Chapter 44

  Noah spent the rest of the day preparing for the upcoming training regimen with Ta’Ku and catching up on their weeks apart. They would be busy over the next month, and Noah found himself looking forward to the monster swarms that were fast approaching. From what Ta’Ku had shared, they were slowly increasing in difficulty with stronger and more numerous monsters in each wave. They hadn’t presented a real threat to Ta’Ku, but he had leveled quickly in the defense. The next morning came and the two returned to their habits, waking early to spar in the town square. As excited as Noah was to test his new sword, he was wary of the unknown effect of the enchantment and decided to save that for the monsters. They exchanged hammer blows, in thunderous clashes, causing the sleeping village to stir and a crowd to form. After half an hour of continuous sparring they stopped, and Noah turned to the gathered warriors.

  “You may as well take this opportunity to spar yourselves. You don’t have time to stand around watching.” Noah said. His words carried weight and those assembled quickly paired off and found space for their own spars. Noah and Ta’Ku were soon joined by Ro’Kar and the female orc, Zo'Kati. He learned that she was the one that Ta’Ku had helped to reach Iron. To Noah it made sense that the two best warriors were also the first to reach Iron, though he didn’t think it was due to talent. Both had a fire in their eyes, and perhaps a bit of luck in their proximity to him. It wasn’t that he thought he was particularly special, but it seemed the orcs were similarly clueless to the humans regarding the gates, and every bit of insight was a big help toward advancement. After the sparring began to slow, Ro’Kar stepped forward and called the orcs to attention, prompting several of them to fetch the other warriors that had to find other spaces to spar.

  “We will now begin the lessons on unlocking the first gate. The four of us have succeeded in doing this so far, and will meet with you in groups following No’Ah’s instruction.” He announced. Noah stepped forward, nodding in appreciation at the chief before addressing the crowd. There were roughly 100 orcs in the village, making it significantly smaller than its human counterpart. But as Noah looked at them he had far more hope in their ability to advance than he had for his own people.

  “I unlocked my first gate when…”

  Noah lectured for another thirty minutes, sharing his experience and the insights that he had gained in the process. The orcs were then split into groups of around 25 warriors, each being helped by one of the Irons. From there they were instructed to meditate and reflect on their true self, asking questions as needed. There were no breakthroughs on the first day, or the second. It wasn’t until the third day that someone in Ta’Ku’s group ascended to Iron, prompting a roar of approval to ring out through the village. The teachers decided to rotate groups, hoping that their varied insights would provide the spark needed to reach that next phase of inspiration. On the fourth day a monster swarm was spotted, but Noah assured the warriors to continue their training while he and Ta’Ku took care of them.

  “You’re using a sword?” Ta’Ku questioned as Noah hefted the massive greatsword into a fighting stance.

  “I am. Matt made it for me and apparently it's magic.” Noah replied.

  “What does it do?” Ta’Ku asked. Noah shrugged.

  “He didn’t say, he wanted it to be a surprise.” Ta’Ku grunted, and the two turned their attention to the horde of mutated reptilian beasts storming their way. They stood outside the gates and raised their weapons as the first wave drew near. Noah swung his sword like a baseball bat, cleaving the scaled cow in two. He watched in fascination as the beast proceeded to catch fire all along the split. It appeared that everywhere the blade touched went up in flames. He frowned as he considered the ramifications as the now dead lizard-cow’s wounds were effectively cauterized. Perhaps it will help with monsters that heal quickly? Nevertheless he continued to use his new weapon as a means of mass slaughter, scattering the land in seared corpses. Or cooked. He had a silly look on his face as he used his sword to cut off a piece of lizard-boar flesh. It briefly burned from the contact before settling as a nicely browned hunk of meat. He picked it up from the ground and took a tentative bite, his eyes shooting wide at the flavor. It was juicy, and cooked all the way through. Now satisfied that he knew his weapon’s true purpose he rejoined Ta’Ku in butchering the villages next dinner.

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  The pattern continued for another week, reducing the time between swarms to four days. Another handful of warriors reached Iron, and began joining in on the horde culling to level and progress their grades. The next week was much the same, more Irons and more swarms. After the third week over half of the orcs had reached Iron, and some had already hit E grade. The swarms however, jumped up in difficulty, coming nearly every day and sporting several monsters of higher tiers. The battles grew in intensity and duration, and the endurance of the warriors was put to the test as the waves started to feel back-to-back. Noah was starting to get sick of the taste of reptile, but he was more than pleased at the change of pace after the month of traveling and relative inaction. The XP didn’t hurt either, and he was getting excited for the burst of levels that he would apply at the end of his grind.

  The fourth week was eventful with several orcs reaching Iron, and more than one swarm attacking each day. There was a significant amount of XP to go around and nearly all the orcs that attained Iron also reached E grade soon after. On the final day of the month, the last remaining orc passed into Iron Caste, though no one was present to witness it. He unceremoniously joined the battlefield where the entire tribe fought to defend their town.

  For 48 hours the monsters came in a constant torrent, the weaker reptiles interspersed with powerful beasts. They had yet to suffer a casualty, but that was largely due to the presence of Noah, Ta’Ku, and Ro’Kar holding the line for any injured that needed to retreat or rest. Well into the third day, Ro’Kar stepped away to sleep and the pressure mounted on Noah as even Ta’Ku was starting to flag. He finally swallowed his pride and checked his status screen in order to level. There may have been a time for such antics but it wasn’t now. His eyes lit up at the number, he really shouldn’t have been surprised after the month of near constant fighting but it still made him giddy to think of all the levels. He had 89,000 XP available. He threw all of it into levels and was awarded with a similar experience to before. Only 28,000 XP was used before he hit a threshold at level 150.

  [Level 122 > level 150.]

  [Adept Path Choices Available.]

  Rogue

  Knight

  Ranger

  Noah blinked. These choices were less obvious than the previous, but there was still only one option that truly fit his fighting style. If he wanted to continue to gain XP for his current methods of fighting then he would have to choose Knight. He assumed ranger applied to fighting from a distance, and rogue likely had to do subtle actions like assassinations. Once again, the ease at which he could determine a significant piece of his future struck him and he hesitated. I can still do the other actions, even if I don’t get XP from them. Just like Earth. Skill still matters. He took a deep breath and made his choice.

  [Congratulations, you have taken the next step on your Path. Non-Knight activities will no longer grant XP.]

  [Primary stats: Strength, Dexterity.]

  [Adept path grants +8 primary stats per level. +2* free stats per level.]

  He briefly glanced at his status and noticed that the level threshold had increased to 10,000 as predicted. He leveled the additional six times and placed his free stats in the only reasonable place. As much as he wanted to, the raging monsters didn’t pause for him to read over the changes, so he went back to work. Ta’Ku must have had a similar realization after watching Noah because before long, he was moving faster and hitting harder. The companions exchanged grins as they wielded their increased power against their enemies. They fought through the third night, never ceasing in their defense. Then as the light of dawn covered the battlefield the swarm halted in their advance. A wall of reptilians stood only feet from their position but they didn’t take another step in their direction. Noah and Ta’Ku rejoined the others near the wall and braced themselves for the inevitable charge. What came next sent a shiver down Noah’s spine. A deep, rasping growl shook the ground as a figure rose from behind the monsters. The head of the mighty beast came into sight, resembling the greatest monster of human legends. It opened its maw, revealing foot long spikes for teeth. Then with a slow gravity-like voice it spoke.

  “You…Shall…Die…”