After concocting her strategy, Cless left the wagon hidden inside a boulder. They brought some spools of rope up to the hills with them, but Cless would need all her power to defeat the orcs. Worse yet, she didn't want to just defeat them.
Just as they exploited everyone to make themselves stronger, she would do the same to them. She was very upset, angry even, at her predicament. Her reflection session from a couple hours ago didn't help a bit. She refused to make the final link in her reasoning. It was impossible for her. Cless was going there to vent her frustrations on the orcs. And farm as much as she could from them.
They crested the hills where the watchtowers should be, but only burnt wood remained. The burnt remains told a story of bonfires. No sentries. They advanced unchallenged into the outskirts of the village. Cless climbed a rock formation and scouted the village.
She could see orcs lying around. Some coming and going from the few houses still standing. Scouts, warriors, even a few knights. They were angry, their inner animosity made them bump against each other as they walked by, even some fights started here and there. They never went too far though. Trade a few punches and go on their way. She felt she could work with that.
Back down, she addressed her guild. "Okay. Here is what we are going to do. I am setting several traps for the orcs over there," She pointed at the space between the village and the burnt watchtowers. "They will funnel down around the hills, and I'm going to finish the rest of them. You will stay hidden under the hills and fight the survivors."
Arnold scratched his helmet. "It sounds too easy. How are you going to make the orcs follow your plan? I doubt they would agree to it."
"You should know me by now, Arnold," Cless grinned. "I'm going to offer them a deal they can't refuse. You guys stay here under the shade, I'm going there to have a little chat with my green-skinned marks of the day."
Cless went back to the path between the village and the spur the orcs would have to go through if they wanted to go down into the forested valley. There were some bushes and sparse trees. She started to plant Warding spells imbued with Fireballs along the path. At little less than twelve power each, she could lay thirteen such traps. She set the conditions to five or more orcs within five meters of the hidden sigil on the ground. The fireball would cover more than five meters but that was just to cull the weakest and fastest ones, the scouts. The traps would last until dusk of the next day.
After setting the glyphs, she sat down to recover her power. With the double rate from [Eat Anything], she was full of Power in two hours of rest. Cless laid seven more glyphs along the way, to a total of twenty as she walked into the ruins of the gnome village. She also placed Protection and Mage Armor on herself.
"Hey you, lazy orc. I'm the slayer of your King. Bring your leader here." She shouted to the orcs taking a nap in the shade of the single wall standing from a former gnome house. She had a cylindrical, worked piece of wood in her hand, probably the shaft of some broken spear.
"Human!" They attacked after shouting. She was expecting them to. Cless beat these scouts with the broken shaft several times and fast, without much concern of dealing damage. That was a job for the splinters.
In five minutes the scouts were rolling on the ground, their bodies covered in splinters. "I killed your King and all his Knights in the cavern with the big wall. Who is leading this rabble? You call this a warband?"
More orcs were coming. Some warriors with them. "Bring your strongest. I want to talk to your chieftain!" She shouted. They charged.
Cless shoved Holy Bolts at the two lead warriors. She ran forward and hit them with the wood, once again covering the ones she hit with dozens of splinters. Her absurd Agility and the difference in levels guaranteed that these inferior orcs didn't hit once. Cless weaved and bobbed between the bigger greenskins with the grace of a ballroom dancer. It took too long to incapacitate these orcs, and more joined the fray, trampling the ones on the ground.
Those that were writhing in pain from the splinters didn't accept to become their brethren's living carpet very well. They started to lash and attack the orcs trying to move past them to get Cless. She kept hitting them with the wooden pole and adding more and more to the throng of incapacitated orcs. More orcs came until she was surrounded. By then they saw the predicament of those that arrived earlier and just surrounded her out of reach of her weapon. Even these ferocious warriors knew when they were outclassed.
"You! Woman! What do you want?" One of them asked.
"Your Chieftain. I offer power for you, orcs. I killed the Chimera Orc King and his knights in the cave with the big wall. Bring the chieftain here so we can negotiate. Or I'll drop the stick and draw my sword." She tapped the broadsword hanging from her waist.
A big knight came, pushing other orcs out of the way. During this respite, the ones covered in splinters slowly crawled away from her.
"Human woman! I am Gro'kuutar. Chieftain of the Goreskull tribe. You valiant. I give you honor of becoming my wife."
Some orcs laughed. Cless picked one of them and charred him with a Holy Bolt. "I offer power. We will make a bargain and a trial. If you orcs win this trial, I'll give you power and myself."
"One woman? What can you offer us that is worth the trouble? I should just take you to my furs now!" Gro'kuutar mocked.
"I can birth your orclings without dying. And my Legacy is one of lords, kings, and heroes." She bluffed with that half-truth.
Gro'kuutar laughed. "You? A princess? Warrior princess, let me show you why I am chieftain!" He proceeded to remove his loincloth. It impressed Cless. She had not much knowledge for comparison, but she felt the pain of the gnome women. It only steeled her determination to get everything she could from these orcs, not only their kill Experience Points.
"I'm not a Princess. You think that is big?" She scoffed with false disdain. "The power I offer can make any warrior here bigger!"
The orcs laughed. Gro'kuutar punched one of them that dared laugh next to him. "You think you can make any orc bigger? Little-Watering-Can, step forward!"
More laughter. An orc warrior came, clearly ashamed that the chieftain translated his name to the human language. "Show yourself to her!"
The warrior removed his loincloth. What it said on the label, Cless couldn't avoid thinking.
"Come here and I'll show you the power I can offer. But first a bargain," Cless said. She would have to be creative if she wanted to win this. "I'll give you enough power to become an orc knight and surpass your Chieftain's prowess. What you have to give in exchange is all your Stats as free points, Experience, and Skills when you die. Do you accept my offer, Little-Watering-Can?"
The orc warrior scowled at the chieftain. "I accept your bargain. My name is Vark'gorim!" He finally growled. It was hard to understand, but she felt the Skill triggering.
> Upon his death, half of Vark'gorim current Experience, half of his Stats and his Skills will be transferred to Cless. 455,000 Experience Points transferred to Vark'gorim.
She picked a piece of parchment from her pocket. The Virility contract. "Write your name here, then shred the parchment." She tapped his finger with the wooden pole. A splinter pricked his finger. Vark'gorim pressed the finger on the line.
"I can't read." He took the parchment and shredded it. Vark'gorim eyes went wide. His body bulged and he grew in stature by almost two heads.
"Go ahead. Show him!" Cless clapped the orc's arm. Pure muscle.
Vark'gorim grinned. His manhood rose and grew. It more than doubled in size and girth. "I'm Chieftain now!" The orcs were impressed.
One day, when she finds an orc scholar, she will have a long discussion regarding their ways of choosing leaders. She'd probably murder him after the debate is over, though.
"This is the power I can offer you! You will become mighty warriors. If you win my trial, a new breed of warriors will be birthed by me, and the orcs will take over the world." Cless boasted. The orcs cheered. Between the orcs and the Inquisition along with that rotten Church, she was inclined of going to the Infernal Realm and burn everything from there.
"I'm Chieftain now!" Vark'gorim shouted. "The Princess is mine!" He grabbed Cless' arm.
"Holy Bolt!"
> For killing level 42 Vark'gorim, you earned 2,836 Experience Points. Your contracts earned you 560,000 Experience Points. You gained the [Virility] and [ Pack Rat (E) ] Skills. You gained +15 stat points.
>
> You reached level 57. +1 Stat Point. You reached Vicar level 7. +1 Agility, +1 Magic. You reached Veteran Warmaster 24.
"Nobody will touch me until our wager is complete. You've seen the power and the terror I bring. Do you desire power beyond what the Chimera King wielded, Vark'gorim?" Cless taunted.
The big orc knight crossed his arms. "What is your wager, Princess?"
"I'm not a Princess." She reaffirmed. "Simple. All of your orcs must agree to our wager. You shall kill the ones that don't. I'll give Gro'kuutar the same power Vark'gorim gained under the same conditions when we seal our wager, regardless of who wins. I will meet you to fight in the hills where your watchtowers stood weeks ago. You will only leave the gnome village or attack me when the sun is one hand from hiding beyond the valley. If you capture me, you win and I'll be your loving wife to serve and give birth to your children for as long as you live.
"If I win, all the orcs here will give me their earned free Stat points and all Skills of D-rank or higher upon their deaths. You, on the other hand, I want all your Stats, Experience and Skills. I also command that there shall be a notification window for all orcs to agree to our wager. May the names of the traitors and cowards that disagree be made known to everyone here. May any of you that accept but later violate this wager pay with their lives."
She saw what the bandits brought on the table at the E/F-ranks (like Belching, Scoff, or Virility) and decided that she didn't want to see what the orcs would have. She was done with trash Skills. She triggered [Absolute Contract] and set the parameters of their wager. The orcs were surprised when they saw the notification pop in front of them. Or whatever they used as notifications, Cless had no idea because she couldn't see other people's notifications.
Gro'kuutar guffawed. "Little human Princess, you are brave. To think that even the gods of war will bless our union! I accept! Any traitor that does not shall die by my hand!"
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
> Upon his death, a fifth of Gro'kuutar current Experience, half of his Stats and his Skills will be transferred to Cless. 455,000 Experience Points and Skill [Virility] transferred to Gro'kuutar.
"Power! Get more Power!" He shouted, exhilarated. He also grew, but only by one head in height. Still, bare from the waist down, Gro'kuutar triggered his new Skill, reaching cataclysmic proportions. Cless discarded the wooden pole, clearly inferior. She was sure that thing could kill dragons.
"I am going now. When the sun falls, you come to catch me."
"You will enjoy the new me." He bragged.
Cless hung her head. She could barely hide her grin. Count on stupid, greedy idiots to not read the fine print.
"Light."
As she walked, Cless created a tiny globe of light above Gro'kuutar's head. She stopped, turned around, clasped her hands, and prayed.
"Judgement!"
"Holy Bolt."
Gro'kuutar wobbled. Bombarded by above and the front, his flesh seared. The orc Chieftain screamed in pain, trying to protect his newest gift.
"Holy Bolt."
A third attack spell finished the orc Knight. Cless was impressed with his resilience.
> For killing level 53 Gro'kuutar, you earned 4,789 Experience Points. Your contracts earned you 635,000 Experience Points. You gained the [Virility] and [ Spell Resistance (D) ] Skills. You gained +17 stat points.
>
> You reached level 60. +1 Stat Point. You reached Vicar level 10. +1 Agility, +1 Health +2 Intellect, +3 Magic. You reached Veteran Warmaster 25. Seek your trainer for profession advancement.
"Toodles!" Cless ran away.
She jumped over the mass of orcs and onto the roof of a house. They ran after her. She jumped again into a crumbling wall and before it could collapse, she was already on her third bound and out of the gnome village. She kept running as she promised to never feel guilty for not gifting [Great Leap] to venaris again. She could mix in a Blink spell or two, but she wanted the orcs to keep track of her.
The throng of orcs ran after Cless. Their shouts echoed in the foothills, causing the birds in the forest to fly. Cless could see her guild cresting the hills, ready to fight. She ran past the field of fireball wards and went further even after she was already past them. She could sense where they were with [Tremorsense]
The first detonations sent shockwaves of dust, heat and impact washing over Cless. She stopped and turned around to see what was going on. The orcs were running after her, blowing themselves. The ones the low-proficiency fireball didn't kill were trampled by the frenzied ones coming behind, only to detonate the next.
So much for the "gnome village" territory to be restricted to the habitations only. Stupid Skill. Cless was expecting them to drop dead once they left the last line of houses. She was interrupted by arrows that flew from the top of the watchtower hills and Cless drew her short bow. But first, she needed a defender.
"Golem!"
The stone-tipped arrows pelted the golem, causing only scratches. Cless hid behind the stone giant and saw a javelin and sling pellets fly from behind her, downing two archers. She shot from the cover the golem provided and they whittled down the number of orc archers.
The last wards exploded and a weary and singed band of orc warriors stood at the top of the path leading to the forest valley.
"Blind Eye, charge!" Cless commanded.
Silverfang in werewolf form, Vic ran past the golem as the lumbering mass of rocks took its slow steps up the hill. Arnold came right after, with Kurt taking to the skies. Venaris moved between shots and soon reached Cless.
"Way to kick the anthill," She quipped. "What now?"
Cless saw Kurt fly by from the back of two archers, knocking them down into the valley.
"Keep shooting until they stop moving."
The two girls climbed the path slowly, shooting when they had a target. When they reached the top, the rest of the guild was stuck in the middle of the melee.
"Venaris, run to those ruins further away from me. – Terrakinesis!"
Cless created a stone pillar two meters thick underneath her, raising her elevation by six or seven meters. She waited for the gnome to get some distance until the next spell.
"Song of the Accord!"
She planted her feet and started to shoot the orcs as they noticed they couldn't fight in melee and the only valid target was her. Or her pillar, since the terrain didn't count as an enemy. Some of them had metal picks, courtesy of the gnome miners, no doubt.
She ran out of arrows, stowed the bow in the quiver, drew her broadsword and Blinked away, landing next to Venaris. The orcs saw her and ran in her direction. Some of them were picked from behind by the frontline fighters of the guild.
The remnants of the orc horde split. The ones in front ran in Cless' direction, the others engaged the rest of the guild in melee.
"Fireball!" – Cless shot the spell behind the lead orc. Venaris did the same right after her.
Cless charged at the few orcs that remained. "Flametongue!" With a flaming blade.
She spun between them, downing the weak orc scouts with a single blow, the warriors with two or three. Venaris returned to shooting sling bullets. Cless broke through and tossed a Mass Mending in the other melee. She heard orcs behind her, but they were falling without connecting their attacks. She ignored them, attributing it to Venaris' marksmanship and joined the boys and the golem in the fray.
Half an hour later, they were tired, bruised but victorious.
> For defeating 47 Orcs with levels above your Experience Threshold (20) you earned 25,011 Experience Points.
The wager contract didn't pay off. "There must be orcs hiding in the village. We are going to sweep it and exterminate all of them." Cless ordered.
She placed every buff she could on the guild, healed all of them except the golem and they went into the village. They found the orcs with splinters huddled in the former town hall turned breeding pen, whimpering, bleeding and removing each other's splinters with gnomish tools.
Venaris cooked all of them inside the building with fireballs. The contract still didn't trigger. Cless looked at the sun and noticed it was not yet time for their duel. With a sigh, she started to loot the orcs, removing metal armor and weapons. Even if they were useless, they could still sell as scrap metal.
Cless looked at the golem and sighed at the bad state the construct was in. She tried to Stone Shape a basket at its back but it didn't work. At least she won't have to curse herself for not trying it before she acquired that small wagon.
They reached the fireball area. Despite being hot, the burst of flames is too fast to seriously heat the metal and damage the metal weapons and armor. They looted the bodies as they went, finally returning to the spur that descended to the valley.
"We are camping on that hill tonight. She pointed at one of the watchtower hills. Everyone move there. Dump the bodies down into the valley. Venaris, Vic, you two burn away blood and other organic matter. I'm staying here until the sunset."
She waited until the appointed. Four orcs appeared. They raised their hands. Cless saw no weapon on them.
"Great King-Slayer, we beg for mercy!"
Venaris appeared at the edge of the hill to shoot but Cless raised a hand.
"You have nothing I want."
"If you let us live, we offer you a map of the Dungeon."
"A Dungeon? Where?"
Venaris answered from her vantage point, "The place where you fought the Orc King! The wall was backward because beyond there is a Dungeon. My people used to mine and cull the monsters there."
Cless was about to open her mouth to ask why she didn't tell it before, but she knew. Talking about this place was painful for Venaris. She only came to avenge her people with orc blood.
"Hand over the map and I won't kill you." Cless offered. She didn't trigger her Skill. "I am a woman of my word."
They gave the map. Cless looked at the scroll but bothered not to check its authenticity. "You may go."
The four orcs ran past Cless and in the direction of the forest valley. The one ahead got an iron pellet in the back of the head and stumbled forward.
"Poison Bolt! – [Poison Mist]" Vic used his Skill to change his Venomancer spell into an AOE.
The orcs choked and died.
> Wager won. You gained +297 Stat Points. You gained 6 Skills. Check the text notifications for more details.
Cless climbed to the campsite, dismissed the golem, and sat to check her notifications. The girl felt both loss and elation at the amount of D-rank and above Skills the throng of orcs had. She missed a lot of junk Skills but again she missed a lot of junk Skills. She'd be damned if she would leave these things to look at later. Again.
> [Pack Rat (E)]: When packing luggage, reduce its bulk by 20%
>
> [Spell Resistance (D)]: Reduce all harmful spells effects by 25%
>
> [Runner's Dash (D)]: Automatic proficiency in Running and Athletics. Increase speed when moving in a straight line by (20 + level)% after the first 10 meters.
>
> [Steel Muscles (D)]: Increases Strength by [10 + level]%
>
> [Evade Projectiles (D)]: Increase your level by 25% for the purpose of dodging any projectiles.
>
> [Snakes' Flexibilty (D)]: Increase the range of movements of your body by 25%. Your bones are twice as resistant to breaking.
>
> [Herbalism (D)]: You gain the Herbalist Profession at 1/3 of your level.
>
> [Stage Magician (D)]: Automatic proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Bluff. Increase Dexterity by 10%. Spells cast with exagerated movements and voice are 20% more effective.
Vic slithered next to her with a mug of warm tea. "Venaris sent this to you, Cless."
"Thanks." She took the mug.
"How are you feeling?" He coiled himself next to her. She brushed her hand on his tail, feeling the scales.
"My life is upside down, Vic. I don't know who I am. I don't know who my parents are. And there's people there trying to get my head off my shoulders because of some stupid bloodline I don't know about."
"We'll be at your side. Always."
Cless felt irritated. "Even if I release you from my Skill?"
"Even so. Cless, you don't understand. Our races were hunted and forced to flee to the corners of the world, sandwiched between the humans and those One God fanatics and the monsters. You saw us in that storeroom. We didn't even have clothes, fighting on our own with our bare bodies. I believe we have a better future with you."
"Thanks Vic."
"Being bound by your Skill also have a very convenient side. We earn all your combat Experience without taking up a party slot. It means rapid growth for all of us."
"Fine. Enough sulking." Cless stood up and went to the middle of the camp. A deep firepit was shedding heat without leaking too much light outside. "Listen up. Tomorrow, we are going to delve in the gnome dungeon. I'm going to share with you what I got today. Arnold this is your payment for staying with us. As always, sealed lips. Gift ten Stat Points to Arnold. Gift thirty-five Stat Points to each member of the Blind Eye."
> 150 Stat points transferred.
Cless opened her status and rounded Wisdom and Charisma to 100 and Magic to 200. She still had 48 Stat Points left but now all her Stats were above 100. She re-summoned the golem several times to train her proficiency with the spell. At the last casting she'd be able to, she remembered the [Stage Magician] Skill and decided to really summon a golem.
"Golem!!!!"
The stone statue rose from the pile of rocks from the other castings, but as he formed, something changed. Instead of the bland gray stone, this golem was made of black granite. Cless was going to keep this one as it seemed an order of magnitude stronger. She sat down and checked her power. Instead of losing a trickle, she was regenerating power at what would be a normal rate for a novice spellcaster.
Arnold cleared his throat, "Cless, can I go with you to the dungeon?"
"Yes, be our guest. It will be reassuring to have a frontline tank such as you."
They spent the night with the usual watch turns. Nothing happened. Morning came, the shadow of the mountains still hiding the sun even though the sky was already blue.
It was time for the Blind Eye guild to delve for the first time.
Stats:
> Name: Cless (no surname)
>
> Race: Human.
>
> Level: 60 ( 1,821,364 / 1,830,000 Exp )
>
> Class: — Dabbler 25 ( 300,000 Exp / ** ) — Priestess 25 ( 975,000 Exp / ** ) — Vicar 10 ( 521,534 / 555,000 Exp )
>
> Profession — Veteran Warmaster 25 (300,000 Exp / **) — Crafter 20 (Skill) — Farmer 20 (Skill) — Herbalist 20 (Skill)
>
> Base Stats — Strength: 64 [108] — Agility: 89 [160] — Health: 103 — Intellect: 105 — Wisdom: 100 — Charisma: 100 — Magic: 200
>
> Available Status Points: 48
>
>
>
> Skills:
>
> S-rank: [ Absolute Contract ]
>
> B-rank: [ Succubus’ Kiss ]
>
> C-rank: [ Crafter ], [ Dangersense ], [ Elven Longevity ], [ Eat Anything ], [ Earth Magic ], [ Master Miner ]
>
> D-Rank: [ Trick Shot ], [ Nimble Step ], [ Tinker ], [ Grounding ], [ Dancer’s Grace ], [ Great Leap ], [ Druidwalk ]
> — [ Tremorsense ], [ Gemsense ], [ Ore sense ], [ Brownie Magic ], [ Courtier’s Charm ], [ Curmudgeon crafter ], [ Farmer ]
> — [ Singers’ Talent ], [ Poison Resistance ], [ Merchant sense ], [Steelshine], [ Heavy Handed ], [ Twin Strike ], [Spell Resistance]
> — [Runner's Dash ], [Steel Muscles ], [Evade Projectiles ], [Snakes' Flexibilty ], [Herbalism ], [Stage Magician ]
>
>
>
> E-Rank: [ Gravebreath ], [ Architectural Ingenuity ], [ Coin Sense ], [ Weavertouch ], [ Silk Hair ], [ Wanderlust ],
> — [ Giant's Stamina ], [ Hearth’s warmth ], [ Seamstress Talent ], [ Lady’s Countenance ], [Enhanced Touch],
> — [ Howl], [ Air Sailing], [ Splinters ], [Pack Rat], [Virility]
>
> F-rank: [ Gardener’s touch ], [ Florist’s Wonder ]. [ Cheat ], [ Inner Compass ]
>
>
>
> Spells (spells under 20 hidden):
>
> Cleric: — Mending: 50 — Detoxify: 50 — Light: 55 (+5) — Turn Undead: 34 — Blessing: 50 — Holy Bolt: 56 (+6) — Purify: 50 — Protection: 53 (+3)
> — — — Hallow: 50 — Flametongue: 43 (+3) — Cure: 50 — Uncurse: 40 — Banish: 40 — Heal: 50 — Warding: 50 (+10) — Revivify*: 40
>
> Mage: — Detect Magic: 35 — Armor: 50 (+4) — Fireball: 37 — Shield: 45 — Resistance: 34 — Deeppockets*: 35 — Blink*: 41 (+6)
>
> Priestess: Censure: 42 — Bulwark: 45 — Mass Mending: 51 (+1) — Sacred Dance: 41 — Judgement: 51 (+4) — Song of the Accord*: 52 (+4)
>
> House: — Detect Dust: 32 — Doorwatch: 26 — Prestidigitation: 32 — Never Overdone!: 35 — Touch Up: 27
> — — — Dry: 34 — Repair: 46 — Clean: 50 — Bloom: 45 — Hearth Recall*: 24
>
> Earth: — Soften: 40 — Earth Armor: 52 (+4) — Stone Shape: 50 — Terrakinesis: 36 — Golem*: 60 (+10)
>
>
>
> Proficiencies (values under 10 hidden):
>
> Appraise: Status: 50 — Resistance: 50
>
> General: Prayer: 50 — Reading: 16 — Skinning: 11
>
> Social: Negotiation: 39 — Persuasion: 24 (+4) — Bluff: 27 (+10)
>
> Martial (+14 profession): Leadership: 51 (+3) — Intimidation: 53 (+3) — Tactics: 49 (+5)
>
> Weapon (+16 profession): Long Blades: 37 (+10) — Unarmed: 27 — Archery: 51 (+7) — Maces: 38