Before Ace could nod in agreement to the tall man's order, he was gone. It only occurred to him then that he was stuck outside of the village and had no possible way of getting back in. Even with his heightened agility stat, the wall was just too tall.
Swearing to himself, he ran towards the north side of the village only to see a sea of arrows crash into orcs bearing massive wooden shields. It looked like the orcs had received reinforcements and was slowly pushing their way in towards the gate.
Ace thought about ways to help but every choice he came up with posed a big risk of him being killed. Just when he was considering not helping at all, he saw a bow laying in front of him and an idea popped up. Quickly grabbing the bow before possibly being spotted, he looked over the field and how the orcs were positioned.
He knew speed was his strong side and was going to fully utilize it. Gaining some ground between the orcs and him, he bolted across the grass field, picking up a few arrows on his way. Looking around, it seemed like he made it into the bushes in between the trees without being spotted.
The shouting from orcs and elves grew every so slightly louder when a horn was sounded from across the field.
"Sounds like something big is happening on the south side. Good thing we have that tall man to help." He thought and moved. Now that the orcs were too distracted with being riled up, he felt safer running from tree to tree. Once he was directly behind them, he tried counting their numbers but their constant moving and interweaving made it difficult to keep track of who was who.
The enemy force consisted of two groups. Both seemed to have the same number of orcs assigned to them but in one of them stood an orc much larger than the others. The orc in question wore nothing but a tarp, reminding him of his terrible experience with the minotaur two days prior. Other than that, the orc was covered in tattoos, both back and chest full.
Whenever and wherever the large orc walked, the others made sure not to be in his way. Another wave of arrows came flying and the large orc responded by lifting a large metal shield that covered him almost entirely. Some of the orcs without shields made sure to stand behind the giant for safety.
"That has to be the boss." Ace thought and moved in closer. Now sitting just at the edge of the forest line, he tried drawing his bow but was met with immediate failure. Never having drawn a bow before, only finding the right hand positions was hard. He'd watched Sage and Avery shoot over and over again without a problem.
The orcs started their assault once again, rushing towards the gate with weapons held high.
"Damn it, just work!"
Metals clinging could be heard from the orcs smashing against the gate with their weapons.
A dozen of tries later and he was able to shoot an arrow a few feet in front of him. "THIS IS ENOUGH!" He thought and left the bushes to run up behind the orcs. Standing only a bit away from the orcs, he aimed to the best of his abilities and shot an arrow that landed in the thigh of an orc.
The orc roared and turned around, immediately sprinting towards Ace. Two other orcs who saw their companion get shot followed suit. Their snarling and stomping shook Ace but he stood his ground. releasing another arrow that hit the same orc in the shoulder. Another roar showed Ace the result of his attempt.
The orcs now a lot closer to him than what he preferred, he turned around and ran into the forest. The injured orcs quickly fell behind his two companions. The two leftover orcs was left confused when they entered the thick forest, only to have completely lost Ace.
Looking down at the green skins from the safety of a tree, Ace snickered to the rhythm of his heartbeat when he saw them split up. Traversing from tree to tree through the branches, soon one of the orcs was alone.
Not wasting any time, Ace jumped down with his dagger in hand, landing a clean hit into the foe's skull. The enemy collapsed as the blade made contact with it's brain.
"Two left." He thought and made his way back to where he saw the other green skin walk. Taking advantage of the trees again, he lured the enemy into isolation by making noises. Soon, the enemy laid bleeding on the ground.
The last orc had just made it into the forest when Ace launched his dagger into it's neck. The orc went down gargling on his own blood, resisting to the best of it's abilities but eventually staying still.
Grabbing the bow and some nearby arrows, he tried to lure another few with him but before he could take action, an arrow came flying past him, almost grazing his arm. Looking up at the village wall was a familiar face.
"Asher!" Ace grit his teeth in anger but didn't have time to linger as one of the orcs had turned around and was now screaming and running towards him. Four more trailed behind flailing axes, maces and swords.
Another arrow came hurling by.
"I'll teach that fucker what happens to traitors!" Ace felt anger boost his already very active adrenaline. Instead of thinking straight, he impulsively ran towards the orcs with his dagger drawn, not thinking about the possible consequences. The first enemy went down without much trouble. They went down with a clean slice through the neck. The second however almost killed him as he dodged out of the way last second, a mace smashing down beside him.
Sticking the dagger into it's chest while they were trying to regain control over their weapon killed them. Looking up, Ace saw two more approach him in rapid haste. Rage still coursing through him, he ran in again, dagger held high. Two quick stabs killed the first one but an arrow suddenly penetrating his right shoulder pushed him back. The last orc's sword only slicing a bit into his arm.
The arrow still stuck in his shoulder, his right arm didn't want to move no matter what he did. Giving up on the idea of using the dagger in his right hand, he grabbed the dagger with his left and went on the offensive. Dodging between the swings to then [Dagger Strike] the orc in it's face.
Staring daggers at Asher who still stood with his bow in hand atop the wall, Ace ran back into the forest to avoid continue being shot at.
Ace felt good knowing that his effort at the front gate had lessened the enemies forces by a bit. However, he couldn't help being frustrated with himself because of how easily he got used to killing. "I always thought of myself as someone with a big heart. Then why do I not feel bad killing?" He wanted to think it was because they were orcs and out to kill them but the feeling he felt when ending an enemy's life was addicting.
That's when it hit him. "So this is what being drunk on power feels like." He'd often hear about it in media and series. How characters with power everywhere would get way over their head just because they had a taste of superiority or power. When Ace came to this conclusion, he felt better about his situation. It was natural. "The big difference that counts is what you do with this power."
Ace's eyes suddenly felt heavy. The adrenaline and rage was subsiding and it was time for the consequences to settle in.
"NO! I have to stay awake." Pulling the arrow out of his shoulder, the blood that had been slowly seeping out the entire time had now turned into a flood in comparison. Breathing had started becoming a chore but keeping his breathing in rhythm helped to lessen the burden. With one hand, he pulled off his shirt and did his best to bind the shirt tightly around the arrow wound. Using the already applied bandage on his old wounds, he managed to tie the shirt tightly, lessening the amount of blood running out.
Ace leaned back against the tree and kept all his focus on staying awake. He tried to keep his thoughts steady and positive but his world soon became a fever dream - his focus shifting from his vision, the grass underneath him and the blood colored ground, to his hearing. Distant orcish screams together that gave him visions of his family members twisted faces turning into orcs. His younger sister crying and crying. Bloodied tears ran down her face.
"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US?" She screams. "STOP HURTING ME!" She screams as he sees his hands stabbing her with the dagger over and over again. The text >Experience gained< appears above her head. Avery shoots him with an arrow and while Caleb stands behind her, being pressured by his slithering and touching hands moving all over her. She's crying. She shoots him again and again and again.
"Please stop!" Ace cries out. He cries like when he was a child. "I'm sorry!" The horrific visions never stopped. They never did. He saw Allira and Sage be tortured and slaughtered in front of him. His old classmates killing each other by all kinds of messed up ways.
Eventually. After a never ending stream of horror induced visions, he closed his eyes.