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A Soldiers Life - 202 - Terrible Odds
🕑 Added 2024-05-26 18:41:57 +0000 UTCChapter 202: Never Tell Me The Odds
I stood slowly, releasing my contact with the ground, my armor plates scraping against themselves softly, breaking the silence. The thick muddy water to our right didn’t look out of the ordinary; it was just another small pond muddied from recent rain runoff. The orc was good because I saw no disturbance on the shore.
Renna must have sensed my tension because she moved close and grabbed my arm, “Did you see something? Should we turn around?” She wasn’t aware of my earth speak ability but trusted in my scouting ability.
I was torn on whether we should run. If these orcs were waiting for all the young mages, we might get far enough away before they realized we were not coming back. The other possibility was they were just scouts and had stumbled across the Hound trainers.
I needed to keep Renna calm. I announced audibly, “Thought I saw some blue velvet mushrooms. Should have known they were out of season.” In a much softer voice, I asked, “Can your fire spell form turn water into ice?” Her powerful fire spell form pulled heat from an area, and she could then channel that heat in a directional funnel. She was proud of the ability as it could put out large fires in a city quickly.
Renna’s face looked confused, and thankfully, she whispered back. “Yes, but it would take a few minutes.”
“Good. I want you to turn the muddy water to our right to ice, and when I tell you to, I want you to fly straight up and go get the mages.” I produced an apple and started munching on it to act unconcerned as we hadn’t approached the marker flag yet, and I wanted to pretend we were waiting for the others, so I kept looking back to the direction we came from. As I crunched the crisp apple, I could feel the temperature dropping and see frost forming on the pine needles around the mud pond.
Renna was locked into her efforts as I slowly scanned our surroundings repeatedly. There had to be more than one orc. Not that it would be a bad thing if there were only one. A thin layer of ice formed on the mud, but the surface remained calm. I had to admire the orc’s discipline. He had excellent control over his body not to ripple the water.
Was he really holding his breath? No, a tiny hollow reed was barely sticking out of the surface. Based on the bodies’ positions, I figured the only reason he was in the muddy water was to hold down the corpse of the Hound. I assumed he must have been killed recently, but I couldn’t see any signs of a struggle in the area. He shifted, and the surface ice cracked a little.
The crackling echo sounded much louder to my ears than it actually was. If Renna could get a few inches of ice above the orc, it would be trapped and eliminate one opponent. Seconds turned into minutes, and finally, the orc in the mud realized what was happening. He tried to force himself out of the water. The ice cracked loudly in several places as he pounded on his prison. And then all hell broke loose.
Two orcs thudded to the ground nearby, dropping from the trees. Their clothes had a rippling chameleon effect. Another flash of movement had a pair rushing from the far side of the clearing, well beyond the flag-marked tree. I could clearly see the tattoos covering their faces and necks. Dammit, did that mean all these orcs were their elite warriors?
Yet another pair of orcs emerged far to our right, standing up and dropping their own chameleon effect. The array of movement around our position was dizzying—six opponents, not including the orc under the ice.
“Renna, fly!” I screamed as she was frozen in shock.
I materialized the black-tipped spear and rushed the two orcs falling from the trees. I choose the spear for its reach rather than pulling my shield and drawing the black blade. I needed to even the odds quickly without using my dimensional space to kill one of the orcs. An arrow skimmed off my armor, having connected at an off-angle. An eighth orc—where the fuck had that come from? How many more orcs were still in hiding somewhere? I was having a really bad day.
I reached my targets and juked to the right, opening the guard of that orc. He looked shocked at the ease with which I parried his blade. He was even more shocked when the black spear easily cut through his thick, soft leather armor. I did not hesitate to leverage the tip up into his sternum, destroying his heart.
I used my leverage to interpose the now-dead orc with my other opponent, clearing him off my spear. Renna squealed from behind me, causing me to take a quick glance to check on her. She had paused her flight twenty feet in the air and had a thick arrow shaft in her hip. She probably hadn’t fled thinking she could help from the air. “Renna, go get help!” I yelled again. “I will be fine!” Okay, maybe that last statement was a lie. My best chance was facing these orcs in pairs, but that hidden archer was going to be a pain in the ass.
The closest orc had dropped his chameleon effect, and he was also marked with the tattoos of the elite warriors. These orcs were dressed in thick, dark leather that didn’t make a sound as they moved. He held two short blades as he scowled angrily in challenge. I wished I had practiced a little more with the spear in my dreamscape against orcs, but lamenting now was pointless. I used my superior reach to cut him deeply above the kneecap. When the injury caused him to stumble forward, I filled his mouth with the spear tip. His eyes were wide in surprise at the speed of my attack.
I yanked hard, freeing the weapon from the back of his skull, and took an arrow in my ass. Fortunately, it hadn’t penetrated far beyond the leather skirt flaps. I gripped the shaft, yanked it out, and spun, sending healing aether to my glutes. Blood briefly trickled down my leg before stopping.
I groaned as a fist broke through the ice, not too far away. He was going to escape his prison soon. I needed to avoid getting overwhelmed. I rushed the two orcs coming from the clearing, hoping the frozen pond would slow the other two. Maybe they would even stop to help their comrade. Moving toward the clearing should also make it much harder for the hidden archer to target me based on where I guessed he was hiding.
As I charged, both orcs skidded to a stop on the pine needles to receive my charge. These orcs had bucklers and short blades, and they sneered in challenge. The bastards accelerated, moving slightly faster as they circled me in opposite directions. I used an air shield to prevent the one on my right from getting behind me. He had a confused expression as he hit the invisible wall and even more so when I drove the spear into his chest. He had enough awareness to grab the spear and roll away in an attempt to disarm me for his companion. I had no choice but to let go of the spear, but by how the orc crumpled, I was sure his spine was severed.
The other orc pressed, seeing I was now weaponless as I wouldn’t have time to recover my spear. My shield appeared on my hand as I blocked his hasty attack. As his mind processed the shield’s sudden appearance, I rotated it, got my forearm through the strap, drew the black blade, and assessed my environment.
Only one of the orcs had stopped to break his companion free of the ice. I could see flitters of movement in the trees as the archer repositioned and moved closer. There was no sign of Renna, which was good. Hopefully, she could get back safely and get the arrow wound treated. Things started to calm as the orc waited for his companions now that I was armed and had killed three of their number. I was still outnumbered five to one once the orc was freed from the pond.
I pulled two sneezing and two blindness pellets to my shield hand as I circled to get the wind at my back and keep all the enemies in front of me. The orcs were extremely wary now, with three of their number dead or dying—the pair in front of me preferring to wait for the archer and their two other companions. When I saw the archer set his feet thirty yards away, I frowned and set an air shield. The arrow bounced two feet from me harmlessly away.
The orcs started talking rapidly in their language. The language was throaty and had lots of “ou” sounds, but I had no idea what they were saying, and their eyes never left mine. I assumed they were discussing a strategy to kill me.
The ice prison orc was vomiting muddy water fifty feet away, and his companion was now racing to join my two opponents. My air shield halted another arrow, and I renewed it. I noticed movement in the distance between the trees. Nine-to-one odds? How was this even fair?
When the third orc reached his companions, forming a convenient line, I made my move. I tossed all four pellets between us as I slid-stepped back, retreating. They reacted as I expected by advancing together. Even if they did not inhale, the spores would affect their vision. One of them barked something in warning, but it was too late.
They were blinking rapidly, and one of them tried to clear his vision with his bracers. I had to wait for the clouds to dissipate or risk being affected myself. Only one of the orcs inhaled as he started sneezing violently, and pale-yellow mucus ran from his wide gray nostrils. Another arrow thudded into my air shield, and the frustrated bowman shouldered his bow, determining it was useless. He raced toward me, drawing his sword to join the others. It was time to act.
I rushed the three hampered orcs as they tried to clear their eyes of the film built up on their corneas. The bleary-eyed orcs tightened their formation. I easily blocked a telegraphed stab and returned my own. My black blade cut deep into the thigh of the one on the far left. The blade felt like it hummed in my grip, and the orc howled in unrestrained pain. Time seemed to pause for a moment as everyone was confused. I had cut the orc, but it barely reached the muscle, yet the orc was having trouble standing and was in obvious immense pain by his screaming.
The black blade felt alive in my hand from tasting the little bit of orc blood. Maybe this was the blade’s purpose—to kill orcs. I took advantage, getting a minor cut on the hand of the orc on the right. His grip weakened, and his face was twisted in agony as he spat words. I think he was cursing me, but his yellow snot and unfocused eyes ruined the moment’s gravitas.
I wove the black blade around their impaired senses, scoring quick strikes. The blade only needed to score their flesh, and they felt a more severe wound. The snotty orc on the right fell first as the blade slid along his exposed neck, cutting the carotid artery. His pumping heart sent spurts of blood into the air. When he tried to retrieve a potion while on his knees, I shattered the vial with my sword, sending his fingers and shards flying.
The second of the three fell from a quick stab wound to his throat that he did not see coming. I twisted the blade and pulled it out, noticing the black blade was blood-free. It definitely had thrummed in my grip with every successful strike and taste of orc blood, and the surface seemed to be gaining some luster from the blood it was absorbing, but now was not the time to evaluate the ancient blade.
The orc with the torn throat fell to his knees, one hand over the throat while the other hand pawed at his belt. He was also searching for a potion before he succumbed to death. I didn’t let him as I hammered the side of his head with my blade, knocking him out.
The archer had reached us and fearlessly threw himself into the fight, leading his attack with a long blade and trailing a dagger in his off hand. He was the most competent swordsman I had faced, and he pressed me to try and prevent me from killing the third injured orc. I used a few air shields to keep the archer at bay while I hamstrung the lone remaining blinded orc. The blinded orc howled in pain and could no longer stand.
My pounding heart fed my adrenaline through my body. I was doing remarkably considering the odds. As I focused on the fresh opponent, an arrow embedded itself in my chest, causing me to stumble backward a step. The second archer had closed and taken an opportunity to attack me while I was distracted. If I got out of this, I would figure out how to use what I suspected was an aether shield amulet from Traeliorn. I couldn’t track everything in this fight and needed a mulligan card.
The arrow was stuck just below the left collarbone of my shield arm. It had penetrated halfway into my shoulder and put me at a disadvantage against my closest attacker as I couldn’t use my arm properly. The orc archer threatened me in broken Latin, “Legionnaire, you will die by my blade. Know that your battle prowess…” His head disappeared. I hated to bottom out my aether with three opponents remaining, but this orc had been too good a swordsman for me to fight one-handed.
I staggered behind a tree for cover. I worked out the lesser aether potion under my cuirass. It was my only one, and I took it from the elven apprentice summoner. I drank it, hoping it was still viable. It was bitter, worked much slower, and had much less potency than a dungeon aether potion. But it was all I had. I painfully worked the arrow out of my shoulder. A few inches lower, and it would have scored my heart. I was soon healing the tissue and gathering myself. I had about a quarter of my total aether, enough for a few air shields and some minor healing.
I touched the ground using earth speak, but frowned as they were outside the twenty-five-foot range. I chanced a peek and retreated as an arrow whizzed by where my head had been. The hamstrung orc had been cursing, as it looked like he had tried to drink a healing vial, but it didn’t work. I looked down at the black blade. It had gained a semi-gloss appearance, and the small pitted marks were barely visible along the length. It must be feeding on the orc blood.
I chanced another glance from the other side of the tree. The insidious second archer was kneeling with the sputtering orc by the icy pond. I rushed out to the crippled orc while the archer was distracted. His filmy eyes couldn’t see me clearly, and he was still in obvious pain. He raised a buckler that I swatted aside with the blade and quickly reversed the swing to cut deeply into his exposed neck.
I added an air shield just in time to deflect an arrow. A second arrow thudded just above my knee, barely clipping the bottom of my air shield. The second archer was a female by her curves, as was the nearly drowned orc. She was smartly testing the range of my defenses. I started walking toward the pair. My deliberate walk was because I could not run and establish an air shield if the archer snapped off an arrow. When the archer shouldered the bow to help the other orc run, I sprinted at them.
The archer shoved the smaller female away and pulled a knife to meet my charge. Her dark eyes were hard and determined to protect the other orc. I interposed an air shield when I was close enough, shifted my direction, and beheaded the other muddy orc. The black blade hummed in my grip in appreciation of the offering.
The orc archer raged at me, and spittle burst from her in her war cry. It was too bad for her that she was a much better archer than a melee fighter. I disarmed her by removing her hand in short order. She was not as strong-willed as the others and collapsed from the pain, holding her decapitated forearm.
I scanned the woods for movement, slowly relaxing. “Do you speak Telhian?” I asked, planning to question her. I repeated myself a few times, and she clearly didn’t understand me. I raised and lowered my blade, ending her. I was curious why the orcs were here, ambushing us, but I didn’t want to wait for the mages to arrive or watch a prisoner in my injured state.
I stood quietly and waited for the bird song to return, reassuring me that I was alone. Somehow, I had been victorious. It was curious how none of these tattooed orcs displayed the enhanced strength and speed of the ones I had observed in the arena. It would take a while for Renna to return with help. I had things I wanted to do before the mages returned. I pulled my collector from my space and got to work.
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Comments
Chaz Baz
Bloody excellent. ✓
Jordan Mayo
Eryk just preformed a Killamanjaro
Brianna Stormcloud
That was insane! 9-1 odds whoot! And more memories for his Orc trainer!
Justin Barnett
The arrow bounced two feet from me harmlessly away — the arrow stopped two feet from me and bounced harmlessly away?
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corected
Erick Thiemke
corrcted
Erick Thiemke
corected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
correcte
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Lord Rahl
That fight was amazing
J S
Ooooh
Fortunis
Nice. Now he knows what to use to get his sword back to shiney.
Ivan Kanewske
You do state in paragraph 32 a 20 foot for radius for earth speak, if the radius is 25 that will need fixed
Ivan Kanewske
The orc other pressed, seeing I was now weaponless The other or pressed
ImYou
Our boy is a badass now
Tetsu-nii
/I pulled my collector from my space and got work./ => /I pulled my collector from my space and got *to* work./
Tetsu-nii
/chance a peak and retreated/ => /chanced a peek and retreated/
Tetsu-nii
Suggestion: /The arrow was in just below the left collarbone of my shield arm/ => /The arrow struck just below my left collarbone, above my shield arm/
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /dagger in his offhand/ == /dagger in his off hand/.
Tetsu-nii
/the two orcs across coming from the clearing/ == /the two orcs coming from the clearing/? /the two orcs coming across the clearing/?
Karnnie
I will say that I love the fact that you did not make a stupid MC. He uses his wits and what he has a available to him. He thinks strategically as well. He also does not forget about looting his fallen enemies at the earliest convenience. Too many stories have an OP MC that is just dumb and does not take the advantages he has. For instance, 9 enemies and a collector, time is of the essence and he does not waste the time. He can loot them afterwards or during but the point is he takes the opportunity that he is given.
Karnnie
When the archer shoulder the bow to help the other orc run, I sprinted at them. When the archer shouldered the bow to help the other orc run, I sprinted at them.
Karnnie
The orc other pressed, seeing I was now weaponless as I wouldn’t have time to recover my spear. The other orc pressed, seeing I was now weaponless as I wouldn’t have time to recover my spear.
Karnnie
As I charged, both orcs skidded to a stop on the pine needles up to receive me. As I charged, both orcs skidded to a stop on the pine needles to receive me.
DimpleDipper
Btw that fight was easily followed and understandable. Seriously was one of the best fights I’ve read. I’m gunna study this chapter.
DimpleDipper
If killing always bottoms out his magic, could he get around that by making a spear appear above or in front of an enemy to impale them? Should and efficient midrange trap/attack
Trako
I want more, I need more. That fight was great.
Erick Thiemke
only if he wanted to not be able to use any spell forms inscribed on his core. you can not have both.
Erick Thiemke
it is 25 five feet.
Victor Skaarup
Could MC not use a tattoo, e.g., stone skin on his torso? I suppose there might be interference with the spell form on his core or the ones on his arms?
Victor Skaarup
In chapters 199 and 201 range of earth speak was 25 feet. In this chapter 20 feet.
Daniel kanevsky
Another advantage to hiding a few buddies is that he'll have access to their gear. If he ever wants to disappear from the empire, he'll need non legionnaire gear, and this could be a start
Erick Thiemke
He just never thought he would need it so soon. It is not an aether shield/armor amulet anyway. He just thinks it is
Erick Thiemke
Yes
Lazarius
Renna saw the black spear ?
Silver Beard
I wonder if the blade eats/absorbs the essences to restore itself; and what Eryk will get from the collector will be a lot less because of it.
Silver Beard
That would be an issue only if a Mage showed up before the essence disappeared. Pretty sure nobody's going to rush to his rescue. Not after the arena fight. The Legion knows to tread lightly with Orcs.
Deliver roo
Great chapter, a welcomed change of pace after the previous ones. Strange for him to realize only now that the aether shield amulet taken from Traeliorn might be useful but I guess he will always be slow in his gains.
Silver Beard
This would have been a perfect place to use Dimension door spell form. Could have her sent back in a second and possibly got support in return.
Daniel kanevsky
It'll be cool to see what essence they'll create
jean
or just shows he is a amazing fighter where would anybody think he has self healing if not a potion on him to heal him or renna???? again why is him wounding himself so important here when it gives more or less nothing :P
Erick Thiemke
Will hit this correction in a min
Eriach
That's cool and a way around the rules lol
Eriach
She only saw the 6 I believe
Eriach
Or, hear me out. They're a pre-emptive recon to see how the interior of the Telhian empire is and happened to fall upon the training mages.
Erick Thiemke
There was a doc explaining it. basically, what happens is the aether cost is exponential based on the target's aether existence, and the dimensional space closes with the part he highlighted because his affinity for space is so high. So far the only time he failed was with the Traeliorn whose aether resistance actually beat out his space affinity
Steven
Is that no matter how big his aether pool is? I thought it was simply it took X aether and he only had Y aether. That if he increased his pool he might be able to pull more than one head in a fight. Looks like I’m wrong 😂😂.
Jon
Amen man, this series has so much more going for it! This is the only reason I upgraded
Silver Beard
"I needed to keep Renna remain calm" needs some work. Too many words or not enough
Silver Beard
Zyna will come but the rest will haul ass back to the Campus pissing their robes the whole way.
Erick Thiemke
He has books on spell forms. That is all the tatoos are. The orcs don’t have the right affinity for the effect, so they grind up the right magic affinity essence and make it into a tattoo. Then the orc can release aether into the tattoo and get the effect
william wallace
keep his healing secret. better to be underestimated.
Victor Skaarup
I wonder if memorizing the tattoos (runes) will enable him to use them somehow? I vaguely recall him obtaining a rune or two in the past but could be mistaken.
Erick Thiemke
But thanks for an idea……when he removes the orc head the eyes will move briefly freaking him out
Erick Thiemke
No. Killing a creature always bottoms out his aether
Stephen
Would just removing a 1mm thick slice from the neck use less aether than removing the entire head? It would look like he beheaded them with a sword.
Daniel Hamilton
Guessing it was all a set up to take out him and his mage.
Daniel Hamilton
Wooooo yes!!! I’m guessing the next step is learning how to speak in the ork language, or trying to get a artifact that has to deal with languages
pizzaranger
Fck this hanger. I want more 🤣🤣
jean
why would he wound himself when he gets more epic and better results and respect for coming out more or less without injury than near death and fighting with arrows in him?????
Faa Diallo
Good chapter. Good to see the fruit of Eryks training
Notlimah
Clean up time 1. Essences 2. Spear 3. Loot the orcs, potions, weapons, Do they have any rings or amulets? 4. How many did Renna see 6? might be good to make some of the corpses disappear 9 ->6 to make it more believable but then could get trapped in a lie 5. will the rest of the mages even come they might turn around when faced with an unexpected real threat that killed off the hound trainers Eryk might have to walk back on his own again 6. Bit morbid but bathe the sword in orc blood to make it shine? 7. Self inflicted holes in clothes to make the win seem harder and hide the versatility of his air shield alongside answer of using orcs healing potions to explain healed wounds 8. Keep working on soldiers life over world sphere because we prefer this one 😜
Quasimotolovesbells
Great fight sequence! Nicely done. Sadly, our hard headed MC using his low jacked essence collector outside the dungeon and his storage where it can be magically tracked... I know the war is on, but I don't remember if someone has to be actively looking while he using it outside his storage or if it just records the use on some map somewhere, and the hounds are alerted?
Blorcyn
Yeah it really was. The odds were stacked against him and he still won. Very intense. Very fun read.
william wallace
When you realize erik is actually john wicks dnd character on a murderhobo play through.
Erick Thiemke
They are not the orc elite warrior, but you find that out next chapter. their tattoos are for stealth and camouflage
william wallace
Yeah probably. Just wish he was a little more self protective about some of this secrets.
Rocky Tkacz
I thought of that by the time they come it should be too late and they may not have a collector on them.
william wallace
Kinda worried that using the collector is a mistake. I mean the other mages probably dont have one… but still.
Gwalmeich
Could have been fake tattoo meant to intimidate potential opponents.
Gwalmeich
That's what it must feel like to fight the doom slayer...
william wallace
Theres a part of me that thinks he should put a few arrows in himself and give himself a few cuts to sell the fight a bit to the rest of the legionaries. Also please erik. Dont forget to grab your spear and take the head out of your storage.
1536539
Great action, the fight is amazing, though he should have prepared the smoke bombs and powders before Renna started freezing the lake so that he is ready at the beginning of the fight, i wonder why the orcs didn’t use the tattooed spells on their bodies.
Rocky Tkacz
So good can’t wait to find out what essences he gets!
Eriach
Holy crap!
striderfighter
This was great combat writing
Erick Thiemke
i posted 201 yesterday....my time
1536539
Yay 2 chapters in one day!
Erick Thiemke
3rd of 4 for cycle. 4th will probably be Tuesday as I am starting work on World Sphere now. Some of you wanted to see the MC show his gains...this chapter was it. You will find out more about the orcs in the next chapter. Those that guessed the Mage Cashius was involved - the answer is no.
