Rico's pov:
I remember it all too clearly, that day on my 9th birthday, the day that lit the hot fire of rage in my chest that lasted for the next 5 years. I wished I could forget about it but how the hell am I supposed to forget about the day I lost the most important people in my life.
I was laying on my warm cosy bed, my room was dimly lit since I was afraid of the dark. I used to think that monsters would pop out from underneath my bed when I shut the lights off…I was pretty retarded, sometimes I wished I could go back in time and beat myself up for being so damn stupid.
Anyway, as I was lying on my warm cosy bed, I think I said that already. A loud irritating noise ringed through my ears, walking me up from my wet drea-. I mean sweet dream, the noise sounded like…a saxophone?
??? and ???: HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS!!
With big smiles on their faces a grown man and woman were standing at the entrance of my room, waving their hips as the man was playing with an unusually big saxophone. These two weirdos were my parents.
What's even weirder, both my parents looked similar to each other, my dad had short black spiky hair and a short beard while wearing a green tank top and military trousers, he was pretty buff too and my mom was slightly shorter than him, she had long black silky hair and wore a black and white striped shirt and ordinary blue tight jeans, is it weird for me to say my mom was curvy too?. You know what, forget I asked that.
There have been a couple of times when people mistook my parents for siblings but we don't need to get into the details. After all, the one feature that helped people know that they weren't related was my mothers grey eyes which made people think she was blind, causing people to speak to her in sign language. Yes "sign language" as if a blind person can see your hands. She hated it when people did that.
Me: MOM,DAD ITS TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING!
My dad: its never too early for my son's birth-Woah!?
Irritated by my father's words I threw a pillow at him. He used his saxophone as a shield against the pillow, I still wish it hit him to this day.
After I took a bath with the help from my mother, yes I took baths with my mom's help at 9 years old, I'm a disgrace. We ate breakfast at the dinner table discussing what we would do for my birthday, just to let you know it was a Saturday so there was no school.
My dad: Should we go to the Waterpark or the skatepark?
My mom: No, it would be a waste of money.
I realised I had no say in this conversation, I guess it couldn't be helped since I wasn't the one who would be spending money. My mother squinted her eyes as she looked at me from head to toe, taking a moment to observe my figure.
My mom: Let's go shopping!
My mother yelled with enthusiasm.
My dad: Umm…honey I think that's um-
My mother slammed her hands against the table with immense force as she stood up from her chair.
My mom: LETS.GO.SHOPPING
My father remained silent as he had no words left to say since he knew what would happen if he spoke back at my mother. I forgot how scary my mother used to be.
…
Next moment, my parents and I were walking on a crosswalk in an almost empty street with a few small houses. There were a couple cars passing by here and there but it was still empty. My mother was humming a musical rhythm, I couldn't tell what she was singing but I can tell you that it was probably some bad 80s music, she loved those things.
I was bored, unsurprisingly. What kind of son would be excited to go shopping with their mother, we all know how much time they love to "spend" on looking at clothes for the next millennium.
My dad: Thomas, come closer.
I didn't realise it but I was tailing behind my parents.The both of them stretched their arms towards me, clearly they wanted me to hold both their hands like a toddler. I hesitated a bit since I didn't want to look like a baby but I decided to do it anyway.
My parents cheerfully smiled at me. A warm fuzzy feeling started emitting in my chest, I couldn't help but smile back at them as I thought to myself.
Me:(I want us to be like this forever)
Before I knew it all hell broke loose. A large number of men in blue and red jackets appeared. These were gang members. My parents halted their movements as they squeezed my hands tightly, their faces were full of fear as the men started pulling out pistols from their pockets. I was too dumb to understand what was going on, I thought those men were acting for a movie or something dumb like that.
The men pointed their guns at each other. Gunfires echoed, bullets were flying, screams from nearby pedestrians echoed in the air as the men yelled cuss words that I was too young to understand.
My mom: RUN!!
Very quickly, my parents pulled me away as they ran away from the shootout between the gang members. The gang members ran to nearby obstacles to use as shields to protect themselves from the bullet. One of them ran past me and my parents. A nearby gang member decided to carelessly fire their bullets at the one that ran past us.
My body moved on its own as I slipped my hands away from my parents grasp and duck my head to avoid the bullets. All of a sudden the area was quiet. When I raised my head to see what happened. There they were, the two most important people in life were there on the grey tiled pavement, dead with bleeding bullet holes on their heads.
I wept and wept and wept and wept. My weeping grew louder and louder and louder until my focus switched to the gang members who halted their shooting as they watched me mourn my parents.
I stared back at them with stink eyes, my head was beating with anger, then I yelled.
Me: YOU MONSTERS!!
I went on and on about how they were responsible for many crimes and many things gangs like to do. I was pissed.
The world turned dark as the final words escaped from my mouth that never left my memory to this day.
Narrator:
Rico: I WILL BURN YOU ALL ALIVE!!
Rico's voice reverberated through the air, startling both the cloaked figures and Leroy, who stood behind the tall figure, their attention abruptly drawn to his commanding presence.
Nico and Banko surveyed their surroundings, taking in the grim sight of scorched corpses littering the area, the smell of charred flesh assaulting their senses and causing their brows to furrow in disgust. Their teeth chattered involuntarily from a combination of fear and revulsion. Meanwhile, Elara stood beside them, her stoic demeanour intact, yet her eyebrows and upper eyelids slightly lowered, betraying a sense of sympathy for the tragic fate of the burnt villagers.
Banko's gaze shifted to the cloaked figures, and he noticed that the words written in the transparent bars above their heads were blurred, leaving him to ponder if their cloaks concealed their identities.
Banko's gaze shifted to the tall figure. A flash of memories of Nico and Rico killing the bandits to protect the old elven man's carriage invaded his mind as he stared at the bar above the figure's head.
"Orc bandit leader(level 24)"
Elara:An orc?
Upon Elara's recognition of the tall figure as an orc, the bandit leader lifted his arm in a signal, prompting the cloaked figures behind him to shed their disguises, revealing themselves as orcs as well.
Orc leader: Yes, we are orcs in fact we are the same orcs who were banished from this village.
Orc leader: However, don't misunderstand our intentions. We are not doing this for revenge such things are beneath us, we are doing this somebody hired us to do this.
Rico raised his voice at the orc leader.
Rico: WHO HIRED YOU!!
Reluctant to answer, the orc leader shook his head.
Orc leader:I can't tell you, for my own safety.
Driven by anger and frustration, Rico lunged at the orc leader, unleashing a powerful punch aimed at his chest. However, the orc leader swiftly raised his arm, intercepting Rico's blow and blocking the attack with ease.
Orc leader: Kill the others!
Under the leader's command, the rest of the orcs dashed towards Nico,Banko and Elara as they brandished their flaming battle axes.
Banko took a deep breath, clearing his mind as he recalled facing the army of Glacier bears, a battle far deadlier than this confrontation. With determination, he aimed the tip of his wooden staff at the orcs and summoned a row of sharp-tipped wooden pillars. Some orcs were impaled by the pillars, while others managed to evade the attack, charging towards Elara.
Elara, wielding her vine-hilt sword with precision, swiftly dispatched the approaching orcs, cleaving them in half with a single powerful swing. However, more adversaries closed in on her, prompting her to brace herself for the oncoming onslaught.
Nico on the other hand ran away from the battlefield.
Nico:( Damn it, I can't fight those guys.)
Nico:( Unlike master I can't parry flaming battle axes with daggers)
Nico inwardly lamented his lack of suitability for battles involving multiple armed adversaries, realizing that his daggers were ill-equipped for defending against such threats. Despite his reservations, a couple of orcs somehow managed to slip through the chaos wrought by Elara and Banko, charging towards Nico with malicious intent.
Nico: ARE YOU F###ING KIDDING ME!!
Rico and the orc leader clashed in a fierce and destructive battle, with Rico launching a barrage of deadly punches that inflicted serious damage to the orc leader's ribs. In retaliation, the orc leader unleashed waves of fire towards Rico, intent on overwhelming him with flames. However, Rico tapped into his seldom-used 2nd skill, "Elemental Resistance," a skill he had never before needed to use against enemies until now.
Orc leader: (Such immense strength, despite being a level 16 this kid is actually backing me against a corner)
Orc leader:(and my fire magic doesn't seem to be working against him, he must be an elemental battlemage if that's the case)
The orc leader thought to himself as he kept taking a barrage of bone shattering punches to his arms and torso by Rico.
Rico: (I'll kill you and once I'm through with you, I'll kill your underlings to-)
Rico's thoughts halted abruptly as he sensed an ominous presence looming behind him. Turning his head over his shoulder, he spotted Leroy perched atop a burnt-out house, his arm poised to hurl his battle axe at Rico with deadly accuracy.
Rico: SHOOT!
With a swift and powerful motion, Leroy hurled his axe in a clockwise arc towards Rico, the weapon spinning like a fan and blurring with its velocity as it hurtled towards its target. However, Rico's reflexes proved sharp as he deftly sidestepped, narrowly evading the deadly trajectory of the axe.
Yet, even as Rico dodged Leroy's attack, he found himself vulnerable to the orc leader's opportunistic strike. With precision timing, the orc leader delivered a punishing blow to Rico's side ribs, inflicting intense pain upon him and exploiting his momentary distraction.
Rico: GAAAH!!
But it didn't end there, the orc leader decided to use his first race skill.
Orc leader: SKILL 1: RAGING ONSLAUGHT!!
With a menacing aura surrounding him, the orc leader adopted a formidable stance, his body aglow with a crimson hue before he surged forward towards Rico with explosive speed. A powerful shockwave erupted from behind him, propelling him forward with unstoppable force.
Grasping Rico by the neck between his forearm and upper arm, the orc leader dashed through the ruins of burned houses, using Rico as a battering ram as they crashed through debris and wreckage. Splintered wood, broken furniture, and utensils flew through the air in their wake, shrouded in clouds of black dust as each house they passed was reduced to rubble.
In a brutal display of strength, the orc leader hurled Rico into the air before catching him by the face and spinning him like a yoyo, only to release him with devastating force, sending him hurtling into a destroyed house with bone-jarring impact.
Rico: Blurgh!!
Blood spurted from Rico's mouth as he collided with the wall, every fiber of his being wracked with agonizing pain. His muscles screamed in protest, his back searing as if branded by a scalding iron, while his throat felt constricted, as if pierced by sharp objects.
Overwhelmed by the torment, Rico succumbed to unconsciousness, the transparent bar above his head turning a perilous pinkish-red, indicating his dangerously low health. As the orc leader observed Rico's motionless form, he drew a deep breath, a sense of satisfaction washing over him.
However, his attention was abruptly diverted by the piercing screams echoing nearby. Whirling around, the orc leader witnessed Elara, a master of swordsmanship, swiftly dispatching every oncoming orc with lethal precision. In a blur of movement, she decapitated each adversary in a single fluid swing, demonstrating her unparalleled skills.
Recognizing Elara's formidable prowess with a blade, the orcs hesitated to engage her directly, wisely keeping their distance to avoid falling victim to her deadly strikes. Sensing an opportunity, some of the orcs shifted their focus towards Banko, diverting their attention from the imminent threat posed by Elara.
Orc leader: Who is that elf?
His eyes widened in disbelief at the ease with which Elara dispatched his lackeys, their demise akin to low-level NPCs in a game. Meanwhile, Elara observed the growing number of orcs converging on Banko, who struggled to fend off the onslaught using his magic.
Elara: He will run out of Magic power if this keeps up.
Elara entered a stance, her legs spread out and her knees bent as she lifted her sword over her shoulder.
Elara: Swordsmanship class-ULTIMATE MOVE: WHIRLWIND SLASH!!
Elara's skill was unlike Nico's shadow step; instead of teleporting, she dashed past the orcs surrounding Banko with incredible speed. In a blur of motion, she swiftly decapitated each orc one by one, so quickly that it appeared as though she had teleported. Moments later, she stood protectively in front of Banko, having dispatched the attackers with unparalleled swiftness and precision.
Banko: AAAAAAH!?
Banko got jumpscared by Elara's instantaneous appearance.
Banko: M-master?
Banko raised one eyebrow in confusion as he looked behind Elara and saw the orcs headless corpses laid on the ground as blood sprayed from where their heads were supposed to be.
Banko: ...ah…
Banko was too speechless to form a proper sentence.
Orc leader: (What in Eldrystria is a skilled swordsman like her doing in this village!?)
The orc leader groaned in frustration.
Orc leader:Looks like this won't be an easy job.
The orc leader took a deep breath.
Orc leader: ULTIMATE MOVE: HERALD OF CONQUEST!!
With a thunderous roar, the orc leader unleashed a mighty cry that reverberated through the air, his command sent a wave of energy coursing through every remaining orc in the vicinity. As the orcs began to glow with a bright red aura, a blue rectangle-shaped screen materialised in front of Banko and Nico's faces
"Orc bandit leader boosted morale, attack and durability stat of nearby orc bandits".
Nico and Banko: WHAT!?
chapter 13 ends.