind our backs, and when they stood us up, they promptly dumped a thick, black bag over our heads so we couldn't see where we were going. I tried not to laugh. Prajio was right about everything. And I had a high-tech GPS living in my head, so even if I couldn’t see, I wasn’t truly blind.

  They dragged us through the night toward their camp. Prajio made a big show of it, protesting that he was a simple herbologist seeking to identify new plant life in the area. Apparently, I was his bodyguard, which made no sense to me, considering the weakest Kurskin was more formidable than most humans.

  Whatever story Prajio was selling was being bought hook, line, and sinker by the idiots that had captured us. I wondered if they knew that the sniveling lizard could dispatch their entire group before the first body hit the ground.

  We walked north for miles and, by my guess, gained a solid two thousand feet of elevation. They never once slowed down or allowed us to rest or drink.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The bag over my head was annoying, but Val made sure she kept me informed about where we were going.

  I wasn't quite sure what she could actually see. I imagined she could see dots on a map or something, but I'm sure it was far more advanced than that. I'd have to ask her more about it someday.

  "The camp is near," Val said.

  I blinked the sleep from my eyes and tried to regain my senses. I don’t think I technically fell asleep during that hike, but I came close.

  Val's intel was correct as always, and ten minutes later, our hoods were ripped off.

  It was still night, but the morning sun was soon to rise. Random torches were spiked into the ground next to the wall of a large, concave rock formation.

  There were seven men ahead of me, by my count, and that included the biggest human being I had ever seen in my life. He must be Deek.

  The large, shirtless man didn't seem to have a neck. Instead, it had been replaced by the hulking muscles of his back and arms. He was bald, and his only clothes were a pair of ragged cotton pants. He looked like a discount Incredible Hulk.

  Prajio stepped forward. "Good sir, please, I will give you anything you want. Just let my friend and me go. We mean you no harm."

  Deek's laugh was a low rumble. "I've never heard of a Kur who never meant no harm to no one."

  Prajio cocked his head. Almost said something, then appeared to decide against it. He bowed slightly. "My people are cruel in war, but there is no war in this part of the world. Here, my people are friendly, helpful even."

  Yeah, right, I thought.

  "How much you worth to 'em?" Deek asked.

  "Pardon me?" Prajio said.

  "How much can we ransom you for?"

  Prajio shrugged. "Who are you going to ransom me to?"

  It was Deek's turn to shrug. "You tell me."

  Prajio shrugged again. "I haven't the faintest idea."

  Deek slammed his fist onto a boulder. "Then what good are you to me?"

  "I would have assumed, upon my kidnapping, that you would have had a plan in place already."

  Deek stood and began to walk down the carved steps of his rocky hideout. "You trying to make a fool of Deek, is that it?" Deek smashed his fists together.

  He paced in front of us about ten feet away. "Since you are of no value to me, lizard, what about your friend?"

  Prajio looked at me and gave me a dashing smile. "He is my bodyguard."

  Deek laughed at that. I would have laughed if I weren't so frightened. I did not want a target on my back, and I didn’t stand a chance if I had to fight Deek. My sword had been taken, and I was unsure if I could equip my dagger right now or not. If I tried and it worked, then they would see the dagger, rationalize away how it got on my hip, and then kill me. It would also give up my Player status to Prajio. My best option was to wait until it seemed like shit was about to hit the fan and equip it from my inventory right before the combat period began.

  Deek walked up to me, my hands still tied behind my back. "I heard lizards like your friend are tough as nails. Even the dainty ones. You telling me you're strong enough to play bodyguard to a Kur?"

  I really hated Prajio for putting me in this position, but I knew what he wanted me to do. At least, I hoped I did.

  I met Deek’s dull eyes. "I'm strong enough."

  "How 'bout we put you to the test then? I got some men who could use some training."

  My eyes floated to Prajio, who gave me a wink—the bastard.

  "I'll try not to hurt them," I said.

  Deek laughed at that. He turned around and lumbered toward one of his men. He put a hand on his shoulder and gestured to me. The man smiled and nodded.

  He looked scary; half of his head was shaved, while the other half had hair down to his shoulders. Intricate tattoos laced the bald part of his scalp. And he was bigger than me. Not by much, but size did matter when it came to fighting, most of the time at least.

  Prajio beamed at me as they untied my hands.

  Asshole.

  My opponent stood before me while the rest of the gang and my 'friend' joined in a tight circle around us.

  I had never boxed anyone in my life. All I knew was to attack fast and hard and with all my fury. And so I did.

  Before any pre-fight ceremony could take place, I charged forward with a Devastating Strike ready. The man's eyes went wide when he saw me rushing toward him and lowered himself shoulder-first, preparing to take me on.

  Instead of taking him with a fist, I sent a flying knee right into his shoulder, which buckled under the power of Devastating Strike.

  He howled in pain and grasped at his dislocated shoulder. He stumbled back against his line of men, who pulled him in among the others.

  Another man stepped forward. This one was even bigger than the last.

  What mess did Prajio get me into?

  We both raised our fists. I didn't have any weapons at my disposal, and any chance to equip a dagger had passed because this was officially combat.

  Devastating Strike was on cooldown, and I was going to get the crap beaten out of me. All for a plan Prajio didn't fully fill me in on. The thought pissed me off. This world was just so unfair and unnecessarily brutal. I hated it. But I'd do anything to win.

  We circled and threw quick jabs, testing each other. I was pretty strong and thought I could manage better on the ground, so I rushed him for a takedown at the waist. He held his ground and sent a series of elbows into my back. I released him and pushed back, but not far enough, as his fist took me in the face. I spun and hit the ground, dazed.

  I blinked away stars as I lay on the ground and glanced up at Prajio. I watched as he disappeared into a puff of smoke and shot across the ring. My head rolled over to see my opponent holding both hands in the air while his men around him cheered. Deek was among them, the towering monster of a man.

  Deek's cheerful expression transformed into a curious wince.

  The expression deepened.

  He looked down to his right and then collapsed backward to the ground in a heap to reveal Prajio standing behind him with a long dagger in his hand. Before anyone could stop him, Prajio slit Deek's throat. As the gaping wound shot blood into the air, Prajio jumped forward and sliced Deek's thumb off with his blade.

  Deek's men went into a frenzy and rushed to their leader's aid. A spout of blood soaked one of the loyal men as he tried to put a hand over the wound and stop the spray of blood.

  Prajio burst into smoke as another charged him, and suddenly, Prajio solidified before me. "Can you get up?”

  I scrambled to my feet.

  "It's now time for us to run," Prajio said. "Unless you would like to fight the rest of these burly gentlemen."

  I nodded. It hurt. "I'm fine, lead the way."

  Prajio took off, and I followed. Ahead of us were two more men we needed to get past to clear the way.

  From behind, I heard someone shout, "They're getting away!"

  Prajio made a quick detour and grabbed our pile of weapons. He smiled and tossed my sword to me, which I thankfully caught by the hilt. Prajio displayed his dual cutlasses and charged at the two men, each armed with a single axe.

  He spun like a dervish, cutting one down before rolling away from the mighty blow of the other opponent. I raised my sword and yelled. The man turned and tried to raise his axe, but my sword caught him first.

  We didn't stick around to finish the job. We ran as fast as we could, bolting across rocky terrain, and by the time we made it to the grassy fields at the base of the mountain, our pursuers had long given up.

  Normal me would have been huffing and puffing after such a sprint. But the new and improved me was a whole new beast. I was barely winded. That hit to my face had jarred me, but I was pretty sure a hit like that would have knocked me unconscious had I been only level one.

  We finally came to a stop at our camp, next to the river.

  I laughed, not realizing this was where Prajio was leading me.

  "My friend, did you think I would leave without my wonderful pillow?" he said.

  I laughed again. "I've wondered, do you ever use a pillow for your tail?"

  Prajio froze in place, and slowly, his eyes locked on mine. His lips gradually curled back in a displeased expression. "A pillow for my tail. Is that a sincere question?"

  I shrank into myself. "Y…yeah."

  He burst out laughing, honking long and loud. He held his pillow. "Ethan, my friend, that is perhaps the funniest thing I have heard in my life." He barked another laugh. "Ha! Tail pillows. What a ridiculous concept."

  "Have you ever tried it?" I asked.

  "I'm not a madman."

  I shrugged. "I would think the extra support would be nice but don't ask me. I don't have a tail."

  "I wasn't going to ask you."

  I grinned. "Now what?"

  Prajio held up Deek's severed thumb. We turn this in for a reward. But we are in the wilds, and I do love to explore. How about we take the long way back, meet up with one of the roads to the south, and then head to town? What do you say? Keen for more adventures?"

  "Let's do it."

  ‘This guy is so lame,’ Val said.