An orc with a sword in his grip,

Trained hard so his foes wouldn't slip.

He sparred night and day,

Kept bruises at bay,

And won with a tusky-toothed grin on his lip!

Goldie Honorhide.

"Oooph!" I doubled over and clutched my groin. There was a smattering of laughter. Jasna was my third opponent and second loss. Orcs really enjoy fighting, and they are pretty good at it. This was unarmed fighting, and I was up against others with Unarmed Combat at the Apprentice level.

I saw coins change hands. Orcs seem to like betting as well.

It took the first loss for me to get used to fighting against someone close to my height. I was used to sparring against dwarves. I won my second fight because my attributes were better than my opponents', and they carried me through. She had much better techniques.

Jasna is just mean. We are sparring so we avoid lethal strikes and permanent injury, and groin strikes are neither of those. If your opponent has to take a potion after the spar, you pay half the cost. Several general potions are available, but by far the most common one is a specialist potion for fixing broken bones. That is ominous.

I have been trying my best to copy some of their moves, as they are different from what I was taught as a Guard. They definitely have many more killing moves than what I was taught.

I have decided to get a strong groin guard when I get armour. Armour is there to protect your weak spots, and that is definitely a weak spot.

The village is small, probably around a hundred and fifty people max. They are all from the same Clan, although I have never heard of them. There was a half-circle palisade wall with a gate and a single watch tower occupied by two orcs with bows.

I looked around, but there was no road. Two worn tracks led off into the trees.

Behind the wall was a large open area that seemed to be the main gathering place. We were currently using it for sparring.

Surrounding this open space were some wooden dwellings, one of which was given for our use. Behind the dwellings was a cliff, and most of the residents lived in the caves in the cliff. At least these were decent-sized caves.

The cliff contained iron ore, which is why they came here. The news about a possible gold deposit excited them. Excited Orcs are a danger to everyone around them. I am starting to think orcs, in general, are a danger to everyone around them.

This has levelled my Unarmed Combat skill.

The evening started with dinner in the communal area. Then, space was cleared, and Goldie and Rozika squared off against each other. Goldie had a blunted axe, and Rozika had a blunted spear. Goldie is good with that axe. It moved faster than I could see at times, and she was going all out. I had never seen her go all out in a fight. Rozika was also good and matched her with some very clever spear work. I think the best dwarf did win, but there was some debate about that.

Yoboc had disappeared outside the gate with the other archers, and they were testing themselves for accuracy, speed and power. I am pretty sure he arranged that to avoid the bruises. I got the feeling that those who took up the bow were considered lesser somehow in Orc culture. Fighting in a physical melee was definitely the area in which the Orcs focused.

Vojo lost interest in me when he learned I only had apprentice-level fighting skills. He considered me a child, and I pretty much am, even though I look like an adult.

Those who are unable to fight in Orc culture are the cooks and crafters. These are the older folk whose attributes have reduced due to old age, and they can no longer use their skills because their attributes can't support them. They can, however, still teach their skills. It seems like once your fighting days are over, you support your Clan by picking up a craft and training others. This goes for those who are maimed as well. Elders are respected in this culture. They are also the biggest gamblers and the most vocal supporters of the sparring.

After I had recovered, I did a spear-on-sword fight against one of their youngsters. My longer reach, combined with the reach of the spear, was the winner for me.

Makara was also only an Apprentice with her Unarmed Combat skills. Her scales definitely swayed the fights in her favour. She was very hard to hurt without a weapon. Once she joined the Journeyman-level spear fights, she was regularly beaten. This was an eye-opener to her as she considered herself good with the spear. I think she is realising the big difference between fighting underwater and on land.

Felix lay by the fire and chewed on a bone. No one else in the village seemed to have bonds, although they were familiar with them. I asked Yoboc about it later that night.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"It is the way the Orc mind works," he said. "They are very physically orientated, and they usually have a very high Mental Strength, but they usually have a low Mental Agility. This makes them a stubborn race and often very single-minded. Bonds require good Mental Agility to understand and work with your bond. This is a hindrance to Orcs getting a bond. I have met orcs with bonds. They are just not that frequent. Elves are the bond masters. Their Mental Agility also makes them some of the best crafters. The items made here with the Orcs will be functional, and that is about it."

Yoboc was referring to the carpenter he had engaged to fit wheels on the sled. In fact, he did not have the Carpenter Class but the lesser Woodworking Class. Either a carpenter did not train him, or he did not complete his training. I would think the former. All the wooden buildings here were basic. Adding wheels might be difficult for him. Yoboc is sure they would be fine fixing broken wheels, but creating wheels that can turn is more complicated.

There are no carts available here for us to borrow or buy. A monthly supply cart comes from the next village, leaves supplies, and takes their goods to sell. It is a week's travel along one of the tracks.

The next morning, I went with Yoboc to see the Woodworker. He was very elderly, and a younger orc was helping him and learning the trade. She was missing a foot and limped around on a wooden one she had carved. There are no healers out here, just the cook who was also the herbalist, with only a few potion recipes.

We started unloading the sled.

"Put the Pike bones over there," Yoboc said. "They are part of our deal here. Apparently, grinding up monster bones is a main ingredient in the Bone Mending potion. We are taking the pelts as they have plenty here."

We carefully moved the safe under the pile of pelts so it wasn't obvious. One of us would need to guard it, and I was the one with the Guard Class.

I sat on it and watched old Juraj measure the sled. Tajra fetched some of the wood and tools they had.

"I got blueprints for a hand cart," Juraj said, "we can change for this."

His Common was not that good, and I got the impression he had only spoken Orcish for the last few decades. Tajra was not much better, but she was keen to improve and would take every opportunity to talk with me.

They spent a lot of time poring over the blueprint and comparing measurements. I didn't understand most of it as it was carried out in Orcish. Then they got wood and started shaping it. They used saws and chisels for the most part, and they used a sand substance to smooth the axle where it would meet the sled.

Juraj made and shaped the axles and amendments to the sled while Tajra made the wheels. There were only two rear wheels, and poles were added to the front for us to hold and pull. They were turning it into an awkward handcart.

As the day wore on, I helped a bit with my chisel and carving. I insisted they leave the skids on, thinking we would just return to the sled when the wheels collapsed. It would not last long, but then, it didn't need to. If it got us to the next town, we could buy a cart and possibly an animal to pull it.

I tested it running with it empty around the yard, and after a few tweaks, it was working fine enough. Goldie and I loaded it up, and it didn't even creak. It wasn't as full as the sled had been as we were leaving the scales, as well as the bones of the monster pike. In exchange, we were getting supplies and the wheels for the sled.

I was also given some clothes that the local seamstress adjusted to fit. Wearing a shirt felt funny, but I had to get used to it. They had no spare armour and wouldn't have been able to fit it to me if they had.

The orc clan was going to end up with a big bonus with the location of the gold we found. We have no idea how much there is, but it will probably be worth mining. We could have sold the location in town, but we don't want to draw attention.

The location is a reasonable distance from their camp. If it had been close, they would have found it themselves. They probably will find it anyway, now that they know it is around. Yoboc will give their scout a marker on her map to send them there directly, and this is in exchange for them not talking about us. They seem to have no one to talk to anyway, but Yoboc thinks it is worth it.

In exchange for the scout's help, Yoboc received several markers. He got the location of the next town and several points of interest along the way. He also got the markers and names of all the towns and villages in the area. He shared these with me. My Map is now at Journeyman level, so I need to work out how to share markers as well.

It seems like there is sparring and training every evening with these orcs. These new opponents pushed my Unarmed Combat and Spears to the next level, so that was good.

We left early the next morning. Makara took a turn pulling the sled/cart while I pushed. Felix trotted along beside us.

We made good time right up until the third day, when the axle broke. It had been getting worse, and Goldie had been tweaking things to keep it going. We were only about halfway.

"I could run ahead and hire a cart and horse," Yoboc said.

Nobody thought it was a good idea to split up at this point. If we had been closer then, maybe. Goldie got her axe and went to find a new axle. This got us a day closer, when one of the wheels collapsed.

"I could pull it as a bear," I said.

"We are too close to people. We could be seen anytime," Yoboc said.

"Shouldn't there be farms close by?" Goldie asked.

"Yes, except we were going to circle and approach Ocova from the road to Dubravy rather than this side," Makara said.

"I am not sure it matters," Yoboc said. "We are going to stand out. It just needs to be because of our Mer rather than our beast-kin."

"You still have not explained that properly to me," Makara said. "Why are you on the run again? What did Ivan do?" Then something clicked for her, "It is his affinity you are hiding, isn't it? That is the other thing nobody is saying, despite destroying a gully and cooking a lake full of fish."

Goldie grumped.

"Yes, lass, that is what we are hiding," Yoboc half-lied. Let's see if we can find a farmer who will help. Makara, please use your affinity so Ivan can ice the sleds, and then let's get going."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.