Chapter 10

# 10

(1) Honor.

It was one of the values that the orcs, known for their brutish and reckless nature, surprisingly held in the highest regard.

Warriors, in particular, took great pride in dying honorably in battle against a strong opponent. This was why they could charge at their enemies without fear of death.

This was precisely why Lokan deliberately revealed himself to them and provoked them with inflammatory words.

The effect was immediate. The orc warriors, who had been sitting on the ground and cleaning their weapons, gathered in front of him.

“Sniff, sniff, a human who understands honor, this is the first time.”

“Human, fight me.”

If he didn’t fight, they seemed ready to harm him, but Lokan knew that despite their simplicity, they were surprisingly pure. No one would attack him until he chose one to fight.

‘Alright.’

Lokan smiled inwardly at their reaction. The title he aimed for was ‘Caught an Orc Warrior at Level 1.’

One of the hidden titles in The Lord.

After the first class change, if you defeat a monster of a certain level as your first prey, you earn the title ‘Caught ○○ at Level 1.’

It’s a difficult title to obtain as you must hunt alone, but it provides significant additional stats depending on the type of monster, making it very helpful if you can get it.

That’s why Lokan chose the orc warrior. He remembered that in his previous life, someone had received a title that greatly increased their strength and stamina stats by defeating an orc at level 1.

Of course, an orc warrior is different from a regular orc. The weakest orc warrior is around level 45, and most are powerful at level 50.

But Lokan was confident he could win. Despite the significant difference in equipment, he believed his control skills were enough to defeat them.

That’s why he spent all his money to be escorted here. To avoid fighting any monsters until he met an orc warrior, to maintain his level 1 status.

The training he had undergone, which had made him fall behind others, was now proving to be a significant advantage.

“Who among you is the strongest!”

Lokan provoked them again. Bring me the strongest. He hoped this might bring out a ‘named’ orc.

This one sentence caused another commotion.

“Squeak, it’s me!”

“No, it’s me!”

“I’m the strongest, let’s fight!”

“Crash! Let’s settle this now!”

Some of them even started fighting each other, forgetting about Lokan.

‘This could go on forever.’

It was a clear mistake. He should have just picked one of them. Underestimating their simplicity, Lokan had to wait a long time, rubbing his aching forehead.

Then, the atmosphere changed.

“Everyone, be quiet.”

‘Why are you here?’

The one and only existence above them appeared.

The Orc Warrior!

The strongest in the orc camp, reaching level 70!

He should have been in a more distant dwelling, but he appeared here.

“You’re an interesting human. How about we play?”

‘Crazy...’

Even for Lokan, the orc warrior was intimidating. Besides, he only had a single axe.

The orc warrior, though at a high level, had not yet undergone the second class change, but the orc champion would have all the equipment and skills of a second-class change.

At that moment, an unexpected savior appeared. The surrounding orcs began to protest.

“Squeak, Chief! That one is ours.”

“Right, the Chief is too strong.”

Their resistance was passive, but fortunately, the orc champion looked at them and Lokan with interest.

“Squeak, alright. You must prove your worth first. Good, let Galo fight him.”

“Alright. Human, fight me.”

When the orc champion pointed to one, the other orc warriors fell silent. Though disappointed, they had no intention of challenging his strength and authority.

‘Good.’

Lokan breathed a sigh of relief. This way, he would at least get the title he wanted.

Of course, he would likely be killed by the orc champion afterward.

‘We’ll see about that, you little brat.’

Though frustrated, Lokan clenched his teeth, vowing to make the next visit count, and tightly gripped the woodcutter’s single-bladed axe.

“Squeak, this is an honorable warrior’s fight. No one interfere.”

The orc champion’s command was given, and Galo, the orc warrior, stepped forward. The other orcs surrounded them, forming a natural one-on-one arena.

‘I’ll finish this quickly.’

Just before the fight began, Lokan invested all his saved stat points. The distribution was 2:1:1 for strength, stamina, and toughness.

Coincidentally, his opponent’s weapon was the same as his, an axe.

Of course, it was a much better ‘Orc Battle Axe,’ but Lokan was confident. No matter how good the equipment, an axe is still an axe.

Moreover, the orcs, who took pride in their muscles, didn’t wear much cumbersome armor.

“Hahahaha!”

No one rang a starting bell, but Lokan naturally took the initiative.

His war cry, with a demonic face, slightly startled Galo and the other orc warriors. However, the level difference was too great. Instead, Galo’s roar cut through the air, reducing Lokan’s stats.

Despite this, the first clash was a direct confrontation.

“Is that all you’ve got!”

Surprisingly, Lokan gained the upper hand in the first clash.

Despite the stat reduction from Galo’s battle cry and the equipment disparity, he pushed Galo back several steps with sheer strength. He then immediately followed up, not giving him a chance to regain his stance.

“Dash! Strike!”

This time, he even used a skill. Galo, caught off guard by the more powerful blow, tried to stand up but could only block with his body.

Clang!

Lokan had intended to cut his neck in one go, but at the last moment, Galo twisted his body. The axe hit his breastplate, sparks flew, and the blade dulled.

Each time Lokan swung his axe, his Axe Mastery proficiency increased rapidly.

His axe swings were perfect, but with a maximum increase of 0.3% per hit, the proficiency gain was slow. Still, it quickly surpassed 10%.

Thanks to Galo using the large, sharp battle axe only for defense, Lokan was able to increase his proficiency as if hitting a punching bag.

“Axe Crush!”

Galo’s counterattack was fierce, but Lokan didn’t give him any openings. He kept hitting him, and when Galo used a powerful skill, Lokan dodged without hesitation.

The slow attack speed and vulnerability after an attack, often cited as the biggest weaknesses of an axe, didn’t seem to apply to him.

By gripping the axe handle shorter, Lokan reduced the size of his swings, making his attacks swift and powerful, even without a significant gap.

Defense and durability were already meaningless.

Galo, feeling the strength disadvantage, even deliberately targeted Lokan’s weapon.

But Lokan was using the woodcutter’s single-bladed axe as a blunt weapon, not relying on its sharpness or attack power, as Galo was too tough.

So, Lokan decided to beat him into a pulp.

Hit, dodge, hit, hit, dodge...

The battle was one-sided. With his superior stats, it would have been a waste of Lokan’s combat experience to fight evenly.

The one-sided beating continued, and finally, the match was decided.

“Gurk!”

Lokan’s one-sided victory! A level 50 orc warrior had been defeated by a mere level 1 berserker.

Lokan hadn’t even used the berserker’s symbol, Berserk.

The moment Galo died, a light flashed, and the system announced a level-up and title acquisition. It had to.

But the system forcibly put his level-up and title acquisition on hold. Lokan was in the middle of a quest.

‘What quest? What quest...’

Recalling that no notification window had appeared, Lokan suspected a bug but soon understood.

The orc champion, who had been watching his battle, stepped forward.

“Now, you’ve proven your worth to fight me.”

Kicking Galo’s corpse away, the orc champion’s actions were natural, as if he had known this would happen.

‘So that’s it...’

The orc champion had forcibly initiated the quest. He wanted to fight but needed proof of worth, so he used Galo.

Thus, the outcome of the fight would determine the result.

If he defeated the orc champion, he would earn the title ‘Caught an Orc Champion at Level 1.’ If he failed, he would only get the experience and title from defeating the orc warrior and be forcibly returned to the village.

“Alright, come at me.”

But it wasn’t all bleak. While the experience and title were on hold, the items were still in his inventory.

Among them, 1 silver and 50 copper coins and the orc battle axe he had used were in his inventory.

Lokan immediately discarded the woodcutter’s single-bladed axe and switched to the new weapon. This alone made him feel more secure.

But he had another weapon.

Berserk.

The orc champion was a formidable opponent, but this could turn the tide.

‘If it fails, I’ll just die once.’

If he failed, Lokan wouldn’t lose much. The experience loss would be easily covered by hunting orc warriors, and the orc battle axe alone would be a significant gain.

Whether the orc champion knew Lokan’s thoughts or not, he approached the battle seriously.

“Hah, I am Tachuel. What is your name?”

“Lokan.”

“Good, Lokan. Prove your honor.”

Tachuel raised his greatsword, pointing it at Lokan, and smiled.

“Strike!”

Lokan took the initiative again. As with Galo, explosive strength from his muscles infused the battle axe.

Clang!

But the opponent was different. The weapon and strength disparity were significant, and Tachuel was the one who dominated.

However, Lokan had anticipated this. When the battle axe was deflected, he widened his grip, preparing for the next attack.

Swish!

As expected, Tachuel wielded the greatsword, as large as a person, with ease. He tried to slice through Lokan’s body at a speed unimaginable to most.

Though the attack was blocked by the battle axe, the force of the blow shook Lokan’s insides, and nausea rose.

But Lokan charged towards Tachuel.

“Dash!”

He used the saved dash skill.

When the distance between them was too close to swing a weapon, Lokan had already gripped the axe handle short.

“Die!”

“Hmph! Throwing.”

But Tachuel was no pushover. Seeing Lokan get too close, he threw the greatsword. The skill-enhanced throw aimed directly at Lokan.

Oh!