《Orc Planet》 Orc Planet: Part 1 What just happened? How did I get here? ¡­ Just moments ago I was in my classroom and now I¡¯m in a rusty jail cell. There appears to be an old dwarf in the cell next to me, he seems to be tinkering with something. ¡°Oy, boy! So you just woke up eh? My name is Oren, I¡¯m a blacksmith from the snow-peak mountains. Where ya from?¡± ¡°Um, America?¡± ¡° What the heck is an America? Some kind of fish?¡± He looked at me questionably. ¡° Well it¡¯s where I¡¯m from¡± ¡°Okay Fish-man, We gotta find a way outta here¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a fish!¡± I yell, making a small echo in the cavern. What in the world is this place? I look around and see a line of empty jail cells next to us. The walls are covered with sharp stalagmites, and each of us have chains connected to our hands and ankles. Just a few hours ago I was eating top ramen in class and now I¡¯m chained next to a weird dwarf. Maybe I¡¯m dreaming, or maybe this is hell? As I continue pondering our situation, I hear the sound of armor rattling, and large footsteps approaching¡­ I see a large silhouette entering the cavern, with the lighting behind him revealing a monstrous shadow. The shadow proceeds to get larger and more terrifying with each step closer to us. My heart jumps out of my chest, no I must calm down. I have to stay strong if I want to leave this place alive and get back to my Xbox, homework and normal life. A small form enters that¡¯s green, with a giant warty nose and bouncy ears. ¡° Puny human! You look like you¡¯ve never seen a goblin before!¡± he glares at me with disdain. ¡° Well, I¡¯ve seen a couple in RPG''s but I¡¯ve never seen one in person¡± I reply casually. ¡° What the hell is an RPG! I am the mighty Uruk, your slave master.¡± ¡°Ehh!?? I¡¯m just a student, not a slave.¡± ¡° Puny human, your kind are weak and you¡¯ll do what you¡¯re told!¡± He leans near the cage and spits right in my face. ¡°Eww, you got some in my eye?¡± I say as I attempt to wipe the goo off of my face. ¡°Huehuehue¡± he laughs evilly, revealing a magnificently yellow grin. ¡° Throk, Grupp, bring him to the arena!¡± Two giant, hideous trolls appear from the shadows, rip open my cage, and forcefully grab me. ¡° No! What the hell is this!¡± I yell, struggling in vain to be freed. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡° This is the arena¡± he says while snarling, I hear a massive roar and look up to see thousands of people cheering. The arena was huge and magnificent, and as I look up I can feel the suns glare, causing me to avert my eyes. I feel a bead of sweat slowly drift past my sun-burned nose. ¡°Prepare the gladiators!¡± I hear a Minotaur roar from the stands, his deep voice reverberating among the arena. The trolls hand me a rusty sword, and thrust me forward through the gates. ¡° What the hell is going on!¡± I yell, my small voice lost in the deafening noise. ¡° On the left, we have the human Siegfried, who we found yesterday¡± and as the Minotaur speaks a large gate opens up and giant lizard man shuffles out. ¡° On the right, we have the mighty warrior Ulkrath from the blasted sands!¡± the crowd roars, and I¡¯m starting to feel faint with fear. ¡°Warriors, begin!¡± He yells, and I see the lizard man glare at me with piercing yellow eyes. ¡° Damn it!¡± I yell and charge toward the beast, still in my school uniform. I charge forward with my flimsy sword. ¡°Chh¡± his forked tongue slivers out of his mouth, as he skillfully parries aside my crude attack. ¡° Damn you!¡± I yell, stumbling to my feet, my clothes now dirtied and torn. I feel something warm against my face. I raise my hand to it, and see blood on the tips of my fingers. ¡° You have much to learn human¡± he hisses at me, scowling. ¡° I will not die today!¡± I yell, gripping the hilt of my sword with bloodied hands. I feel time stop for a moment, and see the entire arena frozen in time. A female voice rings in my ears ¡°Siegfried, you must awaken to your true power. I awaken the strength of the Siegfried of old. It will take time for your body to be fully accustomed to this power. Remember that the gods are watching you¡±. Time instantly unfreezes; the formerly frozen lizard man resumes his attack mid-swing. ¡° Arghhhh!¡± I yell, feeling a jolt of power surging through me. ¡° I must not lose!!¡± I yell, summoning a giant great sword in my right hand. ¡°Huh?¡± The lizard man yells and peers down at my blade as I thrust the sword through his heart. The last thing I hear is the deafening roar of the crowd before I drift out of consciousness. Orc Planet: Part 2 Half asleep I hear hushed voices whispering to each other. ¡° What was that power the boy has?¡± ¡° I don¡¯t know, but the kid was definitely worth the price.¡± ¡°You got that damn right.¡± ¡°Eh, I think the boy is waking up.¡± Sleepily, I blink my eyes rapidly a few times, adjusting to my new surroundings. This time I wake up on a padded cot instead of a jail cell. Two ugly goblins are standing beside me. ¡°Hey, boy so you¡¯re still alive eh?¡± The goblin gives me a yellow toothed grin. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°¡± Let me the hell out of here!¡± I yell, smashing the chains against my bedpost. I slam my chains against one of the goblins, breaking his nose. Blood spurts on my face, and the other goblin reaches desperately for his sword. I head-butt him, and send him flying across the room. I start sprinting for the door, ripping off my chains in the process. While he¡¯s holding his broken nose, the first goblin runs after me ¡°Gobbammit Trollsh shtop him at onshe!¡± He yells desperately. Orc Planet: Part 3 Two trolls appear at the doorway blocking my path, I slam my fist into one of their chests, but it¡¯s harder than granite. I shake my hand in pain and am then grabbed by one of the trolls and tossed over one of their shoulders. ¡°Shtupid Human did you really think you could get away that eashily? ¡°the goblin says angrily, spitting goop on my face. "I wash feeling nishe, but thish rat doesn¡¯t desherve it, throw him back in the shell without food for the resht of the day¡±. The trolls carry me to the dungeon, where the dwarf currently is. ¡± Oy boy, I heard you did well in tha arena, I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re back here with me¡± the dwarf said as he drinks water from a rusty tin. ¡± Well, I shouldn¡¯t even be here in the first place, whatever here even is¡± I say, scratching at where the tight cuffs on my arms are. ¡°Whaddaya mean lad?¡±. ¡± I don¡¯t think I¡¯m even from this world. The planet I¡¯m from is called Earth, and the things I¡¯ve seen here I¡¯ve only seen in stories and fairy tales. This is definitely too real to be a fairy tale though¡±. ¡°Earth? Ya don¡¯t seem to be crazy lad, but that¡¯s some tale¡±. ¡°Yeah, just the other day I was at school, and now I¡¯m here in this fucked up fantasy world¡±. ¡± Where ya are now is called Orc Planet. This is a world where the strong survive. At that bottom is tha humans, then us dwarves, then the trolls, undead, goblins, and at that very top is tha orcs. We get enslaved by tha stronger races, and forced to kill each other. It wasn¡¯t always that way, until the race wars.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I never had time to think about it before, but I just killed a man. Sure, he was a lizard humanoid; but I just ended a person¡¯s life. He might have had a family, and even kids. I¡¯ve been put in a difficult situation, and I had to end a life in order to survive. What did that voice say? She said something about the power of an ancient Siegfried. This is all too weird. I don¡¯t know if I could kill again when the time comes. As I continue pondering I look over at the sleeping dwarf next to me. Orlen seems like a pretty nice guy. He looks like the dwarves I seen on games and books from home, but I have no idea what he¡¯s doing here with me. He gave me good advice, so I have no reason to suspect him. I think I should rely on what he says from now on. This world is scary, but in the past I always read and played games to escape; so maybe this world is a better fit for me. It seems like a weird thought because I¡¯m locked in a cage, but this seems like a world where ones current strength can make a difference. I seem to have developed powers of some sort, so maybe I¡¯ll be able to start a new life here and finally have a family. My old life was just drifting from foster home to foster home, and I don¡¯t remember finding any sort of happiness. I must think of a plan to escape from here, hopefully with Orlen with me. I look around and I can see the shadow of one of the troll guards from the doorway. MaybeI can break out of here and sneak past when they are sleeping. The trolls seem exceptionally dumb after all. Orc Planet (Part 4) I suddenly hear an explosion, and warbled screams of terror. ¡°Arghhhhh!¡± The sounds are similar to dying storm-troopers in star wars ¡°Orlen , wake up! Something is happening!¡± I yell through the bars. ¡° Ehh, what a beautiful dream that was laddie¡± he says while happily yawning ¡° I think we are in trouble!¡± I yell desperately, trying to snap him out of it I feel a sudden chill and look over to see a dragon munching on the former goblin slave master¡¯s head.Thank god it hasn¡¯t noticed us yet. I close my eyes. My sword! I must summon my sword to break these cell bars. I concentrate on my hands, and can feel a slight aura. I grit my teeth and clench my fingers. ¡°Aaargh!¡± I yell, summoning the mighty greatsword once again. ¡° Ya did it boy!¡± the dwarf exclaims happily I smash through the bars, then feel an intense heat. I look over and see the dragon has noticed us, and is walking our way. ¡°Oh shit!¡± I yell, quickly cutting through Orlen¡¯s bars. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. We run towards the end of the dungeon, the dragon following closely behind. We reach a wide empty chasm that must have been caused by the dragon. We run across the bridge with the dragon following closely behind. Boom! The dragon roars, causing the walls around us to crumble. I¡¯m now cut off between Orlen and the dragon. ¡°Orlen!¡± I yell, futilely attempting to break through the giant wall of rock between us with my greatsword. ¡° It¡¯s okay boy, I was destined to die here anyways, go and live on boy and meet your destiny¡± his soft,gruff voice can be heard in between the wall. Orlen smashes the wall between us with I don¡¯t know what, and causes the rest of the cave to fall upon them with a resounding boom. ¡°Noooooo!¡± I yell, pounding against the wall of stone where Orlen once was, tears streaming down my face. I look up around and I¡¯m outside now, the dragon and Orlen now long gone. I see an array of elegant mountains and beautiful trees being silhouetted by the sunset. Such a beautiful scene for such a sad day. I¡¯m on top of a ledge with a rocky path facing down the mountain. I guess the only thing to do now is follow it... Orc Planet (Part 5) I travel down the mountains as the sun continues to set. I have no idea what fate has in store for me. Orlen was my only friend here and now he¡¯s gone. It¡¯s getting colder, and I¡¯m starting to get hungry. I bet Olen would know what to do. I reach the bottom of the mountain and enter a large forest that the path leads to. I find a small lake and scoop up the water with my hands to wash off my face. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever gone this long without a shower in my life. Well I guess the first thing to do is find other humans if possible. I resume walking, now faint with hunger. Boom! Clash! I hear muffled noises near a large boulder. I wonder what that could be? I walk towards it and can see a small amount of warm yellow light. There appears to be some sort of cellar-like door on the ground. Well I¡¯m tired, starving and feeling faint, I guess I should just open it. ¡°Hum, ho, hum, ho, off to work we go, dwarves we be, and dwarves we go!¡± Huh? That sounds like singing. I¡¯m in a small tunnel space that¡¯s somehow receives light. I army crawl towards the end and am then blasted by light, there¡¯s a whole city down here! Filled with..dwarves??! A guard that looks like he¡¯s about to fall asleep suddenly hears me. ¡° Intruder! Intruder! There be an intruder!¡± He yells, trying to run towards me. He¡¯s a bit overweight and probably drunk so it almost looks like he¡¯s running in slow-motion. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. All the dwarves in the local vicinity stop what they are doing and look at me. I look around and can see a blacksmith at a forge, a dwarf baking bread, and a bunch of rugged dwarves mining ore. ¡°Umm hey guys¡± I put my hands up in the sign of surrender. A dwarf with a rather magnificent beard steps through the crowd and stops the guard dwarf with a wave of his hand. ¡° What is a human doing here? Speak up boy!¡± ¡° I¡¯m sorry ,I just escaped a dragon attack at the arena and somehow found this place¡± I plead desperately. ¡° Lies, he must be a spy. Kill him!¡± he gestures to the guards. ¡° Wait ! I met a dwarf there named Orlen, he died saving my life from the dragon.¡± ¡° What?! You don¡¯t mean the legendary blacksmith Orlen do you?¡± he stops the guards from advancing. ¡° Yes! He said he was from the snow-peak mountains, we were in cells right next to each other.¡± ¡° I see. If your story is true, then that means that Orlen believed enough in you in order to die for your sake.¡± He says while stroking his magnificent beard. Orc Planet ( Part 6 ) A blue notification chimes in front of my face. What is that? It looks similar to a game interface. ¡° What¡¯s your name boy?¡± The magnificently bearded dwarf asks. ¡° Oh , It¡¯s Siegfried.¡± ¡° By the gods¡­¡± he murmurs while stroking his beard. The dwarf walks up to me and shakes my hand with an iron grip. ¡° Siegfried, I welcome you to the underground dwarven city of Bafeld. It is good you were able to make it here through Frostwood forest after the dragon attack. I am the king of this city. My name is Dorren Grizzlehammer and I welcome you as the first human to enter our city.¡± The rest of the dwarves cheer, and the guard pats me on the back. A small, elegant female dwarf walks over to me. ¡° Hello my name is Alyssa. I am the queen of this city. If you want to stay in our city we will provide you with lodging, but you will have to be able to pay. Nothing here is free. That said, you can make money through jobs like blacksmithing and cooking, or through quests at the quest counter. We are currently preparing for war, so a lot of the quests will be gathering items for the war; and fighting back against the goblin invasions. We also hope to obtain good relations with the humans so that we can improve our standing against the Orc nation¡± she gestures for me to follow her. ¡°This is where you¡¯ll be staying, the quest counter is over there. If you have any questions you can ask one of the guards, or me if I¡¯m free.¡± She smiles and returns to the kings side. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡° Now that¡¯s settled we have impending matters to get back to¡± The king says and they start to walk away. The dwarves start to resume their routine. I walk over to the quest counter, and see a massively ripped dwarf standing there with his arms crossed. ¡° Hello, I¡¯m looking for a quest¡± I say while looking at the massive scar on his left cheek. ¡° Ello boy, My name is Gotrend. Orlen was a good friend of mine from childhood. Ya seem to be lacking armor, but you can always buy some or learn how to make it later. I recommend an iron ore gatherin quest, I can loan ya a pick axe. This way you can also make your own armor and make a lil pocket change in the process¡± He says with a grizzled grin. He points over to where the miners are. ¡° You can mine for iron ore over there, Or inside the mining cave deeper to the east." ¡° Sounds good¡± I say with a smile as he hands me a worn pick axe. One step at a time, I think as I walk to where the miners are. Orc Planet ( Part 7 ) I walk past the other miners to mine ore inside the cave. The notification chimed in front of me every time I finished smashing one of the ore deposits. Maybe they renew every day or so. This planet seems to have some sort of game-like system in place, or maybe I¡¯m somehow inside a game? No, that would be too weird. I gather the rest of the iron ore and return to the quest counter. ¡°Done already eh? Here ya go.¡± He hands me 50 copper in exchange for the ore. ¡°Now that you know how to mine, I recommend going to see the blacksmith Griffith over there.¡± He points over at Griffith who is currently at the forge. I walk over to the forge and the burly dwarf Griffith peers over at me. ¡° I¡¯m not that trusting of humans, but ya seem to be the good type. Betray that trust and you¡¯ve gotta deal with me.¡± He pointedly flexes his arm. ¡° Yes sir.¡± I nod. ¡° Good boy, but ya don¡¯t need to be that polite with me, the name¡¯s Griffith but you can just call me Griff. You want to learn how ta make yer own armor I¡¯m guessing?¡± ¡° Yes, I don¡¯t want to be dragon dinner¡± I say jokingly ¡° Hahaha ! Dragon dinner!, yer a funny one lad I¡¯m starting ta like you already.¡± He laughs a little too hard at my lame joke. ¡° Okay, back to what we were talkin about. The first armor ya want to make is iron armor.¡± He walks over to the forge with me. As soon as I reach the forge, A large menu pops up that shows the required materials for different pieces of iron armor. ¡°Since ya mined iron ore, Iron armor is unlocked. When you fight certain beasts or find new ores to mine ya can unlock new armors. Did ya mine any extra ore boy?¡± I nod and show it to him. ¡°First thing ya should do is smelt the ore in the furnace over there. I suggest startin'' with a simple iron chest-piece. Ya should be able to make it with the amount ya got.¡± After he finished demonstrating the process, I walk over to the furnace and place the iron ore inside of it. A few seconds later it solidifies, transforming into a grey iron ingot. The process is quite similar to how smithing works in a lot of games. Smithing just might be fun! Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡° All right, now ya just need to make it at the forge.¡± After I finish making five iron ingots I take them over to the forge. A large screen pops in front of me once again. The chest-piece is now unlocked along with a few others. I raise my hand into the air and touch it, surprisingly to find it similar to a touch-screen. I scroll to the chest piece and click it. Another screen appears in front of me with two options: I select yes and the chest-piece materializes right in front of me. ¡° Ya can polish year armors on the rack there to upgrade them, but it usually requires a few extra ingots. Try in her new armor boy, it should fit.¡± I pull the armor over my head to find the armor surprisingly lighter than I originally thought. ¡° Once ya have a full set of armor, then ya can finally go on real quests if ya want.¡± Now outfitted with a chest-piece over my torn high school uniform I probably look pretty silly. I take it off for now and head over to the inn. I head over to the inn and pay 25 copper for dinner and a room. After getting served beef-stew and some ale (I guess there¡¯s no drinking age here) I head to my room. I open the door to find a black cat sitting on the windowsill. It quickly jumps off as I enter the room. Well I guess it¡¯s time for sleep, and finally in a real bed (I say that but it¡¯s basically a mattress stuffed with hay, It¡¯s heaven compared to a jail cell though). I close my eyes and drift off to sleep. A wave of painful memories hits me while asleep. ¡° It¡¯s not like you¡¯re their real son. Nobody cares how well you do in school.¡± ¡° His parents were alcoholics and addicts, what do you expect.¡± The Past I guess my parents were hippies or something, but I wouldn''t know because I''ve never met them. I was put into foster care at the tender age of 2 after my parents death. I wish I could be sad about it, but to be honest I never knew them anyways. The other children in my homes always acted like I was less than them. " Why does heee have to come with" As if I were some second rate citizen. They would play together in the living room as a family and laugh and laugh while I scrubbed their dishes like a little snow white. How I despised them. I wish I could leave this fragile world for a different one, but here I am scrubbing pots on my birthday. They had no idea that not only it was my birthday, but that I had gotten all A''s this semester. I want to be different. Even though I''m with these people and in this environment I want to succeed no matter what. My drive is for a new life, a better life; even if I hate this one at the moment. One day I will be able to smile again. "Siegfried! You missed a spot on the floors!" " Yes, sorry sir I''ll get to it right away" I show a fake smile to my abnormally muscular African foster dad. I ate dinner at the table after the whole family went to sleep.. I hate how I feel different from the family, yet I still grew to accept it. This is my life. I have many dreams for the future, but right now they feel so distant. I want to have my own family one day, that is my strongest goal. I want to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on these people or homes of others. I must become strong. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. " White boy! Why are you putting your head down!" " Ha ha he''s scared, go run to your mommy!" I attempt to keep my head down at school to not get noticed by the other kids. At this new home I''m the only white person at my school. Not that I have anything against them we''re just very different.These kids were raised on the streets and a lot were already in gangs, a lot of them probably had a much rougher life than me My only solace were basketball and online games. They''re my one escape for my miserable life, where everything wasn''t decided for me like the system. After falling asleep on my desk at school I have a weird dream.. - Are you tired of this world? Would you like to go to a better one? - Yes, I think and drift off in slumber. Little did I know exactly what I was getting into