Chapter 67: Red Orcs
Deep inside the Great Forest, the ancient trees grew so tall and thick that their massive canopies blocked out most of the morning sun. The air was incredibly humid, smelling strongly of wet moss and rotting leaves.
"Haaa!! Take this!" Ian shouted, violently punching a leaping goblin right in the face.
SPLAT! The goblin’s head practically exploded from the sheer force of a single punch, sending its small, lifeless body crashing into the nearby ferns.
"Huh, that’s it? I guess it’s weaker than I thought," Ian said, looking down at the thick, foul-smelling green blood dripping off his bare knuckles.
A short distance away, Sarah and Isaac stood safely on top of a large, mossy ridge overlooking the small clearing.
"Your cousin doesn’t seem to mind that we are here at all unlike someone, " Sarah said, standing next to Isaac.
"I don’t mind either, and with your healing magic available, my cousin won’t get into any real danger while learning how to fight," Isaac said, leaning casually against the rough bark of a giant oak tree.
"Why do I feel like the way you just said that makes it seem like you are taking advantage of us?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"What do you mean ’taking advantage’? Didn’t you guys mention at the forest entrance that our families are in a temporary alliance and to make us believe you guys even went the trouble to contact Vincent using a communication crystal. I’m honestly relieved that you are here with us," Isaac said with a small smirk. "But I’m kinda surprised that a pipsqueak like that is a Fourth-Stage Aura user." Isaac pointed down at Zena, who was standing quietly behind Ian.
"Well, that ’pipsqueak’ is actually twenty-nine years old, so he is kind of old," Sarah said casually.
"..." Isaac just stared at her blankly, completely failing to find the words to reply to what he had just heard.
"Don’t look at me like that! Of course I’m telling you the truth," she said.
"I know you are, since there would be no reason to lie about that. I just thought... maybe since you are blood-related and he calls you ’Sis’, doesn’t it also mean..."
"Shut up! I am sixteen," Sarah quickly corrected him. "And for your information, we are not really related by blood. It is just that my father found him and raised him. He treated me like a little sister when we were young, so I just see him as my older brother," she said, looking down at Zena warmly. "Anyway, aren’t you going to go down there, help him, and train too? It’s not every day you get the chance to be taught by someone like Zena."
"I’m good. Me staying up here is enough. Besides, I can just learn everything I need by carefully watching them fight," Isaac said.
"Cocky much..." Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Think whatever you want to think," Isaac replied flatly.
While they were talking up on the ridge, Ian took down another shrieking goblin in the damp clearing. His forearms were completely covered in green blood.
"Hey, can we move to another location? I don’t think these goblins are putting up much of a challenge," Ian said, wiping a splash of green blood off his cheek and turning to Zena.
"I was starting to think the exact same thing. It’s just... your physical strength amazes me more and more," Zena admitted, looking at the headless goblin corpses scattered across the dirt.
"What are you talking about? This much strength is absolutely nothing compared to you. You are a Fourth-Stage Aura user, and you are still so young, too, believe me I know how hard it is to advance in aura. What are you 15..16..I can safely assume you have a great future ahead of you," Ian said, smiling and complimenting the ’boy’.
"Pffft—!"
Up on the ridge, both Isaac and Sarah immediately covered their mouths, desperately trying not to laugh when Ian talked about Zena’s young age.
"What are you guys laughing at up there? What’s so funny?" Ian yelled, looking up at them in confusion.
"Forget about them. Follow me, I know a part of the forest that has wandering green Orcs," Zena sighed, turning around and walking past the dead goblins.
’I knew he was strong, but this is just insane,’ Zena thought as Ian followed behind him through the thick, shadowy brush. ’Crushing the skulls of full-grown goblins like he is just crushing the heads of teenage children. Did he deliberately not hit Friggy yesterday and only hit his weapon? Because if he had landed a punch like that on Friggy’s chest, his strength would have totally crushed him.’
"Hey, I wanted to ask you earlier when I saw you fighting those goblins, but why aren’t you using the fine iron sword that I gave you?" Zena asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Or do you just not like it since you didn’t buy it yourself?"
"No, it’s not that," Ian shook his head. "It’s just... when I fought Friggy yesterday with my bare hands, I felt this intense excitement. I don’t know how to fully explain the feeling, but some deep part of me did not want the fight to stop. I actively wanted him to fight back, and that is exactly why I kept hitting his axe. Because I knew if I hit his actual body, it would be over way too fast."
Ian looked down at his bloodstained fists as they walked over the crunching leaves. "And yesterday I realized that most of the fights I have won up until now happened when I used my fists to completely overpower someone. So, since yesterday, I made up my mind. I am going to start using my fists to crush my opponents."
’So he really was just hitting the axe for a reason... he wanted the thrill of a real fight,’ Zena thought in disbelief."Fists, huh?" Zena raised an eyebrow. "In all my life, I have never heard of anyone who purposefully uses their bare fists instead of a weapon. I don’t think there is anyone else like that. And I have never even seen an aura technique that focuses on fists, either."
"Aura techniques? There are actually techniques for that?" Ian asked in surprise.
"Of course there are aura techniques. But there are not that many out there. And most regular Aura users don’t have them because the high-ranking noble families keep them hoarded away as family keepsakes," Zena explained. "Because if they freely gave out these techniques, most Aura users wouldn’t want to work as loyal guards for their houses anymore. This is the real reason why minor Baron families like ours don’t have that many strong Aura users; we don’t have techniques of our own to offer them and believe me an aura technique makes a huge difference when fighting someone who doesn’t have one."
"That much huh, then why can’t people just create their own aura techniques instead of relying on old heritage techniques?" Ian asked.
"For a true genius, maybe it is easy. But for regular people like us, reality is really harsh, I have never heard of anyone introducing an aura technique since the founding of this kingdom"
"It’s really that ba—"
Before Ian could say anything else, Zena suddenly slapped a hand over Ian’s mouth. The forest around them had grown unnaturally quiet. The birds had stopped chirping. Zena put a finger to his own lips, signaling Ian to be completely silent.
Slowly, Zena pointed through the thick green vines ahead. Resting against a large, moss-covered boulder was a massive, hulking creature with dark crimson skin. It was a Red Orc, and it was fast asleep, casually holding a massive, terrifyingly sharp broadsword in its lap.
’Is that a Red Orc?!’ Ian thought, his eyes widening.
"Let’s get out of here. A Red Orc is incredibly bad news. Why is something that is normally only found deep in the inner forest sleeping out here in the outer ring?" Zena whispered anxiously. "And where the hell are Isaac and Sarah?"
Zena started moving backward quickly, trying to safely lead Ian away. "They were right behind us on the ridge just a minute ago. I don’t know where they went."
But before they could take another quiet step, a heavy shadow suddenly dropped from the thick canopy above them.
THUD!
Another Red Orc landed heavily on the leaf-covered ground right behind them, cutting off their escape. This one was slightly smaller, but its heavy landing made such a loud noise that the massive Red Orc sleeping by the boulder instantly opened its bloodshot eyes and grabbed its broadsword.
"Ah, shit," Zena cursed under his breath. They were completely surrounded by two terrifying Red Orcs.
— Somewhere inside the Trillah Kingdom —
Eden Guild Headquarters
Inside a dimly lit, lavish office smelling of expensive incense, a masked woman with flowing purple hair sat gracefully behind a mahogany desk. Sitting rigidly in the chairs opposite her were two very nervous men.
"So you are telling me that you called everyone back to the Guild Headquarters just because of that?" The woman’s voice was dangerously low and dripping with anger. "Did I really make a mistake in appointing you as the Guildmaster?"
"Madam, please, it’s—"
"SHUT UP," she snapped, instantly silencing the terrified Guildmaster.
She turned her sharp gaze to the other man sitting next to him. "Evan. I made you the Vice-Guildmaster specifically because I didn’t completely trust this imbecile that the higher-ups put in charge. Did you guys relax and get sloppy just because we haven’t given out any major assignments recently?"
Evan did not respond. He kept his head lowered, wisely choosing to stay completely quiet.
"Did you idiots forget that our Guild’s true mission in this region is to quietly collect information? And from what I have found from my sources, I don’t think those Barons are of any trouble to the Tessan Kingdom at all," she said, slowly standing up from her plush chair.
"I know taking assassination jobs from other nobles is a great way to make money and collecting blackmail information. But massacring a whole noble family will instantly put a massive target on our backs," she continued, pacing slowly across the thick carpet of the room. "But the absolute worst part is you fools planning on using the entire Guild to kill a minor family on the exact date that the client demanded. It is obviously a trap!"
"So what do you intend for us to do, Madam? We can’t just refuse the mission now. We already accepted the contract. Breaking it would severely affect our Guild’s reputation in the long run," Evan said cautiously.
"You are right about that, for once. So, I have been thinking... why did they specifically ask for that exact date?" She stopped pacing and reached out to a beautiful, rare flower sitting in a porcelain vase on her desk. She started lazily plucking the petals off, one by one.
"If all they truly want is to eliminate that low-class family, the specific date doesn’t matter at all. So, I am going to change the plan. I am giving you four days, bring the best of the best in the guild and kill them within that time limit," she ordered coldly, crushing the remaining flower in her palm. "Kill all of them. Don’t leave a single child alive."