บท 16: Chapter Sixteen: Orc

"Did you hear about Orcrasist? Apparently it's grown into a powerhouse within the short time frame of a year!" Jasmine overheard. She was taking a stroll to calm her mind. The last days had been very hectic and took its toll on the young witch.

The gossiping older and younger students' voices echoed throughout the tower all day long. Just recently a caravan of carriages had arrived. Selling products from said village. Many of Jasmine's schoolmates had taken interest in the souvenirs and bought everything. Most of the mages were from wealthy noble families. They simply gained the talents of their predecessors. Cases like Jasmine were far and few.

"Jasmine, there you are!" a young male said. Jasmine visibly flinched. Her cheeks gained a pink hue.

"Jasper!" she said, after bracing herself.

"Where have you been, I've been looking for you all day long!" the boy exclaimed.

"I was in the library studying." she said shyly.

"Doesn't matter, let's go to the city." Jasper said and grabbed Jasmine's hand. Pulling her along, while he was running.

(Meanwhile)

The beast growled loudly, proclaiming its dominance over the lesser creature before it.

Lenart stood his ground, pointing his sharpened spear, that's been blessed by Jantyr twice. In front of him was a legendary creature, known as an Orc. They had been lucky the Orcs weren't intimidated by the new monster lord. Or the village wouldn't have survived. Orcs were commonly tier zero. But at least one tier one lived in a tribe of Orcs. Sadly Lenart had found a tribe of Orcs and been found by one of the hunters.

Despite that, Lenart showed no fear. He was confident to face such a creature.

Brownish color, five meters tall with bulky muscles. A gigantic wooden club, almost three meters tall and a meter wide. Its teeth were crooked and wide. A grin was plastered on the Orc's face, showing how severely it underestimated its enemy.

Without hesitation Lenart struck first. Lenart swung his spear like a golf club upwards, carrying the force of nature behind it. Winds gathered around the spear and small sparks of lightning with low intensity followed. The Orc didn't seem to care and simply struck down its wooden club.

The power behind the Orc's club made the surrounding air depart, creating a vacuum around the two weapons about to collide.

"Boom" it sounded as both weapons connected. A terrifying air pressure descended on the surrounding area, as the two weapons fought for dominance. The two warriors had come to a standstill, as the power from both sides were equal.

Lenart tilted his spear, letting the club fall towards the ground. He jumped away and prepared to attack again, but failed to take one important thing into account. When the Orc's club hit the ground, it created a fog of dirt, that then blew past everything, with a powerful gust of wind.

Where Lenart stood a second ago, a crater six meters deep had been made. The Orc turned to Lenart who watched in awe. The Orc had a smug and irritated expression. It was clear it wanted to end this soon.

Without any warnings the Orc jumped towards Lenart. Its club was already above its head, ready to strike down once more. Finding it futile to meet the Orc head on, Lenart dodged to the side and stabbed the Orc's arm.

Red blood flowed from the centimeters deep wound. the Orc howled in pain and quickly snatched the spear from its arm. Lenart, who failed to see that happening, looked stupefied, as the Orc threw away his spear and attacked with greater vigor.

Lenart jumped left and right, desperately avoiding the attacks. He conjured balls of wind and threw them at the Orc. But it scuffed at his efforts and pushed through his attacks without problem. The spear which amplified his attacks was gone for the moment. Lenart knew his chances of winning had grown slim, but he refused to give up. He used the wind to push him in certain directions to escape the Orc's attacks. While also trying to conjure lighting from the skies, like he has done many times before.

Lenart only had one problem, it usually took him minutes to call forth the lighting and that was without distractions. Right now he had to multitask on multitudes he wouldn't even dare imagine before.

Trees left and right were destroyed, as Lenart ran like his life depended on it. He had to defeat this beast and use its energy to further his strength. Only then could he feel slightly safe. Only thirty kilometers into the forest, was a tribe of Orcs, who had a stronghold. If he struggled with the small fries, what would happen when he had to face the entire tribe. Everyone in the village would die.

The club graced Lenart's rib, barely avoiding certain death. Lenart felt a bit fearful, but wouldn't let that affect him. At some point Lenart had begun using his brain and started running towards his spear instead of some random direction. If he got his hands on the spear thing would be much easier.

The Orc noticed where they were running and started to grow restless. Its weapon became impossible to predict, as it attacked everything close to him.

The clouds above had gathered in a circle above the duo. It was gray and electricity could be seen in the cloud. Lenart had almost succeeded in summoning the lightning.

Just as the lightning struck the Orc and stunned it, Lenart grabbed his spear. Using the already existing cloud with lightning, he made it strike down on his spear. Using his spear as a medium for the lighting, he stabbed the stunned Orc. Without even being able to scream in pain the Orc passed away. The clouds above dissipated and Lenart collapsed on the ground.

Several bones in his body had been fractured, or broken. He was bleeding from his nose and eyes. The strain from the power he used took a heavy toll on his body and he was losing his consciousness.

But Jantyr had other plans. He gave his loyal subject a steady flow of energy, blessing him with new power. Well not new, just strengthening the already existing power.

With a fifth of the Orc's energy Lenart managed to stand up and use the spear as a cane. He slowly, painfully walked back to the village. The journey back took him half a day and the sun was going down when he was back. The guards noticed his condition and ran to him. Leaving their post

"What happened?" one of the guards asked. The guard had dropped his spear on the ground and used his shoulder to support Lenart.

"Orcs, there's Orcs in the forest!" Lenart said and allowed himself to sleep.