Lt. Colonel Hiren

‘Now!’

I heard the command as my squad reached the company of Mage Osward. It is in trouble; its leader especially.

Mage Osward Is fighting the High-Mage Karlis and an Orc warrior, alone. She is barely surviving against them.

I wasn’t supposed to be here. My squad was to stay close to Lord Silver and move quickly if he needed any help, but the Commander had moved me here.

It is a good thing he did because Mage Osward didn’t look like, she would be able to hold against the two for long.

“Move. Help, the company,” I ordered the squad and moved toward Mage Osward, breaking the seals over my power.

I had been asked to keep my advancement secret, which was kind of frustrating for me. Seeing Azalea and Julian didn’t have to. It is hard not to get envious of the respect and adoration they have for colleagues and people.

Till a year ago, I cared little about these things, but seeing how people looked at me, seeing my one hand, made these things important, despite not being.

It made me angry and irritated when I was asked to keep my level-up hidden, while many of my friends and colleagues had not.

I wanted people to see, I am not less of a man with only one hand.

Now, I have got the chance to prove it. I have been training for months and the last battle made me gain confidence and this one will give me the respect, I deserve.

I moved toward the Orc. It is unknown. We didn’t have information about him, but I could tell he was strong. It would be a great challenge to fight such an enemy, much less defeat it.

Hun!

I was halfway toward the orc when I saw a man coming toward me. He is a tall man with a handsome face, with a rapier in his hand.

He is coming at me with a big smile on his face. I hate this smile; despite all the advantages it provides me.

People see the hand missing and automatically consider me weak. They completely ignore any other factors, which would tell them, that they shouldn’t underestimate me.

“Die cripple!” he shouted and swung his saber at me.

For a moment, I didn’t move at all before suddenly activating the Swift Legs, not to dodge or retreat from the attack, but moving forward toward the saber.

Immediately, the man understood what was happening and tried to move his saber defensively. T

The man was good, but he had underestimated me too much.

If he knew my power or had been slightly careful. He might have had a better chance, but he had literally thrown himself at me and I would be an idiot if I didn’t take full advantage of this opportunity.

I avoided his saber with an inch, before moving and swinging my sword. The horror appeared on the man’s face, knowing what was about to happen, but there was nothing he could do.

Pachac!

A moment later, the head flew up, while I moved ahead toward the Orc, coming at me.

The orc is a grey orc, with a bald head, which is a kind of rare in orcs. The orcs love their hair, and it is also important to them culturally. It is quite rare to see a bald orc like him, which is intentional.

“Lt. Colonel Hiren. I had heard so much about you,” he said, eying the stump on my left hand. Even after a year, it still made me uncomfortable when they stared at the stump.

“All the good things, I hope,” I replied, and the orc smiled.

“Many good things. Especially of the time when you had both of your hands,” he said, clearly mocking. I had gotten used to hearing it, but it was still hurtful.

I didn’t show it to my face. Instead, I smiled.

“Many had said the same things before they lost their lives to my blade,” I said, and sparks of anger appeared in the orc's eyes before a big smile appeared on his face.

“You are quite confident despite being a cripple,” he spat and came at me like a viper.

He appeared in front of me with his speed skill and attacked. His attack is fast and there is a weight to it.

I reacted immediately and responded with the Power Slash.

I tried to avoid a direct clash. Tried to go for his body, but couldn’t, with his sword blocking mine.

Clashing directly isn’t wise. His blade is a big longsword, while mine is a light, short sword. I used to use, the bigger and heavier sword, but I changed the sword after I lost my hand.

Clang!

Our weapons clashed as I activated the Feather Parry. Swiftly diverting the force with the light skillful movement.

One doesn’t need to meet force with the force. Lighter, skillful movements are just as useful to deal with the heavy as the heavy force.

In my case, they are much better.

My last level-up wasn’t just a big advancement into Lv. 30. It was a transformational advancement. Even bigger than what mages go, though, when they gain the specialization at Lv. 30.

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It had been more than a year since I had lost my hand and after the initial three months, when I had resigned from my job and grieved for my arm; I had been training.

I changed the weapon and training to accommodate the changes that happened to me.

I worked really hard and in the last battle; I had proved myself, but it was at the advancement, that I got the real reward.

My class advanced to Bladebound Officer, and my skills changed and advanced for the single-hand fighting.

The same with the new skills, I had got.

“Humph,”

He harrumphed and attacked again, with greater speed and power. I countered, same as before. I tried to go for his body; I did not want to clash with it; I wanted to kill it.

Clashing is a waste of time, but the bastard is skillful. He had brought, his sword in front of mine, giving me no chance to clash.

Clang!

Once again, I used the Feather Parry to manage its sword, but this time, he was prepared. He tried to stop the parry, to make my arm bear the full force of the clash.

He is underestimating me too much.

The Feather Parry is the new skill I have got. I didn’t have the parry skill before, and I had been training parry for a month. It is the best way to manage powerful attacks when clashing directly.

Now, I have got skills. It made me more efficient and skillful with it.

“You are good!” he praised and attacked.

This time, he added another skill. It is showy with the arc, but it had raised all the hair on my body. I know the skill is dangerous and I shouldn’t underestimate it.

I attacked to counter Power Slash and added Heavy Blade into it.

Clang!

The weapons clash and, like before, I parried.

It was a powerful clash. If I hadn't used the Heavy Blade, it would have given my arm quite a powerful shock.

Clang Clang Clang

It attacked immediately as I parried, and it attacked again and again, targeting my weak spot.

He has forced me on the defensive. He is not giving me a chance to attack at all. Using different moves and skills to keep me occupied.

“You are doing better for a cripple,” he mocked while pressing me harder.

In the first few clashes, I had gone for his body, and now he is trying to go after mine. Because of the big sword, he had power and reach, while the sword, put me at the disadvantage of that.

Rip!

Seconds passed when finally, it was able to avoid my sword and slashed me below the chest.

It was a deep cut and thankfully, there is no pain skill that seemed to be attached to it, but still, it is an injury, I need to be worried about.

Thankfully, I had a potion in my mouth and drank it. It is an old soldier’s trick; my father had thought of me.

Many people couldn’t do it because of the bigger taste, and some chose not to do it due to the focus it took, not to mention the efficacy it begins to lose outside of the bottle.

I have no choice. I only have one hand. I didn’t have another from which I could take out the bottle and drink it as fast as others with two hands. Especially, in the midst of battle.

“Hehe!”

He grinned and came at me again, but this time, I defended and the attack after that. The one injury is more than enough, I don’t want to give him a chance for another.

A few minutes passed, and I could tell it was frustrating him for not being able to get any more injuries on me.

A cripple, which he thought he could easily kill.

He is more skillful than he looked and has great command over his skills. Many times, he was able to evade my sword, but I was able to dodge his sword. The only thing he got was my clothes and, one time, my hair.

I am getting good at dealing with him and he knows that, as I could feel the slight impatience that he is expertly controlling.

He is a veteran of the battles; controlling one impulse and emotions are the most important things in it, but it is the thing most people discard. Thinking it is levels and skills that make one win the battles.

He had not.

Another minute passed, and I once again dodged his attack. This time, he wasn’t able to get my clothes.

Hun!

He came for another attack, but as I saw it. I begin to retreat immediately.

Rip!

Unfortunately, it was late, and I got injured across my collarbone. Thankfully, I dodged quickly enough that it was a light cut.

It was going for my neck, and it made him a little angry, but quickly controlled his expression and came at me again, and once again, I retreated.

Dodging isn’t ideal, but it is hard to counter him with him using that skill.

Rip Rip Rip!

Another cut appeared on my shoulder, as he flickered to the left. A second later, another, as he flickered, behind me.

Flicker is an amazing skill. The instant burst of speed could do wonders for one both offensive and defensively. If one is in all in power, they can forget touching young.

The speed of flicker-type skills isn’t something normal speed skills could manage unless one is at a far higher level.

His sword begins to carve my body, cuts begin to appear in every part of my body. From my neck to my legs, I was barely able to avoid heavy injuries, but if I kept receiving such; it wouldn’t be long before he would cut my neck apart.

“You should give up, cripple, with this skill. You don’t stand a chance at all,” he said, grinning.

I didn’t reply and continued with the battle.

A minute passed, and the intensity of flickers had lowered a little, but even then, it didn’t provide me much effort. He would still injure me with every flicker.

Hun!

“It is time for you to die!” he declared and immediately all the hair on my body stood. I knew he was going to use another skill; one that might kill me.

From my left, he appeared in front and with his sword already crossing more than half of the distance. It was not just Flicker, he had used yet another skill, that made his sword fast.

It is coming for my neck directly.

It takes seconds to reach my neck, till there is less than ten meters of distance between the blade of my neck.

The Orc is smiling. There is a surety in his eyes. This is my end.

I watched the blade as I tried to dodge it, but it was fast. The bastard had calculated my limitations well before using this skill.

Soon there was a less than, five-inch palm distance between the blade and my neck, and the expression on my face became calmed.

All the fear and horror were suppressed back into my heart.

Repel.

I used the skill, that I could use only once a minute, with the attack needing to be less than ten inches away from my body. At the same time, I used my second skill. It is not a new skill, but an upgraded one.

Whirlwind Slash!

I whirled fast and Orc realized the trouble, he was in and used Flicker. The Flicker isn’t as fast as it was a moment ago, but it is still fast and if I couldn’t go faster than it is, then I will lose him and lose the chance to kill him.

Swift Legs.

I activated the speed skill with full power and immediately the speed of the whirling increased before I reached him.

Clang!

Though the flicker gave him enough chance, to bring his sword forward to defend. It stopped my sword, and I could see the relief flooding in his eyes as I whirled again for another attack.

I turned toward him and attacked again. This time, he is much better prepared and moves his sword to defend. He didn’t seem worried about my speed, confident, that he would be able to defend against it.

Clang!

Our swords reached closer and closer, till they clashed again.

This time, I failed to parry and my sword flew away from my hand due to the sheer shock of the clash.

It grinned seeing that, but the next moment, his eyes went wide, when he saw me still moved toward him. He was so engrossed in looking at the flying sword that it had let me come closer to him.

He used the Flicker once again, but before he could take a step, he found my sword cutting through his neck.

The sword, that had been flying away a moment ago.

Blade Recall.

To a one-arm person, a weapon is most important. Without it, we couldn’t defend or attack. We didn’t have another hand, with a sword or a shield, that we could use; we only had one hand and one weapon.

Now, with this skill, it always will. As long as my sword is at a certain distance from me; it will appear in my hand, as I willed it.

Pachack!

My sword cut through the neck of the orc, and it went flying.

I looked at the head till it crashed on the ground before I took out the bottle of potion and drank it, before moving toward Mage Osward.

I had killed the Orc, but it’s far from enough.

We will need to kill over 70% of their powerhouses if we want to win this battle and we will need to do it before the horde swallows us.

It is a monumental challenge, but we will conquer it.