When Gurtan finished drawing the circle, he turned back to his tribesmen. He shouted something to them and stood aside. Formidable and majestic, he still differed from human rulers, but Hadjar wasn’t sure how yet.
Soon, the sea of orcs came to life: they began to shout and beat their chests. The sound grew louder, and Hadjar watched as one of the bigger orcs approached him. They were all red-skinned, of course, but this orc had a particularly bright shade of red skin. He had thick, black hair and an even thicker beard. The rings in his right ear and eyebrow glinted faintly in the sun. The eight-foot-tall giant held an axe in each hand. They were huge, but the orc held them as if they weighed nothing.
Looking at the orc’s weapons through the World River, Hadjar was surprised to find that there was no trace of energy in them. The axes weren’t even artifacts! How had the orcs managed to survive so many centuries of war if they couldn’t even make artifacts?
The orc’s aura, however, was awe-inspiring — he was a mid-stage Spirit Knight, which was a whole level above Hadjar’s. Given his race, the giant could easily fight on equal terms with the commander.
The orc spun his axes and drove them into the ground, then sat down in front of the circle. He scooped up a handful of dirt and, after blowing on it, threw it into the air. He said something in his language, then raised his weapons and stepped into the circle.
Hadjar, in turn, stripped to the waist. He folded his clothes and placed them into his spatial ring. Bare-chested, he took a step forward, summoning his inner dragon and the Black Blade.
Chapter 547
The three friends were watching the scene intently from the wall. When the orc chief drew a circle around Hadjar and an orc with blue tattoos approached him, the trio bid farewell to their new friend. But what happened next surprised them.
The concoction that he had drank did miracles to his body: energy wounds, which even the Boltoy’s healer had failed to fix, began to close. Moreover, his channels grew stronger and became filled with energy and color. Their friend, who had stood with difficulty on crutches, was now stretching his arms and legs. Throwing aside the useless pieces of wood, he stared boldly at the orc.
“Maybe he did hurt his head.” Derek commented.
The gates of the fort opened. The commander and his officers had returned to Boltoy. They handed their horses over to the stable boy and rushed upstairs.
“Honorable disciples,” the commander said to the trio, “do you know that man?”
“We met him a couple of days ago,” Irma answered. “We found him about a thousand miles west of Boltoy. He was gravely wounded at the time.”
“Near the border?”
The trio nodded.
“Why do you ask?” Derek stepped forward eagerly. He was still suspicious of the wounded man.
“His name is Hadjar Darkhan, North Wind.”
“He really has a Name?” Alea wondered aloud.
Her friends looked at her blankly, but she just waved them away. They hadn’t listened to the lectures she had attended, so she had no time or desire to explain anything to them.
“Yes.” The commander nodded and went over to the edge of the wall. He was also interested in what was about to happen. “I’ve never heard of anyone named Hadjar who rides an Ancient Beast and lives in the borderlands.”
“He might be from a secret clan-”
“Or he has something to do with the aerial battle our scouts came across,” the Lord retorted.
“Whose ships were involved?”
“One was a sky pirate vessel. The other was too damaged to identify. It exploded while it was still airborne.”
The trio exchanged glances. Living almost on the border of the country, they were well aware of the sky piracy problem. These numerous ‘gentlemen of fortune’ clans made life in the borderlands very difficult, but nothing could be done about them.
“Did the pirates blow up the ship?”
The commander nodded.
“Do you know what kind of ships get blown up?” He asked the three disciples.
“Pirate ships,” Alea whispered, dumbfounded.
“Or Darnassian ones,” Derek murmured through clenched teeth. “We saved a Darnassian spy! I knew it.”
“Or a pirate.” Alea slammed her fist against the wall. “Which is even worse!”
“Don’t blame yourselves, honored disciples.” the commander put his hand on Alea’s shoulder. “You have great power, but little experience. Besides, that young man probably won’t survive this fight.”
However, something very strange was happening in the circle. The orc’s aura should’ve weakened or slowed Hadjar down, but the young man didn’t seem to feel any pressure as he walked calmly into the center of the circle.
“I don’t think a spy could have that many scars,” the commander had to admit.
Hadjar’s entire body was covered in scars, the most gruesome of which were on his chest. Back when Alea had treated him, his body had been covered in such a thick crust of blood that these ‘decorations’ had been hidden from view. By the time the healer had washed away the blood, both Irma and Derek had already left, so this was the first time most of them were seeing his scars.
“He’s a pirate, then.”
“A dead pirate,” the commander corrected Derek. “He’ll never be able to defeat the orc.”
Suddenly, a column of black energy sprang up around Hadjar, making the soldiers reach for their weapons, even though they were nowhere near the battle.
Irma and Alea took out their whips, and Derek drew his daggers.
In this pillar of black energy, they sensed the presence of something inhuman, a wild beast ready to pounce. At times, they could’ve sworn that they’d seen the silhouette of a mythical Lord of the Heavens — a dragon — within the pillar.
The pillar of energy began to gradually condense until it covered the cultivator with a hazy veil. When it dissipated, a cloak appeared on his shoulders. The wind ruffled its hem, sometimes ripping off patches of fog, but the cloak would immediately restore itself when that happened. His arms were covered up to his shoulders in armor made out of that same, strange fog. His gloved hands gripped a sword as dark as a moonless night. It was devouring the light like a hungry monster. The narrow, long blade, almost devoid of a guard, resembled a dragon’s fang.
“Is that artifact armor?” The trio had never seen anything like it.
“No.” The commander shook his head. “It’s a Call-”
“A Call?”
At the same time, the orc opened his mouth and howled like a wolf. His tattoos glowed, and a stream of bluish energy swirled around him. Armor made from leather and fur adorned his muscular body. His head was also protected by a helmet shaped like a snarling wolf’s head.
“I see that the orcs have a similar ace up their sleeve,” the Lord said.
***
Hadjar had expected almost anything, but the orc having a Call startled him. As Einen had once said: the Call only had a few varieties. The first and weakest one gave the Inheritor some of their ancestor’s abilities. The second, stronger and rarer variant, created a powerful armor like Hadjar wore now. The third, the most powerful and rarest type, summoned an energy weapon, also called a Spirit Weapon.
This was Hadjar’s first time encountering someone else who possessed the second type. He’d gotten used to using his Call as one of his trump cards, but the orc, with his wolf-like armor, could easily beat it.
“You’re using the veil of the Spirits,” the red giant growled. “But can you fight in it?”
His massive opponent suddenly turned into the gray shadow of a huge wolf and charged him. Hadjar instantly used the sixth stance of the ‘Light Breeze’ Technique. Turning into a plume of black fog that held the silhouette of a dragon within it, he almost dodged the orc’s attack. Noticing one of the axes coming for him and feeling death’s icy fingers closing around his throat, he just barely managed to block with the Black Blade.
He’d underestim
ated the power of ordinary weapons.
***
The spectators on the wall heard the orc army roar in approval. A simple weapon such as the orc’s axe was supposed to shatter upon colliding with Hadjar’s aura, but it sliced right through it instead.
Hadjar was almost thrown out of the circle.
“Gods and demons!” Derek cried out. “What’s going on down there?”
The orc’s axes, like himself, were shrouded in that strange, blue energy. Now looking like the silhouettes of two wolf paws, the axes no longer seemed so harmless. On the contrary, they radiated the terrifying aura of Heaven level artifacts.
Chapter 548
Spitting out blood, Hadjar straightened up and looked at his foe. His Call was no longer enveloping just the giant’s body, but his monstrous axes as well. The huge wolf paws radiated energy comparable to that of a Heaven level weapon.
“Impossible,” Hadjar breathed out. “By the High Heavens and the Evening Stars, what are you?”
“The way you use the Spirit Cloak is an insult to your ancestors,” the orc spat. “Your behavior is offensive!”
He charged him again, this time with even more monstrous power. A gray lightning bolt that looked like a wolf’s maw struck Hadjar.
“Rustle in the Treetops!”
Hadjar used the fifth stance of the Technique he’d inherited from his Master. Despite the fact that the axes shrouded in blue energy clashed against the conjured dragon-sword head on, Hadjar still couldn’t fully deflect the attack. The blow itself was stopped by his defensive Technique, but an echo of it still rolled over Hadjar. The pressure of an aura comparable to the advanced stage of the Spirit Knight level struck his armor. The cloak of black fog spread out behind him like two wings. Black ribbons shot out of it. Hundreds of them sunk into the ground, a lot of them tearing, but they held Hadjar in place. He heard a terrible crash behind him. The ground shot up suddenly like bared fangs, and a three-foot long crack appeared beyond the circle.
The orc’s sheer power was incredible. Such an attack would’ve broken Imperial level armor.
Hadjar, putting all the energy he could muster into his next attack, kicked the orc. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt his meridians begin to absorb energy. As a result, the kick was three times stronger than it should’ve been, pushing the orc back a couple of yards.
The red giant stopped himself from skidding across the ground by sinking his fingers into it. Hadjar had never seen such brute strength in his life. He’d always considered close combat to be his strong suit, but now he understood that the first mistake he made would be his undoing if he tried to fight up close. So, without wasting any time, he swung his sword.
***
No one on the walls had expected the fight to be anything special, but it actually turned out to be an incredible spectacle. The Heaven Soldier took the spectators’ breath away with just one swing of his sword. The energy that was being poured into his blade couldn’t possibly belong to a Heaven Soldier! He had to be a Spirit Knight at least!
“Demons and gods!” The Lord’s brows rose in surprise. “Do the pirates even have elite cultivators?”
The three friends were as shocked as the commander. Being who they were, they’d heard a lot about the capital’s Schools and their outer circle disciples who could easily defeat any personal disciple from the borderlands. They were called the ‘elite’, the mainstay of the Empire’s power. And now, after witnessing Hadjar’s power, they finally believed those rumors to be true.
When Hadjar swung his sword, a black cloud appeared in the sky. From it, accompanied by a thunderclap, emerged a dragon that had a sword for a body.
“What a monstrous Technique!”
“Who is he?”
“He can’t possibly be an ordinary Heaven Soldier!”
Exclamations of surprise and admiration sounded from the walls. No one could believe their eyes. However, what happened next surprised them even more.
***
“Azure Cloud!” Hadjar shouted, deciding to use the seventh stance of the ‘Light Breeze’ Technique. Its power surprised even him. Previously, the dragon-sword had been about twenty feet tall, and no more than two feet wide, but now it was almost thirty feet tall and at least three feet wide. If he’d had such power during his fight against Tom Dinos, he might’ve been able to really injure him.
The orc met the powerful Technique with a snort of disdain. He spun the axe in his hand, then threw it at the dragon-sword.
“What the hell?”
According to all the laws of cultivation, the axe should’ve lost its shroud of energy the moment it was released from the orc’s grip. Instead, the wolf paw made of energy only grew brighter and denser. Its claws flashed, and it easily sliced through one of Hadjar’s best Techniques. Having done its job, the axe returned to the orc’s outstretched hand. With two powerful swings, he sent both axes flying. They were so fast that it was impossible to dodge them.
“Calm Wind!”
A powerful current of wind suddenly struck the circle. What had once been outlined with a spear now looked like an actual arena: the current of wind had pushed the soil down to the depth of a palm.
The axes slowed, and Hadjar, once again wrapped in a plume of black fog, slid between them. Using the speed advantage he’d gained, he slid around the orc and attacked with his sword. The Black Blade had almost touched the orc’s back when he spun around and held his crossed arms out in front of him. The blade hit his wrists, but instead of severing his hands, it only threw the orc back. He slid along the ground, caught his axes without even looking, and, still moving, launched two attacks. Two crescents of energy rushed toward Hadjar, who, up until that point, had believed that such a thing could only be used by a person at the Weapon’s Heart level of weapon mastery. He realized that he’d been wrong to presume such a thing. The orc’s attacks didn’t emanate the Axe Spirit, but they were still very powerful.
Hadjar swung his sword. The cutting edge of the Black Blade moved smoothly through the air, followed by a black crescent of energy. It collided with the orc’s attack, and the resulting explosion created a funnel in the middle of the circle. Hadjar clearly heard a howl, but he couldn’t grasp what was happening. Everything the orc was using in this battle was at odds with Hadjar’s views of cultivation.
“Those who wear the slave mark will never understand,” the orc spat.
“Slave mark?”
“On your back, slave! You, a man whom the Spirits recognized, dared to defile yourself with the slave mark of a Weapon!”
“The slave mark of a Weapon?” Hadjar repeated. “What are you even talking about?”
But the orc didn’t give him time to ponder those words. He roared, and a flood of energy swirled around him. His next attack didn’t create a crescent in the air, but two grinning wolf maws instead. Each of them contained so much energy that even their echo could destroy an ordinary Heaven Soldier at the initial stage.
That’s impossible!
Hadjar’s mind was spinning.
“Black Wind!”
Darkness fell upon the world.
Chapter 549
The soldiers and officers standing on the wall couldn’t contain their exclamations of admiration, surprise, and even fear. Following Hadjar’s simple, slow swing, a wall of darkness descended upon the orc. Fifty feet long and no thicker than a hair, it absorbed all the light around it. The only thing that set it apart from the gloom of true night was the presence of several blue threads spread out across the canvas of absolute blackness.
Every single one of the soldiers watching the duel was certain that they wouldn’t have survived such an attack. The officers, who were all Spirit Knights, thought the same thing. They definitely wouldn’t have been saved by their best defensive Techniques or Heaven level armor. All that and more wouldn’t have been enough to protect them from such an incredible Technique.
“How is a Heaven Soldier able to use a Heaven level Technique?”
&n
bsp; “And kill a Spirit Knight in one blow?”
Of course, these people weren’t elites. There weren’t even any average cultivators among Boltoy’s defenders, only low-tier ones. So, to them, a Heaven Soldier capable of sending a cultivator a level above them on the path of cultivation to their forefathers with a single blow wasn’t just a genius, but an actual monster.
“If there are any more cultivators like him among the pirates, the sky is doomed.” The Lord gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly that his bloodlust began to seep out of him, leaving small cuts behind on the wall, ones that contained tiny traces of the Sword Spirit within then, indicating that he was at the level of a Wielder. He seethed at the fact that some Heaven Soldier had been able to comprehend the Weapon’s Heart level before him…
Only one in a hundred thousand swordsmen can do that! He thought.
The trio couldn’t wrap their heads around who this man they’d saved was. Hadjar hadn’t even been able to walk when they’d found him, and now he was turning out to be as strong as the Masters from their School!
“Such monsters really do exist!” Derek’s eyes glittered with both excitement and envy. “But I think that anyone who was born in a rich family and had access to the rarest resources and ingredients, as well as the best Masters, could do the same.”
The girls nodded. They’d also heard a lot about the abilities of the capital’s elite disciples. None of them would’ve ever guessed that Hadjar had come from a Kingdom so distant and poor that Derek would’ve considered its capital a village.
***
The ‘Black Wind’, like all his other Techniques, was now much stronger than it had been during his fight against Tom Dinos. The minor strengthening of his channels and meridians turned out to be not so insignificant after all.
The wall of darkness split the wolf maws in half. They roared, scattering into flickers of gray energy.
Dragon Heart: Land of Demons. LitRPG Wuxia Series: Book 7 Page 6
