“Company- Halt! And keep in formation!” Mine ordered, "Thakin, Yam, Asharis, Vethra, attention!" “You don’t have to remind us every minute that we have to ‘keep in formation’, Mine. That’s the problem with you humans. You believe you can simply order around every other race all the time,” Asharis hissed back at him. “And that coming from an elf?" Thakin, who could be best described as a beard walking on two feet, mocked her, "ye tree-thumping, waste-of-immortality, knife-ears always think that you're so superior te everyone else's." "Oh, and you think that your cave-dwelling, rock-humping, gold-mongering culture is so refined, dwarf?" "Ah give ya two out of three on. The goblins are the gold-mongers, not us," Thakin clarified. "That's unfair, Thakin. That's just how we are," Vethra remarked. "Do you honestly believe that we can just cease our desire for gold and other dazzling objects? It would be the same as telling a dwarf to stop growing a beard. It would be completely absurd."

"Company HALT!" Mine yelled out, raising his fist. The elf and the dwarf continued on while the orc and the goblin stopped abruptly. Asharis crossed her arms impatiently and turned around as she passed in front of Mine, asking, "What?" She caught a hold and pulled on the collar of the dwarf, who wanted to walk on still. "Let go, yer little..." he swore under his breath. "Listen up," Mine exclaimed, while spreading out a map, "we're almost to the cult's temple, and before we do anything, we need a strategy" "I’Z GOTTA PLAN," Yam yelled out, almost deafening Mine who was standing right beside him. "Ah want to know the orc's scheme," roared Thakin with laughter. Asharis also had a quiet giggle. "It's fantastic that you have a plan, Yam, but is it anything other than killing everything in sight?" Mine asked Yam as he turned to face the orc. "UH....” He thought for a second, “NAH." “That might be Plan C,” the human moaned. Pulling out a map from his backpack and spreading it out

They are here. Hmpf, later than I expected. Opening the door and kneeling with his head down, an acolyte informed me, "They are here." "Why have you barged into my private quarters without knocking first?" I asked. "I apologize. I felt it was urgent to deliver the news," without even the slightest hint of anxiety, he spoke. He truly believed to have a just reason. I drew forward, crouched down opposite him, and spoke into his ears, "but that does not allow you to break basic etiquette, does it?" "Of course not, never. I will do better next time," he promised. I was not mad. Why would I be? I was slighted; I gave an admonishment, and then in return was given an apology and a promise. The world should have operated in this manner, but it didn't. The world was ugly, harsh, and perpetually unfaithful. Things never worked out in the way 'mortal' people wanted them to. Reality bends on the whims of the corrupt and evil. Some would even call me that. They try to label me as evil, t

“Oh, boohoo Orochimaru. Wait, that was supposed to be sad, right? You’re sad? You're the boy and the man in the story, right? Like the new person, slash, creature, which came from the union of two beings, blah, blah, blah. Or have I got this wrong?” an old voice rang. “Who is that?” I looked around. There was a small, gray-haired woman, standing in the middle of the dimly lit room. “Hello,” she waved with her old hand, “name's Asher, but you can call me Miss Burell. Sadly, I was never married, so no Misses Burell, which I think sounds better.” "And how did you get here, Miss Burell?" I humored her. This may be the last day of her old life. "A priest send me, or rather, I sent myself to save these assholes." "...The priest sent you?" After hearing that, I laughed heartily while shedding happy tears. She started over, "I then reflected, ‘Well, they don't necessarily have to fail simply because they don't have the five-man party exactly right or the anime trio.’ Maybe it's a

As the shackles were removed from our party members, some were happier than others and some of them reacted more violently than others. Thakin started shouting in old dwarfish, swearing, and attempting to instigate a fight. It was best if no one understood him, or at the very least, if they pretended not to. But despite being free, nobody was content. Yam could not fully comprehend what was taking place. In his mind, a little fighting started, and then there was none to be had anymore. He was subjected to chains before they were removed. He decided that it would be better to wait until Mine gave him a command, the same as it was since the moment he had met the human. Yam respected Mine for his strength even though he was human. While Mine was physically weaker than Yam, Yam knew that Mine was a war commander. Also, in orc society, being picked to lead them implied that you were among the strongest. Yam hoped that the next order Mine gave him was to engage in battle with the littl