Chapter 2: Panic and Fury

Panic seized the girls, and in the chaos, the twins let go of me. I hit the ground with a dull thud that pulled a muffled groan from my throat. The impact, however, sent a jolt of adrenaline through my body. My eyes, previously clouded, cleared. "What’s happening?" I growled, my voice barely audible due to my dry throat. I pushed myself up on one elbow, trying to get to my feet. I turned to see Lira, who looked at me with eyes full of guilt, seeing me on the ground with new open wounds. Laila, breathing heavily, pointed towards the village entrance. "The... the monsters! They invade the village every month and force us to give tribute, but this year... we have nothing! The Sun God’s curse burned all the crops. We don’t know what will happen, maybe we all die today!" Her eyes filled with frustrated tears as she clenched her teeth, grabbing her head. She was utterly terrified. I got to my feet with difficulty. My body screamed with every movement, but a fury began to burn inside me. Monsters, invaders, tributes... Laila’s terrified gaze reminded me it wasn’t the time to be lying around, lamenting. I activated my ability, making my eyes glow with a faint blue light, and suddenly, the world became clear, not just visually, but with an avalanche of information. * [Hero’s Eye] Activated. * [Status Panel] * Name: Jax Cole * Level: 97 * Health: 1% * MP: 0 * SP: 0 My eyes scanned the village. There were several people, mostly women and children, hiding among the huts and dense vegetation. At the front, a small group prepared for confrontation: * [Manaia: Shaman Level 20] * Status: Wounded The Hero’s Eyes showed me that her body was full of old wounds that hadn’t healed properly, causing her power to be weakened. Manaia tried to speak with the monster, while five young women, all Level 5 warriors, armed with bone-tipped spears, prepared for the worst. A guttural growl ripped through the air. The burly orc, with greenish skin and yellowish fangs, bellowed loudly while a dozen goblins cackled maniacally with screeching laughter. "You! Me Ur’gash!" the orc roared, his voice like rocks grinding together. "If you don’t have the harvest to deliver... Ur’gash will take ten women! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The laugh echoed, obscene and full of malice. Manaia went pale, her eyes desperately searching for a solution that didn’t exist. The young warriors gripped their spears, their faces a mix of fear and resolve. * [Ur’gash - Orc Level 15] * Servant of AL’Khash "Hey, you, you damn pig!" I yelled, limping towards Manaia. I stared intently at the orc, trying to activate my intimidation ability, but I was completely exhausted of Mana (MP) and Sacred Power (SP). If it weren’t for that, I could heal myself and rip their damn heads off. "Get lost while I’m in a good mood, or I’ll kill you!" Ur’gash stopped laughing, his small eyes gleaming with surprise, then with blind rage. "A human! And big talk! Die, worm!" he roared, pointing at me. "Goblins, attack! Kill him!" The goblins, with their rusty knives and short daggers, lunged at me. They seemed quite clumsy to me, but the village women began to scream desperately. I, still with my body at its limit, saw something on the ground: a thick stick, fallen from a tree. "Looks sturdy enough," I muttered, picking it up and swinging it like a baseball bat. The first goblin arrived, stabbing with its dagger. With surprising speed, despite my condition, I dodged the blow and spun the stick. The end struck the goblin’s head with a wet thwack. The small creature dropped like a sack, its shattered skull splattering its brain matter across the ground. The second, the third... ten goblins fell in a matter of seconds, their skulls burst open by clean, brutal blows. The ground was covered in inert bodies and greenish splatters. The other goblins stared at me in terror, turning to look at their leader. Ur’gash, who had been watching with a confident grin, felt his bravado vanish. His eyes widened in panic, and a shriek of terror escaped his lips. He spun around, trying to flee. But I wasn’t finished. Damn beasts! They’re like the bullies from my old world, always intimidating the weak, but when they meet someone stronger, they run like the bitches they are. With a growl, I swung the stick like a javelin. The makeshift weapon whizzed through the air, a blurry line of wood. It slammed with lethal force into Ur’gash’s head, piercing his skull and sending him flying backward with a dry "thud." The orc flew, impaling himself on a tree, with the stick sticking out behind his head like a strange antenna. The island women covered their children’s eyes upon seeing the brutal scene before them, while some vomited watching how the orc was hanging from the tree, writhing in his last spasms of life. The remaining goblins, seeing their leader massacred, let out a collective shriek of terror and fled in a rout, disappearing into the jungle. The silence that followed was deafening. All the villagers, from Manaia to Laila and the twins, looked at me with wide eyes, astonishment etched on their faces. I, naked and on the verge of death, had saved their village with a simple stick. Admiration, mixed with undeniable curiosity and perhaps something more, filled everyone’s faces.