Chapter 805: Time to Steal an Orc (Patreon)

If you clicked on this chapter, just know this is the SECOND CHAPTER posted today, so you need to read the previous one first or you’ll be lost.

***

***

****

Less than an hour later, Luke was already standing atop Orsten's wall. Hidden by darkness and his stealth skill, he scanned the streets below, the guard posts, and the district where the orc was being held.

“Time to steal an orc.”

He disappeared from the wall. A few minutes later, a fire broke out in a nearby district. It wasn't large enough to cause serious damage, but the smoke, shouting, and confusion were already enough to draw the guards' attention. With their attention on the smoke, he slipped toward the captive.

The orc was asleep in chains, his body covered in wounds and his teeth broken. Luke pressed the tip of a blade into his skin until it drew blood, waking him with a grunt of pain.

“Swear loyalty to Gurgal, or I'll put this blade through your chest.”

“Never!”

“Swear loyalty or die.”

“NEVER!” The orc thrashed violently.

The nearby guards spun around at the sudden commotion. Luke grabbed the chain and snapped it, dropping the orc to the ground amid the broken links.

“He's loose! Shit!” one of the guards shouted.

“I thought that damn chain would hold!”

The men raised their crossbows and aimed at the creature. “Stay right there, you green bastard!”

“NEVER! NEVER!”

The orc charged. He grabbed the first guard and hurled him into a wall. When he turned on the second, several crossbow bolts came at him. One buried itself in his shoulder. He stumbled, ripped it free, and kept running. He fled into the alleys, using the buildings for cover. When he spotted Luke farther ahead, he grabbed a crate off the street and hurled it at him. Luke was gone before it reached him.

“Never! Never!”

Without realizing he was being led, the orc kept chasing him through the narrow streets. At every turn, Luke showed himself just long enough to bait him, then vanished again, steering him along the route he'd planned until they hit a street engulfed in flames. Alarm bells rang throughout the city. People screamed at the sight of the creature moving between the buildings, and more soldiers rushed in only to be knocked aside in the chaos.

The orc leaped at one of them, but Luke struck him in midair and sent him crashing into a burning building. Smoke swallowed them the moment they went inside.

“Never! Never!”

“Shut up!” Luke unleashed [Dread Aura] for a split second.

The orc froze mid-step, which was all Luke needed. He pulled an orc corpse from his pocket dimension and planted it among the flames. It was about the right size, and with its teeth broken, tusks missing, and face ruined, the fire would take care of the rest.

“Where is he?”

“Where'd the monster go?”

The voices came from outside.

“I don't serve Gurgal. I don't serve anyone. I serve myself. That was just a test.” The captive's gaze shifted from Luke to the corpse. “Now we use the distraction and get out.”

“I'm not going with you.”

“I'm your only chance of seeing Kobi and Rheera again. Would you rather rot in this city or help them?”

The orc clenched his fists, but eventually he nodded.

“I'm going to need you to scream convincingly.”

“What?”

Luke broke his hand. The scream came immediately, and [Curse] made it worse. As the flames continued spreading around them, a soldier entered the building with his weapon raised, squinting through the smoke. Luke stepped aside.

“Have fun.”

The orc slammed into the soldier, crushed his throat with one hand, and hurled the body out through the doorway.

“He's in the fire!” someone shouted outside.

Luke conjured a [Teleportation Pentagram]. “You coming with me, or staying here to get killed?”

The orc swallowed his pride and stepped beside him. A moment later, they vanished and reappeared deep in the desert, far enough from Orsten that its lights were no longer visible.

“They'll think you burned to death,” Luke explained. “Maybe you collapsed from your wounds. Maybe you chose the fire over being captured again. Doesn't matter. As far as they're concerned, you're dead.”

The orc swung at him. Luke slipped aside and drove a fist into his face.

“Let's make one thing clear. Try that again and you die.” The orc staggered, and a kick to the side of the head knocked him unconscious.

He didn't wake until they'd reached a cave deeper in the desert, one Luke had prepared beforehand. A splash of water to the face brought him around.

“I'm alive?!”

“You are,” Luke replied. “Did you think I killed you?”

Still dazed, the orc blinked at him and took in the cave, the barrels of water, and the other supplies waiting there. Luke dropped a bag in front of him.

“Food, a waterskin, a potion for your injuries, and...” He tossed an axe into the sand. “You'll need that.”

The orc stared at the weapon. “Why? Why are you helping me?”

“Because I'm your best chance of seeing Kobi and Rheera again. You're with the people protecting them, aren't you? The ones who took them off the continent by ship.”

“How do you know so much?”

“Like I said, you need me.”

The orc tore into the potatoes, then drank the healing potion.

“My name is Zorte, human. I don't know if you're telling the truth, but I won't forget this.”

“I can't help your other orc friends. Pulling the same trick too many times would be stupid.”

“Our duty matters more than our lives.”

“You're loyal. That's good. I'll try to save them later, assuming they're still alive. But I need to know if there are more of you.”

Zorte went silent as Luke stepped closer. “You don't trust me. Good. Means you're not completely stupid. Just make yourself useful. I went through a ridiculous amount of trouble to get you out of that city. It'd be a shame for Kobi and Rheera to find out I rescued the most useless ally they have.”

“I'm not useless.” Zorte hesitated. “You really have the Orc Treasure?”

“I do.”

His eyes widened. “How are they? Where are they? I need to help them!”

“You're not helping anyone. You can barely help yourself.” Luke looked at him with open contempt. “You got captured by humans and can barely take care of yourself. What exactly are you going to protect?”

Zorte lowered his head. “We were attacked by Rokhan's soldiers. We're strong warriors. We won, but we were wounded. Then the humans caught us. I have to protect them.”

“Gurgal's sending a fleet here. He wants control of the continent before the Orc Lord can take it.”

“Ships...?” Zorte lifted his head. “Large or small? How many?”

“I don't know what you consider large. Enough to move entire armies.”

“Then another Orc King really is backing him. Our kingdom never had a fleet that big.”

Maybe Zorte wasn't as useless as he looked.

“You're not going to Kobi and Rheera. Instead, I want you to do something else.” Luke explained the plan.

“Find the other orcs and bring them to you...” Zorte paused. “I'm grateful for your help, but I don't trust you enough to lead every member of our faction straight to you.”

“I already have the Orc Treasure. I don't need half a dozen cowardly refugees. I already have everything Gurgal wants and everything you want. I have the heirs, so I'm the one giving orders.”

Zorte clenched his jaw.

“Then here's your first order. Bring the others to my kingdom. Kobi and Rheera need you. I'll give you all shelter, just like I gave them.” Luke pointed toward the horizon. “Go straight that way and don't turn. Eventually, you'll reach a forest near my territory. Make camp there and survive however you can. I'll find you.”

He studied the direction carefully. Orcs had an excellent sense of direction and rarely forgot a route once they'd traveled it.

Luke stepped closer again. “Now say, ‘Yes, Lord Moon. I'll swallow my pride and keep my mouth shut, because I'm so weak I'm practically begging you to keep the heirs to my kingdom safe.’”

Zorte glared at him, but Luke just waited until he forced the words out.

“Much better. One more thing before I leave.”

“What now?”

“Explain the difference between a mindless orc, an awakened orc, and an ascended orc.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I'm asking.”

“Mindless orcs start out as larvae, born in broods. They live out in the wild, alone or in packs, and survive mostly on instinct.”

“So the dumb ones.”

“An awakened orc has true intelligence. Another powerful orc can trigger the awakening, but sometimes it happens naturally. If a mindless orc survives long enough, levels up, and keeps increasing its rank, it can eventually awaken on its own. After that, its body keeps changing as it gains ranks. Eventually, it becomes either male or female.”

“Got it. So that's when the reproductive organs develop.”

“Right. And after that, their children don't come from larvae anymore. They grow inside the mother and are born awakened.”

Luke nodded. “What about ascended orcs?”

“They're the descendants of awakened orcs, several generations down the line. They're better than ordinary orcs. Smarter. They feel more, too. And once they're grown, they can naturally awaken classes and professions.”

Luke considered that.

“That's enough. You didn't lie once.”

“How do you know?”

Luke didn't answer. “You'd better survive the desert, Zorte.”

Then he left.

***

Orsten had been worth the trouble. A week after returning to his kingdom, Luke was still picking apart everything Zorte had revealed. The orc probably hadn't even realized he'd confirmed that Kobi and Rheera had other supporters scattered across the continent. Luke had left him near the edge of the desert and well away from Rokhan's orcs. If the others were nearby, they were probably somewhere in the Wild Forest.

He could have tortured Zorte for answers and killed him afterward, but answers alone would only take him so far. Orcs had their own codes, signals, and ways of finding one another. Torture might make Zorte talk. It wouldn't make him willingly seek out the others, much less convince them to come with him.

Still, allies of the orc heirs or not, they were orcs. For them, raids and invasions were just part of how kingdoms dealt with one another. If Gurgal hadn't killed Kobi and Rheera's parents, the former Orc King might eventually have invaded the continent, and the two heirs could have become Luke's enemies without ever knowing his name. Instead, they were under his protection. It wasn't good luck or bad luck. It was causality.

Luke wondered if causality was what Asmodeus really held power over. He called it Chaos, but causality seemed to fit better.

“Almost...”

He leaned over the plant he'd spent the last week working on, fusing one specimen from Orsten into another until the result was barely recognizable. It was hideous, but at least it had finally matured.

[Your profession [Sentinel Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 120!] (+21 Wisdom, +16 Intelligence, +13 Willpower, +10 Perception, +8 Vitality, +25 Free Points)

[You have unlocked a new Profession Skill]

“And it worked.”

<< Chapter 804 | Index | Chapter 806 >>