A party, Lent doesn’t know what he should think about that. Usually, people would be angry about being beaten or at least frustrated, yet this Gar is jovial and in good humor instead.

The orcs lead them through a small mountain road, they pass a fragile-looking lookout manned with a really small orc, just big enough to get to Lent's calves. “Is that a smallbig?” Lent asks as they look like another subtype of orc.

“Yo! You got it right, small bodies, big brain, also good eyes. HEY LEO!”

“HEY GAR!”

“WE GOT A PARTY!”

“ASSHOLES!”

“THESE HUMANS ARE PARTY GUESTS! WHEN ARE YOU FREE?”

“SEVEN HOURS!”

“AH, MAKE SURE TO DROP IN!”

“YEAH!”

The way these orcs talk to each other makes Lent wonder, how uncivilized they are. At least they're rough all around.

After this exchange, they get in a broader mountain road, pass two more lookouts, before ending up in a fortified village. The guards there compiles of even more subraces of the orcs: There are really fat ones, almost spherical, there are lean ones with long and strong legs, there is one, which looks like a compressed orc with a less porcine face, almost human with some alterations, but Lent could smell him from several meters away.

One with long and garbed tusks which reminds Lent of blades comes closer: “Who are these humans, Gar?”

“We do a party.”

Suddenly, all of the guard orcs begin to yell: ““““““PARTY!? PARTY! PARTY, PARTY, PARTY!!!””””””

It certainly looks like the orcs like partying, it's like the ultimate explanation, no question asks. Looking in the village, they may had a party just yesterday, several casket, bottles, cutlery, and leftovers are everywhere!

“Welcome to Wellcrag,” Gar says as he shows the village. Several orcs are already coming out of their houses, holding several instruments, similar to bagpipes, bugles, xylophones, and guitars. There are others, some of them are similar to what Lent's former self may have seen, but never learned the name of. “If you're invited to an oaak-party, you need to show a party-trick, so you better think about what to do, especially if you want to impress The Boss.”

“The Boss?”

“Yeah, The Boss is The Boss. Our great honcho, the leader, some idiots would call him chieftain, but he's more about being the chief, instead of a tain.”

“I have no idea what the latter means.”

“He's just The Boss. Make sure to remember the 'The', it's part of his name.”

“Wait, his name is The Boss?”

“Yeah, so that everyone knows who he is.”

“Why would anyone call his baby The Boss?”

“Ah, heroes. It's a divine sin to change names, so when a goodboss is born, it's immediately named to reflect it.”

“Goodbosses?”

“Ah, human heroes. Oaaks can deal with differences, oaak is oaak after all. Bigsmall. smallbigs, sharptusks, leanfasts, fatsturds, quagstunks, doesn't matter. They all are part of us. Just sometimes there comes a goodboss, and they're named so for a reason. Really rare, except The Boss, I only know The Leader from Furrowbright.”

This quite limits the names of these so-called goodbosses, but in the end, it doesn't matter to Lent. What he learned from orcs so far is much more interesting, there are different subraces with different traits, which takes on different roles, almost like an ant or bee colony with more variety.

“Lent,” Star asks him while scratching the behind of his head, “what should be our party-trick?”

“Ah.” Lent totally forgot about it. This is like a fraternity pledging for these creatures. However, Lent being a wizard isn't very concerned about it: “I'll do some magic tricks.”

―○●○―

It took less than half an hour before the whole village of Wellcrag is celebrating. Gar is the 'master of the party' and after about half of the orcs are drunk, he finally begins with his opening speech: “Dear brethren, we're here once again to celebrate life. This time, it brought us two guests, like you see, they don't look like much, but that bulky one bested me in combat, so he's cool. The other one didn't do much so far, but he's with that one, reason enough to include him. Here they are! The 'true heroes', Star Killer and the other guy!”

The other guy!? Thinking about it, Lent hasn't introduced himself. Still, they could have asked his name. “Hey, other guy!” Star greets him laughingly: “Be sure to behave yourself, it'll reflect on me, OK?”

“Don't worry, I'll bring them on my side when I start with my magic.” Lent's voice sounds hollow, but he's confident to turn things around. “Hey, Gar.”

“Yeah?”

“When will I do my party tricks?”

“When The Boss is ready.” Gar points at a big orc who is eating like a pig at the buffet tables. This one looks nasty, big muscles with broad shoulders, thick bristles, and a strange presence around him. It seems like the refined version of a standard orc.

Ah, he waves at them, though he's still munching with his head close to the table. Did it hear them? Still, that behavior... orcs may just follow the most disgusting among their peers.

Star looks like he has a blast, he's already mingling with some of the orcs, drinking and eating like one of them. Lent decides to follow his example, and eat something as well, the meat skewers look edible after all. Though Lent makes sure to only drink little of their alcohol.

One question is bothering him though, where are the females? While there are several subraces, their body builds look the same, and all the voices he hears sounds male as well. Are they hidden somewhere? Are females just another subrace of orcs, something like birthgivers? Or are they plainly not distinguishable for Lent, who has no idea what to look at to make that difference, it's not like every species will be like humans. He wouldn't most likely be able to tell boars and sows apart either.

This might be non-relevant now, but if everything goes according to Lent's plan, it's something he has to concern with.

As the orcs become louder and louder, cheering each other in contests of strength, endurance, and steadfastness, mainly drinking games, Lent tries to find The Boss again. There he is, orcs are pouring him with booze, while he has his eyes closed and his jaws far apart: “““DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!””” It only needs a funnel to make this image perfect. Lent scratches his small, but still-growing beard because this picture is borderline disgusting.

There is Star, he's having a fist-fight with Gar, while a crowd is cheering. Seeing how Star moves, he may be already dead-drunk. He laughs during the whole fight, same as Gar, this may be another contest.

This is an ordeal. At least the orcs let him be, so this is something, right? Or do they think, he's not fun to be with? No, there are orcs like Lent, who just watch from the sidelines, and nobody asks them to join either, maybe they just respect how there are several ways to enjoy a party.

Actually, it's good that nobody bothered with Lent, as he needs to focus on his upcoming performance. He looks through his status to think about which spells will be viable for the whole procedure.

Finally, with a loud burp, The Boss drowns out the whole party, giving the signal that he's ready for the party tricks. The volume of the burp may be enough to qualify as a sound-based attack.

Gar steps on a small stage: “We begin with the party tricks! First come our guests of honor, Star and the other one!”

Star staggers onto the stage, while Lent asks him: “Can you stand?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine.” He's a savage, after all, so he's actually quite sturdy. Lent will count on it.

“I'll take over the party tricks, just be ready.”

“Yeah.”

“Hello!” Lent greets his audience. “I'm Lent Wood, and I'll show you some of my magic.” As a wizard, Lent is very proficient with magic, so he begins to create some flames and weave them into an orc. “To get you all fired up!” Then he throws the fire-orc and let it explode in green and blue flames, creating a small light show. Quickly, he adds wind to it, feeding the fire more and more, then he shapes it into an even bigger orc, made out of green and blue flames. The orcs look at the flames with wide eyes, some are yelling at it until it dissipates.

The next trick is lifting up small items like empty cups with wind magic, trying to juggle them. However, Lent let half of them fall, but this actually made the orcs laugh, so this is still good. Afterward, he created items out of earth and stone, handing them out to the audience.

Lent becomes quite loved by the orcs. “For my next trick, I'm gonna make The Boss disappear. [Tornadolance]!” This is a strong wind-spell, which pierces through people with ease. It's fast and deadly and directly aimed at The Boss, who was as enchanted by the magic tricks thus far as the rest of the orcs.

However, a fat orc jumps into the attack, the [Tornadolance] pierces into its torso but loses its power by penetrating too many layers of fat and meat. A fatsturd, an orc which can take much damage, the [Tornadolance] wouldn't be able to go through its body on its own, but Lent is a wizard, he can use [Empower]-skill to put more magic in a spell to empower it. So the [Tornadolance] may have lost some of its initial power, it's still plenty to kill The Boss.

At least in theory, in reality, The Boss lifts his palm and blocks the spell, a strange grinding noise could be heard, The Boss is able to use a skill to make his skin as tough as iron.

“More capable than I thought,” Lent murmurs. The Boss may have foreseen his attempt from the get-go and therefore asked a fatsturd to guard him. The bodyguard is also still alive, as [Tornadolance] is about penetrating, not about force. Well, time to go to plan B. “The Boss, I'll challenge you!” Changing into [Merchant] and using [Hear me out], the hero avert any direct retaliation for attacking The Boss. “If I win, you'll become my subordinate. If you win, I'll be yours.”

“The Boss has heard your challenge.” Wait, is that warthog speaking from himself in the third person? “The Boss sees no reason to accept.”

Time to make him: “{You will.}” It's an [Order], it's a [Skill] of the [Conversation]-ability and can force people to do as Lent commands. The skill is somewhat limited, as there is a three-word maximum and each person can only be victim to it once per day, but it's a useful tool nonetheless.

“The Boss accepts after all!” Mind-control may not work on undead, but orcs aren't as fortunate. “Bring the cage!” Lent realizes that he should have told what kind of challenge beforehand, but in the end, having The Boss choose the challenge will be even better, as it will earn him more respect from the orcs when he bests it.

Yes, Lent's ultimate goal is to conquer these orcs to have an army to send against Laharel and his Undead Army. The only reason why Laharel isn't lying dead at their toes are his subordinates, so the moment Lent has his own, the death knight has nothing that will protect him anymore.

Following that logic, Lent has to impress the orcs. Of course, Star and he can just subjugate them with sheer power, but this isn't how Lent wants to rule, as he couldn't leave them alone then. Of course, he will use force, but not in an oppressive way, respect instead of fear.

Several parts of a cage are brought, made out of monster bones, it looks bulky, as the orcs carrying them are panting and showing strenuous faces while doing so. They're quickly assembled, and the final result is big enough for an elephant, but still quite limited in space.

“Sure you can do it?” Star is still red from his drinking, but he does seem ready for combat. “I can do it, no problem. You're the thinking type, just call me your champion, then everything will be fine.”

“Aren't you looking down on me?” Lent is a wizard in his heart, but he's also a hero. He has deleted his pathetic self, which was a [Student], he has classed-up once (though it wasn't a class fit for combat), he's wearing a pair of power rings, which boosts all stats of a hero by quite a margin, and he has his [Soldier]-class for melee combat. So there is no need to be concerned. “I just have to make sure to not accidentally kill him.”

“Dear brethren,” Gar is speaking to the audience which is already surrounding the cage: “The Boss and Lent Wood are duking it out. The cruel cage of calamity, the bone bars of brutality, the insidious inside of insanity is the place where they will decide, who will serve who! The ultimate way of teabagging someone!” A loud cheer is heard from the mostly drunken orcs. “The rules are simple: The first one who leaves the cage has lost! If you give up, you have lost! If you're dead, you have lost!” After a small pause, Gar adds: “Though this would somehow make the whole fight pointless, as it's all about winning a subordinate.” A laugh comes from the orcs, and Lent thinks that, while Star is a savage at heart, the orcs are savages in nature.

The space between the bars of the cage is wide enough to squeeze through at some points, though The Boss being a big orc who wields a massive stone club as a weapon has to use a larger gap. The moment both have both of their feet inside the ground of the cage the battle begins.

The Boss is doing nothing but looking at him, but for some reason, there is a pressure in that one look, Lent feels how some of his muscles are contracting under these eyes. As a true hero, Lent notices how this pressure is artificial, something like a [Skill] maybe, but he's also resistant to it.

Lent on the other hand already knows how he will win this. However, doing it right now would be anti-climatic, his goal is to impress the orcs, not just a mere win. So he draws his sword, changes to [Soldier] and begins: “[Quicksword!]” The Boss lifts and blocks the attack with an arm, no sign of damage is to be seen. “[Steel Slicer]!” Using the recoil to get to the starting position of this strong overhead strike, Lent puts as much power as possible in this one, and he cut through the rough hide of The Boss, drawing some of the reddish-brown blood of the orc. Still, the wound isn't deep. However, before The Boss could do anything else, Lent lifts his palm: “[Gust]!” He's a wizard at heart, so simple spells as a [Soldier] is no problem.

The wind blasts The Boss against the bars of the cage, yet The Boss opens his mouth: “HUAHHH!” This is a sound-based attack! Lent head feels like splitting, while his balance is disturbed. The Boss calmly goes back to his feeds, cocking his head for a second, before throwing his stone club.

Lent realizes three things this moment. The first one is that The Boss is utterly unfazed by anything Lent did so far, maybe that's what different between goodbosses and other orcs, the total control of their feelings. Neither the surprise attack during the show nor the fact that Lent broke his intimidation-skill has affected him.

The second realization is that, despite his behavior at the start of the party, The Boss is capable. He was most likely the one who ordered the fatsturd to block any attempt of an attack, the judgmental skills of The Boss are excellent, and he can also fight, this short exchange was a pure display of efficiency.

This shows in the third thing Lent realizes. As his sense of balance and concentration is disrupted, throwing a stone club at this speed will break some bones at least. He's not Star, who can shrug things off with the [Toughness]-ability.

Nonetheless, Lent isn't worried at all, fast as thought, he changes to [Wizard] and stops the club the moment it touches his outstretched hand. “[Stonebullet]!” Because it's just a piece of stone which surrenders to his superior magic.

The Boss really keeps his unnatural calm, shattering the club with his bare fist, however, Lent changes to [Soldier] again, using this opportunity to attack once more, right into the arm where he already wounded the orc.

Still lacking any sign of befuddlement, The Boss swings his meaty fist in Lent's direction, the hero takes this hit intentionally, though it feels like being hit by a charging Star. Nonetheless, this will show how tough Lent is, even other heroes have resilient bodies, so of course, being a true hero, his body is even sturdier.

It'd be easy to switch to [Wizard] and use [Smelting Heat] to just kill this pig, but instead Lent fight him with his blade, earning the noise the other orcs make, the single cheer of Star, metal and hard hide hits against each other.

However, Lent's sword is almost done for, as Laharel damaged his usual one, he only has an inferior replacement taken by one of the undead soldiers. Time to show off!

“[Smelting Heat]!” The moment Lent changes back to [Wizard] is when he uses this spell on his own blade, which begins to heat up. This will destroy it, but Lent still swings his red-hot sword, which proves to be more effective than before.

“Urrgh! The Boss is not pleased!” Lent's future subordinate says while he's about to grab his future master's throat, most likely trying to crush the windpipe. Yet the blade begins to shed red-hot iron drops, one hits The Boss' body, causing a moment of pain.

A moment to exploit: “[Earth Pillar]! [Gust]!” Earth begins to rise to a big pillar, lifting the cage on one side, while The Boss is just flung through this new opening. This was the plan all along.

The Boss left the cage, so Lent has won. He lifts his fist to claim his victory and soon enough, loud cheering is heard from the orcs and Gar yelling: “Lent Wood has won! The Boss will now become his subordinate, which means... what exactly for us?” The cheers of the orcs become “Ughs!?”

Lent changes to [Merchant] for the high [Persuasion]-attribute, which makes it easier to influence non-heroes. “This means I'm your new boss!”

“Erm... sounds logical, so... CHEER TO GUV LENT!”

““““GUV LENT, GUV LENT, GUV LENT!””””

It may be only a village of pigmen, but on this day, Lent finally feels something he has forgotten together with his former self, Yoshimura Rentaro: Accomplishment. This feels great. How sweet it'll taste when he destroys the Undead Army. Even better, if he gets his hands on Momokawa Kyou...

One giant stride at a time.