Days went by in a flash. The time Laura told them that the orcs would return came.
"Are you both ready?" Lance asked, strapping the belt of his two scabbards on his waist.
"Yes!" Elliot and Connor chorused.
Laura came through the secret tunnel and led the three to her house, which was where the tunnel would lead to.
"I can sense them already," Lance said when they went through the opening in Laura's home.
"You can sense them?" Elliot asked.
Lance pursed his lips, "Orcs have the messiest and revolting auras among beasts. They're barbaric and perverted."
"That sounds more like you," Elliot snorted. "Are you sure you're not an orc?"
"How dare you?" Lance smacked his head gently and they got out of Laura's house.
"You three can go through that forest entrance," Laura instructed.
They got into the forest sneakily. Avoiding the villagers as to not cause a stir.
Elliot had wondered why they were treated like this. They were the ones who are trying to help but they became the villains just because they were late? That's preposterous.
It's not our fault the filing of the quest was late. Elliot thought.
'Multiple enemies detected.'
Elliot's eyes widened. "They're here."
<< Might Orc >>
Level 40
HP: 40,000/40,000
<< Might Orc >>
<< Might Orc >>
…
"I can sense 21 orcs," Lance said. "I take 11, Elliot 6, Connor 5. We'll deal with the boss afterwards. Let's go."
"Yes!"
"Ghostly Flame!" Connor shot one of the orcs, taking more than a quarter of its HP. "Elliot's boosts are awesome!"
Elliot winked at him, "I know, right? Let's do this quickly. Supreme Malevolence! Hasty–"
'Multicast locked.'
"What?"
Elliot was dumbfounded. His plan was to cast Supreme Malevolence and then cast Hasty Aspire. He thought it would multiply his stats several times more.
Multicast was a tactic to cast two spells one after the other. He saw Connor do it before, casting Ghostly Flame and his new skill consecutively.
Why is it locked for me?
"Elliot, what are you still doing?!" Lance called out that broke Elliot from his trance. He nodded and attacked the group of orcs. "What has gotten into him?"
"I don't know," Connor said and looked at Elliot worriedly. "His movements seem sloppy too."
"Focus on your enemies," Lance shouted. "Black and White… Pierce!"
"A dual cast?!" Connor gasped.
A dual cast is casting two spells at once. It was different from a multicast that uses spells consecutively. The dual cast uses two spells at the same time.
And what's more impressive by Lance's dual cast was that it was from the Duality. Black and White affinities cancel each other out. He was using them both in a harmony that only a very few could ever do in their lifetime.
Lance's blades lit up with their respective colors. A sphere of highly-dense energy appeared on the tip of his blades before it shot towards two of the orcs, instantly killing them.
"Amazing," Elliot breathed out.
An orc raised its sword in front of Elliot. Feeling the movement in front of him and had already reached SM 6, he only took a step sideways and slashed the orc's arm off. He leaped, flipping above the orc and hacking the beast's head off.
He was already finished with half of his quota and he was at SM 8. With only 30 seconds on the clock, he dashed towards the three, leaping and rotating his body a few times.
'Supreme Malevolence 9.'
'Supreme Malevolence 10.'
'Supreme Malevolence 11.'
…
He landed on the ground, wiping his bloodied sword on one of the orc's clothing. After his failure to multicast, he was determined to unlock it
It seemed like the Manual has its own sets of pros and cons. And by far, this was one of its biggest con. The other was a lack of offensive magic. Spectral beasts would have their way against Elliot if he doesn't get one.
The orc boss showed up not long after. Lance took care of it with a swift slash on the neck and a triple shot in its body.
"And I thought we'll be taking of it together?" Connor deadpanned.
This time, The Creator's Greed wasn't activated on the orc boss. This could only mean that the orc boss wasn't a 'royal blood'.
"Skill list."
< SKILLS >
[ The Creator's Greed ]
[ Hasty Aspire ]
[ Supreme Malevolence ]
"I think I need to hunt more beasts," Elliot said to himself. "Royal ones."
He walked over to the two who had also finished their quotas. Lance was stretching while Connor was laying on the ground with 0 MP.
"I think I need a rest," Connor blurted, panting.
"I think you do. Let me call Laura," Lance said, looking at Elliot. "Will you be needing these carcasses?"
"I'll check if I have any use for them," Elliot said. Lance nodded and headed back to the village while Elliot reviewed the Manual. "You're getting big. And heavy too. I want to store your heaviness. Let me store your heaviness."
'Feature unlocked.'
His eyes widened.
< Manual Upload >
"Upload!"
Connor sat up and looked at Elliot who was grinning from ear to ear. He could finally leave the Manual that would lessen his baggage. The Manual wouldn't go into the Inventory either.
'Uploading might take a couple of hours.'
'All features of the Manual will be temporarily unavailable until the Upload is complete.'
'Are you sure you want to upload Manual?'
Elliot shook, "No."
'Manual Upload canceled.'
If it takes a couple of hours and the features would be unavailable, then Elliot wouldn't be able to store the carcass of the orcs. He sighed and skimmed for a recipe instead.
"Are you okay?" Connor asked. He sat up after he heard Elliot yell 'Upload'. "You seem kind of down today."
"It's just… I can do things– awesome things, but I still can't do certain things," Elliot said and flattened his lips.
This made Connor chuckle, "What are you talking about? You can do a lot of things that normal Adventurers couldn't do. Like, using spatial magic and crafting at the same time. It's as if… you're something that is not equal to us."
"What equal are you talking about?" Elliot snorted. "I'm still Elliot. I'm still your friend."
"You're a god," Connor said and laid back down. "I'm so lucky to befriend a god."
"You're kidding," Elliot said. He looked at Connor and felt very thankful.
When he felt himself floating away, either Connor or Lance would pull him back down. But not in a bad way. It was what Elliot wanted. Because sometimes he feels like floating away would cause only harm.
The feeling had been with him since the book found him.
"We're here," Lance announced. Laura's eyes glimmered after seeing the orcs. "Are they really dead?"
"Do you want them to not be dead?" Elliot retorted to which Laura shook her head vigorously.
"They're dead," Lance confirmed. "We have completed the mission."
"What about the boss?"
A head was rolling over to her. He grimaced at what she saw but swallowed her disgust. "O-Okay. Here's your reward. But can you clean this up? I don't really think I can let it rot in here."
"That would be a pleasure," Lance grinned. "You can go now."
Laura looked at the scene one more time before she walked into the village. The fear and disgust were evident in her face that the three couldn't help but chuckle. It was a normal thing for civilians to look like that, but Laura's face was extra funny.
"I don't think we can clean this up instantly though," Elliot sighed. "There were 22 huge and muscled orcs. I wish I could clear this in an instant."
'Feature unlock'
The frustration on Elliot's face was swept away after he saw the message.
'The Creator's Sloth skill earned.'
[ The Creator's Sloth
// April can store multiple storeable items in a 5-meter radius. ]
"What?" Elliot quirked his eyebrow. "How could I–"
'Storeable items detected.'
'Store items?'
"Heck, yes!" Elliot cheered.
The orcs' bodies glowed, and it shot towards Elliot and disappeared.
'Orc carcass stored.'
'Orc carcass stored.'
'Orc carcass stored.'
…
'There are multiple dumpable items.'
It keeps creating words. Elliot snarked after reading 'storeable' and 'dumpable'.
'Select items to dump.'
Elliot was shown a display similar to the Inventory. Only this time, there was a small box on the top of the item box. If Elliot clicks on it, a check appears, meaning it was ready to be dumped.
Scrolling through the items, he clicked on the small box on the upper right corner. It had a 'Select all' text beside it and it did as it says.
Dumping all the unnecessary items, Elliot minimized his Console and stretched.
"Are you done?" Lance asked. When Elliot nodded, the three decided to go home.
"How many hours will we have to travel?" Elliot asked.
Lance thought for a bit before answering, "About a day."
"The sun's almost setting. My home's near enough. Let's go there instead," Elliot suggested. "I also need to store my things. But my inventory is full though."
Elliot was intentionally saying what he wanted. It seemed like the Manual unlocks a feature based on what Elliot wanted. He wanted a skill, the Manual gave him some, he wanted recipes, the manual provided.
Sure enough, a smirk etched on his face after reading the notification.
'Inventory slots +10'