Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Orcs Are Doing Shaman Rituals. (2)
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"How do I do this right away?"
"I already explained it."
Was the explanation too difficult?
Not at all.
It was a special crash course, picking out only the essential core points.
"Where exactly is the hard part?"
"First off, how do I surrender to the rhythm?"
If that's the starting point...
"From the very beginning, huh?"
"...Snort."
Gullak looked utterly deflated.
What good is a shaman with such a weak spirit?
"Just give it a try for now."
"Got it. I'll make it work."
Succeeding on the first try would be tough.
It's not like ecstasy is some kid's pet name—it's a seriously tricky state to reach.
"Sniiiort..."
Gullak let out a deflating snort and slowly closed his eyes.
But then they snapped open again.
"...."
"Why aren't you doing it?"
"I can't feel the rhythm."
Gullak shook his head and let his shoulders slump.
"Human shaman, think about it."
"Never thought I'd hear an orc tell me to think."
Absurd as it was, Gullak was dead serious.
"Snort. I'm being chased by a necromancer, and all my brothers are dead."
"Uh..."
"With my kin dying left and right, how could I feel any rhythm? Snort..."
Come to think of it, he really was a pitiful guy.
So unfortunate and wretched.
Gullak subtly turned his head away.
"Barku, beat the drum or something."
"Snort! I'll aid this sacred rite! Grow stronger, shaman!"
The drumbeats started echoing right away.
Thoom—
Thoom—
Rhythmic sounds spreading steadily.
In the midst of it, Gullak began to focus.
"Sniiiort..."
"Hey, relax your whole body completely."
The moment I spoke, Gullak started shaking his body.
He looked serious, like he was really concentrating.
It seemed like he was roughly mimicking it, but it still felt awkward and unfamiliar.
"Snort. I'm erasing myself."
"Don't even think about erasing—just empty your mind."
Gullak shook his staff and leaped up.
But somehow, the more he jumped...
"Why's it getting so ferocious?"
The deeper Gullak immersed himself, the weirder his dance became.
To me, a joyful dance should look fun, but this felt like he was fighting.
"Ferocious? Fight?"
My mind went blank for a moment.
A plausible idea had struck me.
"Hold up! Stop!"
"Snort?"
I'd found the orc way to do it.
***
Wham!
One orc took a punch to the face from Gullak and tumbled across the ground.
"Snort! Come at me more!"
This time, Gullak grabbed another orc and hurled him away.
Thud.
Gullak and the orcs surrounding him started tangling in a chaotic brawl.
After a bit of the melee, I seized the moment and shouted.
"Now!"
"Sniiiort!"
His eyes gleamed with savagery.
Gullak gripped his staff and shook his body just like that.
This was exactly what I'd figured out.
Orcs are monsters.
They don't vibe to rhythm—they thrive on this instead.
The fighting spirit and primal ferocity itching for battle.
"Snort!"
Gullak's eyes were rolling like a madman.
He'd completely surrendered to the fight.
A path to ecstasy totally different from mine.
Suddenly, blue flames erupted beside me.
Whoosh—
I opened my mouth again and yelled.
"The fire's weakening! Step it up!"
"Sniiiort! Everyone, pile on Gullak!"
"Attack!"
Gullak swung his staff wildly, smashing the orcs.
The fiercer his movements...
The more his eyes blazed...
The flames roared higher.
"Human shaman! Gullak's gone weird!"
The orc named Barku looked at me in panic.
It was understandable.
Right now, Gullak was berserking like some berserker, rationality thrown to the wind.
"Keep going! Don't stop!"
At my words, the orcs charged again.
Gullak fought on, taking hits without feeling pain.
Whoosh—
The flames surged violently in sync with Gullak's frenzy.
Bloodshot eyes bulging with veins.
His actions resembled a lunatic in the throes of seizure.
The killing intent pouring off him was no joke.
Just as I was about to calm things down...
"Snort!"
Gullak stopped dead.
Perfectly normal again, like the rampage never happened.
"Sniiiort! I get it now."
"Huh?"
"I learned it. I can mimic what you did, human shaman. But I have to do it my way."
He'd already figured it out?
Definitely, what Gullak had just done was close to a trance state.
He'd abandoned himself to frenzy just like surrendering to rhythm.
"I'll show you. All orcs, back off."
"Sniiiort! My whole body aches."
"Next time, I'll hit back."
Gullak walked to the now-subdued flames and quietly closed his eyes.
"The scent's thicker."
Swish—
The staff rose.
Ragged breaths poured from Gullak.
The opposite of my calm descent into stillness.
It suited him—letting go of sanity to excitement and madness.
"Fits a monster, at least."
Soon, Gullak began to move.
Mimicking my dance.
But not joyfully dancing—his body twisted like battle moves turned into choreography.
"This is insane. Is he really pulling it off?"
As Gullak moved, affecting orc souls like human spirits, they started reacting.
- ....
- ...!!
- ...%^&!!
When a shaman rite kicks off, spirits gather to revel.
Like crashing a neighborhood festival.
Those moves brimming with madness and hype would terrify any human into fleeing.
Emotions no sane person could produce.
That is, if we're talking human souls.
"Whoa..."
The spirits' excitement washed over me.
Different from the filthy madness of stray ghosts.
Pure battle lust, akin to raw fighting spirit.
They were savoring the thrill of combat.
Even more shocking: it was affecting the living orcs too.
"Fight!"
"Snort! Snort!"
Hot snorts burst out, unable to contain the hype.
The drumbeats grew thunderous with power.
Thooom—
Thooom—
Gullak's madness spread, and I could feel the orcs' hearts pounding fiercely.
Battle fervor and frenzy from both orc spirits and the living.
"....Whoa."
The emotions hit me full force, my head throbbing.
Not artist energy—more like what fighters exude.
"What the hell did I just teach them?"
Look at those orcs with crimson eyes glaring wildly.
Never seen one, but if berserkers exist, they'd look just like that.
A rite like shamanism, but with sorcery vibes.
Suddenly, madness exploded from the orcs, beastly roars echoing.
Guttural voices scraping from deep throats.
"Grrr..."
"I wanna fight!"
I urgently grabbed Serena's wrist.
"We need to fall back."
"Chris, this is..."
"...Baa?"
Even Luna, who'd been asleep during my possession, woke up sensing the weirdness.
The moment we backed away from the flames...
The orcs started clashing with each other.
"You idiots! Don't turn on each other!"
This was a dogfight on steroids.
Punches blocked? Ram with your body. Axes shatter? Grip the edge and swing.
"Hey, is this normal?"
- ...&%$%?
As if this one would know.
Orc spirits had settled into spots, enjoying the brawl vicariously.
"Chris, should we stop them?"
"Hmm..."
If this is how they have fun, do we really need to intervene?
Considering the species difference, accommodating orc ways wasn't so weird.
This line of work sees all kinds of crazy anyway.
"Sounds ridiculous, but it seems to be working."
"...This?"
"Baa! Noisy! Luna, sleep..."
The flames blazed incomparably fiercer than before.
Purity heightened, color deepened.
"Maybe this could..."
Flames housing the shaman's soul.
Strengthening the healing flames meant awakening was near.
I needed a closer look.
Step—
Serena followed worriedly as I stepped forward.
Honestly, I was just as thrown.
This form was a first for me.
"If it goes south, we'll have to shut it down."
"...Can you even do that? With them raging like that?"
"Yeah. Not just anyone can, but some rites need flipping."
There's a thing called overturning a rite.
It's taboo, but I'd seen it once.
Master, in a rage, flipping the rite entirely.
"Still so vicious..."
The initiation ritual where we dragged in a stray ghost.
Just had some divine energy, not cut out to be a shaman, yet we forced the descent.
A blatantly money-grubbing wrong rite.
Gods get pissed in cases like that.
Rites you overturn before ruining lives.
Anyway, since fate tied me to Gullak, better to flip it if it veers wrong.
Can't let that bloodthirsty lot loose on the world.
"Hmm..."
Even up close to the fire, no heat.
A languid warmth instead.
Like soaking in a hot spring.
"Kinda like a war god..."
Not a deity.
Similar to a war god, but closer to a powerful ghost.
"But not quite a ghost either..."
A shaman turning ghost after death might resemble it.
"...."
This soul before me was an orc ancestor.
Arguably like ancestral gods passed down lineages.
Whatever—Gullak's "warrior soul" probably included this one.
Hard to pin down exactly.
No term fits such a spirit.
"At least the healing seems to be working..."
Crackle—
A weird sound rang out.
Drip—
"Serena, you hear that?"
"...What sound?"
Guess she couldn't hear it.
Which means...
"Serena! Take Luna and fall back!"
The instant I drew my rattle, my eyes met the shaman's soul.
Blue flames enveloped my body in a flash.
A thought in linguistic form flowed into my mind.
"Don't interfere! You won't get hurt!"
My vision went white as a voice echoed.
"Chris!"
"Baa!"
Good thing Serena took Luna.
Didn't expect a possession blackout like this after so long.
Thud.