Chapter 31: Orc Skill Card

Exodus Tales Exodus Tales

Abel knew what an orcs’ skill card was. He knew what it was, but the card had a power that was so strange that he had to take a closer look at it. For reasons he wasn’t sure of, he was somehow attracted by it in ways that he couldn’t describe.

Abel decided to use his Power of the Will on the card. He closed his eyes for a bit and decided to focus all his senses on the mysterious force that was lingering by. As his conscience began to enter the card, he felt an energy that was similar to the one that his body produced. It was the power of one’s spirit. It was probably not a human spirit, though.

Without asking for Abel’s permission, this energy began to draw itself closer towards him. It was trying to synchronize with him. Abel didn’t want to, but it was too late before he could switch off his Power of the Will state.

Whilst trying to open his eyes, Abel realized that he had become a young worgen himself. It kind of felt like a movie for him, except it was much more realistic than a movie. He had no control over his body, but everything he saw was very much in detail.

The worgen (Abel) walked to the front of a mounted wolf. It placed its hand on top of the beast’s head, then utter some very strange words from his mouth. It was not a language that Abel had learned about before, but bizarrely enough, he could understand every word of it.

As devoted followers of the beastly gods, the worgens would often include words of praise in their vocabulary. They would also use weird consonants to match the words that they were saying, which allowed them to communicate their thoughts with the mount wolves, kind of like what Abel was seeing here. The worgen could understand what the mount wolf was thinking, and so could the mount wolf to the worgen. The worgen would’ve sent a command to the mount wolf without having said anything, and the mount wolf would follow it after receiving it telepathically.

After riding on the mount wolf for a while, the worgen used its combat qi and gave it a full body massage. Things were looking very tranquil here, but the scene got cut off for some reason. Without being able to watch what happened next, Abel’s mind was returned to his body.

There was a star at the bottom of the skill card. As Abel switched off his Power of the Will state, it started fading away and eventually disappeared. The card, too, was destroyed after that. Abel was afraid of it exploding like his heavy sword, so he threw it away into the air before he got injured by it. Luckily, the card didn’t explode. Instead, it just kind of fizzled out and ceased to exist.

The skill card did a lot for Abel. Because of it, he learned how to speak the language of the orcs, as well as being able to use the mount enhancement technique on any rideable animal. Technically speaking, however, the card itself did not have the function to teach Abel another language. He only learned the orcs’ tongue because he was reading it with his Power of the Will state on, which synchronized his psyche to the young worgen that he saw.

Despite regional differences, the orcs spoke a common language, which was also the one that was used to make the skill card’s content. Through the acts of worshipping beastly gods, they would transfer whatever skills they possess into the cards, with the mount enhancement technique being one of them.

By now, Abel’s pretty much had a full understanding of what the skill card was. It was something that was used by the Orc Empire. Unlike the orcs who used their blood to activate it, Abel used his Power of the Will. While there were upsides with using this method, it was also risky in its own ways. If the priest who made this card were in a higher rank, there was no telling of what would happen to Abel’s mind.

Having learned the language of the orcs, Abel picked up the parchment map and started reading it. It was a map marked with times and locations of where the invasion troop would be rallied. Abel was very excited to recognize it, because by doing so, he could, very easily, stop the invaders from entering into the realms of humanity.

Honestly, though, such important intel should’ve never been brought by a regular orc. The humans got lucky this time. If Simon didn’t leave his team to wait for the mount wolf to give its birth, he would’ve never had to draw a copy of the map while in hiding.

It was getting late now. After realizing so, Abel finally remembered that his horses were still in the worgen’s camp. He then walked back slowly to where he came from.

While the two horses were still there, there was also a mount wolf that was sitting next to them. As the worgen had killed off any wild beasts nearby, the horses remained calm as they chewed on the grass that was below them.

The mount wolf stood up at the sight of Abel. Realizing how long its master had gone, it raised its head in a worrisome manner. What a shame. An adult mount wolf could only recognize one master for the entirety of its own life. With the worgen being killed, there was no longer a cause for it to be alive.

Abel slowly walked towards the mount wolf. He revealed his ice magic sword from his back and slowly approached the beast. The mount wolf wasn’t looking to fight back, though. If anything, there was a very strong sadness that was displayed in its eyes.

Master didn’t come back, but it was an enemy that had come to end its life. The mount wolf began to wail, almost as if it was trying to beg for mercy. Abel felt kind of confused to see this. While the night was near, he could still see a small shadow, struggling its way out of its dying mother.

Whilst going against what Abel has learned before, the mount wolf was giving off birthright here, out in a battlefield that was extremely close to the enemy’s territory. The Orc Empire was supposed to be very strict in controlling their livestock. They were not supposed to let any pregnant mount wolf be in any sort of danger, let alone letting it inside the human world. What Abel was witnessing now was an outlier, a phenomenon that was, by all means, not supposed to be.

Since the Orc Empire was the one that controlled the mount wolf population, most humans would’ve never seen one in their whole life. That being said, humans knew very little about how they behaved. It wasn’t like they were completely clueless, though. For starters, it was rumored that mount wolves recognize the first living thing they see as their masters. They were also known to be extremely loyal and would go to extreme lengths to protect the ones they thought to be important.

Because of their intelligence and extraordinary speed, mount wolves were regarded as one of the most valuable animals to be owned in this world. For people in this world, a good animal to ride on was the same as a racing car. The fanaticism behind was pretty much the same, even more so when the opportunity to see one was so rare.

As Abel stood where he was, the mount wolf began to focus back on giving off birth. Despite being in a lot of agony, it didn’t make any sound as it was afraid of being a hindrance to its stillborn offspring.

Eventually, the little thing came out and rested beside its mother. The mount wolf, as it had fulfilled in its role, was too tired to even keep its eyes opened. It laid right where it was at and tried to have some rest. However, such things were a luxury in the presence of a foe.

The mount wolf raised its head to look at Abel. It then looked down its head and began licking the furs of its own child. Through this very fact, there was a very strong love and a sense of satisfaction that was being conveyed.

Suddenly, the mount wolf stood up from the ground and ran towards an old tree, which was about fifty centimeters in its width. Abel thought that it was trying to attack him and quickly readied himself for defense. However, there was no longer a reason for conflict.

The mount wolf had crashed its skull against the tree. Without bothering Abel, it had ended its own life in the quickest way possible.

What boldness and loyalty. The mount wolf loved its child, but nothing stood in the way for it to devote everything to its master. Not even its own child, and not even its own life.

Abel raised his ice magic sword and started digging on the ground. Within no time at all, he’s dug up a hole that was big enough to bury the mount wolf in. It was just an animal, yes, but it was a dignified spirit that was deserving of respect. He didn’t want the other beasts to ravage on its remains.

After the burial was done, the baby pup began to cry, as if mourning for the being that gave it its own life. Upon hearing this, Abel picked it up from the ground and wrapped his arms around it.

It was a very light puppy, covered in black furs that were drenched from being licked. It was soft, so soft that Abel had to try very hard not to hurt it. It was an innocent life which, for reasons Abel wasn’t sure of, made him felt like he was its own father.