"He's for our commander!" The words spread in the air.
Karg, the orc, didn't roar anymore.
The low, grinding sound that emanated from his chest was far more terrifying. His dark eyes shifted from Ryan to Kee.
"Goblin-bitch gives orders to Karg?" he rumbled, taking a single, earth-shaking step forward.
The other goblin overseers shrank back, their spears suddenly looking like twigs.
Kee, emboldened by her loyalty to the Commander and the authority it implied, stood her ground, though her knuckles were white on Ryan's chain.
"The Commander's claim is first! This human is in our pack!"
"Your Commander," Karg spat on the ground, "is not here. I am."
At incredible speed, Karg's free hand shot out.
He didn't aim for Ryan; he went for Kee.
The crack of the impact was horrifying. Kee was pulled off her feet, a spray of spit and blood splattering through the torchlight as she crashed into a mining cart.
She slumped, motionless, her yellow eyes wide and unseeing.
A collective flinch ran through the goblins.
'Ah, fuck.'
"Here comes the meat," Karg stated, as if discussing the weather. He reached for Ryan's chain.
But a new voice cut through the silence, sharp as a shard of ice. "You overstepped, Karg."
From a tunnel opposite the entrance, she emerged.
[Insight Activated - High Danger!]
[Target: Mira, Goblin Commander]
[Strength: 95]
[Agility: 110]
[Stamina: 80]
[Disposition: Icy Fury. Pride wounded. Territory challenged.]
[Hidden Weakness: Overconfidence in agility vs. raw power.]
Mira was not large, but she carried herself with a lethal grace the other goblins lacked.
She wore scavenged leather armour fitted to her form, and in her hands were two wickedly curved, sharp daggers that glinted with a faint green glow.
Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes screamed in anger.
"The human is mine," Mira said, her voice deadly calm. "You broke my warriors. It's time for you to leave. Now."
Karg let out a wet, ugly chuckle. "Little knife-queen gives orders? I taste you, take the meat, and your underlings."
Mira moved quickly, no longer listening.
One moment she was at the tunnel end, the next she was moving past Karg's blind side, her daggers aiming not for his thick hide, but at his knee and the back of his ankle—precise strikes.
Karg roared, swinging his massive axe in a wide, incredible arc.
It was slow, but the force of it created a wind that snuffed out the nearest torch. Mira was already gone, leaping off the wall to score a shallow cut across his shoulder.
The poison sizzled against his skin, but his bulk seemed to ignore it.
It was Mira's speed and precision against Karg's overwhelming, immovable power. She was winning the exchange, hitting him with a dozen shallow, burning wounds.
But Karg only grew angrier and more reckless.
He stopped trying to hit her directly and began destroying the environment, smashing carts, shattering rocks, and collapsing the ground to limit her movement.
Ryan watched, his mind screaming.
This was his chance. While they fought, while all eyes were on the duel.
The shackles.
He stumbled to the ground, his bound hands searching for a sharp piece of stone or a fractured axe head.
His fingers closed around a slender, pointed shard of dark stone.
"You annoy like a fly!" Karg bellowed and changed tactics. He feinted another wild swing, then, with surprising agility, kicked a shattered box full of stones directly into Mira's predicted path.
She tried to twist away, but the wood clipped her leg, breaking her perfect rhythm for a single, fatal second.
That was all Karg needed. He dropped his axe, lunged forward, and his massive hand closed around Mira's torso, lifting her clean off the ground. Her daggers scratched uselessly against his wood-like fingers.
"Now I crush the little queen," Karg grinned, his tusk glinting. He began to squeeze.
Mira's eyes bulged. A strangled gasp escaped her lips. The sound of her armour creaking under the pressure was horrifying.
Ryan saw it then. On Mira's belt, dangling from a loop beside an empty sheath, was a small iron key.
The Commander's key.
To his shackles? To every cage here?
The System quest, Survive the Night, pulsed in his vision. This wasn't just endurance. Survival meant changing the balance of power.
Saving Mira wasn't mercy; it was necessity. She was the only one who had momentarily stopped the orc. If she died, he was Karg's property, bound for the breeding warrens.
His body moved before his mind could protest. He wasn't a hero. He was a desperate animal with a plan.
Ryan didn't charge. He ran toward the wall where Luka was cowering, her spear dropped on the ground. He snatched it up—a crude but heavy thing with a chipped stone point.
"Hey, Karg!" Ryan yelled, his voice raw.
Karg's head swivelled, his grip on Mira loosening a fraction in surprise.
A human shouting at him?
Ryan didn't throw the spear at the orc's impenetrable chest. He remembered the Insight regarding the shackles: A sharp impact at a 45-degree angle.
He wasn't aiming for Karg.
With all his meagre strength, Ryan hurled the spear not at the orc but at the ground directly between Karg's widespread feet, targeting a specific rock.
The stone spearhead struck the rock at a shallow angle with a loud crack and shattered.
The force and the precise impact sent a sharp, spinning shard of stone whistling upward.
Karg flinched, expecting an attack on his body. The stone shard, however, pinged harmlessly off his thigh.
But it was enough. The sudden movement, the unexpected attack from the ignored slave, made his hand jerk open just enough.
Mira, despite her agony, was a warrior. She took control of the situation and stabbed him with her daggers.
Karg roared in pain and flung Mira away. She hit the cavern wall and slid down, leaving a dark smear, but she was alive, gasping, her eyes blazing with fury and something else—stunned recognition—as they locked onto Ryan.
The orc clutched his arm and looked around him.
He was wounded, poisoned, and outnumbered.
With a final, ground-shaking roar of pure frustration, Karg snatched up his axe. "This is not over, goblin-filth! The War-Chief will hear of this!" He turned and lumbered heavily back into the tunnel, his footsteps fading into ominous echoes.
Every goblin eye in the mine was now fixed on Ryan. He slowly dropped the broken spear.
The Survive the Night quest marker in his vision flickered and turned to gold.
[Quest Complete: Survive the Night.]
[Reward: 50 System Points. Title: 'Opportunist' unlocked.]
[New Title: Opportunist – Slight increase to critical strike chance when exploiting enemy weaknesses.]
But the real reward was more immediate. Mira pushed herself up, wincing.
She stared at him, her expression unreadable. She limped forward, each step deliberate, and stopped inches from him, the scent of blood filling his senses.
Her clawed hand rose. Ryan forced himself not to flinch.
She didn't strike him. Her fingers went to her belt and took the small iron key. With a deliberate click, she unlocked the heavy shackles from his wrists.
The cold, cursed weight fell away, clattering to the stone floor.
The sensation of freedom was so profound that it made him dizzy.
[Hidden Sub-Quest Unlocked: 'The Commander's Gratitude']
[Type: Sensitive / Bonding]
[Objective: Utilise your unique position and human attributes to 'pleasure' the Commander. Soothe her pain, distract her mind, and secure her personal favour through intimate service.]
[Mechanic: Physical intimacy and emotional manipulation of a dominant, wounded humanoid target can create a profound bond, potentially allowing for the transfer of skills or knowledge.]
[Possible Rewards:
- Skill Theft/Sharing: Chance to temporarily or permanently acquire a low-level version of a skill Mira possesses (e.g., 'Dagger Proficiency (Basic)', 'Goblin-Tongue Tactics', 'Low-Light Acuity').
- Faction Reputation: 'Mira's Pet/Favourite' status.
- Resource Access: Better food, private quarters, and information.
- Charm Stat Unlock Progression.]