by Sergei Katz
Do you agree?
“Obviously yes.” — I confidently confirmed.
The rules of a fair fight: it’s a one-on-one fight. The use of any kind of weapon is permitted, but the use of any magic and all abilities that require mana, as well as elixirs are prohibited. During the battle, magical powers are not allowed.
The fight will begin in 2 minutes.
“Wow! This is unpleasant news, I thought it was just a duel, and I could use everything at my disposal ... I knew that I wouldn’t lose, there was no way that he would be able to hit me, but the question was how could I defeat this mountain of muscles? I need to find an answer.”
— You look lost, now that you have had all your special tricks and magic taken away from you, so you’re not so cocky anymore, are you? — My opponent smirked.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm down: I had to have a clear head for this. It seemed that my opponent had some kind of ability to wind me up; there was no other way for me to explain why his teasing made me so furious.
— It's alright, — I returned the grin to Rarou; — It's just that now you'll suffer more pain, and I won’t be able to go easy on you.
The Orc appreciated the joke, and even smiled politely.
—So, what do you choose? — The Shaman brought me back to reality. — Do not be afraid, he will not hear you, — he pointed at the stretching Rarou.
— Then I choose my agility skills, — I blurted out.
— How lame, — the Shaman sighed, — no attempt to cheat.
The Shaman’s hand touched my chest, and I instantly felt stronger.
Your agility has increased by 50%.
— I doubt that it will be boring, — I winked at the Shaman, who was about to leave my side.
He looked at me with interest:
— You're not stupid, and if you think that you can surprise Rarou, then you must have something up your sleeve. But, I think that you have underestimated your opponent. It would have been better to choose one of the three others.
Having said this, the Shaman left to deal with the leader of his tribe.
Two minutes flew by suddenly - and a huge ring of soldiers formed up around me and Rarou.
“A fair fight will begin in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1.”
CHAPTER 27:
A FAIR FIGHT
Rarou, as if demonstrating all his power, slowly picked up a two-handed weapon and took up a fighting stance. I, too, took out my weapons and, gently stepping on the sand, headed towards the Orc.
— Show us what you can do Newcomer, because after I hit you a couple of times, you won’t even be able to wave your walking stick!
The sword in my hand started vibrating vigorously: I didn’t know how, but it seemed that the Orc's joke hurt its feelings even more than mine. Well, I thought: Rarou’s ability to make someone see red just got my living weapon mad. However, I was still confident, and the sword was vibrating and wriggling in my hand, literally dragging me into battle. I tightened my grip on the hilt and held it for a few moments.
— Have no fear: you will taste his blood soon enough, — I whispered to my restless weapon.
It seemed that it worked: the vibrations remained, but the unknown force wasn’t dragging me forward anymore.
And so, me and Rarou came up to each other within striking range, but neither of us were in any hurry. Both of us were trying to find a weak spot in the other’s defenses.
After a short while, I was convinced that Rarou was an excellent warrior. Even though he was considerably inferior to me in speed and maneuverability, all my attempts to break through his defenses had so far been unsuccessful. He, in turn, was acting in a very restrained way and was occasionally dealing sharp unexpected blows with his two-handed weapon. Rarou was using his sword as if it was a Chinese “Jian” straight sword. At this point, I was lucky because I was expecting something similar from him and thus was always ready for his strikes.
Gradually, the tempo of the battle grew. I wasn’t taking a risk to block the Orc’s attacks, but they became increasingly more difficult to avoid. Meanwhile Rarou, apparently, considered this fight as a kind of entertainment.
— Let me guess which ability you increased, — the warrior addressed me with a smile, not for a second weakening the tempo of his attacks (it even seemed to me that he had increased them in ferocity). — You are fast, and certainly skillful. You have chosen agility to be your major ability, and you have chosen to strengthen it, believing that someone like me simply cannot keep up with you and pierce your ability to avoid strikes. And now you are surprised just how hard it is for you to avoid my attacks.
The Orc grinned, showing not only his fangs, but all of his teeth as well. I didn’t have the time to count how many he had. At this moment I wasn’t interested in an answer to that particular question. I didn’t want to interrupt my rhythm: apart from that, the bloody Orc was outguessing my next move!
In the meantime, without waiting for an answer from me, the Orc continued:
— You must you understand that we have come across warriors like you before, and if I couldn’t fight them on an equal footing, then I would’ve been removed from the role of the head of the tribe a long time ago.
I had already considered this, so as a sign that I was following his line of thought, I nodded in reply.
Rarou grinned, as if expecting such a reaction. In turn, I also counted on him to respond and used the moment to attack his leg. My sword danced joyfully into the shin of the howling Orc, after which, acting, rather automatically than deliberately, the Orc pushed me away. I quickly jumped to my feet.
After that, the cheerful tone became colder, and the confidence in the Orc's eyes disappeared. It seemed that a real fight was about to begin.
— Not bad, Newcomer, you have outdone as if I was a young man. I respect that, but this is only a slight wound, little more than a scratch in fact.
Unfortunately, the Orc was right; his life points showed almost no change.
— Since I already started telling you my story, I shall do so as quickly as possible, and then I'll simply kick you into the sand. You see, I’m well advanced in the study of a couple of very useful abilities...
With each word, my opponent increased the speed and power of his blows. — First of all...
The speed of the Orc’s lunge at me was incredible! I couldn’t manage to evade the attack, and there was only one thing I could do so I wouldn’t lose the fight right there and then. I put up my left arm to block the attack. The pain pierced me like an electric shock, and my left hand was dangling lifelessly alongside my body.
Rarou grinned:
— Wow! I thought that would be an end to this. Never mind, you can only survive another 5 direct strikes, so it will all be over in a couple of minutes. — After that, he continued to speak as if it was of no consequence. — The foremost ability of the Orc race is one of “Demoralization”, which few of us develop, because it’s so difficult to master. I will not go into further details...
While saying this, the Orc implemented a series of dangerous strikes; it was only by a miracle that I was able to avoid them. My injured hand wasn’t helping me at all. It was just dangling there, interfering with my movement and coordination, forcing me to concentrate on my every movement.
— But if I put it briefly, — my opponent continued, — your ability to evade attacks is now useless.
Rarou was clearly enjoying the situation. I already guessed myself that my cheating ability to evade attacks was matched with no less than the cheating ability of the Orc. However, another sudden attack from the Orc proved to be absolutely predictable, so I easily evaded it.
— It seems that you weren’t taken aback, — the Orc was disappointed. — I was hoping to catch you by surprise.
— Come on, you can’t be that naive, — I grinned, trying to execute an unexpected strike on my opponent. — Did you really think that you'd catch me out with the same trick twice?
I decided to try to
use his unexpected technique to attack the Orc. I couldn’t cause any damage, but I forced the opponent to step back.
— Excellent tactics, — I smiled, catching the gloomy glance of the Orc. I'll definitely take that on board.
— It's unlikely that you will have a chance to use it! — He replied.
It seemed that the fact that I had copied his style of dueling made the Orc very angry indeed. Having pretended not to notice, I continued to copy his techniques and, as if nothing had happened, I continued my sentence:
— This is not my first fight with an opponent superior in strength to me, and I'm still alive.
We both chose this moment for sudden attacks, and both attacks reached their goal. As a result of the “exchange of courtesies”, Rarou began to limp on his left leg, and my life was in the yellow sector because of a blow to my left shoulder. I didn’t even know whether it was down to luck or not, but so far all of the hits that got me had been on the left side. At this moment I was feeling the echoes of pain with each movement. I couldn’t fight like that for much longer and I needed to seek a solution as a quickly as possible.
— I was wrong, — the Orc regained some self-control. — You are very good, and to be completely honest, I'm impressed: half the warriors of the tribe can’t hold out in a duel with me for so long. Usually my first blow makes the opponent fall, and then I just finish him off. To sacrifice a hand that doesn’t hold a weapon is a very clever tactical move, and the courage of such an act deserves respect. But, sadly...
The Orc again tried to catch me off guard. This time he used different techniques, swiftly making circular movements with his sword, and masterfully throwing it from one hand to the other. I tried my best to dodge his attacks, but still got a lot of wounds all over my body, and my life points had fallen by half.
— How didn’t that work? — There was real surprise in Rarou’s eyes, but he continued to increase the pressure, as if nothing had happened.
The last attack led me to one thought ... I realized that I might have a clink in his armor. Having considered everything that had happened during the fight, I came to the conclusion that all the sudden attacks were conducted by the Orc only when we had been standing still. I made a conclusion that I had to constantly move around in a circle, so that my opponent didn’t have a chance to conduct them. The battle was dragging on, and the head of the tribe, accustomed to rapid victories, started raging.
— Enough of running away! You can’t beat me. Stand up and fight, like a warrior is supposed to, — the Orc's breathing wasn’t as easy as before.
Rarou was quickly getting tired. This could have given me a decision to take in my favor, but, unfortunately, my level of fatigue was also making itself present. I knew that if I didn’t come up with something soon, then I was going down. I had an idea, but I didn’t know whether it would work or not: it could work to my benefit, or produce the opposite effect.
The Orc continued his attempts to wind me up, or at least force me to stop and die with dignity. I was just ignoring everything he was saying. When my opponent realized that his mental attempts at demoralizing me were no longer getting through, he fell silent and again increased the tempo of the battle. It seemed, at last, the Orc had reached his limits: even constantly retreating, I hardly had time to react to attacks.
I knew that my stamina would run out in about a minute and a half, so I promised myself to work harder on it in the future. There was nothing left to do, so I gathered together my remaining energy, and began to prepare to implement my final plan. At this moment, it was my turn to enrage the enemy. I started mocking Rarou, insulting his name, appearance, manner of fighting, and his image in the eyes of the tribe.
The Orc, who had been silent all this time, ended up going berserk. There was no chance that this fight would finish easily. So, he started coming up with different tricks. It turned out that the Orc had a knife, and I learned about this only when the weapon was stuck in my chest, sending my life points into the red sector. So, I had no time left to prepare my plan. Mentally asking for forgiveness from my sword, I suddenly scooped up some sand and threw it into the Orc’s eyes. A series of messages popped up, but I was too busy to consider them.
The sand did its job. The Orc’s eyes turned red, and he started wincing and howling in pain. What happened next was totally unexpected – who could have foreseen it? Rarou’s entire body became cloaked in red. His eyes became red and purple like a bull before a matador, and it seemed to me that the Orc became even larger. His sword was also glowing red, giving the impression that the blood was pulsing along its edge. I didn’t even have time to be afraid before a flurry of attacks hit me. Literally in a few seconds my life points had gone down almost to zero. The Orc was attacking like an enraged beast. The attacks were random, and I had almost no strength left to evade them. But I wasn’t ready to give up, thinking as it was happening: “Well, I did my best, and now it’s only a question of time until I receive the fatal blow…”
Seconds went by. By some miracle, I was still alive, and my opponent became slower and slower.
“My life points are almost at the end. Another couple of blows ... and I’m finished.” — But I could no longer think straight. My legs gave way, and I landed face down in the sand.
— How am I still alive? — I muttered and, barely overcoming the pain and fatigue, raised my head to look at my opponent.
The Orc had returned to his normal state and lay completely exhausted, a meter away from me. I was staring into the eyes of a blood-thirsty barbarian, just like I imagined Orcs to be. We were looking at each other for a few seconds, and then... we both started laughing. Our laughter sounded more like croaking, but we couldn’t stop.
— You surprised me! — The Orc sighed, laughing again. — You are certainly worthy of being a guest of the tribe, and even more than that. Many don’t recognize this, but all the Orcs are now in your debt. As far as my tribe is concerned, you have become an honorable friend. If you were an Orc, we would gladly take you into the tribe, and this is the best compliment that I can pay to you...
When the Orc said this, his hand involuntarily jerked upward toward the sky, and we began to laugh together again. Then a wave of messages rained down upon me:
You have received the status of “Mentor”. Thanks to you, the Orcs have discovered the “Berserker” ability for their kind. +10% to the chance of developing something new. This achievement can be improved upon.
You have obtained the status of “Friend of the Orcs”. No tribe of Orcs will be able to declare you their “Sworn Enemy” and you will receive unique quests related to the Orcs.
To reach the level of the next rank of achievement “Worthy of Trust” you need 9 more achievements and you will become a “Friend of the Race.”
You have received the status of “Honored Friend” of the tribe of Orcs of Ahi Arra. For this tribe, there are no restrictions on trade, and all levels of cooperation are open and unique quests are available.
You have obtained the achievement “Brother-in-law”. You will be given a 5% discount from all friendly tribes. This achievement can be improved upon, and you will reach the status of an honorable friend in 10 groups.
“Not bad so far. However, there is nothing super-useful in this, but still it’s very nice to have.”
— So, — my opponent said to me, — it seems that the only way out for us now is... I propose a draw: you can’t kill me, but I, too, seem to be unable to win a victory here either, and I don’t want to look like a failure in front of my tribe.
Rarou has offered you a draw in a duel of strength. Yes/No.
“Of course it’s going to be a yes: I definitely can’t win, and I have already achieved the status of Friend of the Tribe. So, now I am in a position to trade. Also, I will get quite a few quests in the future ...” — I confirmed my decision.
You have obtained the status of an “Equal”, and the achievement can be improved upon.
The world congratulates you: you
found the “Equal in strength” ability, and only those who are equal to you, not in terms of ability, but those who are equal in a just fight, can be true brothers.
You and Rarou are now “True Brothers in Strength”. The contact between you is so strong that you can connect with each other, regardless of where you are. 10 minutes of communication per day are available. True brothers are able to lend each other one of their basic abilities for five minutes per week.
Rarou and I were staring at each other in shock.
— Did you see that?! — The Orc was the first one to come back to his senses.
I nodded silently.
— Do you have any idea how rare this is? — The great leader of the tribe was rejoicing like a child. — I thought this was a legend, a fairy tale for little Orcs, but my true brother in equal strength is a Newcomer!
I looked at the exhausted but happy face of the Orc, and my soul was pleasantly lifted. I didn’t know why, but I was happy. I really liked this Orc. Everything he did was coming straight from the heart. He could be angry, play on emotions, and do everything to win, but he did it all in plain sight, without any attempt to cheat.
The dome around us disappeared, and we were surrounded by a crowd of screaming Orcs, patting Rarou on the back. Although at this point I was looked at with curiosity and without fear, no one still dared to approach me, as if they were all waiting for something to happen. So, I told myself that if I was still exhausted to get back on my feet, then I might as well check on my performance during the fight.
A new combat method has been learned: “Small Result”. Cost - 25 manna. A distraction maneuver using a sword, combined with soil, sand, water and much more to gain a 50% chance to blind the enemy for 1.5 seconds.
“I don’t get it! I thought that I couldn’t use any abilities or agilities that required the use of manna ...” — I considered the rules of a fair fight for a second. — “Eureka! It dawned on me that while I could use skills, there was nothing to stop me from developing new ones. This fundamentally changes my future approach to such battles. I will need to have something new up my sleeve!” — I was content with this discovery.
