It had been a very hard, confounding week for Harundal.

Harundal had crossed over to Earth around two months ago now, with the Tribe of the Grey Roc. When he had, he had been one of two Duruks to receive a Blessing.

The great god Morrow had blessed him with the very same blessing he had given to the first Duruk, who had freed them from slavery by the djinn-born all those centuries ago, and the namesake of their entire race. Things had changed for Duruks since then, however, and honor was now a thing that was for the foolish.

Morrow’s blessing strengthened the blessed Duruk for every foe he fought and defeated in one on one combat, or honorably. The same blessing that had propelled Duruk the First to the heights of the strongest of djinn-born had been a disastrous one for Harundal.

His long time rival, Jak’tur had instead received the blessing of Dokuroth instead, gifted with the ability to control flames. Wary of a slow death, Harundal had challenged Jak’tur for leadership of the war-band, and lost. And then Jak’tur had spared his life, further bringing him shame.

He had had no choice but to enter a self-induced exile.

He had been wandering aimlessly in the strange city when he had been caught off guard and waylaid by a war-band of Turuks. If there had been five-, even three, of his fellow warriors with him, there would have been no fight. It would have been a massacre.

Alone, the Turuks were weak. Even in groups of three, or five, any Duruk worth his tusks could hold his own against the blood-mongering savages. An exiled Duruk usually did not worry about Turuks because they rarely moved about in numbers larger than scouting parties unless provoked. The war-band must have been going somewhere on the orders of their shaman, possibly to raid another Turuk tribe.

Either way, it had been a good battle, and he had been seeking release from a long life of shame, when a human with curious eyes had come upon him. Harundal had thought that the human would have slit his throat. Instead, he had spent a couple days treating his wounds, giving him some food, and then eventually bringing him to his own tribe. Harundal had resigned himself to his fate. He was an exile, and nothing could bring him down further into the pits of shame.

Other humans of this ‘Village’, they called it, were equally strange as the one who had found him.

One large, tattooed human had the body of a full-grown Duruk, but the personality of a rabbit.

Another human, a female with an axe, was about a third of his size and yet would fit in perfectly in any tribe of Duruks.

... And one white furry creature who somehow seemed to consider him a rival. Whenever the first human walked in the tent they had put Harundal in with some food, the creature seemed to jump around and make a fuss. An amusing creature.

There was another human who could speak the common tongue of Heloth, albeit at the level of a child. He had learned many things from the human called Joe.

How the first human, ‘Ed’, had rescued them all from a small tribe of Turuks, led by a fledgling ‘Hob’. A High Turuk.

How ‘Noel’ had fought and killed close to a dozen Turuks herself.

And ‘Ranga’ had gone for days without food and weathered beatings wordlessly while embracing his cub.

Harundal had thought the humans were prey. Weak, and worthy of no respect, no proper duel.

Watching the village and the humans bustle about, he realized that it might not have been that simple.

A desire began to take growth in his heart, watching these humans.

So it was that Harundal decided to challenge Ed to a testing ot tusks, one that would decide whether this Ed was a worthy leader of a tribe. Worthy of being a Warbringer to whom he could swear his life. Perhaps he’d find a new place within a new tribe. Or perhaps they’d string him for the birds to feed on. Either way, Harundal felt he had nothing to lose.

---------

Ed stared warily at Harundal. He called himself a Duruk, Joe had told him. And goblins were apparently Turuks. It was hard to think of the demons than anything other than goblins and orcs.

It may have been upon a whim that he’d saved Harundal. Or perhaps he’d felt pity for the dying orc. But mostly, he had felt a strange pull towards the orc, like a whispering of fate. Every day, the Dao of True Sight seemed to grow stronger and let him see strange, new things, and on that day he had seen that Harundal had no desire to fight.

The rest of the villagers had gradually grown used to the orc as well, despite the initial fuss. They trusted Ed, their strange benefactor who was often quiet, but gently led their hunters and consulted thoughtfully consulted Ranga.

Harudal stood, towering over Ed and Joe. He was bigger by a head than even Ranga, who was the largest man Ed had ever seen in real life.

“He says… he wants… a duel.” Joe trailed off, looking more nervous than ever.

Harundal uttered a stream of grunts and what sounded like snorts.

“You saved his life, and he thanks you. But for Duruks, debts are not acknowledged as owed to the weak. Apparently, only through duels can debts, alliances, and fealties be pledged.”

Ed eyed Harudal, who was staring back at him intently, and his eyes flashed yellow.

Harundal - Blessed by Morrow Class- Warrior Body: D ( C ) Spirit: D+ Mind: D- Honorable Fighter, Injured, Tusk-tested, Exile

Honorable Fighter (Seed)

Blessed by the god Morrow, the honorable fighter lives and dies by his honor. Every battle fought honorably, whether won or lost, will strengthen the Blessed.

Injured

A wound to his honor wounds his Spirit. Physical injuries have not yet healed completely.

Tusk-tested

Has undergone the trial of age of the Tribe of Grey Roc. Can call upon the spirit of the Grey Roc for strength in battle.

Exile

A Duruk without a tribe. Cannot call upon the spirit of the tribe in battle.

Hm. It wouldn't be impossible to win, though he had never fought a Duruk. Besides, it seemed like he wouldn't be using any underhanded tricks, with what seemed to be his Dao. It had been one of the reasons Ed had felt comfortable healing him.

Harundal exposed his yellow tusks in a smile.

“He says he’ll tell us everything he knows about the High Mother, as well as anything else we want to know. Ed, I don’t know if-.”

“It’s all right Joe.” Ed said quietly.

“Tell him I accept. And tell the other Villagers everything’s fine.”

Joe thought he heard an undercurrent of excitement.

Then Joe blinked, and Ed had disappeared from Joe’s sight.

He was in front of Harundal his right foot crashed into Harudal’s left temple in a vicious swing kick.

Harundal swayed back from the force of the blow, but regained his balance and reacted almost immediately by reaching out to grab Ed’s leg. He was either laughing or roaring out in pain.

Ed seemed to be made of smoke, dodging Harundal’s punches and kicking and retracting his leg with lightning speed. He threw a few punches here and there, but they seemed to affect Harundal even less than the kicks.

Harudal weathered the blows, even ignoring some of them while bellowing and swinging his fists in measured swings that ruffled Ed’s hair and clothes. Ed quickly seemed to realize his hits were having essentially no effect.

For a moment, the two warriors stared at each other, grinning.

“Ok.” Ed muttered.

Thick whisps of red energy began streaming out of Ed’s body like smoke, coiling around him as he invoked the second Trait that he’d gained, this one from the goblin shaman.

Blood-burn.

Burn your own blood-essence for a temporary boost in Body stats. Focuses on speed.

Ed’s eyes began glowing yellow, and he turned into a blur as he disappeared even more quickly this time, leaving behind streaks of red energy.

Harundal seemed to almost flinch in surprise as he threw out a wild punch, but Ed ducked under it easily as he began weaving back and forth, throwing punches and kicks while circling the larger orc.

The oppressive red streaks of smoke streaming off of him seemed to linger in the air and hinder Harundal’s movements, and he grew more and more sluggish.

Ed was almost blindingly fast, and he grew faster and faster as thicker plumes of red-smoke waft off of him like smoke from a chimney. He landed two or even three punches and kicks in the time he had thrown one, and with the added speed to the blows, Harundal’s knees gradually began bucking under the onslaught.

The exchange, though Harundal never landed a blow on Ed, ended as Ed seemed to land four or five punches simultaneously to Harundal’s temple.

Harundal fell down on one knee, and almost involuntarily bellowed out in surrender.

Harundal looked as surprised as Joe felt. The duel had ended even before he’d had time to go tell off the villagers, who were gathering around to see what all the commotion about. He could see Noel in the distance, running with her axe gripped tightly and Ranga stomp over, rage etched across his face.

Ed simply smiled, and extended his hand towards Harundal.

Harundal hesitated, and then bowed his head. He then roared so loudly that stopped the normal Awakened humans in their tracks, and laughing uproariously.

Ed turned to Joe, question evident in his eyes.

“He… he says he greets you, Warbringer.”

As he stared down at Harundal, who was still laughing while kneeling and head bowed, a familiar blue screen greeted him.

Title Gained!

Warbringer

One who has gained a fealty of loyalty from a ‘Duruk’. +50 Spirit Crystals for being the first establish friendly relations with a race of Heloth.

Ed grinned and helped Harundal up.

---

A few seconds later, a System wide blue screen popped up in front of humans all around the world.

System update!

Blessed ‘Ed Kim’ has gained the loyalty of a Duruk, formerly known as orcs.

All users now have access to the common tongue of Heloth, and basic information about their Ecosystem.

----------

A man in seemingly around his mid-forties sat in the middle of the forest, rolling a cigarrette in his hands, perked up at the blue screen. It had been a while since he'd seen one.

He put the cigarrette into his mouth and a flame lit up from his fingers.

He breathed in deeply and let out a plume of smoke, sitting on a pile of corpses that were from various beasts, some of which were as large as a car.

'Ed Kim, huh?' he muttered under his breath...

---------

A young girl dismissed her blue screen with a wave of her hand. She hadn't seen any of these 'Duruks' or 'orcs', and so did not care in the slightest.

Who was this Ed Kim though, she wondered.

She jumped off of the cliff she had been looking down at, trying to gauge the depth.

----------

A monkey giggled from the clouds. How surprising. The weakest of the humans he'd blessed had been the first to have an impact on the System.

He couldn't wait to rub it in the faces of his so called 'friends.

He turned more thoughtful. The accomplishments of the Blessed would strengthen the System, which would in turn strengthen them. That was good. The Spirit Realm could lend the tiniest bit of help, but mostly they had their hands full... He shouldn't even be lounging around like this right now, actually.

He sighed as he pulled out a small tooth-pick sized object from behind his ear. A golden armor materialized around him and began to shine with the force of a star. It was time to get back to work.

----------

Many Blesseds around the world took notice of the screen. Most did not know nor care who Ed might be or how he might have gotten the loyalty of a Duruk. They simply went about their day, tackling their own monstrous missions, growing even more powerful in the process.

Perhaps they should have paid a bit more attention.

----------

‘Huh?’ Joe thought.

This System Update... Did this make his skill… useless? Shit.