Astur Kruabur

Clang!

The saber of the man struck against my ax, sending me back, before the enemy came at me with another attack, wanting to cut my head off.

Captain Vihra appeared in front of me, defended against the attack, and the enemy went for his head.

The enemy is too fast, and I am a little farther, I won’t be able to reach there in time.

I moved to break the seal when the shield appeared. It didn’t stop the attack; the saber tore through the stone shield, but it slowed down the attack enough for my ax to reach him and defend against the attack.

It was nearly the twentieth time; I had nearly broken the seal. I wish the commander would give the order as soon as possible. So, I could break the damn seal and fight with my full strength.

I had breached Lv. 30 in the last battle; it was a shock to me. All who had advanced to Lv. 30 had fought against Lv. 30.

I didn’t, I had fought against pre-level 30.

It was a shock all right, but a good one. I had dreamed about it for decades. I am in my early fifties; the chances of level-up lessened as one gets older.

I had leveled up, but a few knew about it, before the last battle, every pre-level 30 was instructed to keep their level if they breached the Lv. 30. I did and informed only the commander about it.

Most Orcs were asked to inform one of nine shamans, but I am half-orc and the only one from my tribe.

My tribe is small, and being a half-orc, I had been sent to a different tribe to work as a bandit. It was the only reason; the chieftain had kept me and my family in the tribe.

I already brought my family to the city, which was easier than I had thought. I only needed to say to the chieftain that I would be coming back to the tribe, if my family didn’t come and he sent them without delay.

I may be a half-orc, but I am more powerful than him. Had been for a few years that he had been trying to get rid of me, sending me into a more and more dangerous bandit group.

My family has been living with me in the quarters. I have been provided by the army. The quarters are bigger than the hut, I had in my tribe, but they are temporary.

My rank is a first lieutenant; it should have been a captain. The rank given to all the orcs advanced to Lv. 30.

The commander promised me, I would be promoted after my power was revealed and would get back the difference in salary, that I should have got being a captain. Also, I would be given better accommodation suited to my rank.

I had received a salary a week ago. It was such a large amount; that I didn’t know what to do with it.

I asked Vihra and Darnall for suggestions and took my wife and the children shopping. It made them happy.

Clang!

The attack brought me back to my thoughts. I defended before the spell came to save me from another attack and then it was Captain Vihra defending with his sword.

We have been preparing for the second battle, within a day of the first battle.

I have been teamed up, with Captain Vihra and Mage Darnall for a month. Practicing daily; we developed teamwork, which is what keeps us alive against the enemy.

If we had been unprepared as last time, we would have lasted against an enemy as powerful as this one.

Still, I wish I could break the seal and fight with my full power.

The company is dealing with massive undead and enemy powerhouses. The addition of these two would help them a lot, but we need to follow the plan. Keep it engaged, till I receive the order to go all out.

I did not like the plan, but I understood why they did it. It is the only way; we would be able to win the battle.

I wonder, how many are there like me, who had leveled, but kept hidden. From what I heard, only fourteen people reached Lv. 30, which is a massive number of powerhouses.

A single Lv. 30 is enough to make a tribe prosperous. Small tribes like mine didn’t have any.

I didn’t like to fight. My dream was to become a traveling merchant, like the ones who used to come to my tribe, bringing stories of different tribes and places along with the goods.

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Unfortunately, it was not a choice for me.

I am big, even among the orcs. Half-orcs are usually smaller and slimmer compared to the orcs, but I am an anomaly.

My size was only slightly smaller than the Commander before he awakened the elder blood.

Because of it, there was no option but to become a warrior. I had once told my father about my dream of becoming a merchant. He gave me such a beating, that it took me a week to recover from.

Since then, I have forgotten about it.

Clang!

The enemy sent Captain Vihra back, and I moved forward to defend against the attack with Power Slash and Furious Parry. I defended, but the enemy attacked again, with more power than before.

Thankfully, the Rock Shield appeared in front of me to stop the attack.

Rip!

His saber rips through the shield gave me a cut across my shoulder and came for another attack, which was stopped by Captain Vihra.

I am not the only one who received injury. Captain Vihra has got more than me and half the elf isn’t even giving us a chance to drink the potion. Every moment, we are getting barraged by its attacks.

They are dangerous and, if struck, as they are intended to, they will reap our lives.

I didn’t want to die; I was with my family after a year and felt like there was a real future here. I like to see that before I close my eyes for the good.

The enemy came at me with another attack, but the rock shield appeared once again. It gave me enough time to dodge the attack and defend one that came after that before Captain Vihra moved her shield forward to defend.

Hun!

Time passed when I noticed something; some undead had breached the circle. Mages quickly finished them, but it shows that the strain on our people increasing rapidly.

I needed to free these two to help the others, but I couldn’t do it without the command from the commander.

“Fucking pests, why couldn’t you just die already!” cursed the enemy angrily and launched the swirling attacks.

Clang Rip Rip!

A fast attack came, and we moved to defend against them, but couldn’t fight against all. Some hit us, giving cuts all over our bodies, including one on the collarbone.

If that injury had gone a little deeper; it would have been dangerous for me.

I desperately wanted to use my new skills. The capstone one is really amazing; even the Commander praised it.

Another minute had passed, and injuries on bodies increased. More undead had also started to enter inside. They are handling it, but soon, their number might increase enough that they might come at us.

I glanced at the people fighting, there humans and orcs and in between. I wish there had been a healer.

There are very few priests and mages with a healing spell. Our company didn’t get one; in exchange, we got more powerhouses, still, I wished we had a healer.

If we had, we might not have lost the people.

Bang!

The explosion rang out, bringing me out of my thoughts. The cannonball exploded not far away from me, killing the group of undead.

Some of the torn pieces of them struck my back.

I know they are helping us, but still, these cannonballs scare me. I wish they wouldn’t shoot them so close to the company.

The last battle I had fought as a bandit had cannons involved. Those nobles brought them out and started shooting at us as we attacked them.

I had heard about them, but it was the first time, me seeing it.

They had ripped the men's apart, leaving only blood and gore. There are destructions as such, that seasoned warriors had a took steps back seeing them.

They have that effect, especially on those who have seen them work for the first time.

The cannons were the reason; we had lost against those humans. Their force wasn’t that powerful, and if the cannons hadn't taken so many of our people and scared them out of their wits, we wouldn’t have lost so badly.

At least we would have been able to retreat, but we had lost enough men and powerhouses, that humans had completely dominated us and forced us to surrender.

The days in the human’s dungeon were bad; worse than, I had imagined. They were cramped and filthy, and we were being fed only a few times a week.

I had seen many people die of hunger. Some had even tried to eat each other and would have, if not for the guards stopping it.

It was a hell.

The three and a half days we had spent in the city’s jail weren’t much better. Thankfully, the undead attacked, and we were able to win back our freedom.

Power Slash. Furious Parry.

I defended, the attack before Captain Vihra brought her shield forward and defense, giving me time to stabilize.

“Fucking hell. I have enough of you!” cursed the enemy with his face twisted in fury. Seeing that, all the hair on my body stood up.

I knew it was going to do something dangerous, and it did.

It appeared in front of Captain Vihra with the speed, he hadn't shown before and attacked, with an air around the saber turning red.

Rip!

The saber turned blurry and the air around it redder, that it effortlessly cut through the Rock Shield, appeared in front of it, and went for her without losing the momentum.

‘I cannot defend against it,’ I thought.

The attack is too powerful and fast. She is moving her shield forward, but it won’t be enough. It will reach her through her body, like it did with the shield.

‘Now!’

I was moving toward her to help and about to break the seal when the familiar voice rang out in my mind and all the hesitation vanished.

I broke the seal and immediately moved at the full speed; the Wind Legs could give me. It was amazing speed; I appeared beside Captain Vihra in an instant, surprising the enemy.

I activated the Power Slash, but this time, with full power. Still, it won't be able to reach the saber in time, before it reaped Captain Vihra’s life. So, I activated the most powerful skill, that impressed even the Commander.

Burst Ax!

As I activated it, my ax exploded with power and speed that I could barely control. I have been practicing the skill for a month, but even then, it wasn’t enough to gain the control; I like to have over it.

Commander said it is a very rare skill. He had seen only one person having it and that person is an S-class powerhouse, leading an elite legion.

Clang!

My ax reached the saber before it reached Captain Vihra and clashed against it hard. Making me feel the power of the ax and heat, that is scalding my fingers.

Though I am not looking at my fingers; I am looking at the enemy, who is looking at me with shock in his eyes.

“Leave him to me; both of you go help others,” I said to Captain Vihra and Mage Darnall without moving my eyes away from the enemy.

The commander had given the command; the real battle had begun.