Now it was my turn to frown so deep my eyebrows came close to connecting. “No, they can’t, but give me a moment, please.”
“What for?” he asked and hovered his hand near the staff.
“Krajolik! Can you join us, please? I will pay the price for your visit!”
Nothing happened for several seconds, but then a familiar presence popped up next to me. Krajolik, in all his dark glory, sat next to me.
“Viktor, you do know that I’ll have to punish you with a very hard debuff, right?”
I nodded, but I didn’t care. I had something in mind, and if I could make it work, then this was a blessing in disguise. “I have a very important question.”
“Orc Grawl, do not fear,” Krajolik said. “I am not interested in your life.”
The chieftain bowed as far as he could while sitting on the throne-like chair. “I do not know you, but I know what you are. Please, we are here only to talk.”
Krajolik put his hand up to stop Grawl, so I took over, but not before the deity spoke. “How many questions?”
“Three? Five? I don’t know. I’ll start, and you punish me at the end.”
“Very well, Viktor. Speak.”
“So do they need to go back?”
“No, they don’t,” he replied calmly.
I tapped my fingers against the armrest and thought hard. “Can they be separated from their world and live here? Or inside a rift?”
“Not here, and not in just any rift. They would need to bind with the rift and own it. That’s already three questions, Viktor.”
“If I defeat the Green Dragon Gang, can we hand the rift over to Chieftain Grawl?”
“If you defeat them, you can take their orb of ownership and hand it to Grawl, and no one will ever be able to take it away from them. Putting otherworlders inside a rift bound to your world isn’t the same as taking over.”
“Grawl, would you want to live somewhere else?”
He looked up at his brother and then back at me. “We will return in fifteen minutes.” Neither of them said anything else as they exited the shed and walked out into the rain.
Krajolik put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. Horrific pain passed through my body, forcing me to collapse onto the ground in pain. A debuff appeared.
NOTIFICATION:
YOU HAVE RECEIVED “CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT” DEBUFF: -40% TO ALL STATS FOR 24 HOURS
I groaned as I gathered myself and shook the pain away, or at least tried to. I had no idea what he’d done to me, but it hurt like hell.
“Shit! What happened?”
I shook my head and groaned as Melina helped me stand.
“A big penalty debuff,” I muttered.
At least Grawl hadn’t seen anything, and I hoped the booming thunder outside blocked out my scream. Despite being pretty well built, the shed was open from two sides, and rain kept pouring in. I embraced the cold and stood where a door should have been, enjoying every single drop that splashed my face.
“How bad?” she asked from behind me. Both of her hands pressed down on my back, and I felt she wanted some sort of comfort, so I gave it to her.
“Not that bad. Don’t worry.” I put my arms around her and kissed her forehead, spotting Kade at the far end of the plaza. He was making a “what the hell just happened” motion, but I just gave him a thumbs-up.
We sat back down and stared out at the orcish horde. I couldn’t even count them if I wanted to. More had trickled in from all sides, and the plaza, which could easily hold several thousand humans, was mostly filled up with orcs. I knew for a fact that there were several other groups strewn about, like the one at the tower. It was as large as this one, but I hadn’t noticed a chieftain there. Only several browns and reds.
“What do you think will happen?” Melina asked as several minutes passed without anything happening.
I gave her a shrug, as I really had no idea. “I think they’re a proud warrior race; other than that, I don’t know. Maybe they’ll demand a fight, or they might just attack us.”
Melina tapped my hand several times and then pointed up at the sky. I leaned out and stared up at the flashes of thunder. A purple flash struck the plaza and remained there. A face appeared in the streak of light, and the orcs dropped to their knees, even Grawl. I got up and was about to leave the shed, but a barrier appeared around the orcs. It was a strange sight, seeing drops of rain getting caught on a round barrier and streaming down in thin streams.
“What the hell?” I cursed. “What’s—is that one of their Gods?”
Melina nodded but didn’t say anything. I sat back down, not wanting to draw attention to myself, and then looked around toward the building entrance. Most had retreated inside while Kade and several others still stood outside. I shook my head, and he stepped back, understanding what I meant.
Almost as soon as the purple thunder had appeared, it was gone again. The orcs started getting up and making room for their chieftain. He spoke to them in a language I didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter to me. Their expressions were far more important. Luckily, they weren’t screaming bloody murder or charging us. No, Grawl moved through the throng with his brother in tow and slowly made his way toward us.
We sat back down on our side, waiting for the two to arrive. They did so rather slowly, taking their time. I could see them whisper and nod several times, but neither had made a hostile move or something that would alert me. Finally, they walked back in and sat across from us. Their expressions were neutral, and the brother didn’t seem very interested in speaking. The chief, on the other hand, suddenly grinned.
“They gave us three days, Viktor. If you can’t deliver in three days, the Gods demand this city. It’s called a city, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. I thought that the word ‘land’ was what you called cities, so I never mentioned it.”
He shook his head and smiled. “I appreciate your honor, Viktor. Now, what’s the plan?”
“Wow, now hold on, Grawl,” I protested and sat upright. His brother twitched slightly, and his hand moved several inches, but he stayed himself. “You need to tell me what your God told you.”
“He said that if we can get that rift within three days, he will allow us to stay,” Grawl said calmly. Well, he tried to appear calm, but I could see the glint in his eye. He was sick of this kind of life and wanted to lead something with a semblance of normalcy. We all did.
“Good, good,” I replied and slammed my fist on the table. “Let’s drink to that, Chief!” I grabbed the mug and held it in the air until he took his, then proceeded to drink it all. This was great news. These orcs were strong, and if it came to an all-out war, who knew how many people we’d lose? And for what?
“Is there anything else on your mind? You seem rather nervous,” he asked and stared me down. Those big yellow eyes sure knew how to bore deep into your soul.
“The rift we’re clearing is human, but they’re bad people. Once I hand the rift over to you, what happens then? Will our people be able to live together in harmony? There will always be a way for you to come to our world, and for our people to get to yours.”
“What do you propose?”
“That our people unite. Do you think that’s possible?”
This was the first time that I caught him off guard, as his façade faltered, and he leaned in closer. His glowing eyes were so disconcerting that I felt as if he was trying to probe me for any kind of weakness. Well, he wasn’t going to get any out of me.
“We can only ask the divine to help with that matter, but I’d be willing to pay the price.”
I nodded and offered him my hand. “We shake hands in my world when we agree to terms, Chief Grawl.”
He took my offered hand and squeezed, but not even close to what I expected he would do. The big orc wasn’t throwing his muscles around, which told me he was smart enough not to fool around and risk it.
“Anything else you want to know? I assume we need to get started if we want to conquer
that rift.”
He took a large chunk of roast beef and stuffed it into his mouth. I did the same, not wanting the food to go to waste. Neither Melina nor the brown orc had taken anything; they were like two sentinels standing guard over us.
“How many points do you still need to be relieved of servitude?”
“One. Your city would have been enough.”
I narrowed my eyes on his and leaned in closer as I chewed on the meat. His expression didn’t betray anything, and I was starting to get agitated by it. Reading him was… hard to say the least.
“Then the reason why you didn’t attack was just this? You wanted me to offer you land?”
“You catch on quickly, Viktor human. I’d almost give you more than—how old are you? Your body says that you’re pretty young, yet your aura tells a different story.”
“Old enough to admit that I’ve been played,” I muttered and took a sip of the alcoholic beverage. “Now, why don’t you tell me one last thing? How fast can your people run?”
“Why do you ask?” he asked curiously. His tusks were dangerously close, and I could almost touch them if I reached out.
“Because I don’t like to be made a fool of. See, you and your people are coming with me, and we’ll be leaving in the hour. I want you to make the group that’s attacking the other place see reason and join us. If they don’t, you’re going to fight them.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Four airplanes, troop carriers, finally took off from the one airdrome the Sylmar army had to their name. Either of the airplanes could carry up to two hundred soldiers, seated, but the orcs were much larger, and there was so much standing room that we all bulked up like sardines in a can and just held our frustration in. It would only last for several hours, so the orcs had to get over it.
Grawl and I were sitting on top of an airplane. He had a way of molding the Enma around us, one that was very peculiar. He created a barrier that kept us perfectly safe up there, and that was a good thing. We needed some time alone to speak about certain things. Melina had stayed behind begrudgingly. She wanted to come with us, but we’d decided on a different approach. Once we were done fighting the greenies, we’d send someone in to get her. Much safer for everyone. Grawl could turn on me, and if he did, I had no way of protecting both of us.
“There’s something I’d like to know, Viktor human,” Grawl asked, sounding all serious. “What is it with the dense—I don’t know what term you humans use. It’s what we use when we fight or what I did here by creating this space for us.”
“We call it Enma; as for the density, I can’t really tell,” I replied calmly. The revelation that Enma was present in other worlds was quite a shock despite me having used it in a previous life. “Interesting question you just asked,” I added and turned to face him better. “What if there are many other types of power in this world, ones we can’t feel because we don’t know how to tap into them?”
His thick eyebrows rose, and he did his best to accommodate me by turning around to face me fully. He wanted to say something, but he held back for a moment, probably gathering his thoughts.
“We call it battle aura, or Bura for short. What I’m going to do now is blasphemous, but I want to show you my sincerity.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not quite understanding where he was going.
“I’ll show you what Bura looks like, and then you tell me if you can see it all around us.”
I nodded slowly, trying to digest what he just said. Not only did I learn there were other forms of power, but he was going to show me their power, which was superior to my own, from what I could see. Or was it just he who was extremely strong? I couldn’t quite tell, but this was getting interesting.
“Yeah, please do,” I replied and sat in my usual meditative position.
He held his palms out toward me, and two tendrils of glowing red Bura, as he called it, formed there. They slowly made their way toward me, twitching and wiggling around like worms. I stared at it intently, seeing it for what it was, but the differences between Enma and Bura were substantial.
I reached out and felt for the power, but it was nonexistent to me. It had no physical form like Enma had, and my hand just passed through. Grawl remained silent as he held his hands out, observing me intently.
Enma formed on my palms and integrated with his Bura, reaching out and mixing. A strange feeling passed through my meridians and into my Enma pool. It was wild and violent, deadly and dangerous. There was no harmony to it, only a will to overpower. Enma was something calming and nourishing, while Bura was the exact opposite: destructive and devouring.
Something happened that I didn’t expect. The Bura calmed down and became one with the rest of my power.
“See, we’re compatible after all.” Grawl laughed as he cut the tendrils off and let me devour them. “But who knew that I’d be able to see that power you called Enma, Viktor human. It is calm and not suited for my people. At least not for my warriors.”
“Did you help calm the Bura, or was it my own doing?” I asked curiously. “It feels so strange and different from my own power.” I dropped my hands on my knees and took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, trying to cycle the newfound power and separate it from my own. It did just as ordered.
“Ahh, I see what you’re doing. And yes, that’s the correct way to use it. Don’t mix it. Don’t try to tame it; just hold it in and make space for the Bura. You’ll become much stronger that way.”
I frowned and narrowed my eyes on his. “You did this to find out how my power works, right?”
He nodded. “I did. There’s no need in speaking the untruth.”
“Especially after getting caught red-handed?”
“Red-handed?”
“Caught in a lie,” I replied angrily.
“No, you didn’t catch me in a lie. You just never asked if I was able to feel your power as well.”
“Say, how old are you?” I asked, trying to pry it from him.
“Seven centuries, more or less. Why?”
“Well, there we have it,” I muttered. “You’re much older and more cunning, it seems.”
The corners of his lips turned into a big grin, and his chest rose and fell in quick succession as a rumble escaped his mouth. Grawl was laughing like mad.
“I might have put one over on you, human Viktor, but I mean you no harm. If I wanted to destroy your city, I could have done so while you were gone.”
I shrugged. “True, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re extremely dangerous.”
Now it was his turn to shrug. “I am, trust me. Now, don’t you have anything more important to ask me?”
“I do,” I replied quickly. “See, what can we expect? I got it that you’re a warrior race. Proud people who don’t give way so easily. Why is it that you decided to go with my proposal?”
“I can answer all of those questions, but you’ll answer one of mine.”
“Deal.”
“Well then, for why I agreed, it’s quite simple. We’re one of the few tribes who were cast out due to our—unorthodox methods. We don’t worship the Gods the same way the other tribes do, so we were shunned.”
“Makes sense. Humans from this world are pretty similar,” I added as I crossed my arms. He was right, though. People were quick to judge and shun if someone did things differently.
“Exactly. As to what we can expect, it all depends on whom we face, human. If it’s one of the steppen tribes, then we won’t have many problems, but if they’re one of the walled tribes, well, that’s going to be trickier.”
“There are differences between your tribes?”
“Great differences. See, some tribes prefer to ride into battle, while others use shields and tough armor. The walled tribes are the latter, and they are much harder to kill. They have more resources to invest into Bura.”
“And you were one of the steppen tribes?”
“Oh, you guessed pretty easily, didn’t you?”
&nb
sp; I nodded and put my hands back down. I studied his outfit better and noticed it was heavily reinforced with Bura. It was the same thing we could have done if we hadn’t made it into a rift, but luckily we got our hands on real armor.
“Not so hard to distinguish if you know what to look for, Chief Grawl.”
“Good, good. You’ll have to understand that we’ll become one of the walled once we get our hands on the rift, and that we won’t tolerate humans doing as they wish. I hope that you can respect that.”
The silhouette of a large city appeared on the horizon, drawing my attention.
“We’ll talk about that once we’ve taken the rift, Grawl,” I replied as I gathered myself.
I stretched my limbs and looked out across the vast land that prostrated itself before us. Forest to the left, roads to the right. Burning wreckages prostrated themselves as far as the eyes could see. Smoke wafted lazily from numerous spots on the horizon, stemming from the city.
“I guess they weren’t as easy to deal with like we were,” Grawl said as he drew himself to his full height.
He looked like an angry parent in comparison to me, but I was somehow starting to like him. Why kill when you can work things out? Especially if there’s some mutual benefit in it for both of our parties?
“Is there anything you can see from here?”
He nodded slowly and crossed his arms over his barreled chest. The orc chief looked larger than life and almost like some kind of action figure as he stood there with a brooding expression on his face.
“I don’t think the city will last much longer. We need to attack the moment we arrive.”
“Can your orcs survive a drop from the airplanes?”
“They can, but I don’t—ahh, I see. You want us to take a four-pronged assault?”
I nodded. “You can direct me to where it’s worst, and your four groups can push in from outside.”
“It’s as good as any plan, human Viktor. Very well. You will need to explain it to the pilots and have the airplanes fly across the city in four directions. Can they do that while under fire?”
Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 20
