“Sir, this is it. That is Rumen Village. You can go the rest of the way on foot yourselves because I'm not getting closer,” The driver said pointing at the village.

"No problem, thanks for taking us this far," Izoke replied.

They all got out of the carriage and Izoke gave 100 silver coins to the man.

“good luck on your quest," The driver said to Izoke as he turned the carriage around and headed back the direction they had come from.

“Thank you”

Izoke and the rest of the party headed towards the sounds of roars and growls. They all had their weapons out already except Izoke. Some were even preparing to cast spells. A few villagers ran screaming out from the town in their direction.

"Help us! Please save my baby," Screamed one woman who ushered a small child ahead of her. Her leg was injured and bloody. Since the child was small otherwise she would have carried it in her arms as she ran. The child was crying and worried about its mother so he was not moving far ahead of her.

An image overlapped in Izoke's mind of his own mother. An image he didn't want to remember, one of his mother staying behind to give him a chance to live. A memory of a moment where the cowardice of his own made him leave her behind. A part of himself that he hated and he hopes to one day overcome.

Izoke's mind filled with a rage almost forgotten and his new weapon called itself into his hand. Seeing the sudden appearance of such a powerful and sinister blade his other party members were surprised.

“Wow, when did you get that sword? Where did it come from? Why haven’t we seen that sword in your presence?” Yuuto asked.

"It was looted from the dragon. It is cursed and soulbound to me not that I'm certain what that means but we don't have time to discuss this further," Izoke hurriedly replied.

"Damn man soulbound weapons are rare, you are so lucky," Kazuo exclaimed with envy.

Izoke went forwards placing himself between the woman/child and the village. He would not let the beast harm them. Glancing back at the mother and child he asked, "What's going on here?"

“The Orc is destroying the village and it killed many of our family and neighbors.” The injured mother said hurriedly between panting breaths. She then picked up her child and hobbled away as fast as she could manage.

Seeing such a tragic scene Izoke said, “Let’s go to the village, we should hurry up now.”

“let’s go” All three players nodded.

Entering the village they searched for the monster. It had seemingly disappeared after decimating the place. The monster suddenly burst out of one of the few seemingly intact houses. right in front of them and lazily turned its head towards the newcomers. The massive gorilla-like tusked creature was chewing something in its mouth. The beast had to be at least 20 square meters in size! Izoke didn't take much note of the size of the creature. What bothered him was the gore in its mouth. focusing on it's he made out the shape of what was hanging out. Between one of the monster's teeth and tusks was a small child's arm. Its mouth was gooey with red grime.

Something snapped in Izoke's head, "[email protected] you! You green son of a [email protected]!" He shouted.

Izoke rushed the massive creature and his katana glowed darker than ever. It was like he had the fury of a scruffy house cat pitted against a gigantic tiger. Yet the old house cat refused to yield no matter how outclassed it was. The Orc swung its carriage size fist at him in a soaring backhand swing.

Izoke barely dodged the strike but was pushed back by the mere air pressure from its strike.

Yuuto swung his rusty sword creating a wind blade attack while Kazuo also cast a fireball spell from his mage staff. All their attacks didn't even faze the Orc and Haruki cast an unnecessary heal on Izoke just in case he'd been injured.

The Orc grabbed a nearby rock and launched it at them. The boulders were bigger than Izoke and most of his party put together. Izoke was able to easily dodge but Kazuo was clipped by one of the sailing boulders while casting a spell. Haruki focused her healing on him but was slowed down by her own boulder dodging. Once the orc was out of rocks to throw Izoke tried to rush it but the beast jumped high into the air.

"Oh, SHI-," Izoke exclaimed in realization while distancing himself hurriedly. The orc slammed down into the ground causing a small earthquake and flinging dirt everywhere.

Kazuo started chanting another spell “Oh Holy Saint, Give me the power of Fire!”

A volley of fireballs blasted towards the Orc but as soon as it was going to hit the Orc dodged. Yuuto took this opportunity the slash the backside of the orcs knee. The attack barely even scratched the mild weak spot. The orc swatted Yuuto like he was a fly and that impact tossed him yards away. Yuuto was stopped by the wall of the house. The explosive impact was so bad that it took almost all his hit points and Yuuto almost died from it. Haruki cast healing on Yuuto but he had a Knocked out status debuff and a concussion debuff that she couldn't remove. This turn of events terrified the three remaining conscious party members. Two of whom were trembling in their fear. Izoke was afraid but something was different this time. He acknowledged his fear but refused to be overcome by it! He realized courage isn't not being afraid it's having learned to fight even when you are afraid.

There was a second thought that occurred to Izoke: that even if he couldn't beat this creature he'd have his revenge.

“Kazuo, Hit the eye of the Orc,” Izoke yelled commandingly.

Kazuo snapped out of his fear status and chanted a spell. A bright bolt of light assaulted the orcs eye. A weak attack but next to impossible to block targeted at the eye. The creature was blinded now in one eye and in immense pain. It started to scream flailing all over the place and Izoke was certain it wouldn't be able to block his path this time.

Izoke activated his “Holy sword skill” and a Black aura was coming from within the sword. Izoke slashed the Orc right where Yuuto had before on the orc's leg. Using the already existing penetration Izokes sword met little resistance. The beast fell as it lost its leg below the knee. By losing one leg the Orc slammed onto the ground. It, however, managed to hit Izoke with its right hand. Izoke was fortunately not flung into the air. He managed to slow his velocity by stabbing his sword into the ground. using the friction to forcefully slow down before he impacted a tree or something. His Hp points were only decreased to 25% due to his significantly higher level than the rest of his party. Seeing Izoke still alive Haruki ran toward Izoke to heal him. In order to heal someone, The healer must be within 2 meters.

“Haruki, Don’t come closer it's dangerous,” Izoke shouted.