Path of the Ogre: Berserker

Ogre opened his eyes to golden light shining in a powder blue sky far above him. He blinked slowly and breathed in deep. The dog smelled old stone, dust, and the scent of many beasts, the new atop the old in too many layers to count. He turned his head to the right following the path that the freshest scent took. Bright green grass tickled his muzzle as he spied a tall shape standing in an open field nearby. Ogre sat up placing a paw to his temple and rubbing his head to clear it of the fog that filled his memory. How did I get here? He noted the flowers of yellow ringed by white petals, some with violet hues, pink, and red with spots of orange that went from petal to stem. Ogre felt his brow scrunch against the slope of his forehead. I do not understand. He should have been choking on their perfume. All he could smell now was a feline. Strange.

It was tall and male, with dark, almond-shaped eyes in a sleek head, golden fur with small chocolate spots, and a cream brown throat. Curiously, its studded leather armour, coat, greaves, gloves, and boots were the same color as the spots, a deep dark brown with polished silver for the metal bits. The matching colors of fur and gear made it seem as if the armour stained the beast.

“You are, awake yesss?” Said the Feline, “I am called, Tulron for Low Earsss, such as yourself. What do you call yourself, dog?”

Ogre felt his lip curl, bearing an upper fang that must have been thicker than Tulron’s wrist. He could not help it, it was instinct. His hackles rose and he slowly got to his footpaws, but he edged back. The creature’s shape said that it was a runner, like a wolf but sleeker. All cats possessed a  wicked quickness regardless of their shape but this one just looked fast. Dare the dog turn tail? Could he hope to get away?

“I will not tolerate, insult, dog, I gave you my name, what is yoursss?”

Its head is so small so the bite should be weak. It is lithe…Yet…It smells so powerful! I have a strong feeling that if I try to fight, that it will kill me with ease. I cannot beat it and I do not think I can outrun it. Ogre hesitated before speaking. I need to be careful. Since It speaks so oddly, it’s taking me a while to reason out its words. I do not think I can afford to offend this…cat.

“I am Ogre.”

Tulron’s brows were lowered before, but they rose quickly and a long knife that the dog did not see before flipped expertly through the feline’s right paw before vanishing into a hidden sheath within the creature’s leather armour. Seeing the knife, Ogre stiffened and bent his knees in a fighting stance. Once he saw that his body was preparing to fight and die, Ogre stood up. He could not hope to remember where he learned it from, but it felt right to do it, even if his body did it without consulting with him. Conversely, Tulron was completely at ease.

“You are sssmarter than you look, Oger.”

Tulron rolled Ogre’s name in his mouth as if he were tasting a new sort of meat, a meat from a beast that should not taste well but was surprisingly delicious.

“With a monster head like that, one might think you are a cretin. Thick of head. Ah…excuse my words, I haven’t had the chance to meet many of your low kind, but I have reason to be grateful to you.”

“Where am I? Why am I here? How did I get here?” Asked the dog finally gaining the courage to do so.

“Your wordsss are curt and unbecoming of the truth of your low station, dog, but you do not know our ways, I will excuse your impudence. You are in the Tutorial World Tower, a place that some say is as large as the Dream itself. It is certainly as expansive as the worlds beyond its wallsss, as you can probably see. As for the rest, I am getting to that. First, I wish to congratulate you.”

A high pitch squeal echoed in Ogre’s ears as he fell on his tail, eyes locked on the dark eyes that grew as big as the sky as they were abruptly just a nose’s length away. The feline pressed its face extremely close to Ogre, faster than the dog could have reacted. It terrified Ogre. Excitement and glee, and a smell so powerful that hurt the dog’s nose, far too strong for Ogre to completely discern, filled his senses. Nearly gagging, Ogre tried to swallow his heart. It pulsed sickeningly in his throat. He felt his paw clutch at the front of the tunic covering his front as if to manually push it down back to its proper place. The piteous squealing continued, making the feline’s pupils dilate in predatory instinct, its nostrils flaring as it twitched, fighting excitement and predatory nature.

“You should stop that. I want to be friendsss.”

Ogre’s mouth dropped open, and the squealing stopped, the shame that he was making that noise was swallowed by surprise. The feline was not going to kill him? I can’t believe I stopped myself from attacking. The dog moved before thinking and was grateful that the feline saw it as a weaker animal trying to ward it off from an easy throat bite. I am weaker, surely, I know that this monster can kill me easily. Why am I preparing to fight it?

“You’ve made me soo…rich!” Tulron said.

The feline’s eyes seemed to film with so much adoration that it made Ogre feel even sicker. It was too much. The stench of the creature’s emotions, the threat of death by it, the unfamiliar place and feeling of wrongness burst from him in a howl.

“Why am I HERE?”

The feline blinked. Red flushed Ogre’s nose. As frustration and anger filled him. Then, Tulron drew back and stroked the dagger that was under the breast of his studded leather coat. His frustration slowly bled back to fear. Once again Ogre’s throat tightened as if paws were slowly twisting his windpipe close.

After some time, the feline shrugged, and his toothy grin came back as if it never left. “I suppose it would never work. Feli and Doggos and such. Perhapsss a favor at another time…wait…I have something, perhaps thisss will do? I am a Kiloton Hunter, after all and a Level 350 at that… Great Heroesss or Slayers, or High Adventurersss, would not spurn a favor from one such as I. ”

Ogre’s face started to grow hard. He could not help it. He was confused, his mind was blank save for the storm of emotions and he was now angry. Why couldn’t I pop its head in my jaw like a grape and bite down until it gave me answers? It’s a Cat!

“I will answer your questionsss, Ogre, but first I will warn you. You will mind your scent of bridling, or you will die in any hamlet, village, or town in this Civilized Land. We Feli rule all here, and few are as benevolent asss I. I can taste your bloodlust, settle yourself, before I take offense.” Tulron said, before adding, “Ah yes, you are in the Tutorial World Tower. Many like you come from many different worlds. You come with no memoriesss of a past life save for a few nightmaresss or so. You come to participate in the ceremony of becoming adventurers and perhaps one day, High Heroes of Yore. No queries, until I am done…you will not get it all until it is repeated many times. Just listen for now, doggo. Yesss, adventurers…Ah, I will tell you about the Status Archaia. Open up your Status Mirror, do this like so.”

Tulron closed one eye and abruptly a glowing sheet appeared between them.

Ogre started back but did not run away. The dog blinked slowly, “What…how am I supposed to do that…”

Before he finished speaking a duplicate of the scroll appeared just behind his left eyelid, glowing faintly as he closed one eye. He did not mention that he could see a lot more on his than what Tulron revealed to him.

“You will need to imagine it coming forth, to materialize it, dog. And just in case you seek to hide your status from me, I can see it clearly without your help. I have a skill called ‘Appraisal’ it can see all of your stats.” Tulron chuckled, “Seek not to be duplicitous before me…I am a Feli after all.”

Ogre clenched his jaw and brought his status forward. It reflected the same amount of information that Tulron’s did. The dog gave the feline a quick considering glance form the corner of his eye, but Tulron caught his gaze and smiled slyly. No, I do not think I can hide anything in this world from him. Especially things he knows more about than I do. He knows exactly what is on my…’so-called’ Status!

“You will need to bring it forth like thisss, in order to level up.” Said Tulron, A sharp look stifled the dog’s tongue and forced his mouth close with a clack. “The Tutorial World Tower isss useful in generating potential, dog. A set sum of Tower Levels will determine how powerful you will be able grow in levels. Though soulweight potential is generated elsewhere, this is something you need not know right now. Most cannot absorb this metaphysical massss, and those who can usually do not absorb it in great excessss. The Tower also determines the amount of tribute the Lords, Sovereigns, and Higher Rulers can extract from it. You are a Low Ear, so naturally you will have no right to any loot that you attained in the Tower. Also, all the insight that you accrued in the Tutorial Levels of the Tower will stay in this place.”

Ogre had many questions, that rose and then faded with every new bit of information that Tulron gave him. In the end he saw the logic of not answering questions right away. What was the point of asking about things he could not remember or items that he might have earned? Even if he performed some impossible task or finished a quest of great import what did it matter to him if the spoils went to others. It galled him that the beasts in this land would steal from him so easily and worse tell him that they were doing as if to rub his nose in offal. Still, they are Cats, what would I expect from such cruel, triangle-eared creatures?

“Ah yesss, there is a tax on wisdom and experience, in this great land…Also on soulweight. But as I said you need not worry about sssuch lofty matters…right now.” Tulron said before pausing, and giving Ogre a slow once over. “Your name isss suggestive of strength, and it is reflected in your status. I received a fraction of a fraction the wisdom accrual that you attained in the Tower, and…it…wasss…immense. Far greater than any I have felt before. Your potential may be the closest to endlessss that any hero has ever known. However, Rulersss are of a different sort. They may take a percentage of all insight that you have accrued as you grow stronger, and this applies to every beast that attains wisdom. You will never outpace them Ogre. Heed my warning well, bow before your betters, for their strength is in ages of High Heroes of Yore, of Hunter Slayers, and of Runesworn Adventurers.”

Could this beast read his mind? Could he trace every thought, no every emotion before he had a chance to attach an inkling to them? Ogre’s jaw ached and his paws began to cramp. Slowly he released the fists he had been holding at his sides. His jaw was strong, the teeth hard, the muscles there stayed tight about his head.

“Approach,”

Ogre hesitated for only a moment. There was little help in resisting the beast now. He could barely make out the sums on his and Tulron’s Status Mirror, but his nose was true. He could smell strength wafting from the feline like smoke from a colossal fire.

It did not take much in the way of steps to come close enough for Tulron to reach out and touch him.

“I will not count thisss as the favor owed, for it will benefit me too. However, you must be grateful, thisss is the first time since I became a Kiloton that I have given this honor to anybeast. You are the first ‘dog’ I have seen fit to touch, much less, bless. Still…that…power, wasss intoxicating…

By Honor We of Blood Cover the Weak,

By Obedience, the Weak Strengthens the Strong,

The Godlion Roars His Call,

By Faithfulness, we continue to seek,

By Hunting we remember the Song

And the Godlion watches All,

A Noble’s Right: Shared Wisdom.” Tulron looked Ogre in the eye, “Thisss is no contract of slaves, you will need to accept.”

Ogre knew his answer before he asked his question, but he asked it anyways. “Do you seek to steal this wisdom from me, because I have no true concept of what it means?”

Tulron peered off in the distance, the dog followed his gaze to a tree that could have been many leagues away. Ogre froze as he regarded it. It was massive, so massive that it distorted the distance, throwing off his sense of space and scale. A strange thought circled in his head, but he could not pin it down. It was of a world of gray fog and red cloud. One that that when he blinked, he saw with startling clarity. However, when he blinked again it was gone.

“What was that?”

“…Thisss is an honor,” the Feline said in a low breathy voice; he lifted one brow as if to say ‘well?’. “One that could cost me if othersss of my kind know about it. Accept it and you will see the sort of beast that I am.”

Ogre nodded his massive head.

“How do I…uh…”

Glowing blue runes shaped like claw marks resolved in the print-runes that he understood. The words “Accept” and “Reject” stood next to each other. The moment he thought about accepting the feline’s offer, the word glowed, and the status mirror vanished. Suddenly he felt as if he was plunged in ice cold water, but it was not unpleasant, it gave him a thrill of excitement that seemed to cut through his underlying fear. It was like a deep breath of air after sinking in the sea for hours.

“I felt something…it shot straight through to my bones, what was…was that it?”

“Yesss,” Tulron said. The only indication that he felt the same was a slight widening of his eyes.

Ogre noted it. He found the creature unlike the image he envisioned when he considered most cats. They were mercurial. Showing emotion in only in abrupt fits of violence and giving no real indication of what they were feeling. Felines did show true emotion. It was just so well hidden by a mountain of strange actions and odd smells.

“You will now have a five-fold increase in wisdom accrual. I will receive twenty percent, yesss, but you will have a Fisher’s Net gain of four hundred percent.”

“That sounds like a good thing…I don’t understand. You are a feline, why would you do this?” Ogre asked pulling back.

“I have told you already, you have made me very, very rich…and on top of that, you have made me stronger than I was.” Tulron said, with an impish grin. “I still got the better of that deal. Though, you did receive something that not even an Everhigh can take from you. A gift from the Tower...you needn’t ask me about that…You will find it when you need it, dog. Do you recall my status Mirror? There was a smaller sum above my level with a crossss mark.”

Ogre had the image in mind. “Yes.”

“That is the sum of levels that I will be able to gain. Every level in soulweight rank, allows leveling up to 999. From there a thousand-fold excess of soulweight is needed to ascend to the next level. It can take millennia to reach as high as I will rise with your contribution; even if you were to die right now, not having used the Wisdom Share I bestowed on you. Of course, my work is not over, I will need to hunt monstersss for soulweight. However, if I so choose…I could buy what I need with the jules I’ll get from selling the loot from your Tower Run.”

Ogre disguised his growl as a grunt. The dog knew he failed when he saw Tulron’s broad smile.

“Humility, Ogre…humility will allow you to live long.”

Ogre said nothing.

“It isss time for you to run along, dog,” Said Tulron abruptly, “The group of beastsss that finished before you are already close to the Tree of Cosm…You will receive a classss there. You should consider being a Rogue.”

The dog blinked at the abrupt dismissal. It took several more seconds for his mind to register it and another few seconds for him to act on it. Without another word, Ogre turned stiffly and walked away. The immensity of the place struck him like a bolt of lightning when he was just a few hundred paces from the feline. A tall black wall of closely fitted stone rose as high as a mountain opposite the great tree in the distance. It loomed behind him nearly so tall as if to touch the sky. However, the further he went away from it, the more it was swallowed by the space around it. How did I not see it? Even that giant tree in the middle of the field was invisible to me until the cat looked at it! How could I let myself get so caught in by that beast? Was that creature so terrifying? No…only a fool would turn away from an enemy. And despite what Tulron said, or likely because of a lot of what he said, he is little better than an enemy to me. Plus, it was likely the creature’s strange speech distracted me so, Ogre said, to himself. Ogre peered at the sky. It was a perfect shade of blue, clear, cloudless. The sun which was directly overhead had not moved since he first saw it. Ogre blinked. What had Tulron said about the tower? Didn’t he say that they were inside the tower? Impossible. And yet.

Ogre continued to look at the sky and the sun. He could not smell any earth, no grass, no small creatures save for the beasts leagues distant near a tree that grew even larger than the black wall behind him. It was too much. The scale was insane. The tower had to be many leagues across, a day’s travel, or was it a week? Once again, the sizes of the objects in the place skewed his perception of space and distance. With everything that happened to him since waking in this strange world, it was little wonder that he did not have a chance to ask the most important question that he had. Why did the World Tower choose him? How could it steal beasts and erase their memories, their very identity?

Ogre looked down at himself as he walked. A short blue tunic, coarse and as threadbare as an old sack was the only dress he had. His footpaws, knees, and arms were bare save for a fine short coat of bluish gray fur. His limbs looked strong enough, the lines in them deep enough for a fit animal, the veins seen. He touched his head, feeling the dimensions with both paws. It was monstrous. Ogre looked at his arms, his head was worthy of his name, but his limbs were not, his body is not. I am yet weak…but if what that mange-cursed cat said was true…I can become strong! I’ll make my body fit my head!

Time passed in fits and starts, stretching as he went, then shrinking as he paused. Ogre could not know how long it was even if he were to count his steps. He was tired, almost bone-weary when he reached hailing distance of the other beasts clustered at the Tree of Cosm. The canopy overshadowed him for a long time, hours, days, moments, or heartbeats. The smell of it as he trudged closer was unlike any tree smell, though he could not recall a particular memory of what a tree should smell like. But he knew that it should not smell like fire without ash and smoke, like a night sky wreathed in bands of luminous blues, violets and scarlets. To smell it filled him with an expectation of strength to be had, like meat when growing from pup to juvenile.

A few dozen beasts were pulling food and drink from glowing windows of blue-white; their Status Mirrors. The sight made Ogre aware of the void that dominated his belly. The moment he looked away that feeling of emptiness vanished. The camp looked relatively permanent. The grass under the canopy flatted in the shape of bodies that slept on it, but still green. The beasts in the blue threadbare tunics were fox, Carcajou, Otter, and Weasel. The beast that stood nearest to the tree was a boar. It was a hill of an animal more than three times Ogre’s height, and as wide as it was tall. Four great yellow tusks ran along the sides of a long snout. Shiny steel armour clads it from hooves to chin. A shiny steel morningstar a full pace wide rested on its left, and a pavise with ivory tusks curling from its embossed surface, on its left. The bright chainmail that fell in a shower abouts its hoary face, rasped and clinked as it turned its great head to Ogre.

“Bah, you’ve got a domeplate larger than me own, dog!” The boar said with such volume that Ogre had to stop himself from putting fists in his ears. “And…you’re barely knee high!”

The dog took a step back at the even more vociferous laughter. It was like peals of thunder in a tin bucket. The throat guard must be catching the rolling words and ringing in tune with the boar. The creature stood and abruptly Ogre realized that it was even bigger than he thought, it was a hill rolling towards him, mace held loose in a thick three fingered hand, greatshield slipped on its back. Ogre smelled it keenly, a heady scent of wild musk and pine salt perfume. Its presence felt nearly overwhelming and if it had been the first beast the dog seen then he would have been sure that this was the strongest beast in this world. But this was not the first beast he saw. The boar was powerful, but not nearly as powerful as Tulron.

“The Lord Feli spoke to you for quite a while, dog! What could the likes of you have that might interest his Lordship?” Asked The Boar, before waving a huge gauntlet dismissively at him, “Bah…it doesn’t matter, you are late and so…you will get me short explanation of your place in this world!”

Ogre winced but said nothing as the boar towered over him.

“You will slay greenskins and other monsters. You will lick the boots of your betters, acquire wisdom and experience, level up and feed the power of our Feline Overlords. If you are lucky you may live a comfortable life. Even non-cats may become wealthy if they can mind the laws of this land.” Said the boar, “I am Borhelm Baere Son of Bearhand Bore Son of Baerebore the Pawsome. I’ve been adventuring for nigh 300 years and I have attained the illustrious level of 1000 as a Cataphract. You should be honored to know me as there are few beasts as rare as meself! Now then as for the Classes.”

Ogre ground his teeth before looking the great boar in its beady black eyes. “I am Ogre”-

-“Warrior refers to sword and board, great weapons, and those who work better as solo fighters.” Borhelm rolled right over Ogre with his words, as he strolled around the dog, gesturing with his free gauntlet, eyes to the painted ceiling as vast as the sky of a world. “Fighters are best suited for ranks, like spearmen, guards, legionnaires, and odd-beasts-out like gladiators and martial artists. Projectilist like rifles, pistols, and crossbows. Archers wield longbows and greatbows. If you do range, you must needs, a melee weapon. A long fighting knife is good, or a dueling dagger. A Minstrel sings songs and dance about the field like an empty-headed loon, giving buffs and whatnot. Riders ride, with lances usually. They are likely noble born so don’t even bother if you’re not a cat. Other beasts might try it but It’s not worth the effort unless you know somebeast in high places. Knowing a cat would work. But cats don’t like other cats, and see other beasts as food, worms, or worst. So once again don’t bother unless you’re a cat. Healers heal with soulweight. Clerics heal with words derived from the mythic Oathkeepers and hit things with blunt weapons. Rogues use daggers and stealth and other things that cowards use. Unless they are a feline, in which case the sun shines from their hinde quarters and they can bloody bone use any means to slay yah. Don’t you beasts forget it! Artificers dig in the dirt for old machines. Elementalists can call forth fire and lightning. The last two cost the most to join in truth. That is, if you want to join the class guild, you need heaps of gold and more than a smile and a keen word to register with a Hero Faction.”

Ogre sighed as he tried to absorb as much of the torrent of words and noise as he could. Borhelm was loud and irritating, but the dog could not afford to call him out on it. He was in an unfamiliar world with no memory of his past life and a host of new rules that he had to learn in order to survive. Ogre could not afford to be picky on how he got the information. The towering boar stopped before him and snorted blowing out a gust of hot wet wind, that smelled of his stale breath. Ogre rubbed his nose, and breathed out quickly.

“You don’t speak much do you dog? Everybeast else had a ton of questions for me, but you’re like a crypt for quiet.” Borhelm absentmindedly spun the haft of his mace in his thick gauntlets, craping metal on heavy fire-hardened wood. “And you’ve yet to tell me a name…though most beasts say I’m not good with names…faces…I’ve got a calling for faces, I can recall them to a whisker. Though you dogs mostly look the same, just different sizes, all mostly small though. Hmmm…quiet does suit most lowears, less they are spoken to…well, speak dog.”

Ogre opened his mouth and was cut off once again by another tirade of booming words. Long minutes passed before the dog got another opening. “I’m Ogre! How do I level up! How do I get my weapon and armour? and how do I pick a class?”

Borhelm filled his chest as he leaned on his giant mace with both paws, tapping a lustrous sabaton against the grassy knoll as he opened his great tusked mouth. Ogre’s yell stopped the boar for only a moment. However, the dog could not help but feel a certain level of satisfaction at that feat.

“Well…It seems you’ve got a pair of lungs to match that stone-holder you call a head. What was it…Yes Ogie…Took you long enough, I’m no cat…obviously, but my class is high enough above yours that I can slay you for taking so long to answer me, and with just a slap on the ole forehoof.” Said the boar, “Ah yes, your questions…uh Ogbor. When you slay a beast, monster, or foe you will receive a fraction of wisdom and experience up to one percent of said foe’s lifetime insight. Insight is a combination of wisdom and experience; wisdom at a rate of a hundred to one, and experience at ten times that. When you reach a specific threshold for leveling you will receive a message that explains that you can level up. Be careful with this. Try not to level up too fast or too often. You should already have weapons and armour from the tutorial levels you went through earlier, at the very least you should have figured out how to put the weapons into your inventory and call it back out again. However, when you receive your class you may acquire weapons then. Most have them fall right in their paws. Others, have them placed in their inventory. You can pick your class at the base of the tree. We had to wait for all the surviving participants in the Tutorial World Tower to show up before you all can begin. Are you ready to stop wasting our time now…O-beer? If so we can go to the Hall of Class Archetypes where you can pick your classes.”

“It’s Ogre,” the dog said to himself, as the boar turned away from him and to the base of the sprawling tree that stretched above them for what seemed like leagues.

Light streamed from the canopy in patchwork patterns that shifted in a breeze that Ogre could not feel. Even as he looked up bending backward to deal with the immensity of the thing and trying to spy the canopy at the top, he saw that the green mass overhead did not move. There was no wind, so it should not have been surprising, but the shifting patterns confused the dog. The trunk of the tree was so wide that it easily took up the dog’s line of sight when he faced it, almost seeming to curve in towards the dog as Ogre swept his gaze back and forth. The roots alone, which were like strands of hair in comparison to the glassy blue green trunk, were thick enough to rest castles upon it with room to spare. It was worse than impossible. It seemed too large to exist even in the vast interior of the tower. The boar approached the group of beasts waving his gauntlets to indicate that he was ready to show them their class choices. Ogre abruptly thought about what Borhelm said. He said, I should already have weapons and that I should have already figured out how to use my inventory. It must be Tulron’s fault. He showed me the status mirror, but he didn’t really explain how to put things in it or take things from it. Did he explain it to the others? Wait why was Borhelm surprised that I spoke to the feli? Maybe the other beasts did not get the chance? Maybe, he was there to greet them as Tulron was there to meet me? Either way that cat has not given me enough information, a beast would think that Borhelm with that ever-open mouth might expertly fill me in on the things that I missed. Ogre hesitantly made his way over to the other beasts, sniffing the air experimentally, trying to get a whiff of their temperaments. Almost everything he said was useful, but there is so much here that I must learn, I need to find a beast that I can ask directly.

Borhelm already managed to get the other beasts to their footpaws and on their way just as Ogre entered their makeshift camp. The boar clanked over to space in the jumble of towering roots that looked different from the mass about them. Roots rose above them in a vaulted ceiling, leaving bare grass beside a path of flagstones that lead into the tangle. A soft blue light spilled from the great space making the shade of the canopy beyond seem darker. As the group with Borhelm approached the glowing space the fox separated from them and waited for Ogre to draw close. Most of what he could smell of the group was old blood, much of it odd as if from creatures he did not know and some blood from animals like themselves. There was scent of expectation, excitement, and a hunger for power that stabbed into his nose like needles. The fox smelled sly, a scent that was both hopeful and filled with despair, a scent of complete ease and fear that made him want to swallow. It grew strong and then weak before vanishing almost so completely that Ogre thought he imagined it.

The fox was tall, at least an ear or so taller than Ogre, but he was not so wide as the dog. He had a black muzzle, paws and ears and short red fur with white on the neck and chest mostly hidden by the same tunic that Ogre had.

“What level are you?” The creature asked him. When the dog took too long to respond, he spoke again, too quickly. “…Good, don’t tell anybeast what level you are…you won’t have much choice with higher leveled adventurers with the appraisal skill, but it will only help you to be careful.”

Ogre raised a brow at the fox before a question suddenly occurred to him. “Do you remember anything?”

The fox hesitated, but the only indicator of surprise was a slight widening of its large almond shaped eyes. He obviously did not expect the question. “I do not recall anything before the tutorial levels and I’m sure the others do not also, though I would not recommend you ask them. They may find some way to manipulate the fact that you have less information than they.”

“I…” This fox is too keen on telling how dubious the beasts here are…I need to be careful. “I usually don’t speak this long without exchanging names…I’m Ogre…wait, you recall what happened in your tutorial levels?”

“Of course,” A scent of slyness, this time like rancid butter covered in honey, flared and died in Ogre’s nose.

He knows I do not know, but I can’t worry about that…I need some answers, maybe he’ll slip up trying to win me over? “What can you tell me about the tutorial, do you really already have weapons and armour? If so, why aren’t you wearing any of it?”

The fox smiled. “We should be friends maybe we can form a team and I can fill you in as best as I can, Ogre.”

Ogre paused, “What do you want in return…for your knowledge?”

“Once we form a team, we’ll get the ability to designate a leader, give me that post I’ll make sure to take care of you Ogre.” Said the fox, “We canines are considered the lowest of the low in this land. Sticking together is the key to survival. I don’t want to upset you but it dangerous here, beyond the ridiculously powerful Tower Guardians, the other beasts here are not shy about killing. More beasts made it through the tutorial levels than what you see here.”

“What are you saying, fox?”

“Please call me Lam,” Said the fox, “This place, this world, these worlds are not straight-forward. There are many beasts who are hiding things and willing to do almost anything to improve their lot in life. However, more than that we are not simple adventurers. Are you aware of our true purpose here?”

The dog went still, “what do you mean? I was told that we all come from different worlds to become heroes and increase the power of our so-called Masters.”

“That is the simple answer, power is important here. However, there is a lot more to it. They are seeking those who can become High Heroes of Yore.”

“Yes…I was told. They seek them to make the cats more powerful.”

“Be careful how you refer to them, dog!” Lam snapped, “It’s not just geopolitical or simply based on caste. It’s about the World-Eater.”

Ogre scrunched up his face, “Who or what is the World-Eater?”

“It’s the reason why I can become a great friend to you, I know things that you do not.” Said the fox holding up an outstretched paw.

Ogre stretched his fore paw out to take Lam’s, before thinking. The fox jerked back, as if struck then scowled, before smoothing his angular face. “Sorry about that, Ogre. I’m a little jumpy. So will you join with me?”

Ogre looked at the fox. Then he stepped back, shaking his head, “I’m sorry, but you did tell me to be careful.”

Lam’s face tightened, but the smile that came to his face seemed easy. “You are free to do as you like, but I can tell you are strong, I can smell it. The others are likely between level 1-10. Though one or two might be as high as level 20.

The fox paused as if considering whether or not he should tell Ogre something, “I like you, Ogre. Even if you don’t want to be friends, I like you and I don’t want you to die. So, I’ll give you this information. They’re going to try to kill you and take what you have.”