MEMORIES AND ABU HORMUZ

Volume 2 Chapter 1 - A Different Level

After Haruhiro and

his comrades were wandering around selling the hunted today and dividing the level

the money, they were fiddling about what they were going to do

subsequent.

A loud voice clang fiercely in the Atalante market.

“What is it..” eyebrows.

Haruhiro. “Lonceng six o'clock? But it went off seven times, and people

others also panic..”.

“What?! What's?! What

happened?!” marco's messy hair was blown forward and back as he

hold his head.

“Mm?” Veneer

flickering, while pulling her braided twin-tail hair. “What

happened?”

Alice approached Vina. “Looks like a... emergency?”

Barto stroked the back of his helmet, he looked anxious and agitated.

“This is impossible..” Luci slightly bent forward, with eyes shrinking. “Enemy attacks?”

“Huh?” Haruhiro

tilting his head. He understood what the word meant, but did not understand

by what he meant. “Enemy attacks?”

A scream pierced into the air out of nowhere. Sounds a little far away.

Marco's nostrils widened. “Oy! Oy! Oy!” His shouting. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”

Why is he acting so recklessly? Is it because of his stupidity?

“Lusi, what do you mean by ‘enemy’?” ask Haruhiro.

“Maybe Orc.” Answer's short.

The orcs? He was curious, because he rarely heard the word.

“Running!” scream someone.

“Orc!” the other scream.

“That's Orc!”

“There are orcs here!”

“We're under attack!”

“Oh?” Vina put an index finger on her chin. “I didn't know that okras could attack.”

Directly Haruhiro reply, “Not, not okras, but ORC!”

People in the market who

the scattered bersai suddenly instantly turned into a dense stream of the human body,

and immediately swallowed Haruhiro and his friends. Shock buyer flow

take him away, and he knows that it is impossible to walk against the current

shoved him.

“What--!” Marco tried to fight the crowd, but he also felt it was impossible. “What the heck thisiiiii!”

“Whoa!” barto's eyes seemed to be spinning in confusion. People as big as Barto are struggling because of slung elbows and hairy knees.

“To-Topy!” Alice shouted as the witch's hat slipped from her head.

Haruhiro reached out, then held onto it. Then everything goes downhill. Being attracted along with the person behind him, he was instantly separated from his comrades.

“Haru!” exclaim Vina.

“HARU!” lucius's voice.

The tip of Barto's head was the only one he could see now, and was almost invisible. But walking back there is impossible.

“Te-friends!” Haruhiro waved his hand, but dear. He lost Barto. “Dragon yourself, everyone!”

Although he told them that, Haruhiro realized that he was the one who should be the most careful. If he tried to break through this crowd, he would instead be trampled. He could even die. Dying like that, no, no. So for now, he had no other choice but to step down.

An attack, or so Lusi said. Enemy attack? Orcs. What is orc? Haruhiro felt like he had heard the word before somewhere.

Whatever the Orcs are, this is not common in Atalante. Invasion. So we're under attack? Atalante is being attacked by orcs or something? And all just running away? But where to?

It's a city, everybody lives here. After all, Atalante is surrounded by high and thick walls, which means this place is quite safe. Might as well. I think it's safe. Or at least that's what Haruhiro thinks. The place that was supposed to be the safest place, was attacked. What does this mean....

this is really bad?

The merchant tables that lined the streets were toppled over, their wares scattered and almost broken on the trampling. What a waste, Haruhiro thought. Some of the stalls were even broken, and others were even flattened to the ground. The owner will be angry...

Wait, this is not the time to think about such a thing!

A miserable scream sounded from the direction the people were heading. “They are here! The enemy is here! Run on! RUN! The other way! Run!”

Suddenly the crowd started moving in the opposite direction. But turning around was an impossible thing to do under these circumstances. While the person at the front was confused, the person at the back kept moving forward. And Haruhiro who was not lucky enough, was stuck right in the middle of his transition. He realized that he was desperate and unable to move.

“No--Can't breathe! Don't push!” he gasps.

He'll be pinned to death. Dying like this, you're kidding me! Somehow, Haruhiro finally managed to break through and dodge the crowd, until he reached the merchant stall still standing. He snuggled through a black curtain that served as a passageway.

“Ugh, disgusting..” His nose is in revolt because of the pungent smell he smells.

And not only did it smell strange, the items that were lined up on the counter and the cupboard were also, filled with animals, animal remains, bones, fangs, feathers, etc, and even the accessories made of it are all here.

“Here...”

The voice that appeared suddenly made him startled and screeching. As she looked, a wrinkled old granny in black clothes called out to her behind the counter. It was clear in Haruhiro's eyes that the grandmother was indeed dark.

“Come here!” the old grandmother told Haruhiro not to answer.

Shamefully, Haruhiro nyeplos. “Emm, this is your shop, Nek?”

“Bigger! I'm not an old grandma! Call me young lady!”

“U... Miss..” Haruhiro confirmed his words as the woman smiled.

“Gitu dong..”

“But you're not a. I mean, you don't look like..”.

“Hey, if you want to be an honest person, don't be half-and-half!”

It was because this woman was suspicious from the start, Haruhiro thought, but he did not say.

The old woman shrugged her shoulders. “I Madam Babaa.”

“Ma’am it short for madam!” ceplos Haruhiro's.

The old woman snorted. “Yes so, people-honest.”

“...Thanks though. Guess.”

“Don't start being rude to me, boy!” he's stopped. “Forget. Let's start again. My name is Madam Babaa, a Spellcrafter, and as you can see, I am the owner of this shop. Are you a member of the volunteer team?”

“Yeah, why?” haruhiro replied, he tried his best to take his eyes off and not breathe out through his nose.

The door curtain prevented him from seeing anything that was going on outside. However, Haruhiro could still hear a little commotion from out there. The raid is still going on, or something like that.

“A invasion? Really?” he whispered to himself.

“Orc? Oh yeah. It happened several times.” Madam Babaa pointed with her left hand. “You're not a beginner, are you?”

“Kurasa,” says Haruhiro. “I haven't worked as a Red MooN.” team for long

“I've guessed. Are you a virgin?”

“Pe what?”

“Stupid boy. I'm not talking about whether you've done it with a girl or not! Volunteer troops are called virgins until they can kill orcs. Don't say... You double virgin?!”

“Single, double, triple, WHO CARES?!”

“No ambition at all!” Madam Babaa pointed the finger at him. “You're a man, aren't you? A young man, right? You want to kill orcs and sleep with girls, don't you? What do you want to do without action?!”

“So? What care me?!”

“A idiot boy!” snapped Madam Babaa, with her drool spread.

He looked like he wanted to reproach her further, but his curtain door suddenly opened. Haruhiro was surprised the moment someone walked in. Although, it's not someone. Not people, everybody, green skinned.

He's big. His height was not worth his circumference. His chest was barrel-shaped, with a nose that looked like it had been beaten inside; his ears were pointed, there was a boar tusk attached to the end of his wide mouth, and his hair was blood red. He was dressed in amor and wielded a one-eyed sword.

As Haruhiro confused what the creature was, Madam Babaa screamed, “ORRRRRC!” he held something like a walking stick in his hand. “He's in my shop! Warrior boy, now is your chance to let go of your virginity! Get it!”

“A-me?!” Haruhiro stuttered as he pulled out his dagger; he could barely hold it tightly. “Ti-impossible! I'm alone, and I'm just a Thief!”

“Emang why?! I'm an old grandma! Try your hardest, Thief!” Madam Babaa scolded him while hitting Haruhiro's back hard.

“W-whoa!” he almost fell to the ground. She was strong for a grandmother.

The Orc was getting closer and Haruhiro realized that he was in great danger. He raised, swung and stabbed at Haruhiro with his sword, while shouting a language that Haruhiro did not understand.

“What-what---! Impossible!” he fended off and dodged the attack but eventually realized that he had been pressured into the counter table.

“What are you doing?!” Madam Babaa screamed at him.

“You asked me?!” Haruhiro turned to the counter table and tried to run away from him.

“OSHUU BAGDA!!!” yelled orcs, jumped and chased after him.

There is no other way. Maybe Haruhiro will die. He's gonna get killed. He shouted madly, taking anything and everything he could reach to be thrown at the orc. But even about it, the orc looked like it felt nothing.

No way! No way, no way, NO WAY! Words fail to describe how bad it is. Haruhiro broke through the curtain door and was outside the shop again.

“Ia... not following me?” he whispered to himself. Not long after those words came out of his mouth, Madam Babaa came out. “Soldier boy! How could you leave an ordinary old grandmother to die?! Oh, so inhumane!”

“And what do you expect of me..?” Haruhiro grumbling.

He could see another orc shadow from a distance. After all, everything made sense since this was an invasion, so there must have been more than one Orc. Very much. Really bad. Very-very badly. He's got to run. Hiding in one place, perhaps, until the one who could defeat his orc came. Not that Madam Babaa was a friend or anything. He really is a stranger. He has no obligation to help her. And even if she wanted to, she still couldn't help him.

“I have no other choice..”

He took one deep breath and opened his curtain door again. Goddamnit! What the hell am I doing?! Doesn't he want to run? He still wants to run. His desire to escape peaked. But if he left her, even though she was a complete stranger, Haruhiro knew that she would not sleep well again if she did not.

So he had no other choice. Not because this might continue to unify him if he does not do it but because this is the only thing a human being deserves to do.

The Orc swung his sword towards Madam Babaa. He held it with his walking stick, grumbling with the force that almost brought him to his knees, his face flushed red as he tried to remain standing. Fortunately the walking stick was strong, but even though he could stop the orc attack, it was quite reckless. It was not the time to be stunned, as her circumstances were truly desperate.

Haruhiro pulled out the dagger and looked towards the orc's back. “[BACKSTAB!]”

“Soldiers!” madam Babaa's eyes shone. “I think I'm in love!”

“Please don't!” haruhiro replied, turning around to lure the orc. “Come here! Or... forget!”

Unfortunately, the attention of the orc was now changing from Madam Babaa to Haruhiro. I had to stop him, Haruhiro thought. I have to run when I get the chance... But it's too late to regret it.

“HASHUU HASHU HASHUU!” the orc shouted as it chased Haruhiro out of the shop.

Haruhiro fled until his breathing became heavy and panting. His armor was light and he ran as much as he could, but on the contrary, the orc, despite wearing heavy amor, could catch up to him easily. He could not keep his distance from her.

“Aglorious..” he grumbled, turning into a small alley. Trying to trouble the orc, he slipped himself between the narrow cracks of the shops, forcing himself past it.

But the orc was right behind him, its armor clinking, following Haruhiro everywhere. Haruhiro wants to surrender. He wanted to tell the orc, Excuse me, but can we cross the finish line now? You don't matter, do you?

He decided that the next turn would be his finish line. Haruhiro might be able to achieve it, but after that it seemed like he was already impossible to continue. He is on the verge, both mentally and physically. Sorry, but it's time for a break.

Haruhiro turned, almost-humped around the turn, then a voice, slow and hoarse told him, “Hub down!”

He obeyed it reflexively and felt something swinging above his head. It was a sword. Around the lodge, someone had been waiting for him. The owner of that hoarse voice. He swung his sword horizontally, passed Haruhiro's head by several inches, and crashed into the orc.

Hectors.

Hector had joined Red MooN the same day as Haruhiro, but it didn't look like it. Behind her stylish armor was a leather-striped robe and she held an amazing sword. Haruhiro knew that Hector was different the moment he saw him, though, it was hard to believe that the difference was really big.

One slash, really. Hector had killed the orc with just one slash. The difference is huge.

“You okay?” hector asked, then Haruhiro automatically nodded.

Not cool. Not very cool. Why am I so pathetic? Completely embarrassed, Haruhiro immediately got back on his feet and thought he shouldn't say thank you, but that wasn't spoken.

“Hector, you made them mad again!” the new voice is owned by an amazing amor with flaky hair. He pointed the other way.

He is Ron. As Haruhiro looked at where he was pointing, he saw three orcs coming at them.

“Jeerumea gram fel canon!” shouted the Son, a Mage with sunglasses, as he removed the elemental glyph from the end of his wand.

Haruhiro did not know that type of magic. A bluish-colored elemental flew towards one of the orcs and circled its legs. The orc did not slip or fall, but he could no longer walk. The other two didn't care about their bewitched friends. They stay close.

Suddenly, a long leg came out of the alley and struck the knee of the orc. The orc could not possibly dodge, the kick was well-planned. Haruhiro wasn't sure, but it looked like a Thief-class fighting technique, [KNEESHATTER]. The orc fell forward with a loud groan. The person who dropped it was slightly dressed conspicuously, with a bright color.

Sasa, huh...

“Good!” ron said, as he stepped forward to clean up the rest.

However, Ron is not short, but he still looks comparable to orcs. But even though his body was small, Ron's attacks could repel them. On the other hand, the orc that had been bewitched by the Son had already begun to move its legs again to join his comrade, even though he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Sasa did not let him. He stood in front of her to block her, and with a height of less than five feet, he looked like a dwarf with his awkward body.

A girl dressed as Priest and carrying a short stick, was also there, but she went past Haruhiro like a child trying to act like an adult. What is Chibi trying to do?

Chibi muttered something and slapped her wand right at the orc. The orc roared at him and put away the staff with his sword.

“Ap--!” Haruhiro chokes.

The swing of the orc sword missed as Chibi struck not only the tip of his staff, but the entire rod was circular and curved.

“Yah!” she screamed. Using the momentum from the swing, he spun it around to hit the waist of the orc.

The attack could not bring down the orc, but he got his attention. The orc came to a halt, and Chibi jumped back to where Hector was waiting.

He stroked his head with his big hand and said, “Good work, Chibi.”

Chibi hummed happily, her face flushed red.

Next, Hector stabbed the edge of his sword into the shoulder of the orc. It was hard to believe that even the orc was wearing a strong-looking amor. Anyway, that's Hector. He jerked his sword, and at the same time he kicked the chest of the orc with enough force to make it fly. The Orcs beat blindly, and tried not to fall, but that was not a problem for Hector. He killed it easily by thrusting the sword down his throat, then twisting it and splitting it.

A roar came from the orc that Ron was wrestling with, the orc was already forced to kneel with Ron's merciless attack, and he could finish it without any problems. While pressing them with cheers, Ron rained down on them with a head-on strike and he made it quickly. He did not stop until their skulls were wide open.

Strong. and also, noisily, Haruhiro noted.

When Haruhiro was amazed by Ron, Hector's side began to act. Now, he drew closer to the orc that had been bewitched by the Son, and the way Hector moved reminded Haruhiro of Master Barbara of his Guild Thieves. The movements of the two were almost the same, silently and quietly.

Haruhiro was fascinated by him.

Especially the way Hector uses his sword. Although it looked very heavy, but Hector swung and twisted it very easily as if the sword had become part of his hand. He had cut off the neck of the first orc, the bones as well as everything, as if the neck of the Orc was just a piece of tissue paper. Haruhiro thought that was the most amazing thing. How could Hector split an object as hard as a bone without any difficulty?

“That's the last one,” said Ron, putting his sword on his shoulder.

Haruhiro was motionless, he was astonished and perhaps it was his admiration that made him come to his senses, while the others were off guard. Perhaps this was because his eyes needed to see more than one place, so even though he did not try to pay attention to all sides around him, his gaze remained wider than theirs.

Something is moving. From the top of the building. From roof.

“Hector, your top!” haruhiro.

Hector immediately jumped to the back. A second too late, he could have been split in two.

Something had jumped over Hector from the roof of the building. It was an orc seen from anywhere, but, his hair was white, with a silver sheen. Strange as well, because Hector's hair was also equally silver.

It may be a law of nature, Haruhiro thought. Silver hair is equally crazy.

Just like Hector, the orc was just as crazy, as his feet. Not just the size. The orc was wearing black ebony amor, and the robe attached to his shoulder looked like tiger skin or perhaps it was really tiger skin. It's striking and there's no proper word to describe it other than shucks, crazy really!.

Every inch of his face contained a tattoo. Maco's crazy and a real shucks. His eye. Crazy real. His eyes are yellow. Terrible and crazy. His expression was very orderly and calm, so maybe he was smart enough. Crazy real.

And finally, the sword in his hand. It was purple, one-eyed sword, thick and long, the edge of the sword was very sharp, the tip was jagged, the maximum slap, damn it.

Moreover, when the crazy orc saw Hector's face, about ten more orcs came from the roof of the building around them. This is beyond the limits of the madness that all these situations seem to have been blighted-not-yet-generated-again.

The orc-orc was moving down from the roof, but they all stopped when the orc dressed in tiger skin that was like a boss, raised his left hand. He opened his mouth and began to speak.

“I..”

Whahuh? Haruhiro confusion. Did he just say “Au”?

“...Ishdogrann. You, who?”

He spoke. The vow! He speaks! His language is a bit messed up, but he speaks human language. Hector's lips slightly curved upwards. She smiles. He always seemed to be smiling, but wasn't it a bit strange to smile at times like this?

“My name is Hector. You want to fight me, IshhDogrann?”

“ONN GASHUU RADDO!” the other Orcs drop their weapons when their boss IshhDogrann gives the order.

Does that mean he wants to fight a round?

“No one interfered,” Hector ordered his Party, in a soft voice.

Does he really want to do it? Fighting one-on-one? Hector serious? It seems like it is.

They fought. Haruhiro didn't see who took his first strike. The two swords met each other with a loud thumping sound, causing a splash, and their horses were locked as the two tried to outrank each other. But not only do they press up there, they also alternately change weight points so that they can use the knees as well.

If Haruhiro hits his knee like they did, he'll bounce far and wide. They both wanted to destroy each other's balance, but they could still survive. They separated quickly.

IshhDogrann is aiming for Hector's foot, but Hector jumps to avoid falling and retaliates with an attack on IshhDogrann's head. The orc boss held him down with a glove on his arm, ducked down, and he threw his robe towards Hector.

Haruhiro was completely shocked by the impromptu attack, but Hector was not. He did not panic, he did not make any sound, he simply pulled his robe into the sky and thrust his sword into the orc. IshhDogrann probably intended to surprise Hector with it and make his opponent's defense open.

When the trick failed, the orc slightly retreated and slightly lowered its body with swift horses.

“Good. The humans. You're adept. Basic Warrior.”

“Sure,” Hector replied tightly, closing the distance between them.

Their swords clashed again. Now, I think, Hector's the one who attacked. Haruhiro's hands clenched his grasp tightly.

Hector can do it. He can win. Kill her! Defeat him!

Or that's what Haruhiro believes. Or that's what it looks like. Hector dominates, stays on top of the wind. Unfortunately, suddenly in the blink of an eye, IshhDogrann's sword had cut into Hector's left hand.

Whahuh? Haruhiro did not understand how that could happen.

Hector separated himself from the orc, loosening his hand. His blood poured out profusely from a severe wound near his elbow. His Party comrades gasped and shouted their worries, as cheers peaked from the orcs around them.

Hector lowered his left hand, and held his sword grip with his right. It seemed like he wanted to continue with one hand, as the wound on his left hand left him with no other choice. That hand may be useless now. But Hector's sword is big and heavy. He was clearly in an unfortunate situation.

He took a deep breath and smiled. Even though he was badly injured, he still smiled.

“Not bad,” he said it to the orc boss.

His smile was different than the one he had made. Now not just the tip of his lips, his smile now extended all over his face. It made Haruhiro shiver.

It's appalling... Hector was really creepy, he thought, and it wasn't the first time. Hector was like that from the beginning.

Hector attacked again. IshhDogrann, still holding his sword with both hands, deflected the one-handed attack from Hector with ease. Hector's attack this time was lighter, and if they fought now, he probably wouldn't be able to match the strength of that orc boss.

Surely, it seemed that the orc had almost knocked Hector's sword out of his hand several times. Hector could barely hold his grasp. This leaves the upper body, from the chest to the head, very open to attack.

Chibi shouted with a loud voice as IshhDogrann hit Hector in the face with the back of his armour-wearing hand. The gloves he wore were made entirely of metal and the plates were fused together all the way to his fingers. The blow broke Hector's nose, hit him very hard, he was drenched in blood in seconds.

Hector, still smiling, attacked again.

His attacks were fended off or bounced at every turn, even the orc boss rained counterattacks at him. Before long, Hector was enveloped in injuries. He wore armor, but not the type of armor that completely covered the user from head to toe. IshhDogrann aimed his attack at the open area with terrible precision. Even worse, the orc boss's sinister sword could tear apart a small piece of armor several times.

“OSHUU! OSHUU! OSHUU!” orc subordinates cheered in excitement, they set foot onto the ground.

Hector continued to attack, but Haruhiro could no longer stand by. His pure determination was the only thing keeping Hector afloat. Either that way, or perhaps Hector knew if he switched to defending, he could be defeated immediately. He had no choice but to keep attacking.

“Ron!” Haruhiro could not keep quiet. “You won't help him?! You just stand there?! The son! Chibi! Sasa! Hector can die!”

“If we do that..” said Sasa, his face pale and sweaty, he forced himself to smile fiercely. “Hector will kill us after that.”

Hector attacked again and again, but IshhDogrann easily brushed him off. His condition has not changed. The Orc looked like it was going to knock Hector's sword out of his hand, however Hector could still hold his grip, leaving his upper body open very wide to attack. Its bad. Nothing has changed. Hector will lose.

IshhDogrann can hit Hector in the face once again only this time, Hector won't let him.

Hector grasped the sword with both hands and raised it high. The orc boss immediately retreated to dodge the next attack.

But it's impossible. That can't be happening. Hector's left hand should have been completely useless, but right before Haruhiro's eyes, there he stood, holding his sword firmly with both hands.

Hector let out a savage roar, thirsting for blood. Haruhiro did not think that IshhDogrann was retreating just because of that, but within seconds, the orc froze there. Hector unleashed his sword attack diagonally, his sword splitting deeply towards the shoulders of the orc boss.

Then he actually unleashed his sword and struck down IshhDogrann with a single punch. Unceasingly, Hector kept hitting the orc boss, but his anger was not wild and aimless. It was regular anger. With careful precision and accuracy.

IshhDogrann no longer moved. Silence was occurring around this area, with the sound of systematic blows, Hector continued to shower his opponent with attacks, and it was the only sound that echoed through this street. Everything was completely silent except for Hector. He clenched his hands together, raising them high

up above his head, then slapped his remaining punch into the face of the orc boss.

Hector let out a long sigh and relaxed his neck to the right and to the left. “Not bad. Not bad the same

once, IshhDogrann. I'll make sure I remember your name.”

Ron grunting. “You're so fucked up, Hector.”

Light flashed on the Son's glasses as he gazed at the orc that was on the roof. Sasa still looked limp to stand up. Chibi rushes towards Hector, but he just waves, and instead picks up IshhDogrann's sword. He pointed towards the orcs wandering above.

“What? You want to try to fight me? Then let's get down here! I'll beat you all.”

Isn't he a little bit bragging? Thought Haruhiro. That was all Haruhiro could think of. It might be a good idea if he was arrogant to his opponent under these circumstances.

One of the orcs waved his hand to give the order. The others grumbled sounding like they were in protest, but fell silent after the first orc gaze fell on them. They all back out.

“I have..” Haruhiro could barely contain himself, then he dropped himself to the ground. “I've been saved.”

It had all happened right before his eyes, but he still did not believe it. He looked at Hector, turned his face away, then looked at him once more. Hector is very strong and amazing. If Party Haruhiro is compared to the Hector group, words like “ are not enough” or “iri” are no longer appropriate.

Hector is strong. Really too strong.

Haruhiro sighed and looked down at his hand. Hand's empty. He immediately nodded

it's going around, but it's nowhere. The hat belonged to Alice. When did he lose it? It wasn't important, but he still couldn't remember it. That thing is gone now.

 “...What have I done?” he whispered to himself.