Turns out the Forest God was not as good as Yazid at setting fail-safes. Dodging trees and branches was not that hard, and the zombies no longer chased them. Axel thought the zombies would have collapsed after the forest god died.

They had escaped the forest and now traveled across rolling hills and farmland, looking for civilization. After much discussion they agreed to avoid cities, not wanting to be near the center of events. They still did not know what to do in this world. Yazid wanted them to be a force that did not have any loyalty to the gods, to help people without asking for permission.

“Is that smoke?” Rayner said.

“Yes, I can smell it from here. Let’s go around it,” Axel said.

“There could be people in trouble.”

“I know, that’s why we should avoid trouble. Look man, we have done pretty well since coming to this world. We fought a small army, a zombie horde, and watched a god die. Let’s not push our luck.”

“Stay here then.” Frustrated, Rayner ran towards the smoke.

He should have known; he was traveling with a hero. With a deep sigh, he followed after him.

When he caught up with Rayner, he was standing in front of a burnt-out home, a small hut in a little hamlet. Bodies lay strewn on the ground, bodies charred black, hands in the air as if reaching for the heavens. The hut Rayner stood in front of was where they put the children.

Axel put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We need to leave.” Rayner said nothing, letting himself be led away from the morbid scene.

The scene played out again and again as they traveled across the plains. Every hamlet and village they came across had been ravaged. Mutilated bodies hung from trees, villages looted, crops burned. They had seen no survivors.

The Inimi were waging war against the civilian population. Axel remembered his history classes, armies of old did not like pitched battles. Easier to attack the peasants, take what little they had and deny their leaders of income, and their armies of food. Knowing why it was happening didn’t make the horror of it easier to witness.

Axel never considered himself a good person, an OK person, but not a good one. There were other reasons why he got the Thug class. Having parents in debt-slavery got him in as much trouble as them. Axel did not need to be a good person to think this was wrong, and that someone had to do someone.

“We should have seen a town by now,” Rayner said.

“I think we are at the border or a frontier.” He looked around at the farms and hills. “Who wants to live near a forest full of zombies?”

He saw something off in the distance, people. Rayner ran toward them, not waiting for him and without forming a plan. The hero was going to get himself killed and Axel along with him.

As they approached, he realized the people were no threat. It was a woman and two children. She wore a ragged petticoat, her hair covered by a headscarf, her children dressed similarly. The child ran at Rayner, screaming. He was trying to attack him; the mother grabbed him while holding a crying toddler.

“Please forgive us, lords,” the woman said, clutching her children protectively.

“We are not the Inimi, we are here to help,” Rayner said.

“Why did you call us lords?” Axel said.

After taking a moment, and making sure her son would not attack them again, she answered, “I can feel your level, it’s higher than mine. I know my place, lords.”

“Again, we are no—”

“Unfamiliar with the customs of this land,” Axel interrupted. Rayner looked at him confused. He probably thought he liked the idea of a woman calling him lord, and he would be right. The true reason was it would be easier to help people if they believed they had authority.

“I understand, my lords,” she said.

“Tell us what is happening to this land, is there no army to stop the Inimi?”

“A coalition of allied gods and their Worshipers gathered to fight an Inimi army at Grayhaven. Our people have little ability to defend ourselves.”

“Why not?” said Rayner, who now played with the child who attacked him, his experience with kids due to his upbringing in the corporate orphanage shining.

“We want no part in the games of gods. We worship many small gods, who are much weaker. The weaker the god the weaker the Worshiper.”

Could these be the people Yazid wanted them to protect? They lived a life seeking to avoid the larger gods and suffered for it. What really interested him was what she said about his level, others could feel his power. That could be good for avoiding fights, but he imagined it could get the two of them in trouble.

“Do you have a place to go?” Axel said.

“There is a town nearby, with high walls, called Yorkwick. Many worshipers stay there and rest before carrying out tasks.”

“By Worshipers you mean adventurers?” She looked confused. “People who go on missions for citizens. Gaining strength by killing monsters and obtaining treasure. They hang out at a guild.”

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Such an organization sounds wonderful. Worshipers work for their gods or their churches, not for the people!”

“I’m gonna guess that the churches receive a hefty tax to take out troublesome monsters,” Rayner said.

She stared at them with sad tired eyes, her circumstances proof of the lack of protection she got from the Worshipers.

“Well then we need a guide, and you need an escort,” Axel said. “How about it, you coming along?”

Axel knew that Rayner would not leave this woman and her kids behind and he grew tired of wandering around like fools. He wanted to reach civilization.

***

Axel may not have liked his friend’s heroic antics, but his personable nature came in handy in times like this. He handled the refugee woman and children well. Axel picked up from their casual conversation more of what she told them before. Meaning it was more bad news.

Axel now knew why the Coalition army and the Inimi were fighting here. He did not think even the woman knew just how screwed her people were. Stuck in the middle of a proxy war. A religious proxy war, fought by soldiers who did not care about the common people. Mostly because the people of Alta—the country they were in—did not worship as they did.

Looking back at Rayner, he could see his friend trying to stay positive for the children, but he knew his history better than Axel, it would be a hard road ahead.

As for roads, the woman had led them to one. She had avoided it before because that’s how armies travel and she thought it best to stay away. Smart woman. However, they were tired and hungry and the last of their supplies had run out, having been shared with the woman and children. She resisted at first until Axel told her the armies were likely gone. One army died in the Corpsewood forest eaten by zombies, and the other defeated at Grayhaven. Any enemies they would see would be deserters or bandits.

Their group approached the gates of Yorkwick; as the woman said, the town had walls, small ones. Smooth polished earthen walls surrounded a neat little town. Yorkwick had a bleak atmosphere. No people could be seen in the town. With the help of Rayner giving him a lift, he could get over the walls. But the woman warned them off.

“The wall is blessed by the local god, my lords. It expands when more room is needed for homes and raises when enemies lay siege,” she explained.

“Hey, could you let us in!” Rayner yelled.

They could see nobody on guard duty and had been waiting for some time. The town seemed dead. They were losing patience, they were hungry, tired, dirty, and the toddler kept crying.

“There are no bandits or Inimi behind us, you can let us in!” Rayner said, not giving up. “We have a woman and children with us!” Still no response.

Axel lost patience. “Enough of this! Rayner, can your Force Hammer break this gate?”

“No, and I don’t think we should try unless we want to make enemies of the people in town.”

“Now we know why everyone didn’t just flock here first. What do we do now?”

“Forgiveness, my lords, I thought they would take us in.”

“Not your fault,” Axel said. “My guess is that Coalition forces are using the town as a base. Or they don’t want to give us supplies.”

“Or both. I think the Worshipers in there are cowards. Definitely not the adventurers we think of from home. Easy money doing jobs for people who can’t take care of a little goblin themselves, then they cower when real trouble pops up,” Rayner said, pacing back and forth, playing with his hammer. He looked as if he was changing his mind on breaking down the gates, but he was still right. Making enemies is not the goal, and they still could not break it with their strength.

The woman was looking at them with some awe. They spoke casually of laying siege to the town by themselves. “My lords, there is another town nearby, Ridgehill. The hills provide a natural defense, and it is off the path that the armies marched.”

“Off we go then,” said Axel, leaving the unwelcoming town behind them.

***

The hunger began to affect their mana. It was the first time it went down due to something other than the use of their skills. This didn’t even happen when they ran for their lives from the zombies. As his mana dwindled the searing feeling of pain that usually came with losing mana reversed. Instead, a soothing calm came over him.

Rayner had told him much the same. He felt life leaving him through every pore on his body.

They were in dire straits. Worse, Tessa’s toddler got weaker. The mother’s anguished face haunted him. He and Rayner had given the family as much food as they could, but it was not enough. Scavenging through ravaged villages yielded little food.

“Axel…Axel!” Rayner said, getting his attention.

“What? I’m trying to sleep on an empty stomach over here.”

“I hear screams and growls.”

He focused his hearing. “I hear it too, that’s the sound of wolves. They must be attacking people.” If they were lucky, the people had food. If not, they would eat the wolves.

Running to the sounds, they saw what looked to be several families surrounded by wagons, reminding him of those fleeing the attack on Grayhaven. They used the wagons as a barrier while some tried to fight off the wolves. The wolves were large, numerous, and did not scare easily when a member of the group tried to scare them off with fire.

“Axel, you’re the man with the plan. How do we approach this?”

“How much mana do you have left?”

Rayner checked his palm. “10. You?”

“…5. Damn it, we don’t have much to work with.” Would he have to abandon these people? There was a time he would have, but seeing what the Altans were going through, he began to understand why Yazid was desperate enough to summon two teenagers for help. Plus, they needed food, and this was their only chance to get it.

“OK…alright,” Axel said, rubbing his temples. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” Rayner quirked a brow skeptically. “Most of the wolves are to the left of the wagon, only three are on the right, we attack there. They’ll be stuck between us and the wagons.”

“And the other wolves?”

“I will use my Pain Knife on them, with the help of the refugees who are fighting. Get it?”

“Got it.”

“Good,” Axel smiled and charged. Something he found himself doing a lot lately.

The wolves sensed them coming, it did not matter, nothing was going to stop Rayner. The first wolf got a hammer to the head and Rayner’s foot to its skull, ending its life. Damn, his friend lived up to the Title of Barbarian.

Another wolf lunged at Rayner, giving Axel the chance to go after the second. He had to trust Rayner could handle it. Axel could not afford to use a skill, instead letting the wolf bite his arm, or rather the bundles of cloth wrapped around his arm. He let himself fall with the wolf now lying under him, biting into the cloth. Axel drove his knife into the wolf’s face. He had been aiming at its eye, but it turned out hitting where he wanted with a knife wasn’t easy in the midst of a fight.