Return of the Woodcutter

'Hum, so in other words, it's the person. Two suns. Two personalities? Is the Khan a schizophrenic?' Aito thought, 'That wouldn't make much sense since the Khül is supposed to be stronger.'

"Do not try to look too deep into it. As I doubt you'll fall easily, you'll certainly see for yourself who the Khül is. However, it might as well be the last moment of your life," Krugan said, his gaze turning serious. "In the eventuality that you win, I will order your kind's release. You have my word, human warrior."

Aito peered into the orc's eyes' dark irises.

Pure, simple, honest.

He saw no traces of a lie. Even Aito, at that moment, was tempted to fully believe it.

Having discussed with Krugan a few times, he came to understand that orcs were just a plain honest race. Or maybe it was just Krugan. Who knew?

Were the orcs "nice?" No, far from it. They did what they wanted. Imposing their cultures on others. Forcing humans to take part in a ritual they don't even adhere to.

Nice? No, they weren't. Honest? Maybe.

"Today will be my last visit," the orc said. "If you have any questions concerning the sacred event, now is the moment to ask."

"Why would you even answer them?" Aito asked. "Aren't we enemies? If I were to hold you captive, I certainly would not answer your questions."

"You humans have your ways. We have ours. Although fascinating, your ways are dishonorable to us. Capturing you as I did could also be considered dishonorable. I had to alienate myself. To repent during the Grand Duel was my goal. But I have a duty to uphold. Anyway, to answer your first question, it is to make it fair. Our kind already knows what's going to happen. In our tradition, we do not like duels to be unfair, it brings inglorious death. Humans cannot communicate with us, so it is not in our capabilities to tell them about the sacred event in normal circumstances. You are an exception, human warrior."

Aito pondered. Certainly, the orc could be lying. On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to extract information from it, or at least listen to what Krugan had to say.

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"Since you're offering it so nicely, it'll be rude to refuse," Aito replied before taking a deep breath. "What awaits us tomorrow, exactly? Trials? If yes, how many exactly? Will I be able to see my comrades first before the event? How many orcs will we fight? Will you give us back our weapons and items? What are the Khan's weaknesses? How strong exactly is the Khül…"

The orc lifted his bushy dark brows in surprise as an influx of questions shot out of Aito's mouth. "That's… a lot of questions, human warrior."

"You asked for it," Aito smirked. "Now, will you go back on your words?"

The orc slightly shook his head, then proceeded to answer Aito's every question, at least those he could or judged honorable.

There was a change in rules.

Normally, the sacred event would take place for two weeks straight, but it's been shortened to three days. Instead of three challenges, there would be two.

On the first day, Aito and the other captive humans would be given back what had been taken from them, weapons and items.

They would also have an hour to organize amongst themselves before fighting young orc warriors en masse. There were currently nineteen captive humans, all challengers, who were at level 2—albeit Aito who was at 2.5, whatever that meant.

Since they were judged to be strong warriors by the orcs, they would have to fight four hundred young orcs who couldn't yet use durability.

According to Krugan, it was a fair fight since young orcs were a bit weak compared to adult orcs. It was also to sort out the weak humans from the strong.

On the second day, challengers would have to face two hundred adult orc warriors at the level of those who ambushed Aito, maybe slightly stronger. 

The third day would be the final fight confronting the strongest humans who had survived until now and the strongest warriors of the orc race. The Khan would personally lead the soldiers.

As for how strong the Khan was or her weaknesses, Krugan simply said she was probably slightly weaker, or maybe as strong as Aito. It was hard to tell. The Khül, however, was definitely stronger than him.

Aito supposed it was probably a level 3 creature, hopefully not a level 4. If the Khül was level 4, Aito was in deep shit.

"How the heck are nineteen challengers facing hundreds of orcs honorable?" Aito asked,

"You only have yourself to blame. You're too strong. I suspect that you alone can take on two hundred adult orcs on your own and still have stamina to spare," Krugan replied as if it was obvious. "We wouldn't normally overwhelm humans, but those are the orders of my Khan. However, I seriously doubt hundreds of orcs will be able to stop you, human warrior."

"I will certainly survive the first two days, but other humans might not."

"Then it is their fault for being too weak. Don't blame us for their weakness, human warrior."

'Weakness….'

Aito could understand the orcs' ways, but adhering to them, no. Even with all that previous talk about finding strength before death, it did not justify the act of disposing of the supposed "weak people."

Each and everyone had their strong points. Orcs only valued strength as the ability to take lives and delay their own death. They couldn't see beyond that picture.

And that pissed him off.

All in all, they were just battle maniacs with a somewhat balanced civilization.

Aito's face turned darker, emanating strong killing vibes. Staring intently at Krugan, he said, "So you're saying if I kill you right here, right now, the orcs will not blame me but your own weakness for it? Not me nor my companion."

"Although it is impossible, in the eventually it happens then, yes, orcs will blame my own weakness. Even if you spare me, it would bring me greater shame. The only choice is winning."

"Is that so? Do not regret those words, Krugan."

Peering into Aito's abyss dark eyes, Krugan felt a slight shiver running along his long thick spine. Somehow, the orc felt like he'd come to regret soon what he just said.

Suddenly, Aito closed his eyes.

After two days of listening to Sam's bullshits almost nonstop, he had unwillingly registered the sound of the man's voice and was capable of playing it in his head at will.

Not the most extraordinary ability, but it worked perfectly for Aito.

His skin glowed red, emitting steam. His strength increased tremendously. Pulling on the chains linked to the wall behind him, cracking sounds were heard.

Aito then used his two feet to push the wall, adding power to his pull.

Krugan watched in horror as the chains progressively detached from the earth. Those were too thick for Aito to break with pure strength alone.

However, the same couldn't be said for plain rock.

Aito pulled harder, shattering the supports, unwrapping the chains around him. Sam gawked at this ridiculous display beyond his comprehension.

Krugan immediately regained its focus, and actually smiled, glad to have a fight against a worthy opponent. The orc quickly rushed at the human.

However, Aito quickly caught the orc's fist and stopped Krugan's advance with a single arm. Aito tightened his grip, fracturing Krugan's thick bones.

Battle-hardened, used to pain, the orc didn't even grunt from that, but what came next made it reconsider the meaning of pain.

Aito rapidly broke its elbow with a swift strike, then fractured its kneecap, followed by a straight punch to the face destroying its tusks.

Krugan tried to resist, but its every attack was countered, or just simply ignored because they couldn't affect Aito.

He struck the orc with a flurry of blows designed more for pain than actual killing. Broken tusk, teeth, and bones.

Aito finished the orc with a front kick, sending the huge muscular black figure flying towards the steel door, that bent open, jumping out of its support.

Krugan landed on the rocky ground, covered in injuries and blood, but alive.

Aito walked out of the cell into the underground tunnels light by torches, followed by Sam's astonished gaze. He then grabbed Krugan's collar, brought the orc to his face, searching for any trace of fear in the creature's eyes.

Unexpectedly, there was none. Not even a spark. The orc was ready to accept its fate, its "glorious" death. However, if that was truly something important to it, then the choice of killing it or not was already made.

Two orc guards came running down the tunnels, only to see a human holding one of their fiercest warriors with one hand.

"Kill... me," Krugan said, its mouth bloody.

Instead of giving the finishing blow, Aito hurled the orc towards the guards, picked up the broken steel door, and placed it back where it used to be, closing his cell once more. Leaving two astonished orcs stupidly standing outside.

In the cell, the shocked Sam regained his composure and said, "Shit… just how strong did you become!? And why didn't you kill the orc and escape?"

"There is nothing to gain from escaping now. Also, living is a worse punishment to orcs than death. Now, if you don't want to find yourself in the same state, shut up. I got some thinking to do."

Aito had planned on killing Sam, but after hearing Krugan's info, he thought the baldie would certainly be of use tomorrow. The more challengers he had with him in the arena, the greater the chances of success would be. 

Moreover, if the informations from Krugan were correct, the event might just be an opportunity for him and his teammate to grow stronger.