A Quiet room.
Master Khalifa closed his eyes in the dark space where not a single light was lit.
Sitting cross-legged, his posture was erect, and both soles of his feet were facing the sky.
Many humans knew that this posture was a training method used by the people in the Holy Kingdom, but they were wrong.
It actually belonged to the orcs.
The spirits used to immerse themselves while the orcs would meditate, and it was like a passageway that exposed the body to all five forms of spirits and energy in the air.
At Master Khalifa’s current level, doing this action had no purpose.
He only took the position as it was comfortable to him.
In his mind, the image of the red-haired human came to mind.
‘The battle of warriors.’
A fight that could have never been seen in today’s world.
It couldn’t be seen even a few decades ago.
After the Great War of 150 years ago, the demons disappeared, but the demonic beings were still left behind.
To protect the tribe from those beings, the orcs had to constantly risk their lives, and the orcs who survived were called warriors.
There was no need for a different test to become a high-ranking warrior like now. Every battle they survived was a test in the past.
And now the demons were gone, and the seeds they sowed were gone.
These days, the only danger left on the continent were thieves, bandits and monsters.
The Orcs today could never be like the ‘real warriors’ of the past.
‘No, that is just an excuse.’
Is there nothing to see and learn?
But it wasn’t just that. The continent was peaceful and very wide.
A lot of swordsmen were present on the continent, and they would go out and see new things in the world.
That was the case with young Ian and Ignet, who came to visit the Durkali tribe a few years ago.
The four humans who were here now, too, must have grown up rapidly because they experienced numerous things in the world.
Khalifa knew that living within the tribe was similar to stagnant water, or turning into a frog inside a well, and living off the glory of their ancestors… was wrong, but it didn’t feel like it was anyone else’s fault.
No, it was their own fault.
‘I need to reeducate my sons.’
Khalifa got up.
Garam, Pahan and Gunt, and even himself.
All of us need to change our mindsets.
It was necessary to put aside the affairs of the tribe for a while and start becoming aware of their duty as warriors. And the training for that should start right away.
However, not today.
He remembered the red-haired human and headed to the mountain behind the fortress.
It was much steeper compared to the mountain where Gurgar was laid to rest.
However, the energy of spirits gathered at Gurgar’s burial site was denser.
It took a long time to organize his thoughts, but he moved quickly.
For him, who was one of the strongest Masters, the mountain’s condition and the path weren’t that bothersome.
Khalifa arrived at his destination in an instant, only to be shocked.
It was because there were a lot more orcs present there than he thought.
“Uh, you are here?”
“It has been a while.”
“You saw your sons being defeated. Are you feeling a little sore?”
“…”
These words came from the elder warriors of Durkali.
Seeing the old orcs who were a lot older than him trying to say stuff like this just to spite him, he burst into laughter.
‘Well, they probably couldn’t help it.’
A week after the ordeal.
Irene and his party finally climbed up the sacred mountain of the Durkali tribe to learn the Five Spirit Divine Technique.
It was originally planned for them to learn the technique and leave, but the schedule was postponed as Judith couldn’t even move properly after the fight.
And thanks to the climb after the fight, Judith’s body wasn’t still in the best condition.
“Ugh, so tough!”
Nevertheless, Judith climbed up the steep mountain without any support.
Some might call her foolish, but this kind of poison was the foundation for her entire being.
The rest of the group, who knew her better than anyone, spoke to her only when they reached the destination.
“Great job.”
“Good work.”
“Great job, what? Rather…”
Judith’ eyes moved back and forth.
It was because she saw more orcs.
It was natural to see Karakum, Tarakan and Kuvar, since they were the ones with them since the beginning.
But why was Master Khalifa here?
And that wasn’t all.
There were some other orcs with wrinkles she had never seen that were among those who were present.
Despite being from different races, she felt like these ones were old.
And not all of them were looking at her.
But most of them.
“Don’t be flustered Judith. It’s because your fights were impressive.”
“My fights?”
“Right. After being stimulated by your fiery battle which we hadn’t seen in a long time, they said they wanted to see the ‘Five Spirits Technique’ being performed. And as you can see, they are the elders of the tribe. They too can be called as beings who have mastered the Five Spirits Divine Technique, so we couldn’t refuse their presence here.”
“…”
“Why? Is it burdensome?”
Kuvar, who approached her, asked in a low voice.
Judith said nothing for a moment and looked at the eyes of the orcs who were looking at her.
Old and weak, some were ill, and some couldn't even stand properly.
But she felt it.
How hard the determination was in their eyes was.
And it wasn’t just them.
Great Warrior Karakum, who was known to be the idol for orcs.
His son, Tarakan, who reached a similar status of a master at a young age.
Gorha, the warrior who showed no interest despite meeting her several times, and Master Khalifa, who didn't like her.
All the giant trees that formed the foundation of the tribe, were looking at her in anticipation.
At that moment, Judith’s chest was flaming, burning.
‘They are looking at me.’
Right.
Everyone was looking at her.
In the human world, when these people were recognized, her entire party was recognized.
But here, no one was looking at Irene or Bratt or Ilya, and they were all just looking at her.
That fact gave Judith a great excitement.
This was a different kind of fire which she felt when she fought with Gunt and Garam.
Phew, she exhaled and walked towards Gorha.
And with a proud expression, she extended her hand into the jar he held.
Shhh!
Durkali’s Five Spirit ritual.
A procedure to figure out which of the spirits suited the user the best. It was a very simple method in which all the user had to do was to bring out the energy of the spirit inside the jar and throw it into the ground after the user took control of it.
Over the past week, she had heard countless explanations about it.
Any ordinary person would have been overwhelmed by expectations of the numerous giants of the orc community, but that wasn’t the case for Judith.
She had a warm heart.
And with an even hotter chest, she grabbed the energy inside the jar and threw it to the ground.
And,
Puahhh!
“…!”
“Oh…!”
“Hm…!”
The elders exclaimed as they saw the burning fire.
Some of the orcs present there, who couldn’t even do that, went wide-eyed and stayed shocked.
It was done, but what they didn’t know was that the affinity that Judith had with fire had crossed every limit that they knew about.
The fire that she threw didn’t stop there, but it seemed like it was going to spread further into the sky and the sides of the mountain.
But when Gorha snapped his fingers, a barrier of water formed and extinguished the fire.
His expression was no different from the elders.
Judith, who noticed that, asked Kuvar.
“Is everything fine?”
“… I am not sure myself… but it is probably okay. Looking at the size of the fire that you pulled…it wasn’t small, or even lacking. Rather it is more of a problem because it was too huge.”
“But I have the talent to use the technique, right?”
“Of course. Without talent the energy wouldn’t even be formed in the jar. However… the fire was too huge. I have no idea what kind of training you need to handle the fire properly…”
“Huh, is that right?”
Judith turned carefree at Kuvar’s words.
But it wasn’t like she was indifferent, but rather because she was trying very hard to suppress the smile which was forming on her lips.
‘Cute.’
Only Bratt Lloyd understood Judith’s real emotions.
But he didn’t show his expression on his face, and luckily no one was looking at him.
Most of the orcs were still talking to each other without taking their eyes off Judith.
“dlrj gotjrgoqhkdi qufrj djqtsmsep gkdtkd dktlefkrhdy?”
“rmfoeh akrtkd dkaneh dksgownaus tjdnsglkrlsgkslek.”
“dlqsdeoh wkf qnxkremflqsek…!”
“…!”
Master Khalifa was the same.
He didn’t talk like the others, but he was the one who was the most shocked at the fire which Judith controlled.
He seemed to have the same thought of Kuvar.
He, too, had no idea on how to teach her to control it.
‘At this level, it isn’t just about teaching them the technique, but they need skills to assist them in handling the spirits as well…’
“Hm?”
It was when Khalifa was in his own thoughts.
Gorha’s eyes changed.
Unlike the other orcs, his eyes saw another side to Judith’s power.
And it was the same with Karakum.
But they were doubtful, and they looked around.
“…”
And not just that.
There weren’t many, but some other orcs were facing in the same direction as Gorha and Karakum.
Seeing that all these Orcs had the same doubt in common, he thought of one word.
‘Spiritualist.’
Normally Spiritualists don’t utilize the spirits for the sake of battle, but rather use them as a basis of energy to fight.
Seeing their gaze, which could capture even the smallest detail, Khalifa also turned his head to the same place they were looking at.
Irene Pareira.
A monster who reached the level of Master at 20.
However, he was a human who was never even thought of, and he didn’t have an innate talent for spirits, so no one paid much attention to his current position.
“Irene Pareira.”
“Yes.”
“It’s your turn next. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Gorha called for him.
Khalifa knew what was happening.
Although Gorha was trying to hide it, the voice he spoke in was giving out a lot of emotions.
The similar way he looked at Judith.
No, maybe….
It was when they were all in thoughts.
His movement was a little slower than Judith.
But it carried more weight, and the blonde swordsman who moved forward put his hand in the jar.
“…”
“…”
It wasn’t as fast as Judith.
As if he had run into something, his movement stuttered and then stopped.
And after that, he closed his eyes, as if he was thinking about something.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long.
Irene, who nodded his head briefly, maybe because the worries in his heart were resolved, finally opened his eyes.
For a brief moment, Khalifa felt as if something hard and hot stood ahead of him.
And he didn’t look at the human for long.
Wheik!
Wheiik…
Unlike Judith’s, the fire that was thrown this time was gentle and calm.
Swoosh…!
And a huge iron stake slowly rose above that fire.
After receiving the heat of that gentle fire, the stake soon formed the shape of a sword, glowing red in competition to the setting sun.
No, it wasn’t even sunset.
Looking at the great sword, which was scattering a blinding light in all directions, Khalifa and the other orcs gulped.
A Quiet room.
Master Khalifa closed his eyes in the dark space where not a single light was lit.
Sitting cross-legged, his posture was erect, and both soles of his feet were facing the sky.
Many humans knew that this posture was a training method used by the people in the Holy Kingdom, but they were wrong.
It actually belonged to the orcs.
The spirits used to immerse themselves while the orcs would meditate, and it was like a passageway that exposed the body to all five forms of spirits and energy in the air.
At Master Khalifa’s current level, doing this action had no purpose.
He only took the position as it was comfortable to him.
In his mind, the image of the red-haired human came to mind.
‘The battle of warriors.’
A fight that could have never been seen in today’s world.
It couldn’t be seen even a few decades ago.
After the Great War of 150 years ago, the demons disappeared, but the demonic beings were still left behind.
To protect the tribe from those beings, the orcs had to constantly risk their lives, and the orcs who survived were called warriors.
There was no need for a different test to become a high-ranking warrior like now. Every battle they survived was a test in the past.
And now the demons were gone, and the seeds they sowed were gone.
These days, the only danger left on the continent were thieves, bandits and monsters.
The Orcs today could never be like the ‘real warriors’ of the past.
‘No, that is just an excuse.’
Is there nothing to see and learn?
But it wasn’t just that. The continent was peaceful and very wide.
A lot of swordsmen were present on the continent, and they would go out and see new things in the world.
That was the case with young Ian and Ignet, who came to visit the Durkali tribe a few years ago.
The four humans who were here now, too, must have grown up rapidly because they experienced numerous things in the world.
Khalifa knew that living within the tribe was similar to stagnant water, or turning into a frog inside a well, and living off the glory of their ancestors… was wrong, but it didn’t feel like it was anyone else’s fault.
No, it was their own fault.
‘I need to reeducate my sons.’
Khalifa got up.
Garam, Pahan and Gunt, and even himself.
All of us need to change our mindsets.
It was necessary to put aside the affairs of the tribe for a while and start becoming aware of their duty as warriors. And the training for that should start right away.
However, not today.
He remembered the red-haired human and headed to the mountain behind the fortress.
It was much steeper compared to the mountain where Gurgar was laid to rest.
However, the energy of spirits gathered at Gurgar’s burial site was denser.
It took a long time to organize his thoughts, but he moved quickly.
For him, who was one of the strongest Masters, the mountain’s condition and the path weren’t that bothersome.
Khalifa arrived at his destination in an instant, only to be shocked.
It was because there were a lot more orcs present there than he thought.
“Uh, you are here?”
“It has been a while.”
“You saw your sons being defeated. Are you feeling a little sore?”
“…”
These words came from the elder warriors of Durkali.
Seeing the old orcs who were a lot older than him trying to say stuff like this just to spite him, he burst into laughter.
‘Well, they probably couldn’t help it.’
A week after the ordeal.
Irene and his party finally climbed up the sacred mountain of the Durkali tribe to learn the Five Spirit Divine Technique.
It was originally planned for them to learn the technique and leave, but the schedule was postponed as Judith couldn’t even move properly after the fight.
And thanks to the climb after the fight, Judith’s body wasn’t still in the best condition.
“Ugh, so tough!”
Nevertheless, Judith climbed up the steep mountain without any support.
Some might call her foolish, but this kind of poison was the foundation for her entire being.
The rest of the group, who knew her better than anyone, spoke to her only when they reached the destination.
“Great job.”
“Good work.”
“Great job, what? Rather…”
Judith’ eyes moved back and forth.
It was because she saw more orcs.
It was natural to see Karakum, Tarakan and Kuvar, since they were the ones with them since the beginning.
But why was Master Khalifa here?
And that wasn’t all.
There were some other orcs with wrinkles she had never seen that were among those who were present.
Despite being from different races, she felt like these ones were old.
And not all of them were looking at her.
But most of them.
“Don’t be flustered Judith. It’s because your fights were impressive.”
“My fights?”
“Right. After being stimulated by your fiery battle which we hadn’t seen in a long time, they said they wanted to see the ‘Five Spirits Technique’ being performed. And as you can see, they are the elders of the tribe. They too can be called as beings who have mastered the Five Spirits Divine Technique, so we couldn’t refuse their presence here.”
“…”
“Why? Is it burdensome?”
Kuvar, who approached her, asked in a low voice.
Judith said nothing for a moment and looked at the eyes of the orcs who were looking at her.
Old and weak, some were ill, and some couldn't even stand properly.
But she felt it.
How hard the determination was in their eyes was.
And it wasn’t just them.
Great Warrior Karakum, who was known to be the idol for orcs.
His son, Tarakan, who reached a similar status of a master at a young age.
Gorha, the warrior who showed no interest despite meeting her several times, and Master Khalifa, who didn't like her.
All the giant trees that formed the foundation of the tribe, were looking at her in anticipation.
At that moment, Judith’s chest was flaming, burning.
‘They are looking at me.’
Right.
Everyone was looking at her.
In the human world, when these people were recognized, her entire party was recognized.
But here, no one was looking at Irene or Bratt or Ilya, and they were all just looking at her.
That fact gave Judith a great excitement.
This was a different kind of fire which she felt when she fought with Gunt and Garam.
Phew, she exhaled and walked towards Gorha.
And with a proud expression, she extended her hand into the jar he held.
Shhh!
Durkali’s Five Spirit ritual.
A procedure to figure out which of the spirits suited the user the best. It was a very simple method in which all the user had to do was to bring out the energy of the spirit inside the jar and throw it into the ground after the user took control of it.
Over the past week, she had heard countless explanations about it.
Any ordinary person would have been overwhelmed by expectations of the numerous giants of the orc community, but that wasn’t the case for Judith.
She had a warm heart.
And with an even hotter chest, she grabbed the energy inside the jar and threw it to the ground.
And,
Puahhh!
“…!”
“Oh…!”
“Hm…!”
The elders exclaimed as they saw the burning fire.
Some of the orcs present there, who couldn’t even do that, went wide-eyed and stayed shocked.
It was done, but what they didn’t know was that the affinity that Judith had with fire had crossed every limit that they knew about.
The fire that she threw didn’t stop there, but it seemed like it was going to spread further into the sky and the sides of the mountain.
But when Gorha snapped his fingers, a barrier of water formed and extinguished the fire.
His expression was no different from the elders.
Judith, who noticed that, asked Kuvar.
“Is everything fine?”
“… I am not sure myself… but it is probably okay. Looking at the size of the fire that you pulled…it wasn’t small, or even lacking. Rather it is more of a problem because it was too huge.”
“But I have the talent to use the technique, right?”
“Of course. Without talent the energy wouldn’t even be formed in the jar. However… the fire was too huge. I have no idea what kind of training you need to handle the fire properly…”
“Huh, is that right?”
Judith turned carefree at Kuvar’s words.
But it wasn’t like she was indifferent, but rather because she was trying very hard to suppress the smile which was forming on her lips.
‘Cute.’
Only Bratt Lloyd understood Judith’s real emotions.
But he didn’t show his expression on his face, and luckily no one was looking at him.
Most of the orcs were still talking to each other without taking their eyes off Judith.
“dlrj gotjrgoqhkdi qufrj djqtsmsep gkdtkd dktlefkrhdy?”
“rmfoeh akrtkd dkaneh dksgownaus tjdnsglkrlsgkslek.”
“dlqsdeoh wkf qnxkremflqsek…!”
“…!”
Master Khalifa was the same.
He didn’t talk like the others, but he was the one who was the most shocked at the fire which Judith controlled.
He seemed to have the same thought of Kuvar.
He, too, had no idea on how to teach her to control it.
‘At this level, it isn’t just about teaching them the technique, but they need skills to assist them in handling the spirits as well…’
“Hm?”
It was when Khalifa was in his own thoughts.
Gorha’s eyes changed.
Unlike the other orcs, his eyes saw another side to Judith’s power.
And it was the same with Karakum.
But they were doubtful, and they looked around.
“…”
And not just that.
There weren’t many, but some other orcs were facing in the same direction as Gorha and Karakum.
Seeing that all these Orcs had the same doubt in common, he thought of one word.
‘Spiritualist.’
Normally Spiritualists don’t utilize the spirits for the sake of battle, but rather use them as a basis of energy to fight.
Seeing their gaze, which could capture even the smallest detail, Khalifa also turned his head to the same place they were looking at.
Irene Pareira.
A monster who reached the level of Master at 20.
However, he was a human who was never even thought of, and he didn’t have an innate talent for spirits, so no one paid much attention to his current position.
“Irene Pareira.”
“Yes.”
“It’s your turn next. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Gorha called for him.
Khalifa knew what was happening.
Although Gorha was trying to hide it, the voice he spoke in was giving out a lot of emotions.
The similar way he looked at Judith.
No, maybe….
It was when they were all in thoughts.
His movement was a little slower than Judith.
But it carried more weight, and the blonde swordsman who moved forward put his hand in the jar.
“…”
“…”
It wasn’t as fast as Judith.
As if he had run into something, his movement stuttered and then stopped.
And after that, he closed his eyes, as if he was thinking about something.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long.
Irene, who nodded his head briefly, maybe because the worries in his heart were resolved, finally opened his eyes.
For a brief moment, Khalifa felt as if something hard and hot stood ahead of him.
And he didn’t look at the human for long.
Wheik!
Wheiik…
Unlike Judith’s, the fire that was thrown this time was gentle and calm.
Swoosh…!
And a huge iron stake slowly rose above that fire.
After receiving the heat of that gentle fire, the stake soon formed the shape of a sword, glowing red in competition to the setting sun.
No, it wasn’t even sunset.
Looking at the great sword, which was scattering a blinding light in all directions, Khalifa and the other orcs gulped.
