The words 'bloodline activated' came into Emery's view after the symbol on his palm shone. Feelings of rage and destruction slowly filled his mind. Fury, kill, destroy those threats against his life overwhelmed his thoughts while staring at those two orcs, who were almost finished tearing apart the roots entangling them. He verily wanted to do the same at those orcs. Rip them apart from limb to limb.
Barely left with some sliver of consciousness in him, his palm glowed once more and showed the following:
[Battle power has increased by 25 points]
[Emery Ambrose - Fey Bloodline Activated(Temporary)]
[Battle power 36]
[Spirit power 28]
Fortunately, his consciousness was returning to him as he forced his feeling of rage to calm down. He tried to read over his status once more with a clearer mind but the orcs had already broken free and charged him and Silva with their weapons held high.
The orc with an axe ran straight to him, and in his vision, it felt like the orc's movement was a bit slower than what he had witnessed earlier. He then ordered his body to take one step and stab the orc with Cole's spear but to his surprise, he underestimated his speed and dashed through the orc, crashing to a tree instead.
"Ssstop fooling around! Our livessss are at sssstake here!" shouted Silva, whose voice sounded crisp-clear despite the deafening shouting and grunting of the orcs, dueling the other orc with a spear.
The orc with the axe appeared dumbfounded seeing its prey able to pass through him. It turned around and gave chase once more.
Emery's wolf-like ears twitched for a moment as he got up. He clearly hadn't expected crashing against the tree. He needed to get accustomed to his newfound strength first. Once again, Emery dashed forward and after he had somewhat gotten used to his speed, he charged the orc, narrowly missing its axe, before stabbing it to the gut.
What he had was speed exceeding this orc, however, the orc's dense, heavy armor had more than enough sturdiness and thickness to put a stop at the inch-deep thrust Emery had executed, making the spear's vanguard stuck in between in its rock-hard abs and armor.
The orc grinned widely with its large fangs while holding the spear with its overly large hand. Emery's instinct alarmed him of an impending danger and jumped, letting go the spear and dodging the solid punch the orc had released. He withdrew the sword on his waist and slashed down, targeting the orc's head, but hitting the orc's shoulder instead after it managed to sway its head in the narrowest of margins.
Still, the slice cut deeper than the spear had done as black, warm blood splashed across Emery's face; it was his turn to grin widely. Adrenaline coursed through his veins wildly at the thought of injuring this seemingly invincible orc, but his smile disappeared as fast as it appeared because the orc had already pulled back its fist and issued another side punch at the airborne Emery, who couldn't do anything other than slightly twisting his body in the opposite direction of the punch.
A loud bam resounded and Emery crashed once again into another large, old, oaken tree, which remained intact despite the powerful force that had thrown him. Emery coughed out blood and tried to move his trembling, weakened legs while watching the crazed orc running toward him.
He spared a glance at Silva, who on the other hand, had more success in fighting against the orc she was facing, evident by the blood dripping from the countless number of slashes on the orc's armor and face. She still, however, wasn't in the best condition. He could hear very well how she was gasping for air and see how paler she seemed despite being covered with green scales up to her face.
Emery turned his attention back to his orc, who once again felt like an insurmountable giant in his mind. When he tried to get up, Emery felt a smooth rock on the ground. An idea then popped in his mind, it was an old story passed from generations to generations of how a little boy had managed to defeat a man, whom others had feared as an undefeatable warrior. He grabbed the stone tightly in his hairy, claw-like fist, took a deep breath before throwing it with all his might.
The stone cut into the air like a powerful slingshot and hit right in the center of the orc's forehead. It didn't pass through the head but it was enough for the orc to drop onto the ground. Still, Emery could also hear how it was still breathing, grunting and alive.
Silva had seemed to have noticed how Emery had made the orc fall as she issued a powerful slash that pushed back the orc before jumping and landing not far from Emery.
Emery was now regaining back his strength in his legs and took a closer look at the Silva beside him. Her hands and face were filled with green scales and the slit in her eyes appeared more like that of a genuine snake unlike before.
"What is that we just drank?" Emery asked.
"Isn't it obvioussss? It'sss bloodline booster potion!" Silva answered.
"So I do have a bloodline?" Emery asked, tilting his head.
"Of course! Didn't you hear me sssaying I can sssmell it but it wasss weak?"
Emery's eyes then fell on Silva's sword. And even though it had blood all over it, he saw his reflection before exclaiming, "What the! How come I look like that!"
His face still looked a boyish human but he had a sharp fang, furry face with furry ears. Greenish, curly lines also appeared on his face and body.
"Never mind that! Let'sss finish thisss now else the potion'sss effect would disappear in a minute! Do you have any spellsss at all? I remember you having multiple element affinity."
Emery's blank face answered the question by itself as he tried to feel the furry ears on top of his head.
"Oh my goodnesss!" she screamed. "If we sssurvive thisss you owe me big time!"
Her shout drowned out the thoughts of him looking like a pup, her voice sounded louder even more so with his enhanced hearing. Emery said after releasing his hands on his ears, "That orc on the ground, he's still alive. We should focus on him first while he's still dazed."
Silva nodded. "Okay, thiss iss the last time I can use a ssspell. Don't waste it. Entangled!"
Instantly, a crowd of thick roots wrapped against the orc holding a spear and restrained its movements. Emery and Silva lunged at the orc lying on the ground in two directions.
Silva was still faster than him and arrived first; she was about to strike down when Emery heard a whistling spear slicing the air. The other orc had managed to throw its spear and send it flying toward Silva.
Emery caught the spear in the midst of transit and hurled it back, targeting the entangled orc. He immediately looked back at Silva, however, the orc on the ground had already regained consciousness and had grasped Silva on the neck with its burly hand.
He grabbed his sword tighter and used the momentum of his speed to cut one of the orc's legs, a bit concerned that if he targeted the head, he would slash Silva instead. He succeeded in cutting one of the legs off but that wasn't enough to make the orc release its death grip on Silva, instead the orc tightened its clasp on Silva as it tried to stand on one knee.
Emery saw Silva's face turning purple and at that moment, he knew he shouldn't hesitate anymore. The smell of blood awakened his instincts further as he decided to let the underlying desire he had been wanting to unleash since he had first felt his body become unsettled. Once again he used his speed to jump between the trees to gain more momentum and finally...
Blood splashed across Emery and Silva's faces. The orc's head slipped from its neck and Emery had an air of wildness with his wide, grim, grin. It was his first kill, and surprisingly, he felt nothing but satisfaction.
The orc's grip was released and Silva fell on the ground, coughing hard. Emery was in euphoria, looking up at the flying orc's head. That moment of elation, however, made him forget of the remaining threat.
The other orc had actually caught the spear as well and ripped the roots entangling it while Emery was picking up speed. It managed to sneak up behind them and found this an opportune moment to kill the human who had given it a hard time.
Emery, still in his elated state, looked back at Silva and pulled himself back together just as the orc jumped. "Watch out!"
Silva turned her head, saw the orc and rolled out of the way while Emery lunged in.
Emery managed to stab his sword into the orc's body. however, blood spilled also from his chest. The orc's spear pierced through Emery's body