I spent another night looking for targets but aside from the occasional food source, there was nothing interesting. So I decided to move out in daylight. My wand was stored in my roost, far enough from my food stash to not get smelly and bloody. For now, I wanted to find some orks and see what they were going after. Maybe that would give me an idea of where to look for its nest. That was why I decided to bring my wand. If they spotted me and decided I was a threat, I at least had a ranged option.
I took off when the sun approached its zenith. I needed a bit of rest after all. I immediately spotted lots of orks about on the fields and fishing on the lake. It took however a little while to spot the first guards. These guys were just patrolling it seemed. They followed the dirt streets through the fields and sometimes stopped to talk to a farmer. Since their path was taking them towards a village I decided to look for another group that would hopefully be getting some action.
I could not find any. There were decidedly few combat-oriented orks out and about. At least in the nearby area. After about half an hour of search, I found out why. It was near the edge of a field. A small forest sat next to it and three farmers were moving towards it while weeding between their crops. They had shovels and hoes on them. When I spotted movement coming from between the trees I thought they had scared some small animal away. Instead, moments later a boar charged right at them. The cracking of branches beneath its hooves as well as the heavy breathing alerted the farmers. They did not panic, however. The farmer that was directly in the boar's path got into a slight crouch, ready to jump to the side. His two companions took hold of their hoes and moved towards him. As the boar reached its target, the farmer jumped up, instead of to the side. His feet now in prime position, he kicked the boar’s head into the ground. The stunned boar was killed quickly with a few well-placed strikes from his companions.
These orks did not need guards for regular wild animals. They were perfectly capable of defending themselves. Not a single injury was sustained and now I heard them laughing and rejoicing about their meal tonight. The only question left, what did the guards do then? If the farmers could defend themselves, what danger was there that needed orks specialized in combat? And would I be able to kill it and snatch the experience?
Okay, more than one question. Still, I was curious to find answers. And I returned to the village the guard patrol had moved towards earlier. Maybe I could listen in on their plans.
As I circled above the ork huts scanning for the guards the first reaction to my presence finally appeared. I remembered the human villagers panicking and running for their lives. The orks instead only pointed a bit and raised their voices. Part of the reason was most likely my height. I was far enough to avoid [Identify] which also meant only those with really sharp eyes could see what I was. Others might just think I was a normal bird. Which I kind of was, just that I was out and about at an unusual time. And had magic. And a Class. But those were not immediately apparent.
Only I had forgotten how weird it must look to see an owl not only flying high up in the middle of the day but also carrying a wand in her beak. So when the guards came out of a large house and stepped onto the central plaza of the village, I was surprised when they started to freak out. I heard their shouts clearly even at my elevation.
“Wha… That owl is holding a wand in its beak!” one of them called as he pointed up at me. Probably a scout. He had to have some kind of vision Skill to spot the details from this distance.
“Arog, stop shitting your pants, it's probably just a stick.” his companion rebuked.
“It's not a stick, damn it. I can see the focus.”
“So what? It won’t know how to use it. And even if we wanted to do something about it, we are not equipped to hunt a bird. Learn to use a bow, idiot.”
“Yo, don’t call me an idiot. That’s so not fair. You told me to stick to my traps and knives.”
“Whatever, let’s go and track this monster down. The kids are probably just shitting their pants over some oversized boar or something.”
They barely even respected me. Only the scout was kind of smart, but why would he not learn how to use a bow? If I had hands and arms I would definitely learn a ranged weapon. It would make fighting so much safer.
At least now I knew what the guards were for. They seemed to be for anything the ‘normal’ orks were scared of, which would probably include a screaming monster in the middle of the night. There was an idea if I needed to lure targets out.
For now, I rose a bit higher and focused on [Sneak]. I had little cover to use this high up but I would still try to follow the group unnoticed for as long as I could. At least they were making their way onto a forested slope on the north side of the valley.
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The ork patrol was made up of five combatants. The weakest looking, Arog, was their scout. He had light defensive equipment and a few knives on his hips. A backpack was filled to the brim. It most likely held things for his traps, judging from their earlier conversation. The one who had reprimanded him felt to me like the leader. He was the largest ork with a thick leather armour covered in part with metal, probably steel, plates. His weapon of choice was a heavy spear with a large blade almost half the length of the haft. Almost as if someone had fixed a sword onto a thin tree. The blade alone had to be longer than I was tall.
The other three were less interesting, they had thick leather armour as well, but without metal plating. Their weapons were swords, axes and shields. One had two axes and a short sword at his side, the others held axe and shield in hand with a spare sword on their hips.
None of them had any ranged weaponry. Unless they were skilled axe throwers. This meant if whatever they were hunting seemed too weak for me to gain much from I could change target and hunt them instead. Any dangerous situation would be easy to escape from by simply taking to the skies.
As the orks stepped into the forest, I dropped down. Using my new and improved [Sneak] meant no leaves or branches made a sound as I slipped into the trees. I landed above the group and started following them by hopping from branch to branch. I made sure to have decent cover wherever I stopped and mostly tracked their position by ear. It would have been great to learn more about their prey or strategies but the group seemed to be well used to each other and they probably had already discussed everything necessary before setting off. As such there was not a single word spoken. A few times I spotted hand signs being exchanged. It would take a bit longer to learn those in detail but I understood the gist of it. They signed things like ‘stop’, ‘possible threat’ or ‘clear – move on’.
It took almost two hours at the landbound pace the orks set before we reached their apparent goal. There was a short vertical cliff cutting through the forest. The trees continued above but it was large enough to hold a two-metre tall cave. This would have been interesting in itself but more important was the mana I felt coming out of it. Earth and a bit of fire. No crystals grew outside so it had to be either a small node or hidden deep into the cave.
They still kept as silent as a squad of hulks in the forest could. Which was surprisingly quiet. Especially the scout would have been impossible to hear, had I not such superior ears. Handsigns were given and the silent ork stepped into the cave carefully. I closed up to the group and found a better viewpoint. If one of them had looked up right then they would have surely spotted me. Instead, they were focused on the cave entrance. One of the orks was looking backwards but I placed myself right above him. He would never look up.
I made out a scratching sound from inside the cave. Something definitely not ork had drawn claws or talons across the ground. Shortly after the scout shouted for help.
“Bear. Mana enriched. Level 38.”
Or maybe not for help but as a warning since he ran outside a moment later and his companions had formed a half-circle around the entrance. The leader was right front and centre, his swordstaff braced on the ground. The lookout had glanced back but was still keeping an eye out while the other two stood to the sides of the cave entrance. They planned to take on the bear right there.
To me what stood out the most was the scout’s information. He knew about both mana enriched and the bear’s level. This meant he had a pretty high levelled [Identify]. If he used it on me, my sapient status would be exposed immediately. If I took on these orks, he would have to die first. It would give me the advantage of information. For now, though, I would watch them. Looking at their strategy would give me another edge.
It turned out to be remarkably simple. The leader said one sentence and that was it.
“This is my kill.”
His companions retreated a few steps, still in range to stop the bear from escaping to the sides but far enough it would not prioritise them. The scout stood behind the leader eyeing the area carefully, while the lookout kept doing his job half-heartedly.
With a roar, the bear charged out of the cave. It barrelled forward like a small car stomping towards the leader. The ork lowered his stance and braced for impact. Just as his weapon was in range he lowered it and thrust it forwards right at the bear’s head. The animal whipped its mouth to the side and avoided being impaled straight through its brain. It did not avoid having the blade sink into its body. The ork stepped sideways to get out of the way of the still moving mass and pull on his weapon’s handle. The bear was half pulled sideways half sliced open until the blade finally exited its body. With a painful whimper, the bear looked at its adversary before turning to run. It did not get far. The ork jumped up to the bear's side and stabbed its head from behind. The wounded animal had no chance to dodge before it fell over, dead.
The victorious ork snarled and pulled out his weapon. When he had cleaned it on the animal's pelt, he let out a short and cruel laugh.
“Ha! What a joke. Mana enriched my ass, this thing was no stronger than a normal beast.”
“Sure it was, boss. Only minor though. Never know how much these things figure out about using their magic.”
“Right, Arog, good job. Go in and check if there’s anything else. Girls, get the pelt and prepare a fire. Let’s have some meat!”
Girls? Oh. This group had two female orks. The ones watching the sides of the cave exit moved on the leader's order with a chipper “Sure thing, boss.” Their voices were slightly higher but their body shape was pretty much exactly the same. At least with the armour covering any potential curves. Was the lookout a woman, too? I was not sure. Without hearing their voice it was pretty impossible to make out a difference. All of them had short hair or none at all.
Now, they were busy preparing a meal. I knew what they hunted. Animals taking up nodes. Most likely this node or its crystals were used by the local thaumaturge and maybe the people as well. I knew remarkably little about the orks’ economy. I was also remarkably uninterested in it. More important was how to use this knowledge to my advantage. First, I could look for nodes and see if strong monsters were there. Second, it would be possible to set up an ambush near a commonly used node and lure guards there, after scaring some locals. After taking them out, I could move on to a different place and repeat. This way I should avoid being hunted down by the really dangerous orks.
Before doing any of that though, I had this group right in front of me. The scout was in the cave, looking for more problems. The ‘girls’ were setting up a fire and skinning the bear. The boss was taking care of his weapon. And the lookout stood directly beneath me, completely unsuspecting. And I still held the wand ready to shoot lightning orbs in my beak. This absolutely called for snatching some experience.