Tutorial (8)
The sudden arrival of the ogre flipped the battlefield on its head in an instant.
Had the beast shown itself only after we had wiped out the remaining orcs, we might have been forced into back-to-back combat, but at least things wouldn't have been this chaotic. As if clearing the surviving orc stragglers amid a blazing encampment wasn't messy enough, now an ogre—a monster that demanded one's undivided focus—had crashed the party. It was a worst-case scenario no one had prepared for, throwing everyone into disarray.
“Damn it, fall back!”
Staying here meant certain death. Reaching that grim conclusion, Calt gave the retreat call, but the ogre was already breathing down our necks. A fight was unavoidable.
Without hesitation, I cast buffs on the vanguard—Calt and Danas—as well as the archer, Melina.
“O my Goddess, grant them wings that they may take flight.”
“What is this…?”
“A buff…?!”
If there was one thing that set an apprentice sister apart from a standard low-rank potion, it was enhancement magic. Most ordinary apprentice sisters had no clue how to apply buffs. To be precise, their handling of divine power was far too clumsy to wield such advanced techniques.
I, however, am built different.
Do you have any idea how many bonus points I dumped into my Divine Power stat—enough to take blind and deaf traits just to afford them all? You think I can't even manage this much? Not a chance in hell. From basic movement speed boosts to stamina, physical strength, and defense, I stacked every buff I had on them.
“…I had a feeling ever since she healed all those people yesterday, but still…”
Was that Danas? I couldn't hear clearly. The mental resonance radiating from the dying and surviving orcs, coupled with the overwhelming psychic aura blasting from the ogre before us, drowned out normal sound.
Even so, they weren't B-rank adventurers for nothing. Even though Mirna had exhausted her mana on that wide-area bombardment and was out of commission, and even with the orc stragglers lingering around, they should be able to hold their ground against this beast now that they were loaded with buffs.
“Listen up, everyone! We only need to carve an escape route! Danas and I will draw the ogre's attention—Melina, aim for its eyes!”
“Leave it to me.”
Melina drew a deep breath and steadied her stance. A solid plan. Truly, a textbook strategy. Except for one little problem.
Even if an ogre's eye was as big as a bullseye at this range, aiming for it required intense concentration, no matter how skilled the archer was. It wasn't a stationary target; it thrashed around erratically. Trying to hit the exact dead center of a moving target like that would demand every ounce of her focus. Ogres might be dim-witted, but they weren't completely brainless. If an arrow struck off-mark, it would immediately realize what was happening and target Melina first. But more than that…
Well, this I didn't see coming.
Nobody here could have anticipated it. With countless orc soldiers slaughtered and an ogre—a calamity far beyond what orcs could handle—rampaging right before them, normal orcs would have scrambled to flee for their lives. I was certain they'd scurry away.
And yet…
They aren't running…?
The orc didn't flee. A solitary orc archer, clutching a crude bow and arrow, was drawing a bead with movements trembling with bitter hatred. In that split second, my instincts screamed. The target of its wrath was none other than the female archer, Melina.
There was no time to think. I couldn't see or hear, but because my divine power allowed me to map the entire spatial layout around me, I caught the ambush before anyone else.
Thwack.
Pain tore through my abdomen, and beneath it, an intoxicating rush of pleasure bloomed. A smile spread across my lips.
Now this… this makes for some top-tier dramatic roleplay, I thought to myself.
…
No, honestly, who was I kidding? Pretexts didn't even matter anymore. Even if this development was completely off-script, taking the arrow meant for her just felt so ridiculously good. Putting on a display of dramatic self-sacrifice was great and all… but beyond that, the raw sensation of an arrow piercing through my flesh simply felt heavenly.
God, I really am completely twisted in the head. Haha…
The rustle of someone lunging forward—accompanied by the sickening, wet squelch of puncturing flesh—coincided with the exact moment Melina released her taut bowstring. The arrow streaked through the air with a piercing hiss and slammed directly into its mark.
“GRAAAAUUUGH!”
The ogre stumbled back with a shrieking roar, clutching its pierced eye and thrashing wildly in agony. In that opening, Calt and Danas turned toward them to shout that now was their chance to run. And what met their eyes—
“What the…”
“Ah… hngh…”
—was the sight of a young girl collapsed on the ground, a crude arrow impaled straight through her abdomen. Her pristine white habit was rapidly staining crimson, and she gasped for ragged breaths in an agonizing shudder.
“What… when did she get shot…?”
Melina muttered in disbelief, but she didn't lose her head. Her trained archer's gaze instantly swept the perimeter. In an instant, she spotted an orc archer frozen in shock, still gripping its crude bow.
Without missing a beat, she snapped her bow toward the creature and released. Even without taking time to aim, the arrow drilled clean between the orc's eyes. Without waiting to see the orc hit the dirt, Melina whirled back to the sister who had taken the shot in her place.
“Damn it…” Melina clicked her tongue in anguish. “She didn't need to take that for me…!”
“Orc craft is garbage anyway… It wouldn't have flown far in a straight line before losing momentum,” Calt muttered as he rushed over.
It was true. The height difference between Melina and the sister named Aria was substantial. At that trajectory, had the arrow flown straight toward Melina, it would have pierced her thigh at most. Yet, even an arrow to the thigh in the middle of a frantic combat zone was more than enough to get someone killed.
“After how terribly we treated her…” Calt said in a hollow voice, looking down at the panting, bloodied sister.
For an ordinary person, it was a mortal wound that could easily prove fatal. For a sister brimming with divine power, however, proper first aid would keep it from being instantly lethal. Still, leaving it untreated for even a moment would quickly turn it deadly. While divine power granted resilience far surpassing ordinary mortals, it didn't make her immortal against severe trauma. To possess that level of sheer vitality, one needed to be at least a full-fledged priestess. Even if her raw talent and divine power matched a proper sister, Aria was still an apprentice on paper. She needed treatment immediately.
“Melina, tend to Sister Aria first. That orc was likely the last one, but keep your guard up just in case.”
“What about you two?”
“We lost our chance to run, but we still have the buffs Sister Aria gave us.”
With these, we might actually be able to bring the ogre down. Was that what he was thinking? Melina opened her mouth to scream that they were being reckless, but Calt and Danas had already charged forward to confront the beast. To turn this fight around, their only hope was for Mirna, who was recovering her mana, to rejoin the fray and support them with spells—or obliterate the monster with an ambush burst.
Melina clicked her tongue in frustration. Retreating to a burnt-out corner of the encampment where orcs were unlikely to lurk, Melina laid Aria onto the ground and began administering first aid. She loosened the habit and delicately drew out the embedded arrow.
“Haah… haah…”
Adventurers made it a rule to always carry emergency supplies. Her hand hesitated for a fraction of a second as she reached for her low-rank potion, but Melina knew better. Say what she wanted, it was this sister who had thrown herself in front of an arrow for her. Swallowing the sting of using a potion she had bought at great expense, she poured it over the wound and bound it tightly with bandages.
“Damn it…”
First aid was done. All that remained was the ogre. Since the immediate area seemed clear of orcs, she had to return and support the party right now.
Melina was well aware of the reality. An ogre was a monstrosity that a B-rank adventurer party could only hope to match by fighting at full strength. Severing its head in a surprise attack was technically an option, but with an ogre's keen sense of smell, pulling off a lethal ambush against its massive skull was next to impossible. And a direct frontal clash was practically suicidal, even for seasoned frontliners. The sheer kinetic force behind that monstrous bulk pulverized anything in its path.
Melina knew all too well how utterly reckless their words had been—and what madness they had plunged themselves into.
And then—
“Danas—!”
The moment she dashed out from the ruined structure, what greeted her eyes was—
CRASH!
The ogre swung an uprooted tree like a club, swatting Danas like a bug and launching him hurtling straight through the encampment.