The Dungeon Core and the basic layout of the dungeon in the Grand Canyon finished forming before they were able to head out with Landon and the company he worked for. They had made better time than expected, so they spent an entire day just walking through the city and exploring the shops. With Aura, in her disguised state, they were a foursome of friends.

  The day after that found them heading past the nearby lake and into the hills.

  The dimensional zone that was near Trinidad housed primarily orcs, though other monsters had been known to appear on occasion. There were other dimensional zones reported on the internet that had orcs. Some of them were stronger than the ones in Trinidad, and some were supposedly weaker.

  If there was one thing Nate had learned in his past life and found it to be true in this one as well, it was that people LOVED to exaggerate on the internet. It didn’t matter if it brought them any sort of benefit. They would still exaggerate how strong or weak the monsters of their dimensional zone were.

  If others struggled to defeat them, then it was because they were ultra-weak, not because the monsters were strong. Or they could go the other direction and say it was because of how strong they were. People couldn’t even remain consistent.

  The information he had spent so much time digging up had proven to be less than useful on many occasions. It helped him to know which monsters were there, but oftentimes, no more. The rest of the information they provided was generally less than accurate, or completely wrong on the power scale.

  It was partially why he had needed to come up with his new method of working with the dungeons.

  That could wait until later though. For the moment, they were exploring the dimensional zone with Landon and the others. The expedition company he worked for was sending out three large trailers attached to extended sleeper cab semis. From what they were told, orc meat tasted a lot like pig. High-quality pig at that. The meat was a huge exporter for the city, all the expedition companies, and other professional hunters there.

  Nate had never known it, but all the bacon he had been enjoying came from the Trinidad processing facilities.

  The team they were shadowing wasn’t doing anything different from normal. They were running one of their normal routes and pretty much ignored the presence of the teens and Aura.

  One thing that they had learned was that the company maintained a series of routes that they would hunt and trim in turn. Unlike the dimensional zone they were familiar with, there were fewer wandering monsters at this one outside of the animals that had changed over the years. The orcs tended to come out and then begin to create villages and warbands. Only a few of them remained alone and never joined together with another group.

  As a result, the hunting methods in Trinidad were more active. There was also a lot more transporting of bodies on hand-pulled wagons afterward.

  If they weren’t all cultivators, it would have been backbreaking labor.

  Angie kept her eyes on the leader of their group. The woman was diminutive in size at only five feet in height, but her muscles were compact and held the promise of power within them. What held her attention though, was the companion beast that would roam out, and then come back to stay by her side.

  It looked like a large coyote and contained some intelligence. Nowhere near the level of Aura, who was as smart as a regular person, but it also wasn’t simply a pet either. The method his parents had given him before to bond a companion beast hadn’t mentioned any effects on its intelligence. However, it was only one of many methods, and beasts also became more aware as their realm increased. Either was possible in this case. She was the leader of the group, so she would be stronger, and who knew which method she had used.

  What was drawing Angie’s attention, and after a while Lindsay’s as well, was just how different the coyote acted from Aura. They had always known she was different. Nate hadn’t made too much of an effort in hiding that fact after they had discovered her tails and what she really looked like. However, having an actual baseline and something to compare her against truly made it apparent how different she actually was.

  For the moment at least, her companion was working to keep all the extra animals in the area away from them. Making it so they could pass through the area undisturbed without issue.

  Lindsay had her massive halberd strapped to her back as they walked. Her flechette and throwing darts were attached to the other side of the strap and within easy reach, in case she ever needed to throw them.

  The group was aware of their surroundings but was also taking the chance to relax a little.

  They knew the area, and where the dangers were, and this wasn’t it.

  An hour into their hike, the mood gradually began to shift as the professionals actively began gripping their weapons. There was still a little farther to go before they reached their actual destination. However, they were close enough that the worry of stumbling across wandering warbands was a very real concern.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Which is exactly what happened.

  Aura’s ears perked up, warning them that something was coming. “There are multiple heavy beings coming our way. Their steps are loud on this dry ground and their breathing and grunts are practically thunderous.” She told Nate and the girls, who stopped, their heads looking in the same direction as her own.

  They weren’t going to reveal the fact that Aura could talk to everyone there. Not if they could help it, anyway. However, by stopping and following her eyes, they could act like they were simply familiar with her clues.

  Which in this case worked, in no small part thanks to Anna and Landon, who trusted them and their abilities. The two knew the teens well enough to understand that they wouldn’t play around in those circumstances.

  A few seconds later, the coyote companion began to hear the approaching warband as well. Working quickly, they all split up and took up positions wherever they could find them. This part of Colorado still had a decent number of pine trees, though they weren’t as closely packed as where they lived. They were also thinner.

  It was what they had to work with, and the professional hunters had taken to using camo patterns on their armor. The natural skins and recovered pieces of whatever they were constructed from underlay the more modern methods that held it all together.

  The group collectively held their breath as a warband of seven large orcs stepped into view.

  The coyote beast companion circled around and nipped at the heel of the rearmost orc once they were firmly in view. The massive pig-faced monster squealed in a mix of pain and anger as it wheeled around, its large club already swinging for the ground.

  Its companions laughed at it when it failed to even hit the beast. The club instead impacted the dry ground and sent up a cloud of dirt and debris as a small hole formed around the club’s head. An illegible mix of grunts and squeals came from them as they conversed in their barbaric language. Knowing they were even semi-intelligent made Nate a little conflicted about eating all that bacon he enjoyed.

  Seeing that the warband was sufficiently distracted, Landon and the rest of the group chose that moment to attack. Two of them used light-fast blades to attack up close. Landon with his khopeshs was one of those. Three used medium-range weapons. The leader was among this number. She was wielding a spike-tipped whip that she was using to great efficiency. Flesh was being gouged out, eyes were being ruined, and each snap from its tip caused the orcs to flinch in fear.

  Behind those three were the last three of the group, wielding their bows and crossbows. Anna, at the moment, was acting as a third close-range fighter.

  Even working together, the fight dragged on. The orcs were strong and had naturally dense hides. Anyone who had ever hunted wild boar on Nate’s OE would tell you how dangerous and difficult the activity could be. It was the same here. The orcs just kept on coming, no matter what they did. Each one needed to be worked to the bone until all their blood lay on the ground around them. Only then would they stop moving.

  It took five minutes for the first one to fall to the ground, perhaps not dead, but close enough to it for the moment. The next followed a couple of minutes later, with each of the remaining orcs falling dead over the course of the next ten minutes.

  Each of the adults in the group had injuries and was exhausted, but they had done it.

  “Alright, you know the drill. John, Pierce, put the cart together and run these back to the trailer double time and then come back.” The tiny leader said.

  “You got it, Jen,” The one Nate recognized as Pierce replied.

  The strange packs that everyone in the group had on were removed and their contents spread across the ground. Two light but durable framework handcarts were soon put together and ready for use. The orcs, along with all of their belongings, were carefully stacked on top of them and then tied down.

  Nate had seen a couple of storage rings among the other teams. However, even with a large company like this one, they were rare and costly to get. Those teams had been using them to carry the dissembled carts. The capacity of the rings wasn’t high enough for much more than that.

  John and Pierce took off with their loads, while the rest of them continued onward.

  They moved slower than before. The previous battle had been tough on them, and they were all tired. Orcs were naturally hard enemies to fight, with their thick hides, weight, and strong muscles. Going against one head-to-head was always a losing battle unless you were several realms above it.

  That was why they had to be worn down little by little and practically bled out.

  Thankfully, warbands were relatively rare this far from their actual villages. Encountering lone orcs, or groups of two, perhaps even three, was far more common.

  The coyote who Nate finally heard Jen call Korsiva was great at giving them all a warning before danger arrived. From what he could tell, Jen was using a support skill in order to better communicate with her companion beast. It was one of the methods he had learned about before, but seeing it in action was truly interesting.

  Hours passed, and the three teens and Aura had been doing nothing but watching and learning when they came across a lone orc. Jen glanced back at them, then at Landon and Anna, before waving them closer.

  “Alright, it’s nearly time for us to start heading back. We have a perfect opportunity here to give you some practical experience though, if you want it?”

  The teens shared a look and nodded, Aura joining in with her teeth bared.

  “Good, Landon, Anna, you two stick right with them and make sure nothing happens. We’ll be here in case you need us, but you two are temporarily a part of their party for this fight.” She stepped back so they could hash out a plan.

  “Well, I guess I’ll stick with the crossbow,” Nate said, beginning their quick planning session. “The frontline would be too crowded with yet another striker there.”

  Angela frowned, thinking over her own weapons. “I’ll stay as a striker. My sword might not do much against its thick skin, but it would take me too long to wind up anything with the sling that it would feel.”

  “Uh, I guess I’ll stay in the middle with my halberd, acting as controller.” Lindsay agreed readily, going for her normal position.

  They turned to the two adults, both of whom were equipped with short-range weapons at the moment.

  “Ugh, fine.” Landon rolled his eyes and held out his fist to Anna. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

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