original

Rise of the Horde

Author: Draejon

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Xiao Chen stood alongside his kind, their number in tens of thousands standing in a messy formation, ready for battle.

He was standing in the third row or maybe fourth or fifth row, he can't figure it out since they were all lined up in a disorganized manner.

Far in the distance, he could see their enemies, neatly forming a true battle line. Boasting a complete set of metal armor and towering shields, they stood in a disciplined manner, unlike his kind.

He look to his right and left and saw his kind, green skin, some brownish-red and greyish brown, with humongous weapons made of anything that they can get their hands on either self-made or looted from someone else.

Xiao Chen looked at his weapon, a fine metal sword that was too short for his frame and a shield made of wood roughly held together by nails, he wanted a better shield but he wasn't able to make or get a better one since his colleagues would always snatch away the best from anyone weaker than them and unluckily Xiao Chen was one of the weakest.

He was still young according to the age depicted by the system that accompanied his reincarnation, a system made for battle specifically.

It gave him missions to accomplish and rewarded him with points which then can buy things from the system store, be it magic spells, weapons, abilities, talents, knowledge, and other things.

Someone or something had reincarnated him in the body of a young dying orc after a disastrous defeat. He stared at his meager 500 points and excitement welled up in him as he stared at his mission.

MISSIONS

Available Missions

[

*Kill 10 enemies

Reward: 100 points

*Kill 50 enemies

Reward: 500 points

*Kill 100 enemies

Reward: 1000 points

*Win the Battle

Reward: 10,000 points

]

There was likely only a slight chance for him to accomplish the last mission, so he focused on getting more kills.

He gripped his sword tightly and prepared his shield for any sudden attack and they unleashed surely enough a barrage of arrows towards them. Xiao Chen crouched down a little with his shield angled against the trajectory of the enemy arrows.

Howls of pain soon ensued after the sound of flesh being pierced and some occasional thudding sounds of arrows being deflected or blocked.

The enemy archers unceremoniously continued the barrage. Xiao Chen's allies died in great numbers and after a few seconds, the chaotic formation moved and charged towards enemy ranks.

It incensed Xiao Chen on how his kind does battle. They would just charge forward towards the enemy in a mad rush, engaged in melee, and then that's it, no strategy at all, simple but sometimes effective.

He soon joined the chaotic melee scoring his first kill in the battle, he hacked at his enemies with all his strength and overpowered them with raw strength, sometimes he would even tackle them with his shield or slam them with it and kick them away with his humongous foot.

The battle progress in utter chaos, every orc for himself, no formation at all while their enemies confront them in groups, trapping them with their shields and stabbing them with spears or swords while they trapped them.

Xiao Chen took a brief look at the battlefield and surely enough, the enemy cavalry was charging through their flanks again like the previous battles, cutting down and trampling every orc in their path.

The battle lasted for hours in favor of the enemy. Xiao Chen was preparing himself for the inevitable defeat and was inching back away from the center of the battle.

The enemy mages soon began their assault after their arrival, bombarding them with spells. The orcs soon found themselves in a very tough spot as they were being bombarded with spells and arrows and being squashed by the enemy infantry in front and the enemy cavalry at their flanks.

The orc commander was quickly surrounded and beheaded after mindlessly charging forward deep into enemy ranks. Xiao Chen didn't know whether this was common among orc commanders or was just some coincidence.

He took part in two battles before and the same thing happened thrice already, their commander mindlessly charging forward, got surrounded, then killed.

The orc's number soon dwindled and the unavoidable retreat happened. Xiao Chen, being away from the center of battle, scurried away quickly as soon as he saw his kind retreat.

He made use of the spell Haste, which increased his running speed, which he bought from the system store for a whopping 1500 points. He wouldn't want to be killed by the pursuing cavalry like most of his retreating companions.

He saw the towering trees up ahead and charged in a mad sprint; he knew that the enemy cavalry wouldn't risk pursuing them in the forest in great numbers for the vegetation of the forest will hinder their mobility and they wouldn't want to go toe to toe with an orc alone for it had been tested many times that only a few men can stand against them in a one-on-one confrontation.

Crawling inside a thick bush, Xiao Chen sighed in relief as he escaped. He cared little about his companions. Every orc was on his own, survival of the fittest or more likely the fastest.

He checked his missions

MISSIONS

Available Missions

[

*Kill 10 enemies

Reward: 100 points (Completed)

*Kill 50 enemies

Reward: 500 points (Completed)

*Kill 100 enemies

Reward: 1000 points (Completed)

*Win the Battle

Reward: 10,000 points (Failed)

]

Xiao Chen grinned in satisfaction and ignored the failed mission since he had no high expectation for it to be completed, but suddenly a new mission prompt appeared

New Mission

*Gather the Surviving Orcs

(The higher the number of orcs gathered, the higher the reward)

Xiao Chen stared at the new mission and was considering if he should do it or let it fail since there was no penalty for failing it unlike the missions given to him before.

Quick rapid heavy steps sounded near him as he saw an orc trying to outrun two enemy cavalry knights, the orc was skinny and short in stature for an orc, roughly or barely 6 ft tall, his body was littered with wounds but he kept on running, but soon tripped in a thick root of a tree.

With no second thought, Xiao Chen threw his sword at the first rider successfully killing him and he rammed the following rider's horse with his shield, he exerted all his strength and successfully toppled the speeding horse from the right flank, sending the poor rider in the air.

Crashing down hard, the rider gasped for air as the impact knocked the wind out of his lungs and his horse neighing in pain as one of its legs got broken after Xiao Chen's tackle.

Sprinting forward quickly, Xiao Chen choked the rider with his muscular arms, suffocating him. The rider soon thrashed around wildly as he tried to break free from Xiao Chen's thick arms, his face turning purple and his eyes pleading for mercy but Xiao Chen ignored it all, he just gripped the rider's throat firmly and applied more force until finally the sound of a neck being broken sounded.

Xiao Chen loosened his grip and left the rider, picking up the spear that the rider wielded. He broke the rider's neck but felt no remorse at all; he got used to taking lives already long ago since he was still a human.

He thrust the spear towards the noisy horse and it thrashed around wildly but Xiao Chen just pulled out the spear and thrust it forward again and again until the horse was silent.

He just brutally killed a living thing, blood splattered everywhere, his legs, torso, and face covered in blood, making him look more menacing than ever.

He stared at the skinny orc who he just saved. With his threatening aura, the skinny orc bowed down, followed by a sudden system prompt.

Congratulations on acquiring your first subordinate!

Unlocking Commander's Function

Unlocking the Army Tab

Xiao Chen got surprised but soon felt elated. He now had someone under him. He commanded the skinny orc to loot the bodies of anything useful as he started checking out the system's new function.