Orc Lord

I had to rush them a bit, but I managed to get Azza and Ranig’s contracts drawn up by dinner time. I even arrived at the dinner fires before they did, along with a moderate crowd of hungry Orcs. I took my place at the head of the fire where a few pelts were laid down to cushion me from the hard quartz road.

According to everyone else, right now should be the hottest time of the year. Thanks to , the heat doesn’t bother me at all and being near the fire doesn’t make me uncomfortable.

After a little while, Azza and Ranig arrived together. Actually, there was a third person with them: a very large person, covered head to hoof in thick grey fur.

So that’s where Bazarath wandered off to. I really hope he just wanted to see a friend he thought he couldn’t meet anymore. If he wants to start anything to hurt Babylon, I won’t be able to raise him free-range anymore.

I waved them over. Azza tried to run in the opposite direction, but Ranig and Bazarath both grabbed her. Bazarath whispered something to her that I couldn’t hear, and she slumped over, allowing herself to be dragged forward.

“I’m glad you made it,” I said for courtesy’s sake. “I’ve got your contracts here. They’re not optional, but you can transfer them to someone else, as long as they’re qualified and you get them to sign.” In fact, please help me scout out talented people.

I waved the tablets in front of the two, practically in their faces, for them to take, which they reluctantly did. I looked away from their depressed faces and smiled up at Bazarath, patting the pelt beside me. Bazarath sighed and sat down. I reached up to pet his head, which he silently tolerated.

“Where have you been all day?” I cooed.

He ignored my question and asked one of his own, bitterly, “When are you going to start freeing my kind?”

I pouted and pulled back my hand. “I’ve been busy running errands all day. You’d know that if you hadn’t wandered off.”

“But when will you free them?”

“When I can. When it’s safe to do so.”

Bazarath gritted his teeth, understanding that he wasn’t going to get a straight answer even if he asked again. “What about Azza?” he continued, nodding his head down the street to where she and Ranig were.

“What about Azza?” I raised an inquisitive brow. Bazarath just glared at me harder, like that was enough of an explanation. I shrugged helplessly. “I really don’t know what you’re on about.”

“You mutilated her. Thirty years of hard training, and now she can’t use any of it. She’s so helpless. How could you do that to somebody—even an enemy?”

I chuckled, but it was a disbelieving, bewildered chuckle. “You’re blaming me for that? That’s death’s doing, not mine. Skills are stored in the Soul, and hers went off to be reborn ages ago. The rest of her was just left there to rot, inanimate. Her own Soul gave up on her. How cruel is that? But I gave her a chance to live again, with her knowledge, personality, and body intact.”

I smiled proudly, but Bazarath continued to glare. I sighed, “I don’t get you. What are you still upset about?”

“I don’t like how you nonchalantly play god. Did you ask how Azza felt about this?”

“I didn’t. But who would want to die when they could live instead?”

“She doesn’t want the kind of life you dragged her into.”

I laughed coldly. “You sure are having fun speaking for her, well I can do that too. You know what else Azza doesn’t want? She doesn’t want to die, and she doesn’t want me to change things in her head so that she likes this new life. She can’t be pleased, so I’m not going to waste my efforts.”

Bazarath opened his mouth once more, with a fiery look in his eyes, but I cut him off harshly, “Life is far more precious and valuable than whatever ethical rot you want to push at me. This conversation is over.”

If she hates it that much, she’s free to end her own life. I won’t force her back a second time if she makes her stance that clear. Of course, I’d like it if she passed on a bit more magical knowledge before that.

Dinner ended, wrapped in an awkward quiet; at least at my end of the fire. At the end of it, I turned my attention away from food to my final errands for the day. Bazarath knew where his room in the castle was, and he still seemed grumpy, so I didn’t walk him back.

I stopped by the research tower before going home. I went all the way down to the second basement level, but Fiara wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

Good. It looks like she didn’t skip dinner again.

I didn’t need her for the next bit anyway. I have a good deal of her research stored away in , and everything else is new territory anyway.

I found a pile of monster cores and made myself some Eggs, engraving a special magic formation inside. It was something convenient I thought of to compensate for Babylon’s unique environment: an earth attribute , mixed with some barrier properties so that it could cover an area. Since it used earth spirits, there would never be a case where it couldn’t be used here. I was really very good with magic formations. Only CSPs made me struggle, but there was no need for those here.

Well, I still had no idea if it will actually work.

I tipped the Egg heavy side up, and my third eye traced the magic flowing through it. The Egg itself seemed to be made properly. As for the modified healing spell… Half of it started to swell up while the other half collapsed in on itself. Something like a ring of healing flickered for a brief moment before vanishing. The spell formation inside the Egg actually shattered. I had to use to repair it for a second try.

From what I saw of the spell that tried to fire off, it only healed in a ring, not a solid area. Also, it probably would have patched up flesh wounds using mineral substances. Not the most desirable effect, unless you were a Golem.

I failed three more times before I got one working. I didn’t even need to test it to know that I finally had something stable; the spirits announced it for me.

[[User has created the earth attribute spell .]]

I did still test it briefly, and it worked as I intended, so I made a few more. Tomorrow, I would install these in the colosseum, the Kobold farm, and the emergency room in the hospital, but for now, here was the safest place to leave them.

I wasted enough time. Mother should be in her room by now.

Mother is my emotional advisor, of sorts. She’s psychotic, but she cares about me deeply. It’s relieving to have someone you can unload your feelings onto without being judged.

I knocked on the door to mother’s room, and a sweet voice slid through the stone, beckoning me in. When I came inside, mother was seated on her bed, looking like she’d been expecting me. With her , she probably had, to some extent.

“I thought you would still come,” she smiled. “I didn’t think that meeting earlier would have been enough to address your concerns, and,” her eyes glinted dangerously, “I’m sure there are a few things you didn’t say.”

I shut the door behind me and nodded. There was a chair made of pretty, delicate metal, sitting against a bare desk that mother had never had occasion to use. I pulled it out and took a seat. The chair creaked under my weight: an annoying sound that made my ears itch. I reinforced the seat with so I wouldn’t have to listen to it.

When I was a Dominance Orc, I weighed around three-hundred pounds, including a hundred pounds worth of wing. I’d lost my wings after evolving, but I’d grown so much taller that my weight still increased. I estimated that I weighed about four-hundred pounds as a Queen Orc: more than enough to give a few weaker surfaces trouble.

On the other hand, with this body, I’m confident that I could bench press Bazarath, who was easily over four times my weight. Everything’s an exchange.

Mother was looking at me expectantly. Her mood improved every time I went to her for advice. As a mother, she certainly liked to be included in her child’s life.

I wonder, since she’s that type of mother, why she treats Varoon so distantly.

I folded my hands on my crossed legs. “You’re right. There are a few things that I didn’t want to say in front of the others. Not yet, at least. But first, do you mind if I ask you a question? It may be something difficult to talk about.”

Mother smiled with misty eyes. “Ask me anything, baby. If it’s you, I won’t keep any secrets.”

“What made you and brother drift apart?”

I’m also curious about what mother and father talked about in the meeting room after Durghan and I left, but now doesn’t feel like the right time to ask.

Her eyes shook and she turned her head away. For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t answer after all, then she took a deep breath and faced me. “Baby knows that I like things that others find disturbing. I like war, and blood, and chaos.” I nodded. “Well, when Varoon was a child, I thought he was you. I thought he was the Orc Lord.” I nodded again, more slowly this time.

Mother sighed. “When I was younger, I tried opening up to others in my village about the kind of person I am. Their response was… disheartening. That was one of the reasons I left my village and started traveling. I didn’t show my real self to others after that. When I had Varoon, I thought that things would finally be different and that I would have someone I could be myself around.”

Mother stared vacantly for a while. I got the feeling she was reliving a memory.

She snorted. “As you may have noticed, your brother isn’t that type of person at all. If anything, he’s more morally strict than other Orcs. My own child looked at me with such disgusted eyes…” Mother shook her head. She rubbed at her eyes, and I saw her hands slightly steaming when they came away.

“I know it was wrong, as a parent, but I gave up on raising him right then and there. I had bottled my feelings up for too long and gotten my hopes up too high, and it crushed me when the thing I was afraid of most unfolded before my eyes.”

“After that, Varoon still wanted a mother in me, but I couldn’t fill that role for him anymore. For a long time, I even hated him. By the time I had opened up to you and that anger faded, our relationship was already ruined.”

I lowered my eyes to my lap, unsure what I should say to that.

Annoying. And problematic, for me. Mother is abnormal, but she wants to be loved just like anybody else.

Before I realized it, words were already coming out of my mouth. “You didn’t handle it in the best way, but the root issue was that you wanted to be loved. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Mother smiled in a mixture of relief and contentment. “Thank you, baby. I think I needed to hear someone say that.” She brightened up, “Now, what trouble were you having? Momma will still love you no matter what, so you can tell me anything.”

You say that, but I hope you mean it. Losing my staunchest supporter would be a heavy blow to suffer.

I sighed deeply, then chucked. “Well, I don’t think you’ll be happy to hear about it, though. I’m fairly certain that I used to genuinely care about others. I remember crying for the family I lost when I reincarnated and being terrified for Varoon when he almost died in front of me, so I must have cared.” I raised a fist and held it over my chest. “But now, my heart is completely cold toward those same people.”

I raised my eyes and stared at mother, while she looked on with a hint of confusion. I furrowed my brow, “I’m sure I loved you, until just recently, but I don’t feel anything now. Everybody looks like dirt to me; I don’t care about them beyond how they can help or hurt me. I think it might be because of my high Diplomacy Stat that I don’t express that blatantly.”

Mother was clearly frowning now, but I had to finish, even if it upset her. It must have been upsetting to hear.

“I can tell that I lost something, but it doesn’t bother me. Even if I remember that I felt intensely about someone in the past, I can’t replicate it now. I have positive and negative impressions of people, but they’re based on unemotional things: their achievements in their work, their political usefulness, and military might. I still think things like, ‘I don’t want momma to be sad,’ but the motivations are only practical.”

I gave a worried and sympathetic smile. “I know what you wanted from me, momma. I hope this doesn’t upset you too much.”

Mother stared, unmoving, for a while, then took a deep breath. “So baby doesn’t love momma anymore.”

I smiled sadly, softly. “I’m sure I would if I could, momma.”

Mother took a shaky breath, then shook herself to retake control of her thoughts. She put on an encouraging smile. “That isn’t your fault, baby. I said I would love you no matter what, and I meant it.” She dipped into thought for a time. “Where it doesn’t involve people, can baby still feel things?”

I smiled. “Yes, I don’t think that part has changed much.”

She lowered her head and put her chin in her hand. “From all of what you told me, my best guess is that this change happened because your Law Power increased. What does have to say about it?”

, Law

Name: Vyra

Law Power: 90%

Law: Collect***derive***the unstoppable***of***life carries***pursuit of***desired***meaning.

“Hm. It certainly says a lot more than last time,” I muttered, then repeated the results to mother.

She blinked. “It’s a bit more… cryptic than I thought it would be,” she confessed.

“What exactly is Law?” I muttered.

Mother smiled and shook her head. “I’m sorry, baby, but I really don’t know anything about it.”

That’s a shame. Well, at least-- A sudden knocking at the door interrupted my thoughts. Across from me, mother looked just as confused.

"You're popular tonight," I teased, but mother just furrowed her brow.

I went to answer the door. On the other side, fidgeting nervously, was father. I looked on in surprise, but he didn't get to see my expression since he was staring down at his hooves. I've never seen father look this timid and childish before.

"Oolga, about what we talked about earlier, could you please help me with something?"

It would seem that my presence at this time is rude and intrusive.

A wry smile crept across my face. Somehow, I felt really mischievous. Using , I made my voice sound like mother’s and come from about where her mouth would be if she were standing here instead of me.

“Maybe. That depends what it is. Why don’t you come in and we’ll talk about it.”

I stepped out of the way and father walked in, still staring at his hooves. “It’s about my sister. She needs a name, and,” Rigdam looked up about then and saw mother sitting on her bed, looking a little bewildered and apologetic. He turned his head to where he thought she was and saw me standing by the closed door. His mouth clamped shut like a vice.

I raised an eyebrow. “Do I not get to hear about it?”

His head quickly turned to mother. “Do-does she know?”

Mother shrugged nonchalantly, “I didn’t tell her, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know. But if she doesn’t know yet and you ask her if she knows, she’ll figure it out quickly.”

Father’s eyes darted about nervously. He finally decided not to risk it. “Vyra, could you please let your mother and I have a conversation in private?”

I folded my arms and thought about it. “No,” I decided. “No, I think I’ll hear what secrets are being kept from me. I’ve already been shocked a few times by people close to me, and I’m a little irritated that there was still somebody hiding things.”

Father lowered his head in a begging posture. “Please change your mind about that. There are lots of reasons, but please let me keep my secrets to myself.”

“But you told momma?”

“She figured it out all on her own!” He looked somewhat indignant. “Her head turns in really unreasonable ways.”

“My mother turned out to by a murder-happy psychopath and a genius,” I said calmly. “My brother has mixed Monster and Magic Beast blood. I am a human from another world who was reincarnated here as the Orc Lord. Fiara’s matter I’m not at liberty to share. Father, I may be surprised by what you tell me, but do you think there would be anything that I can’t come to accept?”

“Fiara’s matter?” mother asked with a curious look. I smiled at her.

“It’s not an open secret like with the rest of us, but the same kind of closed secret father apparently has. Just like I won’t bypass him and ask you about it, if you want to know, you should ask her directly. So,” I looked back at father, “won’t you open up to your daughter? I can clearly keep a secret.”

Father’s eyes trembled and he took a shaky breath. “That’s… I,” he shivered and held his arms. “It’s been so long. I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“Then just say it directly,” I smiled encouragingly.

Apparently, that advice was useful. Father took another breath and appeared much calmer than before. “I’m a Noct,” he said. My brain needed a moment to recognize that that was the whole statement.

“A Noct?” I repeated back. Father nodded. “A Noct as in a member of the ancient people created by Ashtante, the god of kinship? One of those shapeshifters that are supposedly extinct but that nobody could prove were actually gone?”

Father nodded again. Through my slow-processing thoughts, I could see that his nerves were a little on edge.

“Hm. Yeah. That one’s pretty impressive. It completely outclasses Varoon’s secret heritage.”

Father wrung his hands. “You aren’t angry?” he asked with some hesitation.

I cocked my head, “Should I be?”

“The group of Beast People that came here and killed a bunch of Orc women were supposedly searching for a pair of Noct hiding among us,” mother waved her hand and reminded me. “So it’s indirectly his fault that Fiara’s mother was killed. I was attacked as well, though I was able to overpower my assailant.”

“Oh, right. I forgot that was the reason.” I pondered in silence for a moment. Rather, I gave my brain a bit of time to catch up. “So, my little aunt is also a Noct?”

“Yes,” Rigdam nodded.

“And your mother, who was killed by those Beast People?”

“She as well.”

I hummed. “So there were actually three Noct on the loose?”

Father blushed. “My sister was conceived after we fled here, so they didn’t know about her.”

“Conceived to an Orc?” I asked for clarification.

“To an Oni, but yes.”

“But she’s a Noct. I thought all children fathered by Monsters were Monsters.”

“Yes, but all children parented by Noct are Noct,” he returned.

I paused again, then sighed. “But I’m an Orc Lord. I suppose that takes even higher precedence than your Noct genes?” Being a shapeshifter could have been really fun. That’s a shame.

I let out a breath and shook my head. “Alright. I have a lot of questions, but there’s no need to rush through them all here and now. Frankly, I’d like to be in bed soon, so I’ll just focus on the two most important ones. First, you were saying something about my aunt.”

His eyes lit up, “That’s right! She doesn’t have a name yet. Just as with all other creatures, her Magic Power will increase a lot if she takes one. I would feel relieved if she were strong enough to protect herself out here. But, taking a name is a little complicated.”

“Does the hunting ceremony not work on Noct?” I asked.

Father shook his head. “No, the spirits know that we aren’t true Monsters, let alone one of the four ruling species. They won’t award us names. But you can get a name from anybody. Since we’re Ashtante’s children, she’ll supply the Magic Power, so the name giver doesn’t even have to worry about that.”

“But?” I hurried him.

“But, it would be strange if an Orc got a name outside of the hunting ceremony, and it would be strange for her to perform the hunting ceremony and not get a name. I could have just claimed she did the ceremony with no witnesses, but rumors could still spread. I didn’t want to risk luring more Beast People here. I was going to ask Oolga to pretend to be a witness since she already knew my circumstances. If you helped as well, Vyra, it would become that much more credible.”

I didn’t take too long to think about it and just nodded. “Yes, I’ll help. It doesn’t sound like any trouble at all.”

Rigdam watched me like he was waiting for a catch. None came, but he furrowed his brow anyway. “What was the second thing you mentioned?”

I shrugged but couldn’t keep the grin off my face. “If you have a true form, I want to see what it looks like.”

Father made a face like I’d asked him to get naked. He wavered back and forth for several seconds, before finally squaring his jaw. “Hmph. Fine. I can’t stay like that for long though. The only reason my kind has survived all this time without Ashtante’s divine power fading away was by making use of a Monster’s magic core to contain it. It leaks out a little bit every moment I’m in a non-Monster form.”

“That’s no problem. I’ll be taking pictures,” I grinned.

Father sighed again and excused himself, removing any armor and clothing he was wearing. There was a light, really just a flicker, but it was distracting enough to divert my focus for an instant. By the time I’d noticed it, he had already transformed.

Needless to say, father looked completely different as a Noct than he did as an Orc. He was a good deal shorter, for one. Maybe he was about 5 and a half feet tall. He was mostly humanoid, with milky white skin covering his body. His hair was short, fluffy, and reddish brown. Amber fur grew from his arms and legs past the elbows and knees. His hands ended in long, slender fingers and sharp claws. His feet were dainty and digitigrade and similarly clawed. The same kind of fur covered the five thick fox tails growing out behind him. He instinctively used two of the tails to hide his crotch and chest, and his face was rose red from embarrassment. I don’t know what he was so shy about. Orcs got naked all the time, and everything I saw—before he covered himself—was basically the same as a Human.

His eyes were wide, colored a rich gold with the same vertical pupils that Monsters have. He had a delicate and youthful human-like face. His ears were on top of his head, pointed and fox-like and a few long whiskers grew from his cheeks.

He looked like a delicate, seventeen-year-old fox boy. The atmosphere around him was nothing like before.

I walked around him and saved everything in , for future reference. That just seemed to make him more shy, though.

“Thanks,” I smiled. “Now I’m one of the very few people who’ve seen a Noct’s true form and still lives.”

Father turned his head away and snorted, through a human nose this time, so the sound was much lighter. There was another flicker of light, and he had already returned to the form I was familiar with. “I take it you’re satisfied?”

“Yes, thank you, father. You as well, momma” I started toward the door. “I’d better get to sleep now. I have far too many things to do tomorrow.” Neither of them stopped me from leaving. I walked back through the empty halls, faintly lit from somewhere out of sight, thinking again how they were rather bare.