I remained still, doing my best to catch my breath and keep the adrenaline in my system rushing. I had leveled up, that meant I’d gotten stronger even if it was just a little. But that didn’t bring me much hope at the moment. I wouldn’t be able to fend off another soldier in my current condition.
Some freed slaves milled in chaos. Some wept openly, clutching at their raw wrists where chains had bitten deep for gods-knew-how-long. Others moved with frantic purpose, stripping weapons and boots from the fallen guards. A few simply stared at me, eyes wide with something between terror and desperate hope. I wasn’t their hero. I was the monster who had painted the rocks red, and right now, that suited me fine.
A fox-eared beastkin woman approached cautiously. Her matted tail flicked behind her, one ear torn halfway off from some past punishment. She carried a scavenged spear, its tip dark with fresh blood. "You... you killed them all. Like it was nothing..."
I stared at her with caution. That hadn’t been words of praise, it was suspicion, and not in the good way. These people had likely been slaves for long, so anything they considered stronger than them instantly spelt danger or enemy to them.
"Not all," I rasped, nodding toward the dark trail where torchlight flickered in the distance. "Some ran. They’ll bring more.."
She spat on Karg’s headless corpse. "Name’s Lira. Was a scout before they took my pack. I’ll fight if you’ll have me."
Before I could respond, an older human man limped over. Gray streaked his beard, and a half-healed brand marked his shoulder. "Call me Garrick. Used to be a sergeant in the Border Legion, before the orcs overran our outpost.
A young girl, no older than fourteen clung to the edge of the group. She was the one the guards had whipped earlier. Her eyes were hollow, but they fixed on me with unnerving intensity. "You saved us," she whispered.
I didn’t correct her. Saving implied intent. I had simply refused to die on my knees.
A blue window pulsed at the edge of my vision, demanding attention. I willed it open while the others gathered what supplies they could.
[System Menu]
[Name:Antoine Freeman]
[Level: 2 (142/200 XP)]
[Race: Human (Reincarnated)]
[Class: None (Unlocked via progression)]
[HP: 67/180 ]
[Stamina: 80/130]
[Attributes:
- Strength: 11
- Agility: 13
- Vitality: 10
- Endurance: 9
- Perception: 12
- Intelligence: 14]
[Attribute Points Available: 5]
[Skills:
- Brutal Strike (Active) – Lv.1 (+30% damage, minor stun chance)]
[Inventory:
- Iron Axe (Crude)
- 14 Copper Coins
- Slave Collar Keys (x12)
- Grimgor Patrol Map (Partial)
- Waterskin (Half-full)]
I didn’t hesitate. This body was still too weak. I poured three points into Strength and two into Agility. The surge hit like a shot of pure adrenaline, muscles tightening, reflexes sharpening. The constant ache in my limbs dulled to a manageable throb. Good enough for now.
A new notification appeared as I equipped the axe properly.
[Loot Extraction Complete from Karg the Brutal]
[Additional Reward: Minor Healing Potion (x1)]
I downed the bitter liquid immediately. Warmth spread through my veins, closing the worst gashes. Not perfect regeneration, but it would keep me alive.
"Listen up," I called out, voice low but carrying. About twenty-two slaves had survived and chosen to stay for the moment. The rest had already scattered into the night like frightened rabbits. "The fire will draw every patrol within miles. We head off-trail, into the higher ridges. Stay quiet. Follow my lead or fuck off and die on your own. I won’t babysit anyone."
Murmurs rippled through the group, but no one argued. Lira fell in beside me, Garrick took the rear, and the girl, Elara, stayed close to Lira.
We moved fast, wasting a single second could spell death for all of us.
An hour later, and we had barely made any progress. It was dark, and the mountain wind was merciless. Some complained about going back, but majority forged ahead despite not having the strength to travel in such adverse conditions.
It wasn’t long before we all heard it, baying hounds and guttural orc shouts echoing from the burning camp below. Reinforcements had come, and they had come faster than I’d hoped.
"Down!" I hissed.
We pressed into a narrow crevice behind a boulder fall. Torchlight swept the trail we had just left. A larger patrol, about fifteen orcs and two massive war hounds, swept past, heading straight for the flames. One of the orcs, bigger than Karg with a jagged iron crown on his brow, roared orders.
"Find the slave who did this! Lord Grimgor wants his head on a pike by dawn!"
Lira’s ears flattened. Garrick gripped his scavenged sword tighter. I remained still, calculating. We were outnumbered and underequipped, but surprise was still on our side if it came to that.
After the patrol passed, I led the group higher, veering into dense pine thickets where the smoke might mask our scent from the hounds. Exhaustion clawed at everyone, but fear kept them moving. During a brief rest in a shallow cave, Garrick approached.
"What part of the kingdom were you taken? You’re strong..."
"From Harr..." I answered. I still retained this body’s memories, and he had not lived an easy life. Harr was a small kingdom near the mountainous regions. Its inhabitants were mostly farmers, and the mountains had provided some sort of security. But the orcs had managed to find their way there. Raided villages, and had taken any strong male they found.
"Harr...not exactly a place where warriors are trained, is it...?"
This Garrick, he was a man of many words, and he clearly loved interviewing others. "I trained myself...I guess I was just fed up with rage, those bastards destroyed my family and village."
Garrick glared at me, my lies weren’t believable, taking down that many soldiers required more than just personal training and Garrick knew that.
"You must be hella lucky to pull that off...most would have died immediately..."
Lira snorted. "Then we’re lucky. Most slaves get nothing but pain. If you’re building something, count me in. I know these mountains. There’s an old dwarven ruin two days north, abandoned since the Beast Wars. Maybe there’s supplies left behind."
I considered it, empire building. But what exactly could we achieve? We were just a bunch of slaves, we didn’t have money, barely had resources, if we were found right now we’d all be dead. We were just a band of broken people grasping at hope. But then again, I had the system, I could get stronger with time.
In this world humans were at the receiving end of brutality. The beasts war had happened two years ago, beasts had fought humans, and they had emerged victorious. Now Orcs, goblins, dwarves and other beastkin ran the government of the world. Some powerful human kingdoms still remained, but it was only a matter of time before they all fell to the beasts. In this world the humans were clearly in dire need of a miracle.
"Lead the way at first light," I told her.
Elara, who had been quietly watching, suddenly spoke. "The guards... they said Lord Grimgor is preparing for war. Taking slaves for the fighting pits. Something about a human rebellion in the south."
Useful information. I filed it away. A rebellion meant chaos. Chaos meant opportunity.
*****
As dawn painted the peaks in bloody red, we pressed on. My body protested, but the system kept pace. Another minor skirmish broke out when two straggling orc scouts stumbled across our trail. I handled them personally, caving one’s chest with a single axe blow, the other dispatched by a chain-assisted choke before he could scream.
[You have slain Level 3 Orc Scout. +12 XP]
[You have slain Level 2 Orc Tracker. +8 XP]
[Level 2 — 162/200 XP]
The kills were clean and quick. Looting them gave us better cloaks, dried meat, and a second map showing Grimgor’s main stronghold, a fortified valley two weeks’ march east.
By midday, the group was dragging, but we had put solid distance between us and the main hunt. I called a longer rest near a trickling stream. While the others drank and tended wounds, I pulled up the system again.
A new prompt waited.
[Quest Generated: Escape Grimgor’s Reach]
[Objective: Reach safety beyond the Blackspine Mountains or eliminate pursuing forces.]
[Reward: 150 XP, Skill Upgrade Token, Basic Camp Setup Blueprint.]
[Failure: Capture or Death.]
I accepted it without hesitation. We had already made enough progress to decline, it was reward on a gold platter.
Lira joined me at the stream, washing blood from her arms. "You’re planning something bigger than just running, aren’t you?"
I looked out over the jagged horizon, axe resting across my knees. She seemed like the only reasonable person amongst the lots, and I felt she might be useful in the long run.
"Running gets you back in chains again," I said. "And I’m done with running. We find that ruin, we arm ourselves. Then we start taking back what this world thinks belongs to the strong."
A distant horn echoed from the valleys below, more hunters were clearly on our trail. We had rested enough, and I wasted no time gathering the group for our next journey.
As the group prepared to move again, another system notification flashed, brighter than the rest.
[Hidden Condition Met: Leadership Spark]
[New Title Acquired: Breaker of Chains (Beginner)]
[Effect: +10% Intimidation against slavers and their kin. Minor morale boost to followers.]
I allowed myself the ghost of a smile. This was beginning to get good, and this dream of building something didn’t seem like a fairytale anymore.