Following my nose, I set off towards the source of the smoke. If there were really some people nearby, there might be a town too. The excitement accelerated my pace. Finally, I could leave this stupidly dangerous forest behind and trade it for a safe and peaceful life in a town.
» Yes, I have to make sure these humans… « I threw a glance on my red tail. » … or whatever they are, help me out of this monster filled hell. «
I would managed that somehow. My current attire was perfect for playing a damsel in distress, after all.
» Ahh… Wait! « That musclebrained god said, me reincarnating was a favour for the god of my old world. Didn’t that mean, I needed to keep that a secret? Shit! Now I needed an explanation why I was running around half naked in a forest filled with monsters, while not having the faintest idea where I was, who I was or where I came from.
» Yeah, good luck with that... «
I sighed and continued walking forward, although in a much less excited pace. I didn’t even know if they would be friendly to a beastkin anyways.
With a slight flutter in my chest, I drew closer to my destination. I entered a clearing, full of grass and wild flowers. An aromatic and flowery smell tickled my nose, nearly making me sneeze. Glancing around, I saw the small stream, I had followed earlier, parting the meadow in two. On the far side of the clearing stood a rather large house, half built from stone, half from wood. On the front there was a giant stone construction, similar to an outdoor pizza oven, coughing out thick clouds of smoke. A short man stood beside it, striking down a monstrous hammer onto an anvil. The pizza oven was not a pizza oven then, but rather a forging furnace.
» Now… how do you talk to people again? « I’d always been avoiding people as much as possible. It seemed simply impossible to teach them to whisper if they wanted to talk to me, as everything else had made my ears throb in pain.
I did my best to plant a friendly smile on my face, while I approached the short man. A dwarf…?
» Uhhm… Excuse me… gyaah! «
I barely dodged the hammer, that suddenly came rushing down at me. The ground shook, as it dug into the earth, just centimetres beside me.
With a perplex expression I stared at the man, him catching my gaze with vicious yellow eyes. I jumped back several times, creating some distance between us.
How did I not notice that unnatural greyish-brown skin? Why did I not wonder about that house, that stood in the middle of a monster paradise?
While the smith was busy tearing his hammer out of the ground, I appraised him.
| Orc'Lin [Blacksmith] | |||
| Gender: | male | ||
| STR: | D | AGI: | E |
| DEX: | D | INT | E |
| MAG: | F | VIT: | D |
Both its strength and its dexterity were higher than mine. What was wrong with this cruel world?
» What the hell is an Orc’Lin? « The moment I asked that question, information streamed into my head, making me dizzy.
Orc’Lin
Falsely believed to be descended from orcs and goblins. These creatures are a lot more intelligent and dextrous, than the monsters their name derives from. These skilled craftsmen mostly live in small groups in isolated areas.
Only one part stuck in my head: The group part. This thing was probably strong enough to easily kill me, and there are more of them. I didn’t want my second life to end after three days.
I dodged another strike,. The increasing amount of sharp gravel beneath my feet told me, that I was only a few steps beside the river.
With just two strikes of that massive hammer, that monster had chased me over half of the clearing. Additionally, it now made sure to not bury its weapon again. Fortunately, I was still faster than the Orc’Lin, though it always seemed to know, where I was going next. After every dodged strike, wind grazed my skin.
Seeing me desperately avoid being hit, the monster grinned viciously, revealing a row of dirty, triangular teeth.
Suddenly, something cold touched my foot. I screamed. At the same time my hands shot forward, involuntarily. The dull pain of a heavy impact seeped through my right arm. A horrid cracking sound, and the metallic smell of blood followed. Panicked, I glanced at my arm. I expected to see it turned into a glibbery mess. Instead, I found it perfectly intact, tightly clenching on a broken stick.
The other half of my spear was embedded in the chest of the Orc’Lin. Still standing, it looked at me, my own shock reflected on its face. The body landed with a loud thump just moments later.
Kraagh-yeee!
Four more creatures came running out of the house.
» Oh no! « I turned on my heels and ran into the woods, as fast as my bare feet allowed.
That was luck. Pure, unbelievable luck had saved my life. I was still questioning my sanity right now. How many people killed a monster by accident, because they were afraid of a little water. Definitely no-one, except for me now.
Sadly, I couldn’t rely on my stupid luck again. I needed a new weapon, but where from? I couldn’t just pull another spear out of my bra. My bra! The magic stone from the goblin was still uncomfortably stuck between my breasts. Of course! The goblin had a spear!
I made a sharp turn, barging through countless bushes. The monsters still chasing after me. They were much closer than I would have liked them to. They were catching up!
» Please, just let me reach it! « I ran, letting out silent prayers.
Krriiikri-yeeeh!
That cry was so close. I didn’t even dare to turn back anymore. Just a little more, before they reached me.
Finally, I recognised the area around me and before I realised it, I was already tripping over a goblin’s remains. In a not quite graceful motion, I fell, picked up the goblin’s spear, rolled around and jumped up again. That was probably the clumsiest looking move, ever performed in this world or in any other, but it didn’t fail its purpose. The nearest Orc’Lin was completely at loss at what just happened. I didn’t let that chance slide and struck. That stupidly perplexed expression was forever ingrained in the monsters face.
My spear had broken again, but my second victim left something far better. Forgetting, the ongoing fight I reached for the rapier, lying in the Orc’Lin’s loose hands. I paid for my carelessness with a cold, burning pain shooting through my lower back. A bloodcurdling scream silenced the world around me. The sharp pain and the sensation of blood seeping through the fur of my tail swept my consciousness away. Everything became dull.
It was as if I was standing halfway out of this world. The noises far away, the colours turned into different shades of grey. Even the sweat on my lips hardly tasted like salt. It was as if time had suddenly decided to stop, leaving me the only one conscious, barely able to move in slow motion.
Eerily calm I examined the view around me. One of the Orc’Lins had just gashed down its knife, leaving a nasty cut in my tail. Strangely, I didn’t feel the pain at all. I appraised the monster, while looking into its hateful smirk. The status was the same as the first one, except for the [Leatherworker] beside its race name. They all only differed by their occupation and weapon. A [Warrior] wielding a sword, a [Tailor] and the [Leatherworker] with knives, and the dead one was a female [Pharmacist], formerly wielding a rapier.
The warrior’s sword was hovering above me. If it weren’t for this state I was currently in, it would have already sliced me in half.
» Scary! « I stared at the sword in awe. That was when I saw it move. Actually, everything was still moving, just very, very slow. Rather than the time having slowed down, wasn’t it my mind having sped up, thus creating the illusion of slowed down time?
I stepped out of the swords range. Right in time, because as soon as I was far enough away, the time returned to being normal. At the same time all my senses seemed to wake up again. The burning pain in my tail returned too, making me grit my teeth. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by that now.
The sword dug into the ground. The warrior and the leatherworker let out surprised groans.
» Now, now… That’s not why you should be surprised. «
I grinned, while piercing my new rapier deep into the leatherworker’s throat.
» Two down, two left « That thought brought a confident smirk on my face, which immediately faded, when I my heavy blade messed up my balance.
Barely avoiding landing flat on my face, I tumbled around a few steps. I really wanted to slap myself now. A metal blade is naturally heavier than a wooden spear. How stupid could I be?
Luckily, this time my mistake didn’t result in another wound. Keeping my distance from the two remaining monsters, I pondered on what to do next. Now that I had killed three of them, these two acknowledged me as a threat, even though all my kills looked more like stupid accidents, than intent. Well, that was true for the first kill.
The problem was that now I couldn’t just stumble around, hoping they let their guard down. No, the warrior had a terrifying aura to him now. His expression showed his determination to kill me. The tailor however, kept stealing nervous glances on me and his fallen comrades. He was terrified.
I decided, to aim for the tailor next. His scared attitude was a clear sign, that he wasn’t used to fight. And there was something else I wanted to make use of.
Keeping the weight of the rapier in mind, I launched myself forward. The tailor’s eyes opened wide.
» Die! « A metallic ringing ended my advance. Painful shockwaves wandered up my arm. I nearly let go of my rapier. I knew, the warrior would stop my rapier, but that that was still so painful…
I was thrown off balance by the warrior’s strike. Forced to crouch down by his power, I reached out my free hand, keeping my eyes stubbornly on the two monsters.
» Where is it? There! « Finally, my fingers grasped on a wooden handle. Tightly gripping the handle, I leapt backwards. The moment my feet touched the ground, I threw the stone hatchet at the warrior and dashed forward once again. This time the warrior couldn’t save his comrade. While he swung his sword to block the axe, the tailer got impaled.
The tailor had the same height as me. I could see the light fading from his eyes, while I snatched his dagger from his hand. So, I actually could use my brain in a fight if I tried hard enough.
A shiver on my back made jump aside. The tailor’s body was chopped in two. A terrifying splatter noise spread through the forest, alongside with the metallic stench of blood. At least I that spared me the effort of pulling my rapier out of the tailor.
Armed with the dagger in my left and the rapier in my right I faced the furious Orc’Lin warrior.
I look forward to the next chapter! Hopefully you will be releasing it soon.
Oh wow, that escalated quickly! Good luck mc!
Nice
Neat. Rapier and dagger is an actual combination technique for dual wielding, where the dagger is in your offhand and used for parrying while the rapier is in your main hand and used mainly for attacking.