The apocalypse is a side.., p.31
The Apocalypse is a Side Quest: Book One, page 31
Pick one.
“We’ll drown it,” Nathan said. “Every creature needs oxygen, this thing—even with its healing factor—is probably the same.”
Chad gave a quick nod. “Understood. I’ll give you an opening.”
Nathan took a deep breath, a familiar power flooding his veins.
Water flowed in a circle around Nathan. Chad jumped into the air and cut a thick line across the Jungle King’s thigh. It screamed and opened its mouth.
Riptide Grasp (why did he even bother calling it that in his head anymore? He hadn’t used it for its intended use in ages) launched out and shot down the monster’s open throat.
“Someone hit it in the stomach!” Nathan yelled.
Emi thrust her staff and another fireball appeared. It launched out and slammed into the monster’s stomach, searing the flesh.
The Jungle King’s eyes widened.
A sick choking noise echoed from the monster. It scrambled against the walls and rolled along the ground. Its body tumbled around for another minute before it stopped.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Achievement Get: Boss Killer I]
Nathan opened the achievement.
[Boss Killer I]
Congratulations, you’ve proven that no one is safe from your relentless quest for loot and glory—not even those poor bosses who were just minding their own massive health bars.
+10 STR, +10 DEX
A bell chime rang behind them. Nathan turned around.
The pedestal where he’d placed his hand now had a glowing silver cube on top of it.
Nathan approached it, his footsteps slow and careful.
Chad looked at it. “Is that what I think it is?”
The inside of it was translucent, revealing a swirling core of bright energy, like fish swimming through a pond.
[Pandora] - (E+++ Rank)
Congratulations, lucky mortal! You’ve stumbled upon a Pandora! This sleek, rune-covered box is basically the VIP lounge of evolution, and guess what? You’re on the guest list. (Only a hundred made, because scarcity is cool.)
When activated, expect a light show, dramatic wind gusts, and maybe a choir of disembodied voices chanting your name. You’ll feel the power surge through you as your F-Rank existence is turbocharged to E-rank greatness. That’s right—you just went from “meh human” to “slightly less meh human.”
Note: High-tier ascension is immensely painful. Not only that, but it takes hours to complete. It’s highly recommended that you find a safe place to ride out the process.
Best of luck, and don’t die!
A Pandora.
Nathan picked up the cube. “All this trouble for a tiny cube.”
He looked at it a bit longer before he tossed it at Chad. Chad’s arms snapped up and grabbed it. His eyes bugged out.
“What the hell, man? What if I dropped it?!”
“I guess we would’ve had to go find another Pandora?”
“That seems inadvisable,” Bjorn said.
Chad played with the cube in his hands.
“Do we have any idea how to activate it?” Chad asked.
“Maybe you’re supposed to eat it,” Emi said.
Everyone turned toward her.
“What?” she said. “I mean, the way I absorbed the mana stones was by crushing them and putting them in my blood, remember?”
Nathan stared at her arms.
At this very moment, there are tiny chunks of rock floating in her bloodstream.
Chad squinted his eyes at the cube. “So we’d have to crush this thing and then… tip back and swallow? That sounds like a not-good idea.”
“This is a stupid conversation,” Bjorn said.
Before they could continue, a light caught Nathan’s attention. He turned to the side, revealing a glowing blue light shining from the floor.
“What’s that?” Emi said.
Chad blinked. “It’s an escape hatch.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know how many times we have to tell you that this isn’t a game before you believe us.”
“I believe you, but you can’t tell me this wasn’t inspired by dungeon crawler games.”
Nathan looked over at the Pandora. “Should we just use it?”
“If you want to be knocked out for a few hours from raw pain, be my guest.”
After a few seconds, Nathan walked over and stood in the blue light. The rest of the group followed.
The light intensified and a feeling of weightlessness descended on Nathan.
The next thing Nathan knew, he was standing outside, surrounded by trees and grass. He turned around and saw the temple behind him.
“Woah—” Emi almost fell over before catching herself. “That was somewhat disorienting.”
Nathan was about to respond when he paused.
Goosebumps ran down his spine.
“Does something feel off?” he said.
Bjorn tensed and reached into his inventory. “No, but I’ve learned to trust your instincts.”
Everyone cautiously pulled out each of their weapons. Nathan’s eyes darted from left to right.
Then he heard a clapping noise.
His neck snapped over to the right.
“I’ve gotta say, you guys move fast,” a voice called out through the tree line. “I really thought we’d beat you here, but you swept past us.”
“Who’s there?” Nathan said.
“You don’t even recognize me after all the crap you’ve put me through. Typical.”
“Stop hiding.”
A snort.
“Fine.”
Footsteps through the grass echoed out. A man stepped forward. His body was well-defined, his clothes rugged. He had a bald head and a sleazy smile. Behind him trailed a dozen or so other men.
It was his eyes that caught Nathan’s attention. They were cold, dead. They reminded Nathan of a corpse.
“What do you want?” Nathan said.
“I think it’s about what you want,” the man said. “I’ve heard that your orc friend is looking for a few of his pals.”
Bjorn’s back stiffened.
Vince snapped his fingers. An orc was brought out in chains. His body was thin, bones poking out from his chest. His skin was covered in dirt and dry blood. He stared at the ground.
A gasp sounded to Nathan’s right. He turned to look.
“Kason…?” Bjorn said.
The orc on the ground snapped his head up. He stared at Bjorn for a few disbelieving moments.
“Commander?” Kason said.
Nathan looked back and forth between the two.
This just got a whole lot more complicated.
Chapter Forty-One
“So, you’re the brat who killed off so many of my men. You’re shorter than I expected.”
Nathan’s left eye twitched. “I guess that you’re Vince?” Nathan said.
“Correct-a-mundo!” Vince cracked his neck. “Glad to see that you’re not blind. That would’ve made negotiations much harder.”
Bjorn’s hands shook, warhammer equipped. He took a single step forward.
“Ah!” Vince pulled a knife from his inventory and put it against Kason’s neck. “Not a move, buddy, or the orc gets it.”
Bjorn froze in place.
Mara, on the other hand, had no such compunction. Before anyone could react, she pointed her shotgun at Vince and fired off two slugs. A bright flash came from Vince and Nathan instinctively shielded his eyes. Bjorn knocked her shotgun to the side, causing the third shot to go wide.
“What the hell are you doing?!” he shouted.
“Trying to save your orc friend, what do you think—?
The dust cleared away. Vince stood upright, completely unharmed. He smirked. “Did you really think that I’d walk in here without protection?”
Nathan’s eyes darted toward the man’s skin. His tattoos were glowing red.
“A gift, from the Head Hand himself,” Vince said. “Pretty sweet, huh?”
Emi watched with a look of distinct disinterest. Nathan wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“I don’t understand how you even found him,” Nathan said.
Vince laughed. “It was pretty incredible, all things considered,” Vince said. “We just stumbled upon the guy. It was like a gift from the heavens itself.”
“Bullshit,” Chad said. “You just found him?”
“I mean, what’s the alternative explanation? We teleported him in across time and space?” Vince shrugged. “I’m serious. He just showed up in our camp, dropped out of nowhere. It keeps on happening, it’s like something’s helping us out, I swear.”
Nathan glanced at Bjorn from the corner of his eye. Bjorn was sweating. His eyes were wide and unfocused. Nathan looked back at Vince.
“What do you want?” Nathan said.
“I want that little object your friend is holding. I want the Pandora.”
Emi’s head snapped toward Nathan and she shook it quickly. Chad pointed at Emi and mouthed, She’s right.
Nathan looked back at Vince.
Can I beat this guy?
Nathan didn’t think it was overconfident of him to say he could win. The big problem was the hostage.
Bjorn stared at the Pandora.
“Nathan,” he said. “I…”
Emi’s eyes widened. “Bjorn! Don’t you dare!”
Bjorn dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “I’m begging you,” he said. “Please.”
Nathan stared at the Pandora in Chad’s hand. “Bjorn—”
“We will swear a life-debt,” Bjorn said. “Everyone in my squad will owe you. You will possess an elite squad of orc warriors when all of them are located. When he’s fully rehabilitated, Kason alone will be a great asset to you.”
Oh god, he’s really desperate.
Nathan looked over at Kason. “Are you hearing what he’s saying? Do you agree?”
“I hear it.” Kason bowed his head. “If you rescue me, I’ll be in your debt forever.”
Nathan didn’t know what to do. He was starting to regret not eating the Pandora when he had the chance… on the other hand, that might’ve meant Kason would’ve died on the spot. Was the Pandora worth the life of an innocent person?
Well, mostly innocent.
His fingers twitched.
It would be easy to rush in and overwhelm Vince. He’d figure out a way past the barrier, then he’d kill him, rip him to shreds and turn him into another number in Nathan’s body count.
But it would cost Bjorn one of his men.
Damn it.
Could Nathan even trust this guy to carry out his side of the deal?
Of course not. But there was no choice, was there? The best he could do was attack as soon as Kason was safe or dead, whichever came first.
Nathan nodded at Chad. “Throw it.”
“What?!” Chad’s hands tightened around the Pandora. “Are you kidding me? We’re just gonna hand it over?”
“We’ll get it back, I promise. But right now, we’ve got to do this.”
Emi’s jaw clenched. “He’s an orc, Nathan, he’s not worth it.”
“Yes, he is.”
Chad pursed his lips, then nodded.
“I’m trusting you, Nathan.”
He threw it at Vince.
Vince snatched it out of the air and smirked. “Thanks, asshats.”
He kicked Kason in the back and he was thrown forward into Bjorn’s arms. Nathan immediately tensed his legs to jump forward and attack.
Before Nathan even knew what was happening, a barrier appeared in front of him. Nathan pounded his hand against it once, then twice. Each one caused cracks to appear across the blue wall.
Vince reached into his inventory and pulled out a scroll. “Our men had a great deal of time to experiment with magical artifacts in our tutorial. Fun fact, did you know that you can craft magical artifacts with preset abilities? Like, say, a scroll with the ability to teleport?”
Nathan slammed his hand against the barrier again—a flash of light appeared. He shielded his eyes.
The light dimmed; the barrier vanished…
And Vince and his men were gone.
“Well,” Nathan said. “Shit.”
They set up a camp and wrapped Kason’s wounds. The whole time, he kept muttering words of thankfulness. Bjorn had stood watch, his back as straight as an arrow.
Kason took a drink of water and coughed. Overhead, the light of the moon shone down on them.
“So, how’d you end up under that guy’s thumb?” Chad said.
“Are you well?” Bjorn tightened a bandage. “How have you been holding up?”
“Not well,” Kason said.
Nathan took a bite of his fish. “Like what Chad said, how’d you fall in with that bunch? Did you really just fall out of the sky?”
Kason glanced at Nathan. “It was just after the tutorial, Chief.”
Chief?
Kason continued on. “It was hell. There was no food. No water. I barely came out the other end—but I still made it to the first circle. Managed to survive. Made some basic weapons, shelter.”
A flicker of a smile flashed across Bjorn’s face. “Resourceful.”
“You’re the one who trained me, Commander.” Kason coughed. “Anyway, I knew my priorities. I’d try to find you and the rest of our squad, then we’d get to the bottom of the Nine Circles and return home.”
“Then you came across the Harrowed Hand,” Nathan said.
“Not quite,” Kason said. “I… know this’ll sound hard to believe, but…”
Nathan narrowed his eyes. “But what?”
“I was asleep. When I woke up, I’d appeared in their camp. None of them even noticed me until I woke up. It was like I’d just been teleported in.”
“Could it have been a magical artifact?” Nathan said.
Emi—who’d been staring at her fingernails—perked up. “Oh, it’s possible. He might’ve triggered a booby trap of some sort. I’m not sure how that would’ve happened, though. I believe he’s hiding something.”
“I would never!” Kason’s breath came in quickly. “Nathan is my Groz’ur; I owe him my life. To lie to him would be a crime of the highest order.”
The hell is a Groz’ur?
“All right, settle down,” Chad said. “Can you just continue with your story?”
Kason’s shoulders relaxed. The fire crackled.
“Yes.” He stared at the fire. “I ran, but I was still malnourished. They caught up to me with ease and brought me before Vince.”
Bjorn’s fist clenched. “Bastard.”
“I agree,” Kason said. “At first, he was confused. He acted friendly. Said he wanted to figure out who I was, maybe even work with him.”
“What did you say?” Nathan asked.
“I told him the truth. As soon as I mentioned Bjorn’s name, he immediately took me prisoner. Since then, I’ve been his captive for the past few days.”
Bjorn stretched his hand out and patted Kason’s shoulder. “But you are free now. And you have a new chief,” Bjorn said.
“He is small for a chief. But we can fix that.”
Nathan looked at his arm. It was somewhat muscular… but it wasn’t a log like the orcs in front of him.
Do I need to bulk up?
He shook his head.
Wait, I need to keep talking to Kason.
“First of all, what’s up with all this ‘chief’ business?” Nathan said. “Honestly, I didn’t really understand what you guys were talking about.”
“You are my chief and we are your Bonded,” Bjorn said. “What’s so hard to understand?”
“I’m not an orc; I don’t have that context. I mean, what… are you guys, my slaves or something?”
Kason’s head snapped up. “What?! Never!”
Bjorn shook his head.
“We are still free orcs, afforded all our traditional rights,” Bjorn said. “But nonetheless, you are our Groz’ur.”
“Okay, you’re going to have to start from scratch, because I don’t know what you’re talking about. Seriously, what’s Groz’ur?”
Bjorn crossed his arms.
“It seems that the translation magic is unable to understand that word.” He grumbled. “It is essentially the same word as chief, though much of the meaning is lost.”
“We take debts very seriously, Chief,” Kason said. “Very seriously, especially compared to elves.”
“I’m right here,” Emi said.
“I know, and I’m still confused as to why.”
Emi’s eyes bugged out. “Pardon?”
“Anyway,” Kason continued. “When an orc’s life is saved, it is tradition for them to swear themselves to their savior. We become their family—members of their clan.”
“Sorry, did you say family?”
“Yes, Chief,” Bjorn said. “He did. Orc clanmates consider each other family. In the eyes of orc custom and orc law, you are now one of us.”
Emi’s hands shook. “This isn’t very funny.”
Nathan felt like sinking into the ground.
“Like, this is just an honorary thing, right…?” Nathan asked.
“Absolutely not!” Kason leaned forward. “If we were to take you back to our homeland, you would be part of the Imperial Diet, as is your right as a clan leader! You are one of us now!”
“…Diet?”
“Yes, our ruling body.”
Emi stared at Nathan. She chewed on her lip.
“Can I opt out?” Nathan said. “I already have a family.”
“Excellent! More members of the clan.”
All right, guess I have a bunch of orc brothers and sisters now. Sarah is gonna blow a gasket when she finds out about this.
Bjorn stood up abruptly. “We must go through the blood bonding ritual immediately.”
Kason stumbled to his feet as well. “You’re right, Commander.”
Nathan glanced between the two of them.
This is concerning.
Bjorn reached into his inventory and pulled out a knife and a goblet. He grabbed Kason’s hand, extended it under the goblet, then passed him the knife. Kason slashed the knife across his palm, the sharp blade slicing through his flesh, and a bead of crimson blood welled up, dripping down into the goblet.
