Extra Survival Guide to Overpowering Hero and Villain-Chapter 262: Orcs
Fenric and Liana were already on the road when the news spread.
Fenric was gone from Rivergate.
The wall marker was set.
The city continued without him.
That was how he would have wanted it.
But the world did not stop.
Fenric had trained others before stepping back.
Not to replace him.
To carry the work forward.
Now he walked again, not as a leader of a city, but as a problem-solver.
Liana was with him.
She always was.
They were heading east toward Milo City.
Milo was smaller than Rivergate.
Older.
Built near hills instead of deep stone.
The problem there was simple.
Orcs.
A new encampment had formed three days out from the city.
Too close.
Too organized.
Already cutting trade roads.
The council's contract was clear.
Destroy the encampment.
Drive survivors away.
No negotiation.
As they walked, Liana spoke first.
"This isn't the Deep," she said.
"No," Fenric agreed. "It doesn't wait. Orcs push."
"Still," she said, "ground matters. Always."
They reached Milo by evening.
The gates were tense.
Watch numbers doubled.
Refugees crowded the outer square.
The captain met them at once.
"Orcs dug in near the old quarry," he said. "Surface fortifications. No deep tunnels that we know of."
Fenric nodded. "Good. We don't want collapse."
They studied the maps.
The orcs had taken high ground.
Rocky.
Shallow soil.
Smart.
Predictable.
That night, Liana walked the outer road.
She watched patrol patterns.
Noticed fear points.
Places guards avoided without realizing it.
Fenric spoke with miners.
"Any ground heat?" he asked.
"No," one replied. "Cold rock. Dead stone."
That confirmed it.
This was not migration.
Not pressure.
Not negotiation.
Just a threat that understood force.
At dawn, they moved.
No speeches.
No banners.
Liana led the fast strike team.
They hit supply tents first.
Cut signal horns.
Created confusion.
Fenric coordinated from the ridge.
Timed advances.
Stopped units from pushing too far.
The orcs fought hard.
But they broke when their leaders fell.
By midday, the camp was gone.
No tunnels collapsed.
No ground shifted.
No strange pressure.
Only smoke and silence.
Milo City paid them that evening.
The captain thanked them.
"Different problem than Rivergate," he said.
"Yes," Fenric replied. "But the same rule."
"What rule?"
"Know what you're dealing with," Fenric said. "And don't treat every threat the same."
That night, Liana sat on the city wall.
"You think Rivergate will be fine without you?" she asked.
Fenric looked out at the dark hills.
"It already is," he said.
Liana nodded.
Tomorrow there would be another contract.
Another city.
Another problem.
Some would need listening.
Some would need steel.
And they would decide which was which—carefully.
They left Milo the next morning.
No ceremony.
No delay.
The road east split after a day.
One path went toward trade towns.
The other toward border land.
They took the border road.
By midday, they met a courier.
Not running.
Not panicked.
That alone caught Fenric's attention.
"You're calm," Fenric said.
The courier nodded. "Because no one is dying. Yet."
He handed over a sealed notice.
A town called Greyfield.
Small.
Farming and stonework.
The problem was not an army.
Not monsters.
Disappearances.
People leaving homes at night.
Tools left behind.
Doors open.
No signs of struggle.
Liana frowned. "How many?"
"Seven in three weeks," the courier said. "All adults. No children."
Fenric asked, "Any ground reports?"
The courier hesitated. "Some warmth. Not deep. Not steady."
Fenric and Liana exchanged a look.
They changed course.
Greyfield was quiet when they arrived.
Too quiet for harvest season.
The mayor met them with tired eyes.
"We haven't dug," he said at once. "Not deeper. Not wider."
Fenric nodded. "Good."
They walked the town.
Fenric watched the ground.
Liana watched the people.
Fear was there.
But not panic.
That mattered.
They inspected the homes of the missing.
Beds slept in.
Meals half-finished.
No broken locks.
Liana knelt near one doorway. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
"Marks," she said. "Dragged. But lightly."
Fenric placed his hand on the floor.
Warm.
Faint.
Recent.
"This isn't the Deep," he said.
"But it learned from it," Liana replied.
That night, they waited.
No patrols.
No noise.
Just watching.
Near midnight, Fenric felt it.
Movement.
Shallow.
Careful.
Not vast.
Not old.
Something else was using the rules the Deep had taught the world.
Fenric stood.
"Not underground," he said quietly. "Under houses."
Liana drew her blade. "Burrowers?"
"Smarter," Fenric said.
They moved fast.
Behind the granary, the ground shifted.
A narrow opening formed.
Too clean.
A shape rose.
Thin.
Pale.
Wrapped in stolen cloth.
It froze when it saw them.
Not attacking.
Not fleeing.
Studying.
Fenric spoke first.
"This ends tonight," he said. "Leave the town."
The creature tilted its head.
Then ran.
Liana was faster.
She cut the path.
Forced it up.
Into the open.
The fight was short.
Violent.
Decisive.
When it ended, the ground cooled.
No more movement.
By morning, Greyfield was awake again.
The mayor listened to Fenric's report.
"It copied what it saw," Fenric said. "Movement without collapse. Pressure without noise."
"From the Deep?" the mayor asked.
"Yes," Fenric replied. "But it wasn't the Deep."
Liana added, "That's the new danger. Others will learn."
They did not stay long.
As they walked out, Liana spoke.
"So now it's not just about one neighbor below."
"No," Fenric said. "It's about what the world learns from it."
She looked ahead.
"Then we're going to be busy."
Fenric nodded.
"Listening won't be enough anymore," he said. "Now we'll have to teach discernment."
The road stretched on.
And somewhere ahead, another problem was already forming.
They traveled two more days without incident.
Greyfield faded behind them.
The land grew rougher.
Fewer farms.
More abandoned markers along the road.
On the third evening, they reached a watch post.
Not a town.
Just a stone tower and a fire pit.
Two guards were on duty.
Both looked relieved when Fenric and Liana approached.
"You're the ones from Rivergate," one said. "We were told to expect people like you."
Fenric asked, "What's happening here?"
The guard pointed north.
"Caravans stop there now. Not attacked. Just… delayed. Wheels jam. Animals refuse to move."
Liana frowned. "Any sightings?"
"No," the guard said. "But the ground hums sometimes. Light. Like standing near running water."
