The market square was empty. Stalls were packed up and closed, the merchandise back in the houses of the merchants. Of course. It was night. There were plenty of people, however. Nobody was sleeping tonight. Some were packing to leave town in a hurry. Some were sharpening sticks into makeshift spears. Some were nailing planks over the windows and doors of their house. It was a solemn, grim atmosphere.

  Zig, Hepp, and Gretta asked around, and eventually found a merchant that sold torchwax. It was fairly common stuff. A kind of tar that coated a stick, and turned it into a torch that would burn brightly for an hour or two. Zig still had a jar from when they entered the goblin mines. It had given him an idea. He needed more though. Much more. Fortunately, Lancre used torches all over the place, so there was plenty. They told the merchant their plan, and he gave them several barrels of the stuff for free. He also knew another merchant that sold torchwax, and that man gave them a few barrels also. They found two more merchants after that, and took all the stock they could carry. They borrowed a small handcart and loaded it with the stuff. Zig took some of the wax and greased the wheels of the cart as much as he could, to stop it from making any sound.

  Around the town, people were making preparations. There was a steady bustle, and a number of scouts and soldiers were going to and fro between Lancre and the nearby forest. Nobody noticed a group of three wheeling a cart into the woods.

  Hepp guided them through the forest. His eagle eye ring wasn't exactly night vision, but it was a lot better than the other two had. They crept forward, trying to spy out the enemy camp. It wasn't too difficult, the army took up a lot of space. Tiny cooking fires dotted the dark woods, each having a dozen people around it. About 30 fires? Zig tried to do the math in his head.

  "Three, maybe four hundred" Hepp whispered. Not the thousand that a scout was telling everyone back in Lancre. Still enough that they'd be able to fight past the walls. Still enough that they'd be killing people in their homes.

  "Ho! What are you doing out there? Get behind the sentry line."

  Zig froze and his heart was pounding as an enemy sentry walked toward them. They'd been spotted. The sentry wasn't raising an alarm though. Instead, he seemed annoyed at the adventurers.

  "If everyone wants a sneak peek we'll get spotted. Do you want to raid a village or a fortified deathtrap? Ugh. I'm surrounded by incompetence. How did—"

  An arrow went through his throat, and he collapsed. Hepp dashed forward, grabbed the soldier's body and dragged it away from the enemy camp. Hopefully it wouldn't be missed. They dragged it to a hopefully safe distance away and covered it with leaves and branches.

  "Let's not do that again." Zig whispered to the others. They nodded.

  Zig looked around and pointed to a tree that was half fallen. It was dead, but instead of falling to the ground it was stuck in the branches of another tree. That was a good place to start. Hepp started dumping out a pile of torchwax underneath the dead tree, along with branches and leaves and anything flammable he could find. Zig helped out a little, but he wanted to keep his involvement to a minimum. Gretta didn't have Hepp's eyesight, but he directed her to gather the wood and make piles ready to go. They built up the pile high. With the torchwax at the bottom, it was a bonfire needing just a spark. They didn't linger. There were many, many more piles to make.

  It took most of the night. They had to move in stealth, not sure who was seeing or listening in the forest. Eventually, they had the camp surrounded in a very wide ring. Gretta stood by the first pile they'd made. She held out a flint and struck it a few times with a piece of steel. Sparks sprayed out and landed on the torchwax. Fire spread over the wax, burning merrily away, and for a moment it looked like just another cozy fire. Zig was carrying a bundle of arrows all dipped in torchwax. He lit one of them on Gretta's fire, then used it to light a second arrow, which he passed to Hepp. Hepp nodded to Zig, took the arrow and fired it from his bow. The tiny light sped through the forest, almost going out as it flickered through the air. It landed on another pile of torchwax and branches. The fire spread. Hepp and Zig were already running through the forest to light the others. Hepp was fast, with his bow and his eyesight in the dark. Zig was just the pack mule, not lighting a single thing, but always having the next flaming arrow ready for Hepp. It took them a while, dashing madly through the woods, but eventually all the fires were lit. They ended up back at the first one that Gretta had lit. It was blazing. The dead tree had caught fire with enthusiasm, and even the living tree it rested against was starting to light up. Resin oozed from the bark, catching fire and burning brightly. On either side, Zig could see other piles spread to the trees they were propped against. No going back now. The team stood back, and watched the growing destruction.

  They had encircled the army, but from far enough away that the fires weren't spotted straight away. They needed time to grow. When two scouts did start to spot fires in one direction, they ran back to base to warn everyone, only to find other scouts coming in with the same message from other directions. The camp was in a panic. Many of the soldiers were fast asleep, and thought they were under attack when they woke to the shouting. They grabbed weapons and looked around, waiting for the enemy to pop out of the trees, but nobody was there. The soldiers huddled together in defensive formations. Their captains would be proud, if there was an actual attack. Nothing came. Word was spreading, but it didn't make sense, every second message was contradicting the previous one. There was a fire in the north. No, the south. They were under attack. They were meant to start their attack. The soldiers hesitated, not knowing what to do. The fires grew. Eventually they decided to attack Lancre. Enough confusion. They started moving through the woods, but stopped when the lights became obviously not a town's torches but a forest fire. The army stared in horror, turned around, and ran in the opposite direction. They got back to the campsite and kept running. Cries of dismay came when they reached another wall of fire. Had they somehow turned around and ended up in the same spot? They ran back to camp, reoriented, and ran out again. There was an ominous smell growing in the woods.

  Huge clouds of smoke billowed into the night sky as the first hints of dawn started getting brighter. A few scouts made it past the flames, and Hepp shot them down. The air grew hot and thick with smoke, and the three adventurers started coughing.

  "I think we should get back to town, Zig."

  "I absolutely agree, Hepp."

  They had been so mesmerized by the forest fire they'd created, they had forgotten that they themselves were in the forest that was catching fire. They ran back to Lancre, coughing as they went, bursting out of the tree line with relief. They joined the worried crowds that had gathered at the edge of town. Faces were grim as people prepared to defend this town with their lives.

  They hadn't yet realized.

  Zig turned around and saw streaks of dawn light hitting the smoke filling the sky and turning a deep red. Other townsfolk saw it and murmured confusion. One of them gasped and whispered.

  "Blood dawn."

  The crowd was silent, watching the crimson colors in the sky deepen. They could smell the smoke now, and some were hurrying away from the forest. Zig stayed to watch.

  "Hepp, I'm not sure how big that forest is."

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

  "It's really big, Zig. I think Gretta and I did a terrible thing tonight."

  "Speak for yourself, Hepp, I know what I did. If I could have burned down the bandits that raided my clan, I would have done it in a heartbeat."

  There was nothing to do but watch.

  They knew when Grimsby's army died. They knew it because they leveled up. Hepp sank to his knees, watching the giant pyre rise higher and higher. Gretta gasped and looked up suddenly. She raised her fist with a whoop.

  "Advanced. I just had a class shift. I'm Advanced now." Gretta lifted her fairly heavy shield like it weighed nothing at all. She waved it around experimentally, and Zig felt the wind from it moving around. There was a slight whooshing sound as she whirled it around. He'd always had a healthy amount of respect for Gretta. Now he eyed that shield warily. The spikes on it glinted as it sailed through the air. It reminded him of Teeth, that nightmare horse. Something about it promised death.

  "Extreme," Hepp whispered. "Not just Advanced. I got Extreme."

  Gretta had helped stack piles, and lit one of them, but Hepp was the one who had set the rest on fire. He'd taken a big share of the credit, it seemed, and skipped the advanced class completely, going from Adept to Extreme. Zig patted him on the shoulder, happy for his advancement. It was bittersweet though.

  "This world encourages insane mass murderers." Zig said to himself. Gretta was right. Better to kill this army than let them kill Lancre's people. But this wasn't an accidental landslide. This was intentionally setting the forest on fire, with a few hundred people inside. Zig's stomach churned. Would Zig have had this idea before he was imprisoned? He definitely wouldn't have back on earth. What was this world turning him into?

  They watched the flames rage and burn, as the sun slowly rose into the sky.

  Lancre waited, but the Grimsby's army never came.

  The fire raged all of that day, and the next. Lancre's people started wrapping cloth around their mouths, to try filter out the smoke. The guards kept watching the forest, holding bells that could signal an attack. Nothing came out of the furnace. Zig, Hepp, and Gretta knew that nothing would. They decided not to tell anyone what they'd done. Something about burning down the countryside felt a little bit illegal, and they didn't want to get in trouble with the authorities. Even if it had saved the town.

  The Red Daggers met back at the Frosted Stag. Hepp and Gretta were tired, but their eyes were shining.

  "I'd like to introduce you to Advanced Gretta." Zig said with a smile to Jints and Lady Jane.

  "Oh! Congratulations, and welcome to the club." Lady Jane said. Jints smiled and shook Gretta's hand, not showing anywhere near the amount of shock and surprise Zig was expecting.

  "Wait, you mean you're Advanced, Lady Jane? You?"

  Zig tried to imagine what horrors the humble lady in front of him had wrought to equal his landslide or the recent forest fire that was still blazing on the edge of town. The lady gave a small smile.

  "Almost every noble is, Zig."

  "How... how?"

  "Money and privilege, I suppose. When I was young, my father would hire a group of hunters to catch all sorts of beasts and hold them down half-dead for me to give the finishing blow. It's nasty business. You don't get any skills out of it, since no skills are used. It does shift your class up though. Cheating, really, but that's nobles for you."

  Zig stared in shock. Only he was allowed to cheat.

  "All the nobles do this? Even you, Jints?"

  Jints inclined his head.

  "It's a right of passage for those with the coin. It means any skills we get will always be three or four times as powerful as the commoner's skills. I sometimes wonder if it's a handicap, though."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Skills are earned through impact on the world, creativity, talent, adversity, and challenge. Learning a new skill at Advanced is more difficult than at Basic, because the adversity and challenge is not there. Say there's an advanced troll, and a Basic adventurer with only two skills kills it. He'll fly through skills and class shifts, since that's such a significant challenge. If an Advanced noblemen slew the troll? He might get a skill. Maybe. And so, we nobles are all gifted and handicapped at the same time."

  Zig gulped, remembering how he got a weapon skill after killing a single rabbit, and in the weeks since the landslide got nothing at all—except for Endurance, which took almost dying to obtain.

  "I think I'm in a bit of a pickle." Zig mumbled. Jints laughed.

  "I'd say that aptly describes your case, mister Zig. Good thing you have your rocks. And, I notice, a new weapon...?"

  Jints nodded towards a dirty, slightly sticky mess of cloth and hardened resin hanging off Zig's belt. The effect was slightly ruined by the delicate cage of brass wires curving over a beautiful hilt poking out of the end of the goblin-crafted scabbard. Zig beamed and drew the rapier, showing it to the team.

  "I'm going to practice with this until I get another weapon proficiency skill. Rocks are..." Zig looked around as if to check no rocks were listening. "...not the fanciest of weapons. I want to be a swordsman."

  "Technically you'd be a duelist, with a rapier. A swordsman wields a wider, thicker blade. That's a good thing though, duelists are held in high regard in noble courts." Jints nodded thoughtfully. "Legendary. I never thought I'd meet one. Mister Zig let me give you my most sincere advice."

  Zig leaned in as Jints spoke.

  "Learn as many skills as you can. It doesn't matter what it is. There is no such thing as a dud skill when it's Legendary."

  "Dud skill?"

  Hepp grimaced and spoke up. "I gotta confess something, Zig. My first skill was Tree Climbing. That's my dud skill. I've walked around with Basic Tree Climbing this whole time. It's my dud skill. Actually I've got two. Digging. Don't ever tell my pa, don't you dare. But now, I guess, I have Extreme Tree Climbing and Extreme Digging."

  Hepp looked out the window, and saw the distant inferno of the forest.

  "I guess I'll need to wait a bit to try the tree climbing."

  Zig loved the idea of squirrel Hepp leaping from tree to tree and burrowing holes in the ground.

  "Hepp that's hilarious. And fantastic. What about you, Gretta? What skills do you have? Any duds that are now Advanced?"

  "My shield bash was already Advanced but now my Weapon proficiency - Shield is also Advanced. As for dud skills..."

  Gretta shifted uncomfortably.

  "Smithing and Prospecting. I hate people asking about it. Just because I'm a dwarf, everybody assumes I'm supposed to be this short blacksmithing, mining, bearded person. The fact that it's all true is infuriating. I haven't touched an anvil or a pickaxe in years. Now that they are Advanced, though... maybe it's worth something."

  "Those aren't dud skills, Gretta. I was hoping for Advanced Nose Picking or something."

  Hepp ducked as Gretta smacked the side of his head. Zig was enjoying learning about so many skills.

  "What about you, Lady Jane? What sort of skills do you have, if you don't mind me asking?"

  "I have a Tailoring skill, just a hobby really, but I liked making my own dresses. I also have Reading and Painting skills. And... one other."

  Lady Jane hesitated as Zig exclaimed.

  "You can get Reading as a skill? I need that. It's so weird to not be able to read anything. Legendary Reading would be amazing. Do I just try to read a lot? Is that it?"

  "I... guess so? I used to read plenty of novels in my youth, I think that's how I got the skill."

  "Huh, so you already could read perfectly before getting the skill? That doesn't seem... useful. What was that last skill you mentioned?"

  Lady Jane arched an eyebrow.

  "Advanced Reading lets me read a page at a glance, and memorize large portions of it. As mister Jints said, don't dismiss any skill at higher levels. The last skill is... Water Affinity."

  "What is that?"

  "I don't know. But I've heard that mages use it. They are very covetous of affinity skills. That's why I want to go to the academy in Liston. I want to learn magic."

  "Lady Jane you didn't tell us you're a budding mage! What other skills are you hiding from us?"

  Zig meant it as a joke, but the lady blushed.

  "I... um... have Advanced Spitting."

  "No."

  "It's true."

  "Seriously?"

  "I was an enthusiastic spitter as a child. I would like to share this with you all as a sign of trust, and I would like us to never discuss it again."

  The team finally decided to sleep, and prepare to head out the next day. Before they did, Zig wanted to share one more thing.

  "This is a secret sign I had with the original Red Daggers. It means somethings wrong."

  Zig touched his two thumbs together.

  "I don't want to be imprisoned again. It might be good for everyone to carry a tiny rock somewhere on their person. And use this sign if something feels off."

  They each promised they would, and said good night. Zig watched them go. Perhaps it was the magical fire, but he felt warm. This world was insane, but he was finding good people. And that made all the difference.