Krieg

Hammer met flesh as I swung again and again, the visored helmet making it nearly impossible to fully visualize my orcish opponent. With a squeal and the sound of snapping bones, it lunged forward with a poorly made dagger, the blade skittering off my armor once again. I'd barely managed to dodge any of the vicious attacks, my new armor taking the brunt of just about every single blow and holding steady.

The orc snarled again as its attack failed, wrapping its unbroken arm around my left arm and attempting to hook its legs behind my own. Its height was its downfall, the petty creature small enough that it couldn't manage to make any headway before my hammer smashed through its skull, the poor thing falling off my arm and lying still.

The rest of the skeletons that were travelling with me were similarly finishing off their opponents, having become far stronger than them since the battle for the fortress. Apparently they had fought orcs that were much stronger than the ones we currently hunted for, weapons and armor of far better quality adorning each one. I didn't envy them, the memory of my spine being crushed like a twig still fresh in my mind. I hadn't felt it so much as known it was happening, and it hadn't stayed like that long enough for the pain to really set in before I'd killed the former owner of my armor.

Broken Skull said that I needed to be able to do more than just rely on the armor to survive in battle, though I wasn't entirely sure of how to do that. If I took any one of the skills that would solve my flaws then the other two would be left sticking out like a sore thumb.

We moved on and I flipped the visor up so that I could see just a little bit better. While I had to turn almost entirely in order to look in different directions, it was still nice that the armor was heavy enough to shrug off just about any attack that came at it, though it hadn't been truly tested against a powerful opponent yet.

The others had been giving me suggestions to help me out, though the uncertainty still lingered. While some might be able to take things leisurely, I was expected to take this armor to the front lines and to fight against the same level of enemies Broken Skull fought against. The training had helped massively with making up the gap, but I still felt far too unprepared for the dangers that lay ahead.

It didn't take long to find another group of orcs that had just been spawned. This time I took the biggest of the lot. It was about a head smaller than me, though its body was bulkier than the rest by far. I flipped the visor down and we began to circle each other as the rest of our groups fought.

The first attack between us was tentative, the orc swinging at me with an overhand slash, a jagged short sword banging against the shield I brought around to guard against it. In retaliation I swung my hammer around toward its side, the heavy weapon moving slow enough that the orc simply leapt back a few steps.

This repeated several times in different ways, both of us testing each other again and again as weapons clashed around us. A sword would screech against metal, a hammer would swing through air, and we would jump away from each other.

The orc had narrowed its eyes, searching for some weakness to exploit, gaining more and more ground on me as it learned my fighting style. Watching its own movements I'd thought of a few things I could attempt to catch it off guard, and now was the moment where one of us would have a breakthrough.

This time when the sword came down I let it score a hit against my torso, the jagged blade leaving a scratch on the metal as I brought the heavy shield around to snap the orc's arm. The hit connected, a sickening crunch alongside a wounded howl of pain as the arm bent entirely the wrong way. I didn't let up, stepping forward and shoving the orc with my shield even as it tried to leap back again.

The orc was only half a second too slow, the pain clouding its mind as the wall of metal slammed into it and sent it flying back farther than it had intended to go. It stumbled and fell as it landed in the dirt, its legs kicking ineffectually to move it back further as I power walked forward. My hammer came down with one final sickening crack, the battle between us over. Not wasting any more time with it, I proceeded to aid my new friends, bashing orcs over the head or from behind.

Once everything was clear again one of them spoke of how they wished they had armor like I did, gesturing to a cracked ribcage. "If I had armor like you, I wouldn't have to worry about dodging or blocking so many heavy attacks like normal. Being able to rely on my armor to take a blow or two must be nice." I pat him on the back, metal clacking against bone.

"I can't guarantee anything but I imagine if you find the materials and work on it, you should be able to get yourself a set of heavy armor. Though I don't recommend having the visor being so restrictive like mine is. Feels like I'm trying to fight with a blindfold on." I realized what I was saying at this point, and finally just decided to commit regardless of the consequences later down the line.

I took up the [Perceptive] skill and all of a sudden every sound that had been somewhat muffled came through loud and clear. My vision seemed to expand inside the helmet, forcing its way through the visor and out to view the world around me. I still couldn't smell or taste, but it was like the helmet had come off and I could both see and hear like it wasn't there in the first place.

"If you feel like going back to get some healing I say do so, but I'm going to find another group of orcs. Just chose a skill to take and I want to see it in action. If you think you can keep going, I'll do my best to watch your backs." I hefted my hammer up and over my shoulder and let it rest there as I began to head a bit further away from the fortress. Two of them followed me while the rest turned back to get some much needed healing.

The first group of orcs we found after that was underwhelming, just two of them with rusted spears. They proved no challenge against us, being crushed under hammer and bone. The second group ended up outnumbering us, four orcs to our three skeletons.

I found myself facing off against two of them, my new skill helping immensely as I occasionally stepped back while one of them overextended on their swing, the other attemping to circle around to my side. Instead of using my hammer to retaliate, I stepped forward and smashed the flat of my shield against the orc, its entire body being hit by the solid wall of metal. Seeing no reason to drag the fight out, I crushed that orcs chest cavity with a second blow from my hammer before turning to face my other opponent, the blood seeming to have drained from its face as I stared down at it.

A sickening crack sounded out behind me, and I heard an orc screaming with glee. I spun around, bringing my shield up and around as it began to cut through the air. One of my comrades was lying on the ground, their left leg completely snapped off, a shield raised in an attempt to block a downward swing from the orc in front of him, a bent mace in its sickly green hand. The shield left my hand as the arc finished, the slab of metal being hurled through the air and into the ground in front of my friend, the mace not even leaving a dent as it struck.

I felt a hand grabbing at my back and grabbed the rest of the hilt of my hammer with my now free hand, bringing it up and back. A crunch and a splattering of blood against my armor and bones later, a body fell to the ground, moving no more. I ran forward to my injured ally, hammer whipping back around as I crashed into the orc at full speed, sending it to the ground as my armored boots trampled it to death.

I kept right on going until I'd barreled into the other orc, my hammer crushing its chest once, twice, three times for good measure. Turning back to the others while covered in blood from back to front, I ensured both were at the very least alive. The one I'd saved was now propping himself up on my shield while the other was tilting her head at me as if I'd stolen her kill.

"Sorry if I was getting in between you and your new orc pal." I looked down at the pulpy mess that remained, wiping a bit of bone and blood from the end of my weapon. "Just wanted to be sure everyone would come out of this okay." It took a moment before she nodded at that, seeming placated.

"That shield toss was something else, Krieg. I'm surprised you didn't show that off earlier." I didn't bother to explain that I'd actually been trying to hit the orc with my shield, taking the compliment for what it was. "Let's get you back to Iliana and fix your leg. I don't think it'd be the best idea to keep going as you are now." I picked him up and sat him on my shoulder with the leg being stuffed into the empty spaces in my armor.

Ripping my shield out of the ground, we set off for the fortress once more. I was going to give Broken Skull a good thrashing this time.