———
Eastern Isles, Rural Village
Ascella POV*
Hearing about the incoming monsters has excite me a lot. Though it still didn't defeat my laziness as I just slept through the night. Early in the morning, I got ready to head out as I erased the sound of my movements by using wind magic. The sun still didn't showed itself but there are already many people awake, they were busy the whole night packing their things as staying here would only lead to their inevitable demise. "Hey Genib, are you ready for our first encounter with a fantasy creature?" I asked her who just appeared by my side. "Genib doesn't know what to feel since I know I already encountered those monsters before.." Genib grumbled but still excited about the new experience. "Don't dwell in the unnecessary stuff, the important thing here is the experience" I said smiling gently.
I arrived at the forest as I used wind magic on my feet. This should probably enhance my running skill. Even though it still dark, there is no trouble in me seeing, I don't know if this is a perk from a body thats been basked by mana everyday or this is just normal for my constitution. My parent's origin is still a mystery to me but I don't really care.. as long as I have fun, everything else don't matter. As for how I pinpointed the location of the monsters.. I can see the place where the mana are avoiding so its easy. Placing strength on my feet, I began running faster than any athlete on my previous world could do. And not long, I arrived at the place. I could see a huge amount of Orcs? marching without unity.
Their appearance is not what I pictured orcs are, instead of having a pig head and green skin, what I saw was huge bulking muscles, brown skin, and a lot of tattoos on their skins. They have a normal human face with the only difference being their two large teeth. I can see the exhausted look on their face as they marched making me weirded out. I thought about using this event to gain some experience in killing on this world but I am having a second thought about it. "Who's there!" A chill run through my spine as I heard those words, I know they were talking about me and I have no excuse to show at all. "Ascella!" Before I could even think of an excuse, something hit me by my side making me fly ina high speed.
Shit.. that hurt.. that hurt! I grunted as I can feel my side aching in pain. My back was rested on a tree that I landed while I stared at the Orc infront of me. Unlike the others who only has few tattoos on their bodies, this Orc covered his whole body in tattoo. He raised the big stone weapon on his hand and pointed it on me. "Who are you human? How are you not dead by my serious blow?" He questioned me but I just ignored him as I am more focused on the pain that I felt. A light suddenly covered my body as the pain slowly vanished, I looked at the source of the light as I gently smile. "Thank you Genib, you're a life saver" I gave my gratitude to the descendant of the Greater Spirit of Light Algenib. My instinct rang as I dropped my head only for a club passing through it. I gained a cold sweat at that scene as I used wind magic to obstruct his view before stepping away.
Oh shit, now he's enraged.. seems like talking is pointless now. I also need to try my strength since I haven't really used a part of it since coming to this world. Without chanting, I used earth magic to cover his feet and hardened it temporarily restricting his movement. In that short moment I arrived at his personal space before driving my fist to his gut, I prepared myself for some kind of pain but only surprise meet me when my fist plunged itself to his hard muscles easily. I stared at my fist in disbelief as I watched the Orc hold his stomach in pain. I can see that the other Orcs were also stunned by this series of events but nonetheless, cheering occured.
It seems like fighting like this is an happy event for them. Somehow my body got into their vibes as andrenaline coursed through my body. I sprinted back to the Orc trying to land another hit only for him to hold my arm and throw my whole body away. "Gaah!" Fuck that hurt! I got too conceited there, this guy clearly has more experience than me! "Fuuuh.. thank you for waking me up.. let's proceed to the 2nd round!" I exclaimed as a grin appeared on my face. I already learned the healing spell that Genib just used so abusing it, I will do. We both looked at each other before our feet began moving. Dust sprang from the ground as the impact of our movement showed result. We exchanged fist, with the ratio of 3/10 I got 3 the 3 while he has the 10. It was no surprise as experience can really raise a person'd fighting capability.
Though I am not complaining since my hit are more heavier than his, blood already dripped from his body as we both panted in exhaustion. I forgot that even though I strengthened my body using magic, I never really trained my energy capacity. As I gained my bearing, I dashed to the Orc as I plunged my knee to his face, it was a rough move but he couldn't dodge it. During the fight I noticed that he is not using magic.. or more like he doesn't have one, quite unusual for a fantasy creature but to make it fair I also adjusted and fought only using my physical body. Though I never stopped healing since pain is something I don't really want to feel.
The moment my knee met his face, his eyes rolled as his body fell to the ground. A silence permented the ground before a loud cheering replaced it. ""Human! Human! Human! Human!"" The Orcs were cheering loudly as they raised their weapons in the air. A small thing suddenly appeared in my view, "Geez, Ascella! How could you recklessly fight like that! Genib know that you are strong but you don't have experience! What if you die?" Genib complained as she growled. I couldn't help but smile gently at her concerned expression, "Yeah, I'm sorry, I moved without thinking there" I apologized while patting her head using my finger.
While the orcs are still cheering I took this chance to ask Genib a question. "...why do Orcs doesn't possess mana? Are they cursed or something?" Genib face gained a understanding look. "Ohh!! Genib just obtained some of my memories! Hum, hum! Orcs are devoid of mana as they were cursed by the Gods! Their ancestors did something that is taboo leading to their punishment" Genib revealed some information that made the whole horde of Orcs stop. Their faces gained some hostility on it, "Ancestor is not a coward!", "Ancestor is strong!", "What he did is a honor to us!" They protested as Genib just hid behind me. I see, fantasy creatures beside humans can see spirits.
"Yes, yes. Your ancestor is great, please stop since you're scaring her" I said trying to stop them which they did. Hm? They followed my words even though I am not part of them? "Genib?" I muttered as she understood what I was implying. "Well.. Orcs have a rule that they would listen to the person they deemed as the strongest unless they are from Gods or Spirits.." Genib explained making me nod my head. Well this is convenient, I don't need to talk some sense to them. "Uhm.. will you stop trying to invade this land? My village is just right up ahead and I don't really want it destroyed.." I said to them while scratching the back of my head. They turned silent at my words, "I'm afraid we can't do that.. in this phase everyone of us will die without being able to do anything" I raised my eyebrow at the words of the warrior who I beaten before. He is already up huh? What a sturdy guy.
"I'm not really knowledgable about this kind of thing.. so can anyone fill the gaps in my knowledge?" I asked as Genib raised her hand. "Did you forgot about what I mentione before? Western Wastes is literally a den of various monsters.. Orcs might be the race that dominates it since they have numbers, we can't just forget about the other monsters that dwell in that place" Hm? If there are monsters in that place then isn't that more convenient for them? Hunting them would be easy for a horde as huge as this. "I can already sense your thoughts but here is the problem. The orcs... are herbivores" ? Say what? "Did I hear that right?" I questioned with dumbfounded look on my face. I mean who wouldn't!?
The orcs that I encountered in my past life are carnivores who feast on any kind of meats. "Is it that surprising? Many monsters in this world are herbivores, Ascella should remember that well" Genib shake her head as she lectured me. I looked around and saw some of the orcs are already eating leaves and munching it with happiness. My jaw might dislocate from how I was bringing it down but this sure is shocking. Hm? What is this guy doing? I thought while staring at the guy with the most tattoo on his body, the one I just trashed before. "I pledge my loyalty towards the strong one.. please give us shelter" at his words Genib got angry. "Hey! You can't just do that! Trying to use Ascella while Genib is around is no use!" I see, she must have thought thay the Orc is using this chance to make me move and shelter them.
But just by staring at their eyes.. I can confidently say that there are no malice in their intentions. They are the type of people that my brother would look down if he meet them, in other words Pure and Simple minded. "Hehe" I couldn't help but chuckle at this, "Alright, I'll accept you.. are you the leader of this group?" I said lightheartedly as I asked him. He just nodded his head while his eyes were shining in joy.. what a weird guy. This means that I also taken this whole group in my shoulder, I looked around to see if there are opposition but it seems like my showcase of strength already did its purpose. In any case, that went well without any hitch, I achieved my purpose and lose nothing with it.
.
.
.
.
Genib POV*
Uwah, Ascella is scary.. everything is what he expected.. although there are some mishaps, everything still went on his way. Are humans really this scary? I mean he already predicted what kind of attitude the Orcs would have. And instead of using magic to instantly end the life of that Orc, he used physical violence to gain their approval. Genib saw the understanding look on his eyes when he first witnessed the group of Orcs but Genib never thought that he would understand them immediately just like that.
Is he really gonna proceed with what he planned? In case it work then another piece would be place in the map of this world. He just gave some vague informations but Genib can already deduce what he planned to do.. and Genib can say that its not funny. Genib will just follow him just like what our deal says, its interesting being in his side so maybe Genib can keep up with this. Genib is scared of danger but if it means Genib can witness something special like this then its not a problem.
The most frightening thing right now is his mana.. everyday it doubles in amount making Genib wonder when would his body bloat because of how much it was. Hm? What is happening?! Why is his mana vanishing..!? "Ascella! What happened?!" Genib immediately asked as this is something Genib never witnessed before. "I just supressed my mana, I learned how to do it" What..? He learned just right now? Where is the logic in that? Anyway this situation is giving me excitement I never felt before so Genib will just continue to follow this interesting human without any complain.
———