As I entered the forest while trying to formulate a plan I couldn't help but notice that unlike the forest near the town of Ingracia this one's has a lower tree density. This one's trees are separated by a few meters, giving off a pine forest kind of vibe, except there are no pines here. Because of this quite a bit of light manages to pass through the leaves providing the needed energy for the grass to grow. Walking is a little difficult because of this as the grass has grown to a height of just below my knees. I must admit it's a pretty scenery since there are also thin vines growing off the trees' branches making a sort of vail.

While admiring my surroundings I had let my guard down for too long and before I knew it I had walked in front of two orcs. Well time to work, I thought not realizing my mistake. The thing is, behind this pair of orcs was a wooden and gate and past it an orc settlement. As soon as the orcs spotted me one took out a horn and used it, presumably to call its allies. After hearing the sound, I finally managed to perceive the situation I was in. Without a second thought, I turned around and began running. To my dismay, I had taken too long to do so and a group of orcs appeared from the forest, presumably just arriving from their patrol or hunt.

Right now I was against five orcs, three in front and two behind with more on their way. I knew I had to get the hell out of this place. Yes, I had grown stronger, and yes I can heal like that Pooldead, character from Narvel comics but that doesn't make me invincible! If I run out of mana am dead, if I get knocked out am dead. If I am lucky only ten or so orcs live in that place, otherwise twice that amount and if I am really unlucky maybe even fifty or more! In an instant I began pumping mana from my core to the rest of my body, I don't need to kill them, just dodge and run. With a poorly made plan, I began running while unsheathing my ever so trusty weapons. Dodging one of the orcs' club swings by ducking I swung Naru severing its leg. Not stopping I used the chance to run for it, only to get hit in the back by another swing of the same orc! The damned thing swung its weapon again while falling disregarding its missing leg!

Flying some distance before crashing into a tree only one thought crossed my mind, it hurts! My spine had been shattered and so I was rendered immobile until it healed back up. Knowing that staying still would make me an even easier target I began pumping as much mana as my core would allow into healing. In an instant, all my injuries including broken bones were gone. Not wasting a single second I stood up only to realize the number of orcs heading my way had doubled minus the one with a severed leg. Thankfully there were none on my scape root and so, see ya later losers!

A few hours have gone by since that event and I am still on the run. Why? You may ask, simple really, those damned pigs are persistent not to mention their sense of smell is really good! Every single time I have stopped to catch my breath soon after I can hear their loud footsteps closing in on my position. However, after this prolonged game of tag, I have managed to shake them off, I think. Well, guess what, I was wrong, moreover it seems the orcs began using their brains as they approached me while trying to reduce the sound their steps make to the minimum. I was caught off guard by a boulder smashing into my shoulder. Now, when I say a boulder I mean it, the frisking rock was the size of my torso, moreover, it was thrown at a high speed, so much so that my shoulder pretty much exploded.

I won't say I was calm at that moment but I wasn't angry either, I was completely and utterly enraged. An hour, a whole f*cking hour. Were these guys related to the horned rabbits!? Why are they so insistent! I had enough. Turning towards the boulder I decided to pay them with the same coin. Picking it up with ease I launched it at the nearest orc I could spot. With some difficulty, the orc managed to stop it with its massive hands, not like it mattered anyway as I had dashed next to it. In a clean motion of my left arm, Pyrka beheaded the pig. Keeping the momentum, I roundhouse kicked the head towards another orc. Soon enough, the orcs began retaliating, pumping more mana out I dodged and blocked the attacks while cutting legs and arms, sometimes heads too. Sometimes a lucky orc would get a hit in only to have its chest cut open or cave-in from a kick. It didn't take long for the blood bath to finish.

Breathing heavily, I sat on a tree's roots. Looking around me I could see pools of blood everywhere and I wasn't any better. After a while of calming down, I began inspecting myself. This fight had taken its toll on me as the pulsing sensation of mana coming from my core was quite weak. It would take a day, maybe two to refill my core naturally. With a sigh I took out a magic tool, this tool's purpose is quite simple yet useful. By infusing mana into it, the tool can do one of two things; first work as a compass, second you can save the location you were at and have it point towards it later. Dan, Lizz and George recommended it to me, well, most adventurers have one anyway. Mine could save up a total of two locations. Some really advanced once could save up to a hundred!

Reorganizing my thoughts and wiping away the blood with whatever I could, I took out a piece of rope from my backpack. Yes, I am planning of dragging at least three of this corpses back to the village, I refuse to let all this gourmet-quality meat rot here. Taking my time to tie up the three least butchered orcs I began to hum a tune. I also took the heads of the rest with me, for subjugation confirmation, heh that rimes.

Not long after starting my journey back, I began regretting my stubbornness. These orcs are heavy! Imagine a two-meter-tall and fat man with the face of a pig, that's an orc. Now imagine trying to drag three of those for a few kilometres! My muscles keep protesting at the abuse I am putting them through but hang in there, this meat will be worth it! After three hours of dragging the forest finally came to an end. Looking at the village I felt like crying tears of joy as a rush of energy took over my body. Not long after I was at the village's gate with three tied up orc corpses and six orc heads in a sack.

Asking for help from the guards, it didn't take long for the orcs to be delivered to where I wanted. Of course, I promised the helping guards a serving of orc meat too. The place I had the orcs delivered was the old ladies place. Why you may ask? and the answer is quite simple, the old lady is a great cook! I will give her all three orcs for free as long as she cooks some for me. After receiving the old lady's thanks, I took the three orcs' heads for a total of nine heads for delivery to the guild.

"excuse me, I managed to kill nine orcs, but there was a whole settlement of the damned things. The quest only said three so I don't know what to do"

I said while placing the sack filled to the brim with heads on the counter. I wasn't lying either, I didn't know what to do from here. Yes, I had killed nine orcs, so the quest to kill three could be considered done but there were more out there. This quest purpose was to get rid of the orcs that were causing trouble to the village, so even though nine were gone, there were a bunch more that would continue to cause trouble.

"Wait is that true! This is bad, this is really bad, I need to contact the branch at Ingracia for an emergency subjugation request. Thank you for your help and the information, here is the reward and I would like for you to deliver the request to the Association's branch in Ingracia"

She was panicking, that much was obvious as all of that had been said in a single breath. Soon after that, a pouch with coins was pushed towards me. She also took out a piece of paper, ink and quill. With swift movements the request had been written alongside a report, this too was pushed my way. Curious I asked if I could read its contents to which I was given the green light. The longer I read the more I could feel my heart tighten. People had gone missing recently. This fact alongside the appearance of an orc settlement made things a whole lot worse. Orcs enjoy the meat of the eight races, not to mention they can use the females for reproduction. Orcs have two ways of reproducing, the first is through a sow-mother, while the second I just told you about. Sow-mothers are rare as there is only a one percent chance for one to be birthed from the impregnation of someone from the eight races and only a tenth of that from another sow-mother.

I could feel my hand tighten around the papers as I kept reading. In them was a list of those who had gone missing. If they had been taken by the orcs, then all the males would be a pile of bones by now while the females would suffer a fate worse than death. Now I understand why the orcs were chasing me with such zeal. As I kept reading my anger kept growing, most of the people who had gone missing where young, and some of the girls were barely above ten. Knowing what would happen to them I couldn't keep my emotions in check. With a frustrated scream, I punched the wall next to me, breaking the wooden boards, sending splinters everywhere. Looking at the receptionist I only spoke I few words.

"I won't need to take this to the branch at Ingracia. Those pigs will die by my hand, today"