My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Orcs, for people living in small towns and villages, this was a name that struck fear and dread.

"Orcs were war made flesh — stronger, faster, and towering over humans at nearly eight feet tall."

That said, orcs were much simpler creatures. This was a predominantly male-dominated race. It was simple, really — in orc society, your strength decided your status.

And like most creatures, males were just stronger.

For that reason, orc society was mostly male, and orcs took pride in how many male children they had — as this was equal to power and status for the tribe.

For this reason, the weaker women were closer to property unless they proved their strength.

In the world of orcs, only strength mattered. This was why they always fought among themselves and pillaged their neighbors.

In any region orcs lived, the best course of action would be to have an extermination and subjugation force ready. Their job was to make sure the orc population was low and prevent the warring tribes from joining together.

That said, orcs were little different from humans. It was for that reason many questioned if they were truly monsters due to how complex their societies were.

The conclusion drawn was simple: orcs were monsters.

It was due to a simple reason… orcs had monster cores. Should an orc exist that didn't have one, then that would be considered a person — not a monster.

Though such species were not found yet — or did not exist — in the world of Aetherus.

The line between person and monster was quite thin among intelligent races. An example would be dragons — they had wings, claws, and did far more damage than mere orcs — yet they did not possess a monster core.

Did that not classify them as a very temperamental person? The position of what is a monster and what is a person is too vague. As some demons have cores and some do not.

What is a person and what is a monster? Is a core what makes the difference in what we can kill with impunity — or is aggression the deciding factor?

"In Aetherus, the difference between man and monster often came down to one thing — permission."

[Excerpt from Travel Logs of Athor the Luminate Sage]

This was from a class in the academy, from the excerpt of its founder, Athor. It was supposed to be an argument about what races could and should be classified as monsters, and he begged for leniency… for races like orcs and war trolls, with complex societies mirroring humans and other advanced races.

Although all Damon could remember from that book was how deadly and vicious orcs were.

The adventurer narrowed his eyes.

"We can deal with a few orcs…" His voice didn't sound all too confident. Damon wouldn't mind a few orcs either — but this was a large warband.

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"Then I suppose you can deal with a whole warband."

The adventurer's beastkin ears twitched, his face irritated.

"What nonsense? There's a fort close by run by the lord of this region. They have knights and adventurers constantly hunting the orcs… they can't form a warband. Only small groups and families…"

Damon scoffed — but it was Unnoticed Singularity that spoke.

"How many orcs are we talking about here?"

The adventurer's eyes fell back on Damon coldly.

Damon didn't back down or show fear.

"A warband of 738 orcs. 9 war chiefs. Six shamans casting. And four siege beasts."

The adventurer sucked in a breath of cold air — this was enough force to level a small city.

Singularity didn't doubt him.

"How long do we have?"

Damon looked into the distant hills.

"A day, at the rate they're moving… scouts will pick us up in half a day… if they haven't already."

The adventurer beastkin twitched.

"I don't believe you…"

Damon was now getting irritated — more than he would normally allow.

He didn't have time for an argument. He walked up to the adventurer and slapped him off the carriage.

His action caused the man to bleed from his mouth. He stood up, dizzy — looking at Damon, whose cold eyes met his.

"Doubt me again and I'll kill you."

He glanced at a horse nearby.

"Take that horse and go see for yourself, fool."

His actions made the other adventurers quiet.

He looked at them all.

"Does anybody else have an opinion?"

There was silence. No one said anything.

"Good. That's what I thought."

He pointed at an adventurer. Using his appraisal skill, he knew his name and class.

"Gudu, your class is a rider type, right? You have a skill that can allow you to ride fast for long distance."

'How does he know that?'

The man nodded his head solemnly. He didn't want to end up like the last guy.

"Good. Take a horse and go to the fort. Tell them the orcs are making a move."

"They won't come out to help us…"

Twilight appeared from the other end of the caravan, holding his dagger.

Damon nodded.

"I know that. Tell them the orcs have found a large loot of magical artifacts from a dungeon and are transporting them in large groups. Including a large chunk of mithril…"

He glanced at him with a cold smile, throwing a chunk of magic ore he had found in Lysithara.

That was the evidence.

"By your estimation, they want to use it to form warbands and make weapons."

He gave him one last look.

"You can opt not to come back… but if you do, next time I see you… I'll kill you on sight. However, if you are successful — I will give you one million zeni."

The adventurer gulped — but the incentive and punishment were worth it. Squeezing the ore in hand.

This was the carrot and the stick. He could feel it in his bones — Damon meant it.

The adventurers looked at Damon. This guy was insane. He wanted them to lie to knights — but the price… this guy was rich. And terrifying.

Unnoticed Singularity chuckled lightly.

"You really want those lazy knights to come running red-eyed with greed, only to find war…"

Twilight smiled, looking at Unnoticed Singularity.

"This guy is the devil. He's telling them there's wealth to be made — but not how difficult it will be to get it…"

Singularity sneered. "They won't be finding any wealth. Only heavily armed orcs."

The man nodded and rode the horse. Using his skill, the horse became a blur.

Damon jumped on top of the carriage in front.

His action of stopping the caravan had caused the merchants to come forward and form a crowd at the center — wanting an explanation as to why they were wasting daylight.

He raised his hand.

"There is a large warband of orcs approaching as we speak. We can try to leave — but we'd never be able to outrun them…"

A sword appeared in his hands.

"Fear not… for I am here."

Damon's crown gleamed in the sun.

"From now, I will take command of all human and material resources in this caravan until the threat is dealt with. If any wish to oppose me — speak now…"

His dark eyes boiled with killing intent.

"So I can bury you now — and save the orcs the trouble."