Chapter 7

15 years ago, in a forest near the border of the Kingdom’s territory.

The scout division of the Kingdom’s army found a small orc encampment, and they sent a small platoon to subjugate it.

Three squads, comprised mostly of fresh recruits from the Kingdom’s military academy, are camping in the forest.

Most of the fresh recruits knew one another from their time at the academy, some are nervous about their mission, others are excited that they get to experience some action, while the captains of the squad are doing their best to keep morale high. There is, however, a young recruit who’s sitting alone in the corner; a young spearman sharpening the tip of his spear. 

“You know, a sword is far more effective in the forest. It’s shorter, easy to wield, and won’t get caught along the branches of the trees.” The squad leader went up to the young spearman carrying a bowl of soup.

“Ah squad leader, I will keep that in mind.” The young spearman quickly got up to show respect.

“Relax will yah, we’re not at war yet.” The squad leader, trying to calm the young spearman, said.

“You seem to be alone most of the time, do you not know any of the fresh recruits?” The squad leader inquired.

“Not really, most of the people I knew back in the academy were assigned to a different location.”

“I see. You don’t seem nervous or excited like any of them, why is that?” 

“To be honest, I am nervous. This is my first mission, afterall. I’m just trying to remain calm so as to not be a nuisance, especially during crucial times of the subjugation.” The young spearman stated.

“I see, that’s a good soldier. But you also need to take care of yourself.” The squad leader hands the bowl of soup to the young spearman, with the young spearman recalling that he hasn't eaten.

“Thank you.” He replied.

“Don’t be too nervous okay? Just listen to our command and we’ll be okay. We have veteran soldiers in our squad.” The squad leader stated as he went to a different group. It was reassuring for fresh recruits like this young spearman to know that there are veteran soldiers accompanying them as it increases the success rate when there are people who know what to do during the mission.

But…

Nothing is 100% guaranteed. 

“I thought they were just orcs! Nobody said anything about a berserker!” One of the veteran soldiers cries as he gets cleaved in half by the said berserker. 

“In position!” The leader of the first squad ordered but the fresh recruits were too terrified to even hear the orders. Soon, the whole first squad was wiped out.

“Are orcs really this strong?” The young spearman uttered as he thrust his spear to the orc that was charging, stopping it’s momentum and giving the leader of the third squad a chance to decapitate it. 

“Normal orcs? Hell no! These are barely high-orcs already!” The squad leader replied.

“Shit! And we still have that Berserker…” He continued as he watched the second squad fall to it one after another.

“What do we do?” The young spearman asked, trying so hard to hide the fear in his face.

“Where are the rest of the third squad?” The leader asked. 

“We’re all that’s left sir.” The young spearman replied with sorrow on his face. 

“Well look at that, who would’ve guessed that the quiet loner would survive this long huh?” The squad leader bitterly smiled.

“Give me your spear.” The squad leader’s eyes, filled with bloodlust, are fixed at the Berserker. 

“Sir? But, how am I gonna–” Without even letting the young spearman finish, the squad leader shouted.

“I said give me your spear! This is an order!” The young spearman reluctantly gave him his spear, worried as to how he will fight without a weapon. Without any warning, the squad leader then pushed the young spearman away from the frontline.

“Someone has to survive this unit to avenge the fallen.” 

“This is your final order, run! Survive!” The squad leader ordered. Seeing an opening as the berserker cleaves the last soldier that was engaging him, he then throws the spear in his hand with all his might, piercing it’s left shoulder as the berserker howls in pain. The young spearman quickly fled from the battlefield as the leader of the third squad charged to his death.

Present day, somewhere in the forest near the border of the Kingdom’s territory.

“Wear this.” The young cleric pulls one of the necklaces with the King’s insignia on it from her pouch.

“Showing this to the Kingdom’s guards and other political employees will compel them to assist you.” The young cleric added, as the farmer took and wore it.

“But you can just show yours, right? Why do I need to wear one?” The farmer jokingly asked while hiding the necklace underneath his green cloak.

“Well aside from that, any buff casted to you, will be casted to me as well. It’s like a party buff sharing system. It will make things easier for me.” The young cleric explained.

“Where are we going anyway?” The young cleric asked as she continued to walk behind him.

“Recruitment.” He replied.

“Who are we gonna recruit? Bandits?” The young cleric jokingly asked.

“No, someone stronger.” The farmer, grinning, replied.

“Is there a strong hermit living deep in the forest? Is that his master?” The young cleric wonders as she blindly continues to follow him. But after a few more minutes of traversing through the forest, she is surprised by how wrong she was.

“W-wait… w-why are we here??” The young cleric looks confused. Of course she’d be, the farmer said that he was planning to recruit people, but standing a few meters in front of them was an orc encampment. A well defended encampment, with a tribe banner placed on every corner of it’s walls; as if marking their territories.

“I told you, we’re recruiting.” The farmer replied.

“What’s your plan?” The young cleric inquired, looking worried about the outcome.

“Walk through the front gate, subjugate them.”

“Wait, that’s your plan?? That’s suicide!” The farmer, as if not hearing what the young cleric said, starts to march towards the front gate.

“Just trust me, okay?” The farmer replied.

A loud sound of a horn howled as a hail of arrows came flying, all aimed towards where the farmer is standing.

“Barrier!” The young cleric casted before being told to.

“Thanks, but, you really didn’t have to.” The farmer remarked as he held the Sacred Cudgel. He was about to blast the hail of arrows with the cudgel had the young cleric not cast the Barrier. They could hear the orcs shouting at one another, most likely wondering what happened.

“Hey! Open up!” The farmer shouted.

“Who are you to order us little humans?!” The orc standing guard at the guard tower shouted.

“An orc speaking our language??” The young cleric is shocked. This is the first time she’d heard of such a thing. But then again, this is the first she ever set foot outside the walls of the Kingdom’s capital; everything she knew came from the knowledge passed down through the books stored in the Kingdom’s library.

“Lead me to your chieftain.” The farmer shouted back.

The orc guard looks at him, as if judging him, grunts before disappearing to the inside of their encampment. A few minutes passed by before the main gate of the encampment opened, with the orcs inside waiting with their weapons drawn.

The farmer marches inside, with his chest puffed out. The orcs back away slowly, creating a wall, like a colosseum with the farmer and the young cleric in the middle. 

A pathway starts to form as the chieftain of the orc tribe emerges from the biggest hut inside the encampment.

Adorned with skull trophies, leather armor, and tribal markings over his body, clearly establishing himself as the chieftain of that orc encampment.

“A challenger huh?” The chieftain lets out a gruff voice as he lifts his enormous ax then slamming to the ground in front with its head planting to the ground. 

“Sure, but let’s do this with fist only.” The farmer suggests before slamming the sacred cudgel to the ground, creating a shockwave in the process.

“Hahaha! So you want to lose the only way a human can defeat an orc?! Amusing…” The chieftain laughs menacingly.

“You must be real confident with your strength.” The chieftain’s voice changes heavily to somewhat demonic as his skin color starts to change from ashen green to crimson red.

“An orc berserker!” It is the first time for the young cleric to see one up close. Though she had an image of it in her mind from the books she had read, seeing one is a different experience. Just the presence sent shivers down her spine, as if a wild beast had locked its eyes on a prey. It was similar to the experience she had with the boar general.

“Maybe we should withdraw…” The young cleric suggested.

“Why? He’s just a big red orc.” The farmer replied.

“Are you not familiar with Orc Berserkers?!? They’re not just big red orcs! They’re monsters among monsters.” The young cleric warned.

“I know how strong you are, but when you killed that boar monster, you had the Sacred Cudgel as a weapon… But you’re saying you’re gonna fight that monster barehanded?! You might get killed even before fighting the Demon king!” The young cleric continued to nag him.

“I told you, just trust me okay?” The farmer reassures as he signals the young cleric to back away so that she won’t get hurt. Reluctantly, the young cleric walks to the sidelines, near the entrance of the encampment, the fastest route to make an escape. 

“Should someone blow a horn?” The farmer asked.

“No need…” The chieftain said.

“Start whenever you’re ready, I’ll give you the first blow for free.” He added as he opened his guard, inviting the challenger to an attack.

“Don’t regret this.” The farmer remarked before charging forward. The attack was so fast, lightning fast, that the chieftain couldn’t react fast enough to the jab the farmer threw at his body.

“Auuuughhhkkww!” The chieftain grunted. The farmer then backs away after the first punch, letting the chieftain recover.

“Ready to take me seriously?” The farmer provoked.

“You!” The chieftain starts to launch a barrage of attacks, blindly but fast. Most of the punches hit only air while some get parried. 

“Is this the best you can do?” The farmer taunted. The chieftain then goes full berserk mode with eyes going bloodshot. The chieftain starts throwing a barrage of punches to the farmer with everything getting blocked. Frustration starts to pile up on the chieftain's side, forcing him to wound up a big one. He is so deep into his “Berserk mode” that he is easily convinced that the farmer had no choice but to block his punches instead of dodging, and as soon as he threw that big one, his guard was wide open. Dodging the big punch, the farmer launches a full forced counterpunch to the face of the chieftain, planting his face to the ground, creating a massive shockwave that knocks everyone around to their knees and forcefully ending the chieftain’s “Berserk mode”. It was a clear victory for the farmer, the crowd couldn’t believe it, neither did the young cleric.

“Me and my tribe are now yours to command.” Though in pain, the chieftain’s pride is hurt more than his body as he bows in front of the farmer. The rest of the orc warriors who stood up after getting knocked from the shockwave kneel as they face their new master.

“Good, we have work to do.” The farmer stated.

A few hours after subjugating the orc encampment, the farmer brought most of the orc warriors back to his farm.

“UUUOOOOGGGGHHHHH!!!” The Orc Chieftain lets out a loud roar; a battle chant. Soon the rest of the orc warriors follow.

Orc warriors carrying logs start creating a defensive wall around the farm as others start to tend the plantation. With the orc chieftain giving instructions to his warrior, the farmer along with the young cleric set off on their journey.

“Wait! Wait! I thought you recruited those orcs to aid us in our battle against the Demon King?!” The young cleric confusedly asked.

“I never said that.” The farmer retorted.

“Remember what I said? In my absence, my farm is open to wild monsters, bandits, and even that damned tax collector. With the orcs under my command, they’ll tend to my farm at the same time protect it from invaders.” The farmer explains as the young cleric looks at him in bewilderment.

“Okay okay, I get it! But how did you know that they can be subjugated? The orcs I mean” She wondered. It was a genuine question as this was the first time she had heard of someone successfully taming not just an orc but a whole tribe.

“Do you know what differentiates us from monsters?” The farmer asked while the young cleric listened intently, like a disciple waiting for the master’s wisdom.

“Order.”

“We humans live in a rule we have willfully set to ourselves while the monsters live through their instincts, the law of nature, survival of the fittest.” 

“The orcs we subjugated have built their own encampment, have a means of production, and have their own leader. They may have adapted the same rule we humans are living, but in the end, they’re still monsters and they will follow their instincts.” The farmer explained but the young cleric looked like she was having a hard time grasping the concept. 

The farmer let out a heavy sigh seeing the young cleric’s reaction.

“Look at it this way… I beat the strongest warrior in their encampment, which is the chieftain, which means that I’m stronger than them and that they can either submit to me or get beaten.” The farmer explained with the young cleric looking at him in awe.

“How do you know all this?” The young cleric asked.

“Instincts.” The farmer replied. It was the only explanation he could give as it was a knowledge that came through his experience.

“So where are we going now?” The young cleric inquired.

“Where else? To the Demon King’s castle!” The farmer replied with gusto.

“Wait!” The young cleric called.