It really was my old friend Edmund. He was not only alive, but thriving. He’d bulked up with a ton of muscle and there was a confidence in his stride I’d never seen before. His pasty white lab-rat look was gone, replaced by bulging muscles and tanned skin. His blond hair and blue eyes, that had always made him look kind of washed out now gave him the look of a Viking.

  “Ed?” I exclaimed.

  “Lucas! Where did you come from?”

  Laughing, he hauled me off the ground in a bear hug that made me grunt. He’d added a lot to Strength, for sure. When he dropped me back down, Identify kicked in.

  “Edmund Peperell. Baby human level 30. Team Shakespeare. Class: Pitstop Groundskeeper.”

  “Wow, level 30. That’s amazing!”

  Edmund’s grin widened and he chuckled, the sound a deep rumbling. “It’s so good to see you. You look good. And yellow eyes? Wow.”

  “Not as wow as you swallowing a weight lifter.”

  “I got lucky with some early loot and got some earth elemental powers. Helped me bulk up a ton. Where are the others?”

  Just then, Tomas and Jane arrived. They’d followed me and now spotted Edmund too.

  “Ed?” Tomas shouted, barreling in so fast he sent Edmund stumbling. Jane piled on, knocking all three of them to the ground. The earth shook, and a pillar of dirt pushed Edmund upright, carrying the other two along. All of us laughed and talked over each other in our excitement.

  “How have we never seen you?” Tomas exclaimed.

  I wasn’t surprised I hadn’t run into him. I’d been stuck in the mountains hunting most of the time, but Tomas and Jane seemed to know everyone. As we laughed and talked, Ruby, Steve, and the rest of our group joined us and we made introductions all around. Edmund still had a couple members of his team too, and introduced them.

  “Nick Miller. Level 28 baby human. Team Shakespeare. Class: Food Truck Swashbuckler.”

  “Miranda Ramos. Level 25 baby human. Team Shakespeare. Class: Motivational Guru.”

  Nick was a type of rogue swashbuckler and seemed as overly enthusiastic as Cyrus. I got the sense he’d been a gamer nerd back on Earth and getting plopped into the game was like a dream come true. Miranda had been a supporting actress in the movie. Pretty, with big, brown eyes and hair, she had a slight Portuguese accent and had taken a type of healing class. She seemed very nice.

  Tony interjected eventually. “I hate to break up the reunion, but we have work to do.” He didn’t actually sound apologetic, and when he glanced at me, I sensed that he blamed me for the interruption.

  Edmund turned serious in a flash. “Sure thing, boss.”

  He’d mentioned that he’d joined Tony’s inner circle of fighters, and it showed. He’d fallen under Tony’s charismatic spell and looked ready to single-handedly charge the remaining werewolves alone if Tony gave the word.

  We’d have to chat about that at some point. By all means, he should be a part of the elite fighter group, but I worried he was losing his objectivity. Tony had a lot of great leadership qualities, and the town needed leaders. I didn’t want the job, but Edmund’s deep-rooted loyalty seemed over the top.

  Tony started to speak again, but a cold shiver of dread slipped down my spine like Tomas had dumped ice down my back. I knew that feeling and spun to face the barrier. Behind the other gathered werewolves, the Alpha werewolf padded out of the forest.

  The boss werewolf again walked on 2 legs in roughly humanoid form, although his hugely muscled arms were long enough, he could probably drop to all fours and still remain mostly upright like a gorilla. His lupine face was wider than most, giving him a more man-like appearance, and he still radiated that powerful aura I remembered.

  Everyone felt it. Conversations died out as all eyes turned to stare at the approaching Alpha. Identify confirmed my worst fears.

  “Alpha werewolf. Level 58 stage 2 boss. This unstoppable killing machine is as clever as he is vicious. Filled with endless rage, he has sworn a blood oath to save his pack and lead them to greatness.”

  Level 58. That was even worse than I’d feared. Bristleback was only level 50, and he’d been insanely tough. More werewolves followed the Alpha out of the forest until at least 40 of the monsters prowled just beyond the barrier, facing us. They ranged in levels from 35 to 43.

  Burns started barking orders, getting battle teams into formation to face the new threat. Tony and his core of fighters, including Edmund, marched closer to the barrier, and the rest of us followed, flanking them. The werewolves did not attack, but settled onto their haunches, every red eye staring unblinkingly at me.

  I swallowed. I was tough, but that was a lot of werewolves. The Alpha alone was over-powered. We were going to need most of the available week on stage 2 to level like crazy before any of us would be ready to tangle head-on with that guy. Facing him on our first night was just wrong.

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  With such a huge pack gathered, they could decimate our population before we took them down if they broke through the barrier. I sorely wished for Soulrend and Fang and a few more offensive spells.

  Uneasy silence settled over the scene as everyone waited to see what would happen. Our barrier was strong, but I doubted it would hold for long if the entire pack assaulted it with intent.

  Then the Alpha took a single long stride forward and his deep voice echoed across the clearing, the words shredded by his fang-filled teeth, but understandable.

  “Give us the man Lucas and we shall let you live out the night.”

  “Oh, Santaolalla,” I muttered, then glanced up and scowled. I didn’t even know that composer.

  The Alpha had promised vengeance after I killed two of his lieutenants and their packs when I first got dragged up to the second stage. I had fully expected him to try to carry out that threat, but not so soon and not so publicly.

  A lot of people were glancing between me and the Alpha. I’d been wildly popularity just hours ago when so much of the town had united to help me over the finish line to stage 2. Now it looked like more than a few were seriously considering literally tossing me to the wolves to save their own hides, at least for a night.

  “No,” Tony declared.

  Huh. Not the answer I expected from him. Tony hadn’t concealed how much he considered me a slacker and a waste of time since day one. If anyone was going to sacrifice me, I would have bet all my donuts that Tony would be at the head of the line.

  “Give him to me,” the Alpha growled, taking another step forward.

  “We don’t give up our own to monsters,” Tony responded, calm and unruffled by the apex predator less than 100 feet away. “Now I recommend you retreat before we have to start killing you.”

  “The man’s got brass balls,” Tomas whispered beside me. Edmund looked so proud of his leader, he might just burst.

  Ruby had ended up close beside me somehow and she gripped my hand in hers. It had to be a reflex, unconscious motion reflecting her worry. I forced myself not to grip back hard and startle her into realizing what she’d done. That would embarrass her.

  I was tempted to step forward and speak for myself, but Tony seemed to think it was his job as a town leader to do the talking. Interrupting would probably just annoy Tony enough that he’d try throwing me through the barrier himself.

  I was undoubtedly stronger than anyone else, and I instinctively tried to protect others when monsters showed up. A large percentage of our town probably still needed protection, but some of the more powerful humans were getting strong enough to stand tall even against werewolves with levels between 30 and 40. The Alpha was different, but we were starting to get enough organizational structure to deal even with that level of threat as a group. If we remained united, we could take on far greater foes.

  Instead of speaking again, the Alpha leaned forward and Howled. The sound reverberated through the night, echoing back from the trees again and again, building upon itself with every echo. The sound shook me to the bones and a ripple of fear chilled my heart. I glared, then got a notification.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! For resisting the Alpha Fear Howl, you gain 5 points to Fear Resistance.”

  The beast was using a spell against us! I shouldn’t be surprised. Luckily, I’d just gotten a huge boost to all of my resistances from that divine-tier loot box. I activated the aura from my title Hercules.

  “Indomitable. Aura. Protect your mind and those of nearby party members with plus 50% mental defense for the duration of the aura. Area: 5 feet for every point in Wisdom.”

  I now had 31 points in wisdom, and I sensed the aura used tier-1 points. Too bad it didn’t translate the to tier-0 points. Still, that extended the aura to 155 feet, covering most of the assembled fighters. It also consumed a sizable chunk of my mana.

  Worth it, though. The other strongest people were resisting, but even most of them swayed in place under the Alpha’s fear howl. Others stumbled back, faces pale with fright. The weaker folks had already turned and bolted in the other direction. Even though my aura caught a lot of them, in the grips of panic, they didn’t seem to notice. It looked like they would run right out of the other side of the camp.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! Mimic has captured Alpha Fear Howl. Time remaining to re-cast the spell: 15 seconds.”

  At the same time, Tony shouted. His voice boomed like a megaphone, slicing through the lingering echoes of the Alpha’s howl, despite not being nearly so loud. The sound carried easily across the entire town.

  "Stand Your Ground!"

  “Congratulations, Lucas! Mimic has captured Rallying Cry. Area of effect mental boosting spell. Time remaining to re-cast the spell: 15 seconds.”

  Nice. A second mimicked spell in as many seconds.

  Tony’s class had given him some impressive abilities. The shout helped curb the blind panic the Alpha’s howl had caused enough for most people to regain their senses. A handful still fled out the far side of town, and I got a great view down one of the arrow-straight streets of two of the hapless people getting torn apart by waiting wolves.

  Burns barked, “Edmund, take teams 3 and 4. Gather all non-fighters and those who were most affected by the Alpha into the town hall and bar the doors.”

  “Yes, sir!” Edmund snapped his fingers, and two 5-man squads fell out of the ranks of fighters and chased him. That was a good idea.

  The rest of us formed up, facing the Alpha and his pack. They numbered about 50, which meant those of us still facing them outnumbered the wolves by at least 3 to 1. Not great odds if it came to a pitched battle. Most of the pack still sat on their haunches, but the Alpha had started pacing back and forth.

  He pointed at me. "The pack always runs down our prey. We never tire and we never stop."

  I couldn’t resist responding that time. The Alpha was freakishly strong, but I couldn’t let him intimidate the full might of Midmount Vale. "I've got a wolf pelt with something similar written on it in my living room. I can't wait to add yours to my collection."

  The Alpha howled again, this time with a rage so hot it felt like my skin sunburned.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! Mimic has captured Bloodlust Howl. All allies get plus 50% stat boost for 60 seconds and immunity to fear. Time remaining to re-cast the spell: 15 seconds.”

  Crap. That was an amazing boost. The Alpha was prepping his forces to rush us. Time to slap him in the face with his own medicine.

  I triggered Bloodlust Howl. My entire body shook as sound blasted out of me, way louder than I could ever produce on my own. The Alpha’s howl had been deep and commanding and frankly, awesome.

  Mine came out a bit strained and not nearly so epic, but everyone around me straightened. Many exclaimed in surprise as the huge stat boost reinforced them and any fear they’d been struggling with evaporated. That was a fantastic spell! Too bad I didn’t get more than a single use out of it.

  The Alpha froze, burning gaze blazing in intensity. He pointed a long, clawed hand at me and growled, low in his throat, his entire body vibrating with rage.

  Yeah, I didn’t need my translate ability to understand that one. By casting his own howl back in his face, I’d challenged his dominance of his territory. That was a mortal insult. If there had been any chance the werewolves weren’t going to attack, I’d just erased it.

  As one, every werewolf lined up against us launched themselves at the barrier.