Attacking the Orc Dungeon

I soon reached the forest, passing only a few small groups of wanderers dragging along the occasional donkey and wagon. I followed the road a few more minutes until I turned into the forest to more directly move towards the dungeon I was sensing much more intensely now. After a short while of moving through the thickening forest I stumbled upon a trail of tracks seemingly pointing towards the dungeon. Whoever had passed through here had cut down branches to clear a path, so I decided the tracks for ease of travel. I had barely taken ten steps, when a shadow suddenly jumped towards me from the underbrush. A thin curved blade was pressed against my neck with enough **** to make a point by a slender elf in a black leather armour with silver ornaments. Her blonde hair was tied into a long blonde ponytail and her expression was clearly intended to be threatening. I slowly raised my hands and exhaled through my nose, “I suppose I surrender. I must say you are a very well disguised orc. I almost believed you were a beautiful elf.”. The woman was clearly unamused, “Save the jokes,”, she hissed, “what are you doing here?”. I demonstratively looked at first her blade, then my own raised hands, “I believe I am currently being assailed and interrogated. If you’re curious about what I intended to do here, I am looking for the orcs that are attacking people around here.”. While playful sarcasm was my preferred form of communication, I had to admit I shaken by the attack. I was unable to react in time to her blade. Had she wanted to, she could have killed me. God’s Eye revealed her stats to me.

Nymeria Shadowborn, elf Adventurer
Class: Bladedancer LVL 46
Skills: Stealth (expert), Bladedance (expert), Swordsmanship (advanced), Tracking (advanced),
Attitude towards me: Suspicious

As I thought, despite my newly acquired skills and levels I was no match for her. In Enoch form I would probably defeat her, but should I die there was no hope of revival ever again. The blade remained against my neck for a few more moments before she finally lowered it with a sigh, “Fine, you clearly aren’t an orc. Anyone walking this far into the forest is either a fool or an adventurer.”. I let my hands sink to my sides, “Which one do you think I am?”. With the faintest hint of a smile the elf mused, “I haven’t decided yet. Either way I can’t let you go on alone, you’ll get yourself killed. I propose we pursue the monsters together, watch each other’s backs.”. I approved, “We’ll I’ll be happy to prove myself in your eyes. I agree, we shall work together. My name is Victor.”. “My name is Nymeria, good to meet you, Victor.”. She sheathed the blade and started moving along the trail with impressive grace and without making any noise. I tried my best to follow her as quietly as possible, but I was an Incubus-Knight-Sorcerer, not an Assassin. At least I could enjoy the perky butt of the adventurer in front of me gently swaying.

Eventually she stopped me by raising her hand and gestured for me to come closer. She then pointed me towards a cave from which I could clearly feel the pull of a dungeon, “There it is, can you see any orcs?”, she hissed. I shook my head in reply, and she added, “Me neither. We have to get closer and use the daytime, orcs don’t like the sun much.”. She stopped and then with an expression showing that she had just now remembered something very important, she whispered, “Ehm, I should have asked earlier. What are your skills?”. I had wondered when she would ask and was prepared with an answer, “I am a dark Sorcerer. I can summon shadow blades and chains to injure and restrain our targets. I suppose it would be best if I support you from behind.”. “Very good, I think we could work together nicely.”, Nymeria approved, “Let’s approach the cave, stay close to me.”. Under different circumstances I would have taken her order more literal than she intended, but now was not the time to feel up the prickly elf.

As we approached, we could make out more details such as a wagon that had been torn apart and plundered and trails of blood leading inside the cave. Inside the cave was a surprisingly well-crafted hall with tables, weapons racks, chests for loot and even a wooden battlement along the walls, giving archers an elevated position from which to shoot. At least a dozen orcs in surprisingly high-quality armour were stationed here, some drinking, others standing guard. Nymeria whispered, “I will attack them directly. I need you to restrain the archers to stop them from shooting long enough for me to kill the rest. If you can take them out, do it.”. I placed a hand on her shoulder, “Trust me, I got your back.”. Just before we jumped out, a little block of semi-transparent text appeared before me stating:

A fight is about to begin involving at least one ally.
Hidden Incubus Skill Selfish Companion is unlocked.
If active, 100% of EXP gained by allies from the combat will go to you.
Do you want to activate Selfish Companion?
Yes / No

I confirmed ‘Yes’, this was just perfect. Nymeria charged towards the orcs without making a sound. By the time one of them spotted her, she had already struck down the first monster.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Medium Incubus EXP gained, +400% bonus from Demon King’s Heart

One of the archers yelled, “An ambush!”, then he moved to grab a horn from his belt. Before he could raise it to his lips, I summoned my Chains of Darkness which wrapped around him until he could barely move a muscle. The remaining archers readied their bows to shoot at both me and the elf currently slaughtering their allies, but they were also wrapped up by my demonic chains. “Good work.”, Nymeria’s voice and breathing was steady despite her dodging many heavy blows of the orcs surrounding her while also inflicting grievous wounds with her dancing blade. I admired the beauty of her fighting for a few moments, then turned my attention back to the archers. They struggled mightily against my chains and some of them seemed to make some progress, so I decided it was time for my new skill. I raised my left hand, palm facing down and heavy black smoke poured from my hand onto the ground. Then, like black lightning, shadows shot across the ground and up the walls from the smoke gathering around me. When they reached the restrained archers, the shadows erupted from the walls and formed into jagged spears which violently pierced through the monsters who had no chance of evading them. In an instant, five archers went limp in my chains, killed by my Lances of Midnight.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Incubus level increased from 20 -> 21!

When I was done with my part, I looked over at Nymeria who just pulled her blade from the chest of the last slain orc.

Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Mountain Orc Slain!
Incubus level increased from 21 -> 23!

The elf was nodding approvingly at my work. The dead archers fell onto the battlements when I recalled my shadows, “This worked really well.”, I stated. Nymeria used a piece of cloth she cut from an orcs loincloth to clean her blade, “Indeed it did. Good catch with the horn, that could have been trouble.”. I couldn’t help but notice the woman was sweating a bit and appreciated for a second my less physical form of combat. I could throw down if it came to that, sure, but I certainly preferred eliminating my enemies from a comfortable distance without much physical strain. Nymeria fingered around the belt of the orc whom she had taken the cloth from. Suddenly something gave and she stumbled back. The belt opened and… the large green cock of the dead orc flopped out. Nymeria blushed and covered her eyes, “Eeeep! Put it away! Cover it, Victor!”. She had never sounded that **** which was cute, in a way. I inquired with feigned innocence, “What do you mean?”. “I mean it’s- it’s… it’s THING!”, she spat out the last word as if it caused her physical discomfort. “Oooh~”, I cooed, “I was unaware that a lady was present.”. With my boot against the dead monsters back I turned it over onto its stomach, “There we go.”, I declared, “You are safe from harm, my lady.”. Nymeria carefully peeked out between her fingers, then quickly dropped her hands. “Of course I was never in danger!”, she protested, “It is just that I have never-“, she caught herself mid-sentence and blushed again. “Can we just go deeper inside? I think I saw a keyring on it’s belt.”, she implored me and then pointed towards the reinforced door at the back of the hall. “Of course, my lady.”, I teased her and ripped the keyring from the dead orcs open belt. "...don't call me that.", Nymeria mumbled.