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An Otherworldly Scholar - 160
🕑 Added 2024-09-18 01:21:30 +0000 UTCThe Blood Eagles dove upon us like arrows against the clear sky. [Awareness] sharpened my eyesight. Opaque, worn-out chestnut feathers covered their bodies. Despite the signs of decay, their beaks and talons were deep crimson, like they had dipped in fresh blood. Their eyes were hollow, and patches of putrid flesh were visible between the plumage. On their backs, Undead Orcs clung to their feathers, weapons drawn.
We ran across the thicket, but the eagles were faster. They flew over our heads, almost grazing the trees, and airdropped their cargo. Two tall, muscular, and dead orcs towered before us. Their clothing vaguely evoked those of the Inuit: thick-pelt hooded coats, trousers, and tattered boots once adorned with multicolor wool braids. Their eyes were as hollow as the ones of the Blood Eagles, and despite the advanced decomposition state of the corpses, they moved with the fluidity of a living elf.
Undead Orc Lv.11
Undead Orc Lv.9
The timing was too precise to be an accident.
“I’ll take the one on the left! You take care of the one at the right!” I said, pulling the shotgun strap over my shoulder and handing it to Wolf. Then, I put a handful of shells in his pocket. “Ilya doesn't have great close-quarters capabilities. Make sure to protect her.”
Wolf checked both barrels with a swift movement and nodded.
I tossed my backpack to the ground and unsheathed my sword. Mana surged through my body, surrounding the blade and giving it a vibrating blue hue. Leveling up felt good, but having a strong body felt even greater. The undead orc followed me with his hollow eyes as I parted ways from the kids. He raised his thick sword, almost a machete, and showed me his fangs. Dassyra was scarier.
With the corner of my eye, I saw Firana using [Aerokinesis] and jumping over the orc’s head. Without hesitation, she discharged the Aias Sword's flames on his opponent's putrid flesh. The heat hit my face. The attack wasn’t enough to kill the undead orc, but it gave Ilya and Wolf an opening to shoot. With a thud, the [Piercing Arrow] buried a few centimeters into the orc’s chest while Wolf’s slingshot bounced against his skull, shattering a piece of bone.
I sidestepped as my opponent tried to slice me in two vertically. The orc’s rotten muscles bulged as the beast mindlessly fought against inertia and followed up with a lateral cut. [Swordsmanship] took over my mind. The world around me slowed down. My eyes darted from side to side, absorbing combat information: my foe’s movement, the position of his body, the shapes of the soil, protruding roots, angles, distances, trajectories. Before making a single movement, I knew the outcome of the fight.
The orc roared, but his intimidation tactics were useless. His movements were too predictable to be afraid. Fencers back on Earth were leagues above a mindless undead. I moved away, and the orcish blade shattered the tree bark behind me, leaving his defenses wide open. Pushing the ground under my feet, I shot forward. With a single blue flash, I cut through flesh and the orc’s head fell to the ground.
Across the clearing, Firana used [Aerokinesis] and dodged the undead orc’s attack. The thick sword drew an arc and shattered the ground, throwing debris everywhere. Zaon seized the moment and stabbed the monster’s side. The vampiric sword drank from the orc’s magic, momentarily weakening it. Before the orc could retaliate, Zaon stepped back and quickly parried. The opening lasted a mere second, but it was enough for Wolf and Ilya to sneak another volley. Ilya’s arrow pierced the orc’s knee, and Wolf’s slingshot hit straight in the center of its chest.
The undead orc faltered. Despite not feeling pain, its body was too damaged to move normally.
Firana parried a blow, using the strong side of her sword against the opponent’s weak. She seemed almost bored. The orc’s physical strength was useless without the proper leverage. Then, Firana countered, slashing the orc’s arm but barely cutting through the iron-like skin.
Zaon channeled mana from his Leechflame Longsword, and a red aura surrounded the blade. Like a kickstart explosion, a flame appeared around the sword. Zaon stuttered, but the fire didn’t harm him. The orc turned, but Zaon had already surpassed his defenses. Zaon must’ve noticed slashing wouldn’t do the trick because he pushed forward and buried the flaming sword deep into the orc’s ribcage. Then he channeled the sword’s fire mana, burning it from the inside. Flames shot from the orc’s mouth and eye sockets, and the creature let out a last angry roar before falling to the ground.
Zaon wiped the sweat from his forehead. His expression was almost empty, and I knew [Awareness] was running haywire in his mind. He lowered his sword only after realizing the burnt corpse was done for good. At any other time, I would’ve found the scene downright horrific, but I was far from Earth. Zaon didn’t seem bothered by the undead body either.
“What was that!” Firana said.
“An undead orc. The Lich must have turned them,” Zaon replied, dead serious.
“I’m not talking about that,” Firana said, hitting Zaon’s sword with hers. A cascade of sparks fell to the ground as the two mana-charged swords collided.
I approached the kids, ignoring the discussion between Zaon and Firana.
“Are you okay, Wolf?” I asked. The orc boy had remained far from close combat, so I knew he was physically sound. Mentally, though, I couldn’t tell. Wolf crouched beside the undead orc’s body.
“These aren’t my tribesmen. Their clothing is different, their tattoos don’t make sense, and they have four tusks instead of two,” Wolf said, examining the orc’s face. “I think the Lich might have traveled far and wide to raise his army. These orcs aren’t from anywhere nearby.”
I remembered Dassyra’s arm tattoo: vines, the moon, stars, a deer, a wolf. I made a mental note to ask her about the meaning of her tattoos when we met and shoved that memory aside. I focused back on Wolf. It didn’t seem affected by the fight against the undead orcs.
Firana jumped into the conversation. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s focus on the important part. I want to know why Zaon has an enchanted sword! How am I supposed to become a famous fencer if every other orphan in Farcrest has a flaming sword!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The idea of every orphan in Farcrest having a high-level enchanted weapon was outrageous considering the rarity of enchanted items. I contemplated the possibility of doing so, but a surge of enchanted items would draw curious eyes.
“I’m serious!” Firana said. “It’s difficult to settle my trademark already with the Marquis being a high-level Flame Fencer.”
“I can’t believe we are having this conversation,” Ilya massaged her temples.
“What else did you expect from Firana?” Wolf interjected.
“Nothing! And I’m still disappointed!” Ilya said.
Firana trapped Zaon in a headlock and started a discussion about the right to use flaming swords.
Undead Orc slain.
Level up!
A pleasant sensation enveloped my body. I felt faster and stronger, and my muscles were more responsive. Before, [Swordsmanship] and [Awareness] had been carrying my fights thanks to the improved reaction times and decision-making. Now, the accumulation of twelve levels was starting to show in my speed and strength. It was hard to get a good point of comparison in a world full of magic beasts, but I knew I was reaching the threshold of highly trained athletes.
There was a good reason why the people of this world didn’t hone their skills like the humans back on Earth. The growths provided by the System were exponentially greater in comparison. In a few days, I had reached the level of physical fitness that would take years to achieve back home while following strict training regimes.
I focused back on the kids. Firana seemed to start liking the fact she had matching swords with Zaon. I wondered if the high from leveling up had softened her. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t selfish to the point of making a real scene about Zaon’s sword. She was selfish enough to push me to enchant more trinkets for her, though. My gut told me she was one black mask away from becoming a vigilante.
“Let’s keep going now that the undead has lost track of us,” I said, grabbing my backpack. Despite being just as full of heavy camping items, it felt far lighter than before. The kids nodded. I wouldn’t stay put to find out if the Lich still wanted me for his army of the dead.
Ilya sent her [Spirit Animal] ahead while we spied on the mountains. The Undead Blood Eagles were nowhere to be found, but I didn’t count them out of the equation. At least the undead’s senses were dull compared to living beings, so if we couldn’t see them, they probably couldn’t see us back.
We continued walking north, but after not too long, the mountain range twisted west, funneling us into the forest and near the Forest Warden’s root system. The Forest Warden’s roots grew in size to the point they abandoned the rich forest bed and dug into the mountain slope. Using the roots as highways would mean alerting the Swarm, but avoiding them would mean leaving the cover of the forest and traveling in the open. I glanced at the sky. There were no signs of airborne undead, but they might be hiding in the thousands of rock formations along the slope.
“I don’t like this,” Ilya voiced my same concerns.
The sky had clouded, and the environmental mana trembled. The [Black Storm] was about to intensify. The area spell crept upon my skin like hundreds of ants, and I had to tone down my mana sense not to go crazy. Ilya seemed to suffer the same discomfort because she recalled her [Spirit Animal]. It was too early in the day to stop, and we were too close to the core of the root system. We might have to plow through into the next valley, whether it meant to alert the monsters or not.
“Look! They are moving,” Zaon whispered, pointing into the forest.
Dark roots extended around us, digging into the ground like they were searching for something. They unhearted the old bird carcass and dragged it back into the depths. Whatever they nurtured in the crimson pods couldn’t be any good. However, we couldn’t push forward without making a decision. Remain in the forest and risk alerting the swarm with their high-level Mana Stalkers and Overseers, or travel on the mountain paths at the sight of the undead.
Before I could ask the kids for their opinions, the ground trembled. The movement intensified, and not even [Light-Footed] allowed me to remain on my feet. I fell on my knees. A root, wide as a school bus, emerged from the ground and rose like a strange monolith into the sky. Pulsating crimson pods hung from the sides in clusters. The multicolor blooms surrounding them had already withered, leaving only the eerie fruit behind.
Something moved inside.
Mature Scion Pod.
“Run—”.
The magical presence hit me like a freezing wave. I couldn’t move. I examined my Character Sheet and saw a Lv.1 [Paralyzed] status. It couldn’t last long. The pod pulsated, and the occupant pushed the elastic walls. The cloudy liquid prevented me from seeing it clearly, but I recognized a human hand pressing against the wall. The pod wall broke, and the occupant fell along the fluid three or four meters behind a bramble clump.
“Please, be dead,” I muttered, but my prayers fell on deaf ears.
The creature was humanoid only in shape. It had a white, bark-like skin, with pieces of shining green chitin on its arms and legs. Its arms were too long for a human, and its bony fingers ended in vicious claws, much like the Wendigo’s. Its torso was covered in a hard bark armor. Its face was slender like an elf’s but wasn’t entirely humanoid. Protrusions of a dark, opaque material formed a natural helmet around the creature’s head, crowned by majestic antennae. From its back, it unfolded a set of iridescent green wings, like the ones of a monarch butterfly. As it straightened, I noticed the creature was almost two meters tall.
Humanoid Chrysalimorph Lv.38. Magical Abomination. [Identify]: The Chrysalimorph is the grotesque culmination of the Forest Warden’s attempts to harness the perfect physical body. Weakness: None.
“Wolf!” I yelled, snapping out of my daze.
Wolf shouldered the shotgun and pulled the trigger. The Chrysalimorph staggered. The slug shattered the outer chest armor, but the creature remained unfazed. [Awareness] threw me back to my fight against the Wendigo. Two shots at point-blank range had been barely enough to damage it. Wolf shot again, the slug barely penetrating the shattered armor. Green blood flew through the cracks, but the creature was far from dead.
The Chrysalimorph vanished. In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance between us and barreled into Wolf. The Chrysalimorph’s shoulder slammed into his chest and hurled him several meters into the air.
My body moved on its own, mana channeling into the blade and aiming at the creature’s neck. The blade bounced against the Chrysalimorph’s armor, barely leaving a scratch. I pushed mana into my [Awareness], and time seemed to slow. The creature threw its claws at me. Ilya’s [Entangling Vines] emerged from the ground and wrapped around its ankles and wrists, but the Chrysalimorph uprooted them without apparent effort. I sidestepped, but I couldn’t dodge it in time. My leather jacket was turned to shreds—the Reinforcement enchantment being nearly useless—and the monster’s claws ripped my skin.
[Awareness] drowned the pain. It was a superficial wound.
I channeled my mana into a dozen blades buzzing with power, but before I could land a hit, the Chrysalimorph beat its butterfly wings and retreated. I wasn’t going to give it a moment of respite. With the kids around, I had to show it I was the only real threat. I pushed my mana to the limit. The spot of Corruption on my chest clung to my flesh, but I knew well enough not to surpass a certain level. The mana blades dashed and spun around the Chrysalimorph, following its crooked flightpath.
I dusted off my old skills and used [Intimidate] and [Stun Gaze] upon the Chrysalimorph. Our level difference was too high for them to work. The spells bounced off, sending molten needles through my brain, but they were enough to enrage the creature. The Chrysalimorph screeched, and a long, black stinger emerged from the palm of his hand. Alarms went off in my brain, telling me to run away as my mana sense caught the energy currents within the monster. I ignored them all and pushed forward.
My Mana Blades surrounded the Chrysalimorph, but they weren’t enough to dent its armor. The more the creature moved away, the weaker my spell became. The Chrysalimorph wings buzzed as it darted through the gaps in my attack. With my peripheral vision, I saw Wolf trying to aim the shotgun, but the Chrysalimorph was too fast and smart to give a clean shot.
The Chrysalimorph dashed at me, shoulder first. I dispelled the mana blades and raised my shield. The shield crashed but absorbed enough energy to prevent any injuries. I staggered and transferred my mana to the blade of my sword. [Swordsmanship] seized my body, and I lunged faster than the untrained eye could see. My mana blade grew far beyond the boundary of my sword. Without a physical body, it was light as a feather.
The Chrysalimorph might be faster, but human fencers could be swift. My muscles were strained to the limit as my nervous system worked on overdrive. The opening between the shattered armor plates was barely a few millimeters wide, but it was enough for me. The tip of my mana sword found the weak flesh under the armored exterior. Then, I copied Zaon’s technique, but instead of unleashing a firestorm inside my opponent, I reshaped my mana sword, turning it into a porcupine.
Mana needles shot in every direction, tearing muscle and organs from inside.
The Chrysalimorph let out a weak screech and fell to the ground.
Then, the remaining crimson pods pulsated.
Comments
ND_JackSparrow
It's a relief that the Orcs weren't from Wolf's tribe (I'll admit i was quite worried about that); that would have been a devastating psychological blow to him -- on top of everything else he's dealing with right now. The kids are fighting extremely well together. I suppose that's the benefit of training with each other under the same teacher for so long, they are able to effortlessly support each other without needing to say a word. That 'Chrysalimorph' was no joke. And Rob saw *hundreds* of pods in the clearing earlier? That's bad news for everyone involved. Even if they individually wouldn't pose a threat to many of the high-leveled combatants currently in Farcrest, with those numbers they are still going to be a formidable force. I'm especially worried about how the Orc Tribes will fare against them.
FaultyLogicEngine
Reshaping the blade? Could he turn his mana blades into a mana chainsaw? Go full ash Williams on the evil dead
Ben Bass
TYFTC! Go Zaon, yay using his own semi vampiric flame sword! Now Rob doing a porcupine with his sword is nasty, I wonder if he will think about putting blades or spikes on his mana shields so when something smashes against it they potentially damage themselves.
blaze87b
....is there anything stopping Rob from directly creating runes on their skin other than time? Because that's a skill that could be very useful right now
