Luke turned in the direction of the growl just in time for something four-legged to lunge out of a bush straight at him. It was about the size of a large dog and crashed into him with enough force to throw both of them to the ground. Weird jaws snapped in Luke's face, and saliva dribbled out of its maw.

  He got his legs under it and heaved, pushing the monster away despite its surprising weight. Rolling, he got to his feet and blinked at the weirdness of it. Long fur covered its body like that of a dog, except it didn't have a proper face. It was just like a worm without eyes or ears, just a large mouth with several lines of small teeth.

  Inspected Monster: Wyrg. Level 4.

  It saw him somehow despite being eyeless, because as he stepped to the side, the thing followed, keeping Luke in front of it.

  "What the hell is a Wyrg?" Luke asked, holding out his staff, while Nate circled behind it, sword in hand.

  The knight stabbed forward but the monster danced to the side and charged Luke again. This time, Luke was ready for it. Rather than try to hit it with the staff, he leveled it, keeping the butt pointed at the Wyrg. It didn't flinch before lunging again, and Luke pointed the staff at its open maw. A good three decimeters of his weapon disappeared down its gullet, and the Wyrg wrenched the quarterstaff out of his hands. It didn't matter, because the staff slammed to the ground and got stuck, the Wyrg impaling itself.

  It let out a garbled whine and stopped, trying to back away. Nate was there and chopped at the back of its neck, opening a deep wound in its neck that spewed blood when he wrenched the weapon free. The Wyrg shuddered before collapsing to the ground, dead.

  Luke pulled his weapon from the monster. The wood was slick with blood and saliva, and he whacked it through the air and against the ground, trying to get some of it off.

  More growls sounded nearby.

  "I think we should go," Luke said.

  Nate looked in the direction of the growls and nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to face a pack of those things."

  Hurrying down the path, they had soon descended far enough into the forest to have tree trunks on both sides as far as they could see. The forest was beautiful, with white flowers dotting the ground and bushes in bloom, a scent of spring filling the air.

  "Do you think we're the only ones left?" Luke asked.

  Nate pointed. "No. What's that?"

  A light pink glow far off in the distance drew the eye, only hints of it visible through the forest. Luke craned his neck and shook his head. "No way to tell from here. We should get closer," he said.

  It took a good long while to walk through the forest toward the light pink glow. At first, they didn't speak, but then Nate cleared his throat. "So, what made you touch the orb?"

  "Didn't have much going for me," Luke said, looking from the glow to Nate. "What about you?"

  "Wasn't doing too great either," Nate admitted. "Figured this would be a chance for something new. It was either this or another deployment."

  "Military?" Luke asked.

  Nate looked ahead and nodded. "Used to be."

  "Did you hurt your head? In the service?" Luke asked.

  Nate looked at him. "No, why?"

  Luke racked his brain, trying to come up with a good way to break the news. "What about sports? Boxing, maybe?"

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "I was on my way to becoming a professional footballer," Nate said, narrowing his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

  "I sensed something in you."

  Nate raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

  "It's your skull," Luke began, pointing at Nate's head. "There are some fine linear fractures. Healed now, but they tell me you have sustained repeated head trauma. Couldn't help but get a sense of that brain of yours, too. It's... damaged."

  Nate walked in silence for a moment and nodded. "I began experiencing headaches, first when playing and then all the time. My parents didn't have health insurance, and before I realized something might be wrong, I'd been absent so much I was cut from the team, so there was no way for me to get an X-ray."

  "That's awful," Luke said.

  Nate eyed him. "It wasn't great. I had some issues with aggression and impulse control, still do, which is how I found my way to the military. They take just about anyone. And I kept in line." He turned to look ahead, speaking in a soft voice. "Is this something you can heal?"

  "Like I said, the fractures are fine now. There are few established methods to help with brain damage. Time and rehab."

  "So, there is nothing that can be done?" Nate asked.

  "There's nothing I can do just yet," Luke said. "But there's research. This class, Lifeweaver, is well suited for these sorts of injuries, I think. Also, try being healed by someone else, too. That might work, or even taking a health potion."

  "Tried a potion," Nate said, without looking back.

  "I'll look into it," Luke said, trying his best to sound confident. "And besides, I think it's mild, not like what Alan has, or had, depending on what happens when you die here."

  "Yeah," Nate chuckled. "I'll be counting my blessings."

  Luke held out Alan's card and a pen he'd brought from home. "Give me your number, and I'll text you when I find something."

  Nate took them and wrote his number down. "You're a good dude, Luke."

  Luke's face flushed, and he put the card away once Nate handed it back. "If we get separated and you meet Nina, tell her to take it easy."

  "Oh?" Nate said, raising an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

  "She's pregnant."

  That set Nate off laughing, and Luke joined in. It almost felt normal for a moment, but then the sounds of fighting reached them. The pink glow was close now.

  They ran, following the sounds of combat, and soon found themselves in a clearing, where they found the source of the pink glow. A rend in the air, in roughly the shape of an oval, made for some sort of gateway. The shimmering pink was the opening, and it showed a street beyond, just a normal city street. That had to be the tutorial dungeon's exit.

  For a brief moment, Luke wanted to charge ahead, but he thought better of it. Around the gateway, a horde of goblins fought against other Integrated. Luke spotted several groups. Some had to be as large as 20 or 30 people, while others fought in groups or even pairs. A few fought alone.

  Spells were going off everywhere, exploding goblins, turning them to ice, or melting the flesh from their bones. In the distance, he saw lightning crackle and throw monsters into the air, only charred husks remaining. The goblins were putting up a fight, but it was obvious they were outmatched despite their larger numbers.

  Luke pointed to the right, where two guys and a girl were fighting at the edge of the clearing. A second girl was prone on the ground behind them.

  "We should go to them," Luke said.

  "Yeah," Nate agreed. "If we try to hack our way through this on our own, there's no way we'll make it."

  They skirted the clearing and came up behind the group as they fought off a large contingent of knife-wielding goblins.

  A guy in his early twenties with brown hair and a sorry excuse for a mustache, wearing what looked like a blood-stained karate outfit, was fighting off the goblins with nothing more than his fists. Next to him stood a girl in perhaps her late teens. She wore a tight-fitting workout top and leggings, and rather than punching the goblins, she waved her hands around, like she was casting spells, except Luke didn't see any spells.

  Inspected Integrated: Daniel. Brawler. Level 4.

  Inspected Integrated: Triss. Hexer. Level 3.

  The third person in their group, a red-headed guy a little older than the others, stood behind the two of them, his hands glowing white. At first, Luke thought he was a healer, but then realized Sean provided some sort of barrier. Each time the goblins struck out with their little knives, the blades were met with glowing white shields, stopping the attack.

  Inspected Integrated: Sean. Warden. Level 4.

  "Hey!" Luke shouted. "Can we join you guys?"

  "Just get over here and fight!" Daniel growled.

  Nate took place beside him while Luke hurried over to the prone girl behind him. Blood flecked her face and a white T-shirt. She stirred and grunted as if in pain, but her eyes were closed.

  Inspected Integrated: Tiffany. Aurist. Level 4.

  "You're a healer?" Triss asked, hope shining in a pair of light blue eyes.

  "I am," Luke said, getting down to his knees beside the woman. "What happened to her?"

  Rather than wait for an answer, he put his hands on her leg and arm, allowing his threads of mana to search through her body, finding the right side of her ribcage crushed. Three broken ribs, and one of them had punctured her lung. A grievous injury.

  Luke would have to work fast.