Powerful Orcs

Dragon Slaying Sword Qi consumed a great deal of physical strength and mental energy, releasing a wave of sword qi through the swing of a greatsword.

Its specific power, speed, attack range, and other effects depended on the user's combined attributes, such as Strength, Agility, Weapon Mastery, Power Strike, and Weapon Proficiency.

What... what was this? Harrot stared at the new skill on his character panel, grinning from ear to ear.

This skill must have been obtained with the system's help after he finished reading the "Sword Fighting Manual" and combined it with the "Dragon Slaying Sword Art" taught by The Bald Man.

Harrot was extremely curious about its actual effects and practically dragged The Bald Man into testing it with him.

"I said, can't you train by yourself? I have a lot to do. I can't keep training with you every night like before!"

The Bald Man complained impatiently. There was a great deal to handle at the Gladiatorial Arena, and he really was busy. Especially these past few days, Count was about to arrive, and he barely had enough time to sleep.

Harrot ignored The Bald Man's complaints and said smugly, "After thoroughly studying the 'Dragon Slaying Sword Art,' I suddenly had an inspiration and comprehended an earth-shattering ultimate technique called Dragon Slaying Sword Qi!"

"Bullshit."

The Bald Man gave a bored yawn. During this time, he and Harrot had sparred many times. Although Harrot's strength had undergone a tremendous transformation, he had still never won a single match against him.

Harrot's Strength and Agility were both inferior to The Bald Man's. Power Strike only increased strength during attacks, and running provided no speed bonus to the upper body. Overall, he was still suppressed by his attributes.

Light Strike and Heavy Strike were merely skills that converted speed and force. Once The Bald Man got used to them, they were no longer especially useful.

The Bald Man also crushed Harrot's Weapon Mastery and Weapon Proficiency with his vastly superior technique and experience.

Although The Bald Man had to admit that Harrot was improving rapidly, he did not believe Harrot could surpass him in such a short time.

He had created the "Dragon Slaying Sword Art" himself. Harrot had studied it for less than two weeks and already wanted to thoroughly master it and improve its techniques? That was simply a joke.

"Whether it's bullshit or not, you'll know once you see it. Open your eyes and watch closely!"

Harrot aimed at a wooden post in the distance, raised his greatsword above his head, and slashed down vertically with all his might. He shouted, "Dragon! Slaying! Sword! Qi!"

He did not need to shout to use the skill, but Harrot felt it was more imposing that way.

As Harrot swung the wooden sword in his hand, a streak of white sword qi shot out fiercely.

The sword qi was astonishingly powerful. The wooden post, over half a meter in diameter, was cleaved directly into two halves.

A deep furrow was also left in the ground between Harrot and the post.

After using that move, Harrot collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. He felt as though his body had been completely drained, unable to muster any strength at all.

The Bald Man's mouth hung wide open as he stared at Harrot in disbelief. After a long while, he asked, "Do you have orc blood too?"

"Huh?" Harrot was utterly baffled by The Bald Man's words. What did orc blood have to do with him? And what did he mean by "too"?

Seeing Harrot's blank expression, The Bald Man explained, "I've seen Eastern Orcs use sword qi. It looked very similar to what you just did. Humans can't learn this kind of move. You must have orc blood—your parents were probably mixed-bloods."

Harrot stared blankly at The Bald Man. What were Eastern Orcs? Why could they use sword qi?

Seeing that Harrot knew nothing, The Bald Man remembered that he came from the backwoods and began explaining.

"Orcs are the overlords of this continent. They are divided into Eastern Orcs and Western Orcs, also known as Green Orcs and Red Orcs."

"Green Orcs occupy the northeastern part of the continent. They have green skin and form the Eastern Orc tribes, mainly centered around the 'Frostwolf Clan.'"

"Red Orcs rule the northwestern part of the continent. Their skin is red rather than green, and they form the great Western Orc tribes mainly centered around 'Hellscream.'"

"Red Orcs enjoy waging war everywhere and invading other nations. They cultivate a powerful force called 'Rage,' using anger to unleash their body's potential and gain immense power for a short time. Even against nobles who have awakened their bloodlines, they can still put up a fight."

"Green Orcs, on the other hand, restrain their desires and study the mysteries of the human body. They have mastered a mysterious energy called 'qi.' Some orcs combine this power with swordsmanship, while others use it directly on themselves to fight bare-handed."

"Red and Green Orcs are mortal enemies. The main forces of the Red Orcs are all at war with the Green Orcs, which is why the other races can resist orcish invasion."

After listening to The Bald Man's lengthy explanation, Harrot could not help ranting inwardly: Damn it, isn't the Red Orcs' 'Rage' setting just like barbarians and berserkers in games?

The mysterious power of "qi" mastered by the Green Orcs fit the settings of "Sword Saints" and "martial monks" even better.

Harrot directly complained to The Bald Man, "Orcs are already physically powerful, and they can cultivate all kinds of energy too. Isn't that damn unfair? How are humans supposed to compete with orcs?"

The Bald Man asked strangely, "What's unfair about the strong having more rights and choices? Humans are losers to begin with. Orcs drove us to the southern part of the continent!"

Harrot was immediately rendered speechless by The Bald Man's words. A real otherworld was not a game. There was no need to consider balance, weakening orcs because they were strong or strengthening humans because they were weak.

The weak had their own ways of surviving. The abilities of different species in nature had never been balanced to begin with. It was only natural that humans' racial abilities were inferior to those of orcs.

It was just that Harrot had lived his previous life as a member of humanity, Earth's dominant species. Now, being suddenly told that humans were a second-rate race constantly beaten down by orcs was difficult for him to accept.

Seeing Harrot's dejection, The Bald Man comforted him. "You don't need to worry either. Green Orcs are not very aggressive and don't like attacking other countries. The Red Orcs' main targets are Green Orcs as well."

"Orcs are warlike and enjoy fighting the strong. The orcs who attack us humans are all weak tribes among the Red Orcs. With the bloodline-awakened noble lords and Knights who have received Radiance, we can completely withstand orc invasions."

Harrot felt somewhat miserable. Humanity in this world was in a situation rather similar to the people hiding behind walls in "Attack on Titan."

He finally understood the protagonist Eren's unwillingness and rage in that anime. The joy brought by his new skill, Dragon Slaying Sword Qi, had faded considerably as well.

The Bald Man, however, continued asking Harrot curiously how he had comprehended the move, what its key points were, and whether he, as a Red Orc mixed-blood, could learn it.

Harrot did not keep anything to himself. After all, he had only obtained this skill thanks to the "Dragon Slaying Sword Art" The Bald Man had taught him, so he had nothing to begrudge.

Unfortunately, no matter how meticulously Harrot explained the force-generating techniques and secrets of the move, The Bald Man still could not use it.

Although The Bald Man was somewhat disappointed, he took it in stride and said, "I guess only those with Green Orc blood can learn it. It's fine. Maybe I'll learn Rage someday!"

Harrot understood that it had nothing whatsoever to do with bloodlines. He was a pure human too; he could learn sword qi entirely because of the system.