About 20 minutes later, they were about half a mile outside of town. They could see some flickering flames in the distance around a bend in the road through the sparse tree branches and smell the acrid scent of burning rubber, when Frank let out a hiss and pulled Morgan to a stop and then down into a crouch.

  With a finger on his lips, he motioned to the left side of the road. Then brought his face close and said in a very soft voice, “I hear some of them, at least four, on the side of the road over there. Let’s move closer to the light ahead so it will be easier for me to see, but quietly.”

  Morgan stood up and turned to lead the way. He felt a tug on his backpack as he turned; it was the crowbar hook catching on a strap and being pulled out of Frank’s unready fingers. It swung on the strap, slapping into Morgan’s hip before bouncing off to the side. It struck the ground with a resounding “TING”

  “Shit!” Morgan said, scrambling to pick it up off the road and thrust it into Frank’s hands. This only caused Frank more trouble as he tried to grab it off the road as well.

  Abandoning his attempts at the crowbar, Morgan stood and pulled the axe handle from his belt, hearing the snapping of brush as four creatures made their way to the edge of the road about 200 feet ahead of them, sniffing the air. These creatures were larger than the goblins had been. About four feet tall, they walked hunched over. Large, flat, lizard-like heads with a frill on top and large, extended jaws filled with rows of sharp teeth. They looked like giant bearded dragon lizards.

  They didn't have any weapons and didn’t look like they were wearing anything over their scaly bodies. They had some cuts and scratches, but it didn't seem to affect the way they moved. The scent of unwashed bodies and rotten meat made its way toward Frank and Morgan. It was disgusting.

  Sophia said.

  A second later, as if on cue, they all turned their heads toward Frank and Morgan standing in the middle of the road. One opened its wide jaws to the extreme, showing rows of needle-like teeth, and let out a deep hissing inhale. The others took this as a signal and started charging.

  They were fast but slower than the goblins. As they neared, Morgan lashed out, swinging down with his makeshift club, catching one along the bridge of its wide nose. The unexpected blow to the sprinting creature forced its face down sharply into the ground. One of its claws continued to swipe forward and caught him in the right ankle. Intense pain flared, and he stumbled to that side, off-balance by the backpack. This saved his life, a claw from the second raked the air, so close that it swiped through his hair. The stench was overpowering; the cloying stink of rotten meat was so strong Morgan could taste it in the back of his throat.

  Fighting the urge to vomit, he tripped the rest of the way onto his right side over the claw of the troglodyte he had knocked down. With a heavy thwack, Frank lashed out with his crowbar; the devastating blow dislocated the jaw of the third troglodyte, who had run past Morgan. The first troglodyte that Morgan had knocked down and then tripped over, pulled its arms under itself and began to rise, murder and hunger in its soulless eyes as it stared at Morgan.

  The fourth troglodyte started to run towards them. Swinging the handle from the ground, Morgan again connected with the bridge of the nose of the troglodyte on the ground. There was a swishing noise, and the club went straight through the skull and connected with the pavement.

  Sophia said

  Scrambling to his feet, Morgan got up too late. He looked up just in time for the fourth troglodyte to jab both sets of claws into his chest and stomach at a full run. The troglodyte slammed into Morgan and knocked him off his feet once more, but it jumped backwards as if stung.

  Morgan hit the ground with a violent exhale of all his breath, his backpack and the hard tools inside crushing into his back, the ax handle falling from his numbing fingers. Agony and fire raced through his lungs as he lay on his back, gasping shallow breaths, but couldn’t get any air.

  Sophia said worriedly. His HUD was blinking red.

  He could feel movement in his chest as his broken ribs knit back together. The intense itching also indicated that his skin was healing as well. He rolled onto his side, coughing up globs of blood from his lacerated lungs, trying to get air back into his body. He saw the sharp part of the crowbar slamming into the head of the second troglodyte, and it died. The first lay dead. The third was off to the side, trying in vain to fix his broken jaw. The fourth stood between Morgan and Frank.

  It looked at Frank, slowly licking Morgan’s blood off one of his sharp claws with a long, slender tongue. It then flexed its claws open, sending splatters of blood to the ground, and attacked Frank.

  Frank threw up a hand and cried out, “Barrier!” A thin glimmering haze appeared around him. The troglodyte claws struck it and skittered across the surface. It relentlessly bit with its massive jaws and swung three or four times before Morgan was able to get back to his feet and grab the axe handle.

  A swing from Frank was ridiculously slow, possibly from the barrier spell, but it distracted the troglodyte long enough for Morgan to bring the axe handle down in a heavy two-handed blow to the back of its head. The blow to the head seemed to off-balance and disorient the creature as it dropped to a bony knee. The barrier around Frank collapsed with a loud popping noise, and he lashed out with the pointed end of the crowbar, killing the kneeling troglodyte.

  Frank collapsed, taking in heavy breaths of the foul air, and immediately began vomiting. The third troglodyte raced towards Frank’s unprotected back. Morgan stepped into the path, swinging like he was trying to hit a home run. He hit the charging troglodyte’s arm, and it lost its balance and tumbled to the ground. Before it could recover, Morgan began slamming the club into it over and over. He swung a dozen or so times before strong hands grabbed his wrists on an upswing. Frank’s face was close to his, speckles of vomit in his beard, then he heard his loud voice.

  “That’s it, lad. It’s dead. You can stop now. Easy now, that’s a good lad.” When Morgan looked up, he released the hold on Morgan’s wrists, stepping back quickly with his hands in front of him.

  Morgan had blood covering his entire front, from the top of his head to his boots. Only some of it was his own; the crumpled and destroyed corpse of the troglodyte lay unidentifiable in a clump on the road. The axe handle was splintered at the end, and clumps of dangling flesh clung to it. Morgan dropped the club, stumbled three steps, and then began violently vomiting; it had very little to do with the carrion smell of the troglodytes.

  “What had he done? Why had he just kept swinging? I almost died. I should have died!” He thought to himself between heaves of his guts.

  After what felt like ages, he had his gasping breath under control. The taste and smell of vomit filled his senses.

  “Those weren’t goblins. They were troglodytes. They are much worse.”

  Nodding, Frank was finishing putting some gauze from the first aid bag on a cut on his arm. Wrapping it tightly with medical tape, he said, “We should get going as soon as you can. There is still something in the woods over there. It sounds like it is in pain, might be someone from town, or a wild animal.”

  Hands still shaking from the adrenaline and rage he had felt, Morgan stood up, going to wipe his mouth on his sleeve, saw the gore there, and began to dry heave again. After a few seconds, he sat down and opened his backpack. He pulled out an extra shirt, stripped off the one he was wearing, using the back of the shirt to wipe as much off his face and arms as he could, and then tossed it on the road. He pulled on the new shirt and then pulled out a heavy hammer and a wrench, placing the wrench in the belt.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Okay, I need to pull myself together. He thought to himself. Frank and other people in the city need me not to be crazy. I mean, I don’t know what the hell I can do, but I can follow Frank. He knows what he is doing.

  “Ready to go,” Morgan said, standing, his voice much calmer than he felt, or that he should be. He would have just died there if it weren’t for the regeneration.

  The cause of the fire came into view as they neared. A car had driven straight off the road and careened off the welcome sign that said “Maple Creek, Georgia. Home of Corinthian Pharmaceutical. Population 3,000,” before skidding 50 feet, causing deep ruts in the manicured lawn of a small park. The car had been upturned and rested against a large tree, scorched tires and blackened metal underside facing the road, the tree was still burning, but had already burned most of the way.

  A quick inspection showed the wreck had once been a police car. No one was inside, but a few drops of blood were visible. A trail of foot steps and blood, in the freshly disturbed earth, showed the cop had walked back out toward the road. Frank had said the sounds were coming from that direction. Odds are, it might be the cop.

  “Ready, Frank? I am gonna lead us into the woods, we need to see if we can help him.”

  “The sky is starting to lighten. I can see much better now than before. Best to drop our bags here and come back for them. They will only slow us down in the woods. I’ll bring a few aid items just in case.”

  After dropping the bags, they made their way into the woods. There was a small walking trail off the road directly across from the sign. After about 50 feet, the scene of a large battle unfolded. The corpses of goblins, troglodytes, and other smaller reptilian creatures, kobolds according to Sophia, were sprawled out in a brutal, haphazard melee.

  The kobolds look similar to the troglodytes, covered with scales, but were small like the goblins and didn't have the frills on their heads. There was evidence they had been fighting each other. Twelve goblins, ten kobolds, and two troglodytes lay in the carnage. One of the troglodytes was larger, had four frills on its head, and was wearing a leather belt with a sheath and held a simple short sword in its limp hands. It lay dead with 3 small spears in its side and cuts all over its neck and face.

  The noise Frank heard was coming from the other troglodyte, who appeared to also have multiple stab wounds. It was lying against a stone, trying to stop the flow of blood from its neck. It was breathing shallow and quick, barely acknowledging as they entered the clearing.

  Wordlessly and grimly, Morgan walked forward and slammed the hammer into the side of its head. With a sickening thud, the creature shuddered and then went still.

  Sophia asked.

  ::Skill - Common - Mushroom for Improvement - Increases the effectiveness of all mushroom-based potions, elixirs, and food.::

  ::Skill - Common - That’s A-door-able - lets the user open doors without making a sound.::

  “Okay, I guess, how about the door one. I have no real interest in mushroom stew?”

  ::Skill Granted - That’s A-door-able::

  Morgan asked.

  Morgan was feeling better about getting the skills without needing the requirements every time he got a skill.

  While searching the bodies, they found a large collection of small weapons. Two regular-sized javelins, these were wood, about three feet long, with a sharpened metal tip clamped to them, a thick leather belt with a sheath, and a sword. They also found the dead cop under a pile of goblins. He had been shredded by tiny stab wounds. His name was Officer Kennedy. Frank pulled off the officer’s badge before saying, “We don’t have time to bury him now, but we should at least move him closer to the road and away from this place.”

  Morgan fought to keep himself from running away. This was scary. The cop was here, dead. If the cop wasn't able to make it, what chance did he have?

  “You should take the sword and belt. It will be better than the wrench or hammer. We each take a javelin and maybe grab a goblin sword thing as a knife as well. We never know what we are going to see. I thought the goblins would be the worst of it today,” he finished slowly, sadly shaking his head, his knuckles white with strain on the crowbar.

  Morgan realized that although Frank was putting on a brave face to seem like he was fine, all this was weighing heavily on the man. Even if he had been in the military, there was no way it would have prepared him to face creatures from nightmares and fairy tales. Surprisingly, that realization made him feel better about himself and a little more confident. If Frank can be courageous through all this crazy shit, then so can I, he told himself.

  With a start, Morgan said, “There will be zombies too.” Frank looked up suddenly.

  “How do you know that?”

  “One of my skills gave me a kind of virtual assistant lady. Sophia. She told me this phase will have zombies. Later, we could see vampires and stuff too.”

  “This day just keeps getting better.” Frank cursed.

  Sophia instructed.

  Morgan held out his hand. A shimmering, faint blue, mostly transparent woman appeared in his hand. She was about six inches tall and wearing a slim pantsuit.

  “Hello Frank. I am Sophia.” Sophia’s voice came from the air. She gave a slight bow.

  Frank blinked, did a double-take, and then said, “Hello… Sophia. I am glad you are able to help out Morgan here. He is a good lad. Try to keep him out of trouble.” He squinted at her and moved his head from side to side; she rotated with his eyes.

  “I will do that to the best of my ability. My fate is tied to his. It is in my best interest for self-preservation.”

  “Well, at least she’s honest,” Frank barked out with a laugh. “Any other grand omens for the future?”

  “I cannot tell the future. I only have information about future phases.”

  “I didn’t mean… What else can we expect in phase 1 and 2?” Frank added.

  “This phase will contain only the weakest of monsters. Phase two will introduce stronger but still feral creatures like hobgoblins, trolls, orcs. Phase 3 will likely contain elites of these creatures, and vampires and other smarter, dangerous creatures.” Both Frank and Morgan shared concerned looks, but Sophia continued without noticing. “Phase 4 will contain champions. These champions will have groups of minions with them and establish dungeons and ruins for you to conquer for great rewards. Phase 5 will introduce the strongest of monsters. As well as groups from factions wishing to influence your assessment of the good and bad.”

  “Wait, other groups of who?” Frank asked.

  “Groups from factions that either want you to fail or succeed. They spend large amounts of resources to send small groups here to influence the process.”

  “How do we know if they want to help or hurt us?” Morgan said.

  “That will be quickly obvious,” Sophia said… was she grinning at her own joke? What kind of AI was she? “ I cannot maintain this form for long. I am sorry, I must go.” She flashed and was gone.

  “I can still ask her questions if you need,” Morgan offered.

  “No, that is alright. Maybe later. Right now, we need to take care of this and get into town. I can learn more later.”

  Working together, they gathered the officer between them and readied to carry him to the edge of the road. As soon as Morgan grabbed the cop’s arm and made contact with his cool, dead skin, he saw a notification.

  ::Would you like to activate Absorption?::

  “What the hell,” he exclaimed out loud, dropping the arm.

  Frank dropped the cop’s legs and instantly tensed, looking around, raising the crowbar.

  “Sorry, it’s just a notification. Let me work this out for a minute,” Morgan said sheepishly.

  The notification had disappeared when he released the arm. He slowly reached out and touched the cop’s skin, and the notification reappeared.

  he asked.

  Thinking yes, Morgan was surprised by a new notification.

  ::Absorption complete. You gained Human Core Sebastian Kennedy. Contents: One Common. One Rare.

  You gained 1 common token::

  “That was weird. I think I got some skills this guy had.” Morgan pointed at the cop. A small coin-shaped object in his hand.

  “You took skills?” Frank was just as lost as Morgan.

  “I have a skill called Adaptation, I think it let me absorb his skills into this core thing.” Morgan shrugged, baffled.

  “Yeah, wow, that seems super overpowered,” and

  Sophia and Frank said at the same time.

  Steeling himself again for moving the unfortunate cop. They grabbed the body again and this time moved it to the road without any issues. Grabbing his backpack, he adjusted the thick leather belt to make the sword hang more comfortably on his hip. He decided to take off the security guard belt and store it. The old belt only made wearing the leather belt more awkward.

  As dawn started to ignite the sky with reds and yellows, Frank and Morgan walked down the road into town. Bloodied and weary, they walked steadily forward with determination. Frank held his javelin in one hand, the crowbar resting in the hoop on his belt. Morgan, with his new sword belt tight on his waist, held his javelin in both hands.