Battle for Havenfall II

'Pathetic!' A voice from inside of her stopped her retreating steps, 'You are withdrawing in face of a mere pup.'

'A pup!' Freya almost shouted in incredulity, 'That is a monster.'

'Huh, that pup hasn't even learned to properly swing a weapon and yet he fills you with such fear.' Art spoke, 'If you can even stand against him then how do you expect to fight the vampires that have been honing their skills for century? How will you avenge the death of your parents if you can't even fight him? Pathetic!'

Hearing the ridicule in his voice, Freya forced her legs to stand strong and asked the mage, 'Fine, but still how can I defeat him at this level of strength?'

'Did you forget already or are simply this self-centered? He is the leader of the Orcs, he will not fight some no name adventurer, right away. Instead, he will first allow his subordinate to fight and then if he saw anyone worth his time, then perhaps he will come forward himself.' Freya nodded at his words, they made sense but she was still not convinced. However, if she fought the subordinates first, she could increase her level and her stats to have a better fighting chance. 'So why don't you gauge the strength of his subordinates first?'

Freya did as he said and focused her sight on two of the orcs following behind the leader. She activated her trait on the one riding to his right.

This Orc was also quite tall at about 7 feet at least, but her figure was far more feminine. She had lean body and small oval face. Her yellow eyes although cold and calm were not as frightening as those of her leader. Her long face had no scars, but only a long thin nose and a small mouth with two small white tusks peeking out of it. She wore black robe with purple highlights and a hood that covered her hair. In her hands was a long straight wooden staff with many small charms attached to the top end that also held a small turquoise gem.

[Kara

Species: Orc

Age: 53

Level: 42

Job: Ice Wizard

Highest Stat: Intelligence 72]

Freya's analysis confirmed the identity of the female orc. According to Lorcias' information, she was the second-in-command of the group and a very powerful ice element mage and hence water element as well. She also possessed the earth element and wind element magic as well. The blue panel said nothing about what circle mage she was, but Freya knew that she was a third circle from Lorcias' info. As a mage that possessed three elements and a variant element as well, she was definitely the most dangerous opponent when it came to highly destructive spells, even more so if she was a third circle mage.

Next, Freya shifted her eyes to the only other female orc following behind the Orc leader. She was not as tall as her other comrades with a height of only six feet, she was the shortest orc present. The female orc had a small, round chubby face and a healthy built. She wore dark brown leather armor and pants. She was riding the largest wolf that was only second to the direwolf. What was peculiar about her, the unmounted wolves that surrounded her. A group of six lightly armored wolves followed behind her. A quick glance told Freya that their average level was 18, the highest of the wolves.

[Roya

Species: Orc

Age: 31

Level: 35

Job: Beast Tamer

Highest Stat: Dexterity 45]

This was the other person Lorcias had warned her against. Although her level was not that high, the entourage of wolves that followed her posed a high level of threat. Freya also quickly evaluated the rest of the orcs. The only other orcs of notice were two male, one had the swordsman job and the other had spearwielder job. While all the rest had the bandit job.

'You may have to fight those two male orcs or perhaps the mage before Jeera even takes notice of you.' Art suggested, 'And you can use your magic when fighting them so it may not be that difficult. You can easily gain a few level fighting them, giving you a better chance against him.'

Freya looked contemplatively as the distant force finally arrived close and stopped at a distance of a hundred meters from the walls. Jeera rode forward on his giant beast followed by the ice mage, until they were within hearing range.

Jeera shouted in a language unknown to most of them. He continued to shout and wave his hands for a minute before stopping. Then the female orc came forward and spoke in the common tongue, 'I am Kara. I am the voice of my lord and I speak in his stead.'

Apparently Kara was aware of human customs and therefore spoke in a respectful tone as she translated her leader's words, 'I am Jeera, son of the great Teera. I have to claim the mines and riches of this city by right of strength. If any among you dare to challenge my claim, show your metal on this battlefield.'

Freya understood every word that came out of Jeera's mouth even before the mage translated it. 'So you also know the Orc tongue?' She asked the partner in her mind.

'Of course, as a mage I had to study magic of all different species.' Artium answered with a hint of pride. 'Naturally I had to learn their languages. In fact, the Wild speech, the language of the orcs was one of the first ones I learned.'

Kara looked back at Jeera who once more began to shout in wild speech and after he was finished the orc mage translated once more, 'Send down your champions and if they manage to defeat three of mine, I shall give you back some slaves and one more day to prepare.'

As she finished an orc brought forward five human females dressed in rags and bound in ropes. Once she was finished the soldiers began to look at their leader, Captain Morris. The giant warrior turned to his teammates and spoke grimly, "We cannot allow a single orc to leave this place alive or else they will continue to ravage the lands and may even become a larger problem."

"This is a great chance as we can recover those prisoners and also give Maria some more time to rescue the others. She may even return by tomorrow, increasing our fighting prowess." He continued, "If we can manage to kill or even severely injure their strongest warriors before the real battle begins, we can also greatly reduce their manpower."

"Yes, but it's the same for them as well." Alex commented on his leader's plan, "If they even injure one of us, our fighting capacity will be greatly reduced. Besides, what do they gain from this?"

"They would get to see the level of skill of our fighters and that's exactly why I am discussing this with you. Only come forward if you are absolutely sure you can win against your opponent, or at least avoid a big injury. Anything small can be easily dealt with by Ariane. So think carefully before answering."

"I'll do it." Freya immediately answered without even giving it a thought. It was a big opportunity for her, she had better chances of levelling up when fighting one on one against her opponents, giving her better odds against Jeera.

"Me too. I can't back down if the pretty lady is going to fight." Alex also came forward with his signature flirty grin.

"I'll deal with mage if she comes forward." Ariane also volunteered. Although she was primarily a healer, she was also a mage and adventurer. So she was no stranger to conflict and had been a fearsome mage in past before being accepted as a priest.

"We also want to fight." The two leaders of the Mercenary group, Jenga and Gorr, came forward. "The mayor promised us better pay for more contribution and no good mercenary is gonna say no to a good payday."

The two mercenary smiled as they brandished their weapons and got ready for battle. Morris looked at them suspiciously before nodding. He then went forward towards the edge and shouted to the mage standing below.

"Very well, Orc. Five of my fighters will fight five of yours." Kara translated his words to her leader, "But also remember any signs of betrayal and all bets are off."

After he understood the words of the human leader, Jeera looked up at him and nodded with a smug smile. The two orcs quickly turned around and sped back to their forces. A few minutes later, five orcs came riding forward on their wolves and came to a stop in the same position.

The human challengers also got down from the wall and walked forward until they were about fifty meters away from the walls, well within range of the archers on the wall.

Five humans and five orcs stood in two lines, opposite to each other, ready to battle. The first one to move was an orc warrior. The orc was 7 feet tall and held a long wooden spear with a red metal spearhead, most likely made of Orichalcum.

"I am Nazbur and I have come to fight for my lord." The orc shouted in his tongue, which was gibberish to most of the human standing in front of him, but Freya understood him quite well. She also used her 'Keen Eyes' to check his level once more.

[Nazbur

Species: Orc

Age: 32

Level: 34

Job: Spearweilder

Highest Stat: Stamina 42]

"Now who's gonna do the honors?" Jenga asked as he looked to his colleagues.

"Allow me." Freya walked forward as she pulled out her steel sword from its sheath. When she was merely a few meters away from the orc when she roared, "I am Freya Einar and I have for your head."

The Orc was surprised to see the human woman speak his language, but her last words were more than enough to make his blood boil. "To the death!" He shouted and rushed forward with his spear held straight.