Chương 21: Chapter 20: Fighting Bandits

Hearing Lester's warning, I gripped the rapier even more tightly. For half a minute, nothing happened before we finally began to hear the heavy steps, and with each second, they became louder and louder, till a minute later when a big orc rode out of the forest and stopped in front of us. I saw the orc, the first real orc since I came here. It was big—over two meters tall—with grey skin and a muscly body that would shame even the biggest bodybuilder on earth.

Its big head matched its body, andits sharp teeth, especially those long fangs tipped in metal. He came riding on an Irvar, the green rhino monster with a sharp horn. He had not come alone; one by one, many orcs came behind him, riding on the Irvar's. Soon, their number reached twenty-six before they stopped. They have a third of our numbers, but it might not be their real numbers; some may be hiding in the forest, and we must be cautious in dealing with them.

Nobody spoke, neither humans nor the orcs; we looked at each other.

"Humans, hand over all your goods, and we will leave peacefully; resist, and there will be only dead bodies," said the first orc in a booming, accented voice. Lester opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, Edwin opened his trap.

"I am the noble of the great Harsoth Empire, and I will not give you filthy orcs even a single penny," shouted Edwin to the people's shock.

"Idiot!" I cursed as I looked at the Orc leader, whose face now had a smile. Without saying anything, more orcs began to come out of the forest. Seeing that, confidence finally disappeared from Edwin's face, and fear appeared.

"Since you have declined my peaceful offer, now there will only be blood," he said, looking directly into Lester's eyes.

"Attack!" It shouted loudly and over fifty orcs charged toward us, shouting and roaring, with heavy weapons in their hands. My whole body shook seeing their charge, and I cursed that idiot; how could he be so dumb? He asked for everything, but that did not mean we had to give him everything. We could have negotiated. Most bandits agree to it. My father had told me this hundreds of times; I don't know. Maybe he missed teaching Edwin that; otherwise, he wouldn't have acted so idiotically.

Sup Sup Sup The orcs had run over a few meters when the mages hiding revealed themselves, and spells began to rain down on the orcs. From fireballs to acid spray, lightning bolts and stone shots were used, and it was not just the mages who attacked; the eight archers also began to lose their arrows rapidly. The orcs looked surprised by the barrage but did not stop; their skills roared, and they charged with even greater fury as the spells and arrows rained down on them. To my surprise, the orcs were quite good.

They moved their weapons and defended, but many got hit, including the monsters they were riding. Monsters collapsed; those whose monsters had collapsed jumped off and came running, while those beasts whose riders had collapsed still charged in with fury. Seven seconds later, they clashed; Lester clashed against the leader of the Orcs, and others joined in, with archers and spellcasters reinforcing them from behind.

I have often imagined magical battles, but what is happening in front of me is a hundred times greater than my imagination and horrifying. In just a few seconds, a couple of orcs got injured and died. Humans did not remain unscathed either; many of them had gotten hurt. The house's forces were very strong. They worked in perfect sync, attacking the orcs with spells and sniping them with arrows. Seeing the humans holding the orcs back, I couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Don't let your guard down, Mister Silver; the bandits are not easy to handle," warned Jonah, sensing me relaxing. A moment after he warned me, I felt the sudden change in the orcs; the redness appeared in their eyes, and they became more aggressive.

"Shaman," said Dan. I immediately understood what was happening. The orcs have a shaman who uses this rage skill. Hun! I began to hear the loud steps, and my expression couldn't help but change further; the shamans were already bad, and now more orcs were coming, making things worse. A few seconds later, a group of nine orcs came out of the forest and joined the group of fifty; it immediately increased their power, and it didn't take some of them long to break the lines of humans and come inside.

A horror couldn't help but dawn on my face seeing a group of orcs coming inside and running toward whoever was holding the weapons. The biggest group went toward the protective circle, while a few went toward lone guards, and the two came toward us. I unconsciously stepped, pushing my back against the carriages while my guards moved toward the two approaching orcs.

"Die, humans!" said the orc with one eye and went for Jonah while the other had gone for Dan. They swung their huge axes, and Johan and Dan attacked with their sabers. Looking at their movements, they seemed to have plenty of experience fighting against the orcs, which is what their resumes said. I am truly glad I did not believe a word of those bastards and hired my guards for my safety. It is the wisest decision I've ever made.

I watched their high-speed battles but do not have much of a problem understanding them. It is likely because of the old Remus; he was gifted with the sword and had been practicing since he could hold it. At ten, he killed his first monster, and by the time of his death at fifteen, he had killed over fifty monsters. Some of those monsters were not weak. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Since I took over my body, I rarely practiced the sword and did it only as an exercise, but his experiences and memories always helped me understand the fights despite never holding a sword before coming to this world. They began using one skill after another. It's a brutal fight in which a single mistake could have cost them their lives. Watching it, I did not fail to notice that no spells and arrows were coming toward orcs fighting against my guards.

They went everywhere, even toward the guards protecting the servants, but not at my guards. It dawned on me how bad my decision to come here had been, and I promised myself that I would never let my guard down when I was with the family. A minute passed when four more orcs broke through the line, and to my horror, I saw two orcs coming toward me; one was big, while the other was small. A deep horror couldn't help but fill my heart, and I felt frozen in panic. I wanted to move my body but couldn't; it had frozen.

It did not take long for the orcs to approach me, and they were coming at me when Dan suddenly moved. He left Jonah to handle both orcs while moving toward the new orcs, seeing that a toothy laugh appeared on the big orc's face. He begins to fight against Dan, and within a few seconds, it becomes clear that the new orc is much better than the two orcs fighting against Jonah, seeing how Dan's fighting style changes from the offensive to the defensive.

He is quite good at it, defending well despite Orc using one powerful skill after another, some of them so fast that I could not see them properly. Not to mention the little Orc, who is acting as a nuisance, but Dan is handling it well. Nearly a minute passed when the big orc barked something at the little orc. Hestopped and, to my horror, turned and began to walk toward me. He didn't take long to reach me.

"Nice sword; it will fetch a good price," he said in a heavily accented voice and swung his black sabre toward me, intending to hack me into two. I watched in horror as I felt my end coming closer and closer while I remained frozen in fear. Even in this panicked state, I have become acutely aware that no arrows and spells are coming toward me. If they wanted to help me, they could have, at least now, shot a few arrows and spells when the orc had launched his killing attack.

Every notion I had that someone might help me had disappeared; it was absolutely clear that they had been ordered not to help me, even when I was about to be killed. As I realized it, clarity formed in my mind. I found myself moving, not just moving, but swinging the rapier with the familiarity and intent that only existed in my memories. Clang!

My rapier clashed against his saber, and I received a shock so high that I nearly threw away my rapier, but I bore it as I unconsciously did a subtle movement that helped me divert the force of the attack.

"So, the little human could defend," he said mockingly while I also looked at the orc with eyes that were not clouded in fear and panic. Although the orc was one of the smaller ones that attacked us, he was still bigger than me.

"Let's see how long you survive," it said.

"Rapid Slashes," he said, and his saber came at me again, but this time at a much faster speed. He had used his skill to scare the hell out of me, but this time, I did not panic. Instead, I leaned into the memories and let my instinct guide me. I moved left and avoided its saber by mere inches, surprising him and myself before attacking it swiftly with my rapier. My attack was quick, but he was faster. It quickly moved its saber to defend before attacking me again with its skill. Clang!

I used the force that pushed me back and defended against the attack; this time, the shock was even greater, but I diverted it without being shaken.

"You are good," said the orc and came at me again. I am also surprised by how I am defending against him. This is an orc who already possesses greater physical strength than humans, not to mention he has the class and skills. He has added attribute points in strength and vitality to increase physical strength and dexterity. Still, despite all the advantages, I have not been killed yet or even injured. I had underestimated old Remus's skills too much.

He was called a combat genius by all the instructors and even had readied to take the test for the imperial knight, which he would have passed, according to his instructor. But all that praise had gone to his head and he fought a monster above his level, which ended him. Clang! Once again, my sword clashed against the orc's saber; my body was moving on its own to deal with the orc's every attack, if they had memories of their own, and they did.

The muscle memories that had imprinted with more than a decade of training. Clang Clang Clang My rapier continued to clash against its saber, and the more we clashed, the easier it seemed to have become for me. However, I clearly understood that given my disadvantages, it would be hard for me to do anything to the orc, much less kill it. The only reason I even fought was because of old Remus's immense training and his mind, which seemed to be made for fighting.

"Haze Strike" He shouted suddenly, and its saber became hazy. As it approached me, it became difficult to track its movements. This skill is really good. Such skills are only received after level 10 or above, but this orc received it before. I did not even think it was level 10 or above, as I would have been dead if it had been. I calmed the panic in my heart and focused hard, letting my instinct guide me. Old Remus had a fantastic fighting instinct, so he could kill many monsters before reaching level five. Rip!

I moved to dodge but felt a rippling sensation and pain in my shoulder; it was a saber that cut through my sleeve, but it was not the only thing the saber had cut. It had cut across my shoulder, leaving a gash that was a few inches long and a centimeter deep, giving me quite a pain, but I did not even look at it as all my focus was on the orc. I took a step forward, and now, my rapier was moving toward the orc fast, with its eyes wide in surprise.

The Orc moved fast, and although I flicked my wrist to change the direction of the Rapier, which lessened its speed, it was still able to reach it. It touched the armor covering the orc's stomach, and the runes on the rapier came to life the moment it did. The blade cut through the armor and the orc's belly, leaving behind a gash across its gray skin that was at least five inches long and a centimeter deep.

"Enchanted Weapon," he said as he retreated out of range of my sword. I could see the fear in its eyes but also a blazing greed.

"That blade will be mine," he said, approaching me. I also believed in the instinct that had saved my life a moment ago. Clang Clang Clang Our weapons clashed, but that did not stop us from attacking each other again for a moment; this time, I dodged the attack before attacking again, making our weapons clash again. As I fought against it, I felt like I was dancing with death. While I might have been able to give it a cut, that only made it seem that it had underestimated me; now, it will not.

It is cautious, not giving me even the slightest chance to cut him. I am also feeling quite a pain in my left hand, which is bleeding; while the bleeding is not much, it will create trouble if we fight for a long time. Slash! Another minute had passed when its saber cut me again, this time on my waist, and the cut was long but not deep. However, it hurt like hell and will make the battle even more challenging for me. Clang!

"You will not live long, human," it said and attacked, and a second later, our weapons clashed, giving me a sharp pain across my waist as the force reached the wound. Phewwwwww! The pain did not stop me; I attacked it but stopped when a sharp whistle rang through the forest, stopping all the fighting.

"Retreat!" Shouted the leading Orc, who had his whole body bleeding; a moment later, the orcs began to retreat, and we did not stop them. The spells stopped, and so did the arrows, as the Orcs began to retreat; nobody prevented them. My brother stayed silent this time as he watched them leave, with fear written all over his face.

"Pray to your gods, human, that we never meet again because the next time we meet, I will kill you," he said with a laugh and retreated with the big Orc fighting against Dan. I watched as the last orcs disappeared through the trees, stepped back until my back touched the carriage, and closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened my eyes a second later, I heard the sound, which instantly made my eyes widen. [Class Obtained: Warrior] [Skill Gained: Quick Steps] [Skill Gained: Consecutive Strikes]