10. The Orc Assault

“This time, Gret got first place again in the dictation!”

When Teacher Joseph announced this from the podium, little Gret was overjoyed.

The envious glances from his classmates made him savor the moment even more.

Thanks to his talent with words, Gret excelled beyond all the other children in the village in the literacy and writing lessons.

Words that took his sister half a day to memorize, he could learn in an instant.

“According to the teacher, the common language nowadays is derived from Dragon Tongue and Elvish, which contain mysterious powers and form the basis of magic spells.”

“If I can perfectly grasp the power of words, learning spells in the future will be twice as effective with half the effort.”

“I learn to read so quickly. Could it be that I truly have a talent for magic? Maybe one day I really can become a mage.”

“It’s strange though, it seems only half the words are ones I can remember perfectly after one glance. The other half, I learn at about the same pace as everyone else.”

“Ah, but unfortunately, arithmetic and geometry are my weak points…”

What little Gret didn’t realize was that the half of the words he could instantly comprehend shared a common origin…

Their etymology was entirely from Dragon Tongue.

That night, as Gret lay in bed, he recalled the day’s lessons and fell asleep contentedly.

Deep into the night, layers of illusory, overlapping crimson dragon scales shimmered across the boy’s skin before slowly fading away.

…

The sun rose as usual.

As the golden orb ascended the horizon, once again bathing the land in light, a new day began.

After finishing his chores in the fields, Gret, as always, followed Teacher Joseph to the Stone School to continue his cultural studies.

“Today feels strange. My skin’s itchy and warm.”

“Am I sick? But I don’t feel weak at all. In fact, I feel stronger all over.”

While scratching his heated skin and working on arithmetic problems, Gret suddenly heard the villagers shouting outside:

“Trouble! Trouble!”

“Children, run home quickly!”

“The orcs are coming!”

Orcs?

The thought of those two-meter-tall monsters instantly stirred Gret’s deepest fears.

The classroom erupted into chaos.

Gret poked his head out the window and asked the rushing adult shouting toward them:

“How many orcs are there?”

“Three or four, or eight or nine?”

The man pointed toward a distant hillside:

“I can’t count them, there are so many, a whole swarm. Probably over a hundred!”

“They’re charging this way, weapons raised!”

Over a hundred orcs?

Gret’s legs went weak and he nearly lost his balance.

This was far more than all the orcs he had ever seen combined!

He hurried out the door, looking in the direction the man indicated.

Sure enough, numerous snarling orcs, brandishing spears, giant axes, and all manner of weapons, were hurtling down the mountain. Though still mere dots from afar, it was only a matter of time before they reached here.

The classroom descended into utter pandemonium.

Children panicked, and many of the timid ones burst into tears.

“Last time there were six orcs; my father and grandfather didn’t make it. Now there are so many, will the village be destroyed?”

“Why are the orcs coming in such large numbers this time? What’s going on?”

Even Teacher Joseph grew flustered upon hearing the news.

He quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his brow.

Just then, the children suddenly looked toward Teacher Joseph at the front of the classroom, realization dawning:

“Teacher, teacher, you’re a mage from the Sky City! You must have a way to help, right?”

Teacher Joseph nodded, calming the children’s fears:

“Children, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”

Joseph understood well that orcs were physically far superior to humans. He was only a low-level mage; dealing with two or three orcs was manageable, but facing a large horde was sheer suicide.

But…

“The great Arcane Emperor, Supreme Mage Erian, long ago considered such situations when sending us teachers to the surface. Arrangements have already been made!”

Joseph lightly tapped the brooch pinned to his chest, which immediately emitted a soft pink glow.

It was a magical device used for urgent communication with the Floating City.

At the sign of an alien invasion, he could report to the Floating City.

The most elite battle mages of Eldoren would then intervene to protect the village!