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An Otherworldly Scholar - 176
🕑 Added 2024-11-12 21:49:39 +0000 UTCAs soon as we arrived at the outer camp I had a bad feeling. The camp was in disarray, which was uncharacteristic for orcs. However, as much as I examined our surroundings, there was no sign of monsters.
Ilya guided us to the central square. It seemed to be an orc custom to have a clear space in the center of their camp. We encountered the elders giving orders to their subordinates, but there was no semblance of unity. Each tribe seemed to be securing its area, disregarding the overall camp like the tribes inside the walls—together but not mixed.
Ilya’s fan approached us, his armor jingling. He stood out like a sore thumb with his chainmail armor and closed helmet. I noticed urgency in his step.
“Shamans said monsters are coming. Honored Ilya and friends should return to the walls. Soon, it will not be safe here,” he said, his voice muffled beneath the helmet and the mail coif.
“We know! We are here to help, you pile of green mold—” Ilya replied.
Whatever the young orc warrior had done, it had deeply upset Ilya.
“What is the situation?” I asked.
The orc shifted his attention to me.
“And you would be?” he said with a hint of suspicion.
“Robert Clarke, Ilya’s teacher,” I replied.
“Oh! Revered Robert Clarke, allow me to be your guide. The elders and the chieftains would like to meet you,” he said, doing three clumsy bows.
Ilya rolled her eyes.
The camp lacked unity. The orcs had cut down trees to build makeshift defenses. However, each tribe tried to secure its plot of land, resulting in incomplete palisades scattered around the camp. If a battle broke out, the blockades would be a nuisance for our own warriors rather than an effective defense. The palisades created blindspots, detours, and indefensible bottlenecks.
Orcs were used to skirmishes in the open, not full fledged sieges.
[Foresight] predicted that monsters would wipe out the camp if we didn't do anything.
“This doesn't look good, I thought they had agreed to cooperate,” Ilya whispered.
“This isn’t a cooperation problem. It’s a leadership issue,” I replied.
My knowledge about camp defense was from an old encyclopedia with color illustrations of a roman castrum. It wasn’t much but it was better than whatever the orcs were doing.
The armored half-orc went ahead and announced our arrival. I noticed I still didn’t know his name. [Foresight] told me asking Ilya would only piss her further.
“Revered Robert Clarke, Honored Ilya, and his entourage,” the half-orc shouted, his voice cracking. He caught the elder’s attention.
“Robert Clarke, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” an old orc said. His hair and beard were completely white yet his wrinkled body was still muscular, at least for human standards. His eyes were still sharp. “We would love to continue the negotiations, but we are busy at the moment. This is an orc’s matter.”
The elders greeted us but instantly turned away, entangled in a heated discussion. They had made it clear our input wasn’t required at the moment. The warriors escorting the elders seemed more interested in me. Some of them must’ve seen us in action.
I scratched my chin. I’d been in teachers' councils more chaotic than this, but I was never expected to take the initiative. As an outsider, there was little chance they would consider my advice, much less my orders.
“At this rate, the entire outer camp will be wiped out,” I said, raising my voice.
The elder’s argument subsided, but before I could develop my point, an orc chieftain came forward. I didn’t recognize his emblems. Just like the tribes inside the walls, the tribes of the outer camp had their symbols. However, there were hundreds of small tribes, so it was hard to remember them all. The warrior had a red hand stamped on the chest. An elder wearing a robe with the same markings tried to stop him, but the warrior was having none of it.
It seemed our fame hadn’t reached every corner of the camp.
“We will hear what Robert Clarke has to say,” an elder said.
I slowly bowed, buying time to [Foresight] soak in the scene.
“You have the numbers, but you are working like ants of different nests. This isn’t a skirmish you can win with your usual tactics. This is a siege. And unless you treat it like one, you will lose,” I said, ignoring the angry chieftain.
My words seemed to ruffle feathers, but I had chosen them with that purpose. The elders whispered. Some seemed to agree with me, while others fought back. The chieftain whom I was ignoring was fuming. He broke up from the group and headed toward me.
Ilya’s admirer got in the way, but he was pushed aside like a ragdoll.
I grinned. Orcs were pragmatic when it came to domestic affairs but prideful when it came to relations with other tribes.
“No one calls the Red Hands ants,” he said, pulling his cleaver.
The elders, unfazed, moved to the sidelines.
Ilya’s admirer got up. “Let me fight for you, Revered. Chieftain Mur is a strong warrior.”
“If Chieftain Mur wants to fight, I’ll oblige,” I replied.
I couldn’t help those who didn’t want to be helped, but maybe a little display of strength would change their minds. I had to be fast, though. Monsters were approaching Umolo as we spoke.
The kids stood by the elders, and I drew my sword. The orcs around us stopped working to watch us fight. The Red Hands seemed especially invested in the bout. I counted two dozen of them. It wasn’t a big tribe like the Teal Moons, yet Chieftain Mur appeared to have a powerful voice in the elder council.
Despite Chieftain Mur’s size, I felt no pressure.
I raised my sword, and Mur attacked. [Swordsmanship] took control of my brain, and my body moved on its own. [Foresight] showed me Mur’s future movements like a ghost ahead of his path. A sluggish ghost. He was way slower than Dassyra, and the orc sword technique was easily predictable. It was designed to be effective against monsters, not other swordsmen.
I parried, preparing my body for the shockwave, but it never came.
Mur’s cleaver bounced away, and [Foresight] showed me the shortest path for the kill—heart, throat, eye. I wasn’t looking to kill him. I shifted my sword, and mustering all my strength, I buried the pommel deep into his liver. At first, the attack seemed ineffective, but a second later, Mur crumbled, groaning in pain.
Twenty levels must’ve given me more strength than expected because Mur remained on the ground, squirming like a worm. It took me a moment to break out my astonishment. I raised my sword and pointed to the nearest Red Hand warrior.
“You, fight me!” I said, but the warrior stepped back. “Who’s next?”
I pointed at a chieftain of a different tribe, but he looked away.
Mur still groaned, clutching to his stomach.
In medieval battles, most casualties occurred when formations broke. If we wanted to survive, we needed a strong frontline. I wondered if a display of strength was enough to buy their goodwill. It had worked with Dassyra.
The elders joined heads.
“Chieftain Mur is one of our best warriors, Robert Clarke. If you were an orc, you could’ve been a Warchief, but you are not. You are a human, yet you didn’t use System magic just like Ilya the day before,” the elder said. “We have seen you fight and we are grateful for your help and interest, but we can’t trust outsiders. Many times strangers came with gifts and every single time they were poison. Everything comes down to a single question. Why are you so eager to help us, Robert Clarke?” one of the elders asked.
I realized I was overlooking an important orc custom. Despite their lack of commerce, the orc social order was all about favors and rewards.
“I promised to kill the Forest Warden. I want to take command of the defense force to destroy its army,” I said, and the elder’s face brightened. Karma. “Let me take the temporary command, and I will provide a hundred pieces of enchanted armor for those warriors who decide to join me in the frontline. After the fight, you can keep them as a token of appreciation.”
The elders nodded in agreement.
“The wildlands have become increasingly dangerous as years passed and now there’s no moon a warrior isn’t sacrificed to the Trance,” the elder said. “We are not tribes of the pact, so maybe, our answer isn’t in tradition but in new ideas. What is your plan, Warchief?”
I grinned. Warchief had a nice ring to it.
I channeled my mana and summoned an aerial view of the camp.
“I want a ditch and a blockade on the perimeter. The first five rows of tents have to go so we have at least thirty meters of clear space for the defensive forces,” I explained, moving the pieces like a general. “Wood alone will not endure the charge of a monster army, but we can prepare the terrain to have the numbers advantage. The blockades will work as bulwarks, funneling monsters through narrow gaps in the wall. If we control the number of monsters that are active in the fight, we can control the tide of the battle.”
The elders deliberated, and after a minute of pushing and pulling, they agreed on the number of enchanted armor each tribe would receive. A few tribes pulled back from the deal, but most were on my victory wagon. We headed to the outskirts of the camp and I projected my vision of the defenses. To improve efficiency, each tribe would be in charge of a section, so I color-coded the illusion so everyone knew what and where to do it.
The elders and chieftains directed their workers. Everyone brought the palisades and spike barriers they had been setting around their plots of land. [Foresight] told me we had enough to put up a solid defense.
The orcs dismantled the camp's first layers, reducing its overall area and, therefore, its perimeter. In a little more than an hour, hundreds of orcs excavated a deep ditch. Each orc had the strength of a small excavator. For the finishing touch, pikes were buried along the ditch. Monsters would have a hard time getting into the camp for the sides.
Our main defense was set facing the forest—four sturdy bulwarks created three crevices in the camp. In my experience, monsters were too intelligent to crash into the pikes; they would try to enter through the gaps in small groups, giving our formations the numbers advantage.
The chieftains stationed the bulk of our forces by the openings, and I went around the place enchanting their leather armor. I noticed they had been repurposing the metal armor of the undead soldiers, attaching small plates to their armor. Any little extra defense would help. Luckily for me and my mana pool, the Reinforcement enchantment was a short string, and my [Iron Runeweaver] helped me save mana on low-rank runes.
Seeing how efficient orcs were was both amusing and surprising.
As the orcs worked, the kids shifted nervously, seemingly unsure of what to do with their bodies. It was their first time participating in a proper battle, so I had them sit on the ground so they wouldn’t get in the way of the builders. To Ilya’s horror, the young half-orc warrior sat with them, alleging he had to keep them safe.
Pyrrah was standing on the bulwark, scanning the forest with her spirit animal.
“They work fast,” I pointed out as I had a recess of enchanting armor.
“I’d love it if Wolf put this much effort into doing dishes,” Firana replied.
“You only want him to do your work,” Zaon pointed out.
I sat on the ground, and Ilya shifted away from the young orc. He didn’t seem invasive or pushy, so it was hard to know why she disliked him so much. In fact, he barely spoke if not prompted. I decided to probe him.
“What’s your name?”
“Kara,” he replied, his solemn voice muffled by the armor layers. “My father was a Guardsman in Farcrest, and my mother was a warrior of the Deep Moss tribe. I vowed to continue with my father’s legacy to protect our people.”
I couldn’t help but smile. That was quite the introduction. So far, I was disappointed by the lack of vows and oaths in this fantasy world, but Kara was quickly making up for it. Unapologetically lawful. Maybe that was the reason Ilya hated him. She disliked excessive people.
He wore a gambeson, helmet, gauntlets, and a mail shirt. The breastplate with the crest of the impaled wolf, however, was missing.
“That’s your father’s armor, Kara?” I asked.
The chainmail jingled as he nodded.
“The breastplate was damaged in a fight against an Iceshard Matriarch, and the metalworkers of my tribe aren’t great, so I left it in my tent. I assumed Umolo’s blacksmiths could fix it, but I’m not allowed inside the walls.” Kara explained, dejected.
Ilya rolled her eyes.
[Foresight] didn’t pick even a hint of deception in Kara’s voice, and so far, I haven’t detected any red flags. However, Ilya wasn’t usually surly over nothing.
“You are a half-orc, aren’t you? Have you ever thought about going to Farcrest and becoming a Guardsman?” I asked.
“There’s a lot of guardsmen in Farcrest already and very few among the tribes,” Kara replied instantly as if he had the answer ready before the question.
That was a good answer. I had done a similar assessment when I first arrived in this world. There were a lot of Scholars in the Imperial Library but very few at Lowell’s orphanage. In the end, it was the right decision.
I glanced at Ilya, asking the question with my eyes.
“Don’t you have lots of armor to enchant, Rob?” Ilya asked, annoyed.
The orc warriors seemed to orbit our little group, throwing glances at me.
“Give me your knife, Ilya,” I replied. “I'll enchant more armor when I finish with our equipment.”
The girl reluctantly accepted, knowing it would give me a few more minutes to chat with Kara. I outlined the same enchantment as in Zaon’s Leechflame Sword, although with a quarter of the strength to meet the dagger’s mana threshold. I decided not to add a Bind rune because of the lack of space. One more Leechflame Dagger wouldn’t change the world’s balance.
“How old are you, Kara?” I asked as I enchanted.
“Old enough, Revered,” he replied.
I’ve heard that line once before. I wondered if Lyra Jorn was doing okay. I hoped the little ones wouldn’t give her a hard time without me around the orphanage. I shook my head. I had to focus on the upcoming battle. I gave Ilya her knife back, and the girl ignited the blade. The orcs gasped at the sudden flame.
Firana and Zaon already had flaming weaponry, so I had no more excuses to continue interviewing Kara.
“Are you going to fight?” I asked.
“I’m a warrior. I hope to learn something from Honored Ilya and you, Revered. It would be an honor,” Kara replied, his voice sounded more juvenile the more excited he was.
My newfound fatherly instinct told me Kara would be a great son-in-law.
“Give me your armor. I’ll put a reinforcement spell on it so it won’t break in combat,” I said.
“I couldn’t,” Kara said.
“I insist.”
Kara removed his helmet, the mail coif, and the padded coif. His hair bun fell apart and a cascade of wavy ruby hair fell over his shoulders.
“Skeeth manure! Kara is a girl!” Firana exclaimed.
Kara gave her a questioning look. “Of course I am. Kara is a girl's name.”
Kara’s cheekbones were high, and her facial structure was strong but she was unquestionably a half-orc girl. Shy tusks barely protruded from her mouth. Her voice sounded marginally more feminine without the padded coif and the chainmail, but it was hard to say if it belonged to a boy or a girl. Orcs had a naturally deep voice.
Zaon was as surprised as Firana. Ilya, not so much. I was even more lost than before.
Kara mindlessly searched the ground for the hairpins to redo her bun.
I was about to say something when Pyrrah crashed into the group, almost falling in the center of the circle.
“The monsters entered the valley. Gloomstalker riders. They are coming in fast,” she gasped for air.
Gloomstalkers were Skeeths made out of roots, similar to Saplings and Spriggans.
“How long?” I asked.
“The first wave should be here by dusk,” she replied.
I enchanted Kara’s helmet and armor and got on my feet.
“Pyrrah, alert the chieftains. Ilya, keep an eye on the valley. I will finish with the preparations.”
The defenses were almost done. The ditch was nearly two meters deep, crowned by a thick wall of spikes pointing outside the camp. Any monster that attempted the jump would be impaled. The spiked wall caved into the central bulwarks, triangular sections of reinforced walls constructed to fuel the monsters inside our kill zone. Orc archers already manned the elevated platforms.
There were three gaps in the wall, each two meters wide, so one or two monsters could enter simultaneously. Inside, the first line of combat awaited: a hundred orcs with enchanted armor plus another hundred for support. Even if the monsters broke the first combat line, there were another two hundred warriors on the second line, waiting to reinforce the first line in case of a break. The last hundred orcs reinforced the flanks in case monsters tried to break into the camp for the sides. Reinforcing the flanks were the laborers and craftsmen. They wore makeshift armor, rustic weapons, and hunting bows.
I continued enchanting as dusk approached.
There was no sign of Wolf and the Teal Moon warriors yet.
After a while, the kids couldn’t stay still and followed me through the camp.
The conversation suited me well.
“I studied how to command an army with my father for about three weeks, and I can safely say our center needs more girl power,” Firana grinned.
I wondered if Firana ever got nervous.
“You lot are ranged combatants now, I don’t want to see you anywhere near the frontline,” I said. Our place in the army was the elevated platforms with the archers. “Focus on big targets and weaken them before they enter our defenses. Ghouls, Chrysalimorphs, and anything you consider too much for an orc.”
The warrior I was enchanting the armor for frowned.
“There isn’t such a thing as ‘too much’ for an orc,” he mentioned.
“If you run away like a scared Iceshard Boar I’ll shoot you in the back,” Ilya snapped at him.
He snorted.
Ilya’s bad mood was reaching critical mass.
“Can I have a word with you, Ilya? In private?” I asked.
Zaon pushed Firana away from us, and Kara obediently followed.
“You too,” I said to the orc warrior.
“Korg won’t say a word,” he replied but ultimately left.
I turned my attention back to Ilya. [Foresight] told me she was pissed. My training as a teacher hadn’t prepared me to deal with teenage girl’s feelings in the wake of a battle against magical monsters.
“Did something happen between you and Kara?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s stupid,” Ilya replied.
“It matters to me, and I don’t think it’s something stupid if it upsets you,” I said with my best sympathetic teacher’s voice.
“I mean it. It’s stupid,” Ilya sighed but after one of my puppy-eyes looks, she caved. “The thing is, during our diplomatic visit, I fought against Kara and won. She complimented me, and I was happy because boys don’t usually compliment me. You can see how that assumption turned out.”
[Foresight] told me if I said the wrong word, I was dead.
“Your feelings aren’t stupid, Ilya,” I said. “But I don’t think Kara deserves the flak.”
“I know,” Ilya sighed. “She’s a bit overwhelming, though. Like Firana but in the complete opposite of the spectrum.”
I finished enchanting the orc’s armor. A quarter of my mana pool was gone before the first monster appeared. The builders were finishing the last reinforcements for the bulwarks. A thousand lives depended on the success of my strategy, yet I felt at ease.
“You will be the squad leader, Ilya. If the bulwarks fall and the battle gets out of control, retreat to the top of the wall. Firana’s [Aerokinesis] and the Wind-Shot boots should be enough to get you there,” I said.
Ilya nodded.
“What about you?”
“I’m not a ranged combatant. I will lead the front line.”
Comments
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I think Ilya is not sure how to process the sincere compliments, coupled with a bit of confusion isn’t helping either. I do like how Rob was able to take command and use the gift giving of the orcs to really get their buy in to building the fortifications. Let’s see how his group of gunners works, and how Rob does with is front line fighting skills.
bcd051
Why can't it be both? I think she felt more accomplished that it was a boy, since she always has a chip on her shoulder because she is too small, at least that's what other people think.
Matthew
So is Ilya upset because she liked getting a compliment from a boy and that was taken away? Or because she liked getting a compliment from a girl and doesn't know how to process or handle that? I'm not sure what the view on same sex couples is in this world, I don't remember if it's really been mentioned before.
