Rex and I climbed carefully down the ladder and into the sewers. His mercenaries stood guard over the manhole above us and the rest of my team were off galivanting somewhere in High Rock.

  It was just the two of us, and Panda.

  We reached the bottom with a light splash as rancid sewer water enveloped my boots. You’d have thought I’d have been used to it by now, but the smell still stung my nostrils powerfully.

  Glancing around, I noticed that flaming torches were lit on both sides of the rounded, stone sewer pipe we found ourselves inside. It was a sign of life, most likely.

  I set off carefully down the pipe, following the torches as they led us deep below the city. Rex followed behind me dutifully and silently, Panda sitting on his shoulders.

  He had never been one for foul smelling odours and grime: truly a bear of luxury.

  “Looks like someone’s been down here recently,” Panda remarked as we ventured onward.

  “Let’s just hope they give us a warm welcome,” I replied.

  We trekked through the sewer for a short while until I began to hear a rushing sound coming from ahead of us. It bounced around the stone walls, a cacophony of noise which almost reminded me of a flushing toilet – not that I’d seen one of those in a while.

  Sensing no imminent danger, we continued on until the piping system opened up into a cistern. Bright daylight attacked my eyes and I realised were stood in an opening at the edge of the mountain peak which this side of High Rock was built onto. Looking out across the expansive crevasse below, I could see the underside of the bridge we’d crossed earlier.

  Sewer water flowed effortlessly to the edge of the cistern and out into the crevasse, a waterfall of piss and shit.

  I guess that explains the noise, I thought.

  “W-who’re you!” A nervous-looking man in thick armour plating called out to us.

  I turned in his direction and saw a large group of dirty women and children in ripped clothing. They were all human and their retinue of guards seemed jumpy.

  “We’re adventurers,” I replied in a measured tone. “Are you the residents of this place?”

  “We were,” he replied, spitting on the floor. “Until those foul dog fuckers ransacked our town.”

  He shot Rex a heated, murderous, but also fearful, look. The lycanid seemed to ignore it, along with his insult.

  “It’s your lucky day then,” I said, opening my hands in a gesture of good will. “We’ve already sorted that problem and my friend’s pack are already hard at work fixing the town for you.”

  He looked doubtful, as did the general tone of the murmuring which came from the citizens behind him. Someone lit up a torch, walking towards the guard, and through the light I could see that there were hundreds of people crammed into the back of the cistern.

  The torch wielder whispered in the man’s ear and he unsheathed his sword fumbling on the sheath, which ruined any chance he had of looking intimidating.

  “How can we trust you?” He asked, “g-give me one good reason not to g-gut you where you stand.”

  “You don’t have to trust me if you don’t want to,” I replied. “But you can’t stay down here forever. A sewer is no place to raise children.” I shot a poignant look at the groups of kids hugging their mother’s legs behind the wannabe soldier.

  He raised his sword and pointed it at me, taking a two-handed grip and pulling one of his legs back. He was obviously trained in melee combat, he likely had a skill for it, but he quivered nervously as he adopted his position.

  “You don’t want to do that,” I said threateningly. “I don’t want to hurt you but if I’m forced to defend myself you’ll die a most painful death.”

  It wasn’t a lie. My acid was an atrocious way to die and thanks to my acidic dhampir weapons skill I had no control over it. A single cut from any weapon I was holding and he’d melt alive.

  “I-I have to,” he stammered. “It’s my duty.”

  “Is it your duty to die fighting those that would help you, whelp?” Rex butted in and the man’s eyes flicked to him, lighting up with fear.

  “My life would be ample forfeit for the protection of my people.”

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  “A noble sentiment,” I said, trying to calm my voice. “I too would die for those I love, but this is needless. We just want to help you, but if you’d rather rot in the sewers we’ll leave you to your fate.”

  “NO!” The young man screamed, “y-you can’t leave. You’ll t-tell them where we are.”

  “There is no they,” I snapped, “only us and we all know where you are anyway. Stop being a stupid prick and put that sword down before you hurt yourself.”

  As I reached the end of my sentence I noticed a change in the man’s demeanour. It seemed I’d pushed him too far. I knew that look. He was determined to fight us. Idiot.

  With a girlish scream he charged towards me. I equipped my daggers and prepared to defend myself, raising them in a crossed style.

  “Stop!” A female voice called out and the man immediately dropped to one knee, lowering his sword.

  A woman stepped out from within the torchlight and approached me. She was clad in fancy armour and wore two rapiers on her hips. Her hair was pulled back in a fancy braid and two handmaidens flanked her.

  Despite her fierce-looking attire, she couldn’t have been older than twenty. In this world, that likely meant that she was a much lower level than me.

  “I am Duchess Margot of High Rock, acting ruler of this town,” she said in a powerful and commanding voice, though I detected a slight quiver mixed in amongst all the bravado. “Sir Adventurer, if you are telling the truth then please escort me and my people back to safety.”

  “Call me Kaleb,” I said with a grin. “I’d be happy to, My Lady, all I ever wanted to do was help your people.”

  She nodded curtly and offered me her arm. I took it, though it felt odd to enact such propriety in a sewer of all places.

  Her fingers trembled as they clutched my forearm and I found myself respecting her all the more. She was obviously terrified of me and Rex, but she stood up anyway. I wondered if it was to protect that idiot who’d tried to fight us, though the thought vanished quickly as she began to speak again.

  “What has become of my father?” She asked, adopting that same commanding tone again, though it was noticeably softer this time.

  “I don’t know,” I replied honestly, “we haven’t found many people topside… just a lot of bodies.”

  She winced and I closed my mouth.

  “Why did you help us? How did you help us?” She asked.

  “Because a scared little girl asked me to,” I replied, flashing her a warm smile. “And we killed the leader of the mercenaries, then Rex here turned white, and now he’s in charge. He’s commanded them to repair the damage and help out the townsfolk as much as they can.”

  Margot looked across at Rex wearily and he flashed her a fangy smile. She winced again, then corrected her posture and spoke once more as we continued our lovely stroll through the sewer pipes.

  “Well then, on behalf of High Rock and the Confederation of Castalor, I thank you. We are in your debt.”

  “Don’t mention it,” I said. “I’ve always been partial to the odd side quest or two.”

  She gave me a quizzical look but didn’t comment any further and I noticed a satisfying quest notification in my HUD.

  Quest Completed:

  Blood Brothers

  Upon reaching High Rock you have found the fortress under pillage and on fire – just another day at the office right?

  Objective(s):

  Help the girl’s mum 1/1

  Discover what has happened to the residents of High Rock 1/1

  Deal with the broken shield mercenaries 1/1

  Hidden Objective(s):

  Rescue the Duchess 1/1

  Rewards: x1 level’s worth of exp

  Hidden Objective Bonus: Double the previous reward.

  Did I gain two levels from this? I thought. Why can’t more quests reward me exp? I’d be gold rank in no time!

  I quickly added both lots of free points into vitality just as I had done the previous time. A nagging part of my brain wanted to upgrade intelligence since it wasn’t even in the triple figures yet whilst my strength stat was almost at 1000. However, I was still weary of the fights to come once we reached the capital city and everyone dwarfed me in power. So vitality it was.

  The Duchess tugged on my armour slightly and I exited out of my HUD window and realised we were approaching the ladder leading out of the sewers. She looked up at the light, covered her eyes with her free arm and the looked towards me.

  “Do you need a hand?” I asked as courteously as I could.

  “Of course not!” She snapped, blushing slightly, “though I would be most grateful if you would go first… in case there’s danger.”

  I nodded with an easy smile and climbed up the ladder. Margot followed, looking uneasy as she spotted the Broken Sheild mercenaries standing guard over the manhole, but resigned to her fate, she allowed me to lead her into the town square nearby.

  “See, I told you there was nothing to worry about,” I said.

  “So you did,” she replied in a measured but still slightly nervous tone. “Thank you for rendering your services to us adventurer.”

  “Kaleb.”

  “Adventurer Kaleb. I thought we’d be trapped in that sewer forever. As it is, our standing military seems to have been completely wiped out. We have a lot of work to do. We’re utterly defenceless.”

  “I’m sure Rex will lend you his people for as long as you need,” I replied.

  Rex nodded as he walked towards us, clearly having overheard our conversation.

  “It would be my pleasure,” he said in a charming, baritone voice that hid the usual growling I’d become accustomed to.

  “Thank you,” the Duchess replied. “Though I’m afraid that my people may not be so open to the introduction of lycanids in positions of power as I am. How do you feel about become honorary knights of High Rock? I’m sure that would ease public opinion in the interim.”

  “Rex, a knight?” I asked laughing and holding my stomach. Decorum be damned, the idea of Rex riding gallantly into battle on a noble steed had me in stitches.

  “Yes,” Margot replied in a measured tone. “And of course, you yourself Adventurer Kaleb.”

  I looked towards the Duchess with wide eyes and Rex burst out laughing as well.