“Wait,” Jaden snapped. “What are you doing?”

  I bolted forward, running into the opening. The beast’s spikes were thick, so they wouldn’t get through the rib cage. So, I covered my throat and face with one arm, and the stomach and groin with the other. And an awkward block, but I just ran in.

  Takezo ran straight behind me, diminishing his presence.

  The palisade’s insides looked like an orc village, except that it had just a few huts, as if to make the scenery. The centre had its own palisade, which held a platform. A ring of twenty orcs, dressed in the classical medieval orc outfits, weapons mostly axes and hammers.

  The boss, the shaman, I guessed, was in the middle on his own little platform, a gnarled staff in hand.

  But first, the chimera awaited under the second palisade, its head a mixture of a lizard and a bat, its back covered with spikes, its long tail stretched far behind it, covered in blade-like spikes.

  The chimera ducked, aimed its back at me, and I clenched all my muscles, bracing for impact.

  Two spikes hit me in the chest, like two kicks by a horse. They got stopped by my ribs, though the impact knocked the air out of my lungs. I kept running.

  Another spike hit my chest, and one more rammed into my thigh. That one made me lose a step, but I gritted my teeth and ran.

  I reached the beast. It spun, swinging its tail at my side. I didn’t dodge.

  Instead, I ducked a bit into it, which hit me in the upper ribs. When the impact struck, I shifted my weight and caught the tail. I braced the upper tail with my other arm and clenched all my muscles.

  I pulled the ail, using myself as a lever. The inertia from the swipe carried over. In a pseudo judo throw, I threw the beast up over my head, slamming it behind me with its back on the ground.

  Takezo dodged and then instantly jumped onto the beast and swung his black blade. Black lightning exploded from the strike, killing the chimera on the spot.

  I drew in the smell of burnt flesh and, with a wicked grin, pulled the spike from out of my thigh. Jaden and Lana were just running in through the gate while the shaman glared at us from the top.

  “Saw that?” Takezo shouted, looking at Jaden, pointing at me. “That’s what you were supposed to do when I told you to tank it.”

  That made me grin like mad. I pulled the other two spikes from my chest, and it didn’t even hurt.

  Air cracked behind us. I turned towards them, just to see the shaman raising his staff. A pulse of pure energy ripped around the staff, and he swung down. I barely covered my face before it hit the ground in front of me and exploded.

  The explosion threw me back like a rag doll, blinding and deafening me.

  My flight gradually slowed down, to my surprise. When my vision returned, I saw that Lana had caught me with a hand of pure force.

  Takezo had it rougher. The blast threw him straight into Jaden. They had crashed into the palisade and were just picking themselves up.

  Lana’s magical hand put me down and vanished. “Are you two insane?”

  I stabilized on my feet and gasped for air. My lungs refilled, my head didn’t spin, and my ears rang only lightly. “Thanks.” I looked over my shoulder at Takezo. “Don’t let us bother you from your special time with Jaden.”

  “Shut the hell up,” Takezo shouted and jumped up to his feet.

  Jaden got up; his armor bent in a bit. He kept hold of his hammer though.

  A battle cry thundered from the center. The orc warriors jumped down the platform and charged towards us. They had no formation or visible strategy. But they ran fast, had weapons, and looked motivated, shouting in rage, almost frothing at their mouths.

  I stepped out towards them, cracking my neck. Nah, not good enough. I bolted forward and crashed into the first orc straight. He didn’t expect it, so I knocked him aside.

  Using the momentum, I stepped over him and punched at the next one. He was too tall though, so I hit him in the chest. My steel fist dug into his muscle, but didn’t break the bones.

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  We crashed into each other, and two more orcs got to me from the sides. One axe dug into my shoulder, and a heavy hammer hit my back.

  Spells whistled around me, a wild arc of pure force that cleaved apart the orc on the ground and the one with the axe.

  I threw the first orc at me, and ducked just to dodge another axe swinging at me. He hit me with the knee in the face though, jerking my head back, my vision dimming for a second.

  Jaden got to the orcs, hit one with the hammer, and the impact exploded into a blast of massive flame, killing at least two of them. Four other orcs swarmed him, though. Lana cut apart one with her spell, but an orc reached her.

  His axe swung at her neck. Her shield blocked the strike, but the impact still knocked her aside.

  I punched the orc that hit me last, but the one with the hammer hit my leg, disrupting my balance. The punched orc barely stepped back, swinging an axe at me again.

  A blurry strike cut off his arm. Takezo slipped between us, stabbing the orc with the hammer on the side of the chest.

  The shaman shouted something in a weird language, and the orc warriors exploded.

  Even the first explosion threw me in the air. The dead ones exploded too though, blasting us all in the air, sending us flying.

  My ears stopped working, and my vision was blurry. I saw the other three in the air as well. Like launched missiles, we flew over the palisade and landed in the meadow. We rolled over, dirt flying around on each impact.

  I hit a tree, my back cracking, air leaving my lungs.

  Takezo landed next to me, face-planting straight into a root.

  Lana and Jaden ended near us, rammed into the ground around another tree.

  I spat out blood, gasping for air. Fuck.

  My entire body trembled with pain, all senses blinded. I coughed up more blood. Damn it. This hurt bad.

  Not in the way getting stabbed through the body hurts. It was less intense, but all through my body. I tried to move my leg, and it did.

  Hah.

  Every move hurt, but with a quick check, I verified all my limbs moved. I lightly kicked Takezo in the side. “Stop bleeding on my shoes.”

  With a grunt, he rolled over to his back. “It’s not like you paid for them.”

  I snorted, coughing out more blood. Bracing my back against the tree, I pulled myself up into a stand. My head spun, but I didn’t fall. Good.

  I stepped above Takezo. “Need a beauty sleep?”

  “Shut up.” He braced himself against the ground and clawed his way up to his feet. His knees wobbled, he had a blood trail going down from every orifice, but he stood mostly straight.

  I looked at Lana and Jaden. They didn’t seem to be moving. “Do you think they’re alive?”

  Takezo shrugged. “Do I look like a doctor? Best I can do is to finish them off.”

  Well, fuck. I didn’t even know CPR, much less any medical analysis. Lana had some medical gear, probably, but I didn’t know what or how to use. The only thing I could do for them was to finish the dungeon, so we returned into reality, where Mihael could treat them. Or we could call an ambulance. “There’s just one orc left.”

  “Yeah.”

  I stepped forward, heading back towards the palisade.

  “Wait,” Jaden shouted, coughing blood. “We should wait for our mentors.”

  Takezo and I both glanced at him. “We can’t go to Isabella to tell her we stopped before the last orc,” I said. “We would never hear the end of it. And you two need medical attention, which we can’t provide.”

  “Plus,” Takezo added. “One can’t win a woman’s heart with cowardice.”

  Especially not Isabella’s. As I walked, things around my body fit back into place. Every inch still hurt, but I could move.

  Takezo slashed the dirt off his blade and sheathed it. “I’ve got one good swing left in me.”

  “Well, I’ve got zero.”

  He chuckled, and I did as well. I sped up my walk. As the palisade approached, I broke into a run. The first few steps shot blinding pain through me, but then it got better. I ran into the opening.

  The village now looked like a charred wasteland, with the inner palisade being the only thing left standing. The shaman stood on top, turning towards me with a dismissive glare.

  Okay, I had to dodge the first spell.

  He raised the staff, and energy gathered around its tip. This time, it was more concentrated.

  I sped up into a sprint, raising my arms to cover my face in a tight boxer-like stance.

  The shaman lowered the staff, and the energy fired at me.

  I shifted my weight. The energy hit my gauntlets, scattered off, and flew through my left shoulder. It barely missed the bone, but pierced right through my flesh and then through the palisade behind me.

  Pain burst through me, but I reached the palisade. I jumped, caught the ledge, and flung myself up. The inertia helped me roll over and jump to my feet.

  The shaman lowered the staff, aiming at my chest.

  Like a black mist, Takezo blurred from behind me, slid to the shaman’s side, and drew into a slash. His blade boomed through the air, cut the staff, nearly sliced off the shaman’s arm, and cut through his side.

  Not deep enough though.

  The shaman turned, swatting after Takezo with the back of his hand. Takezo lowered his body to dodge, but his legs didn’t move. He got his square in the face and was knocked backward, falling over the platform’s edge.

  I reached the shaman, stepped in close, and struck with my right. The straight punch hit him in the face. The jaw didn’t break, but his head snapped to the side, a couple of teeth flying out.

  He didn’t lose balance though. I followed up with a left hook, but he caught my arm with his. His grip held my gauntlet so strongly that it stopped the arm mid-punch.

  I punched with the right again. He caught the arm too. I shifted my weight and kicked him in the groin.

  His eyes bulged out, his grip loosened, and his legs instinctively closed. I punched him with the straight again, and as it made him step back, I tripped his leg.

  He fell on his back, and I pounced on him, catching his sides with my knees, my torso towering above his. I punched down. He tried to catch my arm, but lacked the speed. The steel fist hit him in the face, the orbital bone breaking.

  I continued with the left punch, and then a continuous rain of punches. Within a moment, I bashed his skull in, demolishing his face and brain.

  He had long ceased moving before I stopped punching.

  I exhaled, only now remembering I was supposed to incapacitate him. Ah, well, next time.

  Ding! A level up. Sweet.