I Refused To Be Reincarnated-Chapter 876: The Boulder and the Waterfall

Atop Adam’s shoulder, Bao barely caught Kragh’s two vicious strikes. She shrieked, her fur trembling, and her mind reeling in confusion. Why wasn’t Adam dodging? He could. She had seen just yesterday. He had been a gentle river stream that used the weight and movements of a drifting boulder as leverage to dominate it instead of confronting it. But today, he was the boulder. Forceful. Trying to crash through the waves without technique.

Was this his answer? But it was dangerous! And now he lost his weapon. Oh no! She covered her head with her tiny paws, her eyes wide open.

Adam’s eyes darted to the two blades. One slashed diagonally at his right side, the other pierced forward at his inner thigh, likely to slice through arteries. Not immediately lethal, but vicious, like a feral beast wounding prey, then waiting for its strength to bleed out before delivering an effortless coup de grâce. Adam admitted it. Kragh was a skilled warrior in his own brutal way.

But could skill alone hold a collapsing mountain?

Adam punched down. No finesse, no tactics. Just the plates of his gloves knocking the blade searching his thigh to the ground with a shrill clang. Simultaneously, the fur of his pauldron fluttered as he rammed the reinforced metal against the second blade.

Kragh’s smirk twisted in a grimace when the punch tore his weapon from his grip. Adam saw him try to recover the second one. But it was too late. He stomped forward, his hands lunging like claws at the orc’s face.

Before they could reach it, Kragh spat something at point-blank range. The irregular shapes of the projectiles glistened for a heartbeat. Adam’s pupils constrict. The shards of his destroyed weapon—Kragh had kept them in his mouth after chomping it to pieces.

There was no dodging it. No parrying it, either. Hands too far, no time.

He clenched his jaw, anger searing through his veins. Shards sliced through his cheeks and lips, rattling against his tusks. He snapped his left eyelid, a heartbeat before a stinging pain drilled the muscle and poked his eye. Even as blood dripped from his face, his hands continued.

He gripped Kragh’s head, getting a startled yelp from the orc who must have expected him to jolt back from the injuries. But a raging waterfall didn’t flow up; it forcefully crashed down. And so did he.

He slammed the sole of his foot against Kragh’s kneecap.

CRACK

"ARGH!"

Bones snapped with a sickening crunch, followed by a wail that silenced the crowd’s chants.

But Adam was just starting.

He gripped Kragh’s blade-wielding hand before he could even lose balance. His fingers wrung the wrist until it snapped. As his adversary’s last weapon clanged on the ground, Adam allowed him to drop to his knees. Then, he moved behind Kragh.

"Let’s put your Ironjaw title to the test."

He planted his foot in the middle of the orc’s back and plunged his hand into his mouth between two agonising screams. Fingers finding purchase behind the upper teeth, and pushing with his leg, he pulled.

Watching terror slither over confidence, he forced the orc’s upper back parallel to the ground. Crunching noises slowly spread, too faint to hear between Kragh’s muffled screams at first. Then, they grew to become the only sound the shocked crowd could focus on.

"SHTOP! ARGH!"

CRACK

Adam didn’t answer the plea. Instead, he pulled one last time. Kragh’s jaw shattered, and muscles tore open. He stumbled a couple of steps back, just as Kragh’s chest collapsed on the ground. Blood spurted, not from a neck, but from the exposed half base of his skull, trilling between tusks sharp like fangs.

And the other half of the skull was in Adam’s hands.

A silence, broken only by the platter of blood on stone, engulfed the village. The musicians had their sticks frozen over the taut leather of their drums, their eyes locked on the ripped upper skull of Kragh.

Adam glared at it with his good eye. The other was still closed, the eyelid pierced by the shard, while the drying blood on his face made his words all the more terrifying to the crowd.

"Your ancestors should’ve given you humility. You can complain to them yourself." He tossed Kragh’s head at Zul’Morak’s feet. "Plant it in the mating tent. I’m sure he’ll love watching less virile orc enjoy being alive."

Zul’Morak remained frozen for a moment, his red eyes widening, then narrowing beneath his hood, as if he failed to understand how his champion could lose so overwhelmingly.

It was a snort from the crowd that forced the shaman out of his thoughts. "Call the winner, Morak." Zul’Rakhan walked through the warriors protecting the duel ground.

Zul’Gora rushed to Adam faster. Her curved eyes told him she wore her broadest grin. "Great fight, Adomash! You truly honored us this time. Don’t move, and no matter what, keep your eyelid shut until I remove the shard."

Something he couldn’t feel snuggled beneath the shard, then nuzzled it out. The pressure against his poked eye lessened, but his curiosity increased. What was this energy in the end?

"Bless the ancestors, you kept it close. The shard would have shredded your eye the moment you opened it." Zul’Gora gripped his forehead, her fingers forcing his eye open as the other two shamans glared at each other.

Surface wound that wouldn’t leave lasting damage even without his regenerative abilities. Not worth lingering on. But Bao seemed to disagree. She pawed his cheek, letting out worried whimpers.

"I’m fine. Really." He rubbed her head. "Did you see my answer?"

Bao shook her head, tears wetting her fur. It wasn’t time for teaching. Heal, heal fast, Adam. Then, we can focus on the rest.

Adam continued with a chuckle. "Strength without technique is just violence. But technique without strength is flowery moves hiding the emptiness beneath. Never forget, Bao. Strength almost always decides the outcome of a battle between matched warriors. They go hand in hand, like the dark spots on your white fur."

Bao pushed her paws against his lips, yelping for the wounded to remain silent.

Adam nodded, focusing on his own understanding. After fighting with extreme yin, then yang, Cordelia’s chaotic movements began to make much more sense. They flowed like water, yet always delivered maximum strength on impact, meaning she had refined part of the concept.

A magus understood yin and yang? No. The name didn’t matter on the battlefield. She either killed her enemies with brutal efficiency or they would. Like she had, he needed to refine his understanding to equal her mastery. No, he would surpass it.

"When’s the next ritual fight?" He asked, his voice more eager than usual.

"Spoken like a true warrior!" Zul’Gora let go of his eyelid, chuckling. "We’ll depart for the next village when the sun sets. Recover until then." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

With a nod, Adam focused on the two shamans locked in a glaring duel. Eventually, Zul’Morak let out a frustrated sigh.

"Adomash reminded us of valor and humility. He offered Kragh a warrior’s death and redefined artistry through violence." Each word was chopped off, as if he fought against himself to speak them. Then, something ignited in Zul’Morak’s eyes. He jabbed his staff skyward, smirking at Zul’Rakhan beneath his hood. "Will Adomash best the last four champions and step into our capital? Who wants to know?"

The crowd’s voices erupted in a cacophony of cheers that made him nod. "Since we agree, I’ll follow Zul’Rakhan’s champion through the gorge and narrate to you his battles!"

"Cunning brat." Zul’Rakhan’s eyes narrowed into slits. "Why would I accept?"

"Let him save face." Zul’Gora chuckled. "And he knows this half of the gorge better than we do."

Zul’Morak leaned closer, his voice like grinding stones. "I just want to witness your champion’s fall, Rakhan. Until then, I’ll help him get weapons in Zul’Raesh’s village."

"You’ll only witness him trample the others." Zul’Rakhan walked away, using his staff like a cane. "We move out in two hours."

The crowd continued to cheer even as Zul’Morak returned to his house. Adam, on the other hand, scratched his head. Shamans grew like wild grass in his wake. He just hoped he wouldn’t have seven following him when he reached Thaur’Gorath.