The war drums rang like a hellish scream in front of us while the orc warriors marched toward us while dancing and shouting mockeries at us. I was expecting bad smelling and rude brutes, only to be disappointed by a horde of muscular bullies.

Once or twice one of them runs past the others to show us his or her ass while pointing a middle finger at us and swearing a curse. Which was both infuriating and broke the war mood.

"They always like that?" I asked Arlam, who was holding the war axe I saw in the armoury. He was beating its handle over and over in his left hand, in anticipation of the battle.

"Don't let them fool you. They see everyone as weak, and they don't respect the weak. They believe it is their right to mock all who are below them."

Ok, they were school bullies.

The biggest problem was not the numerical difference, it was the power. All the cores at the orc's chests were silver, which meant that only the knights had a real chance of fighting against them, while we would only serve as meat shields at the very best.

Even the tattooed man, who was a complete noob became dangerous and harder to deal with when he got his silver core. A trained orc would be leagues above him.

"Couldn't you people lend us a silver core? Would have made the fight easier." I asked Arlam.

"No, we don't have them stored here."

"Then how Cain gave him one?"

"It was part of his personal treasury, but I doubt any other knight here has one."

My attention was turned toward a flash that came out from the tower to my right. It looked like a firework, that flew high in the sky before exploding into a shower of light. Many others followed it, coming out from all the four towers at the all. "What's that?"

"S.O.S signal. The lords around us will come to our rescue in an hour if we managed to survive."

If was the key world here. Unless the wall could hold them off, I didn't see a way for us to survive for that long. They should have sent the S.O.S sooner. Unless it took a long time to prepare since Arlam didn't find it strange. For all I knew about this world, there could be more than a simple visual effect.

The orcs got closer, still taunting us. They lacked leaders to climb the wall. So they would rather go fo the gate or use spells to get up here. In this case, we could try to push them over the wall, which I could beat would still damage their shields and maybe kill them.

"Attention slaves! We won't survive a close and personal fight against them. When I give a signal, shoot them with all you have and don't try to spare your mana. We need to break their [Mana Shield] before they come to us." Arlam shouted for us to hear him over the drums.

He raised a hand and waited while the enemies approached us. They soon stoop marching, opening space for a tall orc with hair similar to a lion's mane to get up to the front of their army.

The drums stooped.

"I'm might son of chief Oak of the dragon slayer tribe. I challenge anyone with courage enough to face me in combat."

"No one answered him."

He spat on the floor, "Punny humans are cowards! This is why you lose the war!!"

The other orcs started to laugh and mock us.

"Don't fall for it!" Arlam shouted.

I knew this was a provocation and that we didn't need to accept it. The son of a chief would be a strong opponent and would have access to powerful gear and runes. Losing one knight to him would be a great loss.

But we need to buy time for the reinforcement to arrive. He was also important, so if someone managed to kill him, it would affect the morale of his troops.

I looked at him and shouted with all my might. "I Aron, accept your challenge."

The orc snarled. "You are bronze trash! I want to face a mighty warrior!"

Arlam pushed me by the arm. "By the king what are you doing?

"Stalling time for the reinforcement to arrive. If I can buy 5 or 15 minutes, it will be worth it."

"You won't survive a minute down there against him. Why would I lose a soldier to a fool's errand?"

"He is right," Justin said, finally joining us. "We need to buy as much time as possible, and facing him is our best option right now."

"No knight will want to lose his life facing him down there!" Arlam told him, showing signs of losing his temper.

"This is why I'm going. I'm the warden, it's my duty."

Justin could have a chance of going there and returning alive, but his death would mean Vanessa would lose her protection. And that was something I couldn't let.

"No," I said, holding him by the arm. "We have much to lose with your death and nothing to lose with mine. Trust me and let me go."

We would actually lose the chance of getting a godly weapon, but I was hoping they would forget about it in the heat of the battle.

He stared at me for a moment, deep in thought. "Fine, but you better bring that orc head to me."

"On a golden plate," I answered, smiling.

"Fools, both of you!" Arlam said, and return his attention to the orcs.

"Anyone?" The orc shouted. "I'm losing my patience!!"

I turned to him. When dealing with a bully, bully them back. "Is the baby son of a chief afraid to lose to a bronze? I thought you were mighty and brave."

The orcs laugh at their boss, who lost face.

"Get down here so I can crush your skull!" He shouted, foam in the mouth.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Just a second. I need to get my weapon or this won't be fun!" I shouted back and turned to Justin. "Anything you guys can lend me to help down there?"

"Maybe. Come fast."

We ran toward the armoury. Most of the contents had already been taken. We looked around and only managed to find the [Shadow Blink] rune and some useless weapons. At least in the worst-case scenario, I could stall him long enough and escape back to the wall.

Justin held his hand with his open palm turned toward the ground. A golden ring on his middle finger glowed with a soft white aura. The aura shoots from the ring, toward the ground, taking the form of a round, white shield, with the head of a lion engraved on it. The head was too realistic like someone had put the head of an actual lion there and threw gold over it.

Unique Shield of the Great Lion of Nymera.

Durability: 80%

Rune Slot: 2/3.

Rune links: 2/3.

Affects:

When blocking, there is a 25% chance of triggering Lion's Hoar against the attacker.

Has a 15% chance of triggering Berserker's Frenzy on the user.

Can summon the Great Lion of Nymera for 200 mana points for 20 seconds.

Increases wilder strength by 30% only when blocking or attacking with the shield.

Lion's Hoard: Stun your opponent for 2 seconds.

Berserker's Frenzy: For 5 seconds, double your strength and agility, but makes you unable to properly judge what is happening around you.

"Wow."

"This is the only gift my father ever gave me, so take care of it."

I looked at the shield with renewed interest. "Are you sure?"

"If it can save us, yes." It won't break in a single fight and the stun will help us stall them."

"Thanks," I told him and checked the runes.

Rune: Push and Pull.

Tier: 1.

Type: Casting.

Mana Cost: 10 reserved mana plus 10 per time cast.

Effect: Creates a mana link between the caster and the item this rune is socketed.

The caster can now throw and pull the item back.

The link has a 3-meter radius of effect.

Rune: Increase Radius.

Tier: 1.

Type: Enchantment.

Mana Cost: 10 reserved mana.

Effect: increase the area of effect of any rune linked by 2 meters.

If I understood it right, that basically meant I was now Captain America. I was not much into superheroes, but fuck, who wouldn't like to like him? Throwing a shield at someone's face, only to get it back?

I would buy those runes when I had the chance.

"I'm ready. He won't wait for too long."

"We could hope he did, they are kinda dumb sometimes."

If I was not betting my life on that fight, I would have laughed. "If I die, tell my wife I love her."

"Then don't die."

"That 's the idea."

I shoved the [Shadow Blink] on the shield and returned to the wall. The orcs were still taunting us, and their leader was sitting over a casket. He had removed all his armour that was carefully put aside next to him. If I had to bet, he had done that to save face or something like that. Which was good, it gave me a chance.

He smiled when he saw me. "Thought you run with your tail between your legs."

"No, I'm good. Why would I run from a greenhorn baby?" I told him, then jumped off the wall and used [Shadow Blink] to safely land where I wanted, getting cheers from the human side. I went from someone to be feared to someone to be cheered between two fights in a matter of hours.

Life and people were strange.

"Come on human scum, let us fight!" He got up and punched his left chest.

I pointed my sword at him. "Today is the day humanity proves a bronze can win against a silver! Today is the day humanity proves it will win this war!" I hit my shield with the sword blade, making an echo. "Be ready orc! For I, Aron, will send your head to your father!"

As much as I hated senseless speech, but they were good at buying time. Behind me, the sound of shields being hit by all sorts of weapons gave me goosebumps. I spared a glance back, looking at all the slaves chanting my name.

"Argh!" The orc shouted, and his army started to hit the ground with their feet, playing their war drums and shouting "Tusk!" over and over again.

He ran toward me like a bull. His weapons were two short axes that had a goat-like form. I positioned myself and tossed the shield at him, aiming at his head.

Taken by surprise, or maybe only due to his overconfidence, he received the blow. His [Mana Shield] blocked it, but as soon as the shield fell on the ground and he jumped over it, I opened my palm and pulled it back.

Since he was in the way, the shield hit him in the back. The magic force behind the pull was strong enough to toss him against the ground. He get up at the same time I recovered my shield and used some kind of movement spell to get in front of me.

Both his axes descended on me at the same time. I got down and blocked the attack, but my arm almost went numb from it. I teleported behind him and used the [Aura of Decay] to attack his shield again.

As soon as I hit him, he spun and countered my attack with an elbow, taking down 40% of my shield and tossing me back. I managed to fall without falling to the ground. Only for the [Berserk Frenzy] to kick in.

The way he looked at me was infuriating. I knew he was only down on me because I had got a shield lent by Justin, while his brutal strength was enough to deal with me. But he would pay for that, and learn that no one could provoke like that and live.

I ran toward him, shouting a battle cry that would inspire the fear in his heart and show him who was the most dangerous of us. My mighty attack would shatter his shield, and he would have no choice other than to implore for his life.

But he dared block it! Which made me even angry.

The effect of the [Berserker's Frenzy] passed, and I found myself in front of him, seconds from having my head hit by his left axe. I teleported back, avoiding his attack by a heartbeat.

"Human scum! Are you playing with me?"

"No, of course, no!" I answered him, taking a step back, and positioning myself. The [Berserker's Frenzy] was almost as bad as when someone gave me an order. And I could only hope it wouldn't turn me into a battle maniac with self-esteem problems again.

I had to buy time, and not die like an idiot.

"You die now you fool!" He raised his left axe up. The clouds above us became darker all of sudden. Thunder screamed from inside it, illuminating the darkness that surrounded us.

I knew he would send thunder at me, and there was nothing I could do about it aside from trying to teleport at the last second.

As I got ready to bet my life over my reaction when something shattered the orc shield and pierced his heart. He vomited blood, falling to his knees. Still barely alive, he held the spear made of magma with his bare hands, trying to pull it off while his hands and chest burned.

In the end, he fell dead.

And I felt a shiver running down my spine.

The orc behind me started to shout and hit their chests in anger. Someone had killed their leader in a one and one fight, leaving me alone in front of an angry horde of orcs with a thirst for vengeance.

I was about to run when all sorts of spells and arrows rain down on the sky to hit the orcs. I got hit by the volley that started to break my shield down.

Teleporting like crazy, I did my best to get closer to the wall. I would need at least two teleports to climb it, so I aimed and took the first jump.

As I reappeared in the air, a ball of fire hit me in the chest, breaking the shield. I lost the momentum and fell hard against the ground. Some of my ribs were broken, but the [Aura of Healing] started to fix them. I got up, realising I had only 10 points of mana left.

There was a wall at my back.

An army of orcs at my front.

And no way out of it.