Dark Mage - Volume 1 - Chapter 23

The things with green skin had a surprisingly nimble body control. To his surprise, they held weapons. To say it again, they weren’t the normally seen wild animals. They held strangely shaped weapons, and streams of energy was flowing out of it. In an instant, Dok-gosong assessed the shape of the weapon.

“Is it a Cham-mah-do(TLN: great sword/field sword)? It might be a Chung-ryong-do(TLN:Chinese war sword).”

At a glance, one could tell it was a pole with a sharp blade. The existences in question was hiding in the darkness, and they started attacking again. It was a polearm with a blade attached to it. In this place, it was a weapon called a glaive. It passed by Dok-gosong, while cutting the hair on his head. He avoided it by a hair’s breadth, but he wasn’t in a situation where he could relax. It was a situation where another glaive was extended and it was aiming for his neck.

“There are two.”

He used all his effort to grasp the long sword, and he straightened it.

Gga-ggang. (TLN:까깡 it’s not ka or ga. The best one could characterize it in english is gga, but that isn’t correct either, but it’s the closest sound.)

He was barely able to block it, but the impact gave him no choice but to step back several steps.
His body had lost its balance and Dok-gosong was barely able to put his back onto the castle wall. When fighting multiple opponents, he knew it was best to fight with his back against the wall. His body already knew this fact. The shadow of the two figures buried in darkness came towards him.
He put the long sword at an angle to assume a defensive posture, and Dok-gosong used his sleeve to wipe the sweat off his brows.

“What, what are those things? Their strength is incredible.”

The shapes gradually revealed themselves from the darkness. The opponents were monsters that had a short, but sturdy body build. They walked upright like humans, and they had a lot of short green fur covering them. The monsters’ head shape resembled a pig. They were the orc warriors. Dok-gosong had already heard this place’s history from Shrekheimer, so he could guess at the identity of these bastards.

“Of course. These bastards are called orcs. Then their plan is this? Good. I could roll over and die, but I would like to take out my anger from having that nightmare… “

He didn’t have long to think. The orcs had a deep seeded hatred for humans, so they fiercely attacked while swinging their weapons in the air. Several sword strikes were made. He was barely able to block, and Dok-gosong could feel his strength weaken.

“Shit. These mere insignificant creatures…..”

First, the long sword he held in his hand was a very new weapon for him. Once he started learning martial arts, he had only trained with Ho-Jo.(TLN:his gauntlet with blade) It was a situation where he was a blank page regarding sword play. Moreover, the source of his overwhelming destructive power was from the Emperor’s Blood Demon Art, and he didn’t have deep profound understanding of the fundamental styles. Moreover, he hadn’t recovered fully from the heavy injury, so the battle with the 2 orcs couldn’t be that easy.
However, he gritted his teeth and swung the sword. In Zhongyuan, he was an expert that could be picked within 10 fingers,(TLN: he’s in the top 10) so it was inconceivable to him that he’ll lose to these insignificant creatures. It was a battle where he couldn’t use any Nae-ryuk.(TLN: his qi reservoir) This was a monster that he had never met before in his entire fighting experience. The battle with the orc continued on.

On the top part of the prison, two figures were watching Dok-gosong fight with the orcs. There was a faint magical formations surrounding them, and no one was able to detect them. One of the figure suddenly sighed.

“He is clumsily swing the sword? At a glance, he isn’t much. The plan was a failure.”

“That isn’t the case. Even though his swordsmanship is a bit clumsy, I believe his body movement is first-rate. Especially his dodges are very precise and exquisite as if measured by a ruler. The man had a handsome and young-looking face. However, Benitez was an old magician, who was over 60 years old. He was a War mage that has spent long years in the battlefield. Basically, he was a fighting mage that had refined his battle magic in the battle field. Benitez had more fighting experience then any other person, so he was able to exactly understand the situation. Serge trusted this, so he looked towards the prison again.

“So he didn’t use a sword, but a different weapon? “

“Yes. When I first saw that person, he had a strange weapon that looked like a gauntlet with knives. With those two weapons, he was able to battle with several dozen master level swordsman.”

“Are you talking about a spiked gauntlet? That is surprising. However, he must have told the truth about losing all his mana. He can’t even block the orc’s attack properly….”

“I believe so. However at that place, he was able to use enough aura blade to cover the gauntlets. I don’t know if you will believe me.”

During the time they were looking at him, the battle within the prison was slowly coming to an end. At first, it felt like Dok-gosong was able to hold his ground.
However, the two orcs relentlessly attacked after fully sensing the chance for victory. They were bleeding all over their body from multiple cuts. The prison floor was dyed with both their bloods. Dok-gosong’s entire body was bloody, but he was moving around like an evil spirit.

Ki-ri-rick.

As if it was overwhelmed by his spirit, one orc took a step back. Dok-gosong didn’t let this chance go to waste. The retreating orc stuck his glaive out as if to ward him off, but Dok-gosong disregarded it and rushed in. The glaive went into Dok-gosong’s thigh with pinpoint accuracy.

Poo-shuk. (TLN: sfx flesh being pierced)

While having the glaive stuck in his thigh, Dok-gosong thrust his sword into the orc’s chest. Accompanying the horrifying sound of destruction, the orc’s bulky body started shaking. Dok-gosong’s whole body paused for a moment before he unhesitatingly ran toward his second target. The orc was senseless from Dok-gosong’s fighting spirit, so it kept retreating. The orc warrior, who were the symbol of bravery and tenaciousness, was instead scared. However, Dok-gosong didn’t hesitate in the slightest before repeatedly attacking the orc’s body. He already realized that the Seven Sect’s Beating Gold Technique didn’t activate when he killed an orc, so he didn’t have any hesitation.

“Chue-eh-eh-ehk.” (TLN: orc death scream)

Accompanying a short scream, its lifeblood fountained forth. However, Dok-gosong’s movement didn’t stop. He kept stabbing the long sword into the orc until it’s life was ended. This was how the winner and loser was chosen between the Murim expert and the monsters.

“He’s pretty good at fighting.”

After watching the progress of the fight, Serge laughed bitterly. The foreigner had an instinct of a wild animal. He looked like a vampire who couldn’t hold back after seeing blood. In his ears, he heard Benitez’s voice.

“What do you want to do. Do you want to test him again against a monster?”

“Do we really need to? What we need is a sword master with skills over a hundred.(TLN: equivalent to 100 people or some form of measurement…author didn’t specify) Although his fighting spirit is high, we do not need someone who became thoroughly injured fighting just two orcs. Even a mercenary can sufficiently do what he just did.”

“Then should we get rid of him?”

Serge thought about something for a moment before he shook his head.

“No, that’s not it either. First, it should be better to test him further? After treating him, let’s put him against a troll. Trolls have outstanding regeneration, so even an experience soldier shakes their head in dismay when fighting against it. It should be a good fight.”

“I understand.”

“Also wouldn’t it be better if we gave him a weapon similar to the one he uses? I’m talking about the weapons you saw last time. I’m curious. How does this bastard use a spiked gauntlet?”

“All right, sir.”

Dok-gosong stood dumbly in midst of fallen blood and scraps of flesh. His gaze was fixed on the corpses of the orcs he had killed. The two ferocious orcs was now turned into pieces of meat. However, Dok-gosong received numerous injuries to his whole body as the cost. The fault may lie in the fact that he was unfamiliar with the weapon, but he also had a habit of concentrating on Nae-ga-qigong instead of his profound Nae-gong. (TLN: korean murim jargon incoming D:)
During the time he was able to use Emperor’s Blood Demon Art, Dok-gosong raised his Kang-qi(TLN: strong qi i think) into his Hojo. It had the Man-byung’s(萬兵) Moo-ryuk(無力). (TLN: he was able to raise strong amount of energy into his weapon and it had the power of ten thousand soldiers)
Even if he was to fight against a protected weapon(the original word usually indicates a new recruit/soldier- I’m not aware of any other definition- so I broke the word up and made an educated guess), it would break without a doubt. However, those days were long gone. His body had completely lost all of his Nae-ryuk. He had to desperately hold on to the sword to block the orc’s glaive. After experiencing it, their attack were strange, but their fighting power was less than that of the humans. Of course, it couldn’t even be compared to a Murim expert. It was unimaginable that he had trouble against the two orcs if one reflected on his experiences. Dok-gosong looked at the orc’s remains, whose eyes were out of focus. Fortunately, the Seven Sect’s Beating Gold Technique didn’t activate, but another reason made him suffer.

‘Why do I have to become bloody fighting against these mere insignificant creature?’

In Zhongyuan, he lived a very calculated life. He was directed by another’s agenda, not his own. He had come to an unimaginably far away land with different time and space, but he still had to move according to someone else’s agenda….. Dok-gosong couldn’t understand why he had such an unlucky fate.

“Did I do the right thing?”

All of a sudden, a feeling of regret poured in. If he let the orcs kill him, then he wouldn’t have to worry about these thoughts or regretful feelings. While standing dumbly in place, he heard the latticed door open. However, Dok-gosong didn’t even move, and he just stayed in place.

“Whew. That’s incredible.”

“You diced them up nicely.”

He heard an unfamiliar voice from his back. Of course, the soldiers spoke in the Truvania’s official language, so Dok-gosong wasn’t offended when he heard it. He felt through his senses that someone different had come into the prison, but this was only a conjecture.
As he had predicted, the soldiers came into the prison first. They all wore metal helmets and chain mails. It was a simple armor that covered only the critical parts of the body, so their station couldn’t be that high.
They were avoiding Dok-gosong to the extreme. They took a ready stance with theirs swords and shields. However, Dok-gosong didn’t show any reaction. He stayed silent as if they didn’t even exist in the first place. After seeing this, the soldiers showed some courage and they started cleaning the inside of the prison. The 4 soldiers recovered the orc’s corpses. Afterwards, the soldier, who looked like he had the highest rank, approached Dok-gosong and put his sword against him.

“Follow me.”

Of course, Dok-gosong didn’t show any reaction.

“Didn’t they say he couldn’t understand our words?”

After hitting his forehead, the soldier stood in front of Dok-gosong. In an instant, the soldier’s face furrowed terribly.

“He really has an ugly face. An ogre would be better than this bastard.”

Even in Zhongyuan, Dok-gosong had many fingers pointed at him for his ugly surface. Even though the shape of his face was distinctly different from the people of Truvania, they showed the same response. No, the feeling felt by them toward Dok-gosong’s face was beyond imagination. First, they had never seen eyes slit upwards, which was a special feature of a person from Zhongyuan. Dok-gosong’s eyes were degrees sharper. He possessed thinly slit eyes, and a hunched back. One could guess the feeling felt by the soldiers. This caused a scornful look to pass momentarily on the soldier’s face.