Praise the Orc

Chapter 21: Human and Sorcerer (2)

Antuak’s house was cozy; warmth emanated from the wood burning in the fireplace. Yi-An and the three human players sat at the table, and Antuak served them warm potato soup. At first, the human players were hesitant to try the soup, but after they had a spoonful, they couldn’t stop themselves from gulping it down. They ate quietly for a while. It was difficult to strike up a conversation amid the silence.

Finally, Antuak spoke with a smile on his face. “Is there something you want to ask?”

“Um...” Yi-An and the three human players eyed each other.

Eventually, the female sorcerer initiated the conversation.

She asked a question no one else had dared to ask. “The person over there... is she sick?”

The sorcerer’s gaze was directed at something behind Antuak. An orc lady was lying down on the bed, staring blankly into space with a blanket up to her neck. She blinked occasionally, but all she did was lie still. There was something sentimental about her gaze as if she was looking off into an unknown place others couldn’t see. She hadn’t reacted at all even when they entered her abode earlier. Her eyes were a dull gray, which made it look as if the original colors of her eyes had faded away.

Antuak smiled bitterly as he murmured to himself, “Bul’tar.”

Yi-An’s eyes sparkled. The way Antuak said the orcs’ shout was different from how other orcs said it. The way he said the word seemed old... It seemed much closer to what might have been the ancient pronunciation of the word. Yi-An repeated the word over and over in his mind, ‘Bul’tar.’

“She’s my wife, Aruna.”

“Gosh, you’re married. But why has she just been lying down the whole time?”

The orc and the female sorcerer’s conversation had a strange difference in the way they spoke. It was like an old figure from a historical drama was talking to a young student from modern times.

“She has been possessed by a different dimension.”

“Huh?”

“Aruna and I were both sorcerers, but she had a keen interest in other worlds. I had cautioned her against their dangers, but she couldn’t stop her curiosity. She ultimately succeeded in creating a spell that allowed her to look into other dimensions. She coveted something we cannot handle. In the end, she got drunk on the scenery of another dimension and lost consciousness.”

It was hard to believe, but they all nodded.

“Having forgotten who she is, she’s currently contemplating the other world—a world incomprehensible to us as none of the rules we know will be present there. I can only wait and yearn for her return,” Antuak said.

He got up and stood by Aruna’s side. His rough hand caressed her cheek, but she continued to look somewhere far away without any movement.

“It has been only her and me in this house for a long time. I am glad there are guests here now.” Antuak turned and smiled. “So, travelers, for what reason have you come such a long way?”

The human players eyed each other warily.

Yi-An replied on their behalf, “They are headed to Basque Village to seek the help of orc sorcerers.”

“I am glad to hear that humans need our help,” Antuak said.

He picked up the staff leaning against the wall. As he shook it, they felt an unknown wave of energy.

Then he continued, “We orcs used to be close with the humans before the war split us apart. Personally, I used to have many human friends. So, humans, what kind of help do you need?”

“We...” The human players exchanged looks.

The female sorcerer answered, “To be honest, we don’t know yet. They said we will find out once we arrive at Basque Village.”

“Is that so? I’m sorry I can’t be of much help then. I hope it gets resolved quickly,” Antuak replied.

He then brought more soup for the archer, whose bowl was empty. The human player bowed gratefully and eagerly downed another bowl of soup.

“What are you here for, young warrior?” asked Antuak as he looked at Yi-An.

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“I’m not a warrior yet.”

“Only you can determine that.”

“I’m going to meet Tashaquil.”

“Oh, Tashaquil. Why?”

“I’m planning to ask him what it means to be a true warrior.”

“I see. You have embarked on the path of becoming a warrior.” Antuak nodded. “I hope you find the answer. Bul’tar.”

“Thank you. Bul’tar.”

The female sorcerer stood up as she watched the two orcs converse. “It’s my first time being in an orc’s house. Can I look around, orc sorcerer?”

“Of course. There won’t be much to see though.”

The other players got up as well to join her.

Antuak’s house was larger than what they had seen from the outside. Tools for spells and animal skulls were displayed on the walls, and as the candle blazed, it lit up other strange equipment. The female sorcerer directed a barrage of questions at Antuak, who patiently explained everything with a smile. Meanwhile, the archer and warrior simply tagged behind Antuak.

Yi-An, who had been left alone, approached Aruna, who continued to look blankly into empty space. He felt sorry for her.

“Please wake up. Your husband is waiting for you,” Yi-An whispered.

Right then, a long shadow flashed across the ceiling, and Yi-An heard a low moan. He quickly turned around and saw Antuak had collapsed to the floor on his back. The head of a blade jutted out from his chest. The players had stabbed him from behind.

“What is this...?!” Yi-An immediately raised his greatsword.

The archer aimed his arrow at him, which caused Yi-An to hesitate.

The female sorcerer said in a cheery voice, “Thank you, orc! Thanks to you, things were resolved quickly.”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“What’s the big deal? We came to gain another skill by catching an orc.”

“You said you had to seek help at Basque Village...”

The sorcerer sighed and began mumbling a spell. Then, a flame appeared on her palm.

She said, “How could an orc help us? I’m just doing what I was told to do—bring an orc sorcerer’s heart to the sorcerer’s tower to gain a skill. Don’t blame me too much.”

The sorcerer began to chuckle, and the men burst out in laughter.

“Since your wife is out of her mind, we will send both of you to the same place. Does that sound good to you?”

“Ugh... Anything but killing Aruna... At least let her go...” muttered Antuak.

“If you aren’t here, she’ll just lie there doing nothing and die of starvation anyways,” the archer said and kicked the knife deeper into Antuak’s back.

“Aargh!”

“Acting like you have a sentimental story when you are just a monster. It’s laughable.”

“‘My wife, Aruna’... ‘another dimension’... Hahaha, I thought I was watching a historical drama.”

They spit on Antuak’s face.

Yi-An’s fist trembled at the injustice. How could they do this to Antuak, who loved his wife, was a welcoming host, made them delicious soup, and knew how to pronounce ‘bul’tar’ more elegantly than anyone else? It had been a brief meeting, but Yi-An already knew these things about Antuak, and he was certain Antuak had many more positive traits that he didn’t know about. Furthermore, the amount of knowledge Antuak had about the secrets of the world and his philosophies... All of that was crumbling under the weight of the human players’ knife. It was a shameful sight.

“Are you angry? It’s just a game. You might become a real orc if you role-play too much.”

“If it makes you mad, you should become a human elf. That’s what you get for choosing to be an orc.”

Unable to suppress his anger, Yi-An charged. However, an arrow flew at him.

“Uck!” Yi-An groaned.

The archer’s arrow was fast, and it pierced Yi-An’s eye. Yi-An was unable to stand his ground and tumbled to the floor at the players’ feet.

The archer kicked Yi-An in the face.

“Ugh!” Yi-An groaned again.

“It’s futile to resist. I was going to spare your life if you stayed still, but now, we are just gonna kill you.”

“But isn’t he a player?” the human warrior remarked.

“An orc isn’t a player. He’s just another monster.”

“Oppa, is killing a player okay? Is there no PvP penalty?” asked the female sorcerer.

“Not in Elder Lord.”

“Really? That’s great!” the woman chuckled.

Yi-An put pressure on his legs to stand up, but they kicked him back down again. The woman chanted a spell. Something invisible imprisoned Yi-An and sapped his strength. He was no longer able to move his muscles and collapsed to the floor. If it had been hand-to-hand combat, he could have done something, but he was unable to withstand sorcery. Yi-An was still weak.

“Uhhhh... Aru...na...” Antuak was wearing down visibly.

The archer and sorcerer tore open his chest and dug in to grab his heart.

Meanwhile, the human warrior approached Aruna. He waved his hand in front of her blank eyes and then struck his dagger into her heart. Aruna continued to look in the distance as she spat out blood.

Yi-An clenched his teeth and tried to muster all of the strength in his body, but his body refused to move. It was as if it was out of his control. An arrow dug into his thigh painfully.

“Stop resisting. It’s all over now,” the male archer said.

He smirked as he pulled on the string of his bow, which was aimed at Yi-An’s head.

Nevertheless, Yi-An continued to resist. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

His body began moving bit by bit. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

He extended his arm with all of the strength in his body. ‘Just... just a little bit more.’

“What? Did that low-level orc just resist my sorcery?”

“Was he able to because he’s an orc? Let’s finish him off quickly.”

The archer released the string of his bow, and his arrow pierced Yi-An straight in the head. Yi-An’s vision blurred and then dimmed. What he saw now was darker than pitch black; it was an eternal drowning—death.

...

...

...

The darkness blurred, and Yi-An opened his eyes. An orc was standing in front of him at the entrance of a log cabin.

He asked Yi-An with a soft expression, “Are you alive, young warrior?”

Yi-An was standing up straight in front of Antuak’s house. He saw the inside of the house through the slightly ajar door. There was the familiar stove, table, and Aruna. Yi-An was dumbfounded because he couldn’t understand what was going on.

Antuak laughed.

“Why are you standing still?” he asked.

“What...”

Just then, Yi-An heard a voice call out to him, “Why are you just standing there?”

Yi-An turned around in surprise. The three human players were standing behind him. The female sorcerer looked at him questioningly, as if urging him to get moving.

Antuak asked, “Young warrior, what did you see?”

“I...”

“What are you guys talking about?” asked the female sorcerer.

Yi-An was speechless as he looked at Antuak and the players. Antuak had definitely served soup to Yi-An and the human players in Antuak’s house. Then, the human players suddenly had a change in persona and slaughtered Antuak, his wife, and Yi-An.

Yi-An looked at Antuak, who had a knowing look on his face.

Antuak was smiling as if he knew everything. “What will you do?”

Yi-An realized that what he had seen was the truth that Antuak had revealed. The players were using Yi-An, an orc, to approach Antuak and kill him to attain his heart.

Yi-An spoke to the female sorcerer, “Sorcerer.”

“Yes?”

“Is the thing you have to obtain...”

“Yes?”

“...an orc sorcerer’s heart?”

“Huh?” The human players flinched.

The astute warrior raised his sword, and the archer grabbed his arrow, but Yi-An’s greatsword was already rushing toward its target.

The female sorcerer’s head flew into the air.

“W-What?!”

“Fuuuck!”

Yi-An swung his greatsword before the remaining human players could retreat. The human warrior stalled Yi-An’s blow with his shield, but Yi-An raised his greatsword again and performed a downward blow.

“Ugh!” The warrior blocked it with his shield but ultimately collapsed under the weight.

An arrow came flying at Yi-An. However, Yi-An was able to avoid it by crouching forward. He then leaped onto the shield of his opponent and used it as a stepping stone to jump closer to the archer. As the archer’s face neared his, Yi-An raised his greatsword and ran it down through the archer’s head and torso, splitting them apart. The archer crumbled like a ragdoll.

“What the fuck!” the warrior exclaimed.

He threw his weapon and shield away and fled in a hurry, but Yi-An picked up his greatsword and threw it. The greatsword flew through the air and stabbed the warrior in the back.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” The warrior collapsed.

Yi-An walked over and pulled out his greatsword. The warrior’s body spasmed and then went slack. Yi-An placed the bloodied greatsword back on his back, where it belonged. His opponent’s body began to turn white and disintegrate in the wind.

After the human players died, only their equipment remained on the ground.

Antuak had been watching everything.

As Yi-An stood in front of Antuak, the latter smiled warmly and said, “I am sorcerer Antuak.”

He then opened his door widely with a knowing smile. “Guests are always welcome.”