The sun had already begun its descent, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple. Half a day wasted. Blain sat on the muddy bank of the Red River, its waters a sluggish, crimson current beside him. He skipped a flat stone across the surface, watching it bounce three times before sinking with a soft plip.
"What am I even doing?" he muttered, the words a self-loathing whisper. "I wanted to burn the Kingdom of Eldoria to the ground. I wanted revenge for my father, for my aunt. And now... now I'm putting my whole brain into figuring out how to fuck a green monster." He hung his head, the weight of his fallen ambition pressing down on him. "Have I fallen so low?"
As he wallowed in his despair, a rustling sound came from the dense bushes lining the riverbank. Blain didn't even bother to look up, too lost in his own pathetic thoughts to care about potential danger.
A moment later, three male orcs stumbled out of the foliage, each struggling with a large, clumsy water pot. They were younger than the ones he'd observed from the tree, their frames not yet bulging with the full, terrifying muscle of a mature warrior. One had a distinctive scar across his nose, another a potbelly that jiggled with each step, while the third was lanky and nervous-looking.
Blain glanced at them, his expression flat. "Ohh, orcs again."
The orc group spotted him at the same moment. They halted, their sloshing water pots forgotten as they regrouped, their beady eyes locking onto his solitary figure. A low, guttural conversation passed between them.
*What to do?*
*Fight or run?*
*Fight! Fight!*
Putting their heavy vessels aside with a thud, the three orcs marched toward him, their stooped postures somehow radiating aggression. Blain watched them approach, his own posture straightening. He saw it then—a creepy, predatory smile lingering on their faces, a look that promised pain.
"Hmmm, looks like a ruckus is gonna be made," he sighed, standing up and brushing the dirt from his trousers.
The orcs stopped a few feet away, a tense triangle of green muscle and bad intentions. The air grew thick and heavy, the silence broken only by the gurgle of the river. Their eyes were locked, and the tension started to simmer.
*So what is it they want from me? Am I trespassing? I'm outside their settlement.* Blain's mind raced. *Are they just looking for a fight?* Then he remembered the system's note: *Aggressive to inferior species.*
The phrase cracked something inside him. The frustration, the humiliation, the sheer absurdity of his quest—it all boiled over. "You stupid green creatures, I am not weak!" he roared, his voice echoing across the water.
The potbellied orc took a step forward. "Human weak!" it grunted, pointing a thick finger at him. "Come fight!"
The fat orc didn't stop, repeating the words like a mantra. "Human weak! Come fight!"
"Aaaaahh! You think humans are weak, you dumb creature!" Blain shot back, his hands clenching into fists.
"Orcs not dumb!" the scarred one retorted in a surprisingly rhythmic voice.
Blain froze. The words were guttural, but he understood them perfectly. "Ehh? You can understand me?" he was genuinely shocked. *Since I'm a monster too, a lesser demon... I guess I can speak the monster tongue! Hmmm!*
The orcs were just as surprised. They looked at each other, their jaws slack. "Human speak!" one grunted in awe. "Human speak!" the other echoed, nodding his head vigorously.
"Well, get lost!" Blain shouted, his anger deflating into annoyance. He wasn't in the mood for a pointless brawl, especially not against what looked like a trio of teenage orcs. "Get lost!"
But he didn't know that the blood in the youth of all species boils hot and fast. The command to "get lost" was an insult they could not tolerate. All three orcs let out a collective roar and charged, their tusks gleaming in the dim light.
"Ehhh! Heheh," a smirk, an evil smile, spread across Blain's face. "So you won't listen..."
As the lead orc lunged, Blain exploded upward, his new demonic strength launching him high into the air. He soared over the swinging fists and landed nimbly on the fat orc's head, using it as a springboard.
"Aagggh!" the orc bellowed, stumbling in confusion.
Another orc immediately swung wildly at his own head, trying to swat Blain off. Blain simply jumped again, and the orc's meaty fist connected with his partner's skull with a sickening smack.
"Hahahahahah! What an idiot!" Blain laughed, landing gracefully on the bank. The laughter, however, only fueled their rage. All three were now running at him, a chaotic tide of green fury.
Blain didn't retreat. He ran straight at them, his speed a blur. At the last second, he dropped into a slide, his body skimming across the mud. As he passed between two of them, he thrust out his hand, focusing his will, his desperation. "Mana attack!" he silently commanded, pouring his energy into the push.
A shimmering blast, weak and uncontrolled, shot from his palm and struck the third orc squarely in the back.
"BINGOOOO!" Blain whooped, scrambling to his feet and sprinting toward the next orc.
That orc threw a clumsy haymaker. Blain ducked under it with ease and drove a solid punch deep into the orc's gut. The air whooshed out of the creature's lungs, and its eyes rolled back as it collapsed into an unconscious heap.
"Hmm, so 1 down, now two remaining," Blain calculated. His idea wasn't to kill them; killing them would only bring more trouble. He just needed to make a point.
He weaved and dodged, a phantom against their clumsy attacks. A sharp jab to the throat, followed by a devastating uppercut, and a final spinning kick to the face made the second orc crumple to the ground, out cold.
Since these weren't fully matured orcs, they lacked the resilience and sheer strength of their elders. Blain turned to the third, the lanky one. Seeing his comrades fall so easily, the orc's bravado evaporated. It dropped to its knees, its hands raised in supplication.
"Ehh! Aren't you the smart one?" Blain laughed, a cold, mirthless sound. He walked up to the kneeling orc and, without warning, drove a hard kick into its gut, sending it face-first into the mud. He placed his foot on the back of the orc's head, pressing it into the dirt.
"I told you not to fight with me," he said, his voice low and menacing. "But you were idiots who ignored my warning."
He lifted his foot. The orc, trembling and terrified, slowly pushed itself up, joined its two still-unconscious comrades, and all three knelt in a row before him, their heads bowed in defeat.
Blain looked down at the three kneeling orcs, their massive frames trembling with a mixture of pain and fear. A thought, sharp and devious, pierced through his frustration. An evil grin, one that didn't reach his eyes, spread across his face. The smile was so chilling, so predatory, that even the defeated orcs seemed to shrink away from it.
"You three," he began, his voice a low, dangerous purr. "You will do whatever I say. You understand?"
The orcs exchanged a nervous glance, a flicker of their earlier pride returning. "Orcs no follow human!" they grunted in unison, their voices a pathetic attempt at defiance.
"Ohh, is this how it is?" Blain's grin vanished, replaced by an icy calm. "Well, I had given you the chance to live. Since you don't want to live anymore, I will finish you right here, right now."
With a fluid, terrifying motion, he drew his sword. The blade, still stained with the black blood of the hobgolem, seemed to drink the dim light of the forest, humming with a latent menace. At the same time, he let a sliver of his demonic mana leak out, a cold, oppressive aura that washed over the clearing. The air grew heavy, and the temperature seemed to drop.
The effect was instantaneous. All three orcs were immediately sweating, their eyes wide with terror as they stared at the sword's razor-sharp edge and felt the suffocating pressure of Blain's power. Their pride evaporated like mist in the sun.
They immediately bowed their heads, pressing them into the mud. "Forgive master! Forgive master!" they shouted in unison, their voices desperate and pleading.
"Eh, so you changed your plan," Blain crouched down, his face inches from theirs. "Listen carefully. If you dare to disobey me, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to the crocodiles in the water."
All three nodded frantically, their heads still bowed in abject fear.
"Good. Now tell me something," Blain said, his tone business-like. "Do you have an Orc Queen in your settlement?"
The orcs hesitated, looking at each other, but a sharp glare from Blain made them nod quickly.
"Great. I want to meet the Orc Queen."
Immediately, the orcs gulped, their green faces paling. A fresh wave of panic seized them.
"Orc Queen dangerous!" one stuttered.
"Very dangerous!" another chimed in, his voice trembling.
"Monster!"
Blain's own confidence wavered. "What the hell?" he muttered. Seeing even these monsters, these creatures of violence and brute strength, call their own ruler a "monster" sent a chill down his spine. How big of a monster is she? he wondered, a knot of anxiety forming in his gut.
"Well, I don't have a choice," he said, more to himself than to them. He looked at the terrified orcs, his mind racing. "I will act like a fainted man. You will take me to the Orc Queen's chamber. Do you understand?"