Entering the orc's base, Lewis was horrified to discover an absolute mess of blood and bodies, and not just that of orcs either. Human limbs and heads were spread all about the place, with some people even impaled on spikes like something Vlad the Impaler would do. In the center of the camp, a large hole had been dug out as a makeshift prison, where many people were located, unable to climb out, with many sporting grievous injuries.
But some of the bodies of people outside of the pit seemed pale and decaying with their heads separated from their bodies. Yet blood was still seeping out into the ground from the open wounds, meaning they had only recently been slain despite seeming to already be decomposing.
"They tortured and executed some of the prisoners, seemingly to make an example out of them. Only for that grey orc to reanimate them and use them to guard the others." Fiona explained, a look of shared disgust on all their faces.
I swear that I'll kill that orc shaman bastard if I even encounter him again. This wasn't just doing as the system wants and killing beasts for levels. This is deliberate cruelty and torture.
It was clear that they were torturing the low level humans they had captured. Not only physically, but mentally too. Likely in an attempt to turn them into whatever kind of anguished ghost the shaman had employed to mess with his mind. Lewis felt sick to his stomach as he saw people with their eyes gouged out while strung up. Others with twisted limbs, their faces a mess of snot and tears as they continued to sob and groan even now.
The least injured people were helping their comrades climb out of the pit, but a few were clearly already dead. Their bodies sprawled out at the bottom of the pit.
All three of them helped out the survivors, insuring them that they were safe, but many were clearly in a state of shock and weren't responding. Lewis's gut clenched at the horrific sight. The was no way these people were going anywhere in this state, they needed medical attention and probably a therapist as well.
But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flat circular metal pot appear in Fiona's hands, which she opened to reveal a white cream that looked like some kind of moisturizer. He was confused at this. Now wasn't exactly the time to be applying makeup, but she instead began applying it to the wounds of the injured people, their anguished faces relaxing somewhat as she did. Their wounds also seeming to dim in intensity.
"What's that?" He asked her, realizing that she must have bought some kind of item from the system shop.
"Medicinal paste from the system. Dulls the pain and provides some minor healing to wounds. It's fairly cheap in the system shop, but it only needs to last long enough to get them back to the fortress, where the medical wing will be able to properly heal them up." She answered, Lewis suddenly reminded of healing potions and how they had fixed his broken arm.
"Why didn't you get a healing potion instead. Surely that could heal up most of these injuries?"
But Fiona simply shook her head.
"A healing potion mainly uses a person's own energy to stimulate recovery. Giving it to someone as weakened as them will only make their situation worse. Getting them to the medical wing is our best option."
Huh, I didn't know that. So the healing potion isn't actually healing you? Just guiding your body into healing itself with a little boost from the potion, like an energy drink on steroids? But I didn't feel that tired when using it, and nor did it seem to have had any downsides for me. Then again, I haven't really felt tired at all, and aligning my spirit back there had fixed up all my injuries in a flash. Could it be that my lack of fatigue is due to the apparently abnormal density to my spirit?
He put the question to the side for the moment as the horrible scene before him quickly refocused his attention. Those that were still alive needed to be transported back to the fortress, as the system bought castle possessed innate buildings for various activities, including stables, blacksmithing, and even a medical wing that apparently had innate rejuvenation properties that could greatly assist with recovery of the heavily injured that cannot withstand using a healing potion. Just like how the injured man he had found using the observer's ring had been taken back to the fortress to recover. But that wasn't something they could do with just the three of them. And in fact, that was the exact reason Laurence had sent a group of volunteers along.
Lewis knew that one of them needed to go and inform the volunteers that the coast was clear and that their aid was needed. And since he wasn't exactly able to do much here and was now the fastest among them, he decided he would be the messenger.
"Ok. Keep doing what your doing. I'll go get the others. Morris, keep an eye out for those three orc stragglers that got away. We can't know if they might decide to circle back or not." He said before putting his greatly strengthened body to the test and began sprinting out of the base. Each footfall making the anguished cries of loss and agony dim as he left behind the nightmarish scene, feeling his guts stir as if wanting to expel their contents, but he pushed it down. Now was not the time to let things get to him, he had a job to do and peoples lives were at stake.
As he shot off back through the forest, he found himself able to run at the speed of a car, racing through the woods with great speed, his body still felt a little awkward, but mind struggling to adapt to his new strength and a feeling of imbalance within him as each step was not only performed by his body, but also by his spirit simultaneously following that motion, making his steps uneven as his spirit would apply additional force at uneven intervals, resulting in his footing losing its stable pattern, with some stride taking him further than others.
Still, even with his awkwardness, his sheer speed was enough to make up for it, rapidly bringing him closer to the gorge the volunteers where hold up in. His mind also seeming greatly improved as his reflexes were fast enough to avoid the trees and uneven ground underfoot. Although his unstable footing was making it more difficult that he thought it should be.
But the further along he got, the easier it became, as he simply tried to ignore the now pervasive feeling of his spirit echoing his movements and enhancing them with uneven amounts of strength from step to step, instead attempting to ignore it altogether, simply focusing on putting one foot in front of the other with no thought of the added power his spirit was providing. And surprisingly, it worked.
It seemed like he could lessen the effect of his spirit by not actively focusing on it. That seemed to limit the uneven force projected with his footfalls and brought his balance back to something more manageable, although he was still striding through the woods fast enough to outrun a motorbike.
After a few minutes, he reached the small rocky cliff where the others were hiding out, going round the base, he followed the path that weaved round its side and into the gorge before coming face to face with one of the volunteers, his speed making so when he suddenly stopped before him, a the man recoiled back as if struck.
"Hey, wake up. We found the missing people and killed the orcs, but many are in bad shape and need your help transporting them back to the fortress." He exclaimed, startling many of the resting volunteers and immediately getting their attention as they began getting up and moving towards him as a group.
"Are the others that went with you alright?" The old healer asked, a note of concern in his voice upon not seeing Morris and Fiona accompanying him.
"Yeah, their fine, looking after the injured while waiting on you lot to get there and help." He exclaimed, a clear note of urgency in his words and actions as he was waving them back down the path, the lower leveled people scrambling to follow as they made their way towards the orcs crude camp within a few dozen minutes. Lewis feeling rather frustrated at how slow they were being, forcing him to hold back significantly and wait for the jogging group to catch up several times.
A part of him was annoyed at how slow they were being, but another part of him recognized that it was also his desire to check out the intense changes he had undergone that was driving him to be so irritable, but he held himself back from checking his system messages in case something attacked the low leveled volunteers, still keeping his eyes peeled for the escaped orcs.
Eventually, the group finally reached the entrance to the orc's camp, the large wooden gate still open, and the moans of the injured drifting out as the volunteers hustled in. Some of them already red in the face from being forced to run all the way here. Still, none of them complained as they rushed forward to aid the two fighters in applying the white paste to the injured. Many of whom had either calmed down a bit since he left or were outright unconscious, exhausted from the brutal events and finally allowed to shut their brains off with help finally having arrived.
Fiona quickly took charge, instructing the volunteers and generally seeming to have the situation well in hand, having clearly had a lot of experience with commanding others and rescue efforts, so Lewis didn't bother trying to interfere, instead taking post at the gate of the camp to keep an eye out for threats, but the real reason was because he wanted to check the system while the others assessed the injured and prepared them for transport.
He skipped over the many kill notifications, only taking note of the unusually high amount of TP he had been awarded. But it was clear that that was due to his relatively low level compared to the orcs, so most of them provided at least 50 points per kill.
Congratulations! You have reached level 12
[...]
Congratulations! You have reached level 15
Skill: Arcane nullfield has reached level 4
[...]
Skill: Arcane nullfield has reached level 10
Skill: Unravelling strike has reached level 7
[...]
Skill: Unravelling strike has reached level 12
This alone was quite shocking. Never before had he leveled up so much. Both in levels and skills, but it wasn't even the most surprising thing, for the system had also given him a reward for surviving the orc's simultaneous assault, and its a most welcome gift indeed.
Title: Defier of fate
You have not only survived, but thrived from a deadly situation that should definitely have killed you, becoming stronger for it. +50 CON
The title was entirely unexpected, but looking back, it was true that without his spirits untouched disposition and his abnormal ability to force it within his body thanks to his mana, he would definitely have died. So perhaps he was the only person that could have possibly survived the way he did. And not only survive, but completely reverse the situation and instantly come out on top. With that in mind, the insane 50 points of constitution seemed well earned, more points than he even had in that attribute to start with, but now, it felt like he could tank the full power of an orc's club and not even receive a scratch. But of course, he hadn't wanted to test this out while everything was going down, not having had the time to see exactly how much stronger he had gotten in the midst of the chaos.
But the was a final notification that caught his eye. One that was linked directly to his breakthrough.
Congratulations! You have learned the Spirit body physique technique.
The 1st of 3 foundational techniques on the path of pure spirit cultivation, granting you significant corporal enhancement thanks to the unusually potent nature of your nascent spirit. However, due to the way in which you achieved this feat, a portion of your spirit matter has been consumed as fuel for its premature corporal integration, leaving you in a weakened and unstable state. Beware that failure to rectify this may cause permanent long term damage.
Okay, not this is concerning. I'm glad I was able to take the first step towards forming my spiritual trifecta, but I didn't expect pushing for it like that would cause it to become unstable, whatever that even means, but I can tell that it's not fully synched with my body. My steps were not always exerting the same force when I was running, and I did feel a little off. As if I were wearing poorly fitting clothes that are restricting my movements in certain places while feeling more baggy in others.
But the idea of permanently damaging his spirit made Lewis sweat. He already felt incredible after gaining an apparently rudimentary and unstable spirit technique, so he wasn't about to let his only avenue to power be blocked off by his own hastiness. It seemed he would need to further consult the cultivation manual. But first, he wanted to get a better look at how much his stats had changed.