Overlord: A Warrior's Return

Chapter 18: Killing Blow

Looking at the fight unfold, Takemikazuchi tried to observe everything that Valmet did in order to learn more about martial arts. His overall fighting ability reminded him of lower level play in Yggdrasil when characters only had access to a handful of skills. In regards to martial arts however, there was nothing he could notice that would help him learn them. It seemed to be more of an innate thing that came from inside and not related to anything observable.

(It does seem much stronger than the skills he's able to use as a monk. Perhaps it's like a special ability that uses a separate resource to activate? Some games had dual resource systems for classes like rogues, where they had energy and combo points or discipline and hatred.)

Takemikazuchi thought back on some other games he had played and their systems, trying to see if he could find some correlation between them and here.

(It could be that martial arts require some secondary resource that I just can't get. That would be rather annoying. I'll have to ask Valmet if he can try and teach me after I earn his trust more. I do wonder how he'll deal with the ogres though.)

There was a possibility that he couldn't learn martial arts at all, which rather soured Takemikazuchi's mood but the possibility still remained and that was good enough for him right now.

As the farmers clapped and cheered for Valmet's victory over the goblins, Takemikazuchi remained watchful, trying to see how Valmet would react to the ogres. It seemed that in his celebration, he hadn't noticed them approaching from the forest. After indicating the ogres to the farmers he debated about whether to intervene the least possible but did not want to let harm come to his teammate. Sighing, he readied himself appropriately by entering a more combat appropriate stance.

Valmet picked up on the farmers running away and sobered up, focusing on his other senses which made him realize that there was something behind him. The ogres made themselves officially announced as they pushed the last trees between the forest and the clearing down with their massive hands, snapping them like twigs.

Valmet analyzed the distance between him and them, knowing they could close that gap rather quickly once they started running, further amplified by their oversized weapons and decided to make a run for it. In that short time, the lessons drilled into him by his mentor Hakon came pouring in, the training taking over his reflexes. He could make them out as clear as day.

Hakon: "If you do not know that victory is within your grasp, run. Live to fight another day and you will always be victorious."

Hakon: "Know your enemy as much as you know yourself. Only a fool fights an opponent he knows nothing of."

Takemikazuchi looked at his young companion hauled towards him at full sprint and nodded somberly. It seemed that enemies like ogres were a tad above his punching weight. The farmers panicked at the first sight of them while Valmet had taken some time to assess the situation. He told himself that for Valmet; this was still an adequate strategy, for most people even. But what really got Takemikazuchi's blood pumping were insurmountable odds; that feeling of knowing defeat is imminent but still taking an opponent or two down with you. Granted, that was before this became real life and was only a video game. It was easy even, finding oneself in such a situation playing a heteromorphic race in Yggdrasil.

(Well, I should go help him out. I still need to learn much from him and I don't want to have a failure on this quest either.)

The soft ground underneath his feet packed densely as Takemikazuchi bent his knees and put power behind his dash, sending himself barreling towards the ogres at great speed. With an arm outstretched, he clotheslined the nearest ogre with great force. The blow cleanly went through the bowels of the ogre, eliciting a great grunt from it as it toppled down with a great bang. Credit to ogre regeneration however, the wound began to quickly seal itself in order to prevent massive hemorrhage.

(Oh? That's new. Normally a hit like that would take away from total hit points but it seems that there's some actual physics behind the blows here. So if I used one of my stronger abilities but hit an arm; it would only sever the arm? Interesting.)

He quickly followed up with a crushing kick to the fallen ogre's head before turning his gaze on the other two.

Takemikazuchi: "Heaven's Strike!"

An elemental blade seemingly made of light materialized in his outstretched hand. Ignoring defenses but changing the attack's damage to the holy element, this skill was part of his sword saint class. It wasn't a skill he enjoyed so much because the elemental blade summon was tied to a combination of his magical attack stat and level; which made it substantially weaker than rare items. The only convenient aspect was that the blade did not require any maintenance and it was one of his rare abilities that did not deal physical damage.

The blade effortlessly went through the first ogre, carving it up like a warm stick of butter under a knife. Takemikazuchi followed the slash into a truth, plunging deep into the remaining ogre's chest before pulling it out in a zigzag pattern. Willing the summoned sword to go away, it vanished as Takemikazuchi walked back towards the barn.

It took a few moments for Valmet to look behind to see where the ogres were now, to notice they were all laying down in pools of their own blood. After calling out to the running farmers, he joined Takemikazuchi near the barn.

Valmet: "Well, huff, that was some good exercise. You really, huff, made quick work of them."

Takemikazuchi: "It was inconsequential. Aren't you forgetting something though?"

Valmet: "Huh? What?"

He pointed at the goblins that Valmet defeated.

Takemikazuchi: "You forgot one."

A light bulb went off in Valmet's head, the unconscious one! He rushed to the scene of battle but could only see two bodies.

Valmet: "It must have ran off during the commotion."

Takemikazuchi: "That's a shame. I'd have liked to interrogate it."

Valmet: "You can speak goblin? I mean even if you could, what's the point? You can't really talk with creatures like that. Most monsters are just trying to survive. They eat, reproduce and fight. These goblins were likely being pushed to forage or scavenge for those ogres, being their meals if they didn't."

Before Takemikazuchi could reply, the farmers cautiously approached them, keeping an eye on the ogre corpses.

Old Farmer: "Is it truly safe now?"

Valmet: "Yes, my companion has finished up the ogre threat. We can wrap it up and go our own separate ways now."

Middle Aged Farmer: "Thank you so much for your help! If it weren't for you, we might have lost our whole harvest. Here, take this token. This red one here means you completed the request."

Valmet: "You're very welcome! Take care now."

Valmet waved off the farmers as they departed with their cart full of produce.

Takemikazuchi: "How do they protect themselves when adventurers aren't present?"

Valmet: "Well, their liege lord would be the one taking care of them, if he's a good one. Helping protect their harvest as otherwise they can't pay him taxes. With the armies mobilizing soon though, many lords have taken their troops back from outlying villages to prepare for war.

(Tsk. Self serving nobility. When one is in a position of power such as lord, they should lead with honor. I see this world is as corrupt as my old one; the rich profiting from the labor of the less fortunate.)

Valmet: "Well, if we leave now, we can probably be back before nightfall and turn in our completed request at the guild. Not that we need the money right now or anything."

Takemikazuchi: "Yes, let's. The sooner we get requests more suited to my skills, the happier I'll be."

Valmet's eyes went wide and he wanted to emit a protest but his companion had already turned around and began heading towards the dirt road.