By the time they made it back to the fortress, the sun had risen above the horizon, the silver light from the two large moons being replaced by the orange radiance of the rising star. The trip through the rocky terrain had been much slower than anticipated, but the beacon's call seemed to have invigorated the former captives and volunteers, raising their spirits and giving them the boost they needed to make it back.
When they finally laid eye son the fortress, even more people seemed to have amassed at its gates, with far more bustling activity. Entire sections of the forest have been cut down and cleared out, the wood being used to create basic barricades against the wild. Providing an outer layer of defense around the fortress. There were even more stalls and tents set up as well. Many people appear to be making use of large animal carcasses, removing the thick pelts and carving up the meat to make ever-growing quantities of broth.
A bunch of soldiers in the now familiar silver armor rushed ahead to help make a path for them, bringing them through the gathered crowd and towards the fortress entrance. On their way through, Lewis noticed many people with both dirty peasant clothes as well as jeans and other modern clothing, many people discussing amongst themselves. A few rather loud people were also standing on the equivalent of an apple crate as they preached to the gathered people, sharing information on how to access the system shop to the effects of leveling up, and even schedules for hunting teams they can join. It all seemed like valuable information, something that made Lewis wonder if it was Laurence who had set this all up.
From his conversations with Fiona and a few of the other world humans, he had come to understand that the royal knight was something of a hero of humanity for them. Valuing the protection of their race and people above anything else, using their nurtured superhuman powers to defend against the evils of their chaotic world. Basically, they were real life superheroes, so it was no wonder that Sir Laurence took to leading like a fish to water, with seemingly no compunction to take advantage of the situation for personal gain. Something that was blatantly clear from the fact that he was refusing to fight and level up, as it would mean being separated from the mostly confused and helpless people he had gathered under his banner.
The soldiers parted the crowd as we made a beeline through the fortress gates. Several more guards are now working the gate, not all of them wearing the medieval silver armor, some even in full camo and holding semi-automatic firearms. Clearly, a lot of things had changed while they had been away.
"You two go ahead and report what happened to Sir Laurence. I'll escort the injured to the healing wing and join you later." Fiona told them, the floating platform was linked to her, so she didn't really have a choice but to separate from them here.
"Alright, see you then." Lewis said, he and Morris splitting off from the group as they headed towards the center of the fortress, reaching the large palace that serves as a command post and headquarters, and the duo was immediately let in without needing to speak a single word.
"Gosh, you two look like shit." Came the familiar voice as soon as they entered the large room, Laurence sitting at the head of the large table, but he wasn't alone. In fact, Lewis was momentarily stunned as he found all the chairs around the table being occupied. But not with the same bustling people he had seen arguing over reports and maps from before. Now, many of these people he didn't recognize.
But the thing that surprised him the most was the fact that 3 of them weren't even human at all, but rather some sort of large furred humanoid with wolf snouts and piercing yellow eyes.
Are these the Lycan I heard about? Didn't the other group that had joined Patch and the others say it was a lycan that had attacked them?
Lewis's posture shifted, becoming guarded as he stared at the three lycan sitting on one side of the table, his gaze suspicious as if they would pounce at any moment. Morris also seemed surprised, but didn't become hostile in the slightest; his eyes simply widening at the werewolf-like beings casually sitting before them. Laurence only chuckled slightly at his change in attitude, waving at Lewis to calm down.
"Don't worry, these are a delegation from the Chester pack, here to discuss friendly relations and corporation. Why are you so tense?" He asked, making Lewis relax slightly, but he was still on edge.
"A group I know was attacked by a Lycan who killed a couple of them and grievously injured the rest right at the start of the tutorial." He answered, the Lycan briefly glancing between each other before staring back at Lewis with a relaxed gaze.
The one closest to Laurence spoke up, his voice a deep and gravelly thing, but sounding oddly smooth with a slight hint of what almost seemed like a posh British accent, something that caught Lewis completely off guard.
"It is indeed possible, but it was not us. It may have been a rogue lycan, or perhaps it was simply defending itself. I have heard that those of Earth do not know what we Lycans are. Perhaps they had attacked it, believing it to be a wild beast, in which case you cannot blame it for defending itself. Besides, just like you humans, our people are hardly one unified whole responsible for the actions of every individual member of our race. The Chester pack has never had any antagonistic relations with humanity; in fact, we have had a long-standing relationship with your kind. Something we are hoping to continue with our presence here." He said, giving an annoyingly strong argument that forced Lewis to admit that he was definitely smart, making Lewis sigh, now feeling like a prick for being so quick to judge.
"I- sorry, just not used to being around other races, is all. The orcs might have soured my opinion on non-humans." Lewis replied, making Laurence nod.
"So you did find them after all? What can you tell us?" He added, now sitting straighter, all his attention squarely on Lewis, along with every other person at the large table.
Such attention might have proven stressful in the past, but Lewis was no longer caring what other people thought, nor did he feel particularly intimidated by the clearly powerful people in this room, his unravelling skill now not the only card he had to play when facing a strong opponent.
"They had been hiding out in a camp to the southeast, within a difficult-to-traverse terrain that had allowed them to stay hidden despite only being an hour's journey away. The leader was a level 19 necromancer who was kidnapping and torturing people to make his spells stronger by fueling them with their pain. At least thirty orcs had been within the base; all are now dead, but the leader escaped to the second floor using his system token. Another three managed to run away, as well as whatever orcs might have been out at the time, so there are definitely still some left out there, but I don't think we need to worry about kidnappings anymore. Those that are still alive are receiving medical help as we speak."
His reports had made everyone stare at him with surprise. Clearly, they hadn't expected the orcs to be so strong, or perhaps had trouble believing that Lewis managed to handle them because of it.
"Ahem, well, that's one problem dealt with, I guess. Good work. Unfortunately, we seem to have an even worse situation to the north. It looks like this region is a relatively low-level area; the deeper we venture, the stronger the creatures. And it's here that some of the vampires seem to have been transported. I would normally be thrilled that they are located away from us, but it seems they are growing rapidly, and it's only a matter of time before they find us, if they haven't already, which is why we need to be prepared for a full assault." He said, a grim look on his face as he spoke.
Lewis could tell that this was bad, but he also didn't quite see what Laurence expected him to do about it. But with that thought came the realization that he had unknowingly become some sort of underling for Laurence. He suddenly wondered what he was doing here, listening to this guy. Sure, he wanted to help out, which was why he had saved those two from the orcs and escorted them back in the first place, then agreed to save the other captured people since he was in the best position to accomplish the task, but now that that was done, he had no reason to stick around. Besides, he wanted to get back to Patch and the others to make sure they are okay.
It seemed that Laurence's charismatic and naturally born leader personality had lured him back into the same pattern of subservience he had tried so hard to escape until now.
Releasing a deep sigh, Lewis stopped standing before the table like he was some sort of soldier giving a report and moved over to the opposite end of the table Laurance was sitting at, were a rather plump man was sitting, his level still at 1, so clearly not a fighter, but probably some former noble or some guy that had once been in a position of power. Lewis's actions seemed to confuse the gathered people, but their faces turned even more surprised when Lewis placed a hand on the guy's shoulder and gestured for him to get up instead of responding to Laurence's words about the vampire threat.
The plump man only looked up at Lewis with a confused gaze, not speaking another word. Lewis simply lifted the man out of his chair from his shoulder, his 52 points in strength making it as easy as lifting a child. The man's face flushed as he was casually lifted into the air, his splutters of protest turning into a disjointed mess before Lewis simply shook and shushed him, still not even looking at the other people seated at the table, all now seeming utterly lost. The Lycan now looked between him and Laurence, as if wondering why the apparent leader of the human base wasn't intervening with his subordinate. Which was something Lewis wanted to clear up right away. Besides, he was rather impressed with his own strength as he casually placed the plump man down while slowly dragging the now empty chair over to the direct end of the table before sitting down, bringing his eyeline in line with Laurence, who hadn't spoken a word at his actions, simply watching him with a hint of curiosity in his gaze.
The chair was softer than he imagined, the red padding massaging his muscles as he melted into it, finally being able to sit down after all he had been through. He let out a long sigh of contentment before looking around at the gathered faces.
"First of all, I have nothing to do with your little fortress here. I agreed to help out despite the rude welcome and rescued some people that needed help, but that doesn't mean I intend to stay. In fact, I plan to head back to my original group after I'm done here. Consider the elimination of the orcs a favor; I got a lot more out of it than I expected, but that doesn't mean I want to stick around like some sort of guard dog, nor am I particularly sociable. I plan to move on to the next floor soon enough anyway. So you can make all the preparations you want, but I won't be here waiting for vampires to maybe show up. I have my own things to do." He said, his mind no longer as open and friendly about the idea of this place and its leader after realizing the trap of subservience he was being silently pushed into.
His cold tone seemed to surprise even Laurence, who could feel the shift in his attitude compared to his arrival. The experience with the orc shaman had made him irritable, and the sly way the royal knight was casually involving him in his own troubles gave him some bad flashbacks of his past. He had no trouble being with others or fighting in a group, like with Morris and Fiona, but he definitely no longer wanted to stick around here with so many people gathered, and most of them not seeming that interested in getting stronger and fighting either.
"Right, well of course we aren't forcing you to stay. Your help so far has been more than appreciated. You have saved many lives already, but I won't try to keep you here and anchor you down. I was simply hoping that you would lend a hand in our most troublesome situation. After all, only when everyone is at least level 10 can we teleport the fortress to the higher floor of the tutorial. If people aren't strong enough by then, then even if the vampires find us and we are forced to teleport to the second floor to escape, then many people would simply be left behind to die." Laurence replied, his tone still calm as he was clearly attempting to appease Lewis's sense of justice and morality, something that actually pissed him off even more. The man was clearly rather sly and had a talent for sweet-talking people, but Lewis had made up his mind.
He needed to keep getting stronger; those orcs would have killed him if he hadn't had a breakthrough, and he knew that all his enemies would be far stronger by the time the tutorial ended and he was returned to Earth. By then, if he wasn't strong enough to stand by himself, then he would be crushed or forced to serve someone just like he had been forced to his entire life. If he really wanted to live life on his own terms, then he needed to make sure he had such overwhelming power that no one would dare to try and force him to work for them ever again. Be it through threats or manipulative blackmail.
"I'll help you guys with information, but after that, you're on your own." He said, thinking of the dungeon in the goblin den.
"I will send a few people your way with a way to find a dungeon with creatures to hunt and resources to gather. It will greatly help people gain levels and TP." His statement caught all of their attention, even the Lycan staring at him with interest.
Yep, from their faces, it seems like they haven't found the dungeon themselves. Even the system message from the introduction had claimed they were very rare. I'll tell Patch to tell them where it is when I send them this way. Hopefully they're all still okay, but I need to use the dungeon myself to test my skills. Hopefully, I'll get enough points to buy the information I need to fix my unstable spirit technique. Based on everything so far, it will probably be absurdly expensive, like everything else I want answers to.