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Chapter 10 - The Orc

He glared fiercely at the towering humanoid creature before him. Its jagged teeth jutted upward, razor-sharp and menacing. The creature's muscular frame was cloaked in rough, green skin, and in its massive right hand, it gripped a colossal mace. The handle, crudely carved from wood, supported a stone head that radiated raw brutality.

Aldir shifted his stance, his movements precise and deliberate, reminiscent of a seasoned martial artist preparing for an imminent strike. His fists clenched tightly, trembling with restrained energy.

Closing his eyes, he surrendered to the depths of his consciousness. For a moment, all was still—then, a wave of force rippled outward from his body. This time, the energy wasn't chaotic or violent. it flowed gently, yet powerfully, enveloping him like a translucent cloak. The ethereal shroud shimmered, swirling around him like a stream of condensed mist.

The orc let out a deafening roar, its guttural cry reverberating through the forest. With reckless intensity, it charged forward, its heavy mace raised high above its head.

Each of the creature's thunderous steps pounded against the ground, echoing like the beats of a war drum, shaking the very air with its fury.

Before the mace could strike—or even before the orc could close the gap—Aldir drove his fist through the empty air. His punch didn't land on the orc's thick hide. it stopped short, as though aimed at nothing.

But then, a deafening explosion erupted from his outstretched hand. A wave of invisible energy surged forward, tearing through the space between them like a projectile. The ground beneath Aldir cracked violently, fragments of earth shattering in all directions. Dust and debris swirled in the air, veiling the battlefield in chaos.

The orc stumbled, caught off guard by the invisible force. Its charge faltered, and its massive body skidded across the fractured earth. But the creature was not easily deterred. With an enraged bellow, it slammed the mace into the ground to steady itself, sending a fresh shockwave through the earth.

Aldir didn't waver. The translucent energy around him pulsed, resonating like the calm before a storm. He adjusted his stance slightly, his sharp eyes tracking the orc's every move. The energy flowing through his body seemed to whisper to him, guiding his instincts.

The orc roared again, its fury unrelenting. It lunged forward, swinging its mace with a brutal force meant to crush anything in its path. The weapon cleaved through the air, whistling ominously as it descended.

Aldir moved with inhuman precision. His body blurred, sidestepping the blow with effortless grace. The mace smashed into the ground where he had stood a moment before, leaving a crater in its wake.

Without hesitation, Aldir retaliated. He spun around the orc's exposed side, channeling the energy from his translucent cloak into his fists. With a sharp exhale, he struck the orc's ribcage. His fist didn't just connect—it detonated.

The invisible force erupted on impact, sending the orc hurtling backward like a ragdoll. It crashed into a nearby tree, the trunk splintering under the weight of its massive frame. Dust and shards of wood scattered into the air as the forest quaked from the collision.

The orc, oblivious to the impending force, was suddenly hurled through the air as if struck by an enormous hammer. Its massive frame tumbled helplessly, crashing through the forest with the weight of a landslide.

In that fleeting moment, the orc realized the truth: the power gap was insurmountable, like a mere rock trying to stand before an unyielding mountain. The creature's defiance crumbled beneath the overwhelming force.

Trees snapped like brittle twigs as the orc's body careened through the dense foliage. Its flight came to a violent halt when it collided with a towering boulder. The impact was cataclysmic—the boulder cracked under the sheer force, fissures spreading like veins across its surface.

Green blood seeped from the orc's battered form as it slumped against the fractured stone. The forest fell eerily silent, the once-dominant creature reduced to a motionless heap, its labored breathing the only sign of life.

Aldir stood amidst the chaos, his translucent energy still flowing around him, calm and commanding. The forest bore witness to his power, its once vibrant and untamed wilds now scarred by the confrontation.

Aldir approached the fallen orc with measured, deliberate steps. Each step reverberated through the forest like the beat of a war drum, steady and unrelenting.

His gaze locked onto the orc, now struggling to rise despite its battered and broken body. The creature's resolve had not entirely crumbled—it still sought to fight, to defy the inevitable.

But Aldir's expression remained cold, detached. His head tilted slightly forward, his piercing eyes peering down over the bridge of his nose, as if gazing upon a lesser being unworthy of his concern. His presence radiated an aura of dominance that made the orc hesitate.

The orc faltered, visibly shaken by the weight of Aldir's demeanor. It paused, one knee pressed against the shattered ground, as if unsure whether to continue its futile resistance.

Before it could rise fully to its feet, a sudden shift in the air drew its attention. A swirling vortex of energy began to form in Aldir's hand, the air itself bending and spiraling inward as though consumed by an insatiable force. The sound of the vortex grew, a deep and resonant hum, like a hurricane compressed into his palm.

Aldir's eyes narrowed, his focus unwavering. The energy pulsated, growing more concentrated, more dangerous. The forest seemed to hold its breath, the impending strike looming like the calm before a deadly storm.

Aldir thrust his fist forward, the immense energy swirling around his hand unleashed into the empty air between him and the orc. The moment his punch connected with nothing but space, a deafening explosion tore through the silence.

The force was unstoppable. The orc's body disintegrated under the raw impact, its massive frame obliterated as it was hurled backward like a ragdoll caught in a hurricane. Green blood sprayed in every direction, painting the forest with streaks of gore.

The gruesome remnants of the orc's demise splattered onto Aldir, staining his body with the vivid green of its lifeblood. Yet he didn't flinch, didn't even blink. He stood there, unmoving, the blood dripping from him like rainwater, his expression cold and indifferent.

To him, the carnage before him held no weight, no meaning. The forest fell silent once more, the echoes of destruction fading into an eerie stillness. Aldir exhaled softly, the translucent energy around him dissipating like a faint mist, leaving only the quiet aftermath of his overwhelming power.