Gorr was so delighted to have obtained an axe weapon; gripping it, he could feel that this axe he had crafted was better than the one he had previously owned. Seeing Gorr's joy, Barsmith said,
"Why don't you try your new axe? Try to cut this rock."
"Alright"
Gorr approached a nearby stone. In that area by the waterfall, there were scattered rocks and rare minerals often sought after for crafting weapons, potions, or magical concoctions. Gorr stared sharply at the stone in front of him, not too large, just about waist-high, perfect for testing his new weapon's strength. Gorr grasped the axe with both hands, lifted it, and with a shout, the stone split into two, with small chunks scattered around. Gorr's axe still looked intact, and knowing this made Gorr very happy.
"Hahaha! What a great axe,you're amazing Barsmith! This is the best axe I've ever had"
exclaimed Gorr after successfully splitting a rock with one swing. Barsmith, seeing Gorr successfully split a rock, also felt joy, although Gorr's strength was still far from that of the Orc he had encountered before, Gorr's strength was quite impressive.
"Hey, Gorr, try cutting down that tree," Barsmith pointed to a tree across the waterfall. Gorr agreed to Barsmith's command and headed towards the tree.
"What are you doing, you fool?"
"How come? You're the one who asked me to cut down that tree over there."
"I meant to cut down that tree from there."
"Huh?"
Gorr was confused by what Barsmith meant.
"(Cut down the tree from here, what nonsense)."
Gorr began to tightly grip his axe, swiftly swinging it, but nothing happened. This incident made Gorr feel foolish. He shouted to Barsmith,
"Look, nothing happened, damn it! How could I possibly cut down a tree from this distance?"
"Of course you can, concentrate."
"Show me how, you bastard."
Barsmith then picked up some fragments of Ocktar material scattered from Gorr's earlier destruction. He made a simple knife from Ocktar and wood there. He went to Gorr and instructed him to pay attention.
"I can't do this technique as well as an Orc, so I'll slash the rock over there."
Gorr looked at the rock; indeed, it wasn't as far as the tree he was supposed to cut down, but it was still impossible to slash a rock from this distance. Barsmith stared sharply at the rock, then, after a split second, made a slashing motion. The slash caused a gust of wind in the direction of Barsmith's slash. Gorr looked towards the rock targeted by Barsmith; a visible gash appeared on its surface.
"What was that? You're amazing, Barsmith, is that one of the uses of mana?"
Gorr was amazed by what he saw. Since Barsmith explained mana to Gorr, he had been very interested in it and its uses.
"That's not one of the uses of mana."
"...??"
"It's one of the techniques of the Orcs."
Gorr fell silent. Orc technique? He had never heard of it before. No one in the village had ever been seen doing anything like that. Seeing Gorr quiet after hearing his explanation, Barsmith came and patted Gorr's shoulder.
"There's still a lot for you to learn as an Orc."
"Barsmith... How do you know so much about Orcs?"
The wind blew as Gorr asked the question. In the silence, Barsmith answered Gorr's question.
"I once fought against one of the Orcs."
"Really?"
"Yes, he was much tougher than you, your strength now is nothing compared to him."
Gorr fell silent upon hearing that statement. His strength now was nothing compared to the Orc Barsmith fought? No matter how strong that Orc was, Barsmith had admitted his strength, even Gorr couldn't touch him now.
"Do you want to know what techniques he used when he fought me?"
"Yes, of course."
Barsmith began to explain the techniques used by the Orc he had fought before. The first one was the technique of cutting from a distance, similar to what he wanted to teach Gorr now. This technique required concentration and focusing one's strength at one momentum. Once the momentum was achieved, the user of this technique had to immediately slash with all their might towards the target. The result was a dangerous long-range slash, the destructive power and distance covered by this technique depended on the user's strength. Therefore, this technique was very suitable for Orcs who relied on their strength.
The second technique was Earthshaker. When fighting Barsmith, one of the Orcs slammed his weapon into the ground very hard. This made the ground Barsmith stood on uneven, disrupting Barsmith's movements.
The third was Scream of Pain. Barsmith said he fought the Orc with the help of Gourmeth, but when he screamed, Gourmeth became frightened and dared not attack the Orc. The scream also made Barsmith lose focus for a few moments.
"These are the special techniques he used to fight me."
"He seemed very tough, so who won?"
"Of course....I did, damn it."
Upon hearing Barsmith's answer, they both laughed together. Amidst their laughter on that sunny day, suddenly, "GRAAAAAAAAHHHHH" A scream came from the direction of a cave not far from where they were, and shortly after, a terrifying creature emerged from the cave.
"Oh my goodness, what the hell is that?"
"That's..."
Before Barsmith could finish his sentence, the creature roared back at them. The creature was terrifying, as big as a Mathmorr with sharp claws and sharp theet, it was a Bearstangh (a creature similar to a bear).
Bearstangh stared at them angrily. Sensing a threat, Gorr readied his axe; seeing Gorr preparing to fight, Bearstangh roared and ran towards them. Gorr also ran towards Bearstangh.
"HOAGGGHHH"
"GROAAAAAAHHH"
Their shouts made the animals around them flee in fear.
"Wait, Gorr..."
Barsmith tried to restrain Gorr, but it was too late, the young Orc had already run towards Bearstangh. A fight was inevitable. Gorr used his axe to attack Bearstangh brutally. At the beginning of this fight, Gorr seemed to have the upper hand, landing several blows on Bearstangh's body.
However, these attacks seemed to have little effect on the large animal. As he continued to attack, Gorr's defense became open, and the creature seized the opportunity to attack back using its bite. Gorr was in pain, but quickly pushed Bearstangh away, freeing himself from its bite.
This time, Gorr and Bearstangh clashed in strength. Gorr with his axe and Bearstangh with its sharp claws. "SLING" "SLANG" The sound of the clash between Gorr's axe and Bearstangh's claws was deafening. The battle became evenly matched until, "SREEEEKK" Bearstangh's attack hit Gorr's body.
Shortly after, the creature seemed to be preparing for something, Bearstangh prepared to claw Gorr again. Fortunately, Barsmith arrived just in time, he kicked Gorr away. This caused Bearstangh's miss his attack, a powerful attack that even formed a deep scratch in the cliff by the waterfall. Knowing this, Barsmith said,
"What a terrifying attack."
The creature now turned its gaze towards Barsmith. Knowing Bearstangh was about to attack him, Barsmith tried to placate it.
"We apologize, oh guardian of the waterfall, we didn't mean to disturb your rest. As an apology, I offer you this food."
Apparently, Bearstangh was the creature guarding this waterfall from people who wanted to take materials and damage the environment here. It would forgive anyone if given an offering of an animal carcass. If not, then the person taking the materials would be taken as the offering.
With the offering of a tigeress and a Sanca given by Barsmith, Bearstangh left. It took both animals into its cave, and the situation was now under control. Gorr, seeing this, felt relieved, but Barsmith suddenly hit Gorr's head.
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you attack without listening to me?"
"He attacked first, so I just retaliated."
They argued for a while until finally deciding to return when Gorr's condition had improved. Upon arriving home, they saw Barsmith's field in disarray due to Gourmeth chasing animals trying to steal Barsmith's fruits.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!!!"
/~~~~~~~~/