The Golem Adventurer

Chapter 13 - Monsters

Growing up, my family had a bit of a superstitious streak. Stories were told to me about the things that lurked in the forests at night. They were just cautionary tales but my parents always hinted that they truly believed them. Of course they were fake. Monsters didn't really exist. On Earth at least.

"Biiiiibibibi!"

The pig things in front of me, however were definitely real. Orcs. Nasty and rank, it made me glad I couldn't smell anything. They screeched at me for disturbing their hunt, waving their clubs at me menacingly.

Behind me were the adventurers who were surprised at my intervention.

"H-Hey, you're Arlan, right!?" the warrior of the group exclaimed, "I appreciate you stepping in but you should get out of here! These guys are no push overs!"

"He's right!" the one who spoke next appeared to be an elf woman who was trying to heal the mage, "This is a Orc raiding party! Get back to town and warn them! We need a group of C-Rankers at least to fight them!"

The armor in question was pieces of sheet metal crudely slapped together to form a chest plate. It could barely hold in it's disgusting gut but still, it limited my fighting options.

"It's fine." I assured them, "I'll handle this."

Of course I was only confident because of Oracle.

[Hostile targets pose only a moderate threat. Caution is advised.]

And besides I still have my core values. We don't retreat. And we don't leave another behind. That's what I was taught.

[Initiating Combat processes. Directing all system resources to hostile engagement.]

One of the Orcs stepped forward, screaming in rage. I pulled my sword from it's scabbard, holding it with both my hands.

"Red eyes... !?"

I heard the elf woman shout from the back. The Orc's eyes? The Orc didn't wait and swung down hard with it's giant club.

I dodged deftly to the side. Channeling mana through my sword, I swung hard towards it's arm, slicing through it with ease. The Orc screamed in pain as it's severed limb lumped down to the ground.

These skills are quite amazing. Oracle was able to teach me basic sword play in the same way a program is installed in a computer. All of sudden, I suddenly knew the beginner motions, enough not to smack myself with it at least. I had asked her if there was more I could download but she recommended that I should learn other weapon skills in practice. Installing knowledge was untested. There was a possibility of long term side effects messing with my memory as a spirit. Getting Alzheimer's Disease as a golem isn't part of my plans either.

With the Orc stunned from my blow, I continued my momentum, swinging across it's exposed leg. It fell to it's knees in pain before finally swinging my blade down it's exposed nape, severing it's head. I really did a number on this guy.

Out of nowhere I was flung forward as another Orc swung his giant club against my back, hitting me in my blind spot. For such large things, their agility was deceiving. I tumbled around in the grass before the other Orc swung down hard on my prone body.

[Mild damage sustained!]

Beneath all that flubber, they're definitely strong. They backed away thinking they got the job done, however I quickly got back up on my feet.

This body could definitely take a beating. They started screeching at the sight of me appearing unabated by their blows.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Pig Man if you want to take me down."