Morning light peeked into the family dwelling, signaling the start of another summer day. I groaned aloud at the light shining directly into my eyes. Not wanting to deal with my father’s way of dealing with ‘lazy pups’, I slid out of my bed and onto the dirt floor of our hut. The impact of the floor helped shock me awake from my groggy mind, and in an instant I stood up, alert and ready. With quick hands, I grasped the bundle of clothing sitting atop the oaken chest sitting at the foot of my bed. In a single, practiced motion, I slipped into my stitched pig-leather pants. While they fit quite snugly, I still looped a hemp rope around them and tied it tight at my waist as a poor-man’s belt. Pants and belt done, I then spun into my simple wolf-hide vest.

Not that I needed to wear the vest on summer days, I just liked the look of it. Made me feel like a savage Fonzie. A tinge of regret filled me as I remembered the fact that I never got to wear a leather jacket in my old life. Or got to ride a motorcycle. With a sigh, I knelt down to tie my leather shoes tight. They were beginning to feel a little too tight, it was nearly time for a new pair. Such is the fate of a growing child of seven years old; new clothes would be needed on a regular basis. Clothes and shoes all set, I rushed from the hut as my parents still slumbered on their large bed.

A responsible child would wake their parents when it was breakfast time. But Orc children were anything but responsible, and I had a part to play.

“Sorry Mom ‘n Pops, its every Orc for themselves.” I chuckled as I raced through the dirt streets towards the nearest food stall. As I ran, more and more children around my age raced from their huts to join me in our mad dash. A grunt was all the warning I had before I felt someone push into me in an attempt to make me stumble. No dice though, I always did have a good ability to manage my center of gravity. I didn’t even need to look to know who it was that pushed me.

“You’re too weak Mah’ra.” I grinned, keeping my head forward as the sound of footsteps alongside my own entered my ears.

“You’re too fat Kotek.” Mah’ra grumbled as the two of us raced to a stall that was already swamped with children.

“Not fat. Dense.” I responded which made her laugh. Despite our mothers being bitter rivals, we had become good friends over the past few months.

Never thought I’d have a friendship that started with a fistfight though. Orc life is strange.

We didn’t have to wait long to get our portion of breakfast, as we had pushed our way through most of the crowd. And those we couldn’t push through we knocked over. The stall manager made no move to stop the competition in his line and said very little as he handed out slices of yellow melon to those closest to the counter. After we had received our pair of slices each, the two of us retreated from the line, warily eying those around us in case they tried to take our food. Once we were a safe distance away, we sat upon a stump on the side of the road and dug into our breakfast.

Tangy juice flowed into my mouth as I bit into the soft flesh of the melon called Sun Melon. Sun because it was yellow, same as the sun in the sky. Melon because it was a melon. Orcs are very deep and intricate people that only a few are capable of understanding. As I enjoyed the refreshing taste of melon, I drifted back to the times before I could go outside on my own.

Ever since I could walk, my mother and father had been adamant over their educational curriculum. Meaning they made me walk every moment I could as a way to train my body. As the months dragged on, more involved training was forced upon my developing body. For example, my father would bring home various rocks of increasing weight for me to pick up and move. Eventually language came into play and that took a long while. The hardest part of Orcish language isn’t the strange pronunciation, but the phlegm. Working the correct amount of snot into every word was an exercise in futility for the longest time.

I’m ashamed to admit that my peers had gripped the language far more readily than I.

As I had grown over the years, so too did my stats. Based upon my observations, the stat growth was both directly proportional to body development and also increased through hard work and training. While lifting stones, a notification would pop up about my Strength and Dexterity increasing. Walking, and eventually running, helped increase my Vitality and Agility. Sadly, compared to my other stats, Intelligence and Wisdom were beginning to fall behind. The only way I had found to raise them up outside of natural growth was thinking really hard, which I did everyday. They had only improved once, sadly. I’d give my left arm for a few books, as I’m sure reading would have helped them improve a bit. Sadly, Orcs aren’t the most literate of races. Perception was another stat left behind, only raised by my body’s natural development. As for Luck…well…

Name: Kotek Jir'iroc Race: Orc Class: Villager Title: N/A Level: 0 Experience: 0/10 Health: 72/72 Mana: 40/40 Stamina: 66/66 Unspent Points: 0 Strength: 6 Vitality: 6 Dexterity: 5 Agility: 6 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 5 Perception: 4 Luck: 1

Still at an amazing one. Not that that mattered, a real man makes his own luck.

“You got that look again.” Mah’ra spoke from my side, giving me a considering look.

“Thinking.” I responded simply. She grinned,

“About the duel today? Galog has no chance!”

“Yes he does!” I countered, “Krog’mu is the one who will taste defeat!”

“We will see!” Mah’ra laughed as we finished our meal and scuttled off the stump. “Remember! The eastern ring at mid-sky!” Mah’ra spoke as she raced off back home.

I sighed as she ran off, ‘I hate speaking like an idiot. These people need a heaping dose of vocabulary.’ With a few hours to kill before the duel between two upcoming Orc warriors, I began to jog back home. I grunted words of acknowledgment to familiar faces as they passed by. Compared to the mad dash for breakfast, my current pace was quite relaxed to the point where none of my stamina would drain from exertion. There were certainly benefits to the Orcish lifestyle, in my past life I would never be able to jog so much without having to take a break every few minutes.

Us mall cops ain’t the most physically capable of people, that’s why they give us scooters.

It didn’t take long for me to return to my home, only to find my mother wearing her hunting gear. A large, unstrung blood-wood bow hung from her shoulder. Head to toe was covered in her timber-wolf hide clothing that would help her blend into the forest. Strapped to her waist was a quiver filled with bronze-tipped arrows.

“Going hunting. Back tonight.” She spoke simply as she moved towards the exit to the hut.

“Tozokalli guide your arrows.” I responded, which made my mother smile.

“Train well, Kotek.” She patted my head with a firm hand before stepping outside.

“Perfect.” I smiled as she left. She’d be gone for the day, and my father would be busy training another set of unblooded younglings. I would be free to do any training I wanted. “Magic time.” I grinned as I sat in the center of the hut, away from anything that could be damaged.

Not that what I was going to do could actually damage anything.

With an outstretched hand, I grinned and enforced my will upon the empty air just above my palm. Warm tingling rushed from all throughout my body, sending goosebumps surging to the surface of my skin. Slowly, I felt energy draining from within me as a small globe of water began to pulse and grow above my palm. Picturing a sphere the size of a baseball, I forced more of my mana into the pea-sized droplet of water. Slowly, the sphere grew in size as more and more of my energy was taken. Within a few seconds, my ball of water was complete and hovered above my hand.

“Not bad.” I admired the small ball hovering over my hands. A quick glance at my status screen showed that I had used twenty points of Mana. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have this penalty.” I grumbled to myself, detesting the eight Mana gained per point of Intelligence. “Abilities!” I commanded, summoning the information of the spells I had learned over the past year.

Abilities:

Aqua Sphere

Mana Cost: 10+

Conjures a ball of water from the user’s Mana. The more Mana invested into the spell increases the volume of the amount of water conjured. When thrown the Mana-infused water condenses, enabling the user to deal a small amount of physical damage to their target. A basic spell taught to many children upon discovery of their Mana.

Stone Spike

Mana Cost: 20+

Conjures a spike of sharpened earth from the user’s Mana. The more Mana invested into the spell increases the size of the spike. When successfully cast, a spear of earth shoots forth from the ground, piercing the caster’s target and dealing physical damage. A handy spell to use against typical foes, though it has proved quite ineffective against those of the flying variety.

Fireball

Mana Cost: 20+

Conjures a ball of flame from the user’s Mana. The more Mana invested into the spell increases the size, the heat, and the explosive power of the spell. When thrown, the spell will detonate upon colliding with whatever it hits. A popular spell among Magi, as it is very cost effective for the amount of damage it can deal. Rampant misuse of this spell has seared many a Magi’s robes however, and caution is always urged when utilizing this spell.

Gust

Mana Cost: 5+

Conjures a gust of wind from the user’s Mana. The more Mana invested into the spell increases the power of the wind originating from the Magi’s hand. With enough Mana, one would be able to push even the most hardy Dwarf over, though the spell is more often used for more nefarious purposes.

Revert

Mana Gained: 1+

Reverts the spell currently conjured back into the Magi’s Mana pool. The Mana returned is based upon the Mana used in the conjuration of the spell. Full Mana is not restored however, as a fair bit of Mana is lost in the process of energy conversion. A staple spell known by all Magi, as the ability to return one’s Mana to use in an alternate spell is often key in battle.

I tossed the ball from hand to hand as if I were juggling. Despite the sudden motions, none of the water had escaped the ball form. It was as if it were perfectly contained within an invisible sphere. I grinned as I continued my juggling for a minute or two before Reverting the Aqua Sphere back into myself. Using water had been my first choice for a spell, as it would have been far easier to explain how things got wet should the worst happen, rather than explaining how the hut had burned down. Honestly, anyone who chooses fire as their first element to utilize is an absolute idiot. I mean, I understand why they would, Fireballs and Meteors are cool as shit, but goddamn people, think about your surroundings! Only you can prevent forest fires.

Not that I was successful my first few attempts at spell-casting. I felt the warmth of embarrassment upon my cheeks as I remembered the times I tried using incantations and various hand-gestures to use my Mana. Nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes after all. A quick readup on Mana in the system interface put those mistakes quickly to rest, and I had kicked myself in the ass for not doing so sooner.

“Conjuring a spell involves enforcing your will upon your own internal Mana.” I quoted from the rather large entry that I had read so many months ago. It had taken me quite a few Aqua Spheres to be able to learn how to successfully Revert. Once I had learned how to successfully recycle my Mana, I instantly went to working on that Fireball spell. At twenty Mana, a Fireball was no better than a typical firecracker. One would have to invest a substantial amount of Mana in order to get the real bang for your buck. Sadly, my abilities were rather limited, as I had to hide in this hut in order to practice.

Attempts to sneak out at night wound up waking my mother no matter how quiet I was.

‘Honestly, that woman’s Perception is too damn high.’ I grumbled as I conjured a small ball of fire in my hand using all forty of my Mana. Scorching flames danced over my hands as the light sent shadows flicking upon the walls of the hut. Curiously, while the flames were certainly hot, to me it felt no more than a faint warm sensation. At one point I had pondered exactly why a scorching Fireball would only affect me so little. Hell, for the glory of science I had once even stuck my finger into the Fireball.

I learned that fire is indeed hot.

When conjuring a fire spell, a thin layer of Mana is created between the hands and the spell itself, nullifying most of the heat. Unfortunately, since I only used one hand in the conjuration, my other hand was devoid of the protective layer. I had to blame the warm coals of a pit-fire and childlike curiosity as the reason why my finger had been burnt so badly. Thankfully Zakka was more than able to fix me right up. Wyld bless that old Shaman.

After absorbing the Fireball back into my Mana pool, I ducked my head outside to check the time. “Mmmm, another two hours.” I grumbled as I walked back into the hut to continue practicing my spells. “Hopefully this helps raise my Intelligence or Wisdom.” I mused while alternating between Aqua Spheres and Fireballs. I avoided using Earth Spike and Gust simply due to the fact that once cast, an Earth Spike would leave evidence behind that would need to be covered up. Namely, crushing the spike itself and grinding it back into dirt. Gust would just knock things around and potentially break fragile things that fell down. I didn’t want to get another stern talking to for breaking a valuable tooth, skull, or something, so I didn’t use it indoors.

Time passed pretty quickly as I conjured and reverted spell after spell, resting every few minutes to let my Mana recover. I began thinking of how to potentially spend my stat points when leveling up. If I went with Intelligence, I could pour more Mana into my spells to make them stronger. But if I put a bunch into Wisdom I’d be able to fire off spell after spell without needing to wait a long time between casts. ‘I wonder how many stat points I’ll get per level…’ I pondered as I absorbed a Fireball and stood up.

“I’ll be allowed into the Dueling Ring next year. But that’s so far away…” I growled as I walked among the dirt roads through the city towards the eastern Dueling Ring. It was almost time for the anticipated duel between Krog’mu and Galog. Despite the distance, I still made it to the ring well before the start of the match. A few minutes of looking around later, I found and sat beside Mah’ra. The two of us talked smack to one another until the start of the match.

————————————————————

“Ugh! Krog’mu should have won!” Mah’ra grumbled as she ripped into a piece of smoked hog meat.

“Galog was simply too strong.” I grinned while chewing my own slice of hog. To me, the match was just a matter of numbers. Galog had been a level fourteen Berserker while his opponent, Krog’mu, was only a level nine Warrior. I’m not sure if there were others who could see people’s status like I could, but asking about it would certainly get me labeled as crazy.

“Hrmph.” Mah’ra growled as she chewed. “In four days Hagron’ka is fighting Mag’do.”

“A close match.” I noted thinking of those two. They were both the same level and both Warriors.

“Yeah! It’ll be great!” she jumped up and thrust a fist into the air. “And one day it’ll be us in there!”

“A shame I’ll win all our matches.” I chuckled.

“As if!” Mah’ra spoke with hands upon her hips. “If anyone is going to win between us, it’ll be me!”

“You didn’t win our first fight.” I goaded.

“That was before! I’m much stronger now, you wait!” she grinned viciously.

“And so am I.” I laughed, “And I’m getting even stronger!”

“Grrr.” Mah’ra growled as she wolfed down the last bits of her food. “I’ll show you Kotek! Hurry and finish your food so we can race!”

Not one to back down from a challenge, I tore into my food with reckless abandon. After finishing the delicious meat, and a few burps later, I was ready. With tense muscles, the two of us dug our feet into the dirt, aiming to race to the usual spot, a small farm a few minutes from the city proper.

“Go!” Mah’ra called and the two of us sprinted with all our might into the distance.