Chapter 40 - For Food
They finally came to a stop when they neared a forest clearing, all of the orcs were then commanded by Vorgarag to surround said clearing. Ed watched on with curios eyes, there was nothing that stood out to him in particular. The green grass was not any different than anywhere else. The space was simply, clear. He couldn’t help but ask himself how the boars would appear. Ed never really got to see the spawning process of mobs even while he wandered around as an undead.
Soon after, without a word of a warning, vacuum-like portals appeared all over the clearing’s green grass. It made for a very weird sight as nature appeared unaffected by the black portals. It was as if they didn’t exist. But then…
One hoof. Two hooves. A boar started to emerge out of each portal. These boars seemed to Ed, surprisingly large and violent. One could tell at a glance that these boars weren’t going to let themselves be killed so easily, their loud grunting and aggressive body language made that intention clear. In less than 10 seconds, the clearing was filled with boars. They each looked identical to the other as if they were carbon copies of each other.
“Dinner’s here! Young orcs, prove your valor!” The orcs were unfazed by the sight as this was a routine they were used to.
The smaller yet still tough orcs entered the encirclement under Vorgarag’s command, they all had weapons and were raring for battle.
However, as if to reciprocate Vorgarag’s shout, battle cries were heard from all around the clearing. Unfortunately, none of them were from their tribe. Enemies were appearing from all over outside of the encirclement. One shout in particular outdid the rest however…
“VORGARAG!!! COME FIGHT ME!!!” It was a very tall orc with a vicious slash mark on his face, coupled in with his furious expression created a scary visage. The monstrous orc held two hefty axes, each had signs of being previously bathed in blood.
He was obviously not alone. Behind him were similarly imposing personages. Although their bloodthirst couldn’t be compared, it was not in any way lacking.
“Torgan! It is your mistake to challenge me!” Although Vorgarag loses out in build and countenance, his battle prowess was likely not any weaker.
“HAHAHA! We will see about that you flimsy shaman!” Torgan let out a hearty laugh before transitioning to a serious stare.
“Let’s get our food men!” Torgan ordered his subordinates from all around to advance towards the enemy. They all did just that without a hint of hesitation, they launched themselves at their opponents without any regard for their own lives.
The pressure of the defending orcs increased tenfold, it was especially so for the inexperienced young orcs. If any of the enemies managed to enter the clearing they would be dead without a doubt. Naturally, the orcs defending felt similar pressure. The clearing in the woods boasted zero defensive measures, the victor was decided based on raw strength.
“You! …Now that I think about it I haven’t asked for your name” Vorgarag was going to ask Ed to hold back the enemies to allow him to cast his spells but he didn’t even know Ed’s name.
“Its Ed! And aren’t you too carefree in this situation?!?” While Ed wasn’t worried about the orcs in the encirclement nearly as much as the others, the pressure radiated by the enemies was enough to cause distress.
“Oh, Ed! I hope you don’t mind holding them back for a second” He let out a charming smile as he said so. It totally betrayed the seriousness of the situation.
Ed simply clenched his teeth and cursed inwardly, the orcs in front of them had already charged towards them, with the sole exception of the one called Torgan as allied orcs went to hold him down. If he argued with Vorgarag for even one more second he would suffer a heavy blow.
A sharp ax cut through the air as it slashed horizontally towards Ed. He had no choice but to hastily block the swing with his own ax. He was unaccustomed to using any weapons or fighting in general but he still managed to block the swing by relying purely on his physical strength. Still, he was pushed back by the attack.
‘Damn it!’ While he was only being attacked by one orc, the stress the direct subordinates of Torgan placed on him was not in any way smaller than multiple opponents at once.
[You’ve been dealt damage. -53 hp]
Before Ed could catch his breath the enemy orc had kicked out with vicious strength. The fierce strike almost made him lose his balance and fall backward.
“I am not a punching bag!” Ed let out a strong shout as he recklessly charged towards the enemy while trying to body him. His wild charge was rather unpredictable but the seasoned orc warrior only flinched for a second, he swung out his ax.
Under normal circumstances, Ed would have been forced to dodge or take the full brunt of the attack. But Ed knew another way to change the outcome of this exchange. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
‘Assimilation!’ Ed held his borrowed ax with one hand and used his free hand to intercept the path of the swing.
He grimaced for a second as the ax started to cut into his hand. He couldn’t time it perfectly resulting in him injuring his hand. But once he felt a soft rumble he knew it had worked just as he had hoped. The ax that had yet to cut through his hand softly rumbled before vanishing altogether.
[Assimilation on cooldown]
[Strength +2]
[Constitution +1]
The enemy orc was naturally startled by the sudden disappearance of his weapon. He was left wide open for Ed to take a swing at with his other hand while still transferring the momentum of his charge into his attack. Since Ed had charged ahead from a lower vantage point, his opportunistic swing only cut into the enemy orc’s belly. The ax nearly cut through the orc’s entire body, it lodged itself deeply into its body but the orc still refused to back down. Ed didn’t give him a chance, not that he had any, and ruthlessly pulled back his weapon. The large open wound caused the orc to falter in his retaliation. The enemy orc simply fell without an ounce of grace. A shocked expression still painted on its face.
The battle was a quick exchange, but during that time Vorgarag still managed to cast a spell. The grass underneath of the nearby enemy orcs suddenly tangled around their legs. That included the somewhat distant Torgan, as he was likely the initial target of the spell. Seeing that the situation was somewhat under control, Vorgarag must have thought it would be a good idea to go the extra mile and help his allies.
“This weed won’t be enough to hold me back!” Torgan broke the bindings without too much trouble, all he did was take a great stride forward while holding off the orcs that surrounded him.
“He is a tough opponent” Vorgarag said while looking at Ed clearly sending him a message.
Ed wanted to protest the idea but some of the allied orcs were being taken down. If he didn’t go help the situation could turn sour.
‘Well f*ck it! I can’t die anyway!’ Ed thought as he ignored the other fighting orcs and charged straight towards Torgan.
Torgan’s ruthless sideways swing cut off the head of his opponent, he took the full brunt of another orc’s attack but the damage was not enough to impede him. His tough muscles were difficult to penetrate. Torgan took the opportunity to finish off orcs while taking in hits from others, his strategy could not be considered wise but his strong physique kept him going.
‘I can see how he got all those scars, what an animal’ Ed reinforced his legs with his pitiful amount of mana and jumped towards Torgan while striking down with his battle ax. Torgan noticed the incoming attack however and strayed from his usual strategy, he moved away from the area of effect.
Ed’s strike caused the ground nearby to softly rumble. His two new strength attributes were showing off their true power. Torgan was initially shocked by Ed’s appearance, but that shocked expression soon turned into a grin.
“Good, somebody strong!” It seemed as though Torgan completely forgot what his purpose in coming here was as his blood rushed to his head.
“I don’t see what’s so good about that!” Ed retorted while wondering why someone would go out of their way to make their life harder. Weak and quick is much better! Who would go out of their way to look for trouble? Even from what he can remember of his past life, Ed was the type to avoid all troubles if at all possible.
‘But that doesn’t mean I will avoid it if there is no other choice!’ He gritted his teeth and grabbed his ax with both hands, he mustered all his strength and prepared to do an overhead swing.
“HAHAHA! COME!” Torgan ran towards him looking to intercept his strike. He clearly wanted to show off his strength as the move was completely unnecessary.
Ed’s powerful overhead swing was blocked by Torgan’s dual axes. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen…
Ed’s attributes and his natural strength allowed him to break Torgan’s guard.. What Torgan failed to realize was that outside of battle technique and experience, Ed was superior to him in almost every way.