Lewis's fist clenched as he spotted the unconscious people being carried by the large orcs, his gaze drawn to the smallest figure, a young boy in what looked like a Japanese school uniform, a pair of spectacles askew on his face as his upper half dangled limply behind one of the orc's backs. He wanted to rush down there and fight those orcs like he did before, taking them down one by one to protect these helpless people, but held himself back.
Beside him, he saw Morris draw and aim his bow, a look of hatred on his usually placid face, but Fiona reached out and held his arm, telling him not to fire.
"We can't risk engaging now, not with so many people in the crosshairs. Besides, we still don't know where the orcs are hiding out and where the others have been taken." She whispered, his gaze still fixed on the figures below.
"So what? We just let them take them?" Morris asked, some heat in his voice.
"Of course not. We follow them for now and devise a plan to separate them from the kidnapped before attacking." She replied, giving him a stern look. Morris stared back for a moment before nodding and lowering his bow.
Making sure to stay as far back as possible without losing sight of the orcs, the group crept along, a new sense of purpose infusing them and pushing back the tiredness and fatigue that had built up from their travels. The healer would occasionally use his skills on the weaker members of the group, relieving some of the symptoms of exhaustion, something he seemed surprisingly more suited to compared to healing, similar to how Lee had cured him of his pains after using [Spiritual alignment] that first time.
Lewis had previously spoken with the elderly man about his abilities, and he had confided that mana capacity was a huge limiting factor. Infusing healing energy into a person was fairly simple, the person's body naturally consuming it to repair itself, but for things like large gashes or lethal wounds similar to the injured man they had encountered, he simply didn't possess enough mana to make an effect.
This was another key piece of information he had found interesting; the man only had a single point in spirit when he entered the tutorial, far from the thirty points Lewis had possessed. But even with the old man's heal keeping everyone in better shape, the group was still weary from the travels, and moving fast and quietly was proving more difficult for some, dragging the others behind.
After a little while, Fiona made the call to keep the volunteers back and simply go it with Morris and Lewis, since they were the main force anyway. Splitting up, they left the others behind in a crevasse that wormed through a cliffside, providing some cover and protection from the dangers of the forest and offering a clear landmark for them to return to and find them again. Many of the volunteers had collapsed and fallen asleep the moment they stopped moving, a reminder that they had been going nonstop.
Now only the three of them, they were able to pick up more speed and gain on the orcs, who were still casually wandering the trail, moving like they were out on a stroll rather than kidnapping people. Which suited Lewis fine since it gave them the opportunity to creep closer, Morris even splitting off, being the stealthiest of the three, to explore the area from a different angle, searching for any sign of the orc's base or sign of the other kidnapped people as Fiona and Lewis remained in pursuit at a safe distance.
Another fifteen minutes later and the orcs had come to a stop, the forest opening up into a small clearing that was clearly inhabited, large trees having been cut down and stacked atop each other to form basic walls, the orcs and their cargo grunting near a section of the wooden walls before they ground open, briefly revealing a busy interior before the green creatures slipped in and the gateway ground shut once more.
Lewis and Fiona both looked at each other with surprised gazes, not having expected such a camp of orcs here. They had doubled back a fair way and were now only about an hour's walk from Laurence's fortress, far closer than any of them had expected to find the orcs, and especially not an entire base full of them. It didn't even seem like they had used the system shop to acquire it either; they simply cut down the trees in the area and stacked them atop themselves. A feat of strength that perfectly underlined the surreal might of these creatures even without the system's help.
Lewis felt a wave of doubt and unease as he stared ahead at the walled camp, wondering if letting the orcs take those people inside was actually such a good idea. They had expected to fight a handful of orcs, but now he wasn't entirely sure how many they would be facing. It wasn't like his strength was a match to these creatures; only his unravelling strike was effective against them, and he doubted he would be able to fight more than one at a time, and nor did he know what level they may have achieved while he had been wasting his time wandering the woods.
But before he could start second-guessing himself, Lewis heard a snapping sound from behind, and both he and Fiona turned to find Morris returning. He crouched down behind the fallen tree they were hiding behind and gave them a nod.
"I scouted the area and managed to get a look inside by climbing a tree. They seem to have kept most of the people alive, locked away in a deep pit near the center of the camp, but bodies of humans and beasts are visibly strewn about the place. I counted at least twelve of the bastards, but I couldn't get a good look; they all seemed really strong. I managed to scan two of them, and they showed up as level tens." He said.
Lewis was relieved to know that the kidnapped people were still alive, but he struggled to think of how the three of them could defeat such a large force or superior enemies. Storming the base could simply bring the orcs down on their heads, so that was out of the question. Infiltrating and picking them off seemed like the only solution, but they would immediately know if they did that, the base was too open with limited hiding places. No, they would need to cause a distraction.
"Morris, what's up with that ring now? Can you use it?" Lewis asked.
The archer seemed to focus for a moment before his eyebrows lifted, and he suddenly disappeared right before their eyes. Lewis, having become familiar with the slippery look-away magic of the ring, was able to keep his eyes on the spot Morris was in, but he spotted Fiona's gaze shifting to the side as she failed to focus properly, until Morris blinked back into existence a moment later, a large grin on his face.
Fiona blinked a few times as she looked at Morris, her mind clearly swirling with ideas before she nodded.
"Good, Lewis and I will act as a distraction while you sneak inside and pick them off. We attack them on two fronts, hit them hard and fast before they know what's happening." She declared, but Lewis wasn't so sure.
He had felt the strength of the orcs, and according to Morris, the ones within those walls seem even stronger. Fiona might be strong, having picked the warrior path, but he doubted she could take a hit from those creatures. No, having her on the frontlines would be a bad idea.
"Fiona, have you had any experience with a bow?" Lewis asked, the woman scowling at his question.
"I have, why do you ask?"
"I think it's best if you stay back and pepper them with arrows while I get their attention. I don't doubt you're strong, I just don't think these are the right opponents for you." He explained, but Fiona didn't seem pleased.
"What are you talking about. You want to go out there alone? Do you really think so little of me? I may be a woman, but I'm just as capable as any man." She declared, some anger entering her voice as she stared down at Lewis, who put up his hands in a placating manner.
"That's not what I meant. I know how strong you are; I just mean that these orcs are tough opponents and will be tricky to deal with. My skill allows me to deal devastating damage up close, potentially killing them in a single strike, but your enhanced strikes will require more time and effort to deal lethal damage, and by that time, the creatures will have the chance to swarm us, with each of their hit needing to be dodged or induce grave injuries. But if I go alone, they will be sure to underestimate us and not attack together until it's already too late." Lewis added, trying to calm the woman and justify his reasoning, but she seemed to take being removed from the vanguard as a personal insult.
She was about to retort when Morris cut her off.
"It's a good point. Laurence himself acknowledged Lewis's power. If anyone can defeat these orcs, it's him, but the two of you going in together will likely attract the attention of all the orcs in the base, overwhelming you with sheer might and numbers. But if he goes alone, they will definitely underestimate him, allowing us to support his effort from the shadows."
That got Fiona to close her mouth as she considered his words, the two of them waiting in nervous silence as they waited for her response. After a few seconds, she let out a long sigh and nodded.
"Very well, I see the logic, although I would prefer to be in the middle of the action. Still, my role is to act as a protector for the kidnapped, so I will do as you say." She agreed, much to the two men's relief.
They discussed the plan for a few more minutes, ironing out the details before the two of them moved to their own positions, leaving Lewis alone as he composed himself, attempting to calm his beating heart and tense nerves as he began walking towards the gate of the crude wooden base, adopting a deliberately clueless behavior as he made himself look tired and listless.
Approaching the same large closed gateway the orcs had previously entered, he weakly called out.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Hoping to bait out and isolate a few orcs to start off their rescue mission.
He heard some sort of commotion inside, and a few moments later, the large wooden frame was dragged open, two orcs peeking out and spotting him, their expressions confused as they looked between themselves and Lewis, before one of them seemed to shrug and waved its head in Lewis's direction, the second orc stepping out and heading towards him, a vicious grin on its face.
Seeing this, Lewis kept up the act, making his eyes go wide and purposely stumbling backwards a bit to sell his act, all while waiting for the orcs to get close enough. Just to be safe, he scanned the creature to confirm it would only be as strong as the others he had seen, but he almost forgot his helpless act when he saw the result.
[Orc - lvl 9]
The orc that had nearly killed him was only level 8, and by the looks of things, this was hardly the head honcho of the bunch, having been clearly ordered to fetch him by the other orc at the gate. Suddenly, he wondered if fighting these guys alone was actually as good an idea as he first thought. Still, he was committed now; people were in mortal danger and had apparently already died. The life of everyone inside that base was on a timer, and he was their only shot of getting out of here.
The muscular steps of the large orcs quickly brought it before Lewis, the orc lazily reaching out to grab him by the head, but just as it was about to grab him, Lewis eyes, which had been dramatically open wide in fear, suddenly returned to normal, his body exploding into action as he stopped feebly backing away and instead surprised the orc by leaping forward, his fist shooting out towards center mass, slamming into the orc before it could react.
The impact was minimal, the tough skin and powerful musculature of the creature arresting the punch with ease. The hint of shock in the orc's eyes quickly turned to anger, but before he could retaliate, a blast of destructive energy shot directly into the orc's chest, right above its heart.
Having feared a repeat of the situation with Laurence or even that last orc that had somehow survived an unravelling strike to the face, Lewis had not only willed the skill to activate, but for the first time, had also pushed as much mana into it as he could as it was activating, something he wasn't sure was possible until now. The blast of power that invaded the orc's chest was nothing like what he had done before; the creature's chest immediately dented inwards, tearing a hole straight through it, allowing Lewis to see right through the creature's body to the other side. The light in its eyes was immediately extinguished as the cannonball-sized hole in its chest had crushed its heart and many other important organs, its life ending before it even knew what had happened.
He felt immense shock and surprise at the devastating power of his attack, but also a sudden weariness, a deep exhaustion that sapped his energy, having spent a lot of his mana in that attack without even meaning to. His skills didn't really seem to use up that much mana, so this sensation was rather unfamiliar to him as he glanced at his mana capacity in his status.
Mana: 75%
That was a lot, but the result was undeniable. He thought as the kill notification pinged in his mind, already dismissed before he even read it.
He had only tried pushing more mana into the skill because it was how he had gotten his nullfield to level, and it seemed the same thing applied here.
Skill: Unraveling strike has reached level 2
Skill: Unraveling strike has reached level 3
Congratulations! You have reached level 11 (+1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 CON, +2 INT, +1 Free point available)
A smile crested his lips as he skimmed over his level-up notification. It was the first one for his new class, and he felt a rush of new power enter his body as his points were automatically distributed.
With his new revelation about his ability to overcharge his skills with even more mana, he decided to allocate his free point into spirit to make sure his mana didn't run out. As long as he could repeat this feat and kill all these orcs in a single hit, then the safety of the kidnapped people would be guaranteed.
But just as he was beginning to feel his confidence return, the orc that had remained at the gate suddenly cried out, alerting the entire camp as it's eyes had locked onto Lewis, a hint of fear in them as four more orcs appeared at the gateway, looking over a the human and the orc laying on the ground with a hole straight through it's chest.
A loud and angry cry was heard from all of the newcomers as they rushed through the gate. And then, all hell broke loose.