Chương 37: Serious Settlement

With the sun on my face, I walk through the massive cavern to the wooden enclosure where I heard orcs before. A minute in, the appreciation for my new tendons renews itself. If I walk like I did before, it almost feels like a struggle to keep myself on the ground. My legs want me to bounce. So I listen to them. Bursting into a sprint, I compress my next step, crouching into a lunge. As I leap, wind rushes through my hair. After launching a foot up and a dozen forward, I crash, sprawling onto the stone.

"Hahaha!" Grinning widely, I push myself up and try again. This movement feels alien, not like a spring or hydraulic system. It's hard to explain the way my muscles contract, then extend so violently. I spring off once again, flying through the air into an unsteady landing, but I don't fall. A little practice is all it takes before I can connect a landing into a second leap. Man, these tendons are powerful. My proficiency rises constantly. The pitiful stride of four feet from jogging before transforms into twelve.

Every push, I feel confident about going even further. The poor metal armor on my legs groans, with plates grinding against each other. It was not made for this level of movement. I giggle like a child as each landing sends me farther. From twelve feet to fourteen. Seventeen. Nineteen. My mind brings me back to my childhood, watching astronauts awkwardly hopping around in the low gravity. When I hit the ground again, both feet slam down instead of one. All of my strength explodes into one massive leap.

The ground beneath me vanishes. The air deafens me. I'm not jumping anymore. I'm flying. A scream of joy tears from my lungs as I soar through the air. For the next few seconds, my existence is pure bliss. But all good things must come to an end. The arc starts to dip. Panic shoots through me, and I flail my arms. My screams of joy turn into fear. I land on my shoulder and tumble onto the ground. My shoulder attempts to dislocate itself, but a number of new muscles, tendons, and ligaments force it back into place.

After I stop rolling, I collapse onto my back, panting lightly. The blue screen expands above me. [Health: 610(565)] Really? Only three health lost from that height? Having no repercussions of pain is starting to make me a little reckless. I really need to find some leather armor for my legs. Whoever made them probably didn't expect the wearer to be trying for a record in the Olympic long jump. Climbing to my feet, I continue with a more casual stride. Before I take the next step, my gaze snaps into the distance.

With increased perception, the 'maybe' castle has become a 'certainly' castle. It strikes an imposing figure, with a colossal wall surrounding the entire thing. Behind it, is the sheer cavern wall similar to the one that surrounds my homeroom. Made of a dark grey palette, the castle stands out compared to the light grey cobblestone that takes up every inch of the landscape. Several large, thick towers jut out of several places within the walls. In the center, a spire straight out of medieval Europe stands proud.

I've seen pictures online, and this is incomparable to those. Castles on earth only grew to three stories, with the larger ones reaching four or five. The one in the distance seems as tall as a skyscraper. Must be the final zone of the area. How am I supposed to assault something like that? The change in space is jarring. The tutorial zone started at a four-minute walk through all the rooms. The free roam area extended that to a solid 20 minutes. The open-world section eclipses that by a lot.

It's hard to gauge distances well with my new perception, but the entire area seems about twelve by fifty miles in total. If I clear enough of it, I'll have to move my home base up, just so I don't have to walk for a few hours every day to fight. Then again, my time to run a mile in high school was eight minutes. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I'm sure I could blast that out of the water with my current pace.

The twenty-five minute walk to the wall now takes only six. Arriving, I do another lap around the settlement. Nothing has changed, and I wonder how I want to go about this. Could always just knock on the front gate. I'm sure someone would answer. Or maybe they'll look over the wall, call all of the archers, and turn me into a pincushion. After a few minutes of thinking, I make a decision.

"Kevin, avoid or block-" Crap, I don't have anything to block with anymore. After a deep breath, I start over.

"Kevin, avoid all attacks, don't feel pain, focus on the fight, and attack as hard as possible without losing health. Also, jump as high as possible without losing health." I step back, putting the shaft of the spear in my mouth as balanced as possible. With a running start, I push off with both legs into a leap. My arms extend to grab onto the top of the twelve foot wall. But I don't stop. The momentum continues as I pass the climax and keep going upward. My eye widens. The command forces me to scan the inside.

Six huts made of sticks, poorly tied together, sit spaced evenly in a circle. A seventh hut made of thicker and layered logs sits at the far end, interrupting the design. Like the goblin camp, a bonfire crackles powerfully in the center of the enclosure. A group of eight orcs sits around the fire, speaking their grunt-heavy language. On the opposite side of the fire, one orc picks its head up and looks at me, confused. Then, my body crashes to the ground.

I try to land in a perfect roll, but I've never attempted the move before. A grunt forces itself from my mouth as I awkwardly sprawl against the stone. The spear clatters away. Quickly, I jump to my feet and sprint to the spear, snatching it off the ground. All the orcs stare in confusion, paused mid-movement. The settlement goes quiet as I hold my spear at the ready, all the occupants watching me dumbfounded. I feel like the teacher just called my name in class while I was on my phone.

The silence only lasts for a few seconds before all of them jump to their feet, drawing maces from their sides and shoulders. The weapon theme of the settlement becomes apparent. A blue screen expands in front of me as I rapid-fire identify. [Orc lv. 13] [Highest stat: Strength] [Lowest stat: Wisdom] [Orc lv. 14] [Highest stat: Strength] [Lowest stat: Wisdom] [Orc lv. 13] [Highest stat: Strength] [Lowest stat: Wisdom] [Orc lv. 13] [Highest stat: Strength] [Lowest stat: Wisdom] That's new.

My identify skill didn't even level up. What's the deal here? Why is there more information? The orcs break into a run as they lock onto my position. I identify the rest, but it doesn't offer me anything different. Just as I stop looking at it, the blue screen collapses and disappears. The first orc lunges, pulling its mace backward. In a flicker, my arm jerks forward and drives the spear into its neck before jerking back. A tiny chunk of flesh goes flying alongside a splatter of blood.

It doesn't stop the orc as the top of my head tingles with danger sense. I slip to the side as the mace swings through where I just was. The orc stumbles and flips around, annoyance stained on its face. All of the orcs stop running and stare at their companion. The injured orc stops at their gazes and looks at them, confused. It follows their gazes and looks down. From the giant carved groove of flesh, blood gushes out in a waterfall, trailing down its body and forming a puddle on the ground.

Anger grows on its face as it turns back to me. It only takes two steps before collapsing. After the spectacle finishes, my legs bend, and I'm catapulted toward another orc. The spear jerks forward again, piercing deep into another orc's stomach. To my surprise, the spear doesn't stop, bursting out through its back Full of resolve, the orc swings its mace down. The spear rips free with a splatter of blood as I dash backwards. Instead of hesitation, the next orc rushes at me without fear. Damn!

Don't these things get scared!? And why aren't they calling for help? I already made up my mind to jump the wall again if reinforcements were called, but the orcs don't seem to see that as an option. With a curve, I dodge another strike before stabbing out again. The spear enters through the eye of the orc. Satisfaction fills me at the morbid sight. The head of the spear shatters bone behind the eye with a cracking sound emanating from the shaft. On hitting the back of the skull, the spear snaps.

My hand pulls back, but only the bottom half of the spear returns with it. For the first time, my gaze shifts and notices that all of the other orcs stand with weapons out, but don't approach. Chime Chime Right as the orc falls, the next steps up, eager to brawl. What's going on here? Is this some type of honor-based fighting? A bit of tension leaves my shoulders as I realize they aren't going to surround and bully me. I toss the broken haft to the side and crack my knuckles with a smile.

My fingers don't pop at all from the movement. Huh? What happened to my crackle? The orcs roar with giant grins. The orc walking up to me mirrors my actions, tossing its mace to the side and balling its hands into fists.

"So it's like that, huh?" That suits me just fine. Both of us square up and walk toward each other. My hands are up in a poor imitation of a boxer's stance, while the orc holds his elbows to his waist. We stand six feet apart, with the orc outsizing me by a head and a couple hundred pounds. A few seconds pass as we stare into each other's eyes. Well, it looks into my only eye. Taking a long step, the orc throws a right hook.

With mechanical efficiency, my body curves around, and a counter slams into the orc's stomach. Abs tense, but the blow sends reverberations through the fat. The orc grunts and stumbles back, falling to one knee. A second later, it spits a small splatter of bile. Chime"Sorry pal, I have legendary stats backing me." I give a weak smirk before pulling my arm back. The orc tries to stand, but my fist crashes into its head and sends it crashing to the stone.

In one swift movement, I lift my foot up and hold it over its head. Someone clears their throat behind me. I put my foot back down and turn. Instead of the five orcs, there is now a group of nine, with a larger orc standing in the middle. It wears a white fur shawl and is another head taller than the orcs around it. On its shoulder is a massive handle sticking into the air, with the spherical head of a mace peeking out from behind its hip. [(II) Charged Orc lv. 11] [Highest stat: Intelligence]