It was not often he heard his own name. Richard. It was mostly his wife or one of his two sons that would use this name.

  Sometimes he failed to recognize that someone was referring to him if they used his first name. After all, ever since he had gripped the sword of the lord, given to him by his father in a ceremony steeped in tradition, he had been known as Baron Villen.

  Richard sat on the edge of his bed, trying to will his headaches away. He was well past forty and regularly dealt with headaches. His wife, Sofia, insisted it was because he took on too much responsibility and that he needed to learn to relax.

  But his father had taught him what was required of a noble, even a baron who barely counted as a noble. It was his duty to worry, to have headaches, and to feel the weight of responsibility.

  Richard smiled, remembering his father's wide smile as he had handed the lord's sword to him. Maybe he had not been happy only for Richard's sake but also because he could finally rest a full night without worry.

  A knock on the door brought him back to reality.

  "Enter," Richard spoke.

  One of the knights, the one who had been tasked with the duty to stand guard outside the lord's chamber during the night, entered. He kept his gaze to the floor, as the baroness was still sleeping underneath the covers.

  It would not be prudent of a knight to cast his gaze upon either the baron or baroness in their half-clothed state. The knight spoke up.

  "Head Knight Goran and his prisoner Mikaela have returned, sire. Although she is no longer in manacles. And... there is a large green man accompanying them."

  "A large green man?" The baron wondered if he was still half asleep.

  "Yes. It seems he is not human but understands us just the same."

  Baron Villen thanked the knight and ordered for the chambermaids to enter. They helped him clothe himself in the clothes he would wear for formal occasions. It was armor in a sense.

  They were fine clothes, but they were not gaudy. They were elegant, without being all that expensive. Baron Villen preferred these types of clothes to the more ostentatious clothes a noble often wore.

  He soon entered the great hall of his mansion, fully clothed and ready for the day. He then ordered Goran and his party to appear before him.

  ---

  Otek was amazed at nearly everything he had seen in Doloran's world so far. It was almost the same as in his world, but everything was slightly different. The trees were similar, yet not the same. New plants that he did not know of sprouted everywhere.

  The castle of the baron was the same. He had seen the dwarves constructing walls, houses, and currently a cathedral. He was in awe of the dwarven buildings, yet these human buildings also were beautiful.

  The baron's castle was the same. It made Otek feel like it could withstand any attack. It felt solid and defensive, even more so than the dwarven wall north of the Amanita Kingdom's capital.

  As they entered the great hall, both Mikaela and Goran took one knee and bowed before the man sitting at the end of a long table.

  Otek did not kneel. He felt no need to. The knights that had followed him since they arrived at the baron's estate had their weapons drawn and pointed at Otek, and now they all exchanged looks at each other.

  As if to ask the others what to do. Otek smirked a little, as he had already planned out how to handle each one if they would attack.

  The man at the end of the long table, the baron, spoke up.

  "Welcome back, Goran. I see your journey was not in vain."

  "Thank you, sire. It was not; we have much to discuss."

  "Why don't you introduce your new travel companion to us?" The baron asked, but it was not a question. It was an order disguised as a question.

  Goran stood up and pointed with his hand to Otek.

  "This is Otek, an orc warrior from the world across the portal."

  The room murmured with low whispering voices among the attendants and advisors. The baron held up a hand, and the murmuring fell silent.

  "Welcome, Otek. Would you like to introduce yourself and your purpose in coming here?"

  Otek looked around the room, but soon his gaze fell onto the baron. The baron suddenly felt a chill running down his spine as he was being examined. He decided that this orc warrior was not to be underestimated.

  "Well, I am Otek, as Goran said. As for my purpose? I just kind of wanted to follow along and experience this world. I felt a little bloodthirsty and judged that following along with Mikaela might allow me to fight someone."

  The silence in the room persisted, but there was now a tense atmosphere. Mikaela stood up and decided to calm the nerves of those present.

  "Otek is not familiar with the ways of human society. He does not mean to threaten you with violence, nor is his bloodthirst directed at you. He simply is a warrior longing for battle, and if I were to be attacked, he would fight. He would not instigate unnecessary fights."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The tense atmosphere lessened somewhat, yet some uneasiness remained. Baron Villen seemed unbothered, however, his face an iron mask devoid of emotion.

  "Then, Mikaela, what is your purpose? Since you must have been deemed innocent by Goran, you could have remained where you were. Your men would be released as well, so coming here only for that purpose does not make sense. Thus, you must have another reason for appearing before me."

  "I come as an ambassador for the Amanita Kingdom. I will leave the explanation to Goran, as I imagine you must not trust my words all that much." Mikaela smiled with a wicked look in her eyes as she spoke.

  She then turned to the knight next to her.

  "Please, escort me and Otek to my men."

  As Mikaela and Otek left with the knights, the room erupted with voices questioning Goran.

  The Baron yet again silenced them and ordered Goran to take a seat next to him at the long table.

  "Now Goran, can you explain in detail about your journey?"

  The head knight nodded and began explaining about all that he had experienced. The advisors and attendants all gasped in both horror and surprise at the information being revealed to them.

  When Goran ended the explanation with the invitation that the Baron had gotten, the room erupted in voices that not even the Baron could silence.

  ---

  Mikaela and Otek both got a lavish room each. Their treatment as a guest of the noble house showed Mikaela that the Baron was now aware of the Amanita Kingdom.

  Otek was bored over the next two days, as the Baron was discussing with his advisors and Goran about what to do about the invitation. Mikaela did not know this for sure, but she could make an informed guess about it.

  On the second day, Otek went out to the training grounds to work out his muscles and make sure he did not lose his edge. The knights who watched Otek dismantle an iron training dummy with nothing but his fists quickly ran to inform the Baron.

  On the third day, they were yet again summoned to the baron's great hall.

  This time, he was much quicker to the point.

  "Goran tells me that you are one of the best warriors of the Amanita Kingdom, Otek. The matter of us migrating the entire barony over to another world... it would depend on the strength of your kingdom."

  The baron took a pause and then continued.

  "As such, I would like for you to have a mock fight with my knights. I wish to see it for myself. It will not be to the death, of course."

  Mikaela smiled and decided to cut in to the conversation.

  "Can I then assume that you are amiable to the migration?"

  Baron Villen looked at Mikaela with a somewhat tired look before responding.

  "Yes. If what my Head Knight tells me is true, there is really no need to stay here. We are constantly being harassed by nobles of higher peerage, and my people suffer enslavement and other injustices."

  The baron had decided to be honest with his answer, as Goran had told him that the god on the other side was also very forthcoming. His headaches had increased over the last few days, making sleep hard to attain.

  "So you want me to knock your knights out?" Otek asked.

  "Yes, or out of the circle we will draw. Once one is pushed out of the circle, one loses the match. You will fight a couple of duels with my knights."

  "Duels? One against one? No. Have all your knights come at me at once. I will win regardless." Otek answered while grinning.

  The baron was surprised, and the right-hand man of Goran looked angry. Goran himself simply shook his head and said.

  "He is right. Duels would show you nothing, sire."

  Thus, the fight between the knights and Otek was set for the next day.

  ---

  Otek stretched his muscles and made his body limber. The large circle he was standing in the middle of was large.

  Otek had no weapons, as he had judged he did not need any to fight against the knights. In fact, it would only make it more likely that a knight would die. Otek could reduce his own strength, but if the knights did not measure it well enough, some of them might run into his axe blade and die by mistake.

  The knights carried wooden poles, wooden training swords, and other non-lethal weapons. After all, this was not a fight to the death. The orc was not armored either, so the knights did not want to injure him with bladed weapons.

  Otek looked around the circle once more, at the 20 knights standing ready to charge him as the order to start was given by the baron.

  "Begin," the Baron ordered.

  All of the knights did not charge at him. Goran and his right-hand man stood by on each side of him, ordering the knights to charge and keeping some of them back.

  Otek glanced at Goran with an appreciating look. Goran knew of Otek's illusionary skills and had approached in a manner that made his stealth and mirror images less effective.

  The first knight swung his wooden pole with all his strength at Otek's neck. Otek grabbed it and pulled, making the knight stumble into him. Otek sidestepped two other poles and put his closed fist into the stomach of the stumbling knight.

  The knight fell to his knees, gasping. The two poles that had come swinging missed and were soon replaced by wooden swords targeting both Oteks' upper and lower body.

  Otek dove between them, transferring into a roll. He was much quicker than the knights and soon made his way to one side of them, making their encirclement useless.

  After that, Otek alternated between retreating and pushing forward depending on the position of the knights. Each time he went forward, he grabbed at least one knight and flung them behind him, out of the circle.

  In the end, only Goran and his right-hand man Vance were left.

  Otek looked at them as they slowly approached. Goran spoke.

  "You have yet to use your skills."

  "There is no need to use my skills against you." Otek answered honestly.

  Vance flew into a rage at that comment and quickly closed the gap between them. He swung his wooden pole with far greater speed and force than any of the other knights had.

  As Otek dodged the swings and thrusts, he analyzed Vance's skills. He seemed to be stronger than Goran, but he was young. Not yet in his thirties.

  The swings continued, and Goran tried interfering with Otek's mobility at many points. He almost succeeded, but Otek was faster than both the knights and could, as such, maneuver the circle at his leisure.

  Soon the swings and thrusts from Vance lowered in frequency and eventually stopped.

  "You are young. On the battlefield, it is not only how fast or strong you can swing. It is also how long you can maintain your strength." Otek spoke to Vance, who was exhausted.

  Vance soon flew out of the circle and landed on his back, losing what little air he had left in his lungs.

  Goran had not attacked much, only grasping at the opportunities Vance had revealed. Both Otek and Goran knew what was to come, but Goran did not yield.

  He had been ordered by the baron to fight seriously, so it was his duty to lose only when he had tried his best.

  The exchanges between Otek and Goran were quick, and the sound of Goran's wooden greatsword and Otek's hands slapping the sword away sounded like thunder.

  Goran had used a skill to increase his strength, but it was for naught.

  He soon landed on his ass outside the circle.

  The baron stood up from his seat and walked down to his head knight and asked Otek.

  "What did my Head Knight mean by you not using your skills?"

  Those with some sort of warrior class rarely used skills that were visible to the naked eye. It was often passive skills that increased one's power or active skills that swung their weapon with greater force.

  There were, of course, active skills that were identifiable as active skills. Pareks [Earthcracker Stomp] was one such skill. He simply stomped his foot, and a cone of force went through the earth forwards. It was very effective for making an enemy lose his footing.

  Otek smiled, and soon three Oteks were standing in front of the Baron.

  "I am a warrior, but my skills are mostly used for trickery and stealth." Otek answered.

  The Baron nodded and then proclaimed.

  "We will migrate to this new world. Call your army here to protect my people as we leave this place."