“Cool,” he thought.

  Ben didn’t have much time to admire the aesthetics because he soon came face to face with what was obviously the leader of the tribe.

  An orc warrior sat in a lotus position with his eyes closed, deep in meditation. He wore the same white robes and the same tribal tattoos, but his presence was completely different.

  The orc sat in the middle of a raised arena that looked to be made of clay or mud. It reminded Ben of the platform that sumo wrestlers fought atop. An exclamation point hovered above the chief’s head. Ben read the quest notification as he climbed onto the platform with one big step.

  [Optional Quest: Honor Duel]

  [Quest Rarity: Epic]

  [Difficulty: Extreme]

  [Condition: Defeat the White Tribe Chief in single combat]

  “Are you truly alone?” the orc said.

  The orc spoke without opening his eyes.

  “Well, mostly,” Ben said.

  The orc’s eyes snapped open and bore down on Ben with an intense, hardened gaze. Ben matched it without fear or falter.

  “Your woman does not count. We have seen. We watch. We know where your strength lies. They whisper about you. We receive reports. One man, leading an army of winged children. It is extraordinary.”

  The orc rose from his seated position, excitement etched on his face. He gripped the handle of a sheathed katana on his hip.

  “Don’t underestimate my partner. I’m sure she could solo anyone in your clan any day of the week,” Ben said.

  The orc chief narrowed his eyes.

  “Given your human tricks, I don’t doubt it. You don’t fight with honor,” the orc said.

  Ben raised a brow.

  “Then why invite me to a duel?”

  “Because you seemed different.”

  Ben considered the chief’s words. He inspected his own hand, which glowed with the faint pulse of his summoning magic. The chief sneered.

  “Or maybe I was wrong about you,” he said.

  Ben clenched his fist, extinguishing the glow.

  “No, you weren’t,” Ben said.

  Ben’s body suddenly shined. All his armor faded away. He was left in his starter clothes.

  A large treasure chest appeared out of thin air and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

  “All my tricks,” Ben said.

  Ben kicked the treasure chest off the platform.

  “Your weapon?” the chief asked.

  Ben pointed past the chief. The orc swiveled his head to look at a training rack full of practice weapons.

  “Just give me one of those,” Ben said.

  A large crowd gathered around the arena to bear witness to the fight that was about to happen. One of the warriors grabbed a sword from the training rack and tossed it at Ben’s feet. It was a dull-bladed katana.

  The chief looked at Ben incredulously.

  “You plan to fight me with that?”

  Ben grinned.

  “I plan to kill you with that. I know you won’t surrender, but your death will be honorable.”

  Ben picked up the sword and brandished it confidently. The chief let out a bellowing laugh. His voice carried far, given the otherwise dead silence of the spectators.

  “I admire your courage, tiny one. Or is it simply arrogance? Fine, I will do the same,” the chief said.

  The chief took his hand off the hilt of his katana, but Ben frowned.

  “You would dishonor my warrior’s will by denying me your best?” Ben asked.

  The chief paused.

  “Fighting you as you are would be like fighting a child. It is not honorable,” the chief said.

  Ben scoffed.

  “Afraid you’ll die in shame to a child? That sounds like cowardice to me.”

  The chief gripped the hilt of his blade tightly. Any semblance of friendliness faded away in an instant.

  “Say that again,” the chief said.

  Ben strode forward and looked up at the massive orc defiantly.

  “Coward,” Ben said.

  “Ha!”

  The chief charged with a roar of pure rage. Ben smiled and prepared himself for the first blow.

  Eve noticed a notification suddenly appear in her system window.

  “Drop the Soul Link,” the message read.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Eve hesitated. She looked in the direction of Ben, but she couldn’t see him past the sea of orc warriors guarding the entrance to the White Fang Clan encampment.

  “Are you sure?” she typed.

  “Now!”

  Eve jumped in alarm after reading the message. She quickly dismissed her Soul Link. As soon as she did, something terrifying happened.

  Ben’s health pool was cut in half. She could see it in her system window.

  She couldn’t see what was happening. All she saw was his health slowly dwindling.

  “Are you ok?” she typed.

  No response.

  Ben’s health dropped another five percent.

  Eve panicked. She took out her staff and prepared to charge straight into the orc camp. She was determined to fight her way forward if she had to, even against the troop of orcs standing in front of her.

  Something stopped her. Not an orc, but one of Ben’s cherubs.

  The Cherub Pugilist Master hovered in front of Eve and held out its clawed hand. Its silent command was clear.

  Eve understood. If Ben wanted help, he could have simply summoned his cherubs. They would be much more help than she was on her own.

  Eve watched Ben’s health continue to dwindle. She felt helpless. She trembled and clutched her staff tightly, nibbling on her bottom lip.

  “I have to believe in him.”

  Eve did her best to calm herself. She anxiously watched as his health dwindled tick by tick. When his health reached twenty percent, she closed her eyes and clapped her hands together.

  “Heavenly Father, please protect him.”

  A noise caught Eve's attention. Drums.

  She looked toward the center of the orc camp. All the orcs in front of her turned in that direction as well, but they did not move. Instead, they began to chant harmoniously in a deep, low tone.

  Eve ran up to the nearest orc guard. He made no attempt to stop her.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s over,” the orc said.

  Eve’s eyes widened in shock. She sprinted into the village with no resistance. She didn’t pull up her interface to check Ben’s health. She didn’t dare. She dreaded seeing the icon of death next to his name, signaling his defeat, a painful death, and a crippling loss of progress.

  Eve ran through the village as fast as she could. She was followed by an angelic procession. She didn’t even think about whether the angels would disappear upon Ben’s death.

  The orc village was filled with deep chants. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the center of the village. The closer she got, the more orcs there were, until she couldn’t move forward anymore. She couldn’t see the arena. She was too short.

  She couldn’t shove her way through. She was too weak. They ignored her like an insect. Eve pouted and took out her staff. If she had to take on the entire village to get to him, she would.

  A gentle touch saved her from doing something so drastic.

  Four cherubs descended from the sky. Two presented a hand to her. She looked up at them in surprise and took the hands they offered. Two more grabbed her by the shoulders. They lifted her into the air.

  Eve was amazed. She was carried above the crowd and brought to the raised platform everyone was focused on. There she saw Ben, covered in blood.

  Some of it was Ben’s. Some of it was green and clearly foreign.

  Ben knelt in front of a giant fallen orc. He wielded an exotic katana Eve had never seen before. The blade was embedded in the belly of the fallen orc.

  Eve could see their mouths moving, but she couldn’t hear them over the chanting. The defeated orc wore a contented smile. He rubbed a blood-covered thumb against Ben’s forehead, drawing a pattern across his skin.

  Then the orc fell still

  Eve hardly paid attention to the notification that popped up in her system window. Ben’s disheveled state was all she could focus on.

  Ben stood on shaky legs. He held his ribs with one hand and wielded the katana with the other.

  “Warrior! Warrior! Warrior!”

  The chants were deafening. Eve ignored them. She sprinted forward and reactivated her Soul Link midway, bombarding Ben with healing magic.

  Ben turned to face Eve as his wounds closed. He grinned in satisfaction.

  Eve arrived and hugged him. More than that, she frantically inspected him.

  “Are you ok?” she typed.

  Ben answered not with words, but with exhaustion. He slumped against her. Eve was caught off guard by his sudden weight but managed to hold him up.

  “I’m…good,” he whispered weakly into her ear.

  Eve brought up her interface to check his status. She healed him to full health, but another bar below his health meter blinked red.

  His fatigue was maxed out. Something healing couldn’t fix.

  Eve pouted and typed in annoyance.

  “Reckless.”

  Ben released a tired chuckle.

  “Yeah, a little. I really underestimated how much things change after level ten, when the training wheels come off,” he said.

  Eve understood exactly how Ben felt. After she hit level ten, everything became harder. Every action drained more stamina, more mana. Level ten signaled the end of Eternity’s hidden tutorial phase.

  While Eve struggled to support Ben, one of the orc elders approached. He walked with a wooden staff, though it seemed he didn’t truly need it.

  “Honorable warrior, you have defeated our chief in noble combat. Allow us the proper customary rituals to celebrate the occasion,” the elder said.

  Ben did his best to stand straight as Eve steadied him. She produced a stamina potion, but Ben waved it away.

  “That won’t do anything. My Fatigue is maxed out. The only thing that will help is time,” Ben said.

  Eve’s eyes widened. She had forgotten that aspect of the game. Eternity really was brutal.

  Ben shifted his gaze to the elder.

  “Remember, I have no intention of leading your tribe. I’m an adventurer. I need to go out into the world and show it my strength,” Ben said.

  The elder nodded.

  “Of course. We will respect that. For now, we invite you to rest here. Consider any camp of the White Fang Clan your home. While you rest, we will prepare everything so you may be on your way without delay,” the elder said.

  Ben raised a brow, then nodded.

  “Right. Lead the way,” Ben said.

  Ben and Eve followed the elder to a large tent that was lavish by orc standards. It was decorated with exotic weapons, oversized but refined furniture, and a bed that was surprisingly comfortable to sit on.

  Ben flopped onto the bed. Eve watched from the side. The elder stood at the entrance.

  “Thirty minutes. Then we will have everything prepared and see you off with a proper reward,” the elder said.

  Ben replied with his eyes closed, waving a hand.

  When the elder left, Ben chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Eve typed.

  Ben opened his eyes halfway to read her message.

  “Eternity. This game really wants us to log out and take care of our real bodies. I guess we’ve been playing for about half a day. Now even the NPCs modify their actions and dialogue based on our fatigue,” he said.

  Eve’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought of it that way. The environment was so real, the orcs so real, it was easy to forget they were playing a game.

  “Oh,” she typed.

  Ben rolled onto his side to face her.

  “Alright, let’s take a break. We could both use a quick cleanup and some food. Let’s meet back in forty-five minutes. When we return, our fatigue should be reset and we should get a rest bonus,” Ben said.

  “That sounds good to me,” she typed.

  “Before you go,” Ben said.

  Eve looked at him curiously.

  Ben patted the spot beside him on the bed.

  “Your rest bonus increases if you lie in a bed,” he said.

  Eve’s face burned bright red. Ben chuckled and rolled onto his side, turning his back to her.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

  Eve hesitated for only a moment before climbing onto the bed. The orcish bed was large enough for there to be plenty of space between them.

  “See you soon, Eve.”

  “See you soon,” she typed.

  Ben disappeared from the bed. An anchor icon appeared where his body had been, tethering him to that spot for when he logged back in.

  Eve stared at the place where Ben had been. She reached out and brushed the fabric. It was still warm.

  Her hand lingered for a few intimate moments before she finally logged out.