Sven pointed to the thing I was holding in my hand. It was the sign of friendship given by Gorba, a shiny bone fragment with a blood tooth pattern on it. The thing I was currently holding in my hand was the orcam Sven had mentioned. I had almost given it to Pono. Sven continued, âThat is certainly the orcram. From what I remember, the boy from the south has it. Their name wasâŠâ
âGorba.â
âYes, Gor⊠how do you know this? Did you kill him? Chwiiik!â Sven glanced at me with suspicious eyes.
I waved my hands to calm him down. âCalm down. I can say that Iâm friends with him.â
âFriend?â
âYes. I once saved Gorbaâs life. He thanked me and gave me this as a sign of friendship.â
âThe orcram? Do you know what that means? It is made from the blood and bones of Mudur, the first emperor of us orcs.â
âI know. He explained it to me. Then he said this as he gave it to meââ
I remembered Gorbaâs words and repeated them. âThe orcram system is a bad habit that promotes division among the otcs.â
âBad habit⊠maybe this is the case. However, us frost orcs have continued this bad habit for generations. Iâm also one of them. Guruk.â
Suddenly, Sven became serious and created a tense atmosphere. His shoulders, which had been drooping with age, rose, and it suddenly seemed like I was facing a huge wall. This againâŠ
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â has an ominous feeling.]
Damn.
Sven stepped forward and approached me. âDo you know this?â
âWhat?â
âYour orcram symbolizes the chieftainâs identity.â
ââŠIâve heard that before.â
âIn accordance with the orcram traditions, we will apply for a duel with you.â
* * *
After a while, I stood in the most central location of the town. The surroundings were full of tombs and the frost orcs surrounded me while beating on their chests.
âWhoo! Whoo!â
âOrcram duel! Chwiik.â
âFor the glory of Mudur!â
They roared like this was a sacred ceremony. I couldnât help smiling because their actions were the same as the Blue Tooth orcs I met in the south. Kim Sujeong approached from next to me. âWill it be okay?â
âPerhaps.â
âWill you have to fight with all the orcs here?â
ââŠPerhaps.â
According to Sven, the orcram duel occurred when a new person with the chieftain orcram appeared. He had to fight a duel until all the orcs acknowledged him. It was said that an orc could only be recognized as a chieftain once all the orcs were convinced.
This Gorba bastard. He shouldâve told me this. In fact, I couldâve given the ocram to Sven and avoided a duel. However, it was a symbol of friendship. It was a bit too much to have it taken away. Most of all, I was concerned about what Sven had made a condition of the duel.
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â says that you must win and find the mother emperor penguin.]
âI know that as well.â
He told me that if I won the duel, he would tell me where the mother penguin was. I asked how he knew we were looking for the emperor penguin and he said he knew when he saw Pono. A few days ago, the mother had come here so Sven knew where she was. The moment I heard this, I realized that I couldnât avoid a confrontation.
[The firefly star, âCamille,â is wishing you good luck.]
[The fist star, âRaitra,â is looking forward to a hot duel.]
âYes, I will do my best.â
At the same time, Svenâs voice could be heard, âThe orcram duel is going to start!â
Tung! Tung! Tung!
The muscular orcs banged on a drum and the surrounding frost orcs stomped their feet. A vibration spread like an earthquake had occurred. Their serious expression made us gulp. Gyeonso Dragon opened his mouth, âIt is a huge pressure.â
âYes. I didnât know it would be this much.â
I looked back and saw Drain sitting on the ground in a frightened manner. His side was guarded by Cer and I could see Pono searching his bag to steal Drainâs needles. I entrusted Drain to the two people and walked to the middle of the empty stand. There was a moment of silence and the orcâs feet stopped.
âWho will fight against that man?â Svenâs voice rang out like an echo. His voice sliced through the air and the orcs were silent.
The wind blew and only silence filled the area here. Perhaps after seeing my strength once, no one could easily come forward. Due to this, none of them accepted the duel. Once the weak were afraid, they couldnât easily show their teeth to the strong.
âIs there no one? Are there only cowards in our frost orc tribe?!â Svenâs roar sounded like he was scolding the orcs.
In fact, I had been a bit surprised when he said that he was the chieftain but now he looked like one. However, as before, no one stepped forward. He was more charismatic than I had thought. Well, I didnât think anyone would come forward so it would be over soon. Now I just needed to know the location of the mother penguin andâŠ
âI will go!â
The voice was heard from the right side. One of the tallest orcs among the frost orcs walked in front of me. I was flustered since he was taller than I thought.
âWhy are you so tall? Are you a power pole?â
I thought that such a height was comparable to Gorba. Of course, Gorba was a bit bigger.
âMy name is Karsh! Reveal your name!â
âYou bad guy. Call me Elder!â
âOkay! Elder! Take my greatsword!â
Karsh rushed over. He was a strong guy and he moved quickly compared to the size of his body. Although he could be easily suppressed by Raitraâs blue lightning, unfortunately there was a rule that only the power of the body could be used in an orcram duel. If I used something that was considered magic then I would be disqualified. Nevertheless, this didnât mean it was impossible.
[Apostle Skill: Keen Insight has been used.]
I didnât know how long it had been since I used this skill. In fact, it was a skill that became less useful once I gained Raitraâs power but it was useful in the current situation. I dodged his greatsword and wondered, âIs that it? Isnât it too slow?â
âKuock. Then what about this?â
Karsh spun around with his greatsword. It was like a spinning top.
âDie! The chieftain orcram will be mine! Kuhahaha!â
A biting guest of wind blew through the cold wind. However, the wind he created wasnât on his side.
[Apostle Skill: Insight has been used.]
Insight was used and Karshâs information was revealed in front of me. I got rid of the miscellaneous things and only read the core content. His weakness was his legs. In my eyes, his weakness was the legs that were supporting the rotation of his body. The question was whether I had enough strength to hit those legs but I wasnât worried. I had said something in advance to those who were in the Star Coffee House.
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â is giving you the apostleâs buff.]
[All stats are increased by 20% for 30 minutes.]
It had started.
[The fist star, âRaitra,â is granting the constellationâs buff.]
[All stats are increased by 10% for 30 minutes.]
[The firefly star, âCamille,â is granting the constellationâs buff.]
[All stats are increased by 10% for 30 minutes.]
In fact, constellations could also buff their Starâs Beloved. It wasnât used because it wasnât as efficient and consumed a lot of star spirit. Of course, it was only half as efficient as the apostleâs buff but this was enough. I felt the muscles all over my body pumping. The feeling of fullness was beyond words. However, this wasnât enough.
âNot yet. I need more strength.â
I didnât think this was enough. It wasnât enough to instill fear into these frost orcs. Now I needed overlapping buffs. A lot of star spirit would need to be consumed but it couldnât be helped in the current situation. It was more important to win here without wasting half a day so they would understand. If I didnât do this, that damn tundra dragon would act.
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â is giving you the apostleâs buff.]
[The fist star, âRaitra,â is granting the constellationâs buff.]
[The firefly star, âCamille,â is granting the constellationâs buff.]
âŠ
âŠ
[All stats have increased by 80%.]
[All stats have increased by 120%.]
[All stats have increased by 160%âŠ]
Countless numbers rose while the muscles of my body shook. Once it finally reached 200%, I faced a message.
[All your stats have reached the limit.]
[To break the limit, you need to reach level 200.]
At the same time, I flew toward Karsh. There was a huge shock and the ground trembled. An endless power rose inside my body. I dodged his greatsword using Keen Insight and kicked Karshâs ankle. There was a terrible sound of breaking bones.
âKuaaack!â Karsh screamed and turned in the air at the same time. The sight of a giant spinning from a single kick was a great shock to the frost orcs. The same went for my group watching from behind.
âDoes this make sense?â
âBrother is truly strong.â
âGot dem! BAAAAM!!â
The mouths of all the frost orcs dropped open. They seemed to find it hard to acknowledge that humans were stronger than them. I called out to Kim Sujeong behind me, âSujeong, Iâd like to ask you to treat him.â
âAh, yes!â
She hurried to heal Garsh while I stepped forward, meeting the frost orcsâ eyes.
âNext.â
* * *
âKuaack! I surrender! I surrender!â
The last frost orc surrendered when his arms were twisted. In fact, I thought they would be scared if Karsh was defeated in an overwhelming manner. This was my mistake. On the contrary, the too overwhelming force aroused their desire to win. Of course, there was someone who could heal them. If this wasnât the case, I wondered if they would be fighting like this. Damn. It was so hard I was going to die.
âSigh. Any moreâŠ?â
Looking around, there were no more. I could only smile while showing my white teeth.
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â is saying that you did a good job.]
[The firefly star, âCamille,â is paying tribute to your efforts.]
[The fist star, âRaitra,â is admiring your skills.]
It was nothing.
By the way, that Raitra must be excited. He couldnât watch without wanting to fight.
[The fist star, âRaitra,â wants to fight you someday.]
âWhatâŠ? I donât want to. This damn guy.â
[The fist star, âRaitra,â is telling you to wait and see.]
âDamn. Sure thing. Itâs been a long time since Iâve had such a hard time. Ouch. My waist.â
I approached my group while pounding on my waist. Gyeonso Dragon came over to me. âAs expected, my eyes arenât wrong. Brother, I truly admire your skills.â
âUgh, do you still want to fight me?â
âYes, I want to fight you even more now.â
âYou are a strange guy.â
âI will take that as praise.â
âRotten guy. Keke.â
I turned my head and saw Kim Sujeong treating the arm of the last frost orc. I hadnât twisted the arm that much so it wouldnât take long. Then Svenâs voice was heard from behind me. âWhere are you going? It isnât over yet.â
âHmm?â
The words made my hair stand up. There was still a challenger left? Donât tell meâŠ? âAre you going to fight?â
Sven laughed. âHuhu⊠I donât like to fight with my body. By the way, you have a very good body.â
[The first apostle, âPrometheus,â is detecting something sinister from Sven.]
Damn. It was ominous, ominous.
Sven licked his lips as he scanned my body with greedy eyes. I shuddered unknowingly at the sight of him. Was this guy a pervert?
Sven stopped smiling. âAll frost orcs, listen up!â
At his words, all the frost orcs started to stomp their feet. I was overwhelmed by the sheer force.
Thump! Thump!
âAre there any more challengers?â
ââŠâŠâ
Stillness flowed in the snowstorm. Sven stared at them with a stern expression and turned his head toward me. âPerson of distinction, welcome.â