Reborn with the Conquest System-Chapter 45: Mana

He placed a hand on the orc’s shoulder, making it break into a cold sweat.

"Now now, my friend, there’s no need to be afraid of me. I have a use for you, and as long as you help me out — you will be a free ma... I mean orc."

Unlike what he expected, the orc tries to raise his axe towards him. Yet before it could even reach the halfway point, Magnus had it firmly gripped in his hand.

Trying to move the axe, yet it kept failing time and time again. The orc struggled for one last moment, then sighed in resignation.

"What do you want, human?"

"Simple, lead me back to your tribe." Magnus spoke, his gaze cold.

"NOOO—!" The orc shouted before trying to get away.

Two steps, before it’s head was buried into the snow, a hand clutching the back of his neck.

Magnus whisper sounded like the devils words. "That wasn’t a request."

"I have a family, I will not let you know where the camp is!"

"I don’t care, I don’t mind sparing your family if you surrender to me. But if you don’t and I find them, which I definetely can due to your mount... "Magnus words trailed off, before he lowered his voice. "Why, do you think I can’t trace back the steps of your little pet?"

"You monster!" the orc shouted, its spittle flying everywhere

"That’s not a yes or no," Magnus said, his voice like ice. His grip tightened on the orcs neck. Before he could squeeze it’s throat though to begin choking it though...

"I’ll... I’ll tell!"

’Orcs have no loyalty, but this is the first one who actually bothered to resist at first. Maybe they care about each other? How interesting...’

Climbing behind the rider, he stood in the back of the wolf with his feet planted on the end of the saddle.

"I don’t need to say where we’re going now, right?"

"...No, I’ll lead. But promise to leave my child and wife!"

"Hm... Okay."

The reins were pulled, and the wolf turned around, running towards the depths of the steppe. Casting one last glance at the fortress that was becoming smaller, Magnus began looking ahead.

Along the way, he asked the orc scout about any useful information.

"How big is your tribe?"

"200 people, all combat ready." The orc replied, confident that the number might scare Magnus.

"Do you know if there’s anything besides normal orcs among your ranks? Like shamans?"

"Ranke? Uhhh..." it scratched its head, seemingly unaware of the meaning. "I don’t know ranks, but there’s 3 shamans. Ah, and the chieftain is super strong too!"

"The, do you know the locations of other tribes in the vicinity?"

Seeing the orc hesitant, he gave him a light tap on the head. "I’m not a patient man. Speak."

"A... A few. I know 6 tribes locations."

"Hmm... OKAY! You might get a bit busy for the next few days then."

"What do you intend to do?"

"Imprison every single orc and starve them until they submit to me." Magnus replied nonchalantly.

"What... What?"

"You heard me. So you better behave unless you want to starve with your precious family, got it?"

"Why do you want to conquer the nearby orc tribes? They’re not rich or something to make someone of your caliber interested."

"My caliber?"

"You look like one of those Azel nobles, so I thought you were one of them..."

Taking a quick look at himself, Magnus only saw a pair of old pants and a tunic on himself. ’Noble my ass!’

"No, you got that wrong, but I was part of Azel for a short while. As for why I want to conquer... Let’s say I simply need them to pledge their allegiance to me."

’And then I will exterminate every single one of these slaving bastards.’

"Sir, you don’t need to enslave the whole ribe if you want loyalty, simply challange the leader of the tribe to fight you and win. The orcs will submit to the strong!" he yelled righteously, a smile flickering on his lips before it dissappeared.

"How can I trust you?"

"Try it! It’s either that or being mercilessly slaughtered, so the tribes will easily submit to your mighty fist!"

Thock

"Less bootlicking maggot. I’ll consider it." Magnus lips also curved upwards for a moment, before the smile disappeared.

An hour passed in silence, neither side speaking, each one having their own plans. In the distance, a shadow of a fortress seemed to rise up high, it’s architecture strikingly different than the dwarven elegance.

Rough and crude shapes formed the fortress, the jagged edges on its side protruding like spears. As for the size of the fortress, Magnus judged it to be about 4 to 5 stories and 30 meters in height.

’Did the orcs build that? Impressive.’

"Human, this is our work of art of the Gnarlse tribe, the Fortress !" The orc explained proudly, a hint of happiness lacing it’s voice.

"The fortress?" Magnus asked, confused.

"Yes, THE Fortress!" It replied, still proud.

’So it doesn’t even have a name? How fucking stupid are these bastards!? No matter, if they have a fortress there might be a half decent big shot at the level of the shaman somewhere in there.’

[Name: Magnus (changeable)]

[Level: 13]

[Experience: 5391/16000]

[STR: 64] [SPD: 54] [INT: 13] [WIL: 72] [-] [-]

[27 points available.]

’How does mana work, is it based off int or willpower? I’m probably going to unlock the mana pool just in case now—’

[In this world it scales with both of them. As for how it works, like everything else in the system, the numbers are simplified a lot. So a lightning bolt would be 2 points of mana, and a lightning dragon 5.]

’I see, then there’s nothing to hesitate about anymore!’ He opened the skill shop, and looked at both mana control and mana affinity skills. ’Purchase!’

The arcane winds began to gather around Magnus, an invisible storm raging around him as he stood there. The beast underneath shuddered yet it dared not stop moving. Even the orc rider, with barely any mana sensitivity from being an orc, seemed to feel something unsettling.

Magnus took a glance at his status window, seeing a new line appearing on it.

[Name: Magnus (changeable)]

[Level: 13] 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

[Experience: 5391/16000]

[STR: 64] [SPD: 54] [INT: 13] [WIL: 72] [-] [-]

[ Mana total (2INT+WIL)= 98]

[23 points available.]

As the storm subsided, Magnus saw the large fortress gate growing bigger in his vision. The gate opened, and under the confused gazes of the orcs, he was brought along to the keep.

’I wonder... Does it count as air frying orcs if I fry them with lightning? Hehe hehe.’