I heaved loudly, the electricity crackling around me. I felt a surge of energy, as if I was the lion myself. I stared at the remaining goblins. Only 5 remained, 4 of them who were chasing me and the chieftain, clad in bronze armour, slack jawed. So too was my father, shocked and stunned out of his mind.

I felt steam rising off my body as the electricity slowly subsided. I felt drained, somehow, but not physically. I couldn’t describe it, it was like mental exhaustion, yet not mental at the same time. An odd sensation, but it seems that the electricity around me had faded. I made the logical conclusion that I could only use that lightning bolt spell once.

The steam slowly faded my body and the red tint to my vision faded. All that remained was the sickening smell of charred flesh and guts on the ground. I pointed to the goblin chieftain, extending my left finger at the creature who was exactly my height.

“I challenge you to a duel. If you live, you shall leave, if you die, your loot will be forfeit.”

The goblin gulped, staring down at me. He was obviously in a precarious position, most of his men were gone and he was stuck between someone that could potentially use that lightning spell again. I was gambling on the fact that he might not be adept or have serious knowledge on how magic might work.

The goblin managed to choke out, “How do I know that you won’t stab me in the back! You’re looking to fuck me over aren’t you!”

The goblin was panicking, I could see it in his eyes. The fear, the desire to survive, the will to live. I rolled my eyes, deciding to get it over with. I knew from my tutor, Kiv’lar that the Orcoid species (Orcs, goblins and ogres) worshiped the same pantheon. I sighed loudly, exclaiming in a dramatic voice.

“I, Simba, Son of Gortholax solemnly swear upon Pandar’s name that I shall uphold the duel, may the Gods bear witness. There, happy?”

Pandar was not a forgiving god, He was incredibly cruel and demanding. If you broke an oath sworn in his name, your suffering would be immense. So, even the cowardly goblin knew that I meant business.

“What about the adult there, he didn’t swear to leave me be if I win this duel!”

My father had a twinkle of joy in his eyes, looking down at me with an immense sense of pride. Of course, I was the chosen of Pandar after all. It seemed the death of Chaganath had not weighed on him as heavily as I expected, or at least, he was currently suppressing the emotions. The adrenaline rush hadn’t worn off on me yet and it most certainly had not yet worn off on my father.

My father nodded, uttering the words in a calm fashion as he always did, “I, Gortholax, son of Ganesh, swear that if the goblin chieftan wins this duel, he shall be able to leave unharmed.”

Of course, the rest of the goblins were watching this exchange in awe, but as the shock and fear of the lightning set in. One of the goblins seemed to get rather bold, crying out in frustration and leapt towards me. Of course, I didn’t make the same mistake Chaganath did. In an instant, I swung my fist backward, smashing it against the nose of the goblin, sending it crashing to the floor.

As it writhed on the ground like a rat, I placed my foot on its throat, crushing it in an instant. It was a decent sized goblin, as the rest of the goblins appeared to be stunned into fear. I let out a furious cry in their direction, with my father behind me, serving as yet another deterrent.

As they weren’t the elite troops and were naturally cowards, they immediately broke and ran. Their morale was shattered and only the goblin chieftain remained. To his credit, he was made of stronger stuff, unlike the rest of the cowards, he still had some pride left in him to agree to see out the duel to the end. Instead of fear in his eyes, it was replaced with resolve, a desire to fight and win. He gripped his bronze spear and oval shield tensely, managing to bark out a snarky response.

“Well? Let’s get to it then.”

I grinned in his direction, which served the goal of unnerving him. He probably had never seen an orc child, at least, this young being capable of killing scores of his troops. I stripped the dead goblin’s armor. I managed to just about make the boiled leather cuirass fit, a stone spear and zebra hide oval shield in hand, I was ready to go to work.

Both of us closed the distance as my father began to observe the rites of the duel.

_____

Gortholax’s perspective

A duel is a sacred thing, sacred to all members of the Orcoid/greenskin races. Goblins, Orcs and Ogres all observed duels. Duels could not be broken and were seen as something sacred, watched under the eye of the Gods. It served as both a form of entertainment, a show of strength and a show of religious favour to the masses.

Of course, as I was the only bystander and having presided over many duels in the past. I made sure no foul play was to happen. The only rule of the duel is simple: uphold the terms and agreements of the duel and ensure that no one breaks or intervenes in the duel. That was all.

I was proud of my son. The new found gift that he had gained from Pandar, he had managed to figure out how to use it and used it well he did. The stench of the burning corpses of goblins still fills my nose. The fear of pandar that was into the goblin scum would make a great tale to tell at the tribe gathering around the fire pit.

Goblins, Orcs and Ogres all share the same religion, but they interpret it differently. Pandar appears to a goblin, as a goblin. To an orc, as an orc and to an ogre, as an ogre. Pandar favours neither race, but favours only the truly strong. But then again, the prophecy of the Overlord and Pandar’s chosen is left ambiguous. There is no mention of whether it will be orc, goblin or ogre.

But now, my thoughts have been confirmed. The overlord is an orc, the overlord is my son. And he will succeed me and unify all the greenskins to conquer the world like lightning and fire. The green tide shall raze the world as the largest War host the world has ever seen shall sweep across the earth.

My son’s name shall be carved into the face of the earth. His concubines and descendants shall be as many as the stars in the night sky. I hope I live long enough to see my son rise above and descend upon the non greenskin races, it will be a glorious sight indeed.

As both goblin and orc circled one another, I swung my arm down in between them, looking towards both the goblin chieftain and my son.

I said in a loud and clear voice, “Let the duel, BEGIN!”

As I swung my hand upward, the fight began in an instant.

_____

Takeshi/Simba’s perspective

In a quick motion, I quickly thrust my stone spear forward. My spear fires out in a flash but is quickly parried aside by the bronze shield. I quickly tuck my shield forward, placing it in front of me as I angled my body to the side, ensuring that the oval shield covered most of my body mass.

The goblin stood in a forward facing stance, extending his left leg forward and crouching slightly. He placed his bronze shield in front of him, with his spear facing upward. As he was crouching slightly, it would make it easier for him to thrust upward and potentially stab me in the eye. Of course, I knew exactly how this was going to go. I had this victory right in the damn bag.

With another deft thrust, I aimed for his foot. However, since I had to angle the spearhead downward, the precious second that it took for me to angle it downward. Managed to give him enough time to move out of the way, causing the spear to dig into the ground.

Of course, the goblin chieftain as a veteran warrior seized the opportunity and pounced towards me. In a flash, the bronze spear jammed into the thick hide of the shield. However, unlike what the goblin chieftain had most likely envisioned. The thick zebra hide shield failed to be penetrated by the spear, his own tribe's tanner had made the shields too strong. As I had braced myself for the blow, all the goblin chieftain could do was recoil and fall back from the force being reflected right back at him.

My sturdy self was like a wall, standing rigidly against the onslaught of a rat. All the rat could do, was hit it in vain and fall back. Nothing more than a rat that couldn’t comprehend how weak it was and it’s position in the hierarchy, in the grand scheme of things.

I deftly pull out my spear, slinging it to the ground in a quick motion. But to the rat’s credit, he avoided the blow, shifting his legs out of the way. But still, he crawled across the ground like one.

“Crawling on the ground, just like a fucking rat!”

I grin, baring my teeth. The goblin seemed to have been irritated by my comment, a scowling look of anger appeared on his face. He quickly got back into his crouching stance, the spear poised upwards to me. He didn’t say anything but it was obvious, he was itching to kill me now.

A few ideas were being formulated through my head. Sure, as a gangster in my past life I didn’t have many opportunities to fight someone with spears. But sure, fighting with staffs or pipes would be close enough, right? I had some prior training and learnt some of the spear fighting techniques from watching the other orcs and my tutor fight as well.

Still though, I was most adept with the knife. Sure, I might be putting myself at a significant range disadvantage, but that was what needed to be done. I exhaled loudly, deciding to do something completely unexpected. As we were both staring each other down and slowly circling around each other, time seemed to stretch out.

It was like we were in this small patch of dirt for eternity, waiting for a weakness. Waiting for a gap in the armour, a small gap that would let me secure my victory. All of a sudden, a small gap appeared as the shield just dipped slightly below the nose line. Enough of a gap for me to do something about it.

Orc versus goblin in a battle of endurance? No matter what, sooner or later, the orc will win. That was the way they were designed, whether it be through evolution or Pandar or whatever god created the world.

I flung my spear forward, causing the goblin to flinch instinctively, driving the shield upward to block the spear blow. As he did so, he made the mistake of lifting his shield too high, creating a perfect opening for me to thrust into. I dash forward, slamming my oval shield and swinging it upward in contact with the spear. Using my weight and force, I forced the shield upward and sent the goblin tumbling down to the ground. I lost my spear, but now, I had the advantage.

In a flurry, I slammed my shield downward onto him, leaning onto him like a riot police officer. When I was a gangster and saw clips of riot police in Japan suppressing criminal elements. I watched and learnt how they fought. Apparently the japanese police department has their own martial art style, Taiho-jutsu, otherwise known as the Art of the Arrest.

By pressing down on someone with a tall shield, no matter in which direction the perpetrator moved, sooner or later, they would be hit by the right hand, the baton. But in this case, the dagger. But of course, no one had used or invented Taiho-Jutsu before. And that was exactly what I was gambling on, that the goblin would not know what to do in this situation and end up panicking.

The trap was sealed for the rat and it was over. As the goblin chieftain tried to escape and crawl out from under the shield. In a flash, I ripped out my dagger and jammed it into his eyeball, sinking it all the way back into the brain.

The deed was done, the goblin chieftain was dead. And I had cemented myself as a formidable rising warrior. As the sun began to rise higher in the sky, I let out a cry of triumph and rage, letting the world know that I was here.

Birds flew through the air, being startled by my declaration of victory. But the world shall know, that Simba, the great overlord of the greenskins and the leader of the greatest War Host in the world.

______

Gortholax’s perspective

It had been a long walk and haul back to the village. It was both a bittersweet occasion. Of course, there was a funeral held for Chaganath. His family was there and so was his wife and two children. One son and one daughter. It was a sad affair, eulogies were spoken and his body was given a sky burial.

He was placed on the cliff face where my son was anointed. Everyone stood in attendance and as the final words were spoken, all of us began to make the slow walk back towards the village. Of course, guards were stationed at the village but the majority of us had gone to attend this burial.

He was the second in command and had left behind a son and daughter, of course, as he was my best friend and my second in command, I have a duty to take care of his family. His son and daughter were like my own. Speaking of which, my own son.

I hadn’t let my son socialize with the other children much, even with Chaganath’s children. He was kept isolated and his main friends were his pet hyena and that goblin slave he seemed so fond of. At first I was wary of his interaction with the slave but the slave seemed to help enrich his life somehow, so I let it be. I could always kill the slave later if that proved to be false.

For now, I had to have a quick word with my son. He was always well, not really a sociable person. He kept to himself most of the time, which seemed odd. How would he be learning how to fight if he didn’t have anyone to spar with? He didn’t seem to spar much, just occasionally accepted challenges and challenged people in his age bracket. But besides that, he doesn’t seem to be getting much practice in.

I yawned loudly, shrugging my shoulders to ease a knot in the muscles. It was probably because he was the chosen one of Pandar after all. I grunt loudly, deciding to find my son in the crowd. After a couple of seconds, I manage to spot him, making my way towards him.

His head was held up high, many of his peers around him were making hushed whispers and noises of praise. After all, he was the only child that had managed to win metal in battle. He held a bronze spear and round shield, with his bronze cuirass and helmet upon his head. Sure, he would have to have the material melted down when he became older, but for now, the cuirass managed to fit around him, just about.

The straps had to be tightened and it didn’t fit too well, but the armour could be tightened and adjusted with aforementioned straps. However, he was the only orc of the tribe and this side of the Arnas river to wield steel. A steel short sword but in the hands of someone as young as him, it served as a one handed arming sword.

I walked up to his side, looking down at him. I’ve decided that he was more than mature enough to met and exceed my expectations. He looks at me with an annoyed look on his face

“What?”

“Son, I know you are only 4 years of age and most people only get this opportunity 3 or 4 years later. But you have proven yourself to be a formidable warrior and more than capable of handling yourself. How would you like to be in charge of your own boyhood war squad?”

The look of shock and surprise on my son's face was absolutely priceless.

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