Rex had not blurted out those words without reason. After the Second War, most of the Orcs had been locked up in internment camps. Only a limited number had escaped, with some of their strongest clans—the Warsong Clan, the Frostwolf Clan, and the Blackrock Clan—having avoided that fate.
The vicious Orc before him was one such example. His wealth of combat experience, along with the elite Orc veterans, told Rex one thing: this Orc was a survivor of the Second War.
The Frostwolf Clan had not taken part in the war against the humans. Exiled by Gul'dan, they had preserved their strength and were now quietly living in the Alterac Mountains, waiting for their great chieftain, Thrall, to appear. Meanwhile, the Warsong Clan still wandered under Grom Hellscream's leadership, living from day to day far from human-controlled territory. Both could be ruled out. The Frostwolf Clan was relatively peaceful and had caused no major upheavals in all these years, while the Warsong Clan stayed far from the humans. Only the Blackrock Clan remained restless.
Rex knew that a major event would soon erupt: the Strahnbrad Defense, the battle that marked Arthas's formal entrance onto the stage of history. Rex had never paid much attention to exactly when that battle occurred, but he knew the general timeframe. It came shortly after Arthas's initiation as a Paladin, a year or two at most by Rex's own estimate. It certainly could not be more than three years, because three years after Arthas's initiation, the undead plague had already begun spreading through Lordaeron.
That was why Rex had suspected the Orc belonged to the Blackrock Clan the moment he saw him. The Blackrock Clan was the most prominent of the Orc clans, practically their royal house. The Orcs had been united under its chieftain, Blackhand. The clan's next chieftain was even more legendary: Orgrim Doomhammer. He had killed his predecessor, Blackhand, led his army to capture Stormwind Keep in an overwhelming assault, and then destroyed the Shadow Council controlled by Gul'dan.
After the Orcs' defeat, however, the Blackrock Clan had changed chieftains once again. Its current chieftain was Jubei'thos, a worshipper of the Burning Legion whose most famous declaration was, "The demons will rain down from the skies, and this wretched world will perish in flames."
He was warlike and worshipped demons, and everything he did was aimed at building a demonic portal so the Burning Legion could descend upon Azeroth once more.
Since Jubei'thos himself would instigate the Strahnbrad Defense in the near future, Rex suspected that the Orc before him belonged to the Blackrock Clan. It had only been a guess, without a shred of evidence, but the vicious Orc's momentary hesitation upon hearing Rex's words confirmed it. Trouble really was brewing here.
A surge of power suddenly welled up inside him, and Rex knew the Tome of Strength had taken effect. He had originally intended to use it after returning to Gilneas, but throughout his fight with the vicious Orc, he had been at a disadvantage and was gradually losing ground. Rex could not afford to lose. Defeat would mean all his efforts had been wasted. If he returned to Gilneas with his tail between his legs, the rumors already stirred up by his departure would only grow worse.
Even King Genn might impose restrictions on Rex and forbid him from leaving Gilneas again.
Of everything he possessed, only the Tome of Strength he had acquired could turn the battle around. Rex had placed great hopes in it, and it had not disappointed him.
The surging power made Rex feel as though his strength would never run out. Watching the vicious Orc attack, he swung his two-handed greatsword, and their weapons collided once more. Clang!
As the two weapons met, Rex unleashed his full strength. The vicious Orc staggered back three steps under the force, while Rex merely swayed. The difference was plain to see. Before using the Tome of Strength, Rex and the vicious Orc had been roughly equal in strength, with little separating them. After using it, however, Rex held an overwhelming advantage.
Feeling the increase in his strength, Rex finally understood what +1 meant. His physical strength had doubled.
When two evenly matched opponents fought, one suddenly doubling his strength was enough to break the balance. The vicious Orc had been suppressing Rex through combat experience, and Rex could not match him in that regard. But with his strength greatly increased, Rex abandoned complicated moves and attacked with sheer power, using the same few simple, straightforward strikes over and over. This approach had been inspired by a television drama he had watched in his previous life, the famous The Return of the Condor Heroes. After losing an arm, Yang Guo had wielded the Heavy Iron Sword in battle, using no elaborate swordplay, only the same few moves.
Relying on the weight of the Heavy Iron Sword, Yang Guo had overwhelmed his opponents with force. Now Rex had learned to do the same. Weaker than Rex, the vicious Orc dared not meet him head-on and could only attack from the sides, no longer displaying his earlier ferocity.
This immediately gave Rex the upper hand. It was a straightforward case of exploiting his opponent's inferior strength. You simply don't dare clash with me head-on.
All the frustration Rex had felt while being forced back vanished, replaced by sheer excitement. Now it was the vicious Orc being suppressed. Seeing the aggrieved look on his opponent's face filled Rex with energy, and his greatsword whipped through the air with a fierce whistle.
"You treacherous human brat! You were hiding your strength!" Looking at the gaping wound across his chest, its torn flesh laid open, the Orc leaped backward and broke away from the fight before addressing Rex.
That wound had been inflicted by Rex's sudden burst of power after the Tome of Strength had greatly increased his strength.
"Retreat!"
"Human brat, I, Scott, will remember you! Next time, I'll kill you!" Scott roared in frustration. At his command, the other Orcs disengaged at once, without the slightest desire to keep fighting. If he could not defeat this human brat, he could not seize the caravan.
"If I can't have these goods, human brat, neither will you! Unleash your power!" Scott moved swiftly, personally covering his subordinates' retreat before finally shouting to the Ogre Mage.
The Ogre Mage's two heads chuckled as fiery light gathered in his hands.
(End of chapter)
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