CHAPTER 15: ORCS

I searched for companion in the wiki and couldn’t find anything. I needed to find Simba. I opened my map and found two blue dots on it. One blue dot right next to me, Jaesmin, and another in my garden area. I told Jaesmin I would be right back and went off to find Simba. This needed an explanation.

The garden looked great and even tranquil in the moonlight. There were dirt paths and flowers now. Some trees dotted the area, some with fruit and some with flowers. I spotted two of my elementals working, casting some magic to make a plant grow quickly. At least, that is what I assumed, as the plant in question doubled in height and sprouted pods and flowers. I followed my blue dot to a thirty-foot-tall apple tree.

Simba was on a branch looking down at a fat raccoon gathering something. Suddenly the ground had three vines unleashed from it and restrained the coon. Simba fell on top of the poor critter and dispatched it. I walked over.

I got right to the point, “Simba, why is Jaesmin a companion, and exactly what is a companion?” Simba looked at me quizzically and appeared to be thinking. He walked toward me and sat. A few minutes passed.

“The game had a new update 21 hours ago in real-time. Companions are an added feature. They can be obtained through quests or loyalty. You are limited to a number of companions by your charisma stat. You can add one companion at charisma scores of 10, 25, 45, 105, 200, and then every 100 levels after.”

“It is your charisma that is independent of buffs and magic items, though. Everyone also gets their starting A.I. as a companion for free. Also, the companion has ten skill slots at level 1 and gains an additional skill slot at every level divisible by 10. They also get five stat points per level instead of the normal NPC of 3. However, if an NPC becomes a companion at a higher level, it will not receive the stat points retroactively, so raising an NPC from low levels is best. However, they can die, well, except me. Orientation A.I.s resurrect after eight game days. If another companion dies, that companion will be unavailable for 90 game days. After 90 days, resurrecting the companion will be costly and based on the companion’s level. Or you can choose to release the companion after the 90 days and seek a new one,” Simba stated.

I think that if Jaesmin had just become a companion, then she would have gained five more skills. She would also get five stat points at each level. She was basically an amped-up NPC. I went back to find her and was disappointed on analyzing her. She was only level 1. But as Simba said, this was probably good.

“How would you like to go on a hunt tomorrow, Jaesmin?” Her eyes lit up. She nearly jumped in the moonlight. I remembered her parents didn’t want her to fight, but this was more of a leveling trip, and she wouldn’t be in danger. She was very talkative, asking what weapon she would train in and how to fight the lions. I answered all her questions while we worked.

Morning came, and we continued until Sanso returned. We greeted him, and he held out a bag for me. I opened it to find copper coins inside. I pulled out one, which was the size of a quarter and very shiny. The image of the wolf on one side with the tiny Latin script below looked great. The other side had the library, and it also looked fabulous with the script below.

I complimented him on his work and asked him to add the date on each coin as well, just the year. How many coins could he make? He said about one hundred an hour as copper was easy to manipulate. I decided he was to spend twenty-five hours a month making coins and give them to Elice to enter into circulation. This should provide ample coinage for the village’s daily trading. Finally, a problem solved!

I told Sanso to continue work on the tower, we were going for a short hunt. I just wanted to level up Jaesmin so she could increase her magic today. I had to wait an hour while Sanso taught her stone bullet since she didn’t have any offensive spells. Opheela and Trista gave us rides on the black steeds to the tower. These horses could move! I needed to work on my riding skill.

Seven militia were at the base of the tower when we arrived. Six were atop the tower. I rounded up the seven, introduced them to Jaesmin, and said today we were just going to hit the pride masters and return. The priority was to protect Jaesmin. I then brought Jaesmin to get outfitted by Curraen. He gratefully got her a village leather guard outfit. He had about fifteen suits in his storeroom. The man was industrious!

Our trip through the plains was going well. We had taken down nine pride masters, twenty-two lions, and seventeen deer. Jaesmin was level four and doing well. A scout noticed a cloud in the distance. It looked like a herd of deer, not too big, maybe buffalo.

Then I could make out black horses with mounts, a lot of them. I told everyone the best possible speed to the tower. We were three miles out, and the band of orcs was about a mile and a half out from us. It was quickly noticeable that Jaesmin was the slowest. I picked her up and carried her. Thank you for my excessive game strength! The orcs were closing the distance too quickly.

There was a lot of dust, but I figured there would be at least fifty mounted orcs. Damn, I had time to prepare, and I wasted it. I should have been more careful and more industrious in preparations. If we had stayed within a mile of the tower, we could have gotten back to its relative safety.

The orcs slowed when they got to within a hundred yards of us and kept that distance. Herding us home. Not attacking. I was puzzled but thankful. When we reached the tower and went inside, I was glad to see that it was packed with my militia. On top were six guards. Galana was organizing them, getting them ready. It was very crowded. I went to the roof.

I emerged, looked out at the plains, and started counting the orcs in the semi-circle about 150 yards out. They had easily passed the 10-foot earth wall, all Sixty-Seven of them. Most looked like fighters, but three could possibly be spell casters. We were going to lose people today.

A single massive orc dismounted and walked forward, unafraid. I analyzed him when he got in range. Level 20 boss. He started speaking in orcish, and I didn’t understand. He was making grand gestures and pointing.

I was surprised to see Simba hop up on the railing. The cat interpreted for me, “He is saying they are here to eliminate this threat and grind the village to dust. They will drag the thieves back to be executed in front of the clan. He is calling you some names as well. He is also calling you out for one-on-one combat.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Galana came to the trap door and said the militia was ready. Unfortunately, Sanso was not found in time, and his elementals were nowhere to be found. Four people guard the door, and the remaining twenty-nine rush to the tower top with bows. So, thirty-six ranged attackers. It was going to be crowded. I passed the descriptions of the spell casters to Galana, which was to be our focus in the opening salvo. The orc was done with his battle speech and returned to his horse.

I was giving orders to reaffirm that the first targets were the three shaman-looking ones. Then, unfortunately, as they charged, those three remained out of range! Half the orcs drew bows, and the others drew scimitars. This was going to be bad. “Focus fire until one drops!” A young woman next to me took eight arrows in the chest and arms and fell. I felt helpless. I was no general or elite hero.

Galana was our ace. She only needed two arrows to fell a rider. There was mass confusion as militia rushed onto the tower roof. “Cover all four sides!” I yelled frantically as it looked like the oncoming soldiers were going to surround the tower.

They obviously were not expecting as many militia as we had. I cast a hail of stones into the front of a group of riders, which did good damage as they rode through the stone rain. Another militia fell to my right. The best I could estimate in the chaos was that maybe my spell removed nine orcs from their saddles.

Unfortunately, my command to target the spell casters had confused some, and others had attacked them anyway, even though they were out of range. Wasted shots and time! I was frustrated and cast another hail of stone, getting three orcs in a few seconds. The orc leader had dismounted with eight others, charging the door. The remaining orcs were circling and firing arrows. During this distraction, the spell castors had moved in, casting fire and lightning at the guards and me. A ball of fire erupted in our midst, and six militia went down wounded.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Galana changed targets and took down one of the casters with a single arrow through an eye. Other militia archers quickly took down another with multiple arrows. The third managed to get out of range, but not before casting a lightning blast that knocked another militia off the tower. A pounding could be heard below at the door. If they broke through, it would be over.

I yelled down to hold them one minute. The archers had issues targeting the orcs below. Shields covered ones trying to break in. “Galana command the archers!” I started my casting. More soldiers fell, some wounded, some dead. We were down to half strength when I finished my spell, which had a long casting time.

The door had been breached, and two or three orcs had gotten inside. My nine by nine-foot rock, one foot thick, materialized above the orcs at the door below and fell. Six orcs were crushed under the stone, preventing any of them from entering for a few seconds. My focus returned to the battle. Galana had gotten the last shaman when he came back in range. The orcs had less than twenty mounted men and another half dozen wounded on the ground. Fighting could be heard inside the tower.

I rushed down the stairs, yelling for Galana to continue directing the archers on top. The lower floors were dark, but I could see Curraen engaged with the orc leader. Two other orcs were fighting two of my men. Jaesmin was in the back casting stone bullet.

Without thinking, I drew my axe and crashed into the orc leader. Distracting him long enough for Curraen to get in a solid hit. I started swinging like a crazy man, knowing if I failed, Jaesmin and others would die. The orc had incredible armor. My attacks that were hit only caused 30 to 35 damage. My position had also shifted, and my back was at the entrance to the tower.

I got stabbed in the back for 86 damage due to my negligence. I shifted and stood by Curraen, and he was bloody but standing. The orc leader looked in worse shape. There were now five other orcs on the first floor, but no more were coming through the door’s archway.

I managed to cast hail of stones on four orcs grouped together to pull them away from my men. I was down to 30% health, and it was looking grim. Then a massive figure burst into the tower from outside. Wielding a massive two-handed sword, she stabbed into the orc leader.

Galana must have jumped off the top of the tower to get into the fight quickly. The orc leader knew immediately he was overmatched and started to look for an escape. I hacked into him again with my axe and did 75 damage with a critical. He was looking pretty bad. Galana turned on another orc and felled him with a single swing, taking his head.

Curraen and I pressed the orc leader together, eventually breaking his defenses and felling him while Galana cleaned up the other orcs. I rushed outside to see what villains were left. None. Bodies of orcs lay everywhere. Horses milled about, riderless. In the distance, I could see three orcs riding away. I sat in the dirt, and Jaesmin came up next to me and sat with me. After a time, Galana came to me, “Lord Tallis, thirteen dead, everyone else alive is wounded. We killed sixty-two of them. We have two prisoners, and three got away.” I waved Galana away.

We were lucky. If the orcs had not been so overconfident, they could have taken us on the plains and eliminated a third of our forces. Galana would have probably been able to win the battle herself afterward, but I think we would have lost all our men.

Sanso came running up to me, out of breath. “Lord, I didn’t know the orcs were here. No one told me. I was at the river working on the tower. My elementals were half a mile away, extending the wall. If I had known, I could have summoned my elementals to aid you,” he blurted out in raspy breaths.

“Another mistake on my part, not yours.” I pulled out a waterskin and sucked on it. “How is the tower coming?” I asked, not caring but not wanting to face the knowledge that I had lost 13 townsfolk.

Sanso looked slightly guilty but replied, “Well, my lord. The second floor is half complete. With help, I think I could complete it in two days.” I nodded. Not saying anything for a while, so Sanso wandered away. The remaining soldiers were gathering the horses and looting the bodies. I got up and walked toward town with Jaesmin under my arm. She had a few cuts that were healing.

The villagers were gathered, and I told them about the victory and the cost. I read off the names of the fallen from my interface, and people were crying and distraught. I told them we were safe and the orcs would not return with their leader dead. I said we would celebrate the victory tomorrow evening and honor those who died defending our village. I went home with Jaesmin and went straight to bed. We curled up together, and I slept for eight hours during the game, the longest time I had slept so far.

It was still dark when I rose. I went to my drafting table, the stupid library, my obsession. If I had spent the time building defenses instead of working on this…less villagers would have died. The plans were maybe half done. There were still so many details I still wanted to add. I had set aside another forty sheets of paper for the plans.

I looked at my village in the interface. Ninety-six people, only humans, had died. We lost two of our full-time guards, damn. I was still miserable; how could this be a game if I felt this way? I sat at the drafting table, sorted my plans for the library, and started working on it again…obsession. I was on game autopilot, and when I found out I didn’t like what the game autopilot was doing to the plans, I tossed the work and did it myself. In the morning, there came a knock at the door.

I answered it, and it was Galana. Jaesmin came downstairs dressed, and we all sat at the table while she gave me the report. First, she reported the dead, which I already knew. Then the loot:

58 Black Mountain Steeds

1,953 copper coins

489 silver coins

47 gold coins

48 Common Magic Rings

8 Uncommon Magic Rings

2 Rare Magic Rings

2 Rare Magic Belts

18 Common Magic Swords

7 Uncommon Magic Swords

1 Rare Magic Sword

6 Skill Novice Books (riding, alchemy, air magic, herbalism, polearm: spear, analyze)

1 Expert Skill Book (riding)

2 Uncommon Wands

1 Unique Saddle

A whole bunch of regular gear and jewelry was on a separate page. Well, ok. The copper and silver could be divided evenly among the people who fought. The gold would go into the village treasury. Galana could distribute the common and uncommon rings to those most deserving. Our soldiers were not going to use scimitars, so I guessed they would sell them all. The skill books would go into my private stash to use as rewards.

I asked her to bring the other items so I could inspect them. She said she would return later today after giving out the trophies and loot. I told her to give the shares of the fallen to their families, and she nodded in affirmation before leaving.

It was afternoon when a knock at the door happened again. Galana was there with the loot. I analyzed the following pieces:

Ivory Ring of Deep Magic, +8 Magic, +2% total magic pool increase

Steel Ring of Fire Resistance, 30 Armor vs. Fire

Black and White Leather Belt of Channeling, +15 channeling

Blue Dragon Hide Belt, +50% damage with lightning spells

Cherry Wand of Fire, +25% damage with fire

Black Oak Wand of Focus, 10% magic reduction for all spells

Kahn’s Black Dragon Leather Saddle, +6 Riding Skill, +20% speed of mount, +20% damage with melee weapons, 50% less stamina drain on mount

Good haul at a great cost. I gave Galana the ring of fire resistance. I handed the black wand to Jaesmin. The ivory ring went on my finger, and the black and white belt around my waist. The saddle would be for my mount. I would start riding today. Jaesmin was handed two rings and some coins from Galana for her participation.

I thanked Galana for her service, and she left.

Now that the threat had passed, I needed to send out a trading caravan. We had a ton of gear and goods to sell. Interestingly, some NPCs had bags of holding like Galana’s. This meant we really didn’t need wagons. We also had plenty of horses. I walked over to the store to talk with Elice.

She was there and sorting through the gear from the orcs. Of course, she was focused on the jewelry! We talked for an hour about the value of the gear and selling our overstock of meat and other goods. The nearest city was Stillwater, about 240 miles to the south. Walking would take about ten days, mounted about six days, so they were definitely taking horses.

Elice was to lead the trade expedition. Gather everything we didn’t need, Galana and the two remaining guards would accompany her for safety as she estimated the value of the goods was about 500 gold! Damn, that was a lot of money. She was to purchase lumber, grains, and anything else we needed at the general store. Galana was not happy about being sent away for two weeks, but I told her it was necessary and ended the argument. Hopefully, this wasn’t another mistake on my part.

PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS ONLY POSTED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS PATREON, ROYAL ROAD AND SCRIBBLE HUB. IF YOU ARE VIEWING IT ON ANOTHER SITE IT HAS BEEN STOLEN WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION.