The green fist blew through the air with a monstrous strength that pushed wind around its knuckles. I dodged out of the path of its attack but the orcs persisted, they never let up, not even for a second.
I can see them perfectly, these guys are slow. I wonder if I could take on the Rhaskan with how strong I am now.
I flipped through the air and by the time I landed on the ground, I was cornered by three of them. Their hulkish bodies towered over me and left me nowhere to run. My back pressed against the mossy walls of the cave as they closed in on me from all angles.
A grinned,
"If you think this is enough to kill me, think again! Shadow Step!"
The end of a large club shattered the wall where I stood, I vanished into the shadows under their feet. I came out behind them and felt another blow of wind beside me as Veldor charged towards them.
His shield pinned the brutes to the wall and kept them grouped, perfect for the final attack. As they thrashed around, Arga's shadow flew over and her sword cut through them like butter. The edge of her crimson blade was painted green with their blood.
Her new weapon was massive, taller than her by a bit. I wasn't sure what materials she used for it but whatever it was, it worked. Her blade not only did way more damage but she was throwing it around like it was made of paper, it looked completely weightless in her hands.
She carved through them with ease and turned to the new group of attackers. Four more orcs attacked from the rear but Veldor was the first to react.
His body was surrounded with a blue glow as he delivered the attack, it formed some kind of armour of aura just as he attacked, which disappeared as soon as his shield pinned them to the wall. The damage was enough to bring their HP bars to zero in an instant.
First Arga and now Veldor too, they both have some impressive Skills. Uriel never mentioned anything about it, I guess there is a limit to what I can see with members in my party.
{500 Exp gained}
{450 Exp gained}
{500 Exp gained}
"Good work, we're breezing through this section. I was worried since it's a new floor but they're not that much stronger than the undead from the dungeon."
My arm extended out and absorbed the fallen monsters as I spoke but suddenly an information screen grabbed my attention.
{Proficiency for Orc skill tree has increased!}
{Requirements for skill evolution: 2/3}
I rubbed my chin,
"This is new, I can see the progress of my skills now. I just wish it told me what the hidden requirement is, maybe I'll unlock that if Uriel upgrades again?"
"Y'know, it's not good to talk to yourself. People will think you're going nuts, kid."
Vye's voice suddenly arose from the silence, she walked beside me as if she had appeared out of thin air. I wasn't surprised though, she had a habit of disappearing and showing up without anyone knowing.
"How was scouting, did you find their group?"
"Sigh… Yeah, but they were a pain to sneak a peek from since they're all so damn perceptive. I couldn't get too close or they'd notice I was there. I counted six of them."
Vye snickered.
"What's so funny, isn't this bad? If they're as strong as we thought, we won't last two seconds against them, especially if they're this close!"
She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close to her chest. The sides of my cheek brushed against something warm and squishy and my mind went blank. I tried avoiding eye contact with them but I was practically buried in them once her grip tightened.
The soft texture of her side boob sent me into a standing coma, my mouth hung open but not a word escaped my mouth, only a nonsensical monotone groan.
"Uuuuuuhhhhhhh…"
"You relaxed now? What did I teach you, don't let your mind run the show or you'll lose before the fight starts! Sigh… I guess you were never really good at that part though."
I still couldn't answer, I was worried that if I tried to I'd just let my inner thoughts out.
"They might be from Shared Sword guild or whatever but I got a pretty good look at their gear, I'd say their members are mostly support types, with Eren Gardner being the main problem."
My mind returned.
"Wait, so what does that mean?"
She nodded with a wider grin as if we had already won.
"If we can separate him from the others, we can probably take out their whole team."
My excitement rose to the surface and I leapt out of Vye's arms and into the air with a childish bounce.
She's right! I mean, it's crazy but still, it might just work! In the meantime, we'll just have to grind levels until we're strong enough to pull it off. I knew bringing Vye was a good choice!
Sniff! Sniff!
Arga's nose scrunched up as a foul rose through the room until every one of us smelt it. My eyes gravitated to the exit of the room ahead of us.
The stone walls of the cave shook from heavy steps, one after the other. Something powerful walked towards us, illuminated by the dim light that the makrum shards provided.
A burly figure with crimson skin and covered scars approached us, a true warrior in appearance. It had large tusks that rose out of its bottom jaw. Covered in some sort of animal pelt, it had nothing else but the blade on its back.
"I'm pretty sure that's an orc right…? I've never seen one with red skin before, is it stronger?"
As I posed the question, the monster attacked. It moved in with a bloodthirsty glare and drew its blade at me in an instant.
The curved blade made from a monster's fang slashed through the air in front of my nose, just narrowly avoiding me. I stepped back with all my strength and cleared a large distance between us.
"How's that, you still wanna fight me?" I egged it on.
My eyes widened as the burly red figure appeared in front of me. Its blade flew at me with extreme pressure behind it.
He's fast too?! There's no comparison to the orcs we've fought so far, this guy's in a league of his own!
We were too close together for me to avoid it, I pulled my head to the side and the blade scraped against my shoulder.
Not a drop of blood, I barely believed it. The armour Arga whipped up went beyond my expectations and managed to endure such a powerful attack with only a scratch left behind. I finally grasped the power a blacksmith skill could provide.
A welling excitement arose as I turned to my enemy, more confident than ever.
"Sorry pal but there's no chance you're beating me now. I've got the best blacksmith on my side!"
Now that I've seen what this armour can do, should I try this as well?
My hand reached for the chakram at my waist. At my left was the white blade, Agos, while at my right side was another blade. Belos, the blackish-blue blade made as a twin to Agos. It wasn't much better than a regular sword but after Arga got her hands on it again, it was like a whole new weapon.
I held it up with a triumphant grin as the monster approached me,
"Belos version two huh? Should be fun to see how quickly I can cut you down."