[Authors note: This chapter is dedicated to the youtuber known as TechnoBlade. After fighting stage 4 cancer for over a year, sadly he passed yesterday. I watched him for over 5 years, and alot of my humour comes from him. He was an inspiration to everyone and deserves the best in the afterlife. RIP TechnoBlade
"Technoblade never dies" ]
Drake logged into Adella Online once more and got back to his quest with Heth. Chairman Rivera was getting his top researchers to investigate his claims since there was so much money involved. He would have to wait about a week to get the news on whether they would go forwards with his plan. Till then, he needed to defeat the final test and move on to the next area within the next week, which would be cutting it close. He renewed his resolve and stepped out of the hut where he had "slept".
He walked over to Heth and Heth noticed him first, saying,"Ah, Drake you are awake, I was worried it would take till tomorrow for you to wake up, I guess 20 hours of training did quite a number on you, eh?"
Drake chuckled and responded,"Ah, it did indeed exhaust all of my stamina that's for sure!" The two men, one human and one orc, both laughed in amusement. Drake calmed himself down and said,"Alright, can we get the next test done today?"
Heth sighed and said,"Alright, the final test will take place over near the training field, follow me"
Drake nodded and the pair started to walk over to the field. As they walked, the other orcs noticed and started to follow them to see if the final test would be passed by Drake. As the pair walked and more orcs followed them, Heth explained the last test.
Heth said to Drake loud enough for the orcs in the front of the pack to hear,"The final test is about teamwork, and leadership capabilities. We actually learned this game from a human a long time ago, the final test is to capture the flag!"
Drake nodded in confirmation, this was where a lot of people failed in his last life. While he might not look like it, Heth was incredibly fast and would often have his best warriors on his side. However, Drake just smirked, and said to him,"I accept, let's get the final test going!"
[System notification: Secret Quest [Heavenly Heth] test activated]
[System notification: Test 3/? Is now starting!]
Heth called out to three warriors,"Betru, Dant, and Brus get up here! I choose you three as my allies!" Right after he finished the three warriors all stepped up and Drake sighed, knowing this was not going to be easy but smiled, hoping his gambit this time would work.
He called out to the orcs,"I have no human allies and thus require some orc allies of my own! I call forward the orcs named Kri, Jun, and Prosp!" Three more orcs came forwards awkwardly, as everyone stared at them. The crowd called out to them,"You are fighting the chief! Bring us commoner orcs some honor will ya!?" and other such cheers. Heth was slightly taken aback by the reaction the other orcs had to Drake's request, and he worriedly thought to himself,'Have I been neglecting my people so much that they would cheer for the enemy?"
With both teams now formed, Drake quickly turned to Jun and asked in a hushed voice,"Jun, You can make a clone of yourself, correct? I was not mistaken when I saw that the other day, right?"
Jun blushed a little and said,"Yes I can, however it only lasts for about 10 minutes Sir Drake."
Drake smiled and said,"No problem. Jun, right when the signal to start is given, I want you to quietly make a copy of yourself, then Kri will use her ability to camouflage it, and finally Prosp will cast haste onto it, and send it to go and grab the flag."
All three orcs were baffled and Prosp asked,"You have been paying that much attention to every orc? You know our abilities and you can adapt them into a workable strategy is so cool!" Kris nodded her head fervently and excitedly added on,"Yeah, Yeah! You are so cool Sir Drake!"
Only Jun had come to her senses early and noticed a flaw in the plan, asking Drake,"What will Sir Drake be doing?"
Drake grimaced and sighed, saying,"Me? I will be holding back Heth."
The three other orcs looked at him in surprise and Jun said,"Sir Drake, I don't know if you know but our leader is level 127!" Drake gulped, and simply responded,"I know. I can only hold him off, I don't believe I can beat him, which is why I am placing all of my hope on you three."
Before the other three orcs could respond, Heth called out,"The test is about to begin! Please get ready!" Both teams stood apart from each other on different sides of the field and took defensive positions. Heth then yelled out,"Test Start!"
As soon as Drake got the notification that the Test had started he immediately yelled at Heth,"Hey Heth!" Drake and Heth locked eyes and Heth said,"eh? What?" Drake smiled and started his speech.
He said loud enough so everyone could hear him,"Heth, it seems to me that you are trying to test me in ways where you don't have to fight me! But no more!" Drake then stopped speaking the common human tongue and started to speak in perfect Orcish,"I Drake Silver, on my pride as a warrior, challenge the Orc known as Heth to 'Combat of the Gods'! May the god of war Xaltino bless this sacred duel!"
Heths eyes widened in surprise as he heard those words and the very next moment he could feel his warrior blood screaming to fight. In orc culture it didn't matter what you were doing, if you were challenged to fight you had no choice but to accept. Normally Heth would be able to maintain his composure but Drake had called him out in his native tongue and asked the orcs favorite god to watch over their honor duel. Heth could no longer accept his honor being tarnished and simply responded by taking out his halberd and saying,"Drake Silver, you have challenged me and my honor as a warrior, I will not hold back!"
Heth and Drake then both sprinted towards each other as both teams would rather watch the fight then play capture the flag. As Drake and Heth both ran towards each other every step they took they released a little more power, a little more energy, and a little more pressure. The crowd on the side was starting to feel the ever growing pressure between the two as they got closer.
Right as they were about to clash, Heth swung his halberd from a downward position upwards and Drake swung his spear from above his shoulder downwards. The instant the two weapons clashed a mini explosion was felt by the crowd, the pressure released from the two weapons colliding had made a physical dent in the ground!
Drake and Heth both pushed forwards with their strength and even though Heth was better in almost every regard, the one thing that Drake was better at than him was his strength, since it was always leveling up with every level he already had insane strength for this point in the game. However this didn't mean he could relax as the two switched positions and swung their weapons once more, creating a crater in the ground every time they collided.
Drake was starting to get pushed back by the pure speed at which Heth was attacking him from. Drake had General guiding him in every movement, but he simply wasn't fast enough to even counter attack. Drake was starting to struggle and Heth had noticed yelling at him as they crashed once more against one another,"What's wrong puny human?!? Is the might of Heth too much for your weak body!?"
Drake didn't respond to him and simply tried to focus more. He focused solely on Heth and blocked out all non important details in his fight. He thought to himself,'Focus, block out all the other stimulants from your mind. The people don't matter, forget about the other enemies and my allies. No one will interfere with this fight.'
Suddenly Drake felt as if a massive burden had been lifted off his mind as he slowly removed all the unimportant stimuli from his mind. Soon all that remained was Heth and Drake and nothing but a pure void. Drake closed his eyes and Heth noticed this, yelling at him,"Closing your eyes on me?!"
It was then that Drake noticed that now that he only had to focus on Heth he could feel his opponent more clearly. Time seemed to slow as Drake kept his eyes closed, Heth pushed his halberd towards Drake and in this slowed world Drake could see it. Heth's movements were so clear and crisp in his focused state that it looked like a child wielding a weapon instead of a veteran warrior. He could see all the flaws, all the inconsistencies in his form.
Drake dodged the halberd strike and swung his own spear, which Heth just barely dodged. However, Heth knew that Drake had just counterattacked successfully for the first time! Now it was a real fight!
[System Notification: You have gained knowledge on the secrets of your class]