The Dawn of the New World

"But then who gets to make the wish?"

Just as Hao Xuan was about to turn away the same squeaky voice spoke up again, making him almost curse her out.

"You will decide. Whether as a group or someone of your choice, one wish, no more!" he said through gritted teeth, on the verge of kicking her out.

Eyes closed and almost out of patience, he turned away from them so even if she raised her hand again Hao Xuan wouldn't be able to see it. They talked amongst themselves for a couple of minutes before descending into the hall.

Hao Xuan let out a deep breath and opened his eyes to see the challengers. Eyebrow raised, he looked towards them with a questioning gaze.

"Are you sure? You can't invite people later on."

"Yes."

Even if all of them had come down Hao Xuan would have no choice but to fight them because he had just said so but....out of 196 Orcs, only eight came to face him.

Seven of them had large builds and bulging muscles with a mix of both genders, oozing spiritual energy from every pore but the last eighth person was the same girl that was asking all the questions.

She was probably the smallest and least threatening-looking Orc out of the whole lot, smaller than even Olav. She looked ordinary beyond belief without any memorable features whatsoever. Not to mention her internal energy was barely enough to register on Hao Xuan's radar.

And the most surprising part was that the others were crowing around her, protecting her even without realizing it.

Hao Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Were they underestimating him or overestimating themselves? Still, they weren't stupid and he wanted to trust their judgment.

"Aright then, choose the two team leaders you want fighting by your side. You can ask the remaining two to help from the sidelines however you wish."

She pointed at Arthur and Malina, "Please help us."

They stepped out without saying anything while Gamil (the weapon whisperer) and Olav (the curse specialist) were the support.

Her choice left Hao Xuan stumped once again. It didn't make much sense unless she thought they could actually defeat him. He was expecting them to go for the second option, i.e make the time run out. But with these few people and ones that were so obviously frontline fighters, she must really want to defeat him before the time ran out.

His and Arthur's gaze met for a second and he saw the spark in his eye. He was almost smiling, just barely but it was there.

'Hoh...'

"Alright, then. You had my interest before, now you have my attention. Let-"

Before he could get the words out the tiny girl raised her hand again.

"Yes....?"

"Leona."

"Excuse me?"

"My name, it's Leona. Please remember it."

"Oh, okay Leona. Are you ready?"

"Yes, but can you give us a three-second handicap? Only three seconds."

"......"

Hao Xuan looked her dead in the eyes and saw no hint of confusion or banter. She was dead series. On top of everything else she wanted him to do nothing for 3 whole seconds?

'I have never seen such a degree of shamelessness. It's...almost impressive.'

"Don't you think I've already given you enough handicaps as it is?"

"But it's only three seconds. Just three, I promise I won't ask for anything else!"

Hao Xuan wanted to decline with a loud 'Hell no dumbass' but couldn't bring himself to say it. That look of sincerity in her eyes, she believed without a shadow of a doubt that with that they would be able to defeat him.

He became a little angry at the thought. These little shits that have barely been fighting for a couple of months think they could best him? His pride got the better of him and he unwittingly agreed.

"Fine. Three seconds," he there out the words and moved to the center of the training hall.

Meanwhile, they exchanged elated looks and quickly went to their spots.

Arthur and the seven other Orcs surrounded Hao Xuan while Malina and Leona stood at the very edge of the training hall. Olav and Gamil stood near the stairs, out of the way.

Leona whispered a few things in her spirit band and they all nodded in agreement. It looked like she was taking the lead.

Hao Xuan smiled inwardly seeing them plan and strategize so comfortably. This was going to be a painful lesson for them, he was gonna make sure of that.

Streams of black Chaos Qi roared through his veins as he slowly flexed under his clothes, keeping a smile.

"READY?!"

"Yes!"

"Then...go!"

Hao Xuan uttered the words and swiftly realized they had thought this through.

Malina started it off with a wave of her wand. The dirt that was already under Hao Xuan's feet came alive. It ran up his legs and completely encased his lower body before turning solid.

It was harder than concrete after being reinforced with her fortification spells.

Olav got to work at the same time. His quarterstaff waved back and forth as he mumbled in a strange language.

Hao Xuan's expression turned serious. The gravity had increased by more than 5 times while the spiritual energies of Arthur and the other vanguards doubled.. Even their muscles enlarged by almost 20%.