"I am Ulkar, son of Borak and leader of the Black Ash Clan!"
As if waiting for the same answer, the big orc, with a large number of visible scars on his skin, made his presentation with a powerful voice.
"I will take care of that creature immediately, Raven-sama."
"Wait a minute, Nike."
After stopping Nike, Raven carried his horse to the front of his soldiers, right in sight of the orc. Even if it was minimal, any information Raven could obtain would be useful to him, so engaging in conversation with an orc was not only intriguing, it seemed necessary.
"You don't look human. Who are you?"
In contemplating Raven's unusual appearance, the orc was extremely confused.
"I am Raven Magnus, son of Eternal Winter and of the Supreme God of Battle."
To Raven's answer, the orc went from a confused face to a face of surprise, and he then burst out laughing out loud.
"That rude creature, let me offer you his head, Raven-sama."
After considering the orc's behavior as a discourtesy toward Raven, Nike visibly angry stood beside Raven ready to charge against the orc.
"I humbly apologize, Elai-Akai-sama, I simply could not contain my happiness."
To Ulkar's response, the confused were now Raven and Nike.
"Why should you be happy in this situation, Ulkar son of Borak?"
"When I woke up, I found that my best warriors had been defeated, the thought that I had been humiliated by humans made my blood boil. Instead, now that I know that they actually fell to a son of the God of Battle, I am very pleased."
Coincidentally, it seemed that the god the orcs worshipped was one focused on battle. This caused both Nike and the riders change their contempt looks with which gazed at the orcs. Now they looked at orcs with the respect from one warrior to another.
Again, Raven seemed to have been mistaken for a god, although on this occasion his own presentation had been a good incentive for it.
"For what has Akal-sama sent Elai-Akal-sama to these lands?"
After noticing the change in the glances of his enemies, Ulkar soon understood that these beings in front of him were not human. Humans would never even deign to speak to an orc, much less to look at it as an equal.
Once he heard the name of the god of the orcs, 'Akal', it was not difficult for Raven to understand that the way Ulkar called him; 'Elai-Akal', it should mean 'son of Akal'.
"That's quite simple, green warrior, the Supreme God of Battle has sent us to this world under the command of Raven-sama, for one thing only."
"Conquest! Conquest! Conquest!" –completing Nike's words, the riders began to shout in unison as they lifted their swords into the sky.
"Conquer what?" -Ulkar's eyes seemed to be overflowing with emotion, and the slight trembling of the huge axe on his hands was evidence of it.
"That's more than obvious, green warrior, everything!"
Faced with Nike's response, the huge axe in Ulkar's hands slipped from his hands and fell to the ground producing a deafening sound.
Ulkar couldn't feel luckier, he could never have imagined living long enough to see the day when the god of battle decided to start the greatest of all battles.
"Oh, great God of Battle! Who would have imagined that the most cowardly of your warriors would live to see the day of prophecy!"
After falling to his knees, Ulkar looked up at the sky letting those emotionally charged words escape with all the power of his throat. Faced with his behavior, the rest of the orcs approached him in great confusion.
Why had Ulkar not doubted Raven's supposed divinity?
It all boiled down to a set of coincidences that had lined up in Raven's favor.
The so-called 'Golden Plains' are a vast territory that ends to the west with the wooded areas of Urd, to the north and east with the sea, while the south extends to reach the great lakes.
In this vast territory, the orcs found a home after the end of 'the age of heroes', and since then, divided into numerous clans, the orcs have been fighting mostly against each other to seek reunification once again as the great horde.
According to the legends of the orcs, there would come a day when their god would send one of his sons to unify them and direct them in what would be the final great battle. A battle that would shake the foundations of the earth, stain the seas with blood and tear the heavens, a battle in which the Elai-Akal would claim every inch of earth, every drop of water and every cloud for itself in the name of Akal.
In anticipation of this final battle, the orcs have fought each other, against humans, against elves and against lizard men, simply because fighting is their way of living and honoring Akal, the god of battle.
As for Ulkar and his Black Ash Clan, their situation was actually extremely precarious.
After losing an important battle against another Orc clan, the Black Ash Clan had been forced to abandon its territory and flee to the northwest end of the plains, just beside the sea and Dark Forest.
It is not surprising that in such a precarious situation, with few warriors, too close to the dangerous Dark Forest and with scarcity of food and water, Ulkar resorted to divination.
In search of help from his ancestors, Ulkar drank a certain fermented concoction that gave him a vision.
The earth beneath his feet trembled, the blood from his body escaped through every pore of his skin, and the skies were cracked. The first interpretation that came to Ulkar's mind of that vision was about the possible end of his clan, and although he also came to think that he had seen the Elai-Akal prophecy with his own eyes, he dismissed this idea, altogether feeling him unworthy after fleeing his territory.
Coincidentally, the one who led the horsemen who easily defeated his experienced warriors presented himself as the son of the god of battle. To Ulkar and his people could not be blamed for blindly believing that the misfortunes experienced thus far had simply been painful trials that finally rewarded by Akal by allowing them to contemplate how the prophecy materialized before their eyes.
"Elai-Akal-sama, have a duel with me, when you defeat me, the Black Ash Clan will follow you until the last drop of their blood is spilled."
Before Nike could object to anything, Raven raised his hand to stop her.
"Raven-sama?"
"I'm a warrior too, Nike" -after these words, Raven dismounted from his horse.
Raven could still feel the adrenaline rush through his veins. The thrill of holding a head-on battle turned off his rational thinking altogether. Raven was governed at this moment by the body of the son of the supreme god of battle, or perhaps it was simply the pure and simple adrenaline that, not having experienced it before, he was incapable of opposing it.
After Ulkar explained to the rest of the Black Ash Clan Raven's provenance and their mission, an enormous circle was formed by the orcs and riders to serve as a stage for the duel.
Once the atmosphere of conflict was reduced to what the orcs could only describe as a religious ceremony, the bodies of the fallen orcs began to emit a faint glow.
"For Akal-sama, what is it that...?"
As Ulkar and the rest of his people wondered about what was going on, the bodies of his companions became small spheres of light that quickly rushed toward Raven.
"As expected of Raven-sama" -Nike's eyes overflowed with admiration.
Knowing about the supposed reason behind this phenomenon, Raven's troops showed no surprise.
"There is nothing to fear, the strength of your companions is now my strength."
Hearing Raven's words, the orcs fell to their knees before what they could only describe as a true miracle.
For the orcs the battle was a ceremony with they honored their only god, the god of battle.
Fighting head-on and defeating as many enemies as possible, or dying at the hands of a much stronger enemy and fighting to the last breath, this was the honor for the orcs.
Interestingly, not only was the god they worshipped similar, orcs and Alexander's children's thought to some extent in the same way. To die in battle honorably was practically the same for orcs and sons of Alexander, their lives in this world would end, but their souls would go to the side of their god so that their value in life would be judged.
Therefore, something like witnessing the fallen becoming 'souls' and then joining the body of one who called himself 'son of the god of battle', provoked in them an emotion that the orcs were unable to contain.
As a result of the experience gained, the level of Raven, and consequently the levels of Freya and Nike, rose from level five to level twenty. With the rest of the NPCs soldiers being at level fifty, there was still a long way to go for Raven.
Having overcome the class barrier by passing level ten, Raven's class had improved, winning several status bonuses and unlocking some skills.
Strategist > Warlord (Level 10) > Prince of War (Level 50) > Emperor of War (Level 80) > God of War (Level 150). These were the classes that Raven would have access to as his level improved, currently his class was 'Warlord'.
After recovering the composure after the emotion provoked by the vision of the souls of their companions joining Raven, the circle at the center of which the duel would take place was formed again.
"I am unworthy, yet I will dare to ask you not to hold back, Elai-Akai-sama."
"Fight with all you might, Ulkar son of Borak."
Ulkar made a slight bow in thanksgiving, took a deep breath and then charged against Raven with his huge axe in his hands.
Nike who contemplated that, had to make her best effort to avoid intervening.
She was not concerned that Raven might be defeated or wounded, although Ulkar seemed to be an honorable warrior, he was unworthy to combat with Raven directly.
For Nike, that was like allowing someone whose hands were covered in mud to touch the finest, shimmering jewel of white gold.
Ulkar raised his axe and then made it descend upon Raven, who surprisingly showed no intention of evading.
Ulkar's huge and heavy axe met the edge of Raven's black sword. To the surprise of Ulkar and the rest of the orcs, Raven had no difficulty in enduring the attack using only the strength of his left hand.
Now that Raven had upgraded his class to 'Warlord', his basic combat skills had been unlocked.
Raven first used 'Minor Resist' to nullify the physical force in Ulkar's attack, and then immediately used 'Minor Charge' to easily push Ulkar several meters back.
Ulkar did not have time to try to understand how his physical strength was so inferior, for within a matter of seconds, Raven appeared suddenly in front of him, and Raven raised his sword to attack him.
Without Ulkar being able to respond, that sword descended upon him and seemed to cut his body in half. However, there did not seem to be any kind of damage in Ulkar´s body.
Despite apparently not being wounded, Ulkar fell to his knees as the heavy axe slipped from his hands.
'Divine Step', a skill that allowed player teleport instantly up to a maximum distance equivalent to twenty of his steps. It was not Raven's own skill, but a skill from his 'Hermes Black Boots'. Of course, a PREMIUM object of high price and very polemic item.
As for the cut that apparently had not harmed Ulkar, it was also a skill and this did belong to Raven. 'Phantom Damage', a skill that allow an attack to be made that conserve a minimum of HP in the target. This was a skill that, knowing how to use it properly, was used in Conquest Online to capture Generals and even alive enemy players.
"I could not expect less from the son of Akal-sama, grant me the final blow. There is no more honorable death than dying for your divine sword" -Ulkar showed no remorse for the outcome of the battle, from the beginning he knew had no chance of winning.
Hearing their leader's request to the Elai-Akal, the orcs wiped the tears from their eyes and proudly lifted their chest.
"If you want to die, do you it on the battlefield, serving the Supreme God of Battle, Ulkar son of Borak" -in the middle of the battle with Ulkar, Raven had regained his rational thinking, which is why he had used 'Phantom Damage' on Ulkar instead of simply killing him.
Raven's current mentality was simple to understand, in this unknown world, the ideal was to have allies, and if those allies saw him as a god, there couldn't be much better treatment.
An ally would normally ask for something in return, and according to their own ambitions or desires, over time they could become an enemy. On the other hand, an ally who revered him as a god could hardly have any desire beyond simply serving him.
The only thing that could be considered problematic about the subject was having to act like a god all the time, however, to deal with this, Raven had the help of Freya and Nike, who, without any problem always behaved like goddesses.
Considering that it would be easier for him to handle the orcs through their devoted leader, Raven decided to leave Ulkar alive.
"If Elai-Akal-sama really allows me to do so, it is with great pleasure that I will accompany him to see with my own eyes the fulfillment of the prophecy.
"I will be counting on you and your people from now on, Ulkar."
Thus, Raven, who had again been mistaken for a god, gained new allies in this world.
Seeing the surviving orcs, Raven bitterly cursed that he had not first attempted to establish a dialogue with the orcs. His attack had virtually halved the orcs in the camp, and what was more problematic was that the vast majority of the orc warriors had died, another small portion of them had been saved simply because they were absent, but that is something to be dealt with later....
While Raven attack the camp of the orcs, a strange figure emerged from the forest.
"Stop right there! Who are you and what are you looking for?"
"My name is Jaal Leaf of Autumn, an old elf who wishes to chat a little with your leader."
With a faint smile on his wrinkled face, an old man with long ears answered the pair of soldiers.
"This will be really interesting..." -the old man murmured to himself as his gaze looked in detail at the soldiers. His several centuries of life told him that these were not mere humans.